#can't recommend it enough

[rascal-rose]

Show is really really good

[liones-s]

'All theoretical constructs are inherently unobservable, and all measures are imperfect' (David Lake)

[fluffypichu876]

If you were to recommend Sekiro to someone, perhaps a Mutual even, how would you go about it?

(I'm always on the roll looking for soulsborne design content, as it is a big topic in the industry, and I am too much of a whimp to play something that openly sadomasochistic xD, but sekiro is the one I'm lest knowledgable about of them all and I'd love a first-hand opinion on it/maybe a reccomend to see if there might be something interesting to try to brave it For, and not just difficulty for difficulty's sake)

That is a GREAT ask, mutual, and I am very glad to answer it to you! (i never miss an opportunity to discuss game design xD)

Well, the game is REALLY good. It's rewarding and it just feels good to play. That's why I recommend it in very simple words, with the small warning that it is, indeed, a difficult game.

But if I was allowed to go into detail on why I love it and recommend it so much...

Sekiro is a very interesting soulsbourne. It follows many traditions of FromSoft's other games, but it also breaks enough of these rules to stand out as a game of its own.

One thing that differs in Sekiro is the very way that you tackle bossfights. Boss design is one of, if not the most important aspect of a soulslike. I have yet to play other soulsbournes, but from what I've heard, in these games there are usually multiple ways of dealing with a tough boss. You can grind and find better equipment to fight them, use cheese strategies, get help from another player (co-op), or just git gud and try to defeat the boss by learning their patterns and relying on pure skill. Each boss is always designed with that in mind, focusing on providing a fair experience to the player no matter which option they choose.

But in Sekiro, there's none of that. No co-op, very little cheese strats, a stat system that requires the defeat of a major boss to increase damage output (by very little), and a EXP system that only grants a few new skills (some of them are very useful though, such as the Mikiri counter). Oh, and you lose EXP when you die.

To beat a boss here, you must rely on pure skill. Git gud, as people say. This skill consists basically of your ability to recognize and correctly counter all the types of enemy attacks. Deflect strikes, dodge grabs, Mikiri-counter thrusts, jump over sweeps and ocassionaly redirect lightning. If you don't understand and properly use these skills, you will not get very far, because every enemy and every boss will demand varying levels of your knowledge about the game, and more importantly your ability to actually use said knowledge. Their very design is based on the player's skill.

It may sound bad, but this focus on pure player skill is exactly what makes this game so compelling and rewarding. When you fight a boss in Sekiro, you are not mastering the bossfight, you are mastering the game itself. Each boss requires the same skills to defeat, consisting of a single core gameplay loop, and extra items or tools are merely extra help and not really necessary to win (with the exception of a few gimmick optional bosses). Master these skills and the whole game becomes much easier to understand and overcome. You'll still die a lot, but you will feel your progress, understand why you died, and become even more confident after every defeat.

Once you beat Lady Butterfly and Genichiro, you have already mastered the game. From now on, you will be just sharpening your skills.

In simple words, Sekiro's definition of getting good is very different from other soulsbourne games. Beating this game is like a personal journey of improvement, in which you aim to improve because you know it's worth it.

The revival mechanic is also very interesting to me. From what I understand, it serves both as a mid-battle breathing room, and as a motivator.

Dying in a bossfight doesn't feel good, and enough deaths can motivate the player to give up, so giving them time to breath and consider their options before reviving and trying again is very nice. It's a period of time used to strategize and reflect what exactly is going wrong. Allowing the player to revive once or twice during a fight doesn't make the game easier, it makes the game fair. The player will not have to repeat a part of the fight that they have already mastered, and will have another opportunity to try and understand what's currently going on. Then, they can carry this new knowledge to the next attempts, making the whole "die and try again" experience much more fluid.

Following this logic, the revival mechanic also serves as a motivator. If the player has good enough base knowledge of a bossfight, giving them a second chance will motivate them to take risks, which leads into the discovery of potentially better strategies. Dying now will not really grant too much of a bad consequence, so why not risk something new? The whole combat system revolves about your agressiveness and lack of hesitation, so a motivator like this is very important.

Sekiro also has stealth mechanics, yipeee!!! Fitting, since you are a shinobi. Stealth here mostly serves as an second option to deal with areas filled to the brim with enemies. Attacking any enemy from behind without their notice will instantly delete an entire healthbar. This means death to most lesser foes. It also helps you deal with mini-bosses who have more than one healthbar.

Having said all of that, Sekiro is an amazing game, and I can't recommend it enough. In my opinion, you don't even have to be too much of a masochist to like this game! I found the whole experience to be pretty fair and rewarding, and not really painful at all (maybe it's just me on that xD). Patience is all that you really need, patience to slowly learn and understand, as if you where learning how to use a sword in real life. After all, that's exactly what you must do to beat this game.

[blackbloodedisabel]

you're just a bee charmer by tabithatwo has been updated after a hiatus and oh am I about to become totally insufferable this is one of my fav jackieshauna fics EVER I love it soo much it's literally perfect omg <3 thank you @tabithatwo for your service

[little-whats-her-name]

If I had a nickel for every cult classic horror satirical comedy musical about an evil green plant that took inspiration from an old black and white film, who's main character is an innocent adorable dorky boy and there's also a subplot (that wasn't in the original black and white film) about a woman with an unusual voice who speaks quite softly but can belt like crazy being abused by her boyfriend and she and her boyfriend's mannerisms and overall aesthetic is a parody of the era in which the film is set and the boyfriend dies in the end but no one really cares coz he was a horrible person anyway

I'd have two nickels

Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice, right?

[dummerjan]

The One Where Porsche and Kim Are Gym Buddies (19598 words) by fortunehasgivenup Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: รักโคตรร้ายสุดท้ายโคตรรัก | KinnPorsche: The Series (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Porsche Pachara Kittisawat/Kinn Anakinn Theerapanyakun, Porchay Pichaya Kittisawat/Kim Khimhant Theerapanyakun Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Friendship, Explicit Sexual Content, Hand Jobs, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Orgasm Delay/Denial Summary: When the Phoenix comes up to Kim at the gym and introduces himself as Porsche, it's only polite to reply. They're both in the fighting circuit after all. One conversation leads to another and soon they're gossiping about their romantic lives. Romantic lives being the rich dude who's been railing Porsche into next week and the cute guy that Kim can't help but want to spend more time with. It's nice having a friend who doesn't know your brother.

Fanfic rec for @kprecfest Kim and Porsche's friendship is hilarious and everything I want out of a Kim & Porsche relationship. It made me crack up so many times but is just as sweet and heartfelt. I loved Porsche and Kinn's relationship dynamic and how assertive and confident Porsche is in this fic. They are truly equal here which js a nice change from canon. Speaking of Kim and Chay, their characterization is just as good. Kim is nervous like Chay and nevertheless pursues what or rather who he wants, but whereas Kim's pursue gets overshadowed by his uncertainty, Chay's directness overshadows his nervousness. I really like this contrast as well as the contrast of Kinn/Porsche and Kim/Chay throughout the fic. One of the funniest lines: “Huh.” Kinn’s standing there with his hands on his hips, dressed like he’s picking up his kid from school after the divorce. Kim has no idea how Tankhun can live in the same house as him and not burn his whole wardrobe.

[a-mere-dream]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū Characters: Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, Luò Bīnghé, Xiǎo Gōngzhǔ | Little Palace Mistress Additional Tags: Bodyswap, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Remix, Humor, Angst, (usually mixed together à la svsss), POV Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū, MXTX Remix 2023 Summary:

Shen Qingqiu, an escapee Cang Qiong Peak Lord, wakes up in the body of his former disciple, Luo Binghe.

His to-do list: fake his way through interacting with Huan Hua Palace disciples, avoid thinking about where Binghe's consciousness has gone, and settle into his new life as soon as possible.

[rams-wool]

I just watched Nimona. I need to recover emotionally.

[sheryl-lee]

hi sameera!! i hope your week is going swimmingly 🤍 what’s your favourite photoshop adjustment layer, if you have one?

hi abbie!!! my week's been okay - just a bit busy w/ uni and a ~little~ sleepy (thankfully caffeine is always there to help me power through <3) i hope you're doing good and having a great week yourself! ❤️✨

picking just one adjustment layer is really tough, so i think i'm gonna have to hustle in my 2 all-time favorite layers as my answer: selective color and channel mixer! the other layers i use (gradients, photo filters, levels, exposure, brightness, vibrance, etc.) are all great at laying the foundation and making minor adjustments that really help in the long run, but imo selective color and channel mixer layers do wonders at evening out skintones, altering or enhancing specific colors, and making the gif really pop. as someone who's a big fan of vibrant and bright gifs, i find those layers to be super reliable - especially when dealing with dark/tinted scenes. i think they take a fair bit of time and practice to master, but they become really intuitive to use once you get a sense of how to manipulate them for the best results. i love experimenting with those layers in photoshop; it's part of what makes gifmaking fun imo!

send me “what’s your favorite..” asks 💫

[anonymous-cupcakea03]

lmfao idk anything about hsr nor aventurine except the boob window in every official art

so that's all i see on your phone RIP

hkahdjs I am so sorry that's your intro to star rail I am but a simple guy that likes one thing

[algumaideia]

My only problem with Pluto is how all kids seem to be excited in the same way. And like kids run and scream and get very excited but they still exibit different personalities and I just couldn't really feel that. It was like all children adopted by Brando and Epsilon were the same.

[cdreambur]

5, 11, 15, 20, and 24 for the concert asks :3

5. do you prefer intimate arenas or stadium shows? i honest to god can't answer this question because i've experienced everything, from a club with a few hundred capacity to an open air show with almost 100k people and all of them have such different vibes. i could never choose a favorite lol

11. have you ever sat front row at a show? not sat but stood lol but yeah, when i saw waterparks last year. it was great :D

answered 15 for jade over here :D

20. do you prefer general admission or assigned tickets? okay the thing is, i don't really have a choice sometimes since i'm a fan of a lot of artists that just aren't big enough to play venues with assigned seating. however, if i have the choice and i'm going alone (since my usual concert buddy likes to be as close to the stage as possible), i do mostly prefer to get an assigned seat since it does save you a lot of trouble.

24. who is an artist you think everyone should experience live at least once? i'm going to be so biased here since i've been a fan of them for almost a decade but 5 seconds of summer. i saw them exactly three weeks ago for the first time ever and fucking hell, i was blown away. they sound absolutely incredible live, they're super talented performers with amazing stage presence, their whole show is filled with so much fun and joy while simultaneously giving a spotlight to their sadder and more heartfelt songs too, they have funny, creative skits and jokes that include the fans a lot of the time and god, i just wish i could go back.

[nsuiswitch]

I love the pomodoro method except when I do it it's 5 minutes of work and a 20 minute break

[margaritalaux-antille]

gonna be obsessed with house of hollow for a while. like you can pick most of what's going on pretty early on but the details actually shook me to my core.

[antinousmondragone]

Drummer magazine ads

[muscosus]

i am sooooo pleasantly surprised by "when the killer falls in love".... it's freakishly hilarious and sweet and unpredictable at the same time!!! i haven't had this much fun reading something in ages