#df quests

[little-demy]

I forgot I haven't shared these here yet

While they are technically the same person in different timeline/world/universe, I love the idea of them as sisters (Michel Triplets). The easiest way to explain how they are as their own is the image attached

[7yd1a]

ANOTHER thing that makes me crazy: Jaania wanting so badly to be a hero that she sought to play god to protect everyone vs. EDoT / AQW Hero willingly giving up their godhood because the world needed a hero, not a god.

[sotc]

i revisted the wrathion/sabellian scene again and i just get sooo soft about the brothers opening up to each other but especially wrathion in this moment. the genuine care that went into wrathion's character development here is so noticeable imo. it's such a personal moment that means so much to me in my own ways and just-- I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHH!!!!

[spirallingstarcases]

Li Lianhua discovers something about Fang Duobing. Li Lianhua goes shopping. Li Lianhua gets railed within an inch of his life. These facts are interconnected.

————————

the collaring that we as a society needed.

[vaalthus]

Riadne's Letter: Myshka (spoilers)

I knew it, I knew something was up when Riadne said she needed to prepare us

and when we seemed to just casually kill a necromancer over a toy

but for it all to have led up to THIS moment:

AAAAAH IT HUUUUURRRRRTTTTSSSS!!!

Something you never want to hear in the doctor's office because the odds of your practitioner figuring out what's wrong with you starts to become slim and fixing the problem even slimmer

Hmmm this makes me wonder if she is suffering from something similar to Bethany's condition: a "malady of the soul" as Jaania put it.

Though if Riadne analysis of the situation is correct, in that her body is fine with the exception of still needing to consume food and water, I have to wonder how her soul could be afflicted in contrast as Bethany seemed to swing on a pendulum between getting better and then worse with each attempt to treat her and that's assuming Akanthus had no hand in being responsible in Brittany staying ill.

Still, if the conditions are similar then the best hope might lie in soul weaving arts though preferably one that doesn't lead to the tainting of the user's soul as we saw with Jaania.

Ever the pity that we don't know anyone living with access to dream magic, like Remthalas, to conjure entire dreamscapes for her to play in.

I'm glad the Hero took the time to remind Riadne that while she may not be the kind of hero that's constantly takes on giant monsters, she still a hero and a good person that's helping with this orphanage and you can tell she needed to hear that at the end as I imagine it's not easy helping Izaac with his void madness affliction, raising Tomix, and running this orphanage kind of on her own.

Also...

NEW CAT EARS HELM!!!

[thatvampireenthusiast]

show of hands who's sobbing over the new myshka quest in dragonfable

[theloverofdragons]

my longest yeah boy ever

[artheresy]

Everybody moved on to Penacony and I’m still in agony over the High Cloud Quintet lore… I’ll never move on from these tragic gay mfs

I do need,, HCQ revisited at some point. Doesn’t even have to be in any main story, I honestly just need more HCQ readables because those are some of the most enjoyment I’ve gotten out of Honkai Star Rail. Baiheng’s Travelogue to the Zhuming chANGED MY LIFE and sewed the seeds for an obsession that is far too unhealthy to the point I am in the process of wasting my money to make a Blade ita bag. And it was a single readable that started me spiralling into this obsession and made me motivated to read more readables and character stories and etc.

I need another Baiheng travelogue… here’s to praying we get another if we end up on the Yaoqing soon, in general heres to hoping for more BH lore on the Yaoqing since apparently she’s from a very prominent family on that ship.

I just really need more HCQ crumbs because as much as I love them, their in game dynamics are so underdeveloped. Yes, we have a lot of Dan Feng and Yingxing, but a lot is very vague, and we have to mostly make assumptions with the little crumbs we have. Baiheng and Jingliu also have a lot set up, but I really need more content of them because my god, we barely know anything bout their dynamic too. We mostly have the aftermath and Jingliu’s grief, but I want to know about their happiness so her prolonged mourning hits even harder by knowing exactly what she lost. Jing Yuan and Jingliu probably have the most show upfront dynamic mostly due to the animated short, but the knowledge of Jing Yuan’s dynamics with the rest of them are practically nonexistent outside of that one line about Yingxing and Jing Yuan bickering and sad looks he has that really don’t hit as hard in my opinion because we don’t have the context.

And personally out of all the dynamics I want more content more, I think I want Jing Yuan and Baiheng content the most. The lines he has when he visits the Express that are about her are my saving grace, I am the biggest advocate for these to have a very sweet familial kind of bond and messing around together causing all kinds of trouble. Bonus points if they get Yingxing along for the ride with them. But we have crumbs only 😭 we only have itty bitty crumbs and I am starving

I have a lot of my own views about what I hc their dynamics as due to what we know, but god I want to see what their dynamics in canon are supposed to be. I ranted so much about how I see Dan Feng and Yingxing’s potential dynamic, but even with that, I wanna know. I wanna know about Jingliu and Yingxing, to add even more pain to how their dynamic is now (which hehehe… I have some ideas for this specific topic, but I want canon stuff too not just my own hcs). I wanna see just exactly what Jingliu lost when Baiheng died, what in Baiheng and the way she treated her made her so devastated as to promise to cut down the stars from the sky (which? Is that? Potentially a code for something else like the current plan she has regarding a certain aeon?), like Jingliu was so clearly devastated and tormented by Baiheng’s death, still is 700 years later and we don’t know what about her made it so painful. Yes Baiheng was clearly kind as she’s been established, but just how was she kind to Jingliu? I have my own assumptions and conclusions given what we know about both, but even then it’s still something pretty completely fabricated in my head because we don’t have enough!! GIVE ME THE LIUBAI CONTENT HOYOVERSE I have you’re keeping it somewhere, tell me where

Ugh, too many HCQ thoughts in my head. I need to keep writing and finally finish that first chapter so I can reveal my insanity about them esp the Zhuming family to world. I love them

[superconductivebean]

#1023: about the update

It's alright to feel disappointed.

Building hype for this long-expected unification wasn't warranted, HL PR team. People are reasonably upset over not receiving anything for a year. We can explain it by that MMO game, older console gen ports, but looking at other releases and how this one gets handled, well.

If you'd like to indulge, feel free to jump under the cut. But before you do, know that if you're upset, I'm with you.

Why hope for the sequel when something already as costly can't put it mind to garnishing itself. It isn't an impossible ask, especially when you know the HL situation is rather unique with its update absence.

I am aware not many people came to HL after a lengthy log of games to have something to compare with, so, a few examples.

No Mаn Sky. Everyone hated on it on release for not delivering on its ambitious promises; money were spent on a nothing burger. But the devs eventually turned the bland experience into something more fun but maybe repetitive, but fun nonetheless. People don't mind a game to be repetitive at times. They are finally able to meet their friends somewhere in the game's vast expanses of the traversable universe.

Cybеrpunk. Dumpster fire. Upset people, refund river. Completely bland, according to some, and definitely not an RPG of the millennia. Like, the main character, V, is basically the HL's MC: they were made to be filled with your own colours but the devs didn't have time to implement it besides the backstory choice (which doesn't matter 95% of time). Years after the release, a few systems were revamped and remade, and a long-overdue DLC has finally seen the light of day. It's arguably the best thing in the entire game now.

Stаrdew Valley. A phenomenon. It was already awesome on release but it was only the beginning; has been becoming increasingly more complex and wholesome since. This game has been developed by just an one guy plus a very few people helped him on the way. Today, he continues to drop DLC-sized bangers, with the community's help, but it's never company-structure-size thing. This all for free.

Eurо Truck Simulatоr 2. Metric ton of content for if you love a rather monotonous gameplay loop. The devs add more to the pile: free map revamps and content updates + paid DLCs with entire countries worth of territory to explore.

Deep Rоck Galaсtic. Steep and flat learning curves, four different characters with unique play styles, free content updates + you can pay for the cosmetics for nothing more but rizz (the game is meant to be played in co-op so you'll have someone to shot it off to).

Dwаrf Fоrtrеss has been out for 20+ years and it is free and has always been updated a lot since.*

An absence of plans or content for HL is thus disheartening to me.

This game being a half-baked cookie for a steep price is, well. You'd expect the level of developmental commitment of other scandalous releases, or you'd expect the passion the less known developers nourish their projects with. In this day and age we have to live with a sad realisation that the industry would rather push the half-baked thing on the market to patch it later, or it wouldn't meet the deadline.

But it also asks to pay a hefty price. It's alright to demand your money to meet the promise given, and we certainly were promised a lot. It isn't unreasonable. It isn't dull or stupid. You bought a liter of milk and got 750ml and no promise of the missing 250ml being added later, what's here not to be upset about?

It isn't any different with anything you buy, I suppose? Would it be fair if you were told the house you're about to buy has AC but when you are moving in, the wall has only a spot where it's been mounted? Or if you bought a book with *inserttopic*, half the pages were torn away?

Games aren't any different. You pay, a lot, and sometimes get 1/3 of the amount. This -- isn't alright. And in no world it should be.

Saying 'uncommon' doesn't mean there aren't games that look oddly familiar to HL, though. Stаrbound is only alive thanks to its modding community. Ovеrwatch is just sad. Bоrdеrlands 3 flopped, stripped from everything its predecessors had besides the gunplay. It will depend on who you ask, but Minеcraft, too, has these issues. Also, Anthеm. Some will shout, ThеSims4.

So. It is alright to feel disappointed if you paid for something based on, well, what's the seller said about it and literally got little from it. And just, let's not cynically defend predatory business practices here.

It is also okay to be upset when you've been lured into hoping something is about to come only to realise it's been used in a tactic to gain cheap engagement from you.

You're most correct in being sad.

tldr; Breaking the radio silence with a hype for the long-awaited but known small pack of content wasn't the PR team's brightest idea.

[high-voltage-rat]

The SDF Reliant crew have lowkey just become pseudo-OCs for me at this point. That's kinda what happens when characters have so few appearances in canon, but I still find it really funny how much I've just said "my city now". I decided I want to yell about them, so here's some of the headcanons I've come up with.

In mechquest, houses are the big question all GEARS students grapple with. My HCs on this front, based on vibes and fleshed out with added headcanons:

Starbuck originally kind of just joined Wolfblade because he wanted to look badass, but then found that the house of leaders who value helping others really fit with his love of mentoring other students. It was actually Xaria that convinced him to be bold and apply for his TA position with Denara- which he is forever thankful for.

Sally tends to throw herself into everything she does 100%, burning short and bright. She's prone to hyperfixation- eating the same thing for weeks on end until she gets sick of it, investing herself in yet another hobby that will end up in the hobby graveyard, etc. She wanted people who would match her intensity, so she joined Wolfblade. Now whenever she gets into another rabbit hole she usually is able to find a fellow housemate to "yes, and" her. This is only SOMETIMES a problem.

Dooder, as a certified chill jokester, was naturally drawn to Mystraven. He firmly believes in the importance of fun, and is always finding ways to drag the rest of the crew into relaxing and enjoying themselves every now and then. Sometimes that's a mini prank war, sometimes it's "accidentally" buying too much pizza to eat by himself, sometimes it's dragging everyone to a night out at the SC Lounge.

River doesn't actually know why she felt drawn to Runehawk, at first. Sure, she's always been a bit more nerdy than some of her friends, but she's not really as intensely academic as others in the house. She ends up very glad she joined, however. While she initially didn't put much stock in the house system at all, after the crystal asteroid incidents she discovers she has latent psychic abilities that she has no idea how to regulate. With the help of fellow Runehawks' research, she eventually learns to control her powers and bolster her already impressive piloting skills via their signature mana drive.

In my fic, I also don't plan on having my hero doing 5 different careers: Ravyn is a neurologist AND actively doing another degree, they don't have time to be delivering pizza. Instead:

Dooder works for Mecharoni- he finds the actual pizza-making pretty meditative, and any time customers are assholes he just amps up his chill demeanor until it's genuinely off-putting to whoever he's dealing with. He's the kind of guy who writes jokes or does drawings on the inside of your pizza box.

Sally works alongside the SPD as a conflict meditor and harm reduction support staff. Mostly, she thinks Chief Duncan is an idiot, and decides she can do a better job herself- so she sticks herself into his business and does. She also regularly does supply runs and odd jobs for all the businesses around Soluna- she's weirdly good friends with H.A.L.

River volunteers at the hospital sometimes, but more prominently works for the museum or with Mysterious Johnson to catch ghosts. She regularly invites the others to join her on museum jobs- and they eventually start investigating dusty old ruins together as group bonding 'field trips' whenever they have the chance between missions.

Starbuck has his TA job, and he's very happy with it, but in his early years he also worked for Mecharoni, and also did a brief stint as a stockboy for the Knife and Spork.

Some additional miscellaneous HCs:

Dooder tends to "pack bond" pretty easily- he actually tends to personify his mech, telling it that he loves it and regularly polishing it up nice. Sometimes he sings to it. He cries when it gets damaged and will mourn when it is eventually destroyed. He's had the same shitty pillow since he was like 9 and it's totally flat by this point, but he can't throw it out because it's always been by his side and he doesn't want it to feel abandoned. He would absolutely create stabby the roomba.

Due to the previously mentioned hobby graveyard, Sally has a lot of hidden talents she can whip out at a moment's notice to impress people. She's taken a course in mixology, she did a brief stint in cake decorating, she can knit and crochet and embroider pretty well, she knows how to do carpentry and plumbing, she's done dance lessons in break, ballroom, swing, salsa, tap, highland, ballet- even a few niche cultural dances from other planets. You name a hobby, and there's a 50% chance she's tried it.

River was a track and field star before she attended GEARS. Her long-distance running game was always top-tier, but she also regularly placed podium in sprints and relay events. She finds running to be good for clearing her head, so it's her go-to whenever she's stressed. One can tell how hard a week she's been having based solely on how much time she's spent on the treadmill.

Starbuck really loves giving people (and their mecha) nicknames and callsigns- the second he meets someone he starts watching for inspiration for their new title. Sally's callsign is 'Apple Core' (because of her regular consumption of the fruit in question, plus insisting she's hardcore), River's is 'Bubbles' (a play on her name, plus a joke after she burped loudly over all-hands comm), Dooder's is, much to his displeasure, just 'Dude' (though not enough displeasure to accept the alternative of 'Doughboy').

Sally runs competitive arm wrestling tournaments (mostly populated by Wolfblades). She manages the betting pools, and always throws her hat in the ring, too- only to be obliterated every time. Defeat only makes her try harder next time.

Dooder doesn't like to sing in front of other people- unless he's drinking, then he just won't stop. He has a really nice voice, but gets embarrassed if anyone tries to bring up his singing to compliment it. Everyone always looks forward to him pulling up to karaoke nights at the SC lounge.

Starbuck is notoriously bad at drawing- during his tutorials, any time he attempts to draw something on the blackboard, students make a game of "guessing" what he's trying to do like a game of pictionary. He's actually considered using stencils, but "Starbucktionary" has become too beloved, and the students would riot if he did.

River is a closet foodie. She cooks really well, but is a perfectionist who finds it very stressful, so doesn't do it very often. She's often on the hunt for new places to eat, though, and will try pretty much anything once. She keeps a notebook of reviews for different dishes at the places she frequents- though they're just for her personal benefit. She's still searching for the best steak in Soluna City.

[little-demy]

Sirius // Inanitas

[swampgallows]

(me seeing a handful of gay dudes and she/theys in dragonflight) video games are now officially Ours. die mad ciscels

[anduln]

i appreciate it sm when fic writers don’t reduce wrathion the stereotype of him actually just being a ‘petulant child’ & that his elegance & intelligence are just a façade like he’s so much more than a scared young dragon

[vaalthus]

OUTTA MY WAY IMMA BOUT TEACH MY BABY TO READ!!!

[theloverofdragons]

this shot was so cool, i had to do a lil edit with luna and shadow's in-lore amulet hehe :3

[cyraen-ae]

Hmmm so let me get this straight.

We have everyone mysteriously disappear by the water, with the briefest glimpse we get of it being Notha having her face darkened and being unresponsive.

And then when we get in the water, they’re all fine and it’s all brushed off and forgotten about.

All that while the quest is focused in part on an entity that can induce dreams, as well as control people and manipulate their perception through them?

I’m sure there’s absolutely nothing to worry about