#difficulty level

[jbk405]

With my full playthrough of Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, I got to thinking about the different difficulty levels. Despite all being in the same series, the difficulties of each game are very different from one another.

With its heavy emphasis on RPG skills instead of cover-based shooter, the "Insanity" difficulty in ME1 doesn't change the nature of gameplay itself. The combat is definitely harder than the lower levels, but it's still the same game.

With ME2's change to a cover-based shooter emphasis, the "Insanity" difficulty is a whole different arena. Tactics need to be completely changed and different characters are less useful (some of which become nearly pointless outside of certain dedicated missions). Personally, I think some levels are so hard that it crosses over the line from "fun" to "work". I doubt I'll replay this game on Insanity after getting the achievement.

In ME3 it's back almost to where ME1 was, but not quite. Some squadmates are still more useful than others, but you can use any squadmate throughout the game without sabotaging your own combat. With the change in how Defenses and Powers work this might actually be the easiest of all three games in straight combat difficulty. I did the Insanity achievement on the first run without even a "practice" playthrough.

[visionsofmagic]

― • doom: eternal [choose difficulty level] • ―

⋆ I’m too young to die

⋆ hurt me plenty

⋆ ultra-violence

⋆ nightmare

⋆ ultra-nightmare

[alicesong1]

Overcome difficulties Everyone can go through a tough time. The more difficult it is, the more you need to stay calm. Believe that if you face it calmly and calmly, there will be no knots that cannot be untied and no hurdles that cannot be overcome. Those difficult things that make you feel insurmountable, once you overcome them, will eventually become trivial things that you can mention lightly. All difficulties are temporary, we just have to do our best and leave the rest to time. When we get through difficult times, we can see ourselves differently. If you don't push yourself, you will never know how much potential you have.

[bastardlybonkers]

i feel like not enough ppl are factoring in the cultural clash between laios and shuro and the many micro agressions shuro faced while being in their group. literally the name 'shuro' in itself is one

his name is toshiro 😭 lets also not forget that he has his own communication issues, in the opposite way that laios does- thats literally a factor in their argument, that his envy for laios's ability to express himself sincerely manifested as part of his distaste for him.

ig all this to say like, was their fight heart wrenching, especially when reading laios as autistic? absolutely. anybody whos ever been in laios's position knows how much it hurts to realize someone you thought was your friend doesnt actually like having you around, especially when they didnt tell you and you had no way of knowing due to not understanding their cues. but im begging yall to step back and see the nuance of this situation cause im gonna be real a lot of you are kinda just brushing over it acting like everything is toshiros fault and that hes a terrible person when in reality hes an average guy who really, really clashed with laios and it led to a very long misunderstanding due to their supremely opposite methods of communication. even laios and toshiro, after letting everything out in their fight, were able to come to an understanding and start a foundation for an actual friendship built on better communication

ok yknow what Edit: i shouldve made it even more explicit at the end of this post, i hadnt thought i would need to since i started the post with this, but i think a few too many people are missing my point so i just wanna clarify. i shouldnt have said 'really clashed' and left it at that because yeah they did, but it wasnt just their opposite methods of communication, it is also very much that toshiro was experiencing microaggressions via laios. it may have been unintentional on laios's part, but it still happened and wore him down, made it harder for him to communicate on top of both the more subtle social cues that he was raised with and his own communication difficulties. i also want to say that the fandom reaction to toshiro and the complete ignorance of this point is also racist tbh or at the very least ignorant. i understand that the anime did not cover this panel, and neither did the manga, as this was an omake, but im gonna be real with you guys. there are enough context clues within the story to clue you into this. if you didnt pick up on it thats ok, but i think this is a good lesson in picking up subtext in the stories that youre watching and/or reading. kui shouldnt have to explicitly say 'by the way laios was racist to toshiro' for this point to be understood, and at the very least, when the author portrays a character in a sympathetic light (as kui clearly does) it should make you question Why they are doing so and what makes them sympathetic, rather than youre immediate and only reaction to be 'well i hated what this guy did/said so i hate them and they suck'. idk exactly how to finish this, just. idk. question your biases and gut reactions to things you see in media and stories, and think about whether or not theres subtext that youre missing.

[bantersnatch]

very important people is so unhinged from the guest comedian's perspective. like you get an email from sam reich asking if you want to come play ??someone?? on a show. you don't know what you're getting into but you say yes because it's a gig and you've been promised some level of Fun. you get there and spend 2-3 hours in the makeup chair being actively lied to and gaslit by the costuming team. they spray shit in your mouth. they put shit in your eyes. you can't rotate your hips because of the prosthetics. then they give you a mirror and half an hour max to scramble for Something Funny before you are unceremoniously thrown into the waiting jaws of vic fucking michaelis, who is deep in character as the most haunted freak you've ever met and running on four shots of espresso three hours of sleep + a dream. and people still came back for season 2.

[nanabushinthematrix]

GODDESS PUSSY CURSE...DIFFICULTY LEVEL...OR ELSE...

GODDESS PUSSY CURSE

LOOKS-LIKE GOD LEVEL DIFFICULTY IN REALITY...IS IT EASY OR NOT...

EXPECTATIONS in REALITY are... TOO HARD TO FUCK in DIFFICULTY...

GODDESS PUSSY CURSE

If that pussy is EASY then IT IS NOT a GODDESS PUSSY...

IF THAT PUSSY IS EASY...NO LONGER A GODDESS PUSSY BY DATA AND DEFINITION...IT TRANSFORMED...THROUGH FUCKING FREE WILL...

If you choose to act like a WHORE...EASY MODE...AINT GODDESS MODE...

TRUE STORY IN THE SUPERCOMPUTER OF LIFE...DIFFICULTY LEVEL OR ELSE...

[magicicephoenix]

I'd like to tell Moon that it's incredibly endearing that he blue screens or has to buffer when people give him affection in any form.

that in mind: you're lovely, Moon

not sure what you expected from him lol

[mlobsters]

jared padalecki and jensen ackles - njcon 2025 main / nashcon 2021 main / jib 2022 jensen sunday am / dccon 2023 main / chicon 2024 gold / njcon 2025 gold

jensen on struggling with soulless -> jared on souls; love and unbroken bond

j2 on their friendship redux

+bonus

(tom cruise's "you complete me" from jerry maguire)

[syn0vial]

yes, yes, boba fett finds it strange and uncomfortable when people can see his face and this is one of the major reasons he almost never removes his helmet (in the expanded universe anyway), but another factor that i think isn't explored nearly enough is just how much his helmet shapes how he sees the world. it grants him 360° vision, lets him interface with his weapon systems and slave I, and automatically dampens loud noises and dims bright lights. imagine going through the vast majority of your life seeing the world through that lens and then suddenly taking it away. removing his helmet for any significant length of time likely isn't just uncomfortable for him but downright disorienting.

[orengejoshi]

Paperhatober Day 9: Shine 💫

[voidedtea]

[ID in alt]

my pieces for @strawberrij's thespius fashion zine!! quite the endeavour and adventure that turned out pretty neat i think :]

special thanks go to @ratchetclankarecute for posing/cloth references + the bulk of the image descriptions! that first image would Not have happened without them <3

[nin-nyan-ve]

बारा.

Nihilism and Absurdism

one/?

[lloydfrontera]

touch averse javier who doesn't really enjoy physical contact all that much and quietly avoids it whenever he can

who quickly learned to avoid being touched as a child in the streets and could never quite forget that lesson.

who after a few uncomfortable incidents where some people got a little too handsy while confessing to him learned to not do anything that may look like encouragement.

who doesn't mind the occasional pat in the arm or quick hug from the people he loves but mostly prefers to keep his distance if possible.

and who post battle-in-hell and subsequent trip-to-seoul becomes the human equivalent of an octopus when it comes to lloyd and is basically attached by the hip to him 24/7.

it starts small enough, so slowly not even javier notices at first.

it begins with him always wanting to keep lloyd in sight or at the very least be able to hear his heartbeat in the next room

then he starts standing next to lloyd, so close their arms brush whenever one of them gestures a little too much

which eventually progresses into pressing against lloyd's shoulder, always keeping a point of contact between them

until one day when their knuckles brush against each other one too many times and lloyd just grabs his hand in his and when javier doesn't pull away he just goes on with his day like that

and it's. it's nice.

it feels nice.

it feels nice in a way touching another person hasn't felt like for javier in a very long time.

and that's how it becomes normal in the frontera estate to see the young master and his knight just casually holding hands with each other every day <3

[mdl-art]

I got inspired by all those "Let's get hunted by mama!" posts and went a little too far lol He wasn't supposed to look so terrified, but oh well!

Tested my old regular tablet again after switching to a display one less than a year ago. Forgot how to use it, apparently 9 years of muscle memory dies fast.

The drawing turned out okay, but my hand hurts. Back to the display tablet!

[atwas-gaming]

I've had a scenario in mind for a while now about what it would take for Sonic to finally own up to his feelings about Amy. And I think what it would take is...

Shadow.

Well, just plain jealousy and a fear of losing Amy before he even has her. But Shadow would be the best one to instigate it.

First, some headcanons about how they behave romantically:

Amy's maturing and spreading her wings. She's not moving on from Sonic, not really, but it's possible that she's starting to notice other guys. There's some hints in the Twitter takeovers that she may be developing some small interest in Shadow.

Sonic is clearly interested in Amy, and if you pay attention, he has been for a long time. What he's not interested in is marriage- at least, not yet. And Amy is clearly wifey material- she cooks, she takes care of people, she has a caring nature, she's protective, and she's extremely loyal. She's not someone you can use for a one-night stand, you take all of her or you risk shattering her into pieces. She's Sonic's friend, no matter what else he may feel about her, so he avoids any romantic interaction because he doesn't want to hurt his friend.

Meanwhile, Shadow is... not aro-ace, per se, I don't know what you'd call him. He can see that Amy is attractive, but so is Rouge, and Shadow has no interest in Rouge. He just isn't interested in the physical side of romance.

What I think it would take to get Shadow's attention is something deeper, an emotional or spiritual connection.

So here's the Sonamy/Shadamy love triangle scenario that I came up with:

As Amy ages, she feels her desire for male companionship growing stronger. Sonic takes little notice of it, but it doesn't escape Shadow's attention.

Somehow or other, Shadow and Amy end up alone together, probably on a mission or something. I haven't figured out the exact circumstances, but they're together for quite a while. Amy loves to talk to people and get to know them, and Shadow has a soft spot for her, so she's able to get him to talk to her about things that he's probably never told anyone before. And he knows she won't tell anyone about them, either, so he feels safe telling her.

At some point, Shadow realizes, she's done it. She's broken through his barriers, and at the same time, she's calmed the storm of emotions that he's had swirling inside him for 50-odd years. He hasn't felt such peace since... no, not even then. This is something else. He's never felt this way before, and he doesn't have the words to describe it, but he's fallen head over heels for her.

This is why he never lets his guard down, even around the people he trusts most. Because if he lets them in, even a little bit, he might let them in too far. ("Can you see all of me, walk into my mystery, step inside and hold on for dear life.")

He loses control of himself and kisses Amy.

And when he lets go, he instantly hates himself, he starts throwing his barriers back up, because... she's crying. She's crying because she liked it, and she wants more of it, but she's still so desperately in love with Sonic, and she's starting to think she'll never get it from him, so she'll accept affection from just about any man, and it's not like Shadow's unattractive, and, and, and...

So Shadow's raw and open and hurting, he knew before he said or did anything that he was going down a dangerous path, but talking to Amy felt so good he didn't want to stop. And he wants to erase what just happened like it never did. But now he has to be the one to comfort Amy, because this was his fault, Amy was just being the kind and compassionate person she always was and Shadow was an idiot for letting it get to him and making more of it than what it was and losing control. So he has to keep his barriers down for just a moment longer, just long enough to hold Amy and tell her it's not her fault, until her tears finally stop.

It leaves Shadow burning with rage, and as soon as he can, he forcefully confronts Sonic (I imagine Shadow slamming Sonic against a wall or a tree and shouting in his face 😝) and basically tells him, "Amy needs attention from a man, she wants that man to be you, but if you can't grow up and do what it takes, then I'll be more than glad to take your place."

Which scares Sonic good and proper. It's bad enough to think that he could lose Amy, anyway, but to lose her to that faker??? And it finally makes him go to Amy and (very, very awkwardly) ask her to be his girlfriend. And... I'll let y'all imagine the rest.

As for Shadow... he, quite understandably, becomes somewhat aloof towards both Sonic and Amy for a long time after that.

But Shadow's immortal, right? And there's other Amy's in the world. He doesn't have to be alone forever.

Oh, and as for why Shadow would confront Sonic instead of just taking Amy for himself: because he respects both Amy and, especially, himself far too much to do that. He knows good and well she will never be able to fully commit to anyone else as long as Sonic is still an option. If Shadow was to start dating her, she'd go along with it, but it would become a power play between him and Sonic to try to "win" Amy's affections. Shadow has no issues with fighting Sonic over just about anything, but when it comes to his own feelings, he won't stoop that low, and he's not about to hurt himself by playing such a game. I also don't think he would view Amy as "a prize to be won."

[tilde1337]

I had a dream where deltarune chapter 3 came out. Kris and susie wake up and immediately get into an impossible fight only for toriel to show up and obliterate everyone. She’s LV 10 and had insane stats like full revive (50 tp% heals party 300) and kris is just like. What the fuck mom??? How many innocent darkners have you slaughtered??? And toriel is confused because back in the good old days lightners used the dark worlds as if they were a mix of a rpg video game and an iskeai, she was the support for asgore and rudolph and they were grinding for max level when the servers (the dark world) shut down (fountain was sealed) and joins the party to make sure we can safely get stronger