#got all the ruins and caves and other points of interest

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Month 3, day 17, got a couple more frames done on the face, but I had to stop because a) am sleeby tired, and b) the cat is so upset that I'm not settled down for bed, and therefor snuggles, that he's dropping gnarly cat farts at me. So, gonna go to bed and fix both issues XD

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕ DA:TV spoilers under cut.

Another shot of Rivain Coast, which we can tell from the image but is also known from the file name. this environment was seen in the Thedas Calls teaser. the remains of the large sea creature are really cool and interesting to me from a biological perspective. like is it a creature we know, or something like the Cetus, or something as-yet-unseen by us? it makes me think of Ghilan'nain's beasts of the deep, and the Tevinter Nights map, which showed all manner of sea monsters in the seas around known Thedas. it also makes me think of this codex entry, which talks about whales, squid, giant worms, dragons hunting underwater in the sea, etc, as well as the DA:TV concept arts we've seen which involves sea monsters. what if we held hands and got married.. while standing under the flower-bedecked arch of the jaw of this giant skull..? 🥺 in Thedas Calls we could also see the remains of some beast on the Rivaini shore; I wonder if this is that same area of the shore but from a different angle/viewpoint.

the other focal point of this screenshot is the boat. the red things on the side look like shields, and they remind me of a stylized version of the Qunari symbol. red is also a color associated with Qunari, from things like the distinctive red-rope clothing. but the boat also really reminds me of Taash's design and color scheme. maybe it's associated with Taash, or it's a Lord of Fortune vessel more broadly? if you look at Taash, two, the aquatic blue-green is her main color, accented by bits of red, just like the boat. the pointy bits and triangular shapes of the boat remind me of her pointy armor with triangle details. idk, even the hoop (even though it's a totally normal thing to have on a boat) 'feels' familiar. like I could totally buy that this boat is associated with Taash's group or something. or maybe, shut up MJ, ignore the hoop, but the blue-green and red is notable still. but also maybe I'm just seeing things that aren't there hh :)

in this first screenshot I also simply spent a while looking at the sunlight through the palm fronds :') there are coconuts or something similar in some of the trees. I'm also curious about the ruins here (right hand corner) - remains of fortresses or watch-towers that were guarding the coast against invasion?

Another shot of Rivain Coast, which we can tell from the image but is also known from the file name. this environment was seen in the Thedas Calls teaser. again, in this image we can see part of the skeleton of some giant creature, and I wonder again if we're seeing this (or one of these, if there's more than one) from a different angle in this screenshot. we can see more of the sea-ruins in this one, and part of the wall has a crenellated top like it was a rampart and the other part looks cylindrical like it was a tower/watch-tower of some kind. nearby we can see a campfire on the go with a cooking pot heating over it, and is that maybe a hammock set up behind it? camping near a giant skeleton like that would be so metal.. and I wonder if it's simply environmental art/scenery, or maybe there are a few maps where as we explore them we establish lil camps as we go again as like in-map waypoints or something. and in the top right, we can see part of the mast and rigging of a different boat, I guess a shipwreck.

what do you think this other wooden structure from the top right is btw? part of another ship's mast/rigging?

this shot is taken from a place in the shade, like from the mouth of a cave or from under an overhang of the cliff, which reminds me a bit of the perspective from under an overhang here. we can see a tangle of driftwood bleached by the sun, elf warrior Rook (love the ragged cape/cloak), Bellara, and Taash, looking soo cool and nonchalant as she Casually Leans, Casually. Taash is so cool aaa! love her piratey boots and in this shot we can see that her dragonscale-looking armor extends to her legs also. (I hope Rook can have piercings and jewelry like Taash's, whether it's from inside CC or items gathered in the world._ the big coins are ornamentation, part of Taash's outfit, just like how Lords of Fortune who have survived a couple of years are allowed to display.

also in this image are big green pots. I wonder if we can smash them open, RPG-style, to find loot or potion restocks. wasn't there something like that in the gameplay video? ^^

another thing that gets my attention in this screenshot is these blue-green banner- or standard-looking things.

whom do you suppose these standards are associated with, like which group..? in this area the Lords of Fortune are active, and the Qunari also have a presence in part of Rivain. the material that they are made from remind me of the blue-green gem of Taash's 'horn' and the blue-green material on the boat from screenshot one. if the standards are Qunari, I wonder where the familiar Qunari symbol is? for the Lords of Fortune, we don't know much about them or the specifics of their aesthetic yet but I'd be looking for their octopus symbol or classic piratey stuff like skull and crossbones or something. so who? I also can't place the standard from or being associated with anywhere else either (but if I'm missing something pls lmk ^^). here is what it does remind me of though.

The spine-like spiky pole with the suggestion of paired centipede-like legs coming off of it; the dual-prongs at the shoulders, even the crossed-over aspect, and especially the curved shape at the top.

In Thedas Calls, as the camera pans over Rivain and over its Coast, the speaker at this point says "Glory to the Risen Gods. They've come to deliver this world". I remember us wondering about the connection between these gods and Rivain. maybe these signs/standards were erected by new cultists of Ghilan'nain, and this is part of their spread? Rivain is a country surrounded by a lot of sea, and it has strong nautical themes like the piracy. Ghilan'nain has sea associations of her own, like her creatures of the deep and her monster-form rising from the sea in that one concept art. and something has caused the Lords of Fortune to lose dominion in the area and something seems to be unsettling the dragons in the area. and the Chantry has less influence in Rivain, there's more variety in religion there. but also maybe I am just reading waaay too much into the coincidental shape of a sign LOL. Ghil Goggles. maybe it's nothing and they are just fancy anchors or other pieces from wrecked ships hhh.

as an aside, I love the skybox here in 'screenshot two'. :)

This image shows Arlathan Crater, per a filename. Elf Warrior Rook, Grey Warden again by the look of their (massive!) shield, Bellara (looking all curious/inquisitive) and Harding, looking out over this beautiful and fantastical viewpoint. These ruins look so grand, even in this state and with magic gone from the world. Imagine what Elvhenan looked at its height, before the world was un-made.

For this screenshot, I highlighted some things. ^^ -

The detail of roots in and partially in the ground in the bottom left; the mist effect; the thought put into the Celtic knotwork-looking detailing on the 'tower' in the foreground; in the background just beyond that could that be a waterfall? Makes sense, there's a lake below and mist everywhere. The familiar curved arches and similar shapes of ancient elvhen architecture; gold-capped towers shining so brightly in the sun; the shimmer and reflections on the water; rocks and chunks of ruins floating in the air the way things do when Fadey stuff is going on or the Veil is disrupted/thin; the detail of small trees growing on top of a tower, having seeded there (this happens irl too). Also in general the detailing of things like paint or etc having faded off walls, the exterior parts of stonework on stone walls having crumbled away in patches, chips in the gold.

There is also a statue of a bald ancient elf. I wonder whom of? They lack a distinctive Evanuris head-piece shape, but I'm sure there were depictions of Evanuris without those, or depictions of other notable elves or other powerful elves like their chosen.

The water makes me think of the concept art where the party are swimming underwater looking for treasure or something. Maybe swimming is a thing in this game? I would bet that over time and/or thanks to the recent reality-warping that has been occurring in Arlathan Forest, that some ancient elvhen ruins and artifacts have become submerged in water.

In the foreground is a chair with a tome on it. A book a Veil Jumper was using in their research, or found and was reading, and their resting/lookout point? ^^ we know that we will spot Veil Jumpers working away and researching in Arlathan. next to that is a golden object which I wonder, is it either 1) a telescope or spy-glass of sorts which a Veil Jumper has been using to study the ruins across the lake or 2) an ancient elvhen artifact that they've found (it is gold after all), and that maybe Bellara could use Tinker on it to use it. You can see a similar gold-orb type object in the distance in this shot of the team fighting in Arlathan (that one looks on/activated). between this object and all the floating rocks in this image, I'm reminded of the bit in the Game Informer cover story article that says to reach a certain place in Arlathan in the opening hours of the game, we must first remove the floating rock rings and how to do so, we must use Bellara's Tinker to interact with a nearby piece of ancient elven technology.

If these artifacts remove the floating rock rings.. maybe it's because they are reducing the 'Fadey'-ness of a place by.. reinforcing reality there. Which makes me think of the artifacts in Solas' quest in DA:I, Measuring the Veil. He said that when we activated them, they strengthen the Veil and help prevent additional Veil tears, and they were also gold looking things, and orby-looking too with their aura when active.

This image shows Arlathan Crater, per a filename. This time we have elf warrior Rook, Neve and Lucanis. This looks to be at a similar viewpoint located not far down from the one with the chair in the previous image; if you look across the water to the ruins, you can see the tower with the ancient elf statue with the two trees growing near its top, just from a slightly different perspective. I feel like the barrels, boxes, cart and planking is Veil Jumper stuff, like field provisions and equipment and stuff when they go on expeditions or something maybeukuh. ^^ another beautiful shot.

Lucanis is smoll. :)

This image shows Arlathan Forest, per a file name. Elf warrior Rook, Harding, and Lucanis (still smoll <3) explore ancient elvhen ruins. another beautiful shot. :D I love the big Totoro-style umbrella leaves and Harding looks so cute here. and I love purple as an 'iconic color' for Rook so much. we've seen this Grey Warden elf Rook in quite a few images now. I count at least 4 blades on Lucanis. On the stonework just behind Rook's head you can see more of the knotwork-esque pattern. also in the background here we can clearly see a door to this temple[?]-place. I really like how even the door is in this distinctive ancient elvhen shape, they really committed to recognizable distinct architecture and design styles for the different nations/cultures/asset-sets etc. ^^

The main point of interest in this screenshot of course is the pair of golden hands, an ancient elvhen artifact of some kind I assume. it brings to mind the artifact Bellara uses, which has been described as a "gauntlet" (something one wears on the hand/forearm). look at the diamond/triangle patterning on the inside of the wrist that we can see - like the triangles in the ancient elven tech/gear Veil Jumpers use. Maybe this artifact is designed not so much to look like 'hands' but specifically 'gauntlets'? it could just be the lighting, but the green glow around the hands look to me like this artifact's magic is active/that it has been activated. other gold pieces are magically[?] suspended in the air above it. I wonder if these pieces are actually moving, like they each spin on a slightly different axis/rotate? that's what the angling of them in this still looks like to me. Maybe they move when the artifact is active? also, up there is the triangle motif again, this time in a way that makes me squint. the biggest ones give that part the impression of a sun, with sunrays (also like the Veil BUBBLE shown in the Tevinter Nights map below). the curved lines give the impression of the 'concentric circles' motif which is sometimes used to represent the Veil. the paired triangles in one of the layers give the impression of the black-gold banding, and triangles like these seem to sometimes represent the Veil, Fade or magic.

(re-eyeing old bubble imagery now btw, since we know there are Veil Bubbles in DA:TV. like the giantest bubble, the whole-ass Veil itself, in the TN map, and the bubble around Solas in his 'me and my fursona cast the Veil' fresco. see also in these images - the triangles)

So I wonder if, when these 'hands' are activated, does it have some effect on the Veil? ^^

the other thing the hands remind me of is the Dead Hand landmark (see Trivia section) in DA:I. it's found in the Dales and contains an elven shrine. it's not far from Ghilan'nain's Grove, and it also has an interesting magic puzzle involving the lighting of torches and balls of light. detached stone hands in DA:I, detached gold hands in DA:TV, both 'holding' magic in them.

Lastly this image is included because it's actually a slightly different moment to the one here (ability wheel pointing at a different icon) ((I covered in the rest of the contents of this image in a previous post in this series)). where in the last one we could see Harding has a move called Shred, in this one we can see that Bellara has a move called Fade Bolts. it detonates, applies Shocked on hit and sunders the target. I wonder if these are bolts of Fade-energy in the shape of arrows that she fires, or arrows that she fires from her magical gauntlet-bow and because it's magic she never misses or they have extra effects on impact.

There were also two screenshots in this 'batch' which were stills from the gameplay video, which I won't include here: the one showing blood splatter, and one of Harding as she talks to Varric.

[toxooz]

Do you have a backstory posted for ramsuse? I think he’s an interesting character and you’ve said he used to be human so I’m very curious 🙂

ROIGHT SO i gotta See it with my own eyes so i drew lil illustrations to go with it so letsa go buckle UP yall ALSO tw for like graphic gory description and suicide mention aaand i think thats it OK:

waay back arooound 1870's I'd say behold a man! Ramsuse was a very well distinguished hunter who also did bounty hunting. Being a big brawny man he had a big brawny horse as well who was named Appocolus, a shire draft horse (the Big Ol honses) and had a wife named Myrna:

They were happily married for about 5 years, owned a pretty small farm, and took a lot of hunting trips together (most likely sold the skins/ meat along with eggs ect.) but yeah huntin n fishin was one of their favorite activities to do together. They didn't live far from a small town where they did their trading and shopping from and Ramsuse was a pretty well known bounty hunter in the town and even had a small group of other bounty hunters that he would team up with occasionally. Back then, in most towns, it was still a Big Thing for monsters to exist and was often treated as a frankenstien event (light the pitchforks yada yada); but in this part of the overall timeline demons kind of infested some parts of the world (side note obv. that didn't last forever and the majority of demons and that of the like ended up being chased into caves and hidden crevices of the world which is maybe why Mogak had to go into a big ass demon cave community to get that demonic D.) some entire towns could become completely overrun with demons and many caused chaos and ruin among the land, which probably gave a lot of other unrelated monsters a bad rep. hence why they would be ridiculed as well. It was pretty common for demons to be outlaws and outliers, and it was also common practice for humans to capture demons (typically demons who were minding their own business (like Ollie in the cowboy au👀)) and sacrifice them in churches or do mass killings so it was kind of a back and forth rivalry between humans and demons during this time. Granted, while demons and humans were at war, naturally demons are more powerful than humans without any manmade advantage-so side backstory Myrna's parents got killed by a demon in their house when she was a child and she was orphaned for the rest of her adolescence, so she's carried a special kind of bitterness, fear, and hatred towards demons throughout her life.

As their town slowly starting having more and more demonic issues, a certain demon cowboy was a prominent culprit of the reoccurring destruction of the town:

he had the ability to transform people into demons and his "horse" is basically just another demon that tried to mimic a horse to be able to assist in the bidding of the outlaw (ie: it's ears are actually horns, it's neighs sound more like a donkey and hyena mixed together, ect) He too led a gang that tormented towns and cities, only they were damn near impossible to pin down. Ramsuse was the main tracker for trying to find him and every time he did, the outlaw would slip through the cracks of their dimension which would eventually drive Ramsuse to insanity and intense resentment towards demons and monsters trying to get the outlaw. It got to a point where that's all he wanted to do was try to find and catch the demon, even his own group of bounty hunters opted out and urged Ramsuse to do the same at least for a while, for it was eating away at his soul. Though it was out of love for his wife and their own town, he would leave for days and put off hunting trips that Myrna wanted to go on in order to attempt to capture the outlaw. Until one night he followed a seemingly deliberate trail of clues that led him to a run down cabin out in the middle of nowhere. The demon outlaw was patiently waiting for him when he barged in like a bat out of hell, however Ramuse was having none of it and went straight for his throat upon first look. He mopped the floor with him for a while until those eye flaps on the demons face latched onto the bounty hunters arms (kinda like venom slime stickin to shit) and started searing Ramsuse's flesh off to reveal his new demon skin. It eventually traveled through his entire body as he slowly burned to death, his horns erupting from his head probably feeling like his brains were being squeezed out of his skull, his old teeth being simultaneously pushed out by bigger lion-like teeth, his body getting bigger as his burnt dead skin fell off in bloody sheets to give way to the contorting muscles as the demon outlaw observed in deranged satisfaction

by the time Ramsuse could come to his senses, the outlaw was long gone. During the physical altercation, outside Appocolus and the demon horse got into it as well. When the draft horse saw that abomination of a horse, every red light went off in his sixth sense and he lunged for it, however it mauled him back and it's teeth essentially had the same burning effect in which Appocolus was doomed to the same fate as his rider.

Ramsuse spent several days trying to track any possible trace of the demon to see if he could somehow be changed back, but he was nowhere to be found. As time went on, desperately trying to find any way to change himself back at this point, dread began to seep into him like rot on a dead carcass as he realized he had no choice but to go back home and face Myrna with this new demonic vessel that he was cursed with.

As he reluctantly arrived at his house, he tried to talk to Myra through the door as a way to prepare her as much as he knew how. He attempted to stay behind the door as long as possible, beating around the bush as to what just happened, but she didn't understand why he was acting this way and only tolerated it so much before she opened the door and upon first glance immediately scrambled for a gun

Completely overrun with past memories, she refused to believe him and was convinced that a demon Actually killed him and took his form to get to her and was merely feigning his distress just to make her vulnerable. Ramsuse quickly saw her state and decided it was best to just do what she demanded and he fled after she shot at him.

After what happened, that was the final straw that broke the camels back and Myrna took to the town to try and tell people what happened to her husband. Nobody has witnessed anyone being turned into a demon and coming back ( they just knew people vanished or were just straight up dead) and with her being a woman back then, nobody believed her not even Ramsuse's former bounty hunter group. They drew the conclusion that Ramsuse merely found another woman and ran away with her, so Myrna was deemed mentally unstable and was locked up in a facility where she soon died of a fatal self inflicted wound. Ramsuse could only watch all of this happen from afar for he had no idea how to get through to her or to even show his face anywhere ever again as he drowned in grief and self hatred over time. He was cursed to be immortal as he became just a wandering cowboy, doing bounty work in passing towns. He took more heavily toward monster communities, however his bitterness and resentment toward the concept of life itself made both him and his horse extremely vicious and brutal to anyone around him. He would start bar fights regularly and kill more bounties that were strictly wanted alive and then he would kill lawmen if they so much as looked at him wrong he was just a whole ass mess. Appocolus was outcast as well by all horses, both feral and domesticated, so he too became very grudge driven and hostile. He would assist Ramsuse in tormenting and killing anyone they deemed deserving by biting and trampling as well. As the years flew by Ramsuse and Appocolus only had eachother in the world and now that the wild west is almost completely faded out he has a house and barn he made himself out in the middle of nowhere ( like somewhere around Montana or somethin if he was in this world I'd say) he owns thousands upon thousands of acres that he preserves and patrols( to make sure no bitch ass puts a gas station or mcdonalds anywhere PFFT) so theres pretty much a large chunk of the state that is untouched by modern life bc he Will destroy anything by any means necessary so nobody has successfully bought any land. so yeah now hes just a bitter old demon who refuses to move on from his timeline while desperately clings to whats left of his memories and avoids society except for an occasional bar run from a super old bar that's probably been around a while as well :') AIGHT i think i got everything abt his ass 😭 if u bothered to read this far HOPE U ENJOYED!!

[melodicdragon97]

Let me start by saying I love the Zelda franchise. I'm a casual gamer, and I haven't beaten every single game in the series (I haven't finished Zelda 2 and I haven't started Oracle of Ages, and I haven't played most of the spinoffs).

When Breath of the Wild came out, it instantly became tied with Twilight Princess as my favorite Zelda game. BotW was a breath of fresh air (pun intended) and I loved how I could play the game at my own pace, and I loved the freedom to explore wherever I wanted from the start. I thought the story was great and the gameplay was unique. The dungeons fell a bit short (they were short and easy, and the bosses kinda sucked), but they were creative, and I loved the champions enough that beating their bosses felt satisfying, if only since it avenged my old friends. Its themes of finally getting closure from the past while helping in the present was handled beautifully, and the final memory brought me to tears.

When Tears of the Kingdom was announced, I was HYPED. I was so excited to see Ganondorf's return and the consequences that would have on the world in this new story. I was wondering how they would handle reusing the same map, especially with the new abilities (Recall was what I was most excited for since it had so much potential to use in puzzles). But the more I saw of TotK regarding its map and game mechanics, the less interested I became.

I thought we would be able to keep the shrines as warp points on the surface (and the focus of the game would be on exploring the Depths and the Sky). Instead, all traces of the BotW's story were lost. No Shiekah tech, no towers, no (Shiekah) shrines. Ok, fine, it's whatever. But that meant you were required to explore the SAME overworld the SAME WAY as you did in BotW: finding dragons tears (finding memories), finding/beating Zonai shrines (finding/beating Sheikah shrines), and finding lookout towers to gain a map of the area (climbing the Shiekah towers). Why? What's the point of all of that in the same overworld, when the focus SHOULD be on making the Depths and Skies interesting instead?

The skies were too segmented and barely had anything in them. The depths were mostly empty aside from enemies and DLC armor from BotW (which makes most of the amiibo useless, btw. Also, THEY GOT RID OF WOLF LINK. I WILL NOT FORGIVE THEM. Lol), and finding the Lightroots as the priority made it tedious to explore. The caves on the surface were so small that they hardly mattered unless you wanted to hunt all the frogs.

I thought the dungeons would be more unique from each other this time around, maybe play on different types of gimmicks or themes. Instead, it's just more of the same gimmick that BotW had: find a few terminals and then beat the boss.

Since TotK is a sequel, I thought its story would be in real time, directly driving the gameplay. Instead, the story takes place forever in the past, and ultimately has no bearing on the plot outside of Zelda's location, AND the exact same story gets replayed after every dungeon you beat. I understood it the first time, thanks.

The ancestors in the past story don't really mean anything to me because they're...nobody. I don't even think they had names. They didn't do anything to make themselves stand out from their descendants, or even have a connection with their descendants aside from being their ancestors. But I digress.

In terms of reusing the world, I thought the old ruins (like the ranch ruins in BotW) would have been rebuilt, or a few new towns would have been added, but INSTEAD it's just the same old world with added monster camps and Lookout Landing and maybe another town that was so forgettable that I don't even remember it.

Ok, so it wasn't what I expected. That doesn't make it bad, right?

Well, I gave it a chance I just really didn't care for the building mechanics. The fusion mechanic is great, but I still feel like I'm cheesing my way through the game instead of actually solving puzzles the way they were intended. I feel like I'm just brute forcing my way through the game, and that doesn't make me feel clever or smart the way older games used to when I'd figure out a unique puzzle.

Oh well. Some games just aren't meant for some people. I still had fun just exploring and messing with Koroks, and I liked that I could have more horses (but they left out the ancient bridle and saddle from the BotW DLC =( )

So now that they've dropped trailers for Echoes of Wisdom, I thought: this is it, they're going to do something different. And we're playing as Zelda!! Zelda has so many cool abilities!!

But instead, the new gimmick in the game is....a rod. That anyone can use. Using Zelda's powers in a game where you play as Zelda? NOPE. Just give her a weapon Link could use, except now we don't have Link's sword/shield or arsenal of other items. We're just a powerless girl with a duplication wand.

Ok, ok, it can't be as bare-bones as that.

The world should be unique and encourage you to explore and navigate the different terrains, right? NOPE, just summon a million beds and climb over everything.

Open world games can be fun, but when you have NO LIMITS then it becomes boring. There's no thought or challenge or maze or puzzles in order to progress; you can easily use the mechanic to build your own solution to every single problem from the start. And building your own solution means relying on knowledge you already have; it doesn't require you to learn how to problem-solve, the way puzzles are meant to. Usually, in this case, I'd WANT to progress in order to see what will happen in the story. But we all know that the Zelda team doesn't gaf about the story, at least not anymore. So what's the point?

Just echo a cucco to fly over gaps, or summon a few objects as a staircase to climb up ledges. Using these echoes in dungeons has the potential to make things fun, but in the overworld? I just don't see the appeal of cheesing your way through every obstacle. And I already had my fill of going wherever I wanted in BotW and TotK. Making the overworld an actual world worth navigating would be NEW at this point.

I feel like EoW should be a short little spinoff game or something. At least then I wouldn't feel so disappointed in a main series game. I'll check it out for the story alone, but if TotK's story is anything to go on, I'm sure EoW's story will be lacking as well.

I'm not dropping out of the fandom just yet. But I feel like they're really cashing in on BotW's success by making every game a worse knockoff of it. They're using playable Zelda as a dirty tactic to win over fans like me who have wanted to play as Zelda with her established abilities.

[suckerforcate]

request for larissa x fem!reader: they’re in a committed relationship, but get into a fight and are both so stubborn that they don’t talk to each other for a few weeks. then they make up? :)

Stubbornness

Pairing: Larissa Weems x Reader

Word Count: 638

Warning: none I think

A/n: cute, little one shot; hope you like it! <3

"Because you always say you'll change but never act on it! And I'm sick of it."

"Do you even understand that I'm the Principle? I'm not just a teacher, I have much more responsibility and work. This isn't so easy."

"Oh, right. I don't have anything to do. I just sit here all day waiting for you. No, I have a fucking lot to do, but I make time for you, because I care! And this is not the relationship I signed up for." With that you stormed out of her office.

You had both said stupid things, you knew that. There were always two involved in a fight, but there was also always a truth to every fight. And even though you regretted a few comments, you initial point still stood. You wouldn't take it back, and you would definitely don't apologise.

Hardly did you know that Larissa thought the exact same thing. And because you were both extremely stubborn, you held your word.

Literally you did. Two weeks had passed without talking to each other, and slowly you were getting anxious. Anxious that this had ruined your relationship. That maybe your stubbornness was driving your happiness down a cliff right now.

It was like torture seeing Larissa across the room, in the corridor or in conferences. Whenever you caught each other looking at one another, you were fast to look away, pretending you were extremely interested in the trash can next to you. While your heart broke more and more every time.

There were a few moments where you had nearly caved in, but something always got in the way. Someone wanted to talk to you or to her, she left, Wednesday had broken yet another rule, or you just couldn't find Larissa.

But after yet another week of not talking to each other, you decided that stubbornness was really misguided right now. You went on your way, determined that this time nothing would get in-between. To your surprise you ran into Larissa on your way to her.

"I'm sorry." You both said it at the same time, giggling at that. You pulled Larissa into a kiss. God, how you had missed feeling her lips on yours, to feel the warmth of her body, to smell her perfume.

"I think maybe we should talk." She nodded at that and took you back to her office. You sat down on the armchair in front of the fire. Larissa pulled hers closer to you, turned to look at you.

"The things I said, I shouldn't have. I'm sorry, (Y/n). I know that you have a lot of work as well. My mind was just so absolutely caught up in the whole Wednesday-Situation."

"All is forgiven. Even though I still stand with my initial point. You work too much. I don't just mean too much in: we don't spend enough time together, but also in: you're overworking yourself. Essentially I'm just scared for you. You drown in work, and I feel like you can never relax." You grabbed her hand and rubbed circles on the back of her hand. She shot you an apologetic look.

"I know, but I've thought about that and I have come to the conclusion that I'll need an assistant. I want more time with you. I want to feel like I can breathe again." You were happy to hear that, Larissa really needed some release from all the work and stress.

You leaned forward and cupped her face.

"I'm so happy about that, Larissa. And please promise me that something like this won't happen again. We are both too stubborn, I've missed you so much." Soft lips touched yours, and you felt butterflies erupt inside of you. She still made you feel like a crazy teenager after all this time, that you've been together.

[ghooostbaby]

on ghosts & desire, and why i think the reason he xuan became a ghost was not to have revenge on shi wudu...

hearing he xuan's actual backstory again surprised me, after i'd gotten used to how he's generally characterized in fandom. The way the misfortunes of his life transpire isn’t really this story of this person with mounting misfortunes that eventually broke him down into despair and resentment so intense he clung on after to death in pursuit of a revenge that would finally vindicate himself and his family…

what actually happens is he grew up very loved, and was respected for his great promise as a scholar, but those dreams are ruined by corrupt/jealous officials, and then ... he seems to just move on. and gets engaged to his childhood sweetheart. Then she and his sister are kidnapped and forced to be bed attendants, and when he tries to fight the kidnappers is framed for adultery and taken to jail. While in jail he is starved and given a permanent eating disorder that is still with him till his ghost king days (according to hua cheng), during this time his sister and fiancé die, as his mother does too, and by the time he gets out of jail his father was almost dead, and then - he … starts a successful business?! A business so successful his competitors conspire to sabotage him?? And THEN he goes on a killing spree to the delight and unwavering support of the entire town, and dies not of despair at all, but exhaustion. more than anything in life he seems to exude confidence and resolve to succeed, and live. He didn’t even seem to want to die by his final actions, more like he was trying to get this frustrating impediment out of his way so he could carry on in life to do the things he wants to do.

also i believe hua cheng tells xie lian that when he xuan dies, he didn’t know all the misfortunes of his life had been caused by shi wudu, or who shi wudu was. So he xuan couldn’t have become a ghost out of resentment of shi wudu or a desire for revenge against him. If intense feelings and longings at the time of someone's death attach their soul to the world and make them take the form of a ghost … for he xuan I think that feelings he is immersed in at the moment of death is an intense desire to kill, vent his rage, and make himself free…

Also it is very interesting that he xuan’s method of cultivation is eating and (maybe??) sleeping, acts that sustain life. It makes me think that the fundemental thing he xuan can't let go of that makes him a ghost is just life itself and the desire to live. In comparison, hua cheng’s "resentment" is his love and devotion to xie lian, and he seems to cultivate by acts of devotion and love to xie lian (all the statues in the cave on mount tong'lu during the time he most needed to raise his power to survive the kiln?).

The common fanon I see of he xuan is someone very very tired, who barely wants to be existing, as if he is just hanging on to get his revenge for the family he mourns, he finds no joy in anything, he is always externally miserable eating food and with the person he is commonly shipped with. (really i just think bb hates heavenly officials.) but his life story shows someone who is full of desire, who never stops trying to keep living, changing course each time his progress in one direction is denied, and always finds respect, love, prosperity in each area he pursues, and is only stopped by others purposefully sabotaging him.

He xuan is unlike the other victims of the Reverend of Empty Words, who would always be defeated “by the fear of loss in their own hearts” and die by suicide after breakdowns. although he xuan did die, he is described as becoming a steel plate in the Reverend's mouth that it broke its teeth on. The reverend never really got to feed on he xuan's negative emotions, which us the whole point of the curses. He never became overwhelmed by fear of loss, and he didn't want to die.

It’s especially interesting the different ways xie lian and he xuan deal with having a jinx monster attach to them. Xie lian wins against it by being impossible to feed on without really having any hopes for himself, and all the misfortunes the jinx monster comes up with are more like aspirations for xie lian compared to the expectations xie lian has for himself. In contrast, it’s like he xuan has such an abundance of hope and optimism he never stops trying to find a way to move past his suffering or fight back.

I've been thinking how much xie lian is told to suppress his desires and not do what he wants to do, from mu qing nagging him, to his guoshi cautioning against fighting the laws of fate ... and when he resists he is punished harshly. Until he meets hua cheng, who tells him to "just keep doing what you want to do." Part of their task as gods seems to be to suppress their desires, abide by customs and restrictions in order to not risk their position or even their lives. Mu Qing was often frustrated at Xie Lian ignoring all the social codes they have to follow and doing what he wants to do. If Mu Qing had done the same he wouldn’t have survived – and he ends up being proved right when Xie Lian almost doesn’t survive. Everything that Xie Lian feels genuinely called to do seems to end up condemning him and when Xie Lian resurfaces 800 years later he second guesses everything he wants to do, agonizes in his internal thoughts about all the things he says and does, and he seems to simultaneously be unable to stop himself from holding these unacceptable desires, but also completely at odds with his desires. I think that ghosts on the other hand are entirely about desire, and the ghost kings' superpower is desire. Once xie lian has hua cheng, its like hua cheng's power for desire is a shield that allows xie lian to do what he wants.

In this world resources are limited and you cannot create something out of nothing. When desires come into conflict with the laws of the universe, no matter what the characters try they can’t transgress it, but ghosts can. The rain that Xie Lian struggled so hard to conjure and sacrificed so much to maintain the balance for, Hua Cheng can make come down out of the sky as blood. He xuan feeds his hunger by devouring ghosts, while so often in the novel people cannot find food that isn't poisonous to nourish them. (And the meal at the end FINALLY where the beggars get their soup is COOKED BY GHOSTS OK!!!!!!!)

[mxtxfanatic]

hi hello sorry for spam-liking basically your entire blog but i rarely run into someone with such consistently good takes and tons of great analysis and who also doesn't take shit from bullies! SO refreshing!!

i'm super excited about your reading recs because a lot of my favorites are already in there, and i've been dying for more to read (i think i've exhausted everything in C-garden and several other translation sites that i like at this point and was resorting to reading shit on wuxiaworld most of which is godawful).

anyway thanks for existing and fighting the good fight. woobifying fanon toxic-positivity bullies are ruining fandoms and more people need to stand up to them, so we can return to the joy of thoughtful discourse, including respectful disagreement, and everyone using actual critical thinking skills.

Thank you for the compliments 🥰 And don’t feel bad about the spam-likes. It’s not like there’s a time limit to when a post stops being enjoyable lmao. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be in an extreme hormone fluctuation (been hungry af all week no matter how much I eat), so I suspect I got a few more days in this battle before I lose interest and return to my little cave. But rest assured, my feelings on all this won’t change.

[moonlight-tmd]

Random idea inspired by a thing i read;

BlitzBee but Blitzwing gets amnesia and falls in love with Bee whom he hated before.

While on some mission, Blitz gets (more)processor damage and all his memory data fries. Megs wants to dispose of him and use his parts cuz the little control he had over him is gone.

Blitz runs away and the Autobots find him and take him in, they initially wanted to try and get whatever leftover information he might have but the only thing they learn is that the Decepticons are stationed somewhere in a cave.

They wanted to help him but Blitz would straight up panic whenever they tried to pull him into medbay or when Ratchet had his tools near him, at one point he got aggressive so they stopped.

The Autobots don't know what to do: on one side- this is a wanted Decepticon, on the other- the poor guy didn't even know what his name was until they told him. Then the Elite Guard arrives and thru some chain of events Megs and other Decepticons are captured in their own base and Blitz stays with the repair crew cuz 1.rehabilitation, 2.he's useless anyway so they leave him with the low-ranks.

Blitz gets branded an Autobot and gets his own place in the plant. The others try to teach him stuff and get him to be nice but it's not really effective. The only one to really get along with him from the start was Bumblebee.

The little chatty bot has captured the Ex-'con's interest; Bee was different from the other Autobots, he was funny, kind and especially cheeky for his size.

Bee was sceptical at first- the guy did try to kill him multiple times after all, but he felt bad for Blitz not knowing anything about himself. One night he found Blitz sitting alone and sad, "Why am I so messed up?" he asked Bee, and that's when Bee's Spark softened for him. He just couldn't be mean to him anymore. Everyone has been treating Blitz like an outcast and Blitz didn't even know why.

And so, Bee tells him how he knew Blitzwing and tries to answer other questions Blitz has. Key word being 'tries', he doesn't have answers for most of them.

Blitz learns to like earth's culture, Bee teaches him how to play video games so they can play together, he discovers his Dancer side and his passion for sculpting again and so begins to hang out with Bulkhead sometimes, even Sari gets the status of "closer than a stranger". But the status of "friend"- only Bee gets those privileges.

One night Blitz has a nightmare- Megatron's promises of killing him and the looming frames of a whole legion of pissed off Decepticons plaguing his dream and resulting in waking up to a panic attack. Bee, who has been staying up late watching movies again, goes to invesitgate the sudden sounds of distress. He comforts Blitz the best he can. Blitz, not wanting to go to recharge again, joins him in the main room for the late night romance movie marathon. They watch few romcoms and animated movies. Then they get to live-action Beauty and The Beast- Bee's favorite.

Blitz is surprised to find Bee crying after the movie ends, Bee tells him that he's always been a hopeless romantic. "Big, bad guy learns how to love because someone showed him kindness when everyone else treated him like a monster... man, I wish I had someone who'd love me for real." Bee had said. That night, something in Blitzwing ignited like a candle. A flame of something that only grew larger the more he hung out with Bee.

The others started to trust him too, he started to feel welcome in their presence, everything was looking up.

...Then he started remembering snippets of his past. Flashes of memories returned to him from time to time. Even tho they were very brief, it was enough for Blitz to start to piece together of what kind of person he used to be. He kept quiet about it, he didn't wanna ruin what he had now.

The flashes showed him little parts of his past- what he did, who the other transformers were, even going as far back as showing him what he once looked like. The flashes often showed him what he did on earth; the damage he caused, the brutal fights with his autobot team,.. and how poorly he treated the one he cared about the most now.

Bee noticed something was up, but Blitz brushed it off everytime. Then when the base was empty, only them in Bee's room, he asked him about their past- conveniently disguising the real reason as 'i used to be a 'con, surely we fought or something right?'. Bee told him about the fights and encounters he remembered, one particular event stuck out in his mind- the time Bee made him fall from the sky, straight into a frozen lake. Bee himself chuckled at how funny it was.

Later that night Blitz couldn't recharge, the ghost of that specific memory tickled his processor as if it was important. Blitz went to watch romance movies instead. Something about them just made sense with Blitzwing's Spark. Maybe that's why Bee loved them so much? At one point the pick up line "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven? Beacuse you look like an angel." came up in a movie. Blitzwing has been educated on earth's culture enough to know this was a form of courting. Did Bee-... no he couldn't have been, he hated him back then. Bee was afraid of Blitzwing back then, he backed away with fear whenever they met. And Blitzwing was so mean to him, he tried to kill him for Primus' sake!

He thought about all the bad things that happened between them in the past; they were enemies, of course they didn't like each other... But then the thoughts of what has happened since he got put on earth slowly flooded over the bad ones; Bee was nice to him, he spend time with Blitz and taught him all the things he knows now. Bee was kind to him, and kindness was something he never experienced nor remembered being done to him.

The realization that he might like Bumblebee a little more than a friend slowly set in his processor.

He doesn't know how to act; he wants Bee to like him back, he want to spend everyday with him and possibly have an actual relationship with the minibot- but at the same time he's guilty about what he's done to Bee and feels he doesn't deserves it.

Little does he know Bee has been feeling similar: Blitzwing is nice and funny, caring even when you really get to know him. He feels a little bad for all the insults and mockery he's thrown at the ex-'con, even if said ex-'con tried to kill him. You'd think he'd be a love expert, having watched all those romance movies, but really he has no clue what to do. Similar to his past-crush on Prowl, Blitz has always been on the attractive end. Since the two used to be enemies, only now he's realy started to appreciate it.

This is where the idea kinda dies- idk, maybe Bee got damaged and was laying in medbay in critical condition and that's what snapped Blitzwing out of the love/self-hate loop. So after Bee got better and was staying in base for few days to recover, they had another romance movie night. They watched all the movies that played on the first night and when the Beauty and The Beast came on, Blitz slowly brought up how worried he's been about Bee-

"It's like jou said... 'Big, bad guy learns how to love because someone showed him kindness'..." Blitz have muttered once the dance scene.

I cannot put to words how fluffy and soft the confession was, there were little words but just enough to cover every bit of emotion they were feeling. They fell asleep on the couch and the others found them cuddling in the morning.

It took them a while to officially announce they were dating- it was a surprise to them, Bulkhead was a little worried about Bee cuz- well, that was Blitzwing he was dating but Bee assured him he knew what he was getting into.

And it wasn't a bad decision at all, those two are absolutely happy together. Took them a bit to officially say "I love you" but the fluffy cuddles and soft kisses make up for it.

[002yb]

In Dick’s defense, he hadn’t gone out that night with the intention of kissing Jason.  They were just doing some reconnaissance work as civilians, scoping out an area that raised some red flags over the past month.  A relatively relaxed night, all things considered.  A good time, too, because at some point working with Jason became fun;  all playful banter and impish teasing, tripping each other up for shits and giggles and pushing–always pushing.  Taunting.  Challenging.  Tormenting.

Jason brings out the menace Dick hasn’t been since he was a child.

(He likes it.  He’s missed it).

The point being, Dick was looking forward to their team-up.  It had been awhile since it was just the two of them and while Dick is more than content to mess with Jason over the family comms–he thinks he might prefer this:  them.  Given that, Dick wouldn’t go off and ruin everything over a kiss.  Dick is a consummate professional.  That aside, the thought of kissing Jason honestly hadn’t crossed his mind.

Which is a joke, given it’s all Dick can think about now.

The only reason Dick even did it in the first place was because their cover was threatened.  Dick had to make a judgment call and the most straightforward, reasonable course of action was to turn their snooping into a perceived search for somewhere private to fool around.

So Dick played his part.  Mid-bant, Dick manhandled Jason against a wall tucked away in some alley, Jason’s manly squeak of surprise falling on deaf ears with all of Dick’s focus directed on the unknown tracker they’d picked up.  With their tail closing the distance between them, it was all Dick could do to crowd Jason’s space and kiss him.  And Dick–he’s a showman.  He sold it.

The vulgarity of it all got their tracker huffing in annoyance, turning on their heel at what they thought to be an obscene alleyway quickie.  Which means their improv was successful; cover saved.

Problem is, Dick sells it all a little too well.  The moment their tail loses interest, Jason’s knees buckle, too weak to support him and leaving Jason to lean helplessly back against the wall behind him for support.  Eyes wide, startled.  Cheeks blushing, chest heaving with shuddering breaths  The back of his hand raised to hide bruised lips.  Flustered, then embarrassed, then–gone.

Jason bolts.  Dick lets him.  Frozen in place from surprise because – fuck.

Dick can feel his own cheeks flushing.

There’s no way that wasn’t Jason’s first kiss.

And Dick–he really doesn’t care about shit like that, but something about Jason’s maiden-like response has his heart racing even hours later.  Dick has been perpetually rosy-cheeked since he returned to the cave.  He’s been working through a whole spectrum of emotions that starts with, ‘I kissed him,’ and ends with, ‘I want to kiss him again.’

Jason was just so sweet.

Dick wants to take him out on a date and simultaneously wreck him.

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I agree that Zutara is a vanilla example of an enemies to lovers ship especially compared to Zukaang. During the enemies phase of enemies to lovers there are two situations that commonly come up: villain captures the hero and villain and hero have to work together. Zutara got the first with the tied to the tree moment while Zukaang got both with Zuko capturing Aang at the beginning of the series and the two of them having to work together in The Blue Spirit.

I think Zutara just having just a capture moment in the enemies stage may be one of the influences in Damsel in Distress Katara needing to be saved by Zuko in many Zutara fanfics and metas which removes the enemies part of enemies to lovers.

Also, a lot of Zutara fanfics push Zuko into a stereotypical Bad Boy and Katara into ta Good Girl that understands each other better than anyone else and/or one or both of them are secretly soft for the other. The Venn diagram for Bad Boy/Good Girl and enemies to lovers does overlap and couples with both dynamics can be done well. The problem is Zuko and Katara do not really have a Bad Boy/Good Girl dynamic in canon because there is maybe one moment between them that could be a typical soft moment between a Bad Boy and a Good Girl in the caves in The Crossroads of Destiny but Zuko forgetting siding with Azula and forgetting about Katara during his time in the Fire Nation ruins the moment. Also Zuko not knowing why Katara is still so mad at him in The Southern Raiders shows he does not understand her better than anyone else.

The other thing that Zutarians try to use symbolism to force Zuko and Katara into being narrative foils a dynamic they also do not have. Between removing the enemies part of enemies to lovers and shoving Zuko and Katara into dynamics they do not have plus reducing Zuko's redemption to be all about his love for Katara leads to a very vanilla enemies to lovers ship.

Zukaang, on the other hand has both a capture moment, but more importantly a working together while still enemies moment. i think most Zukaang shippers jumped onto the ship during The Blue Spirit which is a more flexible and interesting start point That is if they didn't jump on during The Storm where Zuko's and Aang's backstories were both shown highlighting in big bold text that the two of them are the real narrative foils in the story which just gets reinforced several times most notably the other backstory episode The Avatar and the Firelord. Narrative foils is one of the more flexible and thus usually one of the more interesting ways to take enemies to lovers, as long as the enemies part of enemies to lovers is remembered. Because forgetting or removing the enemies part of enemies to lovers will lead to vanilla enemies to lovers

It's not even the "removing the 'enemies' part of 'enemies to lovers'" that makes Zutara a vanilla ship in eyes (at least not completely).

I mean that Zutara is a ship that exists SOLELY for the trope. During the entire show, we have neither sexual nor romantic tension, no obsession that starts as hateful and becomes something more, no "I hate you, but for whatever reason I'm deeply emotionally attached to you and can't let you go."

The logic behind Zutara has ALWAYS been "Enemies to lovers. Katara is a girl, Zuko is a boy. Katara is a hero, Zuko is a villain. Guess they fit the trope" - nevermind that said trope WAS NOT AT ALL PRESENT IN THE STORY!

That's one of the reasons why plenty of Zutara fics, metas, and headcanons feel not just empty, but completely OOC - the fans HAVE to make up an entire different narrative to justify the ship existing and being called "meaningful." If they stuck solely to the show, they'd be in trouble because the show gave Zutara literally nothing.

[dol-dee]

Lazy scribbling quiets through the early morning of the library. The light still muted and sleepy. Books lining the shelves. Everything blissfully calm.

Dee yawns, leans heavily on the library counter and continues to chip away at the last of her homework. 

Impeded only by the heady moans, pathetic gasps and friction against her back as Sydney grinds into Dee's ass. Greedy for the stimulation it provides. Lost in the pleasure of her frantic humping.

.

.

When Dee met Sydney for the first time she hadn’t been particularly interested in the girl.

Had felt a somewhat lukewarm, detached sort of neutrality towards her. 

Only a step above most other people, in her mind, because Sydney was polite, nice enough to talk to (despite the religious bullshit) and didn’t grope or assault her. As everyone else in this shithole of a town liked to do.

Unfortunately those feelings of neutrality were quickly replaced with something else, once Dee got to know the reserved blonde a bit more.

Not only was Sirris her parent; kind, patient Sirris who taught science and was laid back enough that even the rowdiest delinquents begrudgingly tolerated them. But it also meant that most people, or students - not to mention, Whitney and Headmaster Leighton -  didn’t fuck with her. 

Or- At least not to the extent that they like to do with her.

It also became apparent that Sydney actually was as innocent and chaste as she behaved. Like the churches fucking holy figure incarnate. Oblivious towards any of the advances and comments made towards her. Unblemished to a degree she could never hope to be. Not in her circumstances. In short, it meant she was treasured.

“Treasured”. 

A word, so unattainable, Dee could only hungrily salivate over the thought of it. 

Jealousy simmering in her chest, as she shivered in her shitty, orphanage issued bed. As she choked down the cheap, bland food the orphanage provided. 

As she had to steal, fight and whore herself out to stay afloat. As she had to waste more money on bandages, than necessities, green and blue as she was from another run in with would be rapists, kidnappers, bullies and so on. At this point they all started to blend together. 

As another week's pay disappeared into Bailey's bottomless pockets. Another week of freedom, for now at least. An incessant cycle.

Yes. Dees' feelings of neutrality had quickly soured into resentment, for someone who wasn’t even aware of how good they had it.

So the next few times they had crossed paths, Dee had been curt, snappy, maybe even a little cruel; stealing one of the books, knowing Sydney would be the one getting in trouble for it. Despite her best attempts to not let her jealousy boil over.

It had left the Librarian visibly confused and uncertain but annoyingly polite despite it all. 

For the sake of her own sanity, morals as well as a Detention free life, Dee had taken to avoiding Sydney altogether and that had almost been the end of things. 

Until an Idea started to creep in. A gross, sickly little thing that would make her no better than the rest of the fucks in this town. 

But the thought didn't leave her, slowly grew with each passing day instead; like mold or.. lichen she supposed.

She wanted to ruin Sydney. Wanted to drag her down to her level, in the only way she knew. . .

Which is how we find ourselves back in the present. Sydney fervently, desperately dry-humping Dee's ass. Her surprisingly massive girlcock soaking precum into both of their skirts. 

Dee couldn’t even lie to herself; just thinking about Sydney’s pretty, meaty cock had her salivating. Who would've thought someone so cute could hide something so massive under their skirt?

But right now was not the time for that, she had her homework to finish.

Besides- hearing Sydney’s whorish, unabashed moans as the blondes whole body pressed into her back, hands desperately groping and pawing her tits and waist and her cock grinding into her with an almost religious fervor - was exactly the kind of ego boost she needed right now.

[flecks-of-stardust]

what are those mods that were cooler than MSC? if they're that good i have to try them out

So upon further thought of this topic, I think i’m misrepresenting my thoughts on my enjoyment of MSC. A more accurate way to put it would be that I had more fun with a lot of other mods. However, I don’t think it’s necessarily fair to compare MSC to them, because the goals of MSC are different from that of other smaller mods. I guess this counts as an analysis post; this will be long.

TLDR: I had more fun with a number of region mods and I think some modcats are cool, but Rain World’s design makes having a DLC that stays true to its core ethos difficult, so I find it hard to really blame the MSC team for MSC being a lackluster DLC.

Regions

When I say that I enjoyed other mods more than MSC, I think a lot of it is in the level editing (ie, lediting), in the sense that region mods have consistently wowed me far more than MSC’s regions ever did. Conceptually, the regions that it added were incredible; I loved seeing Moon as close to her prime as she could ever be shown in Spearmaster’s time (ie LTTM the region; DM), but also finding her ruined structure (MS) as Rivulet, and the idea behind Silent Construct (CL) is also fantastic. But gameplay wise? I didn’t particularly enjoy any of these regions, especially not CL. I hated the spider clogs that I had no way of dealing with, and overall I really just bumrushed it and cheated to get to the story. Metropolis (LC) and Outer Expanse were okay in terms of gameplay, but LC’s tiling and geometry is just kind of boring, if I had to be honest. It’s quite repetitive and not particularly unique, except for maybe Atop the Tallest Tower at a stretch. OE was fine by virtue of not really having another region to compare it to and also being comparatively more plant focused, but honestly, other mods have still wowed me more. So I dunno.

Like when it comes to having regions that feel interesting to explore and are also nice to look at, there’s always Pilgrims’ Ascent and Scorched District, both by Myrmice, and these two also fit so well with vanilla Rain World’s vibe to me. These two, along with the Mast from Snoodle, are all but canon to vanilla to me, because they just fit so well and add to vanilla while still maintaining their own identities as regions. And even beyond having to feel vanilla necessarily, because that’s not always the point of mods, there’s regions like Stormy Coast, Coral Caves, Howling Rift, more that I won’t list because of how long the list will get, but the point is that all of these regions give me more engaging gameplay and paths for exploration than I felt I got for any MSC added region. Granted it’s been a while since I played MSC’s content in full, and my memory of this stuff is generally poor, but I’d rather explore Aqueducts (OA) again than do MS. OA was big and I kept getting lost even with a map, but it was big and disorienting in a way that just felt better to me than MS. The same goes for Deserted Wastelands and CL, personally.

MSC regions feel very vanilla-like to me, in that they’re kind of easy to filter out of your conscious processing so you can focus on other things. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, but for the price that you have to pay for Downpour, I think it falls a little short. The thing is that MSC is very much story-focused, putting more emphasis on the slugcats you play as and their stories rather than the lediting of the regions exclusive to them (in my opinion anyways. I ain’t a leditor). Which brings me to my next point:

Modcats and Story

This might be a bit of a hot take, but I think Rain World is inherently a gameplay focused game that doesn’t support much overt story or plot. The lore in all three vanilla campaigns is entirely optional, and if you kill Moon? Fuck you! No lore for you! And even if you wanted the lore, you have to figure out that pearls have to be taken to her to be read, and that the colored ones have unique lore, and you have to find them and hope the scavs don’t take the pearl first. Even with Hunter, you can choose to toss the green neuron and do your own thing. It doesn’t even stop you from ascending either. The story is entirely optional in Rain World. So then to add any story focused campaign at all inherently takes it away from Rain World’s initial design. And on top of that, you’re playing as a slugcat. It’s really hard to add any sort of story in Rain World that doesn’t circle back to iterators in some way. But then what else do you do besides ascend? Eat a few specific types of food? Gourmand does that. Kill a specific creature? That’s Artificer’s thing. Talk to all the echoes? That’s Saint, and kind of Hunter in a way. What else can you do without radically changing the structure of Rain World itself? And to that end, would that still be Rain World? I’m not saying it’s impossible to have a story based campaign that doesn’t involve iterators, but I do think that it’s really difficult to have them be completely irrelevant to the story and still have an engaging story, because Rain World itself is so not story focused. But if you don’t add story, then what do you do in the campaign that doesn’t make it just a rehashed version of Survivor’s campaign?

So like. I can’t really take issue with MSC’s story based focus that much, because genuinely, what else do you do? And basically any modded slugcat available in 1.9 that I think is worth trying falls into the same category. I think Pitch Black is really promising, but it introduces A Lot of changes to the world, and there’s currently almost no story. Vinki isn’t iterator focused necessarily, but their story still hinges on pissing Pebbles off and is overall very silly (not in a bad way! But it doesn’t fit the vibe of Rain World). And Gravel Eater,, you can’t get more intertwined with iterators than with GE’s story, but they’re still my favorite modcat because of how detailed their story is and how interesting their mechanics are. And if you just have a scug with abilities and no story, that’s… not really interesting to play, because then it’s essentially just Survivor, but you’re able to like, say, make spore puffs for free.

Maybe I’m just not creative enough in this aspect, idk. But genuinely I can’t think of much else to do in this game that doesn’t involve iterators in some way. If you know me, you’d know I’m Iterators McGee who has written 70k+ words about a character who has literally no canon dialogue. I fucking love iterators, but I think their stories should be separate from that of slugcats, but in game, just. How? I genuinely don’t know.

Other Thoughts

I think in some ways I view MSC as more of a framework that has allowed other people to build their own stories off of it. The only other mod that has a scale even remotely comparable to MSC is Drought, which is also iterator centric in story. I can’t speak to its lediting since I haven’t played Drought myself (but I’ve heard the quality… fluctuates?), but story wise… yeah. I don’t know. I just don’t think Rain World can really have a DLC that doesn’t pull it away from its original ethos in some way. I would not want Drought to be a DLC either, as cool as I think it is, and I still value a lot of things about MSC. It’s lackluster as a DLC because again, what sort of campaign can you add that doesn’t add a story that isn’t iterator related in any way?

I guess the way to summarize this is that I think MSC tells some really interesting stories through its gameplay. Even the parts I hated are part of the story it’s trying to tell, and on that front I think it does well. But by virtue of being story focused (and, by virtue of story in this game being very iterator centric), it doesn’t feel as much like Rain World, and so it’s not as good as a DLC as it would have been as just a mod. And now that it exists and is widely used, other people have been spurred to make their own ideas and show their creativity, going bigger and bolder than MSC in some aspects. And regarding me enjoying region mods more than MSC’s lediting, I think enjoying the region for being a region is kind of the fucking point of playing a region mod, whereas that isn’t exactly MSC’s focus. So some things are hard to compare.

This is kind of an incoherent ramble but I hope I got the main points across. I still like MSC and I won’t tolerate anyone bashing it here. You will get blocked.

[error404-lostinspace]

⭐️SPILLED THOUGHTS ABOUT EARTHSPARK⭐️

Okok, finally watched the last batch of episodes and wow. So many thoughts.

1) the first 3/4 episodes felt rushed, especially 21. I’m so happy they finally acknowledged Starscream trauma but I hope they would have let him talk about him. Most of the episode was actually them running away.

“You believe me??” And “Nowhere is safe if it’s with you” really hit home. Happy he chose to walk away and Megatron let him do so. Starscream is my favourite character and I’m glad they finally decided to not isolate him to the role of “sad irredeemable evil character that ends up going nuts”.

I’m curious about how the relationship with Megatron will develop. I should probably do a post about these two. The only thing I’ll say for now is that I like Megatron as character, he’s interesting and all, but I never thought it was fair for him to get an happy ending while Starscream still got hatred. If they don’t mess up in the second season this might be the time where both get to be better people and be happy.

2) WHERE IS TARANTULAS

3) I already said it in another post but...what about that purply thing that infected the bear? Will it come back in season 2? Has it infected the fishes in the river??

4) It's not that I don't like the Maltos, they're fantastic but as others have pointed out: the episodes about them are kind of repetitive. Like, it would perfectly fine if they'd make an episode without them in it and only the old characters. Hope they get more individual character development in S2.

5) The seekers entrance in the final battle was COOL. Stascream as effing customized rockets sjsjaoaoa. Also Swindle, Soundwave and Hardtop where having the time of their lives (Especially Swindle, Soundwave was more like 🧍‍♂️). I hoped to see the fight between Starscream and Megatron (He was so goddamn happy to have the chance to punch him in the face without repercussions)

6) The final battle felt rushed. AND LIKE WHY THE TERRANS DEACTIVATED?? Don't they run solely on magic cave water?? Also the end. I expected them to ruinite with the others before the end of the episode, but they remained there watching the horizon? It's probably because I wanted more decepticons/autobot content.

7) THAT WAS A PLOT TWIST. Actually didn't expect Agent Croft to die Thanos style.

8) This show made me like Grimlock.

9) Hashtag is one of my favourite Terrans

10) Swindle saying to Bumblebee "Oh, like you ruined our lives" made me almost stop the episode to laugh. Love the Decepticons.

11) Speaking about Decepticons, where they the only prisoners?? It seems unlikely, but where are the others? Mandroid has experimented on them?

12) Also in episode 22 Megatron and Optimus are asking information about Starscream. Are they doing so because they noticed they don't have access to all G.H.O.S.T. data or is how they noticed G.H.O.S.T. was hiding something? If it's the second option, why they wanted information about Starscream? Do G.H.O.S.T. actually experimented/interrogated their prisoners regularly?

All these questions stem from that theory about Stascream having absorbed the Allspark during the explosion. (Ok it's probably just me craving for more SS content)

Ok, I think this is all.

[hot-take-tournament]

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT

PRE-PRELIMINARY #10

Submission 204

Johto is the worst Pokémon region, you guys are just blinded by nostalgia

[SUBMITTED JUSTIFICATION UNDER THE CUT]

"First of all, the story sucks. It's literally just the first game's story (which was already incredibly lackluster) except more pathetic since Team Rocket doesn't have the only member anyone can take seriously anymore. The only reason why it's not the worst story in the series is SwSh exists. It feels like someone's pointing a gun to the back of your head and forcing you to get involved.

Second, the new pokémon. They're either too weak to use without grinding a ton, poorly designed, way too hard to get/post-game exclusives, evolutions of Kanto pokémon, or a mix of two or more of what I just said. It's like this game doesn't even want you to use them.

Third, the region itself. When you compare it to other regions with incredible and memorable landmarks, everything Johto has to offer is just. Lame. I don't care that you have a lighthouse, a cave system, or ruins when other regions have exactly those things but more interesting.

Fourth, the League. As just characters, I love all of them. But everything else about the League is AWFUL. There are FOUR gym leaders that don't use a SINGLE new pokémon and hardly ANY have a new pokémon as their ace (considering my first point, I really can't blame them too much but you are supposed to represent JOHTO so why are you using KANTO pokémon). The badges are bland, they're boring, it doesn't even feel like I got anything from beating them. And, oh, God, the leveling curve is ATROCIOUS. Why is the CHAMPION OF THE REGION using a team where the strongest is level 50? I know people will point out the Kanto post-game but when you look at the levels of the teams, there's a serious jump in the curve. The last gym leader in Kanto's STRONGEST POKÉMON is level 60. The VERY NEXT BATTLE, the one against Red, has the WEAKEST POKÉMON ON HIS TEAM AT LEVEL FUCKING 80???????

Whenever I think of this region, I struggle to find anything good about it besides the human characters. They completely botched almost every single aspect of it yet people claim HGSS are the best games or remakes in the series."

[demonfox38]

Completed: Final Fantasy III (Pixel Remaster)

You know what? Yeah, it was.

Most of the time, when I start these evaluations, I go through what lead me to playing the game. It usually falls under the category of "life is complicated; played a video game to cope." This evaluation's edition is…uniquely spicy, in that regard. And by spicy, I mean soppy. You see, my parents have been living with me for several weeks as a result of a flood wiping out half of their house and town, as well as most of the vehicles. (The verdict's still out on whether or not my dad's Astro van will come back to life.) I also lost my car in the flood, as I was there when it hit. Luckily, no creature died! But, it's been a rough recovery period. Lots of mud-slopped possessions to wash—if they can be recovered at all.

So, I went from a house of 2 dogs, 1 human to 4 dogs, 3 humans, and 1 bird. "Life is complicated."

Not to say my summer was completely ruined! I was able to visit @jeannettegray for a few days, so that was a good reprieve! It's just mostly been me putting in my 40 hours at work, then putting in an additional 8-16 while I either babysit animals or clean possessions. When I haven't been working, I've mostly been sitting around with my parents, watching whatever they put on TV. 15+ year old sitcoms, crafting videos, and corpse shows, baby.

I finally reached the point where I didn't care if they were snooping on me while I was on the computer or a game console. I had to do something to keep myself sane while yet another re-run spooled itself out. My first attempt to get back to my 12 games beaten goal for this year was actually with a mushy-graphiced version of "Final Fantasy VI" that is no longer available on Steam for purchase. That lasted all of 5 minutes due to poor input mapping issues with the game. "Fine," I thought. "There's a deal on a Pixel Master set for 1-6. I would play at least half of these again."

And then I pivoted to "Final Fantasy III." The other "Final Fantasy III." The actual "Final Fantasy III."

Coping happened!

Now, it's never fun to acknowledge when you're a stereotype. But, on occasion, one must come clean. I am one of those insufferable bastards who is much more likely to play pre-"Final Fantasy VII" games and claim them to be among my favorites of the series. Like, I'm pro "Final Fantasy II" and willing to run a new "Final Fantasy I" file at any time. That kind of bastard. Having said that, I actually haven't been able to play an iteration of "Final Fantasy III" before! It was one of those games that got locked in Japan, only having a release in terms of a Nintendo DS remake in the late 2000s.

Could I have hunted down a fan translation of this game? Sure. It is nice to have this game handed over on a platter, though. Especially, such a well-polished platter!

"Final Fantasy III" focuses on the story of four dink-ass orphans who drop into a hole and accidentally get jobs from a hidden magic crystal. They are then tasked with defending the other crystals, fixing elements from going out of whack, and eventually stuffing encroaching darkness back into the void from whence it came. Ya know. Your average "Final Fantasy" experience.

While the plot feels a lot like "Final Fantasy 1 2.0," the interesting portions of it come more from the beat-to-beat moments. Like, discovering that the land you are on is actually a floating continent being propelled by ancient machinery, for one. Finding out the world is flooded and almost every living being is turned to stone? Woof. That was a punch in the gut. So was the bit in Saronia, when you have the misfortune of being shot down and dragged into its town-wide civil war. From a 30,000-foot elevation, yeah, this game can look average. But, you do miss out on some cool looking critters from that high up. You definitely don't see into the cave depths that this runs, either!

Coming to this game so late, I imagine a lot of people are going to be thrown by how simple the game itself really is. There is a job system here, so veterans of "Final Fantasy V" may expect some value in multi-classing and maxing out experience in as many jobs as possible. Honestly? There's not a lot of reason to do that. You have options, sure. But, it's more about sticking to your guns and maxing out your job level to get the most value out of the class as possible. If you miss out on grinding out Bards and Evokers, well…are you really missing that much? Just stick to what you like, and problems will work themselves out.

The game does try to force players into shifting roles around, depending on what's going on at the time. I don't think you really have to force a player to carry a White Mage in the party, but the game does throttle progress until you use one to shrink characters or transform them into toads. Similar attempts are made to force the Scholar, Thief, Black Mage, and Dark Knight classes, although some can be worked around with the right toolset (or just a stubborn "don't give a damn" attitude.)

Additionally, the game enjoys being a little shithead about hidden passageways. You'd better get used to looking for cracks in the walls and pushing yourself through gaps. First, for better items. Then, to actually beat the game! If you have a shred of Metroidvania skills, it's not the worst to deal with. It does require some level of concentration, though. Maybe slowing down and not being on mach speed 24/7.

Speaking of which—the "Pixel Remaster" version of "Final Fantasy III" may be the easiest version of this game released to date. Particularly, with its speed modifiers, experience multipliers, and even the ability to just. Turn the monster encounters off. Like, okay! I know what speed runners are abusing for this one! Additional fun features include the ability to switch between music types and plopping filters on to make your computer look more like an old CRT television set. Which, hey. I'm crusty enough to put the original music back on, but that filter might be a bit too much.

You tell me.

It's very clear that a lot of people put hard work into this game. Like, if the several studios listed at the end weren't evidence enough. But, yes. Someone clearly put work into shining these sprites up. At first, I was wondering if they were for some WonderSwan remake that never made it to the United States. But, these seem to be new for the release itself. That, and the rescored, live-recorded soundtrack that I immediately turned off in favor of old bleep-bloops.

I know. You'd think someone who had played flute and bassoon would have more respect for that sort of thing. It is a bit excessive for what I'm visually seeing, though. Nothing wrong in appreciating what's older, either!

About the only accessibility issue I noticed was some minor flashing with the game towards the latter half. (It wasn't too overwhelming, but it's better to mention it happening than not say anything at all.) Otherwise, hell. Between controls over monster spawning, EXP/gold multipliers, and a glut of language options, this is probably about the most accessible this game is ever going to get. Shit, it even has a tracker for seeing what treasures are available for you to pick up, as well as what hidden items you may have missed!

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better version of this game. I mean, sure, there's the DS remake if you wanted your characters to have character or whatever. (Although, frankly, I'm one of those insufferable bastards that is happier having their characters shut up, if the characters are just going to spend the next 30+ hours being mopey, whiny, or over-caffeinated.) But, honestly? This is what I wanted. Famicom base code and square waves. A gentle coat of paint. A few accessibility options to make treasure/monster/achievement hunting less of a pain in the ass. Excellent. The only design choice I would have made differently is somehow augmenting the palette for each sprite to match the default Onion Knight color of each character. Like, pink guy always having pink highlights or base colors, green for green, etc. But, hey. It's not like the original game was doing that, either.

Well, someone could have polished up the NPC following code, too. Poor stuttery little guys just can't keep up!

Individually, "Final Fantasy III" is currently around $18.00 USD on Steam. However, there is a bundle to get all "Pixel Remaster" games for a discount as well that you may wish to consider. I'd wait for it to dip under $60.00 USD if you wanted to go that route, as that bundle does tend to get discounted more often than not. But, if there's three of the games that you'd be into from that set, you might as well scoop them all up. I've certainly enjoyed them in rougher states than this!

Again, though. You're reading something written by a person that is pro-"Final Fantasy II" and indifferent to "VII." Someone who habitually and gleefully plays "Quest 64." My sense of "good" may be much different than yours.

I suppose we all cope differently, don't we?

[rainparadefromhell]

Hi.

Okay so I haven't really said much about the trailer on here (I'm a bit more active on twitter so follow me there if you wanna talk more @ casualenjoyr) but I just can't explain this feeling that I have in my chest since watching it.

I'll start of by saying I am really really optimistic about season 4. I think it has the potential of being my favorite season (1,3,2 is my ranking rn). Most of you know I'm a benvi so let's start with the obvious.

Ben & Devi

I've seen some people say they are worried about Ben and Devi, with the whole Margot and Ethan situation and I have to admit that was so me... before the trailer. Yeah it sucks because it looks like they are just repeating storylines but I genuinely do believe Ben and Devi need that push to actually admit their feelings for each other. When you think about it, they haven't done that yet. The closest we got to it was Ben telling Devi he likes her personality and that he'd miss her and even though you can see an "I love you" written all over his face neither ever really verbalized the strong feelings they have for each other. The trailer shows us a lot of B&D conflicts but like I said I have a really good feeling about this. Mainly because of this one scene and you all know...

I want to frame this picture and put it on my fridge like they are my family. (bc they are)

Whatever conversation they have here, talking about their futures and leaving school, having sex for the first time - hell even if they just breathe next to each other for a few seconds, I am convinced it will be one of my favorite scenes of the show if not my favorite. The show has been building up to it and I am sure the writing will deliver as it always has with their romantic scenes.

The boink

HA! I totally knew they did it. I think it is the best decision for the season. The show always made a point to acknowledge the connection they have and now that connection is even stronger. I think it perfectly shows, now more than before, just how much more comfortable they are with each other vs. other people they've dated. I also can't wait for the awkwardness that will follow this whole thing. I hope Mr. Shapiro makes some clumsy monologue that ties into what happened (like when Devi was thinking about having sex with Paxton and freaked out in class).

Paxton & Devi

I really hope the writers don't cave in and have anything happen with them. My favorite scene of them is Devi telling Paxton that he was a dream to her last season. I know it's been hinted that Paxton still has feelings for Devi but I do not think she still has feelings for him. Hopefully there will maybe be a situation that happens but then they figure out they work better as friends. I think it will be interesting seeing Paxton technically in the adult world while working in the same high school he once went to. I think there is a lot to explore there with his character and that he matures even more.

Trent, Eleanor and Fabiola

I really like Trent and Eleanor together and I hope they don't break up but if they do I think I'd be okay with it as long as it makes sense with the characters. It seems like Eleanor might have some intense storyline of her own involving acting and I'm really excited. I can't say much about Fabiola because I think she got sidelined a bit again which frustrates me honestly.

(I will be talking about a leaked script spoiler here so please skip this part if you don't want to see that).

The only conflict involving Fabiola I remember happened in the leak we have and it involves Fabiola getting into Princeton and Devi getting waitlisted. Still it just ties her to Devi and not her own storyline but I wonder if it draws a wedge between them. I am also not one of these people that care too much if Devi eventually gets into Princeton. I just hope whatever happens she learns not to put so much pressure on herself and break down if things don't go exactly like she planned. Your life isn't ruined if you don't get into a particular school. In the end, it is what you make of it.

.

.

The rest of the Vishwakumars

We haven't seen much in the trailer involving them but I think their storylines will be really good. I always enjoy and appreciate the plotlines of the adults in the nhie universe so I am excited for that too. Who is getting married? Honestly, I don't even care who it is, I just really want to see a wedding happen. It's a great way for us to rest from all the chaos and the drama. I don't think anything major will happen with Nalini and Devi, I just hope we see even more mother daughter moments because for me that is the heart of the show.

Leaving and moving on

Okay so here's the part where I fall apart a little bit. One of the things that stood out to me in the trailer is Devi having that feeling of not wanting to let go and realizing she'll have to say goodbye to a lot of people. I am really proud of her here because for a nerdy girl dealing with grief that wanted so badly to be popular and have a hot boyfriend, seeing her love her friends, her family, her mom FIRST means so much to me. Devi made a lot of mistakes and put people and status in first place when she shouldn't have. Season 3 reminding her she already has everything she needs around her, that that is her support system means everything. We are all just trying to find a place in the world for us to fit in but never consider that that place isn't found, it's made. And boy oh boy, I think she finally made it, folks.

Saying goodbye to nhie & me being sappy

I am really excited to see these characters again but having to say goodbye will be really hard.

:(

Never Have I Ever is not a perfect show and if you know me you know I criticize it quite a lot but it is really near and dear to my heart as a viewer that has watched it from the day it came out in 2020. I've joined Tumblr first during season 2 and connected with a lot of people whose posts and opinions I appreciate and value SO much. I've never really been a proper part of a fandom like this before and I have to say that for the most part it has been such a wonderful experience. It gave me my first followers (also online friends) and a community. Thank you to everyone that has interacted with me in any way, I really did spent a lot of nights reading your metas and analyses like they were the most influential philosophy works of our time.

I hope this sweet little show stays with you in some part even if it's just John McEnroe crawling inside your ear on a random Tuesday. You tell him to stop but he is in there.