#i actually stopped all gameplay after this scene

[vnknowcrow]

I think dead money would be better if we were able to get into a lesbian relationship with Veronica's mute bald lobotomized equally traumatized ex girlfriend

[kitskiis]

I think the saddest part about secret life Joel is just how futile all of his actions are in that season. On a surface level i mean stuff like all of his more careful gameplay being cancelled out by a singular failed tnt trap but on a deeper level i specifically mean how that character contrasts with last life Joel. Joel is undoubtedly at his lowest point in the life series in Last Life. He goes down to red in session 2 and spends the majority of the rest of the season alone (and when he does have allies it’s only bc of a shared bloodlust). The red bloodlust completely takes over and this festers for nearly *8 sessions*. Not only that but the one time he is given a chance to restart and go back to yellow his old alliance member goes to red, leaving him alone again, and he is made boogeyman the next session. This, overall, has lasting consequences (he actually wanted to be fairly friendly at the beginning of LL, a stark contrast to how bloodthirsty he was at the beginning of DL or Lim L), and gained him a reputation that has never fully gone away. This is especially bad bc most people agree that LL was the most violent season (despite the lower kill counts in comparison to LimL) and was generally the worst and most traumatizing experience in the games for most people involved. Compare this to secret life, which everyone agrees was definitely the happiest season for Joel (or at least the most normal. His life is a tragedy no matter the season.) he has allies that (for the most part rip mumbo) stick with him until the end, he is friendlier with a larger group of people, and when he initially has to deal with the loss of some of them he has people who can ground him (bc as much as I adore the bad boys, grian was not qualified to do that). He was so hopeful that season, and was generally in a much healthier place mentally. And yet, despite how much he seemed to have grown, those 2 seasons ended so similarly for him it was almost comical. Joel engaged in a fight at the end, watched his ally get killed by scott, and is then forced into a 2v1 against Scott and another player that results in Scott taking his final life and him finishing 5th overall. I was describing both of those seasons here. After everything he did to grow, after all the improvements he had made, everything ended *exactly the same*

Making this about the bad boys for a second (because I’m me) they kinda suffer similar fates. Grian learned in the most tragic way possible that his allies were doomed to fail as long as he was with them no matter what, that this was not something that he could control by simply avoiding killing them himself. Even when he actively tries to save them (“let Tim do it he needs the time” “Joel you can kill me!”) he’ll still lose them in the end. I think this realization is also what made him stop trying to fight it, which resulted in him killing or almost killing his allies from previous seasons immediately afterwards (stabbing scar in the back and that one scene where grian kinda ominously jumps with a sword like he was about to crit and kill bigb after finding out he had 50 seconds left on his timer). It’s sorta like a way of telling the universe “fine. You win”

Similarly Jimmy. Well. I don’t think I need to explain that one. Even when he was given hope that things could be different, that he could break the curse, he died only a few minutes later. I still hold on to the narrative that the watchers only allowed that to happen to give Jimmy false hope that things can be different only to rip the rug out from under him and drive home the point that he is in a losing battle because by the time of secret life Jimmy was one of the only few people who genuinely still believed he had a chance. Obviously this is not something that can fully be a reality until he goes out first next season so if he doesn’t that’s a little awkward but just work with me here

TLDR; here is reason number 672 on why I believe the bad boys are the most doomed motherfuckers on this server and their alliance is a modern tragedy

[arkon-z]

I'm gonna say it:

Astor (AOC) was a bigger threat than Ganondorf (TOTK) was, in regards to the gameplay. Yes, I know The Calamity was the ultimate threat and not Astor, but that's just lore. What matters is that when the AOC plot said, "It's time to get serious about this story now," it actually got serious. Rather than TOTK's idea of "boy, it's sure going to get serious once you hit this area and trip an event flag!"

Like, TOTK Ganondorf's idea of being 'evil' was to make a puppet Zelda and go around and mess with Hyrule, doing everything from pranking some of the stables to summoning monsters to invade the temples. And because the game is open world, it makes for some really weird tone shifts. Things ranging from "our city is being overrun by unkillable monsters" to "there's a talking chicken spreading rumors." And where was Ganondorf? Down in the core of the earth, being evil. The biggest AND ONLY threat he ever directly posed to Link was in their final fight. There was nothing in the story itself to suggest that he posed any kind of threat. Especially because he made it look like Zelda was the one behind it all.

But Astor! We saw him working with/manipulating the Yiga in his plans. He lured the gang into the Lost Woods as a trap and sent the Hollows after them, coming within inches of killing Zelda. He managed to release the Calamity early. He tore the souls out of the Yiga to re-summon the Blights! He went after Zelda himself! And when it happens, it feels impactful, because of how the story unfolds in the game play. The tone shifts; you lose access to the Champs from every game menu once they're trapped in the Divine Beasts. When the Calamity hits, the tone of the entire game shifts. You're not on some action-packed adventure fighting off the Yiga clan anymore; now the apocalypse has happened and you're still alive, trying to find a way to reverse it. And throughout everything, you know that Astor is the one behind it and he's the one you have to stop. Even with the Calamity as the greater scope villain in the background, Astor is still the focal point.

So yeah, from a gameplay and story perspective, even if Astor was a flat character, he at least acted like he was trying to destroy Hyrule. Ganondorf did fuck all in TOTK. All his action scenes were flashbacks. Lazy ass man couldn't even be bothered to trek up to the surface and destroy a village or two to show he meant business.

[cadaveerie]

spoilers for DA2, DAI, DATV (from things seen in the first Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay reveal, and from the character designs and descriptions) and Tevinter Nights (The Horror of Hormak)

Trying to guess what gods Davrin and Bellara's vallaslin represent

Long post ahead. TLDR at the end!

I suppose that someone has already made some comparison like this, but I couldn't find any post that compares the images like this so I'm doing one!

Firstly, the source: The chart in which the vallaslin were assigned to their gods for the first time was posted by Matt Rhodes (post).

The vallaslin used in that chart are from Dragon Age: Inquisition, so we don't have an official confirmation for the vallaslin of DAO or DA2. The designs are different in those two games, but they're similar enough to make a guess. For further reference, aside from the confirmed DAI version I'll try to assign the vallaslin that I suspect might be Davrin and Bellara's to their respective DAO version.

Now, the post itself is under the cut:

Davrin - Ghilan'nain

Ghilan'nain is the elven goddess of guides and navigation. She is often called the Mother of the halla—white deer-like creatures revered by the Dalish and used to pull their aravel, or "landships".

Comparison to DAO's, this is the most likely to be Ghilan'nain's vallaslin, in my opinion. This image belongs to codexapocryphal, who made this post. After looking at all the vallaslin, I agree with them that this is the one that's most likely to be Ghilan'nain's.

Ghilan'nain is my best guess for Davrin.

The reasoning:

Theme

The Mother of the Halla, a goddess closely related to animals, who loves and protects them, and who herself became the first halla. The goddess that created countless monsters so wild that she had to destroy most of them after her beloved pleaded her to stop (Codex: The Ascension of Ghilan'nain). And possibly, she might have been the one responsible for the events of The Horror of Hormak, a story in Tevinter Nights that narrates how two Grey Wardens find a temple that, coincidentally, is full of halla horns symbolism in its columns, and in which from a strange pool come out horrifying mutated darkspawn and monsters. There's also some other symbolism in the story that suggests that it might be Ghilan'nain's doing, but that's the most obvious one (aside from the fact that the pool is straight up creating monsters, as Ghilan'nain is known to do).

She is also said to help Dalish hunters find their way home when they're lost. And all of that -- the hunter, the monster and the animal elements, sound very accurate to Davrin, who is both a monster hunter and one of the Grey Wardens that were assigned to raise a griffon (perhaps he loves animals like she does, that'd be cute :D).

Additionally, if it turns out that it's indeed Ghilan'nain's vallaslin, we will probably end up getting this information in-game, since Ghilan'nain is one of the gods that Solas (and Rook) freed by accident. Oops.

Design

Based on the design alone, I think you could easily see a halla's horns in it. However, I think it can be a little hard to properly identify which vallaslin we are talking about by only looking at the forehead, since some of the designs look very similar to each other, especially in the forehead region.

Having said that, I think that if we look both at his forehead and chin, the Ghilan'nain vallaslin design from Inquisition is the most similar to Davrin's, since both vallaslin occupy the forehead and the chin only and the "horns" are making similar shapes.

Other reasons

One of the reasons why I believe it might be hers as well is because it would make a very interesting conflict for Davrin. The monster hunter who has to fight this... monster-looking creature, that on top of that is the goddess his vallaslin represents?

And it's even crazier if we consider what Solas reveals to f!Lavellan in one of their romance scenes: that the vallaslin are actually slave markings that nobles forced their slaves to get. I wonder what Davrin (and Bellara, and a Dalish Rook) would think if they knew this... And I wonder what a god would think if they saw an elf with one of their symbols on their face. Would they believe they're a slave dedicated to them? Who knows, if some of the theories out there are true, perhaps the gods themselves could have some control over them. Not sure how likely that is, but it would be interesting and add yet another layer of drama (and maybe it's reaching, but it reminds me to what happens if you bring Anders with you to the Deep Roads in the Legacy DLC, that he turns against the team. I wonder if something like that would be possible if you bring Davrin along and have to fight this goddess at some point. tbh I love this trope.. I know it's too extra but I hope it's true lol).

Other options

If not Ghilan'nain's then I believe the other most likely options are the following:

Mythal's (complex version), The All-Mother, the patron of motherhood and justice (the flip side of vengeance):

and Falon'Din's, the god of death and fortune who guides the dead to the Beyond:

And the both of them is because even if they have a cheek part that Davrin's doesn't have, it's similar enough to his in both the "horns" aspect and the chin. At least enough, I suppose... I still think it's way more likely that it's Ghilan'nain, though. For the rest I can't seem to find enough similarities to even suggest them... but here is all of them, in case you want to check:

link!

Bellara - Dirthamen

Dirthamen is the elven god of secrets and knowledge.

Comparison to DAO's, this is the most likely to be Dirthamen's vallaslin, in my opinion. This image belongs to codexapocryphal, who made this post. After looking at all the vallaslin, I agree with them that this is the one that's most likely to be Dirthamen's.

I know that for this one, the DAO and the DAI one don't seem that similar to each other, but I believe that there's still similarity, especially in the cheeks. Since this is speculative it might not even be the right comparison, but it's not that relevant either way.

Dirthamen is my best guess for Bellara.

The reasoning:

Theme

The Keeper of Secrets, he is the god that gave the elves the gift of knowledge. Both him and Falon'Din, his "twin brother", would venture into The Fade often to learn secrets. He's also said to have gifted the elves the gifts of loyalty and faith in family.

It's pretty clear that this would make sense for Bellara, since she's a Veil Jumper, the people that explore the ancient ruins of the Arlathan Forest looking for ancient secrets of the elves. And Bellara herself is described in the EA website as "obsessed with discovering the ancient secrets of ancient Elvhenan". This god seems to be a perfect patron for her.

Contrary to the dynamic that Davrin might have with Ghilan'nain, the other god that escaped as we saw in the gameplay reveal was probably Elgar'nan (if you want to know why, you can watch this video by Jackdaw). So if Bellara's vallaslin is Dirthamen's, then she wouldn't have this sort of connection to one of the gods that escaped as Davrin does for having Ghilan'nain vallaslin (although it would have been funny, but I suppose it's better this way, to give each character their own personal struggle facing this. And at the end of the day, both of the gods that escaped are still part of the pantheon she follows, so it'd be significant for her as well regardless of who was released).

Design

Compared to Davrin's, this is a bit harder to figure out, as the two vallaslin look significantly more different. To me the most relevant part when we compare DAI Dirthamen's design to Bellara's are the geometrical shapes, especially the triangles, as this shape (in this form of... dots, almost) is never found in other vallaslin.

And I think that the design in her cheeks is also kind of similar to Dirthamen's in DAI, as they are little triangles/diamonds that go across a longer curve. It could be a reach though... I'm not super confident in this one, but considering the other options, this one seems like the most similar.

Other reasons

Relevant to her overall design and her vallaslin, it seems that the triangle (and geometric shapes, but mostly the triangle) is a relevant motif for her. She's full of them all over her outfit... although as seen in the concept art below, it's not so much a "her" thing as it is a general theme for Veil Jumpers. I also suppose that they took a lot of their style from the elvhenan and their ancient artifacts that they found in the Arlathan Forest.

Other options

The one that in my opinion looks the most like it could be Bellara's, aside from Dirthamen's, is June's, the elven Master of Crafts, a god of crafts and building. I believe this because of the little dots June's has under the eyes, which I think look similar to what Bellara has in her cheeks, and also to those she has right below her eyebrows. The forehead part also looks... kind of similar to hers. One of the biggest differences is that June's DAI vallaslin goes down the neck, and hers doesn't (and doesn't even have anything on the chin, but Dirthamen's DAI one also has something on the chin).

I've also seen some people suggest Sylaise's (the complex version), the goddess of all the domestic arts, or Falon'Din's, the elven god of death and fortune who guides the dead to the Beyond... but to be honest I just don't see enough resemblance, and I don't think thematically it makes as much sense as Dirthamen's does.

And once again I leave the picture of all of DAI's vallaslin in case you want to check:

and the link, again!

And that's all! Sorry if this was too long!

Keep in mind that at the end of the day we know that the vallaslin are different depending of the region, so that's the in-game reason why they're different. That and of course, there can always be slightly changes, especially in this game since it's been 10 years since the last one came out.

Do you agree or have any other take? If you have other theories for this or you spot any mistake, please let me know! Thank you for reading :D

TLDR: It's Ghilan'nain for Davrin and Dirthamen for Bellara, probably? But we're just guessing here.

the DAI vallaslin images from the wiki, they were uploaded by KeladinStorm and  Evamitchelle so shoutout to them!

Edit 1: Confirmation for Bellara

[thefreshprinceofjunes]

soriku endgame: an imagining

OKAY WELL HERE IT IS

TEN WHOLE PAGES OF HOW SORIKU ENDGAME MIGHT ACTUALLY PLAY OUT

i was rewatching vin play RE2 and fsr this invaded my thoughts and wouldnt leave

this is barely proofread and i reused a lot of the same words/phrases BUT its just meant to be an outline/abridged version so keep that in mind

(if i got any lore wrong tho pls let me know)

btw if you dont want to read this on tumblr for whatever reason, heres a link to the google doc

note: this is going off the assumption MoM saw everything (or at least everything soriku) through the gazing eye

scene is quadratum probably. master of masters (or whoever the bad guy in kh4 is) has sora and riku caught in a bad situation (for temporary visuals im picturing something similar to the dark guardian restraining aqua and ven in kh3)

sora and riku are struggling to break free, while the MoM just laughs. some kh dramatic banter occurs, before MoM changes the subject and starts monologuing (with sora and riku probably interjecting here and there)

MoM: [to sora] you still havent figured it out yet, have you?

MoM: dont you ever wonder why rikus heart holds as vast of a darkness as it does?

MoM: its not because of jealousy, or ansem, or even his desire for strength since you were children.

MoM: no, its much simpler than that.

MoM: remember that dream you had, sora? before the islands were destroyed?

MoM: there was a voice speaking to you, from deep within your heart:

MoM: 'the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.'

MoM: well, the road goes both ways, kid. the deepest of darknesses can only come from the brightest of lights.

sora: wh-what are you saying?

MoM: its been in front of all along, but you were too blind to see it.

cut to voiceless flashbacks of all the times sora encountered the brightest light: when receiving the keyblade, when almost pulled out of sleep by the memory of aqua on DI, during the dive to heart at the beginning of kh3 (assuming it really happened and wasnt just for gameplay purposes), and after using the power of waking at the KBG (the tunnel scene)

sora looks at riku, then back at MoM. riku is grimacing.

sora: that… that was… that was rikus light?

MoM: bingo!

MoM: but theres even more to it than that.

MoM: theres another force of power in this universe that keeps light and dark in harmony

sora: another…?

MoM: you feel an unfathomable depth of it in your heart for, well, pretty much everyone youve ever met.

MoM: what lies in rikus heart, however, comes from the same place, but is also very, very different. its something you claim to not understand, even though youve encountered it many times during your adventures.

rikus eyes widen and he tries to interject, but the MoM physically stops him; sora calls out for him

MoM: its more than just friendship. its hearts that are really, truly connected between two people.

MoM: think about it. think about all the times when everything seemed hopeless, but something, something, kept the bad guys from winning. it wasnt light.

cut to voiceless flashbacks between many of the disney couples sora has met: the beast arriving at hollow bastion out of sheer force of will in his search for belle, flynn sacrificing himself for rapunzel and her tears bringing him back to life (some shit with will/elizabeth and sam/quorra too maybe idk), and finally, herc gaining his strength back as he rescues megara from styx, followed by herc saying, 'people always do crazy things when theyre in love.'

sora stares ahead at nothing in particular, before wincing in pain; suddenly, a forgotten memory surfaces in his mind (if the convo with NS confirms he hasnt completely forgotten, then its the key details that have been missing):

rikus sacrifice in the KBG

riku calls out for him and struggles, but MoM just laughs so more.

MoM: there, now its coming back to you. and that wasnt the only time riku sacrificed everything for you, yknow, although it was probably the most heroic instance. remember him taking on ansems form to beat roxas? and his dive into your heart to wake you from slumber, despite the tremendous danger? you only met her briefly, but one of the princesses of heart experienced something very similar.

MoM: aurora. maleficent placed a curse on her when she was a baby, causing the princess and the rest of the kingdom to fall into a deep sleep on her 16th birthday. but the heir to a nearby kingdom, prince phillip, valiantly fought his way to the castle, and woke up the sleeping beauty– through a kiss. a kiss, of true… 

MoM trails off and looks at riku, then back at sora, expectantly. riku is still struggling to free himself before the truth is revealed, but its no use.

sora stares off again, before looking MoM in the eyes.

sora: … love…?

MoM does jazz hands and poses.

MoM: ding ding ding ding! we have a winner! it only took you, what, 12, 13 years to figure it out? honestly, i just couldnt stand watching it go on for any longer.

MoM: but, hey, i still have my honor. if im wrong, im more than happy to apologize.

MoM turns to riku then.

MoM: well? am i wrong, riku?

riku doesnt respond, and MoM sighs dramatically.

MoM: still no answer? okay, guess well have to do this the hard way.

MoM starts hurting sora, causing him to cry out in pain while riku watches helplessly 

MoM: come on, riku! do it! use your true strength! unleash the power hidden within your heart!

sora gasps and winces, barely getting out rikus name 

suddenly, theres a bright flash of pink energy (maybe rikus eyes also turn dream eater pink too?)

(if the power of love is too cheesy even for kh, then maybe its a black and white darkness/light combo attack)

riku breaks free of whatever MoM did to him, and then channels the energy through his arm, blasting it through soras restraints.

unfortunately, sora was being held in the air, and starts to fall– but in the blink of eye, riku is there to catch him in his arms.

MoM laughs in triumph and draws back slightly.

MoM: there we go!

MoM then shrugs.

MoM: well, this was fun, but ive got places to be. and im sure you two have a lot to talk about. toodles!

MoM disappears, leaving sora and riku in stunned silence.

after a moment, riku sets sora down and turns away from him, avoiding soras gaze.

sora meanwhile takes a second to catch his breath, before staring at riku with wide eyes.

sora: r… riku… is… is that...? is that really… how you feel?

riku clenches his fists at his sides and stays turned away. after a pause, he responds.

riku: … even if it is, it doesnt matter.

sora: what do you mean?

riku: i know… im not the one for you.

riku takes a deep breath.

riku: … when you were put to sleep for a year to fix your memories, some of them found their way into xion. they happened to be your most important memories– the ones you couldnt wake up without.

riku: those… were your memories of kairi. and xion took on her appearance because of them.

sora is stunned, only having been vaguely made aware of what happened in that year.

sora: k… kairi?

riku nods solemnly.

riku: yeah. and the only reason your memories got messed with in the first place is because the organization forced namine to make herself the person most important to you, instead of kairi.

sora pauses.

sora: you mean… castle oblivion.

riku nods again.

sora watches, before feeling a pain in his heart and grabbing at his chest instinctively.

underneath his hand, he can feel the cold metal of his crown necklace.

and thats when it finally clicks.

everything blurs, and theres a sudden rush of memories.

(maybe a memory sequence that you actually play through?)

sora, holding kairis wayfinder in castle oblivion. suddenly, the memory gets static-y, like during soras memory restoration.

cut to namine confessing to sora shes not the girl he cares about– but every time the word is feminine, its distorted by video static. (this is how we fix the aitsu thing)

"no. the g̸͓̦͙̫̮̦̠͗͐͗̊͑̕͝i̷͖̝̝̱̐ͅͅŗ̸̄̆̓̆̊̄̿l̶̮͉̦͓͔̹̀̂͗͝ͅ you care about...the one who was always with you... its not me. its ḧ̴̳͔̻̾̇e̵͚͂̀r̸̺̣̠̓̂̀̚."

cut to namine speaking to sora before he goes to sleep.

“but theres another promise you made—a promise to someone you could never replace. s̵̹̀͗͜h̷͇͇͌̆̐e̷̡̛̱'̷̦̆s̵̫͖̦̄̈̄ your light. the light within the darkness. if you can remember h̷̼̼̜͚͒e̸̢̡̤̹̬͖͐̒͒̾r̸͓̣̜̼̜̠͚͂̋̃...all the memories lost in the shadows of your heart will come into the light."

cut to a flashback of repliku talking about their shared promise. again, the feminine words are indecipherable.

"there was a meteor shower one night when s̶̳̄͑̆̅̆͗h̴͍̞͖͙͑̔̋̈́̎̈̾ę̷̧̰̰̖̝͆̆̕̚ and i were little... n̸̨̙̼͑̽ả̴̗͕̮́͊͝m̴̻̳͚̒i̸̳̟͑n̶̡̥̋̑̌é̸͍̦͑͐͋́ got scared and said, what if a shooting star hits the islands? so i told ḧ̷̡̬̽̅͆̊ė̸̙̩̠̥̿̃̚͠r̶̛̥̻̖̉̾̽͝, if a shooting star comes this way, ill protect you! and then—"

cut back to the memory pod.

"look at the g̴̬͛̄̚͘ŏ̴̞̙̰̍͂̀ö̴̘̥̗̱̐͋͆ͅď̷̨͙̙̩̓́͝ ̸̢̋̈́̂̚ļ̷̯̥̲̪̐̋͌̾̚ṵ̵̼̥̥͖̎c̸̱̟̹̚ķ̸̭̱̖̓̇ͅ ̷͇̳̃̑́͑͐͜ͅc̸̢̤̈̈́̊̚̕h̵̙̗̓͊̾ͅą̷̣̮̞̾̈́r̶̜̜͓̥̀́͋͝m̸̺̖͈̖͓̊̀̕. i changed its shape when i changed your memory. but when you thought of ẖ̴͚̙̆ȅ̴̡̛̞̲̥̼̋͐r̸̹̱̐, it went back to the way it was."

finally, a few more lines from namine.

"remembering one thing leads to remembering another, and then another... your memories are connected, like links in a chain. those same chains are what anchor us all together. i dont destroy memories. i just take apart the links and rearrange them. you still have all your memories."

cut back to sora in the real world. everything is still blurry, but now rikus voice can be heard in the background calling for him, distorted.

and then, a flash of light.

nighttime. its still. everything is quiet and peaceful.

young sora and riku are walking back from the beach.

suddenly, theres a bright streak across the sky. 

sora and riku both gasp.

then, another. and another. and another.

the night of the meteor shower.

riku watches the sky in amazement– until he feels a tug on his arm.

he glances at his side and sees sora, utterly terrified and clinging on to him for dear life.

sora: wahhhh!! r-r-riku, the sky is falling!!

riku laughs.

riku: no, those are shooting stars. theyre way up high in the sky.

sora however is not convinced, and keeps shaking as tears start to well up in his eyes.

sora: b-but…! theres so many of them. and theyre so fast!! what if a shooting star hits the islands?!

the reality of soras mood finally sets in, and riku is left staring as he tries to think of what to do.

hanging from his pocket is his wooden sword.

the words of the man with the real sword echo in his mind:

“no more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love."

riku grabs his sword then and holds it up to the sky as he looks at sora, courage glinting in his eyes.

riku: if a shooting star comes this way, ill protect you! ill hit it right back into outer space!

sora sniffles as he watches riku swing the sword around.

sora: r-really?

riku nods his head confidently.

riku: i will. i promise!

after a moment of thought, riku reaches into his pocket and pulls out a silver chain with a crown dangling from the end.

riku: here. take this. i found it the other day.

with the magic of cutscene, riku somehow turns the chain into a necklace, and then reaches over to hang it around soras neck.

riku: whenever you get scared, all you have to do is look at this, and remember that ill always be there to protect you. no matter what.

tears run down soras face as he looks at the necklace.

the voice of the strange girl theyd met before rings through his mind:

"so then if something happens, and riku is about to get lost—or say, he starts wandering down a dark path alone—you make sure to stay with him and keep him safe. thats your job, sora, and im counting on you to do it, okay?"

sora gulps and then reaches out to grab rikus free hand in both of his own. riku is surprised by this.

sora: ill… ill protect you too! i-i know im not as strong as you, but ill… ill try! i promise!

riku is taken aback for a moment, before he smiles gently at sora.

riku: … thanks, sora.

afterward, a multitude of quick flashbacks to all the times sora and riku protected each other, culminating in seeing the KBG sacrifice one more time.

fade to back.

in a hotel room (or smth similar), sora suddenly sits up straight in a bed, heart beating rapidly.

sora: riku!

(paralleling when riku called out for him after waking up from the dive into his heart in ddd)

riku has been seated at the edge of the bed, waiting and worrying. when he realizes soras awake, he scoots down the bed towards him.

riku: sora! youre okay!

after catching his breath, sora looks around the room, confused.

sora: … what… happened?

riku: you passed out, so i brought you here. how are you feeling?

sora puts a hand to his head, grimacing slightly at his pulsing headache. but that doesnt matter right now.

sora: im… im fine. listen, riku… i saw… i saw some of the things that happened at CO.

rikus eyes widen.

riku: you did?

sora: yeah. i saw you… well, a version of you. and namine. namine…

sora looks into rikus eyes.

sora: she… she was wrong. or… maybe i was wrong, and she just played along for my sake…

riku: huh? what are you talking about?

sora swallows as his voice starts shaking, just a little.

sora: kairi… kairi wasnt the one most special to me. you were. i remember… i remember the night of the meteor shower.

sora clutches at the crown necklace.

sora: all this time, id thought id remembered everything important… but i forgot about it. [sighs] im sorry, riku

riku stays quiet for a moment, before putting on a forced smile.

riku: its fine, sora. we were little kids.

sora frowns.

sora: but… you never forgot, did you?

riku shrugs, and theres a moment of silence between them, before riku speaks again.

riku: maybe i was the one most important to you back then, but its not the same now. thats alright. im just happy to be your friend. i know how you feel about kai-

sora suddenly moves forward, closer to riku, now yelling as he cuts him off.

sora: i get to decide how i feel, riku! its my heart!

riku is taken aback at the shouting, and stares in shock. sora realizes hes gotten loud, and takes a moment to calm down.

dearly beloved starts to play in the bg

sora: i… i know now. maybe it took me a long time, but… i figured it out. the person most important to me… all along, its been you.

riku freezes up in pure shock. he cant believe what hes hearing. hed talked himself out of hoping for this day long ago.

sora finally smiles again.

sora: youre the one i love.

(paralleling prince eric with ariel)

BOOM FIREWORKS MAGIC SORIKU ENDGAME

riku is absolutely speechless, staring at sora with his mouth agape.

sora gives riku a sheepish grin, now growing nervous at the lack of a response.

sora: and… im the one you love… right?

after a second, riku returns soras smile– and, for the very first time in the series, starts crying.

he nods, shakily.

riku: … yeah. yeah, i do. i always have.

riku wipes at his eyes to stop crying, but its futile. the tears flow even harder.

sora feels himself start crying, too, but hes laughing at the same time.

he pulls riku into a hug, grabbing his upper back tightly.

without any hesitation whatsover, riku returns the embrace, holding onto sora in the same way.

(like so [sora in orange, riku in teal])

fade to black.

then they kill the MoM, get married, and live happily ever after. the end. :)

love balancing light and dark is largely taken from these tags by @osrinlore on this video of mine btw:

[bloedewir]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

After IGN dropped two videos I may have a guess

>>> this is a spoiler territory <<<

Memories

As we now know, players are going to explore the Crossroads and find Solas' memories and "relive" it. But how will it work? Murals.

In Trespasser DLC murals help to know a little about an elvhen rebellion story. It wasn't an actual game mechanic then but it could be now.

In IGN's "Get to Know Your Companions" video there's a discussion scene. Emmrich is speaking about murals that keep the memories Solas doesn't want to remember. It makes me think about IGN's "22 minutes of Gameplay" video. It seems Lighthouse has some erased/damaged murals. So maybe there will also be some kind of mechanic that allows the player to restore those murals to see what has been hidden and forgotten.

Maybe (just maybe) one of those murals is about Inquisitor and something that happened between them and Solas in the past decade. Some kind of unpleasant meeting or conflict?

(I don't accept the "we need people he doesn't know" answer anymore. Varric, himself, chased Solas all around Thedas running like a Wile E Coyote after a Roadrunner. What would've possibly stopped the Inquisitor to do the same?).

Doubts

Davrin said:

I guess, it's one of the main conflicts in the game. You will choose how to interpret the memories you found. For example, you may accept Solas' point of view: yes, his actions were necessary back in time of Elvhenan. Or you can disagree: no, the plan was horrible, Elgar'nan could've been defeated the other way. (The hell knows, maybe it even will be a scale of Rook/Solas relationship like in Cyberpunk'2077).

Devs often mention the connection between Rook and Solas and how it allows the player to build a relationship they want. It means, Rook will have a choice. You will have a choice.

But also I guess the game itself will make this choice difficult. John Epler already said Varric may change his mind and starts to question himself was it truly worth the efforts to put so much faith in Solas. I think the player will always be under the pressure: companions' opinions, their own unanswered questions (because Solas isn't capable to speak plainly as we know. It won't help Rook either), their own beliefs and life experience, etc. I'm almost sure the memories the player will collect is full of ambiguity. Not just white and black but mostly gray.

(I still don't get how it is even possible to make Solas look "villainous" if there's already Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain making the evanuris extravaganza but either way I'm interested).

[abarbaricyalp]

For the Sambucky romance asks, I'd love to see your take on, "🚪 Roommates"!

Roommates is one of my favorite tropes for them! 😌 Keep an eye out for extra scenes attached to this on AO3 soon 👀

Bucky had to assume Sam was always wondering what he'd done to get stuck with a shitty roommate situation. He knew Sam had other friends on the team and that no one wanted to share a hotel room with the major leaguer who'd been sent back down to the organization’s minor league team for injury recovery. Baseball players were superstitious. Bucky's impending firing was as good as contagious to them. With such a road-game heavy line-up, he and Sam had spent more than enough time for Sam to catch whatever was tailing Bucky.

Still, he liked to think he'd made it up to Sam a few dozen times over by now, two months into the season. 

He let Sam take his left arm from his chest, tucking his right under his head as he turned a little and watched Sam trace the scars from his latest rounds of surgery. One long, thin one up his forearm, the deeper circular one around his elbow, the thin one up his bicep, and then the circle around his shoulder. Like an artist had sketched out the bare-bones beginning of a human body on his. Then a cruel woodworker had gone in and twisted all of his inner workings until he was almost a puppet back on its strings again.

But with Sam's warm hands on him, he didn't much care about the surgeries or their impossible recoveries. "You thinkin' 'bout anything specific?" he asked.

"I can feel my heartbeat in the hickey you put on my throat," Sam answered, then frowned and ticked his head to the side a little. "That's not what I meant to say. That's just what I was actually thinking in the moment."

Bucky laughed, freed his hand, and touched one of the barely there bruises. Mostly just irritation marks on Sam's skin. "So what were you really thinkin’ about?"

Sam shrugged. "The game mostly. The guys out at dinner right now. Sitting here doing this while we waited for appetizers." His fingers kept tracing up and down the scar on Bucky's forearm.

During games, Bucky wore a compression sleeve. It was about impossible to hide from everyone else in the locker room, but he usually kept the evidence of his surgeries out of everyone's eyesight otherwise. His compression sleeve during the games, a jacket at all other times. He couldn’t bear people staring, or the non-stop game coverage about his injury. The less they saw, they less they reacted.

Sam had been the first one to really see all of the scars, on virtue of them practically living together now. Sam was something of a hot-shot, as far as Bucky was concerned. Young and ready to prove himself without a lot of high level gameplay behind him. He'd played one year of college ball, then tried for a walk-on tryout with their major league affiliation. By some miracle, someone took notice of him and stuck him on the minor league team to grow a little. He'd only been around for a season and a half--and Bucky hadn't been around for a bit of it thanks to his surgery--but he was still hungry and eager.

Bucky had expected some kind of revulsion from the kid. Bucky would've been freaked out at his age. Marks like these usually spelled the end of the road for pitchers like Bucky. Superstitions. But Sam had just scoffed a little and told Bucky to use Vitamin E oil instead of just letting them get dried out. Then again, Sam wasn't a pitcher, so there was that at least.

Bucky liked laying in bed with Sam. He was warm and real and he always smelled good, even after a game when Bucky hadn't let him back into the shower yet. He leaned over to press his nose against Sam's temple and heard Sam snicker and then sigh below him.

"You're so weird, Barnes," he said softly. He finished trailing his fingers up Bucky's arm, across his shoulder, and into his hair. He guided Bucky back against the bed and turned over him, settling his weight against Bucky's body as he buried his face in Bucky's neck. "Why do I even put up with you?"

"I dunno," Bucky said. "'Cause you think sleepin' with me'll get you a fast track to the majors?" he suggested sarcastically.

Sam hummed an 'mhm' against the soft skin of the bottom of his jaw.

"'Cause you got the shit travel buddy assignment and can't argue about it?" Bucky added as Sam started to work a bruise to the surface of Bucky's skin.

Sam nodded and pressed his tongue against the non-mark before moving back to his neck so he could trace a dried line of sweat as it snaked from the back of Bucky's ear to his shoulder.

"'Cause I'm super hot and a really good lay?" he finished.

Sam groaned exaggeratedly and hugged his arms around Bucky's waist, going boneless and drawing a breathless groan from Bucky at the sudden extra weight. "That's probably a lot of it," he admitted. "Everything else started it, but that one keeps you around," he admitted. Bucky could feel Sam's grin against his skin and it was the best feeling in the world.

Bucky gently brushed his fingers over the short crop of Sam's hair idly and let Sam trace nonsense patterns over his ribs. "You think about holding my hand at dinner?" he eventually couldn't help but tease.

"Nope," Sam lied against his shoulder. "The moment passed."

Bucky laughed quietly and pulled Sam's hand away from his chest when he got too close to his nipples and could really get to be a tease. He twined their fingers together and examined their hands quite seriously in the dim light of the hotel lamps. The first serendipitous thing about this roommate assignment was that they both preferred the soft light of lamps to the overhead light. Should've known it was fate, Bucky figured. Superstitions and all that.

Sam shifted around so he was laying beside Bucky again, looking up at their hands too. "We should really head out to dinner," he said as he brushed his thumb over the back of Bucky's hand.

"Yeah," Bucky agreed. "I'm s'posed to be makin' friends."

"Ha," Sam huffed. Turned his face against Bucky's so now it was his nose pressed to Bucky's cheek. "What happened to 'I'm only gonna be here long enough to recover. I don't needa know anyone's names,'" he teased in a rough approximation of Bucky's surly pout.

"Yeah, well, it's not so bad down here," he admitted, turning so their noses were pressed together now. "Just takes one good roommate to change my mind, I guess."

Sam rolled his eyes. It was a move that Bucky largely missed being so close to each other like this, features already a blur. "We should shower before we go to dinner."

"We should absolutely shower," Bucky agreed. He brought his hand up to cup Sam's face, kissed him deeply until Sam opened up beneath him and went pliant.

Dinner was the last thing on his mind.

[ghost-proofbaby]

It seems that he picks up on her internal battle before it’s even ended. He sees through all that self doubt, and with a heavy sigh, holds out his palms. “Hand them here.” She instinctively recoils, “I am not giving you my weapons.”  “I’d hardly consider those pieces of charcoal your weapons. More like enemies, after the beheading you served to the first one.”  He wants… the charcoal?

summary: aruna begins to doubt just how skilled she truly is with her daggers, and astarion proves himself useful his first night in camp by offering an act of selfless aid. but not before criticizing her map making skills, of course.

wc: 3.3k+

warnings: continued memory loss, use of daggers (but not for violence), astarion gets a little flirty, and more gameplay recounting (specifically one of the first camp scenes you can trigger with astarion)

a/n: take a shot every time i make astarion say "oh, dear" like a little shit in this fic. also, i promise at some point, this fic will stop being such a play by play of the game lol

masterlist | previous chapter | next chapter

“You’re Astarion?” 

Aruna swears she’s going to be sick as she stares at the elf with wide eyes. It’s all too much – the leftover adrenaline from having a blade held to her throat, those red eyes boring into her soul, the swirling pressure that squeezes down on her lungs tightly as the realization settles deep inside her bones. 

This is Astarion. 

“I- Yes?” he questions, entirely on guard as his eyes narrow. He’s quick to recover, and all his hesitation is masked behind a certain air of confidence she can see right through, “As I was saying, I was in Baldur’s Gate… when those… those awful beasts…” he loses his focus repeatedly before finally huffing out a sigh, “I’m sorry, just- Have we met before?”

She doesn’t even know how to explain herself or her outburst. She hadn’t confided in Gale or Shadowheart regarding her letter, and hadn't mentioned Astarion in the last two days. The entire spectacle looks odd to every single one of them; Shadowheart is watching her far more carefully than normal, Gale’s face is twisted up with all that awful curiosity, and Astarion is just… Well, he’s simply plain confused.

He doesn’t recognize her. 

She woke up without any memories, not even so much as her own name, with him being one of the only clues to her past self, and he doesn’t even know her. 

What sick game is the Universe playing on me?

“Do you two know each other?” Gale asks when Aruna doesn’t answer Astarion, but it only earns him a scoff from the pale one. 

“Thank you, for repeating the obvious question I just asked…” Astarion trails off, eyeing the wizard, waiting for proper introduction. 

It takes him a few moments to recognize that Astarion is waiting to learn his name before he jumps to life, “Oh! My apologies. I’m Gale, and this is Shadowheart. And that is Aruna – although, I do promise you, she’s usually far less mute.” 

He doesn’t fucking know me. I have a letter in my pack right now, heavier than any looted armor, instructing me to save him – and he doesn’t even know me.

“Ah, I see,” Astarion’s voice is surprisingly low, nearly musical in cadence as he hums and turns to look at her properly again. There’s still concern behind his eyes, still searching her for some sort of explanation. “Well, I certainly don’t believe we’ve met before, have we?” 

He’s asking something more than just all that he’s voicing. She can pick up on that much; she just doesn’t know what else he really wants from her. 

She can’t simply casually say, “Oh, I have no idea. I actually have no memory of my life before all of this. But, hey, fret not! I actually have a letter with your name on it – a letter telling me to save you, even. Small world, eh?”

Or maybe she could. Far more odd situations have arisen in the last forty eight hours. 

“I don’t think we have,” she says slowly, being sure to enunciate each word with cautious care. They feel wrong, heavy on her tongue as though she’s telling a dire lie. 

But was she the one lying, or was Astarion? If that letter of hers truly was referring to him, he must know her. 

Is it possible he held his blade to her throat because he knows her?

“Well, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” he flashes a charming smile, and she realizes just how disarming he is capable of being. If she weren’t so on guard at the moment, honed in entirely on him for every subtle change, she wouldn’t notice it was an act, “What do you know about these wretched things inside our heads?” 

The rest of the conversation, Aruna only has one goal in mind: Astarion will be joining them in her travels, no matter the cost. She matches his act with one of her own, flourishing with her own set of honeyed words in an effort to garner the barest hint of trust from him. And it proves to not be overly difficult; it’s as though they share the goal as something common between them, because the moment her offer of him joining the small group leaves her mouth, he’s eager to agree. Almost too eager. 

All strange circumstances aside regarding Aruna, it’s still a valid response. They have better chances of survival if they face it in numbers. 

And so Astarion joins them. Brimming with flamboyant movements and an extravagant smile that she notices stays half-closed, he offers to bring up the rear of the group just as Aruna announces the need to go back to camp. 

“Resting again? So soon?” Shadowheart’s face twists as if she doesn’t notice the quickly setting sun, “We haven’t even found a healer yet. Or at least found a lead for one in the area-”

“We can find one tomorrow,” Aruna interrupts, turning to face her small group of rag tags. She can’t stand it – the hope shining in each of their faces, the undeserving faith that lies behind their eyes after just two days. Astarion is the only one resembling something she can stomach, and mostly because he looks entirely bored with the current argument, “I need to update our map and we really should try and put more effort into the camp before we pick up any more…” she trails off, and Astarion finally looks at her, half-smirking as though daring her for an insult. Something fires up inside of her – as though it’s a game, as though they both know she doesn’t mean it when she finishes the thought with a sarcastic quip of, “Strays.”

“Oh, darling,” he puts a hand to his chest, taking a few steps around Shadowheart to be closer to her. When he leans forward, it’s as though he’s sharing a secret with just Aruna, “If you wanted me to purr for you, all you had to do was ask.” 

It’s not a secret, though. Everyone else hears. Gale takes a sharp breath in, and Shadowheart only huffs in disamusement. 

And Aruna has to bite back everything inside of her to not react, to not give him any satisfaction. It’s as though he sees right through her, as if the laugh she had swallowed down had escaped nonetheless, to grace only his ears. 

Neither of their shields are working very well against one another. Their souls already seem to know one another, staring across the vast caverns between them, a whisper of I know you echoing in both sets of ears. 

She doesn’t stand a chance, and she’s hardly known him for a few hours. 

—

Camp is quiet. 

Shadowheart is brooding, Gale is humming to himself as he lays out a rug that no doubt came from his damned bag of holding to claim his corner of the camp, and Astarion has taken to sitting near the fire pit. All lost in their own worlds, all completely silent as Aruna gathers what she needs to complete at least one of the tasks she’d insisted needed to be taken care of. 

The map. She needs to attempt to update it, add to the sad squiggles and lines to indicate that area they explored today. Even if they never return to that beach, she wants to know that it’s there. It exists. 

Charcoal pencils that they had looted from a chest amongst the wreckage days prior are lined up on the stone bench, the surface almost too high for her to comfortably utilize it as a table when she sits on the ground before it. But she’s stubborn, and it’s the best she can do in their current situation, so she makes it perform as a table. 

She’s just started to ponder if she should retrieve one of her daggers to sharpen the sticks of charcoal when Astarion notices. 

“What are you doing?” he asks, sounding more accusatory than curious as she unsheathes a knife, already fisting a pencil. 

“Sharpening my pencils,” she murmurs, mentally pleading with her shaking hands to steady as she brings the edge of the blade a few centimeters from the tip of the art tool, angling it so that she can begin to shave it down to a precise point, “I’m updating the map.”

“You have a map?”

She sighs, finally lowering the dagger and charcoal. Her hands won’t stop shaking, and Astarion really isn’t helping. 

“Yes, we have a map,” she nods to the piece of paper on the stone before her. Astarion wastes no time in getting up from where he had sat on one of the bedrolls rounding a fallen tree log so that he could take a seat on what was meant to serve as her table tonight, not his bench. 

He looks down at her sorry excuse for a drawing of a forest, the center being camp.  

“Oh, dear. Well…” he leans in closer, squinting at a grouping of dots that were meant to symbolize the beach where she had woken up, “You certainly weren’t an artist before all of this, were you?” 

“Excuse me?” 

He glances up at her through his lashes, lifting a brow as if he was pointing out the obvious, “Don’t get me wrong. The idea of a map is an excellent one, I’ll give you that, but this…. This leaves something to be desired.”

She doesn’t know why she’s taking offense. She knows her art skills are shit. She knows the map is pitiful. 

“It’s not complete yet.”

“Clearly.”

“We just needed some way to keep track of our surroundings.”

“I agree.”

“It doesn’t have to look pretty.”

“Oh, but wouldn’t it be so much nicer to look at if it was more attractive?” he tsks at her.

She hates it. She hates that his criticism, his disapproval, gets under her skin so easily. 

She picks her dagger back up and brings it back to that piece of charcoal in her left hand, more determined than before, “If you hate my rendition so much, make one for yourself. I’m sure you could do a far superior job, right?”

Snap. 

Her hands were still shaking when she struck against the soft black chunk in her hands. The angle had been off, the amount of pressure she was applying was too much. She had been distracted by him and now, she was suddenly holding a broken piece of charcoal rather than a nicely sharpened one. 

They both stare down at the mess she’s created across her palms and weapon for a few seconds, deathly silent. She’s trying to not throw an absolute fit, quickly reaching her breaking point; he’s trying to bite down all his laughter, almost feeling sorry for her. 

“Oh, dear.” 

An echo of his earlier words, this time choked up behind his silent amusement. Slightly more exaggerated, far more taunting than they had originally been. 

“Don’t,” she quietly insists, eyes flickering up to already find mischief burning in his, “Don’t you dare. I-”

“You have wielded those daggers before, haven’t you?” 

She opens her mouth, prepared to bite back with an of course I have, when it hits her that she’s actually not entirely sure. 

Have I? 

She had wielded them in the fight against the brains, hadn’t she? And she’d been able to use them quite well, albeit the fight was against a couple of brains on legs, and she had a powerful wizard and strategic cleric on her side. 

It seems that he picks up on her internal battle before it’s even ended. He sees through all that self doubt, and with a heavy sigh, holds out his palms. “Hand them here.”

She instinctively recoils, “I am not giving you my weapons.” 

“I’d hardly consider those pieces of charcoal your weapons. More like enemies, after the beheading you served to the first one.” 

He wants… the charcoal? 

She doesn’t give herself any more time to question it, grabbing for the two remaining pencils and handing them over before she can even guess what his end goal here is. 

That thing inside of her is still whispering, pleading for her to trust him. She doesn’t understand why – she can’t comprehend how he’s the mysterious Astarion she’s meant to save, or how she could possibly know him without him knowing her. None of it makes a lick of sense, and yet, she’s still handing him the charcoal he requests and not even voicing a single concern outloud. 

He unsheathes his own dagger quickly. His hands don’t shake as hers had. The angle of his blade is precise and his stroke is quick as in mere seconds, he’s taken the chunky stick and shaved it down to a point.

He’s sharpening them. For her, presumably. 

“How did you…” she whispers in questioning as he holds out the newly sharpened charcoal, the one he had yet to turn into a point still resting beside his thigh. Curls of ashen black litter the ground around the two of them. 

“Skilled hands, darling,” the nickname strikes embers inside of her, kindling of flames ready to be fanned into a wildfire if he so pleased, “And some of us know how to use our daggers.” 

She plucks it from his fingers, holding it up to examine the delicate point in the dying light of the day. 

Perfect. She wasn’t about to admit it to him, but his handiship was perfect.

“This is the part where any one with common manners might say thank you,” he muses, condescending as ever as he picks up the second stick and begins to twirl it, marking his knuckles in the faintest grey. 

Against her better judgment, her eyes find his as she all but whispers, “Thank you.” 

It’s more sincere than she had meant. And she can’t understand it herself, but it feels like she’s thanking him for far more than just the charcoal. That quiet voice inside of her teems, preening as she continues to look him in his eyes. Those waves of deja vu are beckoning at her shore again, but this time, she’s almost fearful to dip her toes back in. It had hurt badly enough when their tadpoles connected – she doesn’t know what would happen if she succumbed to that feeling of knowing him, recognizing this scene from what feels like another life. 

What had he done for her in past lives that warranted thanking him so sincerely? What whispers of forgotten memories between them warranted the firm instruction of saving him? 

As she pulls herself away from the useless pondering, she takes note of Astarion’s reaction. He very clearly hadn’t expected her to actually thank him. The shock ripples across his features, he leans back as though she might have smacked him with her genuine words. For just a moment, hard garnet softens and she’s once more reminded of friendship. She could be friends with him; she could be friends with all of them, but especially him. 

Just as she’s leaning into the idea, he’s clearly running from it.

“So, we’re resting here for the night?” he asks in faux nonchalance, effectively changing the subject, “Officially turning in?” 

I could be your friend, but only if you let me in, it seems. 

She’s not blind. She knows pressing the topic any further would probably end badly for the two of them. “Yes. And if all goes to plan, this will be our permanent camp. For however long our journey requires, of course.” 

He’s quiet as he focuses his attention back on the charcoal pencil he had been fiddling with, and with quick movements, he takes to whittling it down just as he had the first one. This time, however, he’s slower. As though he’s begging for the action to fill the awkward silence so he won’t have to. 

“Why do you ask?” This, she decides, she can press on. She can push him on this topic, “Never slept in the woods before?” 

She doesn’t know why she expects him to keep up a callous act. Expects to be met with resistance and a snarky attitude. But no such thing is on display as he swipes at the charcoal one final time with his blade before he looks up at her, and he’s still softened. Churning ever so faintly, like the calmest of oceans. She knows there’s dangerous depths beyond, a certain darkness she only sees the shadow of behind the look he gives her, but the surface appears so inviting for the time being. Cool, refreshing, reflecting speckles of moonlight in his eyes. 

“It’s all a little... New to me, I admit,” his voice is something softer than usual. Soft, soft, soft. Why does she recognize that softness inside of him so easily? She picks up the brief shrug of his shoulders before he continues, offering her more than she could have asked for, “The night usually means bustling streets, bursting taverns. Curling up in the dirt and resting is, uh…. A little novel.” 

She’s completely bewitched through the explanation. Drinking in every movement, the way he speaks with his hands, the fluctuations in his tone. He dives back into that usual charming voice when he mentions the taverns – his tone brims with youth as his face softens and he says his final three words. The lift of his brows, the nerves of the small smile he pushes forward; she clings to every bit of it, in a damning effort to piece together who exactly the man in front of her was. 

He’s pretty. If she’s learned nothing else, it’s that he’s pretty. The kind of pretty that would ruin her if she wasn’t more careful. 

The kind of pretty that might have already ruined her, if that mysterious letter was any sort of clue. 

“You should try,” she doesn’t know why she’s whispering, but she is. Mostly everyone has retreated to their own spaces, their own bedrolls. They’re the only two left within the vicinity of the fire dying out in the middle of the camp, “Rest, I mean. We’ll need it for whatever tomorrow may bring.” 

He’s quick to shake his head, holding out that second pencil to her finally. It’s as well carved as the first one, perfect for the purpose she had for them, “Oh, no. I’m in no place to rest yet. Today has been a lot. I need some time to think things through, to process this.”

As she takes the pencil, adding it beside the first on the stone, she knows there's a catch yet to be revealed in his words. “Are you sure? I don’t mind taking the first watch.” 

It had been an unspoken agreement – there would always be someone awake, keeping safe eyes on the camp as others rested. 

“I’m positive. Actually, I insist that you rest. I’ll keep watch instead.” 

She shouldn’t trust him. She shouldn’t so willingly put her faith in some random pale elf to keep her safe in her sleep. 

And yet, she does. 

Her logical thinking and her instinctive reactions don’t align. They never seem to do so thus far in her journey, especially with him. It’s more than just the letter reminding her to save him; there’s a twisting in his gut, a burning in the back of her mind, as if she’s known him far longer than the day has been. As if their time together transgresses far beyond the mere hours they’ve been acquainted. She trusts him ardently – to a dangerous level. She can recognize it, but she can do nothing about it. The feeling surely can’t be mutual. Her gut is surely leading her wrong. 

“Thank you. I’ll sleep better for it.” 

There are those two little words again, slipping off her tongue with an earnesty that rattles them both to their cores. At least this time, she hardly looks him in his eyes as she says it. 

“The pleasure is all mine,” he covers up any shock with theatrics, offering a small bow to her, “Sweet dreams.” 

Her dreams are anything but sweet that night. But they do distract her just enough that she never notices the shadow strangely similar to his stature, sneaking out the edges of camp, slinking off into the woods without a sound.

[danieyells]

I'm the anon who asked for the Taiga lines, thank you so much for sharing!

I did not have much thoughts on Taiga before, other than him being surprisingly chill despite being a lil freaky but omg seeing his max affinity line along with his line on the ditched future.... the angst is unmatched.

You're stuck with him till death do us part? Whether you like it or not? Especially in a time loop situation, imagine that either of them have a high likelihood of dying within the year. One or both of them have tried to fix it, to no avail. Maybe they were a thing in one of the loops but only Taiga (vaguely) remembers it and that would make the max affinity line extra bittersweet because he's only succeeded at freaking out MC in the current timeline lol.

Maybe Taiga was invested in saving (everyone? himself? mc?) before but no matter what he does nothing changes? iirc he was an exemplary student going on a ton of missions to find anomalies, maybe he thought one of the random anomalies out there had something to do with their situation? But at some point between then and now he stopped giving a shit.

Also I find it interesting how the ghouls are constantly destroying anomalies instead of capturing them. It could be that they just don't give 2 fucks but also can't help but wonder if maybe the older ghouls have some kinda truce like don't bring back any anomalies if you can help it, nothing good can happen by giving the academy/institute more info on these things (bc at the very least Leo in the prologue implies the people up top are responsible for whatever messed up situation they were in, and he's the most likely person to uncover a conspiracy with his skillset + Jin and Tohma want to dethrone his dad as director or whatever his position was, possibly also found out smth behind the scenes)

It's all just speculation but god they are so good a pulling me around by the nose with this mystery when I had 0 expectations of this game (I mean, it still kinda sucks gameplay-wise but the story is so good)

Can't wait for new chapter soon, tho rn I am in gacha hell with wuwa, 18trip and gakuenmas.......

Thank you for being patient about them! I love Taiga so much hahaha

Yeah, the potential is there for this to be something big and for Taiga to be heavily involved in it, or at least the person who's most aware of it so far(Jin's "i know this won't last forever" line also kind of carries the implication that he knows but that has many other explanations.) It would probably be more angst-heavy if his memory weren't garbage lmaooooo THEN AGAIN maybe he'll remember you forever now that he loves you as much as he does haha. He definitely didn't remember you before this, or he didn't show any sign of remembering, so if he knew you in another timeline or you were together in another timeline i suspect he forgot, just like with everything.

As for dying, the PC is going to die within the next year if their curse isn't lifted and the prologue shows that someone else dies in the destruction of the school with the pc still alive(so either before the year is up or after the curse is lifted). So they both definitely have the potential to die in that period of time, if nothing is done to change the future. . ."if death do us part" is something Taiga very well might know will happen eventually. In fact, if his stigma actually does allow him to see the future like I'm beginning to suspect, he might know that that's what going to happen. I mean everybody dies eventually but I mean outside of a natural death.

From what Hyde says(I checked both Japanese and English) Taiga used to play more of an active part in the past, so yeah it seems like he's lost some of his enthusiasm. . .although it's very likely he's referring to that Sinostra's on probation and he can't go on missions at all right now, considering just a few months prior he was on a mission and seemed plenty enthusiastic. But as far as operating as captain goes(he's only been captain for around 6 months as of the start of the Sinostra chapter) it seems like he doesn't put any effort in. . .according to Romeo he only cares about anomalies and gambling, but if that were true he wouldn't care to tell you about the spy because he wouldn't even know. (Romeo also says he doesn't go after humans anymore which is. . .not true, so Romeo may just be blissfully unaware since their relationship is so bad these days.)

It'd make sense if this lack of enthusiasm arose from seeing an unfavorable future and thinking it isn't worth it to try at this point. He does say he's been telling someone(likely Romeo) that things will fall apart if they keep going the way they have been but since that person's been uncooperative with making changes he doesn't see a way things will change. . . .so why should he put in work? I assume he can see the future, not travel through it--hence 'ditch this future' he's simply refusing to play any part in impacting it. Even when he jumps from the ledge in the prologue if you choose to save him, he asks what he could have done to change things. I wonder how long he's been trying.

he doesn't even talk the same was he normally does, so you know it's kinda serious. He would love to know how to prevent this.

As for ghouls destroying anomalies, I think it's a matter of safety in the situation as well as a general lack of powers that can actually capture the anomalies. Most of them have weapons with destructive powers and stigmas that are destructive. But in almost every case capture wasn't much of an option due to safety concerns.

Frostheim had human children present. Jin's stigma only seems to work for a few minutes at best even with the PC buffing him. They didn't have a means to keep the anomaly contained and keep the children safe, not to mention the last living one was about to kill the PC and one of the kids. Like Kaito said, in a situation dealing with monsters it's hard to think to incapacitate and capture them, especially when someone else's life is at stake. To ensure their survival and minimize damage to civilians, the anomalies needed to be killed.

Vagastrom's anomaly was a tulpa and couldn't be captured in the first place. If people kept believing in it it would just reappear elsewhere. People no longer believing in it took it out of existence. No room at all for containment.

Jabberwock. . .well, they know Towa's unstable. Princess Oto severely injured Haru, and Towa wasn't going to let it get away with that. The Kraken and Calamari were allowed to escape because capturing them would do more harm to the ecosystem than good.

Sinostra had to destroy it theirs to prevent the destruction of the casino and prevent harm coming to the general students, Romeo, and the PC. Also Taiga's just a killing machine so--

Hotarubi. . .I kind of think I know what happens with them thanks to spoilers and one of Subaru's voicelines, but I won't spoil it.

If Obscuary doesn't accidentally kill their anomaly because it touches Rui I will be disappointed /joke

I feel like Mortkranken are going to successfully capture their anomaly simply because Yuri wants to run experiments on it. but it does depend on what their Stigmas are. We know that Jiro's chainsaw doesn't actually cut very well(Yuri told him to get them a Christmas tree and he said that his weapon doesn't cut stuff very well) and we also know that Jiro does all of the fighting in Mortkranken, whereas Yuri is ineffective in combat. They have the highest chance of capturing anomalies I think.

so like. I think that ultimately in those situations it was kind of the safest option for everyone present, killing the anomalies. Cornelius acts like 'just capture the anomalies it's easy!' but these are life or death situations. There were so many in Frostheim's case that they had to collapse a building to reduce the risk of them getting back out to the public. On the other hand, Jin probably could have teleported at least one of them back to Darkwick before they collapsed the building or instead of them killing one, but in the heat of the moment that probably doesn't occur to him as an option--also he probably wanted to make sure the pc was okay since he'd never be able to use his stigma again if she died, so going back in there to pull one of them out wasn't going to happen. Also he may or may not be rebelling against his dad, president of the Japanese branch of the Institution.

So I doubt it's something like an agreement between the third-years. I feel like it's just coincidence.

As for what Leo says in the pre-prologue, by then he would definitely be in on the situation simply because he's paying more attention than others and Alan is about as subtle as a firework no matter how hard Tohma tries to keep things secret. But maybe he gets roped in instead, since his power would be beneficial--they just have to make sure they can trust him first. . . . He does say that someone is responsible, but I think he means that regarding that life sucks, not the catastrophe occurring? Although that very well might be referring to the people at the top of the Institute too. . .on the other hand I would assume it's referring to whoever the spy is working with, and the Institute themselves aren't bad people(although Jin's dad sounds kinda like a piece of shit.) That or the Institute is the problem, or the prophecy somehow. . .if I could see the Japanese text I could see if there's a difference lol. . . .

Jin is going to inherit the position of president I'm pretty sure. I don't think that's a matter of usurping or anything like that where "Jin becomes the new president" is like, they take down Jin's father first. Like I'm pretty sure this is a familial inheritance thing--I feel like it's a "you're the eldest son so you're expected to take on the position of running the company" deal. You see it all the time in manga with office/business settings. Even Haku is supposed to take over the shrine his family owns. I don't think Jin and Tohma are dethroning Jin's father, it's just a matter of 'we need to prepare you to be in power here, you need to learn to be responsible and better than your father so you can do better than he does.'

BUT. YEAH. A LOT OF THEORIZING AND STUFF but I'm definitely surprised by how into it I ended up getting haha. My hyperfocus said "yeah I fuck with this" and now I'm stuck here. I don't really remember the abandoned concept they originally had(afair I was more unique than the current one, which is trying to stay in line with what's popular with the industry right now) but I really still would've loved to see it. . .but I'm still enjoying the current result and looking forward to the new chapters. (One week away for Hotarubi!!! Home stretch, just gotta survive one more week of work!) I feel like it's much less of a mystery as more. . .slowly growing suspense haha like it feels like a mystery because of the investigation we do as fandom, but the story itself is gonna reveal everything eventually. . .probably. So it's just anticipation on our parts hahaha. (And yeah the gameplay elements are uh nonexistent haha. Pretty sure the only reason I'm able to keep up with the chapters is because I spent money. 🙃)

Good luck with your other gacha games tho!! Fortunately the only other gachas I play I've got pretty good units for so I'm not so worried about what pulls I do or don't get. . . . I hope all of your future pulls are what you need them to be!!!

[madame-mortician]

Texas Chain Saw Massacre Game lore Deep Dive!

I wanted to do a lore deep dive since I've been hyperfixated on this game for the past fortnight, so here we are. Also I have an Evil Dead the Game one coming out soon, but that's for later. Before we start, please note this game is a prequel to the first film, so Sally and her friends haven't met the Slaughter Family yet.

Essentially the main story of TCM (the Game) is that these group of friends go searching for Maria Flores, Ana's sister who has been missing for the past month. Since other crimes are happening throughout Texas, Maria's disappearance gets drowned out and the police are unable to help. Ana gets her close friends together, this being (so far) Connie Taylor, Leland McKinney, Sonny Williams and Julie Crawford, and she tries to find out what happened.

In their search, the group come across the Slaughter Family, and all of them are kidnapped and either held captive in the family house, the slaughterhouse, the gas station or Nancy's house. Through gameplay the player chooses their fates, and so far there is no canonical ending so it's unknown who exactly was kidnapped, where they were kept or who, if any, survived. (Update: There is now a canonical fate for each character, check the end.) During an opening cutscene, one of the 5 victims tries to escape but gets killed by Leatherface before everybody else even wakes up.

In gameplay only 3 members of the Slaughter Family actually appear, though Leatherface is mandatory and canonically is one of the killers hunting these group of friends. (Update: Leatherface is no longer mandatory to start a game, but considering the game was made with the intent of him being mandatory I'm still saying he's canonically one of the killers, it just makes sense.)

So what exactly happened to Maria? Well we have the prequel game "Petals" to answer us. Essentially, Maria had gone on a roadtrip where she stopped to take photos of random things that interested her, and every so often sent a postcard to her family to let them know she was safe. At some point, a man began to follow her around and she felt like he was stalking her every move even if she couldn't see him. In Newt, Muerto County, Texas, Maria's car broke down and she decided to kill time by taking photos. What she did not know was that Johnny was following her at this point, being the guy who had been stalking her. As she takes pictures, he follows her around before unlocking the front gate to the family house, leading to Maria entering out of curiosity. As Maria took her last photo, Johnny finally revealed himself and stole her camera. This caused Maria to realise who he was and flee towards the closest house, begging for help. Unfortunately for Maria, this was the home of the Slaughter Family and Sissy answered the door, and she and Johnny held Maria down as Leatherface killed the poor girl. After this, her body was taken to Black Nancy's house, where it's possible her friends found her (if that is where they spawned.) Since she had told her family about the man stalking her, and she'd stopped sending letters, her sister instantly became worried and began to search for answers, becoming paranoid after her car was found abandoned.

Whilst this is the main story, there are other behind the scenes lore related to the characters, mainly the killers. Since Leatherface, Cook and Hitchhiker are already well known I'll only talk about the new characters.

First, Sissy. Sissy is one of the original characters introduced for this game, however she was actually a scrapped concept from the original film that Kim Henkel removed, likely because the film was too crowded. (It should also be noted there is a member of the family named Sissy in the 2013 film.) Sissy is sister to the Cook, Hitchhiker and Leatherface, however at some point during her adolescence she ran away from home, and went around the country joining various different cults, most notably joining the Manson Cult where she learned the songs she sings in game. It's implied she wasn't always insane but became so after joining the Manson��s. During her time in the Manson Cult, she learnt how to make poisons from flowers and she used this on her victims as her MO. It's implied she was part of the cult during the murder of Sharon Tate, meaning she’s been in the cult for at least 4 years. Only recently she returned home to the Slaughter Family, where she quickly became a favourite of grandpa and a useful member of the team due to her innocent and sweet appearance. Sissy is seemingly the most beloved member of the family (aside from Grandpa) as Leatherface, Hitchhiker and Grandpa are on good terms with her, or at least as good as you’re getting in this family, with only Johnny and Nancy seeming to dislike her. As to why she isn't in the films, it's likely after the game she left the family again to either go off on her own or to join a new cult.

Next is Johnny, being based on real life serial killers who used their good looks to attract victims, especially women. Like Sissy, he was a scrapped concept that was reused for the game. He is not directly related to the Slaughter Family, as he is actually adopted and is only cousins to the main siblings. As a toddler, Johnny's real mother was murdered by Black Nancy, who for whatever reason, took Johnny in and raised him as her own, lying to him and saying she was his Aunt. Growing up he became sadistic and enjoyed using his charms and handsome face to attract his victims and kill them. Despite being good at killing, and excellent at drawing prey in, he is rather disliked by most of the family who find him too hard to control. Whilst the family are murderers, Johnny is a serial killer and causes trouble for the family by murdering girls all the time and drawing attention to them as reflected by the voice lines said in game. He got a scar on his left shoulder, from the "Pflugerville Incident" where he'd stabbed a girl to death, but her roommates woke up and fought back. Opposite to Sissy, majority of the family doesn't like Johnny, as Sissy, Hitchhiker, Cook and Leatherface all seem annoyed by him. Johnny is the one who inadvertantly starts the game, as it is he who stalks and eventually kills Maria, leading to Ana and her friends going after them, and this is one of the reasons the other family members are so mad at him, especially Cook who states he doesn't take pleasure in killing like the others do. It's likely he isn't in the films because he wasn't with the family, but rather with Nancy or off on his own.

Black Nancy is a black widow killer, using her meek and innocent apperance to draw in men, who she eventually married before they "mysteriously" disappeared. Unlike the other characters with an outside life, Nancy has a bad reputation giving her the nickname "Black Nancy" although nobody can prove she killed her husbands. In her backstory it's stated she didn't really kill her husbands for money, but rather because they couldn't fill the void in her heart, yet raising Johnny did. It's unknown what relation she has to the main family, but seeing as Johnny is considered a cousin to Sissy, Hitchhiker and Leatherface, it's likely she is their Aunt making her the sister to whoever their parents are (which might be Grandpa, idk lore's very weird.) Since she isn't part of their direct family, she isn't as close to the rest of them, however she is very much obsessive over her "son" in an odd juxtaposition as she is very motherly to Johnny, whilst also being sadistic and cannibalistic. It's likely she keeps Maria's body in her house to protect Johnny specifically. Since she isn't as close to the family and doesn't live with them, it's likely she didn't appear in the films because she was doing her own thing away from the rest of the family. She also seems to have a connection to Cook, but nothing has been confirmed. Some think she might be his partner, but considering she's a black widow, it would be weird. That and he could be her nephew so I'd hold off on shipping them.

Ana Flores is the unofficial protagonist of the game, being the one who gets all her friends together to go searching for her missing sister when the police were unable to do anything. Despite being a regular girl, she has the best endurance and takes hits easier, likely being due to her willpower. She is so determined to find her sister she literally tanks hits from a chainsaw, just to discover the truth. Likely following where her sisters car was found, she comes across the Slaughter Family along with 3 of her close friends, and they end up being kidnapped and hunted down in one of the four maps. It's unknown whether Ana or any of her friends survive, but considering the original film shows no signs the family were close to being caught, it's possible the victims were all killed, or Ana was unable to convince the cops of anything. It should be noted that Ana’s character is referred to as “The Final Girl” implying she might’ve survived. (Update: She doesn’t survive, check the end of this post.)

Finally there is Danny Gaines, Maria's boyfriend who went looking for her. He didn't go with Ana or her friends, he instead went off on his own and came to Black Nancy's house to find answers. Nancy knew what happened with Maria, and to protect her son she decided to try and kill Danny, which might've led to him being taken to the Family House which is right next to Nancy's house, being kidnapped alongside the others. Since his fate is not mentioned alongside the other survivors, it seems to be canon that he was killed by Nancy.

Some other small tidbits is that the Hitchhiker's camera is actually stolen from Maria, and is the same one he uses in the first TCM film. Majority if not all of the radio broadcasts are related to the Slaughter Family, such as a person getting poisoned by Sissy, the "Terror of 1-40", and Johnny's Pflugerville murder case.

Regarding canonicity, this game works with the original writers and actors, and nothing contradicts anything in the original 2 films, so I consider this canon to the franchise, as does the creators. If a new character comes out that is somebody like Sally Hardesty, that definitely won't be canon, but it is an online asymmetrical game, so not everything will be 100% canon.

These are really fun, but after Evil Dead the Game I don't think I'll do another since Friday the 13th didn't really have lore and Dead by Daylight has way too much lore for me to cover. As always, if you have any questions about the lore of this game, just ask, I don't have all the answers but I know most of the lore so don't be afraid to ask.

*UPDATE* The game devs have released an official lore post about the story! I’d recommend checking that out:

*SECOND UPDATE!! The Devs have revealed the canon fates of each character. Unfortunately every survivor dies in the game. First to die is Leland, then Sonny, Connie and Ana. Julie does escape the house but bleeds out and dies on the road. Personally IMO I think it’s odd they characterised Ana as the “Final Girl” just to have her not only die but not even be the last one standing? Like just say Julie is the final girl or make Ana the one who dies on the road… Since Danny is also dead, this means so far, nobody has canonically survived the Slaughter Family. I should mention, the opening cutscene where a victim is killed by Leatherface appears to canonically be Leland, since he's the first to die.

*ANOTHER UPDATE: An official lore stream has been uploaded that goes through each character in detail, so my post is obsolete and if you are interested you should just go check that out.

[bg3sinbin]

Alright so I told myself I wouldn't post anything about it... but I still can't stop thinking about the A!Astarion kisses, Tav/Durge's face during it, and the stupid blow up around it. So here we go

Warnings: This is long and rambly and contains all kinds of spoilers. I am an A!Astarion lover. I will not be responding to discourse on this post. I do not care if you disagree. Make your own vent post.

OKAY so the brunt of the arguments I keep trying to ignore seeing surrounding this are how the expressions are "immersion breaking" for A!A fans, and everyone else clowning on them (sometimes rightfully so tho, ngl) because "the game gives the player expressions all the time! why are u mad now? do u just want ur Tav/Durge to be a blank slate?? lmao idiot" which ??? okay it feels like ur purposefully missing the point.

Yeah, actually sometimes this game gives my Durge some really ooc reactions. And it does, in fact, bother me. That being said, that is to be expected when u take an oc u had for like ten years and try to stick them in a pre-programmed video game. Things are gonna get ooc sometimes.

It also though, is usually smaller moments. Or things that happen Once and then u move on. Conversations where I go "hmmm. he wouldn't say any of these. oh well." or moments where he reacts negatively to terrible things that this evil bastard would normally laugh at. OH. WELL.

Now here's where my frustration actually come in. This game does a really good job, probably a better job than anything else I've played, at letting u play an interesting evil char. Something more than just "I am Rude, Aggressive, and A Dick To Everyone" and thus being punished for it gameplay wise.

I can play The Dark Urge, literal child of the god of murder, a canon necrophiliac, cannibalistic, gore freak that was going to flatten the entire world. There is a whole ass plot line and ending (multiple achievements included!) surrounding doing just that. There's all kinds of nasty interactions/plot options programmed in.

Yet, to the best of my memory, my Durge doesn't look horrified when we choose to slaughter the grove. He doesn't look horrified when we choose to kill the Dame Aylin, or Isobel. He isn't Obviously Distraught when we choose to help Astarion complete the ritual, or when we kill Shadowheart's parents, or become an Unholy Assassin of Bhaal.

To my knowledge, the player character isn't made to look afraid when kissing Dark Justiciar!Shadowheart, nor when they are literally poisoned by kissing Minthara. Sure, u CAN be offended about it in the convo with her after, but its still ur choice as the player.

I mean shit, they even patched in (in that very same patch) a positive, supportive reaction from ur evil partners at the end when u take over the nether brain! (at least for A!Astarion, and Minthara) so now when u do the evil thing that u and ur evil partner have been talking about all game, they don't suddenly change their opinion the second u actually do it.

And I really appreciate that about bg3. I can make evil choices and get interesting outcomes rather than the game just locking me out of all content actually made for that quest. Like ffs u can only get Minthara's romance scene if u slaughter dozens of innocents.

THIS GAME REWARDS U FOR DOING THE BAD THING. And like the evil options do usually have drawbacks and/or are less fleshed out than the good ones, but there are whole ass plots arcs u will never see if u only play good chars. This game makes playing an evil character interesting.

So why is it that I can do all that, and make/have my Durge react (mostly) accordingly, yet the moment the partner I chose acts controlling, now is when my characters feelings are being decided for me?

I can spend the whole game hearing Astarion talk about how spawn are controlled, how all vampires want is power, and I can say to his face "yes! this character wants that! turn me!" and yet somehow... what? the creators think I didn't know?

It just genuinely doesn't make sense to me. Like I can choose, through dialogue, that my Durge is power hungry, and very into the idea of being Astarion's pretty little lap dog. He knew what he was signing up for! And yet he looks terrified when his vampire bf (who has been feeding on him all game) bites his lip?? really?

Idk I just have some really weird feelings on some of the ways they try to Really Emphasize that u made the wrong choice for Astarion specifically, and this just exemplifies that.

Either do the rest of ur characters this service, make all of them (make every choice in the game) a moral lesson for the player to learn, where u hold their hand and say "u didn't listen to what they actually needed :c u could have done the good thing but u didn't :c"

Or let me play my evil bastard. And let me revel in it.

[exoticalmonde]

-Lamento: Beyond The Void- but Eve and Leaffeu are playing it so you have to PART I

Leaff: *Scandalised* "What type of swordplay are you doing that requires you to share a room???" Me: "One with much softer swords." Leaff: "OH!" ---

I genuinely feel happiness every time I see this screen because that means that: 1. Leaff is on Discord streaming for me. 2. It means I am finally going to read the entirety of this game for myself, something I have been wanting for years now or at least ever since most of the YT channels I watched this gameplay from died.

There's something so comforting about these little 3D-generated trees and the light and the soft patch of dirt and grass. I love this game so much, you do not understand.

---

Leaff: "Me when there's leftover pizza in the fridge." Me: *Actually dies from laughter*

---

Leaffeu seems to be getting along very well with Asato and is absolutely hating Rai. Personally, that means there's more white angry fruit cat for me, but I'm also afraid they won't like doing his route. But that also means I get to hear screaming, squealing and crying on the other end of the conversation any time there's even the remote chance of Asato showing up on the screen.

---

We had a strawberry break instead of kuims.

---

I don't remember the context to this, but I'm pretty sure this is how Leaff suggested Rai take care of Konoe if he was ever to go insane. Which, personally, I suppose he can. Look at the ears. Look at the tails. I'd let Rai hold me like that and carry me around all day.

---

Yeah, it's official, Leaff is Asatosexual. They've been sending me memes and headcannons of what life would be like with Asato and genuinely...? I'm crying.

---

I was in a bad mood. Things in life are not going as well as I wish they were.

---

Me when I sneeze while squeezing the ketchup bottle.

---

"The window."

---

SAME. Same, Verg.

---

HERE IT IS, WE FOUND THE SCENE!!!! KONOE IS DIRECTIONALLY CHALLENGED. But can we also stop to appreciate this absolutely gorgeous man??? The most fascinatingly darling to me, his attitude, his sadness. I don't even know his lore, but honey I would marry him and take care of this depressed goat until time and space rupture and we end up specks of dust in the 8th dimension.

---

I'm pretty sure this is the part where we spoke about men being gentle in games. Not in the physical kind, but perhaps the way they are considerate. Konoe allows Asato to do whatever he needs, even recognising that for him being outside, among a lot of people is mentally exhausting and he's giving him the space and time to recuperate without forcing him about the way Rai does kind of.

I need more gentle, considerate men. Anything in this game - from the way they nuzzle each other to grooming to smiling and touching is so so so so sweet, mesmerising. I love them so much, this game is so darling to me and in two years it's going to turn TWENTY!!!

---

Leaff: "FINALLY ONE COMPLIMENT TO COME OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, MAYBE YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE DISCIPLINED AFTER ALL." Me: *Sweats, knowing this moment is going to be ruined in the next scene.*

---

Me and Leaff agree that these two are literally like a married and then divorced couple with Verg being to blame. They don't talk, don't look at each other, Verg tries to fix things and is a little whiny about the cold shoulder, meanwhile, Kaltz is just trying to live his life and move on.

This is them at the dinner table in the inn by the way.

---

We got to one of the endings... And even though I fell asleep immediately after, Leaffeu was here to offer me this wonderful art.

Zooming in on the text at the back.

[spinningbuster98]

Metroid Other M Part 5: *insert meme about sussy game

Oh boy this is where we are introduced to the Deleter subplot!

And it will go nowhere!

This subplot literally does not matter. The game puts so much emphasis on it only to essentially peter out offscreen. I don’t actually have an issue with the game not explicitly revealing the Deleter’s identity, in fact it does a pretty decent job at giving the player enough clues to figure out by themselves that yeah it’s James, and God knows this game is sorely needing some silent storytelling. But this subplot is literally so uninmportant in the end, it literally ends up changing nothing, James is about as uninmportant to the plot as Samus is here, which boy ain’t that a nice realization?

Wanna know what ticks me off as well? The fact that Adam literally does not react at having a traitor in his group. He does not make a peep about the Deleter throughout the entire game, even at the end of this battle he only chimes in to tell Samus to pursue the Mystery Creature.

I know why they did this: they want to include Adam among the possible suspects, and having him contact Samus during the fight against the Deleter would immediately rule him out. But in a game that presents its story so explicitly it’s fucking baffling that the plot never brings up the fact that he’s suspiciously absent during the fight, that’s mystery writing 101! And since we know that he’s actually not the Deleter this in hindsight poses the question of why the fact he never brings up the Deleter despite having DIRECT FEED TO SAMUS’ VISOR AT ALL TIMES!! Samus herself just straight up does not bring up the fact to Adam in any way, not even in a “hey watch out senpai there’s a traitor in the group!” kind of way, she just later assumes that Adam must’ve known about the Deleter’s presence... after she’d lost communication with the former due to the latter making an attempt on his life, don’t you love it when a story is captained by characters so dumb they can’t even feel the phantom pain from their missing brains?

Do you see what I meant last time? About how stuff like the Hell run not being an intentional showing of Adam’s abusiveness but rather a case of supremely sloppy story/gameplay integration with incredibly fucked up accidental implications? Here we have it again! Adam appears to see everything that Samus is seeing but only when the plot demands it, otherwise I guess he’s just too distracted playing Tetris! And Samus can’t stop running her mouth in this game, but stays silent when it comes to something ACTUALLY important!

And MAN we are SO not done with this game’s literal backwards style of storytelling! 

Pull out your seatbelts folks!

It’s time for the Ridley scene next time!

[pluto-the-chinchilla]

Here’s the thing with Mary. And this is purely a personal thing, but I still stand by it. I disagree with other people who don’t like her and couldn’t relate so I wrote my own feelings down just to scream into the voice. I could’ve probably have done a better job if I rewatched her scenes but I’d rather not subject myself to that.

I’m not looking to debate, I’m not looking for engagement, I just… really hate her. Lol

I totally support her decision to choose safety and stability over Arthur. I’ve seen other haters and was disappointed by their reasoning. This is rational, and I completely am willing to defend her on this one. She’s not cut out for a certain life and she recognizes that! Not everyone’s an Abigail, a Sadie, or even a Mary-Beth, Tilly, or Karen. And certainly not a Grimshaw. And if she can’t adapt then why would anyone want to force her? I don’t! Sure maybe some gang women could’ve taken her under their wing, maybe they could’ve even gotten along with her and she could’ve saw her father for what he is and start blowing him off. But she still has a little brother to care for, and Jamie is a sweet soft person. They’re soft people but Mary, for all the vitriol I harbor for her, is not one to back down or get pushed around… with one deal breaking exception but we’ll get through there.

Asking for Arthur’s help despite all of the baggage between them… again, no harm no foul. Her little brother who both she and Arthur care about is in a bad situation. It’s the kind of situation where being a big scary outlaw comes in handy, and maybe she thought he needed sense from a man he looked up to. They certainly couldn’t ask daddy to be that to Jamie. And while it is audacious it’s still a fair favor at that point. Again, I think it’s endearing how she’s taken charge for Jamie. At this point in the game I feel disinterested in her but overall ambivalent.

The mission with her father and the resulting date is where I take a nosedive with Mary. I’m sorry but from start to finish she’s unfair, unreasonable, and outright does not care about Arthur or his feelings in this situation. Arthur already writes himself off continually in such a way that is barely challenged until he realizes he’s dying. So. First of all Mary is asking for Arthur’s help with a man who did nothing but undermine the relationship and talk shit about Arthur and devalued any merits he might’ve had and continued to do so during the mission — and got upset whenever Arthur talked shit back — and not nearly as much defend Arthur — and sorry but gameplay wise she is up Arthur’s ass and intrusive and nagging — like right up until that family heirloom is being pawned off she’s undoing the very thing Arthur got called to do. Just!!! Stop coddling your father while shitting on and wrist smacking the man who came to help you reel in this obnoxious disorderly pissant! And again, I know Arthur is an outlaw, but stop riding him when he’s trying to help and if DADDY is allowed to shittalk Arthur then Arthur should be allowed to throw anything he wants in his face.

I’m sorry but by the time it was over and done with I just don’t care about her anymore and any allusion to her for the rest of the story just pisses me off more as I wish for someone who actually shows consideration towards Arthur to talk to him more.

I wasn’t mad at her giving the thing back, I’m mad she didn’t do it sooner.

I’m mad they had that stupid “will they get back together” moment when they simply don’t have chemistry.

And with the date, maybe there’s just a certain expectation for women in the setting but watching the show with her especially after everything was a chore. But then…

Abigail acts kinda the same way at the picture show before John proposes? Like maybe if the mission hadn’t just happened I wouldn’t be bothered by it.

Anyway, I kind of don’t want any sort of decade with whoever reads this. I just needed to get my feelings out while I’m raw. I just finished watching my boyfriend play high honor yesterday and I’m still going Thru It.

[foxoftamriel]

Five Nights At Freddy’s, Authorial Intent, The Box, and why CC doesn’t really matter.

Authorial intent is the act of, rather than looking at the story itself, you focus on the author. Why did they write this, why did they act this way. That’s what I want to focus on, Scott Cawthon after the release of FNAF 4, and what that means for the story. Scott was, for lack of a better word, frustrated after FNAF 4. Think about the box, how he never gave us a concrete answer to what it was because no one got the complete story of the game. He gave MatPat the hint “why is little toy Chica missing her beak?” Well, I have an answer to both of those, CC doesn’t matter! He’s not Golden Freddy, Cassidy is! And he’s definitely not the Puppet, that title is Charlie’s. So in the grant scheme of things, who is he? Well, he’s the brother that Michael accidentally murdered. That’s why Scott was so frustrated. He didn’t mean to tell us about CC, but rather about Michael. It was Michael’s backstory. This was Scott trying to tell us “this is the boy you play as in the rest of the series, and this is why he spends over five nights at Freddy’s”. But, due to the lack of information at the time, no one understood. So he introduced William Afton as the Purple Guy in the books, then again in the games, and made his daughter the antag, as well as making another antag a representation of his wife. This game was supposed to make you connect the Afton’s to the protag of the series, make you realize that the protag is an Afton. But no one got it. So Scott threw his hands up and said “fine! I’ll just tell you!” And gave us the cutscenes after the SL custom nights, which gave us more information about Michael than anything. Michael turning purple isn’t actually him turning into a rotten corpse (how could he get a job as a corpse? Even if Fazbear Entertainment is garbage, he’s a corpse! That’s wayyyyy past the line) but rather to connect him to William, to the Afton’s. He even shares the same VA as William! Scott basically threw in our faces that Michael was an Afton, and the kids in FNAF 4 were Aftons as well (think about the empty girl’s room, which SL gives us an answer to), therefore Michael = Foxybro = MC. Then he finally closes it off with FNAF 6 (ah satiating FNAF 6 ending, I miss you), giving us Henry’s line about his “brave volunteer” wanting to die in the fire. And I think that’s what finally put the FNAF fandom in agreement about Michael (at least, the FNAF fandom can’t agree on much, so Scott still needed more confirmation in Fazbear’s Frights since MatPat thought Michael was CC as a robot). I mentioned earlier the line “why is little toy Chica missing her beak?” She’s missing her beak because the cutscenes aren’t even from CC’s POV, they’re from Michael’s, how he remembers his little brother, and how he remembers himself. CC is, frankly, a little bit too much of a crybaby to be realistic. And yes, this is a game, so I might be looking to far into it, but CC never stops crying, even when the Fredbear plush tries to comfort him. And about the Fredbear plush, I don’t think it’s William talking to him or a spirit, I think Michael saw CC with the plushie all the time, and interpreted it as an object of comfort for him, that’s why it’s literally everywhere, Michael remembers CC bringing it with him everywhere. And how does Michael look back at himself? With nothing but hatred. He sees himself as the older brother who lives for nothing but torment (we don’t get any scenes of Michael being nice until CC is dying). And he’s afraid of his younger self (think about how many YouTubers jumped at the Foxybro jumpscares). And the gameplay? That’s William punishing Michael, and that’s why we see it in SL. So why is little toy Chica missing her beak? Because Michael Afton has already been Fritz Smith, and the image of Toy Chica without her beak is burned into his mind. I believe almost to complete certainty that the first concept of the box was something connecting FoxyBro to the FNAF protags.

That was very ranty, and there was some other things I wanted to add. But for the sake of all our time, I’ll end it here. Thanks to anyone who read all the way through.

[jojoqin]

Why the remake cabin kicks the OG’s ass -an analysis 🔎

Basically it has to do with a lot of elements. Sound, cinematic framing, how well written the entire segment is in general. All that sweet jazz. Also sorry in advance, I had to gifmaker some shitty gifs because I needed examples 😭💀

So I read up on a lot of filmmaking for this post about what makes a good set piece. At the start, the game already sets it up by subconsciously familiarizing the player with the cabin; making it one of the first areas we pass by. There’s something about how you see it in its position; in between the trees, sort of in the same center as the bridge, very by itself. Clearly it’s important. Later, the Saddler mindfuck scene at the church actually shows us why the villagers are on the chase. And it's all tied to how well realized the cult theme is in the entire story. It puts a slightly more sinister spin on the villagers' motivation compared to the og where it sometimes feels like they're purely used as obstacles.

And yes there’s actually PAYOFF this time. No more "vamanos" and the villagers just leave. Or for Luis to ask "so what now?". This time the villagers' condition gets woven into new exposition and a new goal; the Plaga ordeal inside the characters. And the end scene defines Luis role. A great set piece should have a well written purpose to advance the plot forward. And we actually experience first hand the whole hive mind thing instead of getting a 5 min Saddler monologue about it.

Talking about the technical stuff in scenes too. Like listen to the music and audio during the run up towards and after Luis closes the door, the music become this muffled droning as soon as the door is shut. It indicates that you've entered a different space that's more confined and sheltered from the outside w/o immediately breaking the ambient tension. Not necessarily an upgrade from the og but in the og, the escalating music stops because the payoff is seeing Luis. Whilst the remake still likes to remind you that you're still in a weird situation.

I also talked before how the camera loves to follow characters. In this shot you follow Leon forward and then you’re backing up behind Luis in this continuous camera movement. And see how tight the camera sticks behind Leon’s shoulder? He takes up like 75% of the frame at one point, with the camera subtly zooming in even though Luis is the focus. There’s a visceral feel in the confrontation, how its putting pressure on Luis just by how the scene is directed.

And the sound during that is like auditory storytelling. I know my audio doesn’t quite do it justice because it’s been compressed to shit so y’all might want to seek out the actual scene. But when Luis hits the wall here, the strings fade out and the sound of the rain is brought forward. Audio-wise, it’s like it’s bringing our focus to the presence of Luis and Ashley. It's also just ASMR af.

Another example of the fluid camera transition from earlier is when Ashley hides. The camera leads away from her and it follows that same “leading away” movement when it transition cuts to the window with Leon going into frame. Like look how seamless it tells action w/o having to do a lot of harsh cuts unlike the gif of the og below. The remake tends to show multiple activities either within the same shot or following a visual style so that it's easy to digest.

And holy shit, the way the music just disappears when our dudes take position here is so FUCKING GOOD. Because all you hear is the echo of the cult chanting and the ASMR patter of rain. I think of the silence as equivalent to taking a deep breath. And it’s funny because the sound effect when the scene transitions to the player is just this very intense and layered sound of exhaling. The way the camera also pulls back in the cutscene so that there’s no break from scene to gameplay just makes it so immersive.

Also those two shots we get from Leon and Luis’ perspectives before the gameplay is kinda interesting too. Very “Main Character POV” angle because the camera is positioned at the guys’ eye level, as if we the audience are directly in front of them. At that moment we sort of take the place of the characters as the player. The “it’s game time” line is so hype because it actually does feel like it’s being said to us.

I think the writing for the fight itself is way better than in the og. There's a real rhythm to how the conflict happens; a somewhat story structure. The setup, the moment things go to shit, the resolution. The setup happens in the cutscenes and as you're battling the early wave of villagers. The Plaga baddies I see as the first climax, because they only start conveniently popping up around the time you're scrambling to get the new boards. You get them up and there's your sort of downtime, the 'falling action' before things ramp up again.

There’s a clear transition to "the moment things go to shit" phase; it's all the elements working together in the entire segment. You get a visual cue which is the ladder, an auditory cue of the noise upstairs, and then you get the in-game cue from Luis. And the musical cue is particularly what the remake does best. Like often when it wants to change up the pace during a certain part, they'll simplify the track but make it a bit deeper to build up this new adrenaline.

And every big set piece needs constrasty elements to show different perspectives. I believe just the simple imagery of seeing the mob outside as you're constantly having to kick the ladder is so effective because it shows scale. It makes us actually feel that the problem is as big as it is. It's a smart show of perspective especially after starting the fight in a confined area. This part of it was kind of weird in the og. Even though there's a mob, you could always stare out some window and it'll just be a void there (probably due to the graphical limitations).

But before you even trigger the Bull Head dude's cutscene, like again, you already hear an auditory cue of him. Also his addition makes the scene a true "everything is going to shit" moment. You kinda need that enemy as a standout variety. Like the og is iconic but it's very straightforward with the ambience and the enemy encounter. In the remake, everything is an escalating bombardment to the senses. Especially on the first playthrough, at this point you're on your last leg, no heal, no shotgun/rifle ammo left, the cult chanting is overwhelmingly loud now. It's funny but also apt that when Ashley saves the guys, she's enveloped in this holy light. Even the camera angle that's positioned lower looking up visually puts her in a higher position than the audience.