#i am salty as fuck

[niobiumao3]

it's so interesting to see people weighing anchor with Ventress and Crosshair after he helps her on the Marauder, but to some of these same people TechPhee despite 4 episodes of direct interactions is 'rushed'.

almost like there's a fundamental difference. wonder what it could be!

[endivinity]

not me already having to beat people on twitter away with a stick because they keep! taking! my stuff! for their dumb little dnd campaigns!!!

it's not even that bc I know it all gets taken and reposted and shared around until there's fifty degrees of separation and nobody's going to see my wishes towards how my art gets used unless I paste 'DO NOT USE FOR DND' on it (and even then theyll do it anyway) but like. i don't see that. when someone just looks at my work and says 'wow! i am using this for me now' directly to my face it's extremely demoralizing and makes me just not want to post things if that's all they see it as :/

[drev-the-procrastinator]

Like. ok

ok 15 12s from the juries and zero (0!!!!!) 12s from the public taking the win from 2 12s from the juries and 18 12s from the public. ok. ok. sure

[eyes1nthewoods]

hello 2018 dbh fandom. before you are two characters. one is a woman with complex but clumsy writing. the other is a white man with no spoken lines who appears for less than a minute. you have 10 seconds before the saw traps go off. choose wisely.

[slocumjoe]

Biggest complaints about each companion

Warning, reference to in-game dark subject matter.

This is subjective and mostly me wishing for a more thoughtful story, with themes beyond robot racism.

Cait: TDLR; Her backstory is too much for how it's handled

It feels like Cait got thrown every bad thing she could have. With trauma in characters, less is more, and in Cait's case, it doesn't help that her writing is more interested in her trauma than who she is as a person. Like Cait only matters as a character because of what she went through and what that demonstrates about the wasteland, rather being a person first.

I would like to point out, her parents waited until she was 18 to sell her. Because, apparently, age of consent matters to sex slavers. It demonstrates a lack of commitment to the dark topic, which usually means you should tone it down. Leave one aspect, and keep the other. Abusive parents or slavery, not both.

Since Cait is our only basegame raider companion, you could use her to humanize raiders by showing how the cycle of trauma creates them. "But Gage—" is a little bitch.

Codsworth: TDLR; Focuses too much on his pre-war relationship to the player

What was Codsworth doing those 200 years? Did he just hang out in Sanctuary? Did no one ever come to Sanctuary in the meantime? Codsworth has no relation to the plot or world beyond Sole.

I think Codsworth should have had a quest about how he went out and tried to help where he could, but now doesn't know where those people are, and wants to know what became of them. Something to give Codsworth a connection to the wasteland. Or maybe Codsworth shouldn't have been the Sole Surivor's robot at all, just one that wandered into Sanctuary and met them. Then you could have a point that the first human the Sole saw after freezing (Kellogg) was cruel, but the first 'soulless' machine was kind, which makes a point about the main plot and the idea that being human doesn't make you 'human.'

Curie: TDLR; Should have been related directly to the main plot

Curie is a robot that is put inside a synth—which is, biologically, completely human in all but a chip in their head and the circumstances of their creation—and is totally fine. She learns to breathe, gets thoughts and feelings in a way a Ms. Nanny wouldn't, and handles sensations without bricking.

Send this bitch to the Institute and BOS, are you kidding me? Curie is walking proof of synths being more than machines. She has wants, imagination, potentially even dreams and nightmares. This is never brought up by anyone.

Also, Curie is a robot, and then inhuman, but still a person, and she uses science and her compassion to help the wasteland, where those who would destroy or enslave her use it to further their own egos.

Danse: TDLR; MAKE HIM SAY SORRY TO NICK AND HANCOCK

Danse's real character arc starts at his final affinity post BB, and then it doesn't go anywhere. He never learns to accept himself, or synths, or ghouls. Danse is a character that shows the terrible function of 4 Affinity Talks, because he needs, like, 10 of the things.

Danse needed his likes/dislikes updated after BB, interactions with Nick and Hancock, and a proper character arc where he unlearns his worst traits and the BOS's bullshit.

Deacon: TDLR; Dead wife? Really?

Can Deacon not just be a goofball man who used to be a bigot, and now works hard to help the people he hurt? Because Barbara and her death implies that Deacon didn't change because it was the right thing to do, but because bigotry personally affected him.

If there must be a death, make it that his community tore itself apart trying to find synths among them. Y'know, like...a witch hunt? In Salem, maybe? Since we didn't do anything interesting with Salem, one of the most interesting places in the USA? Deacon sees this and sees that it doesn't matter if synths are human or not, hatred will inevitably hurt anyone, because it doesn't actually care who you are. Hatred doesn't need a reason, only a target. The Synth plot should have been an allegory for McCarthyism instead of slavery, change my mind.

Hancock: TDLR; He's a historical LARPER that doesn't do anything in terms of a narrative.

No, Todd. You can't make John Hancock a ghoul and call it an OC.

Hancock could have had a story about identity crisis, idolatry, and trying to escape your past. We also get hints at a complex political issue in Goodneighbor about the push-and-pull between the desire for total freedom/anarchy, but the need for some kind of law and order. Hancock has a casual friendliness, and acts like 'one of the people,' but he is the mayor. There's tension there. Can your leader be your friend? Can your friend call all the shots while still being on equal footing with you? Can you lead a group of people who look up to you as a hero, and still retain modesty and not subconsciously separate yourself?

I like Hancock, he's fun, he has a lot of interesting narrative stuff. But he doesn't do anything with it. It could have been a nice parallel with Elder Maxson, too.

MacCready: TDLR; Small inconsistencies + dude, go get your son???

Mac doesn't ever go back to Duncan, and Duncan never comes to the Commonwealth. I understand that the former is for game play reasons, but the latter feels like the writers forgot that Duncan exists.

MacCready has some issues with the likes/dislikes. I think they're mistakes instead of intended, but still. For example, in the Vault 81 quest. MacCready likes letting Austin die. He dislikes it if you give the cure.

There's also Sheffield, the soda addict in Diamond City. MacCready claims to have never seen someone with a sugar addiction, but Zip, from Little Lamplight, had an addiction.

Mac is mostly fine, aside from these inconsistencies. The Dead Wife thing sucks, but I allow it because it's pretty fundamental to his story, rather then being tacked on for sad points.

Nick: TDLR; Eddie Winter is a stupid bad guy with a stupid quest and Jenny Lands is a stupid tragic backstory

Eddie Winter being the first ghoul ever is mind-bogglingly bad. You're telling me that they made ghouls before the bombs? And even if they did, Winter couldn't be the first. How the fuck would anyone know that radiation makes you immortal if you do it right, otherwise?! So, that's a contradiction within an already contrived premise. And not only that, but he just. Leaves a bunch of holotapes with a number on the back, that make a code to the basement of his favorite sandwich shop, which just so happens to be on the same street Jenny gets fridged?

So, Eddie Winter (or one of his goons) was eating one day, looked out, saw the fiance of the detective hunting him and recognized her (????), shot her, and then presumably returned to his fucking sandwich??????

And then 2 centuries later, a clone of that detective somehow finds the holotapes, untouched, unmoved, still functioning and retaining the painted-on numbers. The numbers didn't...fade? Wipe off?

You can keep the concept of Nick wanted to finish something Pre-war Nick didn't get to, but this...this isn't it.

Like, Skinny Malone was right there. Maybe just Darla shows up when you free Nick, and then later Nick has to contend with Malone and the Triggermen in some grand conspiracy with Mayor MacDonough, Hancock, and Piper.

Preston: TDLR; The radiant quest mechanic fucked him over and his voice actor needed some retakes

The moment you get Radio Freedom, Preston should have stopped giving quests. Easy fix there. It would have saved him almost a decade of shitty memes.

The real problem with Preston is that his VA beefed it bad. I can quote some of his lines with perfect inflection because the VA just did it so poorly. X6-88's VA had to play a monotonous, little-emotion character, and he still nailed it and gave X6 a lot of personality and distinction. Preston sounds like a modded-in character. And Jon Gentry is a pretty good actor! He has a great live-action presence in his demo reels on IMDB. I think he just struggled to put his performance into his voice rather than his presence/body language, and they didn't let/have him do a retake.

Piper: TDLR; So much potential, so much failure. Piper is a shitty reporter, and that could have been a great opportunity to have commentary on the ethics of journalism.

Journalism is supposed to be a duty to the people. It has responsibilities and ethics that are very easily misunderstood or forgotten for the sake of the next article. A good journalist is not always accurate. An accurate journalist is not always kind. A kind journalist is not always good.

Piper is not a good journalist, because her writing is not informative, it isn't news or useful info. She writes about MacDonough being a synth—she's basically writing callout posts on her blog.

Piper is not an accurate journalist, because she never has evidence for this claim. She says MacDonough is a synth, that the Institute took the Survivor's baby even if the Survivor says no.

Piper is not a kind journalist, because she fearmongers and makes things worse for synths. She complains that no one believes or trusts her word, but the second thing you ever see in Diamond City is a man trying to kill his brother for fear he's been replaced.

This is all fine, if addressed and explored. But it isn't. Piper seems to be chasing the high of exposing authority, and both times, she's right. We, the player, know she's right because we find out later she is. Imagine if we didn't. Imagine that reveal scene never comes. Every issue of Publick Occurances is trying to start a witchhunt, and Piper doesn't notice that it's working.

So, let's make her arc about worrying about her sister.

X6-88: TDLR; BRUH HE HAS NOTHING

No backstory, no relationships with other characters, no quest, no character arc.

TODD. You had the chance to humanize the Institute, or at least show what it's like being an Institute synth that isn't free. And you, instead, put all that time into fucking KELLOGG. You think I give a fuck about KELLOGG? I don't even give a fuck about SHAUN.

🌠Honorable mentions🌠

Gage: Hypocrite that thinks becoming the problem is fixing the problem, also he has both eyes. What do you need an eyepatch for.

Strong: Bethesda Super Mutants suck shit. Y'know Erikson fron Far Harbor? Would rather have him.

Longfellow: Dead Wife Man. Again, would have preferred Erikson.

Dogmeat and Ada: Perfect, no notes.

Best companions are:

Dogmeat, for being doggy

Ada, for being robot lady

Preston, for being perfect aside from two technical, Doylist issues.

[leopardmuffinxo]

Dragon's Dogma 2: Brant

[zephyrfuse]

spent all that time waiting around for the fest just to be indecisive on a potential agent design

[shima-draws]

Oh OKAY so the traveler is totally cool with trusting Childe after all the shit HE'S done but not Lyney, when he had a good reason to lie and isn't even associated with the Fatui in a bad hurting people and destroying shit way? ALRIGHT. OKAY. WHATEVER,

[sdmsims]

new cas challenge: 'kawaii' girl who is fat and is darker than a paper bag

[kiuda]

the thing that still fucks me up about usmp/qsmp is how we could have had two awesome servers. we could have had qsmp with english and spanish streamers learning to communicate without words, teaching each other important phrases and maybe even creating their own crossover language of the two. and we could have had usmp with the ccs being able to keep being themselves and promote their own languages and cultures without learning a new language or adapting their content to that language. we could have all gotten to know so many streamers from many parts of the world. all of that. ruined by one man.

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

[ID: Two sets of dialogue options from Dragon Age: Origins:

"1. So you're the one who butchered my kin?

2. That's a lot of titles for one man to have.

3. Boot licking appears to be profitable these days. [this option is selected]

4. When does the Landsmeet begin?"

"1. Oh look, the regent owns a talking ass. [selected]

2. Come over here and say that, shem.

3. I'm really going to enjoy cutting your throat.

4. When does the Landsmeet begin?" END ID]

.

reasons to love the warden

[absolutely-normal-about-x]

A Pacifist’s Fury and Grief

The one of the things, I absolutely love about the Iwamoto manga, is the demostration of X’s grief and Fury in the wars.

This Fury was first shown to us in the final chapters of the X3 Manga

Keep that in mind he never acted like this in the final chapters in the X1 and X2 Mangas. The way he acts like this shows that he’s at his limit. It doesn’t show it that often but fuck I love how it demonstrates, that he is not okay and how he views himself. How much he wants sigma dead so the wars can stop. He stopped him so the world is saved and everything is restoring itself so things are going to be okay!

Then the Replaforce mess happens and well…during a mission Blizzard Buffalo against Ice Walrus. Sacrificing himself to save X and look what happened…

His friend died cause he was weak and helpless to stop walrus.

His mind and his heart where damaged convincing himself that…he needs to be stronger to stop this madness (Hi double for that speech 💥💥) going on a Rampage of grief and Fury. Going on a war path of destruction

Enter the ultimate armor and if anyone read the manga knows what happens next…

X was lost in the war that he nearly lost himself because of that grief and fury. To the point that he aims his weapon at Zero, his best friend. How his heart was so wounded from the battles that he nearly forgot who he was…thankfully he was reminded of his heart by General gently embracing him and sacrificing himself.

Allowing himself to let go of his hatred and rage, and attempted to be better, embracing the blast. Cause of his heart that ultimate armor purifies it self.

The Moral of the lesson here kids is to never invoke the Pacifist Fury.

Aka don’t piss of X or murk his loved ones.

[68spidey]

I hate media and games where you don't get vengeance at the end. Where your character doesn't kill the Big Bad Evil because "It won't make you feel better, it wont fix the wrongs they've done 😩 You're better than they are!" I'm not, actually, and I do in fact think that getting bloody revenge would make me feel better.

SO much better.

Fuck you. Give me the option instead of making me sit through a shitty cutscene where you take that pleasure from me.

[act-more-like-a-dog-sirius]

HP Rants: Things Fandom Gets WRONG

The Dark Mark (tattoo)

where oh where is the reading comprehension??? did y’all really not read any of GoF??? not only does the minister of fucking magic not know about the Dark Mark tattoos, as snape has to explain and show it to him (which just ????? astounding incompetence from the ministry of goddamn magic and the wizarding world at large) but sirius literally says in response to the kiddos telling him that Karkaroff showed snape something on his arm, “'He showed Snape something on his arm?' said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered...'Well, I’ve no idea what that’s about." despite the fact that he KNOWS for a fact karkaroff was a death eater. (and his own goddamn brother was a death eater. And his family was super pro-voldemort).

The whole fucking point is that no one knew.

Otherwise it would have been obvious who was and who wasn’t death eaters, or at least, inner-circle death eaters. Sirius would not have gone to Azkaban. The Malfoys and literally every other free death eater would have.. but this didn’t happen because the wizarding world is complete shit at handling things and disseminating EXTREMELY IMPORTANT information.. that’s the whole fucking point.

[thegoatsongs]

One of my FAVORITE things about Dracula is that right now Mina and Dracula are psychically linked, for mutually-assured destruction purposes

and THEY BOTH HAVE A SCAR ON THEIR FOREHEADS

[lautakwah]

theres sth deeply sad abt a lot of translated works (and i dont mean some ya novel translated frm english to french. obviously.) in the imperial core being shortened/abridged bc the translator deemed those parts unimportant or straight up didnt have the cultural/historical/religious knowledge to understand WHY theyre important... not to mention how they tend to be biased in their translating to pigeonhole sfuff into western frameworks of thought like 😭