#i cannot tell if i'm annoyed and disappointed in this game or if i'm just in such a bad brain state that i can't enjoy things correctly

[korattata]

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[ticklishprincey]

Helluva Boss Tickle Headcannons

Have some headcannons because I'm bored Blitzo -DEVIOUS LER -Main targets are Moxxie and Fizz (after they made up) -If he’s in a ler mood you need to RUN (luckily it doesn’t happen often) -Loves to chase -Loves to sneak up on Moxxie and tickle him while claiming it’s “just a hug, what’s so funny?” -Favorite teases have to do with his lee’s laugh/reactions -”Oh, is this a bad spot? Too bad!” -Very giggly lee -Has a very giggly and bubbly laugh when tickled, a big contrast to his usual snarky and sarcastic cackles -Main lers are Stolas, Moxxie and Fizz -Favorite ler is Moxxie but won’t admit it to save his life -Will never outright say he’s in a lee mood, but if you know him well enough you can tell -He’ll lay across a ler’s lap with his shirt slightly exposing his tummy -Or he’ll instigate a tickle fight just to have someone get revenge -Worst spot is his knees, he’ll go into hysterics if they’re squeezed -Can say the word but it’s embarrassing so he’d rather not Stolas -Very teasy ler -My man has feathers all over him you think he’s not going to use them to torture his lee? -Main targets are Blitzo and Octavia -Gets his target into a lee mood then makes them ask for it  -”I don’t know what you want, darling, you’ll have to tell me~” -Only tickles Octavia with consent, Blitzo isn’t so lucky (not that he minds) -Isn’t ticklish, much to Blitzo’s disappointment. Millie -Absolutely loves to tickle Moxxie when he’s upset or stressed out -Loves to tease -Flusters the hell out of Moxxie and enjoys every minute of it -Likes to point out how flustered he gets around the word -”Awww, hun, it’s just a word! Tickle tickle tickle! Awwwww look at that blush!” -Loves to give raspberries -Not very ticklish but her neck gets a few giggles out of her -Moxxie is the only person who can tickle her without getting hurt Moxxie -Very rare for him to ler -Mainly only ler to Millie and Blitzo if he’s being extra annoying or upset -Can’t say the word even when he’s ler -THE BIGGEST LEE IN HELL OMG -The cutest laugh in history -Main lers are Millie and Blitzo -Favorite ler is Millie -Cannot ask for tickles to save his life -Cannot handle teasing but loves it at the same time -THE CUTEST LIL SNORTS IF YOU GET HIM GOOD AGHHHH -Worst spot is his tummy but he’s ticklish basically everywhere -Won’t ask his ler to stop until he literally can’t breathe and has to tap out -Can you tell who my favorite character is? Octavia -Cannot ler to save her life -Main lers are Stolas and Loona -Hates her laugh but her ler will reassure her it’s adorable -Blushes very easily -Worst spot is her tummy -Raspberries will send her into hysterics Loona -Octavia’s favorite ler -100% tickles Octavia when she’s sad or particularly angsty -Big fan of using raspberries -Not really fond of babytalk but she will tease the living shit out of her lee -”Oh wow, I never knew someone could be this ticklish, how do you survive?” -Not ticklish anywhere except behind her ears -Blitzo is the only one who knows this

Asmodeus -OMG THIS MAN IS A LER 100% -Only to Fizz though -Loves to use petnames in his teases -”Aww~ Is my little fizzy frog ticklish here?” -Gentle tickles, then big raspberries out of nowhere just to throw his lee off their game -THE KING OF BABYTALK OMGGG -He’s a rooster and 100% uses his feathers to his advantage -Bigger and stronger than Fizz so pinning him is super easy -As soon as his lee says anything close to stop he’s cuddling them and asking is he went too far -Only ticklish on his hips -May or may not have accidentally hit Fizz the first time he was tickled -IMMEDIATELY APOLOGIZED AFTER BECAUSE HE WILL NOT HURT HIS FIZZY FROG -Doesn’t particularly like being tickled but he loves everything Fizz does so he enjoys it nonetheless Fizzarolli -Crazy ler -100% uses his robot arms to pin his lee -Main target is Blitzo but if he’s feeling brave he’ll go for Asmodeus -Definitely has been kicked in the face before by a certain imp -Lovesssss to tease and babytalk his lee -”Aww~ Is the wittle baby too tickwish? Can he not handle the tickle tickle tickles?” -Second place to Moxxie for cutest lee -Main lers are Asmodeus and Blitzo -Ticklish literally everywhere but his worst spot is his spine and upper back -CANNOT HANDLE BACK/SHOULDER MASSAGES -Asmodeus found out he was ticklish after offering to give him a massage after a hard day -Blushy and giggly lee -Like all you have to do is wiggle your fingers in his direction and he’s blushing and giggling up a storm -100% will retaliate and get revenge tenfold -Use his own teases against him and he will die -Tell him how much it’s gonna tickle and he will also die Did I forget someone? Probably. I’m tired.

[kirain]

your gale takes actually got me to look deeper into forgotten realms lore (esp where it pertains to the afterlife) and long story short i’m at least a little bit fixated on it now and also will go to bat for that wizard basically at any point. also wild magic. i’ve been reading so much about wild magic, it’s so so interesting. esp wild magic sourced from the far realm and the implications that could have for a wild magic mage in esp the bg3 setting

Thank you, I'm so glad to hear that! I'm still learning about the lore myself (there's so much), and we should all be thanking Larian for introducing so many new people to D&D!

Wild magic is insane, and I had a great time using it with my sorcerer. The magic system in general is truly fascinating, as is its history in context of the game. It's just too bad it's linked to a god. I think I've said this before, but an irksome detail about Mystra is that she technically isn't a "bad" god, but she should definitely keep her fingers to herself. Every iteration has done objectively horrible things to mortals, but because she's written by a man who clearly favours her (in my humble opinion) nothing she does is presented as wrong. 😒

These asks actually reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend of mine. He basically said, "Elminster is on Mystra's side and he cares about Gale, so obviously Mystra is right." But here's the thing:

Not only is Eliminster a really annoying self-insert made by Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms (and I mean that literally, he's admitted he's a self-insert), but Eliminster has also had ... "relations" with his surrogate daughter. He's betrayed his friends for Mystra. He's killed arguably innocent people. So you'll have to forgive me if I don't look to him for moral guidance. He also slept with the previous iterations of Mystra and blindly follows her commands, so he might just be a teensy bit biased. In fact, if you look at various forums, you'll see a lot of players complaining about the character's irritating Gary Stu status, and that Dungeon Masters hate putting him in their campaigns.

Elminster will never question Mystra, because in his mind she's a perfect being who deserves everything, including people's lives; ignoring the fact that pretty much every god in D&D is canonically flawed. He's the type of person who would tell a grieving parent that God took their recently deceased child for "reasons we cannot comprehend".

He says he took no pleasure in burdening Gale with her ultimatum, but let's be real—he wasn't that hurt by it. In fact, the Elminster we meet in game isn't even real. It's a snow clone. He couldn't be bothered to visit Gale, who he apparently respects and cares about, in person. The only time he shows any genuine emotion towards Gale is in the ascended epilogue, when he writes him a disappointed letter. And I wouldn't be surprised if that disappointment is more about him challenging Mystra than actually achieving godhood.

Though it should be said that Elminster is also a victim of Mystra. The iteration before Midnight (current Mystra) groomed and abused him for a millenia, yet for some reason we, the audience, are supposed to pretend there's nothing wrong with that. If anything, we're supposed to view it as "sexy". As if Gale and Elminster are "lucky" to have caught her attention.

Reading up on the lore surrounding these two is truly horrifying. Elminster is old enough now that his actions are informed and unforgivable. He helps Mystra groom boys to exploit and never questions her. He's not merely complacent, he's active in her ploys. Despite his numerous heroic feats, I personally can't overlook it, especially when he could have been Gale's biggest defender.

[lazypinkpig]

A Woman's Touch Preview

Summary: Julianna was Tyrion Lannister daughter from a random whore, she was as what others say a replica of the late Lady Joanna Lannister. But little Juli wasn't t just a simple child, no she was made for something greater. Even thou she was a bastard Tyrion still took Julianna in, in an attempt to ire his father, the great lion Tywin Lannister. And add to that, King Robert Baratheon legitimized her just to annoy the old lion.

Watch as how she changed the Game of Thrones.

(Warning: Game of Thrones literally is a warning itself, but this story consist of incest, murder, manipulation, death, etc.

A/N: So I'm a newbie author and English is not my first language. So don't expect anything great. This is merely to satisfy my Tywin Lannister obsession. And I'm not really that familiar with how the court works in GoT and I'm also not that in depth towards it's lore, so please forgive me should I mistake something, and do tell me so I could correct it.)

"A woman carry a life that could change history itself, so why is it that we are seen less. When it was from our womb that gave life to all."

"I'll show you grandfather that a woman isn't just for child bearing."

"oh poor unfortunate father, given how smart you are you still failed to realize that grandfather has replaced you. The child that I carry will be the heir to Casterly Rock."

"Joffery, my dear boy, do not be foolish. I am your aunt we cannot marry. My love, look at me you will not disappoint me. Do you understand?"

"You may be queen but I have the love of Tywin Lannister."

"I am capable of many things even kinslaying."

"You do not know the misery I have experienced in slums, so please forgive me should I do anything to make sure my children never experience what I have experienced."

"When you first brought me here I was imagining the life I will have with my father, but your constant drinking and debauchery has lowered my expectations."

"Don't expect big things you'll only disappoint yourself."

"Your needle work has greatly improved." Tywin said as he entered my solar. He walked up near me and sat at the nearest chair. Given that I was sitting on the floor with soft wool underneath me, I had to really look up towards him.

"It's been the same, grandfather." I said with a slight glare. He merely sighed, in which I turned back to my stitching. "Dare I ask where is father?"

"Probably whoring his way in some brothel." He answered with clear annoyance and disgust in his tone.

"Have you ever been in any brothel, grandfather?" I asked with real curiosity. Given how proud the old lion was, my guess is he never did, and if he ever did it won't be for pleasure as he is always about business.

He hummed, and seemingly contemplated for a moment but he didn't answer my question.

But I knew the truth, Tywin Lannister isn't so different from Tyrion Lannister when it comes to carnal desires.

[renaultmograine]

Im sorry if this is strange to ask. I was considering getting bg3 but I have trauma triggers surrounding sexual harassment and ignoring boundaries. How severe the rapeyness, and is it avoidable?

I mean, that's just my perspective of it; there's a lot of people who see it as "sex positivity," but I disagree.

Your companions will hit on you. Aggressively. At seemingly any approval. The game does not let you be friends with your companions and there's seemingly no way to get 'closer' to a companion unless you try and romance them. You will be subjected to all your dialogue choices being [I want to fuck you], [Playing coy], and [You repulse me]. There's nothing else. By merely having them in your party, they will hit on you, and some will not take no as an answer.

Somehow, by being nice to Karlach, I've romanced her, and now have the option to say 'Sorry, I'm really into Gale more :/' when I have never done anything to imply that I'm actually attracted to her besides support her emotionally. Astarion will hit on you the first night you're there (the insight check pass tells you he "doesn't mean it" but IDC that's weird) and he will do this twice more. I have never had a conversation with Astarion past his pop-up ones in camp, and he's still sitting at level one in camp, which testifies I've never had him in my party.

I did end up romancing Gale (which, his scenes made me wildly uncomfortable, but that's a personal thing) but I've seen people on the forums get annoyed because they were forced into 'romancing' Gale because they were just trying to emotionally support him, and how, apparently, Gale doesn't take no for an answer and will repeatedly sexually harass the player. From my time romancing him, I wholeheartedly believe that.

I have initiated battle with an NPC I never had a direct conversation with, and she remarked that she was disappointed that we were fighting, and that she expected me to be, "another notch on her bedpost." NPCs you will have known for a morning will INSIST on fucking you. Your ONLY choices with another is either to fuck him or to not speak with him, the game doesn't offer you anything else. Another NPC, the one that sparked my last post, I had saved from a mind flayer, and she immediately tried to fuck me once she realized that I had a parasite, and it took four separate no's to get her off my back.

I felt less sexually pressured in Cyberpunk 2077, a game with a main theme being the oversexualization and perversion of the culture and the many side missions involving prostitution. I had to actively seek out any sort of sexual encounter in that game, and it gives you plenty of opportunities to say 'No, I just want to be your friend.'

There is a way to avoid the companion's interactions, and that's simply to... not have any. You can start up a "LAN" party with four instances of the game, make the characters you wish, and then quit the instances of the non-host to get control of the characters. You can also, a bit later into the game, hire 'hirelings' that are essentially the same thing, but I know it takes a couple rests to get to that, and I don't know if you can solo up until that part unless you have a damn good idea about the encounters. You cannot kick people out of your camp once they're there, they either have to leave of their own free will, or you have to kill them. In EA, the other companions would aggro onto you if they did that. No idea if it changed.

Like I said before, Lae'zel takes no for an answer. She's weird about her coming onto you, but I told her no and she took it. Shadowheart made a pass at me, but I had ignored it because in the EA she got offended if you tried to have sex with her, and didn't expect that to change. She does seem like her romance is harder to get to than the others, so there's that. I have managed without another incident with her, but I also haven't had her in my party since I picked up Karlach, so that might be why. Karlach hasn't hit on me from my recollection but I still somehow have romanced her. I have never taken Wyll, so I have no idea about him. Astarion and Gale are the real bad ones. I just don't talk to the non-origin companions, and that works out for me (though Minthara, if you go the evil route, WILL be really sexually imposing in your first 'companion' convo with her, haven't played that far into evil yet though).

I adore the fights in this game, and the story is.... starting to droop in Act 3, admittedly, but it has enough interesting diverging paths that I will likely replay it a couple times, but I am so sick of all the companions. Once I'm done with a good run and a bad run, I don't think I could ever bring myself to picking up story companions again.

[valittlecorner]

¡¡KENREO lore headcanons!! (VERY LONG POST DEAL W ME)

I was asked to provide and ended up discovering my niche. The kenreo likers. Also using this post to manifest akyr winning this round so these two can meet again. These are all my headcanons that basically cover how I think the whole relationship of these two would go (sorry I'm insane).

♡ ¿How do they get closer?

- One day, Kenta sneaks out of Public Service to go to a nearby arcade. He's barely getting to play something when he ends up Reo, who apparently hangs out there from time to time. Reo starts messing with Kenta's gaming skills which results in them having a mini battle in some arcade games like smash and mortal kombat. They have so much fun but! The battle ends up as a tie, barely, cause Kenta kept fucking up under pressure lmao. Still disappointing I know. They're both so competitive (and curious abt knowing each other properly) they promise to meet at the arcade every time Kenta has Public Service until they get a better result. This goes on and on for way too much time. The tie seemed never-ending cause they kept purposefully getting ties so the meetings can keep going without killing anyone's pride. Eventually they got tired of the same arcade so they went hanging out elsewhere, like Reo's place (they play in the family console!) or random places related to games (like those buildings full of claw machines!). Its good to clarify Kenta deadass escaped his duties every single time they hung out, mf thought he was sleek but absolutely everyone knew he was seeing someone. Same happened with reo. And we're talking about it real quick.

♡ Okay but what abt gklk/akyr

- So ofc Gklk would notice Kenta randomly missing from PUBLIC SERVICE. At first they didn't find him and he just came back before Service was over, but eventually they found out where he was. Yuto tried to pick him up but had to go through the experience of watching Kenta painfully trying to flirt. It wasn't an amazing experience but Yuto still found it cute and saw it as a way for Kenta to get back to society, so he let the guy be. Yuto did tell everyone else from Gklk and kept making proud dad comments like "ohh I'm so glad Reo is helping you become a better person!!! You'll be back in society soon!!!! :33" making Kenta very mad and embarrassed. Meanwhile my man Ryoga didn't care enough abt the news, but Shion kept annoying Kenta and poking fun at him for not knowing how to flirt or at least be less awkward around his crush lmao. Now Akyr didn't really know about it for a while, but Satsu + Hoku did find them eventually. They innocently tried to join the arcade gaming but were dragged out by Reo. They instantly knew what was going on and snitched to Iori and Zen. Reo was asked abt it but he just avoided every question😭 it was still painfully obvious something else was happening for those who knew him. Most Akyr don't really mind it tho, as long as he's happy yknow. Except Satsuki, who used this chance to mess around w Reo every single time Kenta was around, which led to insane arguments that usually ended with someone crying and snitching to Iori or Zen (mostly Reo). Zen didn't quite like the news for his bad experience w Hancho, but after a while he accepted it, Kenta seemed decent. Overall everyone from both sides finds it cute, ofc everyone would be supportive of the little brothers of two different families who started dating.

♡ The process of actually starting to date

- Oh god the process was A PAIN. Reo is very teasy and flirty at the same time while Kenta is a flustered mess that cannot stand anything without dying. Kenta is touch starved and Reo is a hugger who can read Kenta like an open book, but at the same time Reo can underestimate Kenta's clingyness. It's basically a war within the openly clingy and the shyly clingy. Over all their meetings there's always been that vibe of awkwardness over them trying their hardest to flirt SERIOUSLY but failing miserably, just teen stuff. They can't even hold hands cause Kenta refuses (too shy) so Reo has to forcefully hug him at times. But even with all of that, the one to confess first would actually be Kenta himself!!! Now listen, he has enough pride to not allow Reo to make 90% of the moves AND ALSO CONFESS??? Hell nah he had to do at least something for the relationship. So at one of their usual meetings Kenta kept trying to get enough courage to actually confess to an oblivious Reo with every gklk member watching from afar (Emotional support!). When Reo was already leaving Kenta had THE GUTS to confess to him after like 5 hours of hanging out which ended in Reo being like "bro fucking finally I was anxious all day cause I thought you'd give up after failing to confess like 6 times today!!!!" Reo was not that oblivious it seems. After publicly embarrassing Kenta, Reo just hugs him, says sorry and they officially start dating now. Beautiful. From this moment on, they'll try to manage seeing each other considering their messy ass backgrounds. And we'll talk about that too I have everything calculated.

♡ Okay but what abt the government

- In the current pararai timeline, if they started dating right now (Trust round) they'd still have plenty of time to be around each other considering Gokuluck is already at the finals therefore wouldn't have to return to prison just yet. But from then on, there's a shit ton of possibilities. If anyone who isn't gklk wins pararai, then they'd return straight back to prison, and the minis would be SEPARATED broken heart. If thats the case they'd probably text each other religiously (reminder Kenta has a laptop/pc thingy in prison) and Reo would visit him a lot. It feels really weird for two teenagers to meet each other IN PRISON but oh well this is the only reasonable outcome. It'd be very sad if that happened to the minis so vote gokuluck for the win so they don't go back to prison aha🏆 (subtle spam).

COMPILATION OF SMALLER HEADCANONS that I refuse to leave out

- Reo dressed Kenta as a discord kitten as a joke. Kenta kept the kitty earphones. They're somewhere but he wouldn't go out with them.

- Kenta's love language is sending incomprehensible memes to Reo or weird images he'd caption "us." Reo's love language is replying with those goofy pics with a pink bg and sanrio characters on top with overlayed text reading "this could be us but you play league of legends".

- Kenta is the #1 hater of publicly showing affection but when they're alone he's the biggest hugger and most clingy being on earth.

- Reo sends a "good morning!!! ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃" "good night~ (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+" every single day. Kenta just replies with "gm" "gn". Dry ass texter.

- Reo's hobby is giving Kenta ugly hairstyles while claiming he's making him "prettier".

- They're trying very hard to hide their relationship from the public, it's working rn but who knows for how long....

OKAY I'M DONE. FUCK THIS IS A LOT NAHSJS. Only pararai ship I've dedicated this much energy towards omg!! I just feel they're lacking content so I did God's work, you're welcome.

[olistar255]

PIKMIN 4 STORY SPOILERS from stuff available in the demo :]

i've been reading up on some people's thoughts on 4's story and i'm kinda confused. Can people really not tell apart a retcon from an alt timeline? 4's story is very much meant to be taken with the rest of the series in mind, and i think that's only going to be more and more true as the game progresses. We can already get in the demo a Voyage log from Olimar where he dreams about 2's plot, which also directly references a log in 3 where Olimar dreams about 1's bad ending (obviously they didn't knew about 4's plot when writing that log, but there's definitely a parallel). I'm sure storywise AND gameplaywise, 4 will embrace creating parallels to the 'main' games. We've already seen in the demo how SO MANY little details pay homage to the first 3 games.

As for if it is a good decision, well that's way more personal... I definitely get being disappointed the story doesn't go further. But I see it as a great narrative choice for 2 reasons :

I always saw 3 as the finale of the main Pikmin story. For one it forms a trilogy which is just satisfying :] Second everything about it spells conclusion to me: the emphasis on story to wrap things up, playing new characters for the "new generation" trope, the stakes of the story, the role reversal of Olimar becoming the 'treasure' to rescue and the final boss itself. Not saying i would dislike seeing the story continued, but i simply think the main story arc is done. Koppai is saved and Olimar returns home safely against all odds. The shooting star at the end of 3's credits is symbolic - you get a glimpse of the story from the Pikmin's point of view : they're guardian angels always helping those in need. Even if the story repeats itself with more people crashing on the planet, this shows it'll always pan out the same - there's nothing left to explore or tell, aside from mysteries like the wraith's intentions, the nature of the Pikmin or of PNF404 itself... but the very essence of the Pikmin setting as an alien world mean we cannot get answers for everything.

i don't want the follow up to 3 to be about olimar crashlanding again lmfao. I've seen people say alt timelines like in Zelda are lazy... making Olimar crash on PNF404 after it's been shown he knows how to land there would either retcon the whole 2 arc, or tread on the old Pikmin 3 ground of "spooky mysterious force forces a crash", which imo feels way more lazy. It's also why i'd kinda really hate if it turns out it's not an alt timeline and takes place after 3... It would imply Olimar got amnesia, which is just... such a bad storytelling tool so far into a story. It's about as bad as the "conflict could get resolved if characters simply talked" story convenience. Would also not make sense since as of right now, Olimar has no reason to go back to PNF404 with the Dolphin (implied all debt would get paid back).

All these problems get solved with the alt timeline idea 4 got. We get to explore brand new ideas without having to go through redundant plot points or render previous arcs useless. We get to enjoy a new story with characters we like (hell, before the story got shown i was ready and embracing the thought of having a new game with no returning characters).

I didn't really intend to write an essay defending an unreleased game :P but more than just being inspired a lot by Pikmin, it does annoy me when people think video games can't have narratives more complex than just "repeat same story again and again" just for the sake of gameplay. I don't need deep stories (Pikmin's story is remarkably simple) but i deeply value cool set pieces, unique atmospheres and refreshing storytelling ideas.

[mountmortar]

Out of curiosity since you've mentioned The Legend of Zelda before, are there any of those games that you would reccomend? I've never played them before. I like Pokemon, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts if that helps

RUBBING MY HANDS TOGETHER EVILLY. OKAY. SO. i don't know anything about final fantasy or kingdom hearts unfortunately but i CAN take a wild guess and say that if you like pokémon there's a higher chance that you're a fan of 2D games because a good majority of fans are in agreement that pokémon was better when it was 2D. in which case. let me put this under a readmore so people who aren't interested in zelda don't get annoyed lmao:

first of all i have to recommend my favorite game in the legend of zelda series ever which is the minish cap. it's definitely the most polished 2D zelda game out there (aside from four swords adventures but that was on a home console not a handheld) and all the spritework is SO good and cute and filled with whimsy and does actually remind me of pokémon. and the soundtrack is an absolute banger AND it isn't a terribly long game at all so it can serve as a great little introduction for people getting into zelda. a couple other fun 2D zelda games (and these will probably appeal more to people who are fans of the original rby/gsc because of the style) are link's awakening (which does have a switch remake) and oracle of ages!!! oracle of seasons was fun to me but most people agree that oracle of ages was much More fun. if you want more of what the majority of the zelda series is about there's a link to the past, which was released in 1991 (so before pokémon) and features link, zelda, and ganon, who are all the Main Three of the games.

aside from that, if the 3D games interest you, a link between worlds (successor to alttp but you don't have to play it to understand what's going on) is REALLY good with a KILLER fucking soundtrack. spirit tracks is wonderful and you ride in a train the whole game for people who are ingo & emmet fans. ocarina of time is probably the most influential zelda game out there aside from a link to the past and in certain games (wind waker [sailing on the ocean!] and majora's mask [THE TIME LOOP GAME OF ALL TIME]) some things will go directly over your head if you don't play ocarina of time first. skyward sword is fucking AWESOME and i cried like a baby at the end of it.

and. this is just me personally but i cannot stress this enough. avoid breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom like the fucking plague. if you do play them you cannot think of them as zelda games. they're alright games for people who like them i guess but they're genuinely the worst fucking ZELDA games in the franchise. i am so serious about this. i'm trying to make my way through breath of the wild right now (previously i'd just watched a playthrough) and it is legitimately so fucking boring and the soundtrack is GODAWFUL. pokémon legends arceus did everything 100000x better than breath of the wild absolutely no argument. and even diehard breath of the wild fans were disappointed with tears of the kingdom which should tell you everything you need to know.

ANYWAY. tl;dr: play minish cap, link's awakening, or oracle of ages if you want some fun 2D games (very easily accessible on an emulator or homebrewed 3DS, or nintendo switch for link's awakening remake). play a link to the past (easily accessible on an emulator) or ocarina of time (has a 3DS remake; opens up the door to gain a better understanding of wind waker and majora's mask*) if you want the Classic Zelda Storyline to understand what's kind of going on everywhere else. play a link between worlds (3DS) or skyward sword (wii or nintendo switch) if you want a good 3D game where things are less likely to fly over your head.

*majora's mask and wind waker can very easily still be played without playing ocarina of time! there are just some things in the game that'll woosh straight over your head if you haven't played them. also okay that's a lie about wind waker being easily accessible because it's only available on the nintendo gamecube or wiiu BUT majora's mask does have a 3DS remake just like ocarina of time so if you've homebrewed a 3DS you're good to go on that end. OKAY i'm done

[waheelawhisperer]

So over the last few days I've become aware that a lot of people didn't like the end of Near Light (or the event as a whole, which came as a surprise to me because I thought the reception was pretty positive when it was released, but I digress) and honestly I didn't either, but my reasoning is a little different from the community at large's. Like, yeah, I don't much like the "change the system from within" stuff either, but what has me mad (like... actually, genuinely angry, rather than just disappointed or annoyed) is the decision to have Nearl stay in Kazimierz instead of remaining with Rhodes Island. Yes, this is partly because I have separation anxiety and initiate a full-blown meltdown whenever I'm away from my horsewife for more than an hour, but the main reason it pisses me off is because Margaret has spent a good 5-6 years forcibly separated from her family and now that the obstacles preventing her from seeing them again have been overcome, the members of the Nearl clan just fuck off in three different directions at the end of the event with nary a word to each other. It makes it feel like no one gives a fuck about Margaret and Margaret doesn't give a fuck about them in return, and it contradicts the files for like 4 different operators. It just seems cruel, like whoever writes the Kazimierz stories gets off to fucking over whichever horsegirl is currently the protagonist at the end.

The disjointed timeline and its effect on the narrative is one of the things I do not like about the way Arknights tells its story. It makes it very hard to track what's happening when and where the characters are and what they're doing at any given point. Say what you will about Fate Grand Order (and there is a lot to say about Fate Grand Order, very little of it positive), but at least when you roll a character, you can be reasonably sure that they're available for deployment and interaction in-universe instead of fucking off to the other end of the continent because they aren't actually relevant to to the narrative until 6 months later or were only a part of your team for 2 chapters before going off and doing their own thing for the entire rest of the story.

Arknights does a lot of things well, but my God is it frustrating to be taken out of every map because I have to ask myself "well, shit, is the Operator I just deployed even part of Rhodes Island right now?" With FGO I can attain the required immersion just by picking whatever support Servant the game gives me and then clicking buttons until it becomes time to assblast a boss with Skadi/Merlin/whatever support Caster is currently meta idek anymore I quit this stupid game months ago + DPS, but with Arknights I frequently feel like the story is disconnected from the gameplay because the squad I'm deploying cannot possibly be in this situation.

[brokentoys]

More Riddler asks cuz I like your insight.

Which of the four Arkham Games did Ed the best?

Hard one between City or Origins. But probably City lol. Only because compared to Origins, Ed is "featured in it more" - hell, he's even the face of the challenges you can do aside from story mode. Which, imo, is pretty awesome. Aside from having, perhaps the best, Riddler design in any media (I've explained why it's so good on my personal) But the characterization was pretty darn good, too. He had a good mix of being taken seriously / being seen as threatening and still having some comedic relief. For example, Eddie telling his men he could take on Batman himself (but clearly can't.) The hostages actually show how frightened they were of Riddler, how dangerous he is (literally stabbing somebody in a leg for not doing what he wanted) And just his whole atmosphere - how he's still mysterious as you only see him on screens... but it's very little. Like usually you only see him if you go to save a hostage (versus Knight where he's just CONSTANTLY talking regardless what you're doing.) Eddie has some pretty cool renders in loading screens and on the challenges menu screens.

I'm gonna start comparisons of him in City versus him in Knight. Why he's much better in City, why I prefer him in City, and why Knight is the worst depiction of Eddie in the four games. (It's no secret on this blog I'm highly critical of Knight's depiction - and how I think it's heavily overrated amongst the fandom)

You see, in Knight... they notched up the comedic relief on him to a 10. In City, you can hear a thug saying, "doesn't that Riddler freak have anything better to do than leave question marks around?" or something very similar to that. Sure, this can be considered a thug being disrespectful of Riddler, but it's also to show the thug simply doesn't understand Riddler - like he doesn't understand what the question marks really are. (That they're something smaller to something much grander) This fits in accordance to the fact Riddler has some mystery to him, he's an enigma the employees cannot understand. Meanwhile in Knight, there's at least two audios (maybe more) of the thugs literally making fun of Eddie. Some implying he's very annoying and wanting him to shut up, and one even saying he's funny. The mystery is gone - Eddie's just somebody to laugh at now rather than being confused by. And plus Ed himself makes a lot more jokes, too. His game over screens had no "jokes" in them, just Eddie having this childlike joy in his voice when Batman loses - which actually made Eddie even more intimidating to see the genuine glee he takes in this. Meanwhile, in Knight, there's a game over screen where Ed expresses his genuine shock that he won - before quickly going "oh yeah, of course. haha." Which, YES - it could be a genuine game over screen commenting on the fact that Riddler finally won after four games. Buuuuut... with the literal goons making fun of Eddie, and practically every other character in this game? It just feels like another "Eddie is pathetic" joke. Especially when all these comments / jokes were used far less in City.

Ed also just tells a lot more jokes that doesn't involve him being "pathetic" either - but still makes it hard to take Ed seriously. As much as I do love it, there's the "mating" joke where he said he'll be mating Batman, then quickly realizing how wrong that sounded. There's him talking about how he's the perfect chef to the point he can make the perfect salad or whatever. And just many more jokes about him being oblivious to how "egotistical" he's being, or whatever. Which yeah, some of these jokes are fitting for Ed's character - as said, some of them were told in City. But the issue becomes when Ed's more jokes than he is serious characterization. I am willing to bet there are more jokes / humorous scenes with Eddie in Knight than there are serious ones. And it highly disappoints me, given that I really dislike depictions where Ed's just a joke and/or seen as pathetic amongst the cast.

Eddie was also far more "stereotypical" in Knight. Like they also turned up his nerdiness + pretentiousness. Which the easiest example of showing this would be, again, to demonstrate with the game over screens.

In City, Eddie still speaks relatively like a real person. He insults people's intelligence, but only by comparing them to animals (or using slurs) The biggest word he uses in these is "primitive." And he doesn't really speak in geek or explain anything here.

See? Compared to the above, he's become much more pretentious. First saying it was a "statistical certainty" - get it? He studied the statistics and knew there was no way he'd lose - the statistics said so! Or the fuckgingngng "Expert Consummate in its Ideal Preparation Methods" what a mouthful! Like Eddie didn't really talk like this in City - but he does in Knight. More examples of him being Rick Sanchez now is also him making fun of religious people (pretty sure he never did that in City) as well as him saying the, ugh, Love is just a ChEmIcAl ReAcTiOn!!! I'm above it!!!! (🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮) Which Eddie in City didn't behave in such a way. At least from all the scenes I can remember (and I have been watching my brother replay City recently, and he got pretty far sooo)

Anyway, Eddie in City was a well rounded character who was mysterious, intimidating, sometimes funny, and sometimes even creepy. In Knight, he's been flanderized, and turned into a complete comedic relief that not even any goon can take seriously. And I had to bring up the bad in Knight to point out how much better Eddie in City was. Knight's design doesn't help. I don't care what anyone says about it being proof he's spiraling into a depression - I don't see it as that. It's just a mechanic design to match the fact that he does race tracks now, and Knight was a more vehicle mission based game compared to the previous installments. You can do Eddie being desperate to beat Batman and spiraling into a depression without turning him into a joke, too.

Origins Eddie is a runnerup, and miiight be just as good as City Ed. Because like City Ed, he was mysterious - hell, to the point where you ONLY see his face if you get a game over screen, or renders outside of the story. Origins Eddie also highly inspired my depiction of Ed, where I got the idea that Ed would see himself as the "good guy." Origins Eddie also had the best pre-Riddler concept of him working at the GCPD in the cybercrime unit. It shows Eddie's intellect without making him a scientist (generic concept for genius characters) and also shows how good he's with computers. Also irony, as he used to work at the police station. Also Eddie, before he was even Riddler, when Batman basically just started, was ALREADY suspecting Bruce was Batman (they should've continued with that imo rather than doubling down on his patheticness in Knight) and the boy got away in the end - he wasn't even there to arrest when you find his location. Reminds me of the ending in Riddler's debut episode from the Animated Series! Very cool! PLUS. PLUS. Origins Eddie had an original design that was different from the iconic Riddler look, all while still feeling like Eddie / something he'd wear. (Unlike Knight Eddie)

Anyway, this got VEEERY long - but I'm a bit more passionate about Arkham Eddie than some Eddies you've asked about. Or, at least, there's just more for me to talk about regarding it than there is, say, regarding 2004 Eddie

[crystaldwightsworld]

I know its been like 2 years since you updated Nerve so sorry if this is annoying!! But i just finished reading chapter 2 yesterday and today i accidentally found your tumblr account?!?! I'm so shocked, I think it was fate haha 😄

So anyway, I found myself thinking about your story for the whole day. I really love your writing style. I couldn't look away from the screen. You perfectly captured Ashley's emotions, I could feel her pain and her hesitancy towards Leon. And Leon... he's so gentle and tactful. He instantly makes you feel safe.

I just wanted to thank you for writing this, I noticed that you seem a bit unsure if your stories are good (you mentioned rewriting it a lot of times 😅) and I just want to tell you that THEY ARE AMAZING!!! You are very talented and I hope you have lots of motivation and inspiration to write more great stories in the future. ❤

No need to apologise, it's far from annoying. Maybe fate, maybe not, I did link to my tumblr on some of the chapters in my fics (actually went back and linked to it on all of them since I realized I hadn't been doing it lol).

It still baffles me that I get so many comments on the story and messages here on tumblr. You're not the first person to message me about it lol. Baffled because... you're right, I don't think it's that good xD. I know Leon x Ashley is far from the popular pairing but that's exactly why I started the story/ies. Not a lot of ppl write for them specifically and not a lot of ppl like Ashley to begin with.

I'm glad you like the story. I took a BIG gamble on that second chapter, speaking from Ashley's POV for most of it and sprinkling in a little bit of Leon's as well. I'm doing my best to keep them in what is in my mind, in character. Is a lot of it made up and merely speculation? Of course it is, we only know so much from lore and the games. I had thought ppl were going to hate it though, POV chatter from a character tends to piss ppl off for some reason...

2 years... yikes lol. Trust me, I'm just as disappointed as the fans of the fic are. The inspiration is there, stories that I'd like to write, one offs, au's, things that I already have started sitting in Docs, it's just finding the motivation. I've kind of lost my flow recently, IDK why. Nerve has some deep and dark subjects present in the story as well so it's a little difficult for me to write about something I've never experienced or have no experience in. It's a miracle if I can go back to the third chapter and manage to whip out a few sentences. Chapter three has been sitting in my Google Docs for quite some time, along with the other chapters or drabbles that I want included in the story. I've said it before but Leon and Ashley is always in the back of my mind, always on my mind in some form or another. Always reminded that I need to get the next chapter out. The new RE4 remake coming has really rekindled my interest, I'm really looking forward to seeing Leon and Ashley again. I'm hoping for more bonding moments, more banter, idle chatter and conversation. I about damn near cried at the second trailer reveal and game play footage. That spark is back, that nervous excitement you get in your tummy that burns (in a good way) with fluttering butterflies... I cannot wait to see them again lol.

I'm not going to guarantee when the next chapter will come out. I really have no idea. I can't write unless I'm feeling it and forcing myself to do it any other time just leaves me sitting there staring dumbfoundedly at the draft, knowing exactly what I want to say but unable to get it out into words on the screen. I guess... we'll see. I'm not giving up on it though, I refuse.

Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I'm very doubtful of myself and the stories so finding messages or comments from peeps that really enjoy the stories really reminds me that I'm too hard on myself.

To keep spirits up, I will reveal something from the fic but as always, it's always subject to change. I try to give out mini drabbles of things I'm for certain I want in the story.

Chapter 3

“Ashley?” He voices his greeting gently from above, hoping that it wouldn’t startle her. Her eyes peel open, finding Agent Kennedy standing over her in the dimly lit room. She acknowledges his being with a forced tiny smile followed by a pained whimper, the cramps from her period giving her hell. The headache had lessened but her head still throbbed, her pelvic region felt heavy with pressure and she kept sweating due to the frequent hot flashes. 

“You’re up early, graham cracker.” He says, the silly nickname making her grin as her tired eyes fall to the wall behind him. “Dumb question but you okay?”

Her throat is dry, feeling as if it would almost cave in on itself. She forces her gaze back up to his but only for a moment to shake her head no, reverting her stare back. 

“No? Do I need to get a hold of Marc?” Leon offers. Again, she shakes her head.

“No talking kind of day, huh?” 

Ashley had had a few of them and Leon had grown used to them. He knew better to bother anyone when all they wanted was to be left alone. He had experienced many days like that himself. She makes a pained expression, teetering on the edges of wince and bothered before shaking her head no again.

She sits up slightly, keeping the hot pack in place as she moves to the middle of the bed. She doesn’t ask and she doesn’t tell but only reaches her hand out for Leon’s, her fingers folding easily into his palm. She pulls for him, motioning for him to take the spot next to her. He smirks but doesn’t take it right away, the caution and hesitancy hard in his gaze. Her tired gaze grants him permission, tugging his arm forward again. He relents, taking the open spot next to her, leaving one leg to hang off the edge.

“Lay.” She mutters in her sleepy drawl and the request takes Leon by surprise.

“You’re being brave today, Ash.” He comments, watching her pat against the sheets to gesture for him to join her. Against his better judgment, he obliges and takes his spot, turning to lay back comfortably, the warmth from where she was radiating through his blazer jacket. 

Was it a good idea? Probably not. She doesn’t say anything though and neither does he, sharing their quiet moment together, the warmth of her beside him and the dim light of the room pulling at sleep strings he much longed to fall back into. He stared up at the ceiling, nothing but the sound of commercials and her breath meeting his ears. It was… nice. Peaceful.

<3

[phoenixwatchesmovies]

What I'm Watching: November 2023

The Fall of the House of Usher

Sycrhjodxfhbaudiffebuvehtxt I'm obsessed with this show. So far, this is the first and only Mike Flanagan adaptation where I was familiar with the source material already, and it was a fucking BLAST playing Spot The Reference. Additionally, the conclusion of the rave scene has been burned into my memory ever since and I cannot for the life of me get it out of my head, in the best and worst way possible. Sooooooo good, but oh my fucking god. And it's been a long time coming, but this series has elevated Carla Gugino for me to Rachel Weiss meme status. You know the one I'm talking about. I just.... THIS SHOW IS SO FUCKING GOOD. The writing, the story, the performances, the cinematography, the scares, the all of it. It's split down the middle between stuff you can point and go "ha! I knew it!" and stuff you just can't see coming, and it's all top tier. I typically need a cool down period to recover after most Flanagan stuff, but I'm just itching to get back to this one as soon as possible. Is a good amount of that just me thirsting over Verna? Well, yeah. It's pretty much Gugino's show, and everyone else merely appears in it. Actually, that's not fair. Everyone involved not only fucking went for it, they fucking nailed it. This is Mike's last run with Netflix, and by god, the whole team went out with a bang.

Cowboy Bebop (2021)

Let me start by saying that my post mentioning how much I wanna bang Spike went as viral as things tend to go on this blog, so I'm glad that resonated with some folks. 😂 I'll admit, I have a lot less nostalgia for the anime as a lot of the audience for this, having only seen it twice, but as far as adaptations go, this was perfectly okay. As someone pointed out already on one of my posts, it's a lot less existential than the OG, and therefore a lot less heavy. And since all I wanted out of this was a good time, I was happy with it. I was EXTREMELY happy with the opening credits in particular. My stance on adaptations in general is that if a piece can stand on its own merit, I don't care how closely it adheres to the source material, and in my opinion, the live action succeeds. In fact, my one and only complaint is...not enough Ein!

Anne With An E

The books stay in my reading rotation, so despite my philosophy on adaptations, I had very high expectations going into this several years late, don't worry about it. And...I was not disappointed. I ended up crying over almost every episode, and that never happens, so... 😅 It's so sweet and I was charmed from the get-go. I've still got a season left, and since it seems to be doing its own thing apart from the books now, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm also dreading it, because I'm not ready for it to be over. Then again, that's how it feels finishing the books as well, so that's only how it should be.

Five Nights At Freddy's

Lemme tell you, I've known jack shit about FNAF aside from "evil Chuck E. Cheese" for years now. I've had the tags filtered for almost as long as I've been on Tumblr (I love the people I follow, but I gotta curate my experience). I've made it my mission to go as long as I can without knowing anything at all about this franchise if for no reason other than it's fucking e v e r y w h e r e and I was sick of the overexposure. But now because a relative of an acquaintance of a family friend was one of the cannon fodder characters, I got roped into watching this and my streak is broken. I can't unknow what I know about this franchise. Which I'm extra annoyed about, considering what the creator of the games tends to put his royalties towards. 😑 From a film standpoint, it's fine. I'm not sure what age range the target demographic is, but having the horror stuff happen off screen made it feel more vanilla than the average episode of Supernatural, and I'll let that speak for itself. The look and atmosphere were exactly what I'd imagine if told to picture an evil Chuck E. Cheese, the animatronics are appropriately creepy (though let's be honest, it doesn't take much to make ANY animatronic creepy), and I was a little surprised and impressed with the soundtrack. And it was nice to see Josh Hutcherson in something new, though it's still so odd seeing him as an adult. I'm most familiar with him as a kid in RV, and holy fuck, I feel old looking at him now. I could have used a little more Matthew Lillard--why would you get Matty Lilly in your movie and then NOT do something with him?!--but given the character/story/what have you, I get it. One plot point in particular didn't stick the landing, as far as I'm concerned. In an effort to tie up all loose ends, it made things too contrived in a "that's convenient but now it makes less sense" kind of way. Don't know if that's how it goes in the game, and I don't care enough to find out. All in all, I've seen worse, I still don't get the hype, and I'm still not the target audience. And that's perfectly okay.

Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet Of Curiosities

A horror anthology? With GDT?? Sign me up yesterday! I don't think there was a single episode I didn't like. And I wasn't prepared to recognize so many names in the credits. Actors, directors, composers, authors, you name it. And it was fun! The stories were bizarre, assorted creature designs were gnarly, and whatever else was going on with the vibes episode to episode, they all felt consistently creepy and sinister. "The Autopsy" has the distinction of being one of the few things I've watched that almost made me puke. "Pickman's Model" was the first thing to freak me out bad enough I stayed awake to get it out of my head in a Very Long Time. "The Viewing" was the only ending that felt unfinished, it was so abrupt, but the style and aesthetic was so *chef kiss* I'll overlook it. (Side note: that episode's director also did Mandy, which I've been meaning to get to for awhile now? Hoo hoo, have I got some visuals to look forward to!) I knew as soon as I saw Jennifer Kent did an entry that hers was going to be my favorite, and that's not even coming from a biased place. "The Murmuring" is beautiful and heartbreaking. Easily my favorite aspect of the series is how you get a sense of each individual director's style BUT the entries themselves are so flavored with GDT, the whole thing stays cohesive. Now all I can do is hope for another season. :D

[drhu0806]

I have... very mixed feelings about the criticisms aimed towards game devs right now regarding Baldur's Gate 3 setting a new standard for RPGs, and frankly I'm a little disappointed if only because it doesn't sound all that different from those really annoying players who obviously have absolutely no experience in game dev and what it's like but they keep talking shit like they do. Game dev is hard. I'm not a game dev, but I am in software and that's hard enough, and I can only imagine what people who make games go through. I am not going to pretend I know what their job is like.

That's not to say I completely disagree with people wanting to put BG3 on that pedestal: I absolutely want AAA studio execs to fear for their lives with the release of this game because it's going to prove so many things to them, and I do want it to set some kind of standard in some things. But I also genuinely don't think it's even possible for games to consistently reach BG3 as a standard even if they tried. So I see it less as attainable and more as something to consistently worth striving for, mainly because of just why BG3 is almost for certain going to rock our worlds, because it's a result of a perfect combination of factors that I genuinely think even AAA studios will have hard time getting:

Backing of Wizards of the Coast - this is one of the biggest ones I think, but this gives BG3 relatively lower risk when it comes to turning profits. I'm pretty sure I don't need to tell anyone that D&D is hot right now, so Larian already has a near guaranteed huge batch of consumers coming in.

Highly successful early access - this is less of a super important point since AAA studios def have the resources for QA on this level but we do need to factor in the steady cash flow and how for a part of playtesting players are paying them rather than the other way around. Also of note is that part of what made their EA so successful is because the studio has had previous EAs that proved their worth, which ties into the next point...

Proven track record - Larian is one of the most perfect companies to have taken on this role--though yeah they did get rejected before when they tried convincing WotC--mainly because they've had at least two very successful and genuinely good games in the past, and they've brought on a lot of those devs from those games to work on BG3. This is the really important point because I do want to emphasize that Larian had to build up to BG3; the two Original Sin games were good but they aren't as big. Part of why I don't think games regularly being the same caliber of the game is feasible because studios need the experience, and they absolutely cannot make games as high functioning as BG3 every single time.

You need at least both points 1 and 3 to get something like BG3 and while there are some franchises + studios that can achieve this (I def have one in mind but they THREW THEIR POTENTIAL AWAY--) I'd be very hard pressed to find this combination with any level of consistency. I'm sure we'll get games of this caliber every once in a while but I feel like so much of getting there is having games in between that may or may not be great.

I feel like there's a disconnect in the way people are expressing and interpreting these opinions. I personally think game devs--at least the reasonable ones--are saying BG3 shouldn't be the standard because they're saying it's really not possible to make games of that level of scope all the time, which I think is pretty reasonable. But maybe the way some of them are saying it, players are interpreting it as a refusal to put in the time and effort to make decent games that don't break the backs of their producers. I think BG3's general work flow is definitely something any company could achieve, and I think that's what good fans want, I just sympathize with devs in that I don't want players to hold games to such a high standard on a technical level when Larian was just about the perfect company to take on this job and you can't get that all the time.

[icharchivist]

i do think the max0r videos are funny but i completely understand thats not for everyone. humor is subjective and i havent played any of the games he makes videos about and i get that if you like something and want to share the love then a guy low-key or high-key making fun of the game isnt what youre up for

its just dumb because those things all have the same game tag so yt assumes thats what you want

algorithms are a plague upon mankind

suddenly lucilius is making a lot of sense

i genuinely don't know the guy so i'm not judging him on his content and all honestly

but ff15 is overhated ever since its releases and you cannot say anything positive about this game without hate coming your way because people need to complain

the screenshot was just because it happened to be this one video coming my way, but it's not the only video that does that. Every single time i rewatch a sad scene from ff15 i get hundred of videos rec about "here's why ff15 was a massive disappointment" "here's why ff15 sucks" "here's why ff15 was so bad"

so i have genuinely no reason to give any second of the day to another creator popping up on my recommendation telling me ff15 is bad, even if it's to make an humorous point. Like wow........ you think ff15 is bad..... so groundbreaking...... you're truly a free thinker...... no one ever had this opinion in their lives before....... as if there hasn't been constant content about how bad ff15 is those past 8 years.... as if ff16 didn't do its whole communication on "we're not going to be bad like ff15 🥰".... truly your opinion on it is very unique and i'm sure will bring a totally new light on the game....... you convinced me 8 years later.....

it wouldn't piss me off nearly as much if it wasn't for the fact that hearing all those negative takes on the game genuinely had me stall if for years because it turned me off from it, only to give it a shot after i dreamed about it out of nowhere (this happens a lot with me, fictions show up in dreams begging me to pay attention to them and who i am to deny it), and despite coming in expecting all the flaws i've heard about, i had such an emotional journey with this game that really little game can properly compare to that it genuinely pissed me off even more that i even gave a second of credit to the mass mob blowing up the flaws of the game to the point of ignoring the way it still is a beautiful game, even if it's a flawed one.

so you can imagine on my hand, just looking out for some scenes that really impacted me on youtube, to just have Youtube telling me "huh... but don't you know the game is bad? here, let me show you. the game is bad. why are you crying. We said it's bad. Here's a funny video about why it's bad. because it's really ridiculous you're crying really. don't you know the mass is always right." like god.

but i'm all with you on the fact algorithm are a fucking plague and it's really just very annoying when you're into something that's like vaguely controversial because you can't just be enjoying it in your corner. Algorithm will be so desperate to feed you more stuff to keep you hooked on the platform it'll just throw you things that drive engagement. And negativity engages people more than positivity.

Anyway i've always been team "Lucilius is right" (my only issues with Lucilius is how he treats his primals, aside from that i'm totally 100% supportive of his motivation that both god and the world suck)

but istg i have this long beef with Youtube on that regard (you'll notice the post i reblogged to add the screenshot is from 2021, in which i was complaining about something i was already experimenting for years). This is not a small term irritation. It's been my nemesis for too long. this is a burning hate that will never waver. they made me this way.

[books-i-finished-reading]

(18)

Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare

( The infernal devices - book 2/3 )

15th February 2023

" When I think of you, and you are not there, I see you in my mind's eye always with a book in your hand."

Something in him was broken, and through that break spilled a blind cruelty, a need to hurt and to push away.

" ... if I were a man - would you have treated me as you just did?"

" Will, Jessamine, do try not to kill each other while I am gone."

" Reparations," said Jem very suddenly, setting down the pen he was holding. Will looked at him in puzzlement. "Is this a game? We just blurt out whatever word comes next to mind? In that case mine's 'genuphobia'. It means an unreasonable fear of knees." "What's the word for a perfectly reasonable fear of annoying idiots?" inquired Jessamine.

" Anyway, the last time I was here, everyone was living in mud huts and eating bugs. So I doubt he was around" -he pointed a many-jointed finger at Will -"unless Earthkind lives much longer than I was led to believe."

Will looked down at his bitten nails. "I will probably be reborn as a slug that someone salts."

" What is one person's pleasure is another's poison ..."

" You won't like it." Tessa was unmoved. "I won't know if I like it until I try it, will I?" "I've never swum naked in the Thames, but I know I wouldn't like it." "But think how entertaining for sightseers," said Tessa, and she saw Jem duck his head to hide the quick flash of his grin.

" ... It is me. I am poison. Poison to them. Poison to anyone who loves me."

" No one can live with nothing," he whispered. "Jem is all I have."

" I must play the part of another person all day, each day-bitter and vicious and cruel-"

" khalepa ta kale" ... " ... 'beauty is harsh.'"

" You cannot buy or drug or dream your way out of pain."

" Eggs," said Henry dreamily, looking at his plate. "I do love eggs. I could eat them all day." ... "You might be surprised to know," said Will, "that I saw something rather interesting in the opium den." "I'm sure you did," said Charlotte with asperity. "Was it an egg?" Henry inquired.

" ... the sins of the fathers should not be visited on the sons." "Or the daughters," said Will.

But all these were things he could not want, because they were things he could not have, and wanting what you could not have led to misery and madness.

" and as for him being a witness, well, everyone thinks Will is a lunatic as it is-". "Ah," said a voice from the doorway, "having your annual everyone-thinks-Will-is-a-lunatic meeting, are you?" "It's biannual," said Jem. "And no, this is not that meeting."

" ... I have important business to get to. I plan to sulk all afternoon, followed, perhaps, by an evening of Byronic brooding and a nighttime of dissipation."

" I've never minded it," he went on. "Being lost, that is. I had always thought one could not be truly lost if one knew one's own heart. But I fear I may be lost without knowing yours."

Better not to think about it; better not to hope and be disappointed.

" It is always better to live the truth than to live a lie."

" I cannot explain love," he said. "I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking towards me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you. That you were the centre of everything I did and felt and thought."

" You are home for me now."

" Astriola," he said. "That is demon pox. You had evidence that demon pox existed and you didn't mention it to me! Et tu, Brute!" He rolled up the paper and hit Jem over the head with it. "Ouch!" Jem rubbed his head ruefully.

" ... We live and breathe words. It was books that kept me from taking my own life after I thought I could never love anyone, never be loved by anyone again. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them."

[princessphilly]

All Bets Are Off Chapter 12

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CW: smut, filthy talk

This is a bit of a filler chapter, sorry. 

“Are you going to miss me?”

Nina didn’t even look up from her iPad. It was so annoying yet adorable at the same time, how Sidney was desperately trying to get her to tell him how much she was going to miss him. 

“Um, I think you’re going to miss me more than I’ll miss you,” Nina finally replied. She grinned as Sidney huffed. 

The first month of the new year had passed by pretty quickly to Nina. After being together for New Year’s Eve, Nina and Sid separated as the Pens had to finish off their road trip. Nina stayed in Miami for Jason’s game before taking an extra week just for herself. It was nice to have a bit of a vacation, especially when Lauren flew down. Nina basically enjoyed being on the beach, hanging out with a close friend, and shopping. 

The morning of New Year’s Day, after having their first breakfast together of the new year, Sid had given Nina a card. Nina was shocked to see a credit card with her name on it and she had tried to give it back but Sid had insisted. “You don’t treat yourself enough, pretty girl,” he had firmly stated. So Nina took advantage of it to treat herself a bit. 

By the time she came back to Pittsburgh, Sidney’s road trip was over but Nina’s semester had started. They had a couple of weeks where they spent time together as much as possible before the Pens had another short road trip. Now, Sidney was on his way to the Olympics in Beijing for their longest separation so far.

Sidney finally had his bag packed the way that he liked it. Glancing at Nina laying on their, um, his bed, he drawled, “Are you sure you aren’t going to miss me?”

Nina looked up and giggled. “You hog the sheets, Sidney. And you’re like a furnace when you sleep.”

Sidney walked over to the bed, crouching over Nina. “Hurting my feelings right before I have to take a long flight. Tsk tsk.”

“Your flight leaves tomorrow. You’re just making sure you are totally prepared tonight. Stop being so dramatic, Sidney Crosby.”

Sidney smirked as he brushed a hand down Nina’s front. She was clothed, wearing one of his t-shirts. “Still, Nina. 

“Still, Sidney.”

Nina stuck out her tongue at Sidney as he giggle-honked. Sidney brushed an errant strand of hair off of Nina’s forehead as he whispered, “I wish you were coming.”

“It was too short of a notice to take almost three weeks off, Sid,” Nina murmured. “Plus, hasn’t it always just been your family attending the Olympics?”

“Yes?”

Nina smiled. “Then, I would be breaking your tradition and your superstitions-”

Sidney opened his mouth to disagree but Nina put a finger over it. “Don’t even start, we both know how important ALL of your superstitions are. Even if you wouldn’t say it, if you lose without a gold medal and I'm there, part of you would be wondering. So quit the bullshit, Sidney.”

Sidney gave Nina a chagrined smile as she laughed at him. She was right, as always.

“Sid, it’ll be fine. You’re lucky I’m a morning person, you can call me crazy early here and I’ll pick up,” Nina reasoned. 

Sidney pouted a bit. “I finally got you to actually date me, I don’t want to be separated from you for that long.”

“How cute, Mr. Obsessed-with-Hockey has become soft in his old age.”

Nina squealed when Sidney tickled her, squirming. “Okay, okay, you’re allowed to become soft!”

Sidney gave Nina a soft smile and she gulped. Something shifted in that look and Nina felt like there was something new. 

Sidney bit his lip as Nina nervously laughed. In that moment, the pure joy on Nina’s face as she squealed while he tickled her, Sidney was sure that he loved her. He loved Nina. But this was the wrong time to admit that. So he chuckled and said, “If I’m soft, it’s only because of you.”

Nina stuck out her tongue and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

Sidney chose not to respond to that statement, instead choosing to slide his lips over hers. Soft and sweet, exploratory as they kissed, not their usual hungry kisses. Then Nina wrapped a leg around Sidney’s waist and the mood changed. 

Nina ended the kiss first, whispering, “I can feel that someone is going to really miss me.”

“Going to miss you so much,” Sidney replied, grinding his hips into Nina’s core. “Let me show you.”

Nina gasped as Sidney sucked along her neck, just light enough not to leave any marks. “Gonna give you something to remember while I’m gone,” Sidney promised as his hands went under her shirt before pulling it off. 

Nina grinned before moaning as Sidney began to do exactly what he promised to do.

**

Sidney sighed as he sent the text. Everything was going great, even after a couple of hiccups in their first group stage games. This year, it was obvious to Sidney that this was going to be the last Olympics for him. Except for him, Tazer, Bergy, Tanger, Webs, Price, and Giroux, all of the other players on the team were under 30. Sidney saw his job as captain this year to not just get one more gold, but get the younger guys ready to take over. 

Right now, they were getting ready to play against Germany, their first game after the group stage, the real games. It was before pregame; the players whose families had come to Beijing were giving well-wishes. At this moment, Sidney wished Nina was here with him instead of home in Pittsburgh.

His phone pinged and Sidney relaxed when he saw the message: its midnight here. Good luck. Im g2g2 sleep. Bye

That message was quickly followed by another one: why the hell did they schedule yall for so fucking late? figured canada would be primetime here

Sidney laughed when he saw Nina’s message. Giroux looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Must be the elusive girlfriend.”

Giroux’s wife elbowed him, causing him to say ow. Sidney snickered; they may be teammates for Team Canada but their truce was still a fragile truce. Ryanne Giroux said, “I heard Nina’s very sweet and kind.”

“Oh?”

Sidney was suddenly very curious. Blithely, Ryanne replied, “You know as well as I do it’s a small league. People only have the kindest things to say about her.”

Relaxing a bit, Sidney grinned. “Nina’s pretty fucking amazing. I’m lucky she likes me.”

“Oh God, he’s talking about Nina again.”

Sidney’s grin turned into a smile as Tanger clasped him on the back. Tanger continued, “It took five years-”

“Five years,” Giroux asked as Sidney groaned. “Stop giving him chirp material.”

Ryanne snickered as Sidney’s phone pinged again; kris says ur bragging about me again?

“Really, Tanger, really?”

Kris laughed as Sidney narrowed his eyes. “Calm down, Sid.” 

Before Sidney could reply, Nina sent him another text: score a hat trick

Sidney gave his phone a soft smile. It was time to get focused for the game, so Sidney put his phone away as soon as he went back into the locker room.

**

Nina cracked an eye open. The time difference was a motherfucker; it was 5:45 am but 5:45pm. Yawning, Nina sat up in her bed as she accepted the call from Sid. 

“Nina, really?”

“Good morning to you,” Nina yawned. 

Sid slightly frowned. Nina was wearing a team USA t-shirt. Her shorts were blue. Even her sleep bonnet was blue. 

“I’m not Canadian, Sid.”

“Stilll-“

Nina smirked as she shook her head. “No, I’m not rooting for you. Score as many goals as you want, I’m Team USA.”

Sidney scowled as Nina laughed. “It’s not even like the US made the gold medal game!”

Nina was disappointed in Team USA. She was hoping they would make it to the gold medal game but they were going to go against Finland for Bronze. Tomorrow, at 8am Beijing Time, 8pm EST, Canada was going against Sweden for gold. 

“Still, you should be rooting for me.”

“I am,” Nina reasoned. “I want you to score all the goals. But, I just cannot root for Canada, yet.”

“Yet.”

Nina looked up to the ceiling before yawning again. Sidney was in a snit. She felt a tiny bit bad for Sweden because they were going to get it. But that wasn’t her problem. “Seriously, good luck, Sidney.”

“Thank you, Nina.”

Nina blew Sidney a kiss and he pretended to catch it. Then he licked his lips. “How many days did you take off when I get back?”

“Three, Sidney. Just three.”

Nina couldn’t help the rush of heat in her center when Sidney drawled, “I don’t plan to let you out of my house then.”

“Win the damn gold then,” Nina snapped. 

Sidney chuckled, saying, “You’re ready to go back to sleep then. Sweet dreams, Nina.”

“Bye, Sid.”

**

Nina looked down at her phone. There were three messages, long messages, all from Sid. She took in a deep, fortifying breath. Canada had one gold and Sidney had two goals. From the highlights, it seemed like Sidney was on a mission the whole game. Sighing, Nina pressed play on the first one. It was just a noisy celebration, nothing big until Sidney started talking. His talking was garbled at first and Nina laughed when she realized that he was drunk off his ass when he called her. 

The second voicemail started just as garbled, then Nina heard Sidney clearly say, “I’m so happy we won, I still wish you were here, you’re my new lucky charm, pretty girl. Fuck, I love you so much, pretty girl, you make everything better now that you’re mine.”

The next one was just sappy as the second, but Sidney was definitely somewhere quieter with this one. But he was also just as drunk, as he ended by saying, “I wanna fuck you when I get back, with you wearing my gold, pretty girl. This gold is almost as pretty as you.”

Nina ruefully laughed, already expecting apologetic texts from Sidney when he was sober. But for the rest of the day, the thought lingered in her mind, the idea that Sidney loved her. However, her patients kept Nina busy and she didn’t get a moment to really ruminate on that. Then, Nina went over to Karesha’s house to babysit her play nephew, AJ, as Karesha went out with her boyfriend. 

Within an hour of leaving, Karesha came back in, heated as she slammed the door. AJ commented, “He must have made Mom mad again.”

“AJ, please go upstairs and play with your Legos, Mommy needs to talk to Aunt Nina,” Karesha asked, trying hard to control her voice. 

AJ quickly ran up the stairs, loudly closing the door to his room. Karesha flopped on the couch, kicking off her expensive heels. “Fuck men.”

Nina got up and grabbed a bottle of whiskey and two shot glasses. Pour shots, she passed one to Karesha before sitting back down next to her friend. Karesha gratefully smiled before downing the shot. 

“I’m tired of this shit. I told him it was over through text. How dare he say he’s coming up to Pittsburgh before spring training and then text me after I get to the restaurant to say he’s not coming after all. I’m done. I can’t.”

Nina murmured sympathetically, “Fuck him.”

“I’m so glad I never brought him around AJ though,” Karesha stated. “He had the nerve to say I spent too much time with my kid when I told him it was over.”

Nina’s eyes widened at that statement. “What are you supposed to do? Parent him less?”

Thoughts about Sidney were forgotten as Nina consoled her friend. Deciding to sleep over, Nina woke up early in the morning on the couch, several texts from Sidney waiting for her. Nina quickly scanned over them, starting with a text telling Nina his flight was about to come in to the last one asking if everything was okay. Nina sent him a message: friend had a crisis, be over around 10

It was early, around 7am so Nina didn’t expect to get a response. But Sidney replied: everything ok?

As ok as it’s gonna be, don’t worry, Nina sent back before straightening up Karesha’s living room. She then slipped out, locking the door from the inside. 

**

“Gonna get you full with my cum, pretty girl. Fuck, look at you, your pussy already trying to milk my cum.”

Nina groaned as she watched Sid fuck her, claiming her. Her legs were over his shoulders, allowing Sidney to fuck her deep. “You missed me, pretty girl?”

“Uh huh,” Nina managed to say. He was fucking her so good, each stroke hitting her g-spot. It was like Sidney returned as a man on a mission. 

“I missed you. Dreamed of you every night, Nina,” Sidney rasped. 

“Mmmm.”

Nina no longer had words, she could feel her high coming. Then she felt Sidney’s fingers, just two fingers on her clit and it was enough to send her over the edge. Nina screamed, her nails digging into Sidney’s back. That was enough to get Sidney to reach his high as well, his grunts wordless as he came. 

Nina sighed as Sidney withdrew, already sad at feeling empty. Sidney sat back on his haunches, watching as his cum started to leak out of Nina’s pussy. “I’ll never get enough of seeing that,” he remarked as he played with Nina’s clit. “Just for me, pretty girl.”

Moaning, Nina closed her eyes. She was sensitive but she felt herself respond to Sidney’s fingers. Then his fingers were replaced with his tongue, his fingers fucking his cum deeper inside of her pussy and the time for rational thought was gone. 

**

Six weeks later

Nina sighed as she rifled through her bag for the keys to her apartment. Today was her thirty-first birthday and for some reason, she felt weird. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m now on the other side of thirty,’ Nina thought to herself. 

The morning began with happy birthday texts from friends, birthday calls from Mom and Dad, and a facetime call with Jason. Sidney had sent her a funny meme birthday text but nothing else. Nina knew she shouldn’t feel too bad; the Pens were trying to solidify their playoff spot in the division and her birthday, April 5, fell right at the end of the season. As she opened the door, Nina hoped that Sid would at least do something once the playoffs were over. At the same time, it felt weird that she wasn’t going out with her parents either.

Just her luck that for the first time she was in a relationship around her birthday, her boyfriend had reasons not to take her out. Nina sniffled as she turned on the light.

“SURPRISE!!”

Nina gasped as Sidney, Kris, Geno, Anna, Catherine, Taylor, Alex, Victoria, Mario, Nathalie, Guentzy, Tristan, Hannah, Karesha, AJ, Lauren, her mom and dad, and Aryanna jumped out. Eyes wide, Nina burst into tears. 

“Oh no, what’s wrong pretty girl,” Sidney replied, folding Nina into his arms. 

Nina sniffled as she cried, “I thought everyone forgot my birthday!”

“I told you she wasn’t going to take it well,” Karesha muttered as Lauren kicked her. “Girl, be happy he did this all for you when he could be extra obsessive about the playoffs.”

Nina cut her eyes at Karesha before getting on her tiptoes to press a kiss to Sid’s cheek. “Thank you, Sid.”

**

The pictures of that night were put into a small scrapbook. Nina didn’t understand Sidney’s love for documenting memories in such a dramatic way but it was nice to look back at the memories in book form instead of having to scroll through her phone. Playoffs were now starting though so Nina was sure that would be the last carefree time until the playoffs were over, this time hopefully with another cup.