#i was so used to souls games when i first played BB so admittedly i found it really easy

[heraldofcrow]

There are two types of Soulsborne fans.

1. This boss kicked my ass and now I absolutely detest the actual character too.

2. This boss kicked my ass and now I’m utterly in love with the actual character too.

[devil-kindred]

death stranding adventures- final

I finished Death Stranding!

A recap on the events through the end of the game + my thoughts as they occurred below the cut! Beware spoilers if you haven’t played the game!

- left port knot with the order for fragile and found myself looking at a sea of the blob BTs- not exactly a joyous moment. I finally figured out why they look familiar though! They resemble the Portuguese man o’war! Which makes sense in keeping with the beached/aquatic creature theme given: the fish that show up after you defeat the catchers, the catchers themselves, THE WHALE, the little floating crabs, etc. The lions don’t fit the theme obviously, but I chalk that up to them being more of a Higgs thing? Since he’s the reason you encounter one in the first place.

- I got Sam through the floating BT minefield without too much trouble by hugging the moutainside and using the rifle to take out the ones that were closest to make a path. After that, there was a brief reprieve and then I had to fight a catcher BT. Did that then the normal BTs appeared once I progressed a little further. Made it past that, then rushed through mule territory and then, more BTs. This time 4-5 lion BTs (i don’t remember which but I know it was more than 3 because I thought I was done and then about got Sam stomped on by the one that I missed). Finally finished that and got a TON of chiral crystals for my trouble which was admittedly kinda nice, though my thoughts were mostly “please just let me finish this delivery T_T” by that point.

- Continued the trek to the Capitol Knot City and noticed the sky had changed from a color I refer to as “tornado green” to this very ominous red shade. Not a good sign, followed by rumbling noises that made a even worse sign. Nearly to the city gate (as in maybe the length of one of the bridges you can build level close) and then. A whale. Falls. Out of the sky. ._. Guessed it was time for round whatever number I was on at this point and once again, Sam with the standard reaction to weird BTs goes “what the fuck”. My thoughts exactly at this point.

- Climbed onto whatever thing that emerged from the tar was closest and then clambered onto a building that appeared. Was helped once again (as I was with the previous fights) by a ghostly Sam that lobbed all sorts of neat useful things my way, most importantly two grenade launchers and a multi rocket launcher. Thank you ghostly Sam! I would’ve been doomed without your help. Defeated the whale, collected more chiral crystals, then FINALLY made it to capitol knot.

- Delivered the items to Fragile who looked... really not well. I was concerned there was going to be another loss, but Sam waved a cryptobiote in front of her face and she woke up. Prior to Sam walking up to he, Mama/Lockne ran over and tried to hug him which Sam was (understandably) having absolutely none of but at least he was kinda gentle when he stopped her.

- They explained the whole thing that happened and how Fragile was essentially bounced back from Amelie’s beach and that she wanted Sam to go to her. So they have a long convo about how Sam needs to go and has to find a way to stop her, but also understand that he might not be able to come back. Pretty sobering, but ok. He and Fragile do the forehead touch (which I know helps but it’s so cute, I can’t) and she tells him to picture Amelie’s beach and feel the connection to her. Fragile does the same “I know you love her” thing as the first time and Sam gets sent over to the beach. Fragile looked very sad, chiral allergy tears aside. Which, given that she probably considered him a friend by this point, fits since there’s no guarantee he’ll come back let alone be able to stop Amelie.

- Elsewhere, on Amelie’s beach things are... not looking good. There’s dead sea creatures everywhere, the water’s red, and the sun thing looks like it’s going to turn everything on the beach into smoldering ashes any second. Sam finally finds Amelie after running around for a while and she reveals she’s an EE, which he already technically knew thanks to Higgs. Amelie explains a bunch of stuff and tells Sam to make a choice: stay with her and watch the world end (no thanks) or stop her. Sam pulls the gun which does no good and upon following her, gets a prompt to hug her. He does and they both get super emotional (which is in turn making ME get emotional) and then Amelie shoves him away.

- Sam plummets into the ocean and somehow gets bounced back to his own beach. Where he’s blue? For some reason. I don’t think it’s a tint because everything else on the beach looked the same colors it always was in prior sequences. He’s the only thing that’s not. Which, there is a reason for I’m sure. Anyways.

- Cue running along the beach for eternity a good while with Sam stopping every so often to sit down and catch his breath as well as reflect on what Amelie told him. Which was a lot. She explained that she and Bridget are one and the same, a separation of Ka and Ha that managed to coexist. She also says she got bored of waiting for the end and decided to bring about the extinction early and, while I can understand that’s her purpose as an EE, way to say fuck humanity I guess.

- In between more running and resting, it’s revealed that Sam is the BB Cliff (aka Mr. Combat Veteran) was looking for. His son. (Which you find out kinda after fighting him for the third? time.) Sam was apparently an experiement and a potential sacrifice (man this game gets dark fast) for something. Die-Hardman- aka John- told Cliff as much in less words and instructed him to take his son and run. Cliff does and bad things ensue when he gets cornered. John/Die-Hardman was given the order to shoot Cliff and when he refused to Bridget/Amelie made him, quite literally, by grabbing his hand and making him pull the trigger. My thought process during these has bacially centered around “wow Bridget is awful” but add the swearing of your choice to that sentence. Basically, I do not feel charitable towards Ms. Extinction Entity.

- Cliff took BB Sam out of the pod at some point and when Bridget shot him via using John/Die-Hardman as a puppet, she also shot BB Sam. Upon realizing this, she freaks out. Which is understandable given that she just killed a man and a baby. But what did she think was going to happen? That Cliff would throw his teeny baby son across the room when she pulled the trigger? What exactly was her expectation here?

- So BB Sam died and went to the beach. Or was it his own beach? They all start to blur together a little after a while. Amelie finds the BB, which is blue because it’s not breathing (ooh hey maybe that’s why adult Sam is blue? ... but my understanding is when Fragile jumped him to Amelie’s beach, all of him went— not just his soul. So maybe not? Is it symbolic? Am I just looking too hard into this?) and does infant cpr (I think?) and lo and behold, BB Sam is brought back to life! She tells him she knows the way home and puts him in the ocean. & in upsetting the balance of life and death, she made him a repatriate

- Once again back on the beach, Sam decides he’s had enough of being stuck there and remembers the gun and Amelie’s words that “a gun won’t help you here but it still has a role to play” and decides to use it as a way to end the beach cycle. There’s a click and then the title “Death Stranding”. I was very confused at first and just kind of stared at the tv like “that’s it? All that for—“ and then a little button prompt showed up on the bottom with the words “reconnect with the living”. Push the button and oh look, Sam’s still alive (Which is very much a joyous moment for me as a concerned player)! He tries again a few times and realizes it doesn’t work, then hears a very familiar song. Following the sound he finds little BB handprints in the sand and following those leads him to some familiar voices.

- Amelie/Bridget shows up again, this time in white as opposed to her signature red (i know there’s symbolism in that change, maybe rebirth? or just signifying that she’s trying to be on humanity’s side of things this time around?) and tells him that he still has ties to the living and then points at the five figures floating in the sky⏤ presumably meant to represent Deadman, Mama, Lockne, Heartman, and Lou. Or is it Deadman, Mama/Lockne, Heartman, Lou, and Die-Hardman? Following that, various voices belonging to those mentioned above remark that they can see him and just need to bring him back. Sam winds up in the ocean again (i’m finishing up this post almost a week after beating the game so my memory is tad iffy on the exact way things happened) and is greeted with the sight of Deadman holding Lou in her little pod while he’s got his hand around Sam’s ankle.

- They manage to bring him back to the land of the living and what follows is a fair amount of cutscenes. In the absence of Bridget/Amelie/Samantha ‘America’ Strand (the woman who never existed), Die-Hardman takes up the mantle of president (good for him!). He reveals his face to the crowd (and presumably everyone watching from... wherever they may be) and starts talking about the unsung hero none of this would’ve been possible without... which is about the time Sam, who’s been hanging out in the very back of the room (mood), decides to bail (also a mood). He slows a little when Die-Hardman says the hero doesn’t need to be named, they all know who it is and they’re all for grateful for their efforts. He keeps walking and exits into the hall and wow, BRIDGES buildings are a lot bigger than you’d think from looking at the outside which is large in general but inside is... a lot.

- Deadman catches up with him and drops some information about Die-Hardman aka John. Which I think Sam already knew due to the sequence while trapped on the beach but oh well. Sam continues down the hall and tries to pass Die-Hardman who appeared from somewhere? I’m going to guess parts of the facility loop or there was a change in scenery and I just wasn’t paying enough attention. He confesses information about his past, including how he got his name, and kinda has an emotional breakdown which made me very sad for him and increased the number of times i cried while playing this game. Sam gives Die-Hardman/John back his gun and repeats Amelie/Bridget’s words and leaves.

- Sam goes to leave the building and runs into Deadman again who hands over Lou’s pod and... Lou’s dead. Which was very depressing and the knowledge of which hurt. A lot. Deadman tells him to take Lou to the incinerator and takes Sam’s cuffs offline while giving some useful information: his location is undetectable by BRIDGES while his cuffs are offline and they will automatically reconnect to the network when he uses the incinerator. Sam nods, gives Deadman a hug and tells him “thanks for everything”. Which is more than a thank you, it’s a good-bye and kojima has now broken my heart into five billion pieces. Sam departs, gets out the big door, and... oh hey, Fragile!

- They chat briefly, during which she reveals that she’s carrying on her father’s legacy and that Fragile Express now has a private contract with BRIDGES and they’re the first independent company to have it. Good for them! She comments on Lou (I think) and remarks that he at least shouldn’t need an umbrella. Then asks him if he’d work for her. Sam says no and explains how he felt when he first began his journey and reveals he still feels that way (and now i’m even more sad! let’s take the five billion pieces that are my heart and just shove them in blender at this point, why not!). Fragile is upset and I think she tried to stop him again but he left anyways. 

- Thus begins the trek to the incinerator with BB’s Theme playing on the way there (it’s a wonder i could even see the tv at this point as the ending just keeps hammering the sad nail home). Finally made it to the incinerator taking the same path I did on the first visit (thanks Igor for the tools!) and Sam enters the building, takes off his cuffs and sets both those and Lou’s pod down on the incinerator before he remembers Deadman’s words. He snatches Lou’s pod back just in time and the slab descends into the floor, the doors seal shut, and turn his cuffs into ashes. It’s revealed that Sam took Lou out of the pod and not much has changed. He tries infant cpr and hearing his words the entire time literally had me sobbing. Sam says “come on baby’ and he’s crying (i’m crying and now the blended pieces of my heart are being run over by a steam-roller) until he finally gives up... and then... Lou lives! There are a bunch of baby BT’s floating nearby in the incinerator which is a little concerning, but hey Lou’s alive! Sam cradles little Lou to his chest and she’s so tiny⏤ her little skull is barely the size of his palm! Anyways, Sam and Lou walk outside and it starts to rain... but the sun is shining, the rain causes no harm to him or Lou (or Sam’s clothing) and a rainbow appears. The first normal rainbow in the entire game. Which is a good sign, I think? The title screen appears once more and woo! I beat the game!

This was a very unique and fun game, and I can honestly say I enjoyed every minute of it. Between the music, the environment, the characters, and all the lore you can uncover by reading Sam’s mail... it was an amazing experience. I still have some trophies I’m missing and I think I only need 10 more to platinum the game so I’ll be playing chapter 15 for a little while longer. Plus I want to rebuild all the roads + find all the memory chips. I do want to replay the game in it’s entirety sometime just to see what i pick up on ahead of time the second go-around. And, while I may have beat the game, this is going to be another one of my forever fandoms. I don’t have much contributed right now, but I hope to have more things posted soon now that I know the whole story. if anyone ever wants to chat about the game, fic, or anything, feel free to send me a message!

[thechocoboos]

Headcannons: Chocobros on Animal Crossing

(I can’t believe this is the subject of my first writing piece on here fml)

***the bros share a town

Prompto

Boi’s been playing it since the original on the gamecube, it always made him feel less lonely (#relatable)

Now he just plays it to chill

Not as big of a fan for New Leaf as he was with previous games, but still plays it cause it’s the only one the bros like

His favorite aspect is interacting with the villagers. He attends every single birthday in town, sends more letters and presents than you and I ever did, and oh jeez god help the other bros when his favorite villager leaves

Gets way too attached to villagers and takes what they say to heart. The Grumpy villagers on the gamecube version once made him cry

L O V E S the dogs, you bet your bottom bell this boi bought every single dog amiibo card

The soul reason he plays New Leaf? Isabelle.

Lowkey has PTSD from Tom Nook; this boi here never fully paid off his loans

Struggles with making money ingame, can’t afford half the furniture he wants

“428,000 BELLS FOR A BASEMENT?!”

Hands the game to Noctis when he needs money (Noct is king of the bell bringers)

Is scared of Resetti (once made Prom cry)

Bones moved out without telling Prom. He cried for 3 weeks.

Admittedly likes dressing his character up in goofy costumes, his favorites are the hero outfits

Not so great at decorating or designing the town but he tries

Prefers leaving his towns more natural with loads of trees and flowers spread out randomly (pfft not with Ignis around tho)

Sends presents and cute lil letters to the bros

Saves literally every single letter he gets

This boy LIVES for the holidays, he makes notes about what the villagers want from Jingle, what they’re scared of for Halloween, and he collects things way in advance for Thanksgiving

Noctis

Saw Prom playing it one night, got curious and stole it for a few days

“Hey Noct, have you seen my 3DS?”

“No, maybe it fell in the Regalia?” Noct you asshole

At first, he didn’t see the appeal, but once he found out about fishing, the boy became obsessed

Got sick of playing as Prom’s character, so he made his own

Doesn’t care much for decorating his house, but that’s where he displays his fish. Only upgrades it to hold more fish.

What little furniture he has is mismatched and thrown down in the most random ways

“Hey Noct, what’s up with the flower chair facing the wall?”

“I dunno.”

Noctis single handedly supplies the museum fish, but nothing else

He somehow paid off all his loans and became a bellionaire in a week (Prom thinks he used the duplication glitch (he did) but can’t prove it) 

Basic clothing except one thing; he wears the crown nonstop

Usually ignores any requests the villagers give him, unless it involves fishing

Actually, he usually ignores the villagers, too

Sometimes sends Prom items that he really wants in letters

“Dear Blondie, Here From Noctis”

Whenever Prom wants money, Noctis takes over as Prom’s character and badaboom badabing Poor Prom is a Rich Prom

Ignores letters for the most part and deletes them; except the ones from mom and dad, he saves every single one (they make him smile and feel warm and fuzzy and sometimes sad)

Whenever he misses his parents he likes to look at the letters from his character’s ingame parents

Lowkey likes to dick around on the other bro’s files; once fucked up Ignis’ house so bad the man was practically a frozen brick to Noct for a week

“Hey Specs, what’s for dinner?”

“There might have been memory cake, but it appears my kitchen has disappeared.” the bros had to make their own ramen that night

Ignis

No one expected him to like it so much

Or at least, the bros think he likes it?

Tutted at how bad Prom was with being mayor, and ended up playing “merely to correct the town’s issues”

Next thing ya know, he’s playing as Mayor Prompto more often than Prom, boi basically stole Prom’s character (Prom made a new one)

At first he was just fixing up the town: weeding, changing the flag, adding public works projects…

Then he became obsessed. He made paths, gardens, clothing, umbrellas… This man donated every single missing bug, painting, sculpture, and fossil to the museum

He continually said “I’m merely returning the town to decency”

Yeah no

Boi upgraded his house, furnished it and turned it into a legit house with a kitchen, living room, couple of bedrooms, a flippin’ bathroom, he even turned the basement into a rumpus room

Needless to say, he got the highest HHA score out of all the bros

You know those really nice, aesthetically pleasing AC towns you see on tumblr? Yeah, his is one of them. That’s right, it’s his town now. Even Noct’s crown can’t deny who really cares for the place

Sneakily moves out villagers and brings in the food related ones (Prom cries every time)

Outside of decorating and mayor-ing and creating cool af clothes, the man doesn’t do too much

He only ever really talked to the animals to get PWPs and change his nickname to Ignis

His overarching goal is to get every single achievement badge (help the poor bb)

Gladiolus

??????

???????

He has no idea what he’s doing

His thumbs are a bit too big to rest comfortably on the buttons, so he always presses the wrong ones and picks up Ignis’ flowers and paths (Ignis is never happy)

His character clumsily runs around town, destroying Ignis’ flowers and wearing down the grass

Never really pays attention to much in game, is just confused most of the time

Didn’t even pay the down payment until Prom said something

“Haven’t you paid Nook yet?”

“Done what to who?”

Once he finally gets the hang of things, he furnishes his house and turns it into a massive gym

Is lowkey a dick to most of the villagers, he always hits them with nets and tells them the most negative things he can (which isn’t much considering it’s animal crossing)

Whenever Iris is around, he likes to let her play on his file; she always fills his house with lovely furniture and teddy bears then dresses his character up as a girl, just to bug him

Sometimes he keeps it like that

Honestly he plays the game the least, he never sees the overarching point of it but says it’s sometimes relaxing (yea pal that’s the point)

Makes his character look as tough and badass as possible

Sometimes, when the other bros pull a prank or a being lil shits, he plays their characters and changes their outfits into the dumbest things ever or moves things around in their houses (he also steals Noct’s fish and puts them in storage)