#like the WAY he said that (if you chose that dialogue option that is)

[sketchy--akechi]

that coffee date scene where akira was like "come here" and leaned in to mess up akechi's hair and disguise him? i want yall to know that for a split second i was convinced our man joker was gonna kiss him right there and then

[easy-there-leftovers]

I See You, Darling

[Astarion x reader] The idea never left my mind, and I so very badly need this right now. Heavily inspired by this cutscene where Tav chooses a dialogue option and Astarion's eyes just deviate-- (gif above, just wait for his eyes to look at you WKDKWKDK) |Word count: 2k.| Based off of this post I made.

Part 2 here!!

Also, this is more heavy on the world building rather than dialogue. If I end up making this a series, I might write with more dialogue in mind but it was just necessary to do this first afhjaqfbnjkafbnebn--

A story in which an overworked art student longs for a fictional character that they've devoted so much of their time to.

Alternatively; Astarion realizes there's someone else watching him. And he can't wait to get acquainted with them.

————━─━────༺༻────━─━————

One.

Two.

Three.

It takes you three seconds to comprehend what just happened. Three seconds for you to try and save the progress you’ve already made so far. Three seconds for you to feel the chill of dread run up your spine. 

You’ll admit, perhaps you were simply tired. Attending a prestigious school for the arts doesn’t exactly leave you with much free time to indulge in more calming forms of recreation. Your course requires you to consume a wide array of media to expand your library of creativity, after all. All in the name of generating more interesting media to entrance and enthrall your audience with your original work. 

Maybe all the moving pictures and swimming texts have caused you to greatly misunderstand what you are seeing. Surely, your favorite character isn’t looking directly at you, right?

Right?

But before that, let’s review what might have happened earlier to explain just what exactly in gods name is happening.

Shall we?

——

You purchased the game a few months back. “Baldur’s Gate 3.” A game that took the players and immersed them in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, introducing them to the mechanics of tabletop RPG as they did. It seemed interesting enough. And if the concept of character creation and storytelling didn’t sell you on the idea of it, the pretty faces on the cover certainly did.

So, with the little money you could spare from your part time job at your own institution’s library, and with what little sanity you had left to argue with, you impulsively bought said game. And it was fun. Exhilarating. Electrifying. 

Until you ran into a problem.

Astarion. The rogue, elven vampire that you have chosen to romance after careful deliberation. You scoffed to yourself. He was one of the biggest reasons why you purchased the blasted game at all. You’ve carefully studied the character in all his glory, from his striking carmine eyes and delicate unstained curls, to his aptitude for bloodshed and all manners of gore. He was such an interesting character, giving you more and more reason to pursue him as the story progressed. Yet the same can’t be said about your relationship with him. Or at least your “Tav’s” relationship with him. 

You’ve had some difficulty in deepening your relationship with the ex-magistrate. It seemed as if no matter what options you chose, no matter what manner of advances you made, he’d be quick to dismiss you. Painting you as a desperate little pup as he did. Denying you the opportunity of further knowing him. You’ve created and overwritten more save slots than you'd like to admit, perusing each one to select different lines of dialogue only to be rejected time and time again.

You thought it strange. But perhaps this was simply the way his route was meant to unfold. He was such an incredibly complex character after all. Perhaps this was meant to prove the party’s loyalty. 

But that didn’t stop you from being frustrated with other aspects of the gameplay. You've spent countless nights hunched on your work chair, back curving like a dead bug as you analyzed each and every possible outcome in combat. Eyes, bloodshot from cutting your sleeping hours short, just to endure the story until you were at an appropriate place to log out. And hair, flicking and curling out in different directions due to you weaving your hands through them in exasperation. 

You saw your reflection on your screen as it darkened to load the next scene and you couldn't help but stare at your character in slight envy. You know full well that however you designed them, it wouldn’t affect how the others perceived you, and yet you couldn’t help but pretty them up for your own interest. You designed it with yourself in mind, but making them far more attractive than you would ever be. Effortlessly beautiful as they stirred to wake up in the forest you settled in for camp.

How could Astarion ever turn this beautiful being away? If not for their heroism, then surely their looks would be enough to draw him in, no?

And speak of the devil. Once you could control your character again, you readied them to interact with your sharply dressed companion. Wanting to try your luck once more as the bright sun shone upon your character like a promise of a new day. Unfortunately, you’re greeted with a look of boredom, oh so familiar, that you sigh. “I hope you’re not here to beg—” Mocking him, echoing the words you’ve come to expect with faux mirth in your voice. But you cut yourself short when you realize he has yet to say anything. 

Strange.

 What’s even stranger is that he's just staring at you. Well,--- he’s staring at Tav. Your character.

“What the fuck…?” You move your mouse around, clicking to try and toggle the dialogue options to no avail, screen stuck in a cinematic close up of his face. Much like how the camera always pans when awaiting your response. 

However, unlike the common script of his actions that you’re used to, the one that you’ve memorized like a well practiced dance, his eyes smoothly glide off of your character and onto you. 

You freeze, but your heart doesn’t. The beating of your chest growing stronger the longer he looks at you. Eyes, blood red like rubies, boring into your own. He regards you, blinks, and then smiles that deviously charming smile of his before your screen turns dark. Your computer turns off, and you stare in shock of what just happened.

‘No fucking way, no fucking way, no fucking way—‘ You’re not delusional, right? Sure, you’re tired, but no fucking way did you just imagine one of the hottest characters you’ve seen in a while break the fourth wall just to fuck with you.

You laugh to yourself.

Yes, you’re just tired. Nothing like a good four hours of sleep can’t remedy. Although, as you get up from your chair, foolish as it may seem, you grab a used shirt from your floor, and hang it on your computer in the case that those piercing eyes come to life once again while you sleep.

——

You stir awake after your short slumber. Your body, heavy like lead, though not at all a feeling foreign to you. You think about what happened last night, wondering if it was all a dream. Yet as you get ready for the day, you notice your dirtied clothing still on your computer. Covering it as if it were a petrifying doll from a horror movie. You feel childish for doing so, reasoning that you were simply stressed from the events that taken place prior and removed the cloth.

As you did, your screen was brought back to life. Showing you the next night as if your little "tryst" with Astarion never happened. An entire thirty minutes or so of progress seemingly gone. Thankfully, you saved just before your game went haywire and you attempted to load up your last slot. 

Zzzt Zzzzt!

Alas, your game was not cooperating once again. You tried the save just before that and the same error screen presented itself to you. ‘Maybe this is a sign that I should just fucking work instead.’ Irritated at the thought, you moved to log out of the game but a familiar voice convinces you otherwise as the screen returns to normal. 

“Why, hello pup. How was your awfully short slumber?” 

‘Is this— a romance scene?!’ Astarion had never initiated an interaction before! Perhaps the game gods were granting you mercy. Or maybe, something you did last night might have given way for this line of dialogue to open up. Regardless, you happily took the opportunity and began reading your choices.

“Why, hello pup. How was your awfully short slumber?” ━─━────༺༻────━─━

Well. Thank you.

It’s none of your concern, fangs.

Better now that you’re here.

What happened last night?

━─━────༺༻────━─━

What…did happen last night? You don’t recall anything past the blackening of your screen, but it looks like you did something after that which caused this dialogue.

You don’t want to squander this opportunity, who knows when this will happen again, but your curiosity gets the best of you. So you save, and choose option 4. 

“Oh, you poor thing. Spooked you, did I?” He laughs, seemingly taking in the look of confusion that graces both yours and Tav’s face.

“What do you think happened last night?”

“My fucking game crashed.” You answer automatically.

Tav moves to open their mouth but is silenced with a tut. “Not you, spawn.” His eyes crinkle at the corners in amusement, but the way his mouth is pulled in a tightly-lipped smile offers you further insight otherwise. 

“I need your answer.” His eyes are on you yet again, and you feel the world begin to spin.

——

You stir awake after your short slumber. Your body, heavy like lead, though not at all a feeling foreign to you. You think about what happened last night, wondering if it was all a dream. Yet as you plan to get ready for the day, you notice you’re not exactly in a state to do so. You expected to wake at dawn, the dark and cool air to greet you as it fills your room and envelops your walls. Instead, you wake to see an endless amount of evergreen and the smell of the dark and damp grass beneath you filling your senses.

And if spending hours, weeks, months, of playing this damned game has taught you anything, you know that you now reside in the heart of the forest that you usually set up camp in. But this time, you're far from your bedroll and the fire that your party created.

One.

Two.

Three.

It takes you three seconds to comprehend what just happened. Three seconds for you to try and save the progress you’ve already made so far to no avail. Three seconds for you to feel the chill of dread run up your spine. 

And this chill so does love playing games.

You clamber away on your knees when you hear that deep chuckle of his emanate from right beside your ear. Creating as much distance to inspect this figure you’ve yet to face.

You see Astarion in all his vampiric glory. ‘Well, for a vampire spawn, I guess.’ You comment to yourself. Crimson eyes, darker than you imagined, with full, dark lashes contrasting his pallid skin and pure hair that glow under the moonlight. An unsettling, and cursedly attractive, smirk curls onto his lips. His ivory fangs on full display as he does.

“It seems as if those useless artifacts were worth something.” He marvels at his handiwork, his prize, and approaches it with confidence. 

“Well, your character certainly is more ‘prettied up.’” He circles you, carefully appraising his newest asset, and grins. “But you are far more intriguing.”

A simple, “What the fuck?” is all you can muster.

“Although, you are very cute. Cheeky little pup, aren’t you?” He jests.

A simple, “What the fuck?” is all you can muster which earns you a click of his tongue in response.

“You’re not broken, are you? Or am I to anticipate your little ‘what the fuck?’s as your only contribution?” Long, and incredibly masculine, fingers crawl and curl to grasp your chin like a spider. 

“I’ve waited months to have you. And now here you are, finally within my grasp.” The statement causes something to stir within you.

“What do you mean, ‘months?” 

He narrows his eyes, possibly trying to comprehend your stupidity.

“I’ve been watching you. Waiting, for the right moment. Interacting with this– caricature of yourself until you could deny yourself of me no more.” Blood rushes to your head. Your cheeks burning in embarrassment for seeming overly eager. And in panic as his intentions have yet to be cleared.

“And now that I’m here? Do you want to kill me?” You feel your heartbeat in your ears, awaiting his response. Your eyes wide in fear, yet trying to fake heroic bravado in the attempts to gain the upperhand.

And in this moment, he thinks you absolutely invigorating.

“Oh no, sweet pet. I’ve waited far too long for that. I’m going to make you mine.”

————━─━────༺༻────━─━————

Should I make this into a series? "The adventures of a misplaced artist in Baldur's Gate!!" Or something like that. Let me know, lol

[thedomesticanthropologist]

In one of my playthroughs, my Tav is having a TIME with Astarion, and it's a version of his romance I don't see represented online as much and I want to talk about it.

If you choose more lightweight dialogue options, if you don't dig into his mind at the bite scene, if you get his Araj confession instead of his impromptu one,

Then by the end of Act 2, you do *not* have a secure relationship AT ALL, he has never said he's in love, and everything feels REALLY rocky.

All through act 1 he lays on the seduction heavily, but in act 2 a bitch is MAD. He is stressed, he needs to figure out his scars, he feels hunted and un-safe and because of this, he starts to take it out on Tav a bit.

SPOILERS FOR ACT 2:

when Raphael shows up to talk to him, he snaps at Tav saying "don't get in my way". When you do his quest and kill the orthon, you have to PRY a thank you from him by literally telling him to parrot your words ('thank you for helping me, it was very... Kind') and he spits it out like he really, really wasnt intending to say anything in the form of gratitude.

When you talk about what to do about Cazador, my Paladin chose 'youll never be free while he lives' because it's true. If he runs, cazador will hunt him. If cazador lives, he will never stop looking over his shoulder. His reply 'i hate that you're right'

Even when you say you'll join him to hunt his master down, you can watch his facial expressions and see: he's not convinced. Of course he isn't. He's terrified. And is he grateful? Yes, but again, it's guarded.

I then went to moonrise and talked to Araj, and I defended his autonomy 100%.

When his Araj-confession happened, it was absolutely NOT a LOVE confession. It was more like:

"thank you. This made me realize I was still acting like a slave even in freedom, and you supporting me there made me feel like I can start to snap out of that kind set. Sooooo... I should tell you, since you did me a solid, that I was using you for protection and manipulating you up until now"

If you DONT choose the top options, the MOST he tells you about how he feels about you is a single line of dialogue

'imagine my surprise when I started to actually feel... SOMETHING... For you'

This could be friendship, crush feels, etc. It's VERY vague, and important things to note is while WE THE PLAYER know more about him and what he may feel at this point or what he's gone through, YOUR TAV DOESNT.

He does not apologize for using you. He states his regret that his plan failed because he started to value you as a person instead of a tool for him to be used. That admission is his gift back to you for defending him in front of Araj.

If you then choose 'what do YOU want' he approves, but says he doesn't know. And then he defends that 'isnt it nice not to know?' You still get soft faces, your hand held. He's trying to *silently* communicate what he can't bring himself to say, but he *DOESNT* SAY anything to affirm you two are a couple/in a relationship/etc. Just a vague 'lets not talk about it but see where it goes'

Honestly, based on this experience via dialogue choices for this character, it almost seemed to me like "sounds like you need a friend not a lover" makes the MOST SENSE. Of course this is my Astarion Romance run, so my Paladin instead said, basically, I'll wait for you until you're ready. (She chose the 'what do you want,' and let it lay there as is)

Afterwards you can ask about your relationship with him and again, he's flustered, he's hedging, he's defensive, and he brushes it off. He's not ready to talk, he's not ready to commit, he's fully focused on Cazador and his safety.

You enter this waiting period where Tav has been manipulated, spoken down to, snapped at, bitten, and responded to without gratitude, but is ALSO given just the faintest, BAREST glimpse at the vulnerability beneath the surface. The player is being asked at this point to REALLY trust and WAIT without ANY evidence that this relationship could become healthy, or could turn into love, or could because a real relationship. And that's SO NEAT

If you don't romance anyone else and aren't put into the position to choose him, you never get a confirmation of dating. If you get the Araj scene and don't choose hug, and don't force him to confirm he was attracted to you etc, you can literally end the talk on "thanks for defending me, also haha I was using you this whole time just so you know, thanks for being nice about it"

From a Tav point of view, this *could* be fairly devastating, and even if Tav decides to wait and keep supporting him, at this point, even post "confession" there is VERY little evidence that things are gonna get better between you.

We know it does. WE do. We get the access to other dialogue and choices or the other confession IF we chose that. But this, this scene, these dialogue choices REALLY emphasize his Act 3 confession

"you were patient. You waited, through blood lust etc /even when it was an objectively stupid thing to do etc"

Cause yeah. He's RIGHT. If you don't choose VERY specific dialogues to get more out of him, most of his romance up until the Act 3 confession,most of how he treats you, most of how he responds to your decisions in game (if you're playing fairly good and not evil/durge) gives Tav no reason beyond faith to continue to pursue him.

I think he knows this, and it's why he's surprised when you state you don't want him for sex. Because up until Act 3, he KNOWS how he's been treating Tav and even HE wouldn't have stood for it if the roles were reversed, so h thinks 'it must be because I'm good in bed'. Then he takes the sex away and you still stay? Even when he's chasing power, hunting for revenge, snapping at you, refusing to commit?

It's a powerful story line. It's so engaging. And it has room for SO MUCH ANGST

Anyways thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

[what-is-it-to-be-pk-esque]

Omg the love triangle/breakup dynamics in BG3 kill me

Astarion offering to have a sordid affair down the road if you romance Wyll is amazing - and you can agree to that lmaooo. Honestly his retorts and jokes about Wyll if you pick Astarion might be the funniest in the bunch, love that he calls you a scoundrel if you agree hahaha

Karlach's got some really kind and funny things to say about Astarion as long as you get his act 2 scene before you sleep with her (the throwing his pomade into the river comment, joking about sharpening stakes, saying he's not one whose heart you should play with, etc). If it's the other way around you def feel like a piece of shit for picking him and she is right to make you feel that way lol. Also let her be the one to end things, don't tell her you're ending things first unless you want to cry, holy shiiiiiit 😭😭😭 I swear she makes me wanna cry more than anyone else this whole game (such good acting!)

Shadowheart, she also has some really insightful things to say about Astarion if that's your love triangle, but I think you can't really do an act 2 scene with her until the end of Act 2 / early Act 3? So in early act 2 she only gets one breakup option instead of 2 like the others, which only happens from Shadowheart initiating the breakup after you get the other person's act 2 scene. Regardless she & Wyll seem to take a breakup best imo

Meanwhile from what I can tell Gale does not take it well if you pick someone else no matter which order you do the love triangle. He's either super hurt or pissed no matter what I did even though I didn't even kiss him in the weave in my game!! I had no way to tell him let’s just be friends before anything with Astarion happened, although to his credit he does have one or two okay responses of wanting you to be happy as long as you let him down gently in the convo before his act 2 scene. He's just clearly very hurt and down bad though, I felt awful the whole time lol, almost as bad as with Karlach

When I've tried to make the love triangle happen with Lae'zel, she was just ultra salty no matter what I did & Astarion only had like one non-generic line 🤷‍♀️ might also be bugged cause when I tried to pick her after getting his Act 2 scene she said nothing and all I could choose was leave/breakup. Felt like they didn't add as many options for her? You can tell it def affects her though cause even though she's pissed she says your "bruises will scar" :( so... still a bummer

Similarly for Wyll if you choose someone else over him, his comments are mostly generic about writing your story and honestly he’s pretty mature about it, but you don't even get to tell him you wanna date both, which is where they can say some pretty emotional/funny stuff, so again, doesn't seem like a lot of variations were put in for him

I find it interesting that you seem to only get the "you chose me instead of X?" dialogue with Astarion if you break it off with Shadowheart or Karlach, where you can tell him you're "dead serious" about the relationship. Unless I missed it, he didn't have anything to say when I talked to him after breaking up with Gale or Wyll or Lae'zel, which is when that dialogue pops up with the other two.

He seems to have the "i hear you have a new lover / what, why?" speech with everyone though. If you choose someone else over him before his act 2 scene he has the same various replies of "lucky you, you'll think of me / i'll think of everything we did / having you once was enough" etc, but if it's after his act 2 scene it's all "I didn't think / you were a mistake" :( and you'll feel terrible about yourself

ALSO while I'm talking about it, idk if this happened to anyone else, but the "I hear you have a new lover" speech was bugged for me for Gale/Wyll/Lae'zel, so he skipped saying the 1st shady unique line for them, BUT I could see it in the journal. Karlach's seemed to work fine though. Adding pics for reference minus Shadowheart

UPDATE ok it is a known bug and Shadowheart def has variations too, adding the youtube link for these. Also I had NO idea about the act 3 versions, omg these are SAVAGE towards Wyll and Gale ahhahaha

[the-crimson]

I was gonna make a comment on someone else’s post but I’ll just make a new one cuz I don’t wanna derail theirs XD

(This is aimed at the fandom, the characters being confused about 4halo is perfectly fine lol)

In regards to 4halo, I think the fandom needs to keep in mind that cc!bbh has said q!bbh is aromantic. That means that you will never be able to put any of his relationships into neat little boxes of platonic or romantic.

I’m aromantic and I’ve had people tell me my relationship with one of my closet friends has to be a romantic one because of how close we are/how we act with each other when it’s not in the way they are imagining. We aros often joke that we’ve unlocked a “secret third thing” but a lot of times relationships aren’t as cut and dry as you’d like to believe even between allosexuals - especially within the queer community.

A romantic relationship is not defined by what people do with each other or how they act around each other but by their attraction to each other. Q!bbh has made it pretty clear he has no romantic or sexual attraction to anyone so trying to put his relationships in those boxes is going to leave you disappointed.

As an aromantic person, it’s difficult to classify my relationships into these simplistic categories so I usually just avoid the question or change the subject. Q!bbh does the same.

Part of it is that cc!bbh is a troll and is obligated to always chose the dialogue option to create maximum drama but the other part is q!bbh probably doesn’t know how to explain the nature of his relationship with Forever in terms of romantic or platonic because it doesn’t fall into either.

It’s just like his relationship with Skeppy. They are immortal soulmates who are extremely possessive and codependent but good fucking luck trying to put their relationship in a box.

I think trying to look at 4halo through a purely romantic or platonic lens is doing yourself and the characters a massive disservice. You cannot forget or ignore that fact that q!bbh is canonically aromantic when analyzing this ship. Yeah go on a write ur romance or smut or what ever but when looking at the cannon, do not forget it or you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

[traumxrei-archive]

Can I please request

#3 - They just told him they liked him but they get shy and say “never mind, forget it” …and he wasn’t letting them dismiss it just like that

With Idia Shroud? (≧▽≦)

i like this prompt BSJKSHSOW

Thank you! Remember to take care of yourself

【 till we reach the happy end 】

prompt #3: They just told him they liked him but they get shy and say “never mind, forget it” (ft. idia shroud)

gender neutral! reader, spoilers for ghost marriage + suitor suit idia's vignette, 600 followers event (closed!)

author's note: uuu lyzaaaa i wrote this for you bb <33 honestly the most fun thing i've written in a while. i read his vignette n i scrapped the initial idea i had for this fic and,,,,well the rest is history. i hope you enjoy !!

Idia was having a terrible, horrible, no-good night. Emphasis on the horrible. He was literally just seconds away from being ghosted, and in quite the literal sense too. And he was about to get married against his will! If it was to one of his favorite characters, then maybe Idia would've said yes, but this was to a literal ghost who threatened 'eternal love' for him despite having just met him.

He shivered, feeling better now that he could actually move around. He really needed to get out of this getup. And quickly. Before someone made a comment about him being a tokusatsu villain or a cringy cosplayer...

"Ugh, this cravat is literally choking me, no cap," Idia muttered to himself as he slipped into NRC's darkened hallways. "Thank goodness the protag group were busy taking care of the rest..."

"Idia-senpai!" The call of his name made him flinch, though he instantly recognized it to be their voice.

"W-what's up, Prefect-shi...?" Idia hoped his voice didn't betray his nerves as he spoke. It was hard to think straight when he was literally right in front of his c-cru...cru— oh Idia really didn't want to think about the c-word right now.

"I saw you leaving and I wanted to ask if you were okay," The warm smile they gave him had his heart doing somersaults and Idia could almost forget about the bad things that happened that evening. Such was the life of 'Idia the Simp', who was simply happy that the object of his affections cared about him. How sad and loser-like, was he right?

"I'm fine. I mean, aside from my legs literally turning into jelly from standing for so long," Idia mumbled before raising his voice. "That ghost must've been grinding his stats real hard to be able to fight like that."

"I guess so," They mused, falling into step beside him. "I'm really glad that the others made it in time."

"Ace-shi really came in clutch in this one! He was like a hero from some kind of action manga. Actually, weren't they all pretty hero-like?"

Idia continued to ramble excitedly. "I mean, the protagonist's friends arrived fashionably late— and they were all dressed to impress like princes in a dating sim! Riddle-shi being cool and unapproachable, yet shows his awkward and kind side to the protagonist. Epel-shi as the fragile character that you can't help but want to protect, yet also has a cool and alluring side. And finally Rook-shi, the prince of a neighboring country who secretly protects the main character, and instantly gains best boy status when it's revealed—!"

Idia realized just how excited he was getting over nothing— the tips of his hair turning bright orange— and he sighed deeply, "Augh, really, a loser like me could never compare to shiny princes like them..."

"Don't say that," They had stopped walking. The cool night air tickled the back of Idia's neck as he stood rooted in spot. There was quite a serious expression on their face and Idia wondered if he chose the wrong dialogue option somewhere along the line...

"If it counts for anything I think you look really cool— no, a better word would be absolutely dashing," Their nervousness showed in the way they shifted every few seconds, swallowing before continuing.

"Aren't you really prince-like too? The mysterious heir to the throne that no one ever sees who secretly helps the kingdom by masquerading as an inventor. He continues to provide the kingdom with advance technology whilst under the cover of the unlikeable hermit, and the main character is the first one to learn of his secret."

"Wow, that," This time it was Idia's turn to swallow, his own hair tinting a light pink. "T-that almost makes me sound like a good character to romance... You should become a dating sim writer."

They laughed lightly at that, "Thanks, but...what I really wanted to say was... That is..." They took a deep breath before starting again, "Because of tonight and what happened, I thought that life is short. And that I can't possibly control everything, so I should make sure to say what I want to say properly before it's too late. Idia-senpai. I...like you."

Idia could not believe his ears. Was he dreaming? Was this heaven? Did he dream up being saved by Ace and the others but actually he became a ghost and crossed to the other side? He didn't even remember paying the ferry to cross the river Styx!

"Eh?" was all that managed to leave his mouth, his hair fully turning as flushed as his face felt. The gears in his head were turning, but that didn't mean he wasn't losing braincells trying to figure out what was happening. In the first place, the genre of this day changed way too many times! From slice-of-life to survival horror to fighting game, and finally....a romantic visual novel?? Give him a break already!

"Actually. Just forget I said that." They turned around to quickly walk away but Idia grabbed onto their sleeve before they got too far. Oh Sevens, he really chose the most insanely noob-like dialogue option there was on the "Ranking of Things to Say if Someone Confesses to You" (made by Idia Shroud).

"W-wait, this is...way too much information for my brain to handle, I think I need to download extra gigabytes of RAM for this," Idia said under his breath before finally raising his gaze.

The pale moonlight washed everything in blue, and he couldn't help but think that they looked so...pretty even half-obscured in light. Their stare was pinned at the ground and he really needed to say something before they ran away and it was impossible for him to rewind the scene and fiz his mistakes.

"You..." Idia cleared his throat, the pink of his hair fluttering with the passing wind. "Could I p-please hear that dialogue option...once again? I-I promise to give a better answer this time! Or did I already raise a death flag for myself and hurtle myself towards the bad ending? Ah, Idia, this is why you aren't suited to be a otome game protag, you should just stick t—"

The breath was stolen from his lungs as warm palms urgently cradled his face, "Senpai... I don't like hearing the person that I like talking badly about himself all the time. Especially right after I told him how cool he is."

The words came out in a wheeze as he spoke again, "Y-you said 'like' just now? What k-kind of like is that?"

"The 'romantic' type of like," They said, a finger ghosting over his cheek. "The 'I want to play your route till the happy ending' type of like."

"Oh. In a positive way," He hastily added, his hair growing brighter by the second. "Y-you're really good at these...romantic words."

"Of course I am," They gave him a mischievous grin. "I learned from the best games on the market. So what do you say to my proposal?"

Aaaanddd Idia was back to feeling faint again, "T-that was a figure of speech right? I don't think I can handle another proposal so soon—"

"Senpai," They chided softly as Idia tugged at the ends of his hair. "A simple yes or no would suffice."

"Uhm. If you can't already tell by this," Idia pointed to his hair— which was now bright pink and flaming dangerously high. "I'd like to stay with you too. Till the happy ending."

"Till the happy ending," They echoed, smiling as they finally released his face. Idia found himself missing the touch a little....just a little though.

He didn't get the chance to wallow before his hand was being clasped in theirs, "C'mon! Let's get you out of those fancy clothes and play some games in your room already!"

"W-wait a second, Prefect-shi?" Idia flushed harder, if that was even physically possible. "Y-you're skipping too many chapters of the dating stage, you know? There's an order to things!!"

"I meant video games, senpai," They laughed as they skipped in front of him, Idia's own steps frantic to stay close to them. "Get your head out of the gutter."

"R-right," Idia nodded, absolutely mortified for the second— or was it third time?— that night. "I knew that."

And Idia was the subject of their teasings long after the night was over. He had to live through the embarrassment of them recounting the whole story to an all-too-curious Ortho. (Maybe he should've programmed him with less curiosity, but alas he can't go back on his own genius.)

But well, he really couldn't complain. Not when they held his hand so tightly as they watched his favorite movies with him. And especially not when they fell asleep on his shoulder— a cliché that was one of his favorites to date. Idia was sure of it now. No matter what hardships or trials would follow in the future, he would play this route till the happy end.

thank you for reading this very based idia take (pls help i've gamer-talked for too long bc of idia) if you did, please like, subscribe, and check out my masterlist for other works !!

[ mini idia dictionary bc pog ]

tokusatsu villain - tokusatsu refers to a genre of live-action shows that heavily use special effects. think ultraman or kamen rider.

death flag - an action or dialogue that foreshadows an untimely death for a certain character. raising one means to basically accelerate the death of a character, since you're adding more death flags to their roster.

bad ending/happy ending - referring to otome games, where there are multiple endings to different routes that are achievable by changing dialogue/actions throughout the story.

lmk if there are any other terms i should add bc i lost count of the more confusing ones after re-reading this 3 times jskfjdskf

[princessamericachavez]

on the ‘accidental’ buddie

I have to laugh at these 911 writers trying to play coy, giving interviews saying things like “well we didn’t really intend to play into [Eddie’s strong reaction towards Buck’s death/parallels to the well/etc]” because, like, as someone who’s worked on audiovisual that’s not how the production of a tv show works??

What I mean by that is that his episode, and particularly that last call, was filled with a lot of deliberate choices. 

And I mean choices. Choices were made. 

Because someone decided that both Buck and Eddie would be wearing red harnesses for this event. See how Chim isn’t harnessed? Even when he thought he’d be the one going up? That is a choice someone made in the costume department. To have Buck and Eddie tied together by a red string [of fate]. 

That take of Eddie being the one to secure Buck’s harness to the line that would eventually save his life? A CHOICE. And I mean that in the most literal sense of the word. Not only was it in the script (hell, maybe it wasn’t, heavens know things change from the page to filming), but someone in the photography team chose to frame a close-up to it, to take it (and believe me with how expensive those rain effects must have been, they were not doing just ‘any take’ lightly). And- and!! Someone from post-production chose to edit it in. Chose to have it there. 

Eddie and Buck getting hit by the same lighting rod? A CHOICE. And the show runners can shrug all they want and say it only made sense because Eddie was manning the controls but who put him there? When you are writing, you are not leaving things to chance. You are creating a coherent narrative. Things don’t just ‘happen’. 

And sure, yes, I will bite and say Ryan’s performance knocked it out of the park and maybe wasn’t like that on the script. He gave it his all because he knows his character. To say it just ‘happened’ is to undermine his capacity as an actor to make choices both in voice and physical that tell the audience something. Acting is about being hyperaware of those things. 

You wanna know what is intentional, though? The way that scene is edited. THINK ABOUT IT. We see the lightning hit. We see Buck fall. We see the team’s shocked reaction to it. We’ve even seen Buck’s hanging body at this point. And yet, the camera stays on what? On Eddie. On Eddie getting up. On Eddie not seeing. On Eddie ready to get back to usual. And we get that close up —remember what I said about them not wasting on useless takes due to budget?— WELL we get to Eddie and we see his face, we see his reaction. And we go back to Buck. And we’ve already seen it! WE know! But Eddie doesn’t. Up until that moment, it doesn’t hit. And it’s then, it’s when it hits Eddie, that the music picks up and the story keeps moving. 

And let me ask you: why? Television is an audiovisual medium. You use image, sound, and dialogue to create the story. It’s multi-lingual. It’s not just what’s in the script. It’s how you film it, it’s how you edit it, it’s which directions you give the actors and what you choose to use once it’s only you in the editing room with tons of footage. This story they are telling it’s a very very deliberate choice that involves a lot of people (costume, actors, cameras, editors, sound, marketing). 

So when we see Eddie try to pull Buck back up, screaming, before he switches to letting him down? That’s a choice made in several steps along the way, red string and all, for it to get to your screen. When we see Eddie push Bobby out of the way to get to Buck, when we see Bobby pull him back, when we see Eddie looking back twice at Buck’s unconscious body and wipe his face before he gets into the ambulance? Choices, choices, choices, so many choices made by several people who had a ton of options, takes, versions, and chose to go with this one. 

So, I’m sorry, but I cannot, for the life of me, take the writers/showrunners seriously when they say things like “well, I don’t think we really leaned into that on purpose”. JESUS CHRIST. Either stop playing coy or admit you suck at your job and don’t understand the process and that you are underestimating everyone working on this project! 

And, just to be clear, I do not think that’s the case. I believe they are trying to play coy to keep people guessing their intentions. It’s just frustrating because I don’t think they realize that to anyone with a minimum background in audiovisual storytelling... they are just making themselves look bad at their job (when they probably aren’t!). 

(WHERE IS THEIR PR DEPARTMENT?!)

[layla4567]

Hello! may request a Hunter D-90 x reader fluff/angst fanfiction?

Hi, sure 😊 sorry for answering a bit late

HOT COCOA

Hunter D-90 x GN!reader

Summary: Your job at the TVA is to be in the offices, filing boring papers, yet whenever there is a mission they assign you along with D-90. You've never been able to get so many words out of him, but a hot chocolate machine will change things.

Warnings: none, fluff

WC: 877

A/N: This may be a bit short since he is a fairly secondary character in my opinion and he doesn't have many dialogues so it is difficult to work with it, I'm sorry 😓 (If you want to request another character from Loki series, please do 😊)

******

You were sitting in your small space near the shelves where the files were kept, your table was a mess of jumbled papers but you tried to maintain order as best as possible. To make the work more enjoyable you hummed a song while rhythmically moving your foot trying not to see the time on the wall clock every two seconds. Suddenly you heard footsteps nearby but you didn't even look up to see who it was until he was in front of you looking at you.

“How are you doing with that y/n?"

When you heard his voice you already knew who it was, you raised your head to see Mobius smiling kindly at you, he with his heart of gold always cared about the other workers and that they were not too stressed.

"I do what I can"- you sighed, trying to make a joke.

"Well, look, try not to overexert yourself, okay? You're doing well anyway, you've already completed half the work."

You accidentally looked at your table and he was right, without realizing it you had already come a long way.

"Hey, why don't you take a break or eat something? Come on, you deserve it."-He said, tapping his knuckles on the table.

"Thank you Mobius, I will take your advice"-you laughed softly

Mobius gave you a big smile as he walked away with his hands on his hips. You rubbed your eyes, yawning slightly as you stood up from the seat and stretched your muscles, sitting for so long was exhausting and painful. With a tired step you headed towards the halls of the TVA and saw D-90 standing guard as always with a face so serious that he looked like a bulldog. You stopped to greet him.

"Hello D-90, good to see you"-You waved a hand with a smile like little kids would.

He just nodded at you without even smiling. You wondered why he was always like that, he always seemed angry although that didn't mean he didn't like you. You suddenly remembered all the times you joined him on a mission, he also behaved like that.

"Ok and how's everything going huh?"-You said something uncomfortable because of his cold attitude.

He, without saying anything again, just shrugged his shoulders, making a face. Great, you thought, at that rate you won't be able to snatch a hello from him. Suddenly you turned your head and saw the machine at the end of the hallway that served drinks, you soon remembered that in a few minutes you should go back to work, maybe a coffee would be good for you to stay awake. Suddenly you remembered that you could also choose hot cocoa in the machine and an idea came to your mind.

"Hey, do you want something to drink? I'm on my rest, come on, I'll buy you something."

He frowned and opened his mouth to murmur something when you tiredly rolled your eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the machine.

"Come on! Drinking something won't hurt you!"

D-90 reluctantly followed you without getting rid of his frown, he followed you with heavy steps and you had to make an effort to move him. He looked like a child refusing to go anywhere. Finally the vintage machine was in front of you, there were several options: Tea, coffee, hot cocoa and soup. You chose a strong coffee for you and a hot cocoa for him. With the glasses in both your hands, you turned to hand him his when he raised a hand and shook his head, pursing his lips.

"Please just take it, think of it as a gift from me to you."-you said with the best of your smiles

"It's just…"-he started talking and you were surprised because he finally said something.

"I've never tried hot cocoa"

He said it almost embarrassed and you opened your mouth and eyes in great surprise and the coffee almost fell out of your hands. Have you never tried hot cocoa? What did this man feed on then?! You shook your head trying to downplay it and without adding anything you handed him his glass, he looked at it and smelled it and then looked at you with a raised eyebrow, you just closed your eyes and nodded.

He slowly approached his lips to the glass overflowing with the sweet liquid and when he finished tasting it he looked at you, opening his eyes wide, it seemed that his serious and grumpy facade had completely fallen, he had liked the cocoa! You clapped happily, resting your glass on the machine for a moment and for the first time he smiled with a smile as genuine and tender as a child in a toy store, you had never seen him like that.

Smiling you took your glass and walked down the hallway heading to another place to tour the TVA while you rested when his voice made you turn around.

"Thanks for the drink."

He continued smiling happily and you smiled back tenderly.

"My pleasure"

You left there, leaving a D-90 very different from when you had seen him when you got there, one who drank his cocoa as if there were no worries in the world or the sacred timeline.

[odetoviscera]

Baldur's Gate 3: The Evil Experience

on the recommendation of @leupagus: My Very Special Evil Boy, Vexation. don't worry about the blood, it's a fashion choice.

if you've been wondering how evil you can be in baldur's gate 3, wonder no more-- So Evil.

so beginning at the beginning, i of course chose the Dark Urge (obvious serial killer) origin, who is conveniently customizable, so i also made him Drow and a Lolth Worshipper and a Warlock (all of which has made him only marginally more evil, tbh, mostly the related dialogue options make him a smug bastard, although OCCASIONALLY this will give him a "hmm what if i enslaved you" option which people do indeed react to as if he's an evil maniac and they should flee and/or try to kill him. this goes great for them considering i'm the protagonist.)

i wake up on an illithid ship with no memories, as one does. i befriend a walking talking brain, by which i mean i lobotomize it so that i can more easily control and manipulate it, as one does. i may not know who i am, but i definitely know that i am powerful, mean, and more important than everyone here. also i have a great old one in my brain giving me eldritch blast, so the tadpole wriggling around in there seems normal. i crash the ship sort of accidentally and am set loose on my merry way to wrack the Sword Coast with terrible mayhem. probably. as soon as i figure out if i'm about to turn into a mindflayer.

the first sign of my uncontrollable evil mania was when i tried to talk to a squirrel in act one (actually, i tell a lie, the FIRST sign was when i was tempted to hack Gale's hand off instead of dragging him out of the portal he got stuck in, but i decided i needed a wizard more than a dismembered hand) and the narrator informed me i had been Gripped By A Compulsion and promptly dropkicked the squirrel into a tree. it died, obviously. i was given the option to decide if i cared about this and decided that my opinion was a frankly inappropriate level of malicious glee considering the heights from which i, clearly child of murder, have obviously fallen to get amnesia and get tadpoled and fall out of the sky on a dying illithid spaceship. anyway this set me up for Being Maximally Deranged, however there is No Karma Meter or any equivalent system to MEASURE your evil or limit your dialogue options-- i have free reign at all times, i COULD decide that suddenly i'm going to be a Repentant Murderer, i can do Nice Things if i want the reward or the exp or i am exercising my single scintilla of compassion accidentally inculcated by my eventual three simultaneous romances (one of which is with the mindflayer who lives in my brain/an artifact stopping ME from becoming a mindflayer. this game is so horny, very classic dnd "i roll to romance the villain". except i am also the villain.) at this point i have no romances, though-- at this point my companions watch me kick a squirrel to death and their collective response is "well… that seemed… excessive."

i also have the option to tell every single one of them individually that i am driven by a blood mania to murder and destruction. opinions of this range from "well admitting you have a problem is the first step!" to "that's nice, just point it at the enemy instead of ME". no one seems appropriately concerned about this. they'll learn.

anyway the next sign of my uncontrollable evil mania is that when i decided to be nice to a bard for no reason and she showed up at our next long rest to Join The Party (oh we do get a bard companion, that's nice, i said, like a fool.) i promptly murdered her in the night. as in i woke up covered in blood with her corpse ritually slaughtered at my feet and said "hm. probably shouldn't let anyone else find out i did this" and then sulked when no one gave me proper respect and rewards for murdering her. fortunately the next day my Evil Butler materialized to do just that, and proved he wasn't a figment of my imagination by giving me an Evil Cloak that lets me turn invisible everytime i murder someone. i spend the next half an act or so convinced i'm going to slowly kill off my party, but fortunately i develop the ability to control myself. now i only murder when I WANT to murder.

the rest of act one i am SORT OF a good boy-- i do deliberately get a child killed but i don't PERSONALLY kill her, i get a druid's snake to do it, so does it really count against MY soul? yes but only me and daddy bhaal know it so i am able to continue playing Goody Two Shoes for the rest of the act. (i don't know he's my daddy yet, but like… i know it. i, the player, know it. in my soul. i've played these games before.) delightful fallout, my child murder gets the druid killed after i Helpfully Save The Tieflings by telling the opposing force i'll totally help them break in and kill them all, then betraying them at the last minute. i kill so so so many goblins. i get an inspiration point for how many goblins i kill. goblins are still sentient. It's Still Murder.

act two, however, empowered by all my Blood And Chaos, i turn over a new leaf. sure sure being lauded by the tieflings was fun and all, but i do somewhat regret not killing EVERYONE. i'll do better this time. this shadow-cursed hellscape is really vibing with me. it's also trying to eat me every time i'm not carrying a magic lamp but you can't win 'em all. i pretend that i'm with the antagonists (can you call them villains when I'M the villain?) so i can get their lamp. it's carried by a drider who does not appreciate my sincere compliments about how beautifully fucked up he is. his loss, i'm down to fuck anyone. i'm already fucking a githyanki and a vampire spawn.

when i get to the Big Bad Tower where supposedly they'll know about my tadpole, i discover they know something WAY MORE IMPORTANT: who the fuck i am. everyone here recognizes me. no one will tell me anything. several of them are appropriately terrified. this is infuriating but also promising. the Big Bad is a smug dick and i want to eat his heart raw. i daydream about this.

my butler arrives to tell me if i murder a Special Girl i'll get a treat. i like treats and i LOVE murder so i go looking for her. she's maintaining a Magic Selenite Moon Shield over the single not-shadow-cursed place here, which i hate on principle-- also it's a harper outpost and i hate them too, they'd probably disapprove of murder. some rando minion with wings drops in to tell me the Big Bad of the region wants to kidnap her (ALIVE, he specifies) so obviously i now double want to kill her. i kill her in one round. the magic shield collapses. EVERYONE dies (including the tieflings i saved in act one! full circle.) and then i kill their shadow-cursed undead corpses again, for good measure.

my treat is getting to turn into the slayer. i KNEW i was a bhaalspawn.

behold my true glorious visage. (with blep.) my only complaint is that i can only become this hulking death machine once per long rest. it is, however, not a turn-limited form, i can stay in it Forever if no one kills me as long as i'm willing to Just Murder No Talking. also it has a spectacular ladder-climbing animation, this bitch goes down ladders face-down like a lizard, i love him.)

anyway i don't go back to the Big Bad Tower bc presumably they'll be mad about the dead girl (i'm guessing she's Big Bad's dead daughter miraculously resurrected. i'm totally right by the way.) but the last time i was there i got a quest to find the Big Bad's Relic, which is obviously his phylactery or something since he's got a whole death aesthetic-- after a whole Temple of Shar sequence it turns out his phylactery is a captive aasimar actually. my companion wants to murder her for shar-related reasons, so i give her the go-ahead since i don't have any SPECIAL reason to kill her myself. my companions should get to be evil occasionally too.

with his phylactery dead, it's pretty easy to mow through the Big Bad Tower, especially since i can now turn into the Death Machine. i don't have to talk to anyone here. i can Just Murder.

nearly kill the Big Bad but he flees to his basement, where it turns out there's an mindflayer colony, big deal, we've all got tadpoles in our brains (i've been eating other tadpoles for extra power along the way, because of course i have) okay fine it's a slightly big deal bc there's an elder brain here that my Special Mindflayer Friend is shielding us from whatever. it's under the control of the Big Bad who's death aesthetic turns out to be that he's the Chosen of Myrkul, and also here are reps of the other Dead Three, Bane and My Daddy. i hate bhaal's chosen on sight, as is traditional for a bhaalspawn. i will murder her someday. i will murder her SO GOOD.

unfortunately she and the baneite fuck off with their elder brain to lay siege to baldur's gate while i'm daydreaming about it, so for now all i get to murder is Big Bad Myrkul Edition. moderately satisfying. he turns in an Avatar of Myrkul in the second half but i destroy him so quickly he doesn't even get to regenerate with the hojillion corpses in the area. nobody murders like vexation.

off to baldur's gate to save the city/get bigger hunting grounds!

i do cure the shadow curse on my way out though, because i'm never coming back and i've left the place a blighted wasteland, why not, it gets me a pet druid.

there's also some drama with githyanki and vlaakith, as usual, turns out the Rebel Prince Orpheus is actually how my particular mindflayer (who is finally revealing that he's a mindflayer, a thing i have suspected all along because of all the psychic shit he does) is doing the shielding, etc. etc. also i let my mindflayer boyfriend turn me in a half-illithid, which means i get no tentacles but a BUNCH of new mindflayer powers to make me an even better murderer. can't wait to see who wins in the tug-of-war for my mind, body, and soul--the illithids, my great old one beyond the stars, a devil who keeps trying to get my attention, my vampire boyfriend who wants to ascend to vampire god, or Murder Daddy. my bet is murder daddy.

anyway we get to baldur's gate, where i break in bc i don't want any guards to know i'm here-- just jumped and flew my way up the side of the bridge past the checkpoint. easy peasy now that i have illithid flight powers on command no cooldowns just Psychically Levitate wherever i want to go. also i can turn into a displacer beast. that's right, i now have to option to become TWO DIFFERENT terrifying horror beasts and rip through mobs like papier-mache. my patron really needs to keep up, warlock powers are falling behind. (no they aren't, i've hit level 10 and can now eldritch blast three times in one round and every hit knocks enemies back and terrifies them. i'm gonna chew this city up and swallow it one bite.)

however, first thing when i get into the citadel: the baneite is being coronated Archduke, bc of course he is. so i head up to see if there's a chance to murder him and a room full of peers, BUT. for the first time EVER-- this little shit is willing to tell me Who I Am. Assassin of Bhaal, former high priest of His Temple, and ONE OF THE INVENTORS OF THIS CONQUEST PLAN. that little bhaalite chosen is my bhaalspawn sister (obviously) who fucking tadpoled me, gave me amnesia, and discarded me before making sure my corpse was cold. this will be a mistake! FOR HER.

in the meantime the baneite wants me to know that he is a big fan of mine, would i like to murder my sister since i already murdered the myrkulite, and then he and i can rule this city together with an iron grip and a blood knife, since he's sure he'll have a lot of use for an assassin as a tyrant. mind-reading and my brain-illithid agree that he is actually on the level about this, at least for the moment, so of course i agree. i will rule this city. and then i will murder him. and then i will murder EVERYONE. in THE WORLD.

so now i'm hunting the current chosen of bhaal so i can kill her and steal her place-- my butler is sending me divine visions of it, SHE can't turn into the slayer, i am evil daddy's favourite. she's also kidnapped one of my companions and is threatening to kill her if i show up but i care about that less.

and that's where i am so far! will report on Future Evils.

[welcometoteyvat]

nahida dialogues, sethos dialogue, and some optional dialogues (mostly just sethos) from cyno's sq2 for reference (chinese and english transcriptions just for fun)

warning this is long as fuck

after talking to ??? (sethos) at the oasis:

nahida lines:

carefree desert dweller: Huh. those guys are pretty cautious. They just sent one person to try to talk to us. 那些家伙还挺谨慎的吗，只派一个人来跟我们搭话，哈。

irritable desert dweller: These are the guys we’re been waiting for, huh? They ain’t what I expected. 这些就是咱们要等的人？和我想的不一样啊。。。

after meeting sethos and entering the temple of silence

>nahida lines:

Sethos: These guys clearly care a lot about each other. This is a long way for them all to come. 这群人彼此感情还挺深的嘛，难怪都跟来了。

Tighnari: The situation's even more complicated than I expected. I should make sure I know the way out before we go any further. 情况比预想的更复杂。得提前观察一下出去的路线。

Cyno: Professor... 老师。。。

>talk to Sethos, pick 1 of 3 dialogue options:

>You were the one who tricked Urraca, right?

Sethos: Yes, that was me. Although, "tricked" is a stretch. He was asking everyone in the tavern about ways to make some easy money. He insisted that nothing was off the table, even if it broke the law. So I told him that Cyrus had embezzled a large sum of Mora from the desert. 嗯，是我。不过你说得不准确，我没有骗那个学生，是他自己在酒馆里打听有没有来钱快的办法。他还说什么都可以，只要能弄到钱，违法也没关系。于是我告诉他居勒什偷藏了一大笔从沙��搞来的钱。

Paimon: So you framed Cyrus for a crime that he did not commit! 那不就是栽赃居勒什吗！

Sethos: No no no, that's not entirely true. Let me jog your memory — the letter just said that he had uncovered Cyrus's secret. It didn't say what secret that was. 话不能这么说，回忆一下，他只说自己知道居勒什的秘密，又没有说是什么秘密。

>Did you tell him to use that wording? Sethos: Of course. Urraca was a great accomplice, really. Very cooperative with a little bit of wine in him — did exactly what he was told… And not much of an original thinker though. It doesn't surprise me that he struggles academically. 当然。乌拉卡真是个好帮手，喝醉了很听话，对出主意的人言听计从。。。这么没主见，难怪在教令院混不下去啊。

Paimon: Why did Cyrus leave for the desert as soon as he received the letter? 那为什么居勒什一收到信就连夜离开了？

Sethos: You'll have to ask him that one yourself. Certain things I can't answer for him. I'm neither judging nor defending him. All you need to know is that he recognized our emblem, and it was his own choice to take the bait. 这个嘛，你们自己去问居勒什吧。有些事我不能替他回答，好话坏话都说不得。你只要知道居勒什认识我们的纹章，他是愿者上钩。

>Do you know Cyno?

Sethos: Ahaha, what kind of a question is that? He's the General Mahamatra, everyone in Sumeru knows who he is. 啊哈哈，瞧你问的，须弥谁不认识大风纪官赛诺大人啊。

Paimon: Right, but back at the oasis, you can't have known who he was for sure, or you wouldn't have asked him. So what we're really asking is... Have you never seen him in person before? 可是刚才在绿洲，你还特地问了一句谁是赛诺。。。难道你从来没见过他？

Sethos: I've lived in the desert my whole life. Guess you could say... I've never had the pleasure. 我又不住在雨林，大风纪官哪是想见就能见到的？

Paimon: Ugh... Why does Paimon feel like this guy's not being straight with us... 唔。。。总觉得这家伙瞒着什么没说。。。

Sethos: C'mon, we've only just met. If I give you all the answers up front, you'll have nothing left to look forward to. 我们才见没多久，现在就把答案全都告诉你，以后的日子怎么过啊。

>Have you ever been to the Akademiya?

Sethos: No. Not once. 没进去过。

Paimon: Really?

Sethos: I have no need to go there — not when the taverns are full of the Urracas of this world. Besides, we're well aware of what goes on at that place. 我没必要去教令院啊，乌拉卡这种人酒馆里多的是。再说，教令院的作为我们也不是不清楚。

>Are you saying you have spies inside the city? Sethos: Spies? Heh, it's not as clandestine as that. The city gates are wide open, anyone's free to walk in. You can find out all you need to know just by walking around town and hearing the word on the street. 须弥城就在那里，谁想进就能随便进的嘛。每天那么多人在街上聊天，到处逛逛就知道了。

after bamoun's death

>nahida lines:

Sethos: Did you see, Grandfather? Cyno chose me to succeed you as leader of the Temple of Silence. I will now serve in his stead. It's still early days, and I can't say that I know him that well yet. But after that battle, I now understand why he came here with a whole group of friends. Companionship means to trust and be trusted. Just like Cyno and his friends, we too will fight side by side and support each other in times of trouble. 爷爷，你知道吗？赛诺选择我代替他成为缄默之殿的新任首领了。不能说我多了解他，可经过那一战，我完全明白了为什么赛诺和他的同伴会一起前来。信赖他人，也被人信赖，这才是同伴的意义。并肩作战，互相扶持，呵，这点上，我们和他们没有区别。

Cyrus: All these years, I've felt like I'm still young, I still have lots to look forward to in life. But now… I suddenly feel… I too have grown old, Bamoun, just like you. 这么多年，我经常觉得自己还年轻得很，还有很多事可以做。但现在，居然觉得。。。我和你一样，都还是老了啊，巴穆恩。

>talk to sethos:

Sethos: Grandfather, we did it. We achieved what we set out to do. From this day on, the Temple of Silence has the chance to work with the Akademiya once more. Real change, real opportunities... They are now within our grasp. 爷爷，目标达成了，就像我们期待的那一样。从今天开始，缄默之殿可能再次与教令院合作。改变和机遇，我们都已经得到了。

>talk to cyrus:

Cyrus: … *sigh* The people of the desert are stubborn folk, fiercely loyal to their heritage, even if it means suffering years of hardship and pain. You said this yourself. But why did you feel the need to go this far? You never were the fearsome leader you made yourself out to be, Bamoun. … Being stubborn and unyielding is bound to send you to an early grave. Haha... 。。。唉。沙漠人的固执决定了他们将忠于传承，也决定了他们要承受坎坷。这话是你自己说的。可为什么能执着到这种地步呢。。。你从来都不是可怕的人啊，巴穆恩。顽冥不灵的人，难免死在前头。哈哈。。。

after talking to cyrus as cyno

>nahida lines:

Cyrus: ... I can't treat my students like kids anymore. I have to admit, Cyno has matured far beyond my expectations. From now on, I'll just enjoy life as a retired sage. The future is safe in the hands of the younger generation.

我也不能把学生当小孩子看了。必须承认赛诺已经成长得超乎我想象。以后我啊，当一个退休老贤者就好啦。年轻一辈会负担起未来的。

Cyno: Joke... how do I make this a joke... 在想了，我在想了。。。

didn't transcribe the following conversations: collei and asfand when looking for cyno, zaha hadi dialogue, alhaitham and kaveh at the house of daena, dehya and candace, naphis and cyrus after returning, and the dialogue for cyrus and cyno at the end.

bilibili cn video of most of the missable scenes and nahida thought voicelines (i didn't know collei had one too until this lol). the english dub is all in the genshin wiki

[screemnch]

The Pathologic Russian and English analysis: Bachelor Daniil Dankovsky Part 2.

I've decided that whenever I go to have my psychiatric evaluation, I'm gonna show them these series of mini-essays. The things we do... Anyway, here's the second half of my prickly prick analysis, this time from our precious miracle worker!

As the Changeling: the Bachelor in this campaign is actually a lot more consistent in between the English and Russian versions - he’s a lot meaner, condescending and all we know and love him for, so to speak. In terms of formality, he almost always refers to Clara using the informal “you,” which is understandable - she is a child, and someone who he doesn’t hold in high regard. His mannerisms, unlike in the Haruspex run, don’t change halfway through the narrative, which can be attributed to many different things - the fact that in the Haruspex run Eva survives and so Dankovsky never has to deal with the guilt of her death, for example. Or maybe the idea that he constantly treats Clara’s abilities with scepticism and doesn’t see her as crucial to the fulfilment of his plans, almost viewing her as disposable. Whatever it is, the manner of speech is very similar to how it is in the first half of the Haruspex run - you’ve got your little filler words, diminutives, rough words and an informal but deliberate sentence structure. There is a lot more frustration in his dialogues with Clara, which can be explained by the idea that he is literally out for blood for half of the game.

Overall, I was a little sad to see how many dialogue options just lead to the exact same thing via different routes, so there won’t be as many notes here as I’d like there to be. That being said, I’ve already started gathering material for the Changeling section of the analysis. Additionally, with the repetitive nature of Clara’s campaign, I’d like to preemptively say that I’ve done my best to put these in chronological order, but I make no promises on accuracy. That being said - here are some things that I wanted to specifically point out.

This line is just… Riddled with curious differences. For one, instead of psychics, Dankovsky says that it’s bad enough that half the town is, specifically, “telepaths” which is… Interesting. And incorrect, which is probably why they changed it when translating. He then goes on to say “And those that aren’t, are extrasensory!” which is much closer to “psychic” than “faith healers.” In Russia, the term “экстрасенс” (read quite literally as “extra-sense”) refers to a person with any kind of psychic ability. Though you’ll mostly find it on shitty TV shows nowadays, and it feels a bit anachronistic to use it here, the term was first used in 1979, so hey, it could potentially make sense? Finally, the line itself is riddled with exasperated little words, which makes me really happy that I pointed it out when looking through the Haruspex dialogues. The last sentence especially conveys a certain urgency that kinda seems gone in the English version. There’s no presumption. Adding the whole “I presume” was probably a way to try and emulate this urgency in English, but it ended up being more of a “wow, the Bachelor is expecting people to do as he says” which is true, but the focus of the sentence is on the “can.” Something more like “Does that mean you can do this?” And also they cut out the exclamation mark in the first sentence, which I guess just doesn’t work in English orthography.

I… Don’t know what to think of this translation. Let’s be transparent here - the closest way to properly translate the last sentence in this line is to face the facts that Dankovsky would sound like the crazy beggar woman from Sweeney Todd - “Diabolic, diabolic…” he says. And while imps and devils can very well be used as curse words in Russian, this, surprisingly, is not one of those instances. In this case, I imagine the translators chose to go for the most straightforward translation. Like having someone say “Damn…” and the translation being “This displeases me greatly!” Which I think is hilarious, but also hopefully helps bridge the gap between the two versions.

Ok. What the fuck. This is the line in the Changeling route where Clara has to stay overnight at the Stillwater and the Bachelor is all like “Eva’s probably going to hand herself in to the inquisitor and we’re gonna go and save her tomorrow” except take a look at the Russian version. See anything different? See the exclamation marks? I feel like the translation team was so hellbent on making Dankovsky the prickliest prick on the block, that they forgot that he actually gives a damn about Eva. Like, there’s an urgent tone, and air of accusation in the way these sentences are formulated to portray someone who actually cares about the fate of the person he’s been living with for the past week. The Bachelor in Russian isn’t taking no for an answer in this case, because he actually cares. English Bachelor? Honestly, sounds like he’s pissed at Eva for trying to help him. Do not appreciate.

I feel it’s important to emphasise the difference in sentiment here. The way this line is said in English sounds very distant, indignant. It’s something I’ve found with a lot of Bachelor’s lines and I’m beginning to suspect that it may just be because Russian is my native language, so I just see it as more personal, but idk. In the English version it feels like the Bachelor is just considering the possibility of saving a person (which, by the way, with how much of an ass Daniil has been to Clara is a very interesting 180) but in Russian he sounds a lot more determined, a lot more focused on the “saving” part. In a clunkier, but more literal translation, the line would be “If not Simon, then I’ll take at least you away from this miracle-rich hole.” He’s still caught up in Simon’s death, and he feels like it's his duty to help at least someone out of the place that has done nothing but get in his way (when he arrived here expecting it to help him) so uh… Once again coming for the head of whoever said Dankovsky has no heart.

So uh… See, it’s funny because… Well, in English this string of dialogue doesn’t exactly make sense to me. What’s not to get, Clara? The Haruspex has a bone to pick with the butchers, which might interfere with the Bachelor’s plans. The wording is pretty clear too, so where does the confusion come from? At this point Clara has most certainly seen a butcher, she knows what he’s talking about. But then if you think about it, the Russian phrasing of that last sentence is wildly different. See, the original phrase is “He’s not impartial to butchers too,” and let me tell you something fun about that choice of words. See, while being “not impartial” to someone may mean that you have your own agenda you’re trying to push, it does not imply having any sort of issues with the person. In fact, most Russians would use the words “not impartial” when talking about a romantic inclination. And while I’m not saying it’s the intention of the writers, by any means, but uh… When interpreting this interaction as Dankovsky saying something easily misinterpretable out of pocket and Clara just raising her hands and saying “I refuse to comprehend whatever you’ve just told me,” it makes a bit more sense to me personally, than Clara simply not being able to follow along.

In terms of being “as close to the original as possible” this line is probably one of the most far out lines. There are some lines that are translated word for word, and then there’s… This. Don’t get me wrong - that doesn’t mean it’s bad. I can actually understand exactly why these changes were made - it’s so that I would get to talk about them! The biggest difference would be in the way the Bachelor refers to Burakh in this line. In the Russian version he uses the word “леший” (Leshy) which is a word some of y’all may know from games like Inscryption and Cult of the Lamb. Leshy (quite literally means “of the woods”) is a mythical creature in Slavic folklore - an entity of the woods, the master of the forest, an overall neutrally aligned one. In some stories he confuses travellers and leads them in circles or abducts children, while in others he is a benevolent but protective figure that will help those who treat him with respect. I won’t go into too much detail, because this is Pathologic, not mythology hour, but I still think it’s a fun little tidbit of knowledge, considering who the Bachelor is talking about. That being said, in the English version he calls him a “sod” which is at least tangentially related to greenery and the like, which I think is funny. The other differences in this line are mostly in regards to sentence structure and don’t change the meaning much, so I won’t wax poetic about them.

I’m having a goddamn aneurysm. I’m shaking, crying, losing my mind. Why did this have to be translated like this? It’s just literally “My god!” in Russian. You can say that in English. You’re allowed. Or maybe like “Dear god!” If you wanna keep the faux shock element of the word. Why blimey? Why? I don’t get it. Someone please explain. Additionally, the whole “look who’s here” has a more condescending vibe of “Look who’s  decided to grace us with her presence.” So yeah. The prickly prick factor is back, babey.

The Bachelor is a lot sassier in this route. I didn’t see it as potently in the English version, I guess, because in Russian the overall vibe of this line is “A little bit… After all, you’re the only sinless person we’ve got.” Which I feel communicates both the jab, the Bachelor’s resentment towards Clara and how fed up he is with her literal “Holier than thou” rhetoric.

The Bachelor rejects the notion of love winning if the polyhedron is preserved. However, in the Russian version there is no “you lose” in this line, which I feel gives a different vibe to the interaction. In the English version it feels a little weird - why is the Bachelor trying to convince Clara to go with his plan by telling her that she loses? Is that meant to be effective? Who knows, but in the Russian version the actual phrasing is closer to “we win from you” which can mean two things: the first one being the whole “we win and you lose” interpretation. The other is - we win at your discretion. We win in your game. And I don’t know, I’m writing this at 2 am, but I feel like the other interpretation makes more sense for someone trying to be convincing.

I don’t understand why this was translated the way it is. I also have no recollection of when in the game this takes place and the dialogue itself offers very little context. The line itself however is… I don’t get it. I’ve always seen the word “darling” as a term used to either someone very close to you, or in an ironic sense. The term Dankovsky uses here, however is “cute creature” (cute being the literal meaning of the word, but in combination with the “creature” thing, it’s more akin to “dear” or “sweet”) which is a term of endearment used, at least from what I understand in literature, in reference to an innocent, gentle, feminine person. Some writers use that epithet to refer to their muse. It does not have the same vibe as “darling”; it's a lot more delicate, as if you were referring to a flower. And I don’t see where they got “darling” from that. Additionally, this is the only instance in which the Bachelor refers to Clara using a formal version of “you.”

And that’s about it for the Bachelor in the Changeling route. The main differences between this and the English version come from two factors: the specific words used, and the lack of exclamation marks. No kidding. The way Dankovsky refers to some things was just translated in a way where it conveys the purpose of what he’s trying to say, but the vibe becomes completely lost. It was interesting to see just how superstitious Daniil’s manner of speaking gets when he’s talking to Clara, given his scepticism - he refers to mythical creatures, silver bullets, and even his defence of the Polyhedron is a very… Spirited one. In other instances, the difference in terminology lessens whatever emotion the line is trying to convey. That, and the overall “tamer” use of exclamation marks removes a little bit of character from the Bachelor. He comes off as a lot more composed in English, with occasional outbursts of frustration. Just like in the first half of the Haruspex campaign, the Bachelor in the original version is a lot more impassioned, whether the emotions he is communicating are disgust or sympathy, conceit or regret. I mentioned it earlier, but it does really feel like in trying to make Dankovsky seem like a cold, pragmatic asshole, the translators accidentally took the bite out of a lot of his lines.

That being said, I want to make it clear that I’m not bashing the translation in any way. Most of these differences come from heavily made decisions, opting for either translating things literally, or trying to convey the essence but losing a few things on the way. Translators always have to deal with that choice. Even with the little experience I have with translating myself, I can understand that a lot of these things potentially could not have been translated any other way. You wouldn’t want to have to play a game where every dialogue option is followed by a footnote explaining what this specific choice of words means, and how to properly interpret them - the player’s experience is a part of the game’s design. How you understand the dialogue is also a part of the narrative, especially with how much deception is woven into the story. With all that in mind, I still feel it’s important to eventually illustrate exactly what the differences are, because not only do the way certain phrases are translated shine a new light on the author’s intentions, but additionally - some people might never find out otherwise. So uh… Yeah. Coming up in maybe yet another month, if not more - The Haruspex as seen by the other two Healers.

[the-eldritch-it-gay]

15 Lines of Dialogue

15 Lines of Dialogue Rules: Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC. Bonus points for just using the dialogue without other details about the scene, but you're free to include those as well!

I was tagged by @omgkalyppso tysm!! I'm low spoons so I won't tag anyone directly and its hard keeping track of which of my friends is writing stuff ;;

Majexatli

I grabbed these from a bunch of different places, including some WIPs. But published fics included can be found x x x x

“It’s alright,” Majexatli said, even as the tension didn’t leave them, “My reflex would be to wildshape, not attack,”

“Apologies, I just…needed to get away,” Majexatli said, leaning back on their hands with a sigh, now stripped down to their breeches and laced tunic, rumpled and stained with blood, “I’m not used to… this. People. Before the Nautiloid I would go weeks without seeing other people, now there’s countless every day.”

“Sorry, it’s been a long day, I’m a little… out of it,” They smiled politely, forcing their shoulders to relax as much as they could.

“Having a title you feel you aren’t living up to? Does it hurt?”

“He’s married now. Has children, even. A beautiful family, I’m sure. Makes sense, it’s been 20 years. I haven’t been back since. Word is he’ll make archdruid one day, his friends are highly respected as well, always have been,”

“I don’t care for the title,” Majexatli said, then added, almost inaudible, “Not this time,”

“I told you not to do that, Althyran,”

“Speak of my people like that again and see what happens,”

“I’m not cursed. I chose to be this way. I chose Malar,”

“If you wished that a druid and faithwarden was standing before you, then I apologize, but Silvanus and his balance killed that person without second thought. If you don’t care about that young druid named Faithwarden who died alone, then I suppose it’s fitting you serve Silvanus.”

“I did this selfishly. I didn’t protect anyone. I became this to survive.”

“It’s fine, I’m just tired and not well. I’ll be better tomorrow, if Silvanus wills,” The Oak Father’s name felt bitter on their tongue.

“Perhaps you just haven’t been around enough tieflings,” Majexatli’s voice was calm, tinged with a politeness that seemed at odds with their body language.

“I don’t have another life, just this one, where I met you,”

I can hear the blood in your veins. I hunger to tear open your flesh and devour you. The desire consumes my mind. I will hurt you. It is only a matter of time.

Abjid

It's been a while since I talked about them but they hold a place in my heart. Abjid has a few iterations, most of these are their Dragon Age version, just because I've written the most about that version. Another mix of unpublished and published things, I would give links but I grabbed most of these from my gdrive, with the exception of the d&d abjid piece which accounts for 9-12 which is here

“Apologies, most animals don’t take kindly to my presence,” They said, not looking up from the fire. He recognized their accent as being faintly Orlesian.

“I don’t believe in neutrality,” They said eventually, “You have a blade in your hand, I am giving you a whetstone. Now you are faced with the option to sharpen it or not. I’m not here to coax the blade from your hand, nor coax you to use it. Perhaps I enable you, perhaps not. Perhaps I’m here simply to stoke the flames of your self-torment and draw out your hesitation and conflicted feelings. Perhaps, though, I’m just bored. I’ve done my part though, now it’s in your hands.” 

“I doubt it. One really knows me. You know scary stories and rumors, you think what stands before is the amalgamation of all the half-remembered ghost stories and rumors whispered fearfully by people whose voice shakes the same way it does when they stutter prayers to their god in the vain belief it will wash the blood from their hands. And perhaps that is all I am, perhaps I don’t deserve a proper name if my existence is but a noun too vague and blurred at the edges to be proper,”

“Try not to move, by the way, or exert yourself overmuch. Or panic. You know, all the standard things, you know the drill. I’m sure Anders’ would hate it if I let someone like you die in his clinic. But as always, the Creators and fate like to test me…”

“Mm, well, you know, generally one wants assassinations to be quiet. Rather hard to do if the victim is panicking and shouting as they succumb to poison. Have to choose the right poison, no one likes when things get messy and you have to dirty your own clothes and blade, or at least in Orlais. Shame really, Kirkwall does tend to lack the same... theatrical element to its politics, makes it all quite boring if you were to ask me,” 

“So wanting just revenge is a trait of demons now? I really must have been away for a long time then, glad I left the Chantry a lifetime ago,”

“That’s the problem with the Chantry’s dichotomy of demons and spirits. Nothing’s as clear-cut as that. Demons, Spirits, whatever lives in the Fade, they all are just as diverse as people. There are good people, there are bad people, but most people are some mix of the two. Demons can be good, spirits can be evil, most are far more complex. My husband’s far more versed in the theology of it.”

"There aren’t many job opportunities for abominations, you know. It was this or becoming a politician, and I’ve never been fond of human politics."

“I woke up with a lot of things, so I mean, why not? Being possessed was the least of my concerns then, hardly even noticed it. When I did later, I…,” They laughed again, pain creeping through the cracks, “I figured with everything else that happened, this might as well happen too.”

“I tried-– I tried a lot of things, for a lot of years, but… nothing ever stuck. I tried so hard for years. And I don’t have the energy to fight back anymore. No matter what happens, no matter what I do or what I want, I will always end up killing someone and so it’s best just to… not care.”

“Does it matter what I want? Do you ask a blade what it wants? Should I keep building a sandcastle of hope right as the high tide rolls in? No matter what I build or don’t, it doesn’t stop the tide. I can’t control the ocean, I’m just a body washed up on shore. Should I rage against the waves and try to change the sea? What will that change? All I can do is build those sandcastles between the tides. You don’t have to agree or like me Keane, it’s best if you don’t. But I’m tired. Whether you direct your ire at the builder or the tide, the blade or the wielder, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“I’m tired, Keane. What I want doesn’t matter, it didn’t even matter when I was alive.”

[thenickelportrust]

So I've spoken before about how one of (and probably the) main reasons writing Model Citizens always takes me so so long is because I have my own guilty-pleasure for making deeply branched but otherwise inconsequential conversations.

And I thought, for funsies and as a preview of the new part of the interview, I'd show you a little what I mean.

If you like to go in completely blind, then all good, it's under the read more. But I chose a part of the next update that is pretty much entirely devoid of anything plot relevant, and is one of the points that is only used for building your character, your relationship with Yolanda, and your relationship with others.

//

(I'm using a test file for this, so some choices you'll see, like divorcee-relevant things, are hidden because I skipped through a bunch of previous stuff to get to here.)

So as I mentioned way back before, for the next part of the update I wanted to add some questions that are otherwise inconsequential but provide you a basis to change your relationship with Yolanda so that you can get better or different responses in the more meaningful questions.

Enter the opinions questions.

But like, my brain goes, wouldn't it be fun to hide little things in here? Not even just plot things, but just little conversation branches to get to know people.

And, my brain continues, it would be far more fun if even inconsequential questions can lead to interesting conversation paths. It makes them actually worthwhile, and not just time-wasters.

So, we click on "today's fashion trends".

So of course, you click on it, you get a little stuff, but oh boy it doesn't end there. It's MC building time. How does your MC respond to this otherwise irrelevant little subject? I think it's fun to think about. Makes your character feel more alive. More involved.

Like, maybe your MC doesn't really like fashion itself, but they are the type that likes seeing other people get passionate. That's cool! I like that. I want to write that. I'll include an option for that.

And Yolanda is the type of person who also likes to see people passionate about things! So if the MC expresses that same inclination, she'll want to know more about them as well.

But, I realize, maybe the reader feels this is dragging on away from the subject at hand. Ok. I'll put in an option to go back, end the conversation here.

But otherwise-- while this MC might like hearing other people talk about it, what if they're the type to not be so honest about their own hobbies, or maybe they're concerned about their standing with Yolanda, and want to try and impress her, and think lying about their interests will do that?

Or, maybe they are really, genuinely excited to say something that they're interested in. Oh, what could an MC be interested in?

Well, I could list a bunch of things but... what if I added things that could be relevant to the conversation at hand?

For example-- what if the MC shared an interest with their Ex? Raf liked baking, so if they choose that and he was their Ex...

Or Lucy was big on being active, and if the MC liked to exercise with her...

... but Yolanda's sister also likes to knit and sew! So what if they shared a hobby with her? Yolanda would respond well to that.

So this otherwise small, inconsequential little tangent also builds a bit more character, both of the MC and, potentially, their relationship to others!

I find writing and hiding these little nuggets of world and character building a lot of fun. It's one of my favorite parts of writing interactive fiction, honestly. So I always enjoy writing these kinds of branching character dialogues.

But, of course, this isn't the only one where this kind of conversation tree is hidden. Here's the one I'm currently working on:

For an MC who has 0 interest in fashion. Not even all the options are shown here, Raf and Lucy's are both missing because, like I said, I skipped through to show this part, haha.

Anyway, I find this fun, and I find the idea of it branching in these small ways a lot of fun too. It takes a damn long time to write through all the scenarios, but it's what I love about this format of writing.

So I hoped you enjoyed this little ramble and preview! I hope it also gives you some insight into my funky lil thought process. And thank you once more for your patience on everything! :D

[derekscorner]

Ghost of Ramblings: Dad of Boi

Started a New game plus Recently

I have been playing God of War from Ascension in chronological order over the past few months and I've finally made my way back to GoW 2018 and it's new game plus.

It's been a hot minute since I played the NG+ and it took even more minutes to adjust to it's combat after playing Classic GoW for so long. I got hooked on Ghost of Sparda and GoW3 for quite a while.

The whole while I was just taking in how beautiful the whole game is. Remembering the story beats or how this one game got me into the whole series. My god slayer journey began here with Dad of Boi.

I was reminded of how good its story truly is. How tightly written and delivered it's dialogue is. The nuances of Kratos hit harder too since I have played classic GoW this time unlike my first time playing Dad of Boi.

Back then all I had was curious youtube and wiki searches to get a grasp of Kratos' world. It's hard to explain but it truly does feel different if you play GoW 2018 after playing, at minimum, GoW 1, 2 and 3.

Hell, I'd even argue that GoW 2018 will hit different after plaything through it's own sequel Ragnarok. I know Ragnarok has some harsh critics, I'm not one of them, but it is hard to deny that it's predecessor is just written better.

Every little story in the boat, every little dialogue when exploring, the whole adventure is a bonding and learning moment for Atreus and Kratos. Every scene with Odin's kin, the parallel to Freya and Baldur in particular, shows what Kratos is trying to avoid.

A pacing and blend so well done that I'd call it a lightning in the bottle moment.

I love this scene ^^^^

Nothing in this world is perfect mind you but it's hard to talk about GoW 2018 and not praise its story.

Of course, Ragnarok is still an improvement in gameplay overall. I had grown too addicted to the customization options for appearance. The very fact that I can unlock and play young Kratos in Ragnarok is amazing to me.

It does make me wonder what went wrong in the story department of Ragnarok though. As I said, I'm no harsh critic of Ragnarok but I can't deny it has pacing issues.

Thankfully they added scene skip so even the Atreus segments can be skimmed on repeat playthroughs. They didn't bother me on the first run but I can only handle so many two hour stretches of Atreus wandering Ironwood.

I've always heard rumors that it's because they chose to make the Norse story a duology which I could believe. Ragnarok feels like it needed to be the third game not the second one.

The whole personality shift of Freya truly does feel rushed. As beautiful as that scene is when she lets go it needed more time to be truly believable.

I also think it would've made her conflicted feelings more conceivable if she had witnessed Kratos' memories in some magical mumbo jumbo way. It's hard to imagine he's talk so freely about his family yet I also think it's crucial for Freya to shift the focus of her rage after hearing about Calliope.

Kratos did do her wrong while trying to do something right but I think that would only get through to Freya if she saw that moment. Kratos was by no means a good person but his love for his family was real and it drove him to a madness that ended a pantheon.

Kratos is easily the only man there that understands her feelings.

I glitched the blades in these scenes somehow

But even this is a minor complaint. I do not consider the narrative of Ragnarok worth some harshness I see it get. It's badly paced to be sure but it's not offensive.

If anything, I hope they learn from it for their new projects. I have next to no interest in Atreus since he genuinely is annoying in Ragnarok but I wouldn't mind giving him a shot in a spin off if they learn from it.

Or, ya know, send him to Greece. I do not care how annoying the boy of war is. I would pay them money to see him walk through Greece and see the monster that his father was.

I'd even give them my respect if Atreus realized just how hard Kratos worked to channel his bottomless rage into a weapon to use. I know many fans hate how weak Kratos seems to be now and I personally find the "holding back" excuse weak on the devs part.

So I relate a bit. I do not fully agree since I began the series with 2018 so my opinion is forever biased on such topics.

I have no real point to make with this post by the way. I am just gushing about a game I like and rambling about the contrast it has to it's own sequel or predecessors.

The whole of my praise is also limited to GoW 2018's narrative. In terms of world building or story consistency I could rip the God of War series apart.

The classic games weren't exactly consistent with some things like the potential paradox of using Fates threads, Kratos losing that time travel power in 3 despite using it moments prior in 2's ending, or the whole ambiguity of his godhood. (I wont even get into the last minute hope thing in 3)

It's not a mess like I'd rant about with Kingdom Hearts or Bleach. Sure, there are some details in a novelization or two, a comic story here or there, but it's nothing you need to know.

Kratos even references a novel detail in Ragnarok. When asked why he doesn't just throw his blades away Kratos will retort with an annoyed statement that he "tried".

Step into the light Boy

That doesn't confirm a novel as 100% valid but it does show subtly that the blades follow him against his will.

My own personal take on Kratos' continued godhood is also a curse. He's got to live as what he despises most until something powerful enough finally kills him in a way where he won't burst out of Hel's gates.

That's a tangent all its own I think. I just felt like rambling a bit, there's even a lot I left out. Like the pure pointlessness of a lock-on in either game due to how often the enemies dart around and break the targeting.

I wonder what many of you think about 2018 now that Valhalla has come and gone. Ragnarok may have been hit or miss for many but Valhalla is nearly as good as 2018 I feel.

Though, not having young Kratos speak with his original voice actor in that one scene felt like a missed opportunity imo.

Oh well, I'm done now. Bye~

[nnnneeev]

OMG WAIT what is your fav solomon card of all time? :3

anon i can't just pick one sol card hhwghhsh😭

i love all my solomon cards but these are the ones that i usually revisit whenever im in a solomon mood

(it got too long so im putting it under the cut)

Solomon the Researcher. the card arts is one of my favs (this one's currently my phone wallpaper hehe) and god. the devilgram. 10/10. to summarize it, solomon and mc both stayed late in RAD to finish his research, then after they're both done and have only a few hours left before heading to class, if you chose the option 'i want to kiss you', he will confess that he was actually wanting to hold them that whole time and if he did that earlier he wouldn't have made any progress in his research and then he'll kiss them twice depending on your answer. (i recommend choosing every option in this dg <3)

also, not just in this devilgram but on the others as well, it's implied that he and mc walk home together and i think that's very sweet, considering that they don't even live together and must part ways at some point (or does he drop them off to HoL's doorstep?)

(ramble ramble because in this card the game kinda assumed that mc doesnt wear glasses, hence solomon's comment to mc when they wore the enchanted glasses, he said to them how good they look with one. so what about the mcs who already wears glasses???? lmao anyways i just find that funny)

Up on the Pole! i went back to get this one from the lonely devil. the sheer sexiness of the deflowered version is just 👁️👁️✨👌. who would've thought that this man can do That. his bunny boy outfit also looks really good on him <333. a little summary on the devilgram, he was chosen to do the pole dancing segment, and mc accompanies him while he practices. while he scenes are romantic and all, it's his dialogues that really gets me. assertive? unfiltered? i can't quite pin the exact word to describe it but it's somewhere between those lines

also he gets jealous of a bunny lmao. idk what lesson or card but in the hourly solomon bot in twttr there was a quote saying that he was jealous of a plant. (oh, solomon.)

Dancing With the Petals. ah yiz, the card that got him to the no.1 spot. I was hoping to get barbatos and solomon's card that time but only he came home (on my free pulls too). to summarize the dg, solomon was unsure about his approach in TTWF so when mc confronted him about it, both of them came up with a conclusion to perform a show that combines different dances around the human world. after one of their practices he asked them to be his date for the TTWF, and then on the day of the performance (i think) he picked them up in Hol and dropped by the place where he planted a cherry tree then he'll either give you a ring or a necklace.

the kiss option will lead you to this scene that shot me through the heart 💘💝💖💗💓💞 (the impact of those words??? it means a lot to me for some reason!!!)

honorable mention: A Fanged Feast. including this one because i worked hard to get this card. they weren't kidding when they said the devilgram was suggestive. it def makes up for the lack of kissy scenes. for the summary, mc and solomon were out shopping when they were dragged by mammon to become a part of his team for his vampire-themed cafe. so basically they were assigned to act like vampires and when it's time to practice he dragged them away from the others so they can have a one-on-one training session instead. oh boy i love the little tension build up and then revealing afterwards that the magic he 'casted' was all made up. i also like how you can get two options here, whether you act as the sucker or the suckee

also going to mention the reminder he gave to mc that most conversations with demons are transactions, and it's mostly bout give and take (totally forgot about that)

one thing common about this cards is his boldness, to admit what he wants to do with mc, to make his feelings well-known to them ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 i feel like i only talked about the romantic aspects of the cards but aside from those parts you can see a bit more of his personality (esp. the ones that he only shows when you're around) and lore (there's a bit more lore in the other cards but anyways)

[crushculture03]

Knight In shining armor

Summary : You’re a princess who falls in love with your fathers head knight, the one problem is that your love is strictly forbidden

Pairing : Knight! Matty x Princess! Reader

Warnings : Medieval Times? , mention of forced marriage, yelling? Fluff, calling matty matthew instead, Love at first sight troupe, Moving fast bc it’s medieval times and ppl got married after like 2 days

Notes : Since this is set in Medieval times, matty goes by Matthew instead since it sounds more 16th century, also i tried to make them sound proper so there’s few contractions so some of the dialogue may sound weird! Also since it’s medieval times they say I love you after knowing eachother for like 5 hours.

Ever since you were a little girl, you were treated like royalty, granted you were actually royalty, a princess to be exact and the only heir to the throne. You were never fond of the royal life, the constant need to be perfect in the eyes of the people and to follow every order your dad, the king, would tell you to do. Though your parents adored you, seeing as you were their only child, they still expected alot from you, as you were the soul heir to the throne of Dunshire.

"Sweetie you're 20 you need to start looking for a husband, you know this, and there's plenty of princes out there who are wanting your hand" your mother said, you groan as she brings the topic up again. "Mother I don't want to marry a prince, they're all pretentious men who have the personality of grass" you respond, " Y/N we understand that but you know its tradition to marry fellow royalty" your father says. "It's a stupid tradition, and one I don't want to partake in, I want to marry someone I love, not marry someone because of their status, Father" you argue, your father sighs "I'm sorry Y/N but thats the rules". "Those are some stupid rules" you yell, before storming out of the dining room and running off to your only safe space, the palace gardens.

You walked along the rocky path that led you to the most reserved part of the gardens, wanting to get as far away from the castle as you possibly could. You finally came across the only bench the gardens had to offer, and quickly sat down with a sigh. You cradled your head in your hands as you began to cry out of frustration.

"Hey are you ok love?" a voice said, you quickly looked up to see who it belonged to, and when you saw the owner of it your heart skipped a beat, it was a handsome young man with brown curly hair and beautiful brown eyes to match, he was wearing a black tunic and beige linen pants, and the way the sun was hitting his face highlighted his angelic features even more.

"I'm fine, did my father send you to retrieve me?" you spat, the man laughed "you mean the king? No he didn't send me" he said, and took a seat next to you. "Good I do not wish to speak to him or my mother" you say, "Can I ask why that is princess?" the man asked. " Please call me Y/N, I hate when people just call me princess, I have a name not just a title that I did not even ask for in the first place" you respond, letting out a shaky sigh.

"Well then Y/N can I ask why you are crying then?" he asked, "Look ..." you said, pausing so he could say his name "Matthew" he responds back. " Look Matthew, I appreciate you caring but if I told you why you would probably laugh" you say as you play with a loose piece of fabric on your dress. "Nonsense, Prin- Y/n, I promise I will not laugh come on just tell me" he says, gently placing his hand on yours, your heart stutters at the contact.

"Fine, my mother and father are forcing me to marry, and my only options are princes because thats the tradition to have royalty marry royalty, but I want to marry for love I want the man I spend the rest of my life with to be someone who I chose,  someone who I love, but love does not matter when you are a princess" you mumble, looking down at your dress.

Matthew places his fingers under your chin and pushes it up to face him, he looks deeply into your eyes, before speaking "Traditions are meant to be broken darling", just his words alone are enough to make your heart skip a beat, "who was this strange man and why was he having such an effect on you?"

You felt yourself leaning closer to Matthew but before your lips could meet you heard the familiar voice of one of the maids calling you "Princess Y/N , Princess Y/N". You groan and stand up, "Will I see you again Matthew" you ask, " Sooner than you may think Y/N" he says, before placing a delicate kiss to the back of your hand. You blush at the gesture, and quickly hurry to go find the maid that was calling for you.

"What is it Mary? My father sent you to get me?" you ask very much annoyed, "Yes Princess, He wants you to get dressed for the dinner tonight, there is a new knight being sworn in" she says, "Fine lets get this over with" you sigh before following her back into the castle.

After getting changed into your formal gown, putting on your most gaudy tiara and tiniest heels, you carefully made your way into the grand dining room. "My lovely daughter, glad for you to join us" your father says as you walk over to your throne, which is next to your mothers, "Hello father" you spit, before sitting down. The Knights slowly filed into the dining room, quickly making their way to the tables and sitting down, awaiting the kings instructions. "Hello Men, tonight we are here to welcome our newest Knight" the king says, the men cheer in response, "With out further ado here he is" your father says before the large doors open reveling the newest knight.

Your heart beat speeds up as you see Matthew walk in, now dressed in the normal knight attire, he walks all the way up to where you and your parents sit, carefully kneeling before your dad. "Matthew Healy, you have proven yourself to be a brave and fierce warrior, for those reasons I know bestow upon you the privilege of Knighthood" your father says, taking his sword out and tapping Matthews shoulders, as customary, "Welcome Sir Matthew to the knights of Dunshire" your fathers voice booms, matthew looks over at you and smiles, before getting up from his knee and walking to his seat.

The rest of the feast goes by in a blur, all you can think of while eating is him, you've only talked once but he's all that fills your mind. You thank God when its finally time for supper to be over with, before leaving you quickly sneak on last glance at the new knight before hurrying back to your chambers.

As you lay in your bed reading, you hear an unusual sound coming from outside. You quickly put on your slippers, grab the candle next to you and make your way out to the balcony. Once you push the curtain back, you're met with the one person whos face you can't get out of your mind. "Matthew what are you doing here?" you ask, quickly pulling him into your room, so no one outside would see. "I came to see you" he simply responds as if climbing up your balcony was a normal gesture. "Why?" you ask, as you make your way back to your bed and sit down, "Because you have not left my mind since we first met" he says, taking a seat next to you.

"You have not left mine either" you say, looking up at him, he leans in closer and pushes a stray piece of hair from your face, before slowly leaning in closer and closing the gap between the two of you. The kiss catches you off guard at first, as you have never been kissed before, but you welcome the feeling of his soft lips against yours. You blush as you pull away from the kiss, "Matthew" you whisper, "Yes Princess" he responds back, normally you hate when people call you that but when he calls you that it makes your heart jump. " Can you stay here tonight?" you ask, "Darling what if someone sees" he whispers, not wanting to get either of you in trouble. "Then let them I do not care" you state, pulling back the covers of your bed and sliding under them, quickly motioning for him to take the empty space next to you, which after a minute of contemplation he does.

You two face eachother, "Matthew why does it feel like I have known you my whole life?" you ask, " I feel that as well darling" he responds, his eyes never leaving yours. "You may think I am mad for saying this, but do you believe in love at first sight?" you ask, "I did not until I saw you" he says before kissing you again. You smile into the kiss and move your hands into his curls as he places his hands on your waist, pulling him flush to his body. "Stay please" you whisper, as you lean your forehead against his, "I am not going anywhere princess" he responds back. You give eachother on last kiss goodnight before you lay your head on his chest and slowly drift off to sleep.

The next two weeks were filled with secret meetings and late nights, as the two of you fell more in love with eachother. On one of your secret meetings, Matthew took you to where you first met, "Matthew what are we doing here" you ask, confused since usually you both would meet in your room. "I wanted to go to the place we first met, the place we fell in love, and now the place where I ask you to marry me" he says, getting down on one knee and pulling out a small sliver ring. "Matthew" you whisper, as happy tears run down your face, "Yes, yes i will marry you" you respond back, quickly pulling him up from the ground and into a kiss.

He carefully slides the sliver band onto your left finger, "I love you princess" he says, "I love you too Matthew" you respond back, before pulling him back into another kiss. unfortunately your happy moment was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, it was Mary your maid, "Princess Y/N and Sir Matthew, just what do you two think you are doing" she scolds, "Mary I-" you try to say but she stops you "I do not want to hear it, but you know who will your father" she says, and roughly grabs your arm, dragging you into the castle. "Matthew" you yell as she drags you away, tears of sadness now streaming down your face as you're pulled away from your love.

"Your Highness" Mary says as she drags you into the living room, where your father and mother are enjoying their afternoon tea. "Yes Mary" the king says, his eyes quickly making their way to you, his face softening as he sees you crying, "I caught the princess and Sir Matthew in the garden together kissing" she says, your father and mother turn to eachother, a look of shock and disappointment on their faces. "I see, well bring Sir matthew to me at once" he orders to the maid, who quickly runs off to find the knight.

Once the three of you are left alone, your father turns to you "What were you thinking Y/N! A knight?" he shouts, "Father please let me explain" you plead but he stops you before you can contine. "No, you know the rules Y/N, royalty is to be with royalty not some knight" he says, but before you can respond the doors open once more to reveal your love. "Thank you Mary I will take it from here" the king says, dismissing the maid. "Sir matthew I entrusted you to lead my army and instead you take a liking to my daughter! How dare you, I should have you punished for this" the king shouts as he steps closer to the knight.

"Father No I love him please" you beg, as you run between the two men, "Nonsense you do not love him, he is just using you to get to the throne" your father says, "Thats not true father, he loves me right matthew" you say, turning towards him. "I am sorry your highness, but I can not help it I am in love with your daughter" he says, gently taking his hand in yours. "Darling" you mom says, catching your fathers attention  by finally speaking up, " He may not be royalty but he is still respectable" she continues, trying to reason with your father.

Your father looks between you and your mother, "I can not believe this" he scoffs, "Well believe it father because before that wicked witch interrupted us, Matthew asked me to marry him and I said yes" you say, as you move closer to Matthew. "Excuse me?" He says, walking closer to you both, Matthew quickly pushes you behind him to protect you, "You are just a naive child Y/N you do not know what you want" the king says, "I am not a child father, I know what I want and what I want is to be with him, and if that means giving up my title then fine. I would rather be with him then be a princess" you respond back.

Your father goes silent for a moment, thinking about what he should say next, having you marry a non royal was bad, but losing you was worse. "Fine" he says, shocking everyone in the room, "You two can marry as long as it means you stay here Y/N" he finishes. "Oh father thank you" you say, running into his arms and hugging him. "I would rather break tradition then lose you" he says, hugging you back, "And Matthew I expect you to protect her with your life, you will not go to battle anymore, you are now assigned to protecting her, is that clear?" the king says, "Yes Your highness" the knight says, you pull away from your fathers embrace and run to Matthew, pulling him in for a kiss. "I love you" you say to him, "I love you too" he responds back, your father can't help but smile when he sees the way you look at eachother, reminding him of the way he and your mother used to be when they were your age. "I suppose a congratulations is in order, i will go tell the kitchens to prepare a feast for tonight" your father says, "Thank you father" you respond, before he and your mother leave the room and head to the kitchens.

You immediately jump into matthews arms as soon as your parents leave the room. "You really meant it when you said you would leave the throne just to be with me?" he asks, " I did" you respond back, matthew smiles widely and kisses you, "I love you Princess" he states, "I love you too Sir Matthew" you say back, the smile never leaving either of your faces.