#quest: alone

[zephyrine-gale]

i love feixiao, jiaoqiu, and moze sm do not separate them

[shadovvheart]

one hilarious example of veilguard's writing doing the quite aggressive hand-holding during a conversation to make sure people don't miss the important info. this is all in the same scene btw:

in case you missed: elgar'nan is HERE. right NOW. unlike ghilan'nain, who isn't.

i've adhd and auditory processing issues so i get easily distracted by the most random stuff but even i felt annoyed by the constant bombardment of repeated info over and over throughout the main quests

[pinkseas]

my dealer: got some straight gas, this strain is called "sovereign of elegance" you'll be zonked out of your gourd

me: yeah whatever. i dont feel shit.

15 minutes later

me: the previous sovereign of elegance, glorier, had fiery red hair and won her title while wearing a black gown. she vanished 15 years ago, her last known location in the wishing woods. the same time frame that the other missing stylists were kidnapped by the paladins and locked up underground in the wishing woods. in the diary pages of an unknown stylist, the writer refers to the wish master as nothing more than a "puppet" of the dark, and remarks that they've been cruelly experimented on, their body tortured. "even bathing in this moonlight is a rare luxury." the banshee is only ever out at night, under the moonlight, but nobody save for you has actually encountered her clearly. those who might recognize her as glorier haven't ever seen the banshee themselves. the banshee refers to those she enthralls as her puppets, and there are multiple places where her body looks cracked and damaged, more like a porcelain doll than human skin. that same diary remarks that the writer has a daughter waiting at home, and that "even in this dire situation, i will never submit. the unyielding elegance within my resolute and noble soul is my last ace." a torn note found in the room where the humans were imprisoned states that the strongest were tortured and perished or disappeared, expressing a want to go home, written in a very similar manner to the way the banshee herself speaks at the end of your duel with her. if you fail, the banshee tells you to become her puppet and suffer alongside her. an imperfect victory mentions that memories are not enough. a brilliant stylist is rumored to have opened a realm that no one else has entered before, and some say that the most exceptional stylists might even create their own personal realms. cantore's poem states that should one be a fool, their soul will fall into "that bewildering realm" to become another puppet, ensnared for all eternity. "the bitter end awaits with no return, leading you into the heart of the night's abyss, where even the stars fade away." underground, those imprisoned stylists couldn't even see the stars. the reason they were locked up was to attempt to recreate the power of the aureum vase for chigda, who had made a deal with The Dark for eternal life. from him the power of the mutated vines returned, but he was not their original source, nor did they vanish when he was defeated without need for giroda's sacred power. those mutated vines bear great resemblance to the vines, thorns, and roses surrounding the banshee within the visuals of cantore's poem. the banshee wants her puppets to suffer with her, implying that she herself is already suffering. is she, too, a puppet of the dark? back then, could creating a realm have allowed her to escape? did something go wrong? did she, like giovanni, attempt to make a deal with the paladins or chigda, only for it to backfire? did she attempt to defeat chigda herself, only to become corrupt by the vines? if she was captured and held in the wishing woods and hails from florawish, why is it that the banshee now haunts the breezy meadow and shimmer pond specifically? igrainne forbade nonoy from investigating more about her past. the banshee chants a bewildering melody, not dissimilar to that melody of the wishing one from nonoy's music box, the one left with her by her birth mother. how much does igrainne know? was she worried for nonoy solely because of the nature of glorier's disappearance, or is there more to it? could the direct power of the wishful aurosa be enough to save the banshee? how much of her past life does the banshee remember? what am i missing?

my friend nikki pacing: how do i tell nonoy i need to fuck her mom

[keferon]

Hellooo I'm loving your fibsh au so much and in love with orca boys but but

A little bit of an idea so

We know Jazz is lonely as hell due to the lifetime of captivity

But consider: Prowl also being incredibly lonely even as a wild mer. Let's say he's always been a "weird one" in his pod, quite awkward in social stuff for an orca, unable to form really strong bonds with others due to being emotionally dense (gotta come up with a reason for that but I'm just spitballing) and being feared by everyone else (oh god scary apex predator, run for your life)

Yes he hunts with his group, he's a very good hunter in fact, great strategies, he follows all the rules to a t but they never really accept him as a friend. More of a coworker. So he's always been sort of by himself, alone in the crowd

And here comes that captive orca mer who has no idea about "proper mer social behavior" and is so happy to be around Prowl and looking to him for guidance. And they're both so very lonely in different ways

Aight that's all, I just think it would be neat, for angst bfdvdf

Oh I kinda love it. You know like those lone male orcas who live mostly alone for variety of reasons?

Prowl would have merpeople around him sure but just like in canon he would probably be quite unpopular.

Then. One time he gets in a fight and ends up being seriously injured and bam. Humans found him bleeding out on a shore and decided to help. But they wouldn't instantly throw him in the same tank with Jazz right.

They would have kept him in some temporary pool that would have been hastily found. It would be awfully crowded and even more lonely.

Then someone at the aquarium would find out about him and come running in like, "Guys! We need that orca!"

And then they would have to sedate him and move him to aquarium and even then he will be placed in a separate pool at first.

....ACTUALLY now when I think about that. Being captured would be such a stressful fucking experience to him. He wouldn't just close his eyes while at the sea and then simply open them in the aquarium....

[the-last-butter]

HC they first met a year or two after Yelan got her vision; post fighting the in abyss but when Kaeya was still navigating his identity from Kaeya, Brother and Right hand of Diluc Ragnvindr to Kaeya Alberich, Cavalry Captain and Quarter master of the Knights of Favonius.

[mespilus]

The best thing to do when you're single on Valentine's day is to draw happy couplez

[marksandrec]

Marks and Rec: Misc #2595

There it is. (Dialogue from this post.)

[nostalgiaclown]

Emmrich.. please...

[guujikaroko]

So, here's the promised post about the Chrysos Heirs' speech patterns in Japanese! Be aware that this is all based on what we've seen throughout 3.0 alone, so we might make new discoveries next patch! Here we go:

Aglaea

Her first person pronoun is 私. Normally, it's read as watashi, but Aglaea uses it as watakushi instead, a more noble and feminine form. Her second pronoun is the polite and standard 貴方 (anata), and she usually uses the gendered 彼/kare (he/him) or 彼女/kanojo (she/her) for third person. That last thing might not sound special, but Japanese has a myriad of ways of addressing people without referring to gender, so it's a sign she goes the extra mile to sound more formal.

Talking more about her speech patterns, she's very polite and formal in a distinctively feminine way. There is a form of Japanese known as 敬語 (keigo), which is pretty much "Polite Japanese" and the form a non-native speaker would learn first because it's what you'd use the most. The interesting thing is that Aglaea always speak in keigo, regardless of who the other person is; she never defers to a more informal speech.

In fact, the only times her speech seems to change is when she adopts an outright reverent tone. I talked a little about this before, but Aglaea addresses the Tribios by 我が師 (waga shi). This word choice by her is particularly interesting for two reasons:

1.) The use of 我が (waga), an ultra reverent way of saying "my/mine". It makes use of the pronoun 我 (ware), which is really archaic and not part of modern conversation except for a few expressions such as 我ながら (if I say so myself).

2.) The use of 師 (shi) for "teacher". Usually you'd see the common 先生 (sensei) around, or maybe even 師匠 (shishou), which carries the extra connotation of "master", but Aglaea uses only the first kanji of 師匠. That makes the whole thing sound beyond reverent.

Aglaea also addresses everyone by name properly, even the ones who usually go by nicknames like Mydei.

Tribios

The three speak the same way, the only difference is each one says things according to their personalities.

Their pronouns would be あたし (atashi), a feminine and more informal form of watashi, but as they refer to themselves in plural, it becomes あたしたち (atashi-tachi). They don't actually refer to other people in second person or third person pronouns that much, preferring to use names (or nicknames) instead. It would sound weird in English, but it's a perfectly normal way of addressing people in Japanese, even more so if you're a kid.

Talking about kids, as you'd expect, the Tribios speak exactly how a very excitable Japanese little girl would. The nicknames are a part of it, but it also doubles to highlight their importance in Okhema (you're allowed to be a little more informal if you "rank higher" than the other person in Japanese). The only time they break away from their pattern is when they're reciting the chants to borrow the power of the Three Titans of Fate. There, they adopt the reverent tone you see with Aglaea.

As an addendum, the suffix ちゃん (-chan) the Tribios attach to nicknames is supposed to be used for people younger/less experienced than you or someone you find cute, especially kids, but it's generally more accepted for girls. With a boy, it's more common to use くん (-kun), but the Tribios use -chan regardless of gender.

In short, the Tribios are kids who treat everyone else like kids.

Phainon

His first person pronoun is the masculine 僕 (boku). It's not very formal but it's still on the polite side, and it's commonly used by young men. His second person pronoun is 君 (kimi), which usually denotes familiarity, but he uses it regularly regardless of who he talks to. As for third person, he uses kare and kanojo depending on gender, but also can use アイツ/aitsu (that person) if he wants to be less informal.

In general, he speaks like a cheerful young man of this time would, but since he's Amphorean, it also gets mixed with the prose-filled speech you can see in pretty much all the characters. You can see him attach a more modern suffix to words like っぽい/-ppoi (-ish) and then address the Trailblazer by 我が友/waga tomo (my friend) not much later.

On the topic of 我が友, you might have realized this already but it works on the same principle as Aglaea's 我が師: using the reverent pronoun 我 followed by a single kanji, this time 友 (which is the first kanji of 友達/tomodachi). It kind of speaks volumes about Phainon's appreciation for the Trailblazer.

Interestingly enough, he addresses the Tribios by sensei and Castorice with the suffix さん (-san), but he simply calls Aglaea by name alone.

Castorice

Just like Aglaea, her first and second person pronouns are watakushi and anata, and she uses gendered pronouns for third person. The only difference is sometimes she addresses people by 方 (kata), which is remarkably polite of her.

Yes, she's polite. Very polite. No, I kid you not, she's the most polite character I've seen in years. I talked a little about keigo with Aglaea, but it seems Castorice speaks in 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) specifically, which is just Japanese Customer Service Voice™ . As a result, her sentences are at the very least twice as long as anyone else's would. The only time she breaks character is while translating Oronyx's words (which was hilarious because Oronyx was being ultra condescending the whole time).

Castorice makes ample use of honorifics. In fact, I can't remember a single time she didn't address someone by -san or 様 (-sama). She's incredibly consistent in that regard.

Mydei

First person pronoun is 俺 (ore): masculine and rude as hell. Second person is お前 (omae), which is also rude as hell. Third person is コイツ/koitsu (this person) and アイツ/aitsu (that person), which are gender-neutral and incredibly casual. As you can see, he doesn't give a fuck about consideration.

Despite the pronouns, Mydei can actually be formal and even flowery in his speech, as expected of an Amphorean. He's very much not polite at all, though. His speech is also very masculine and gives the overall vibe of a very arrogant royal (almost like a certain golden king of a certain franchise, huh). Sometimes he gets a little... Indulgent, I'd say, and that's when he's on something like a good mood.

He did the 我が thing at least once too; in his case, it was with Chrysos Leo, who he called 我が師匠/waga shishou (my master). Note that he used 師匠 normally, unlike Aglaea who only used 師.

He rarely addresses people by name. Usually, it's either titles (like with the Tribios and Phainon), or a rude-ass "you".

And that's all for now! Corrections and additions are welcomed, as I am not a leading expert in Japanese or anything like that.

[worstloki]

The Avengers being very surprised and a little annoyed that Thor has a whole hair care regimen that he insists he stick to because none of the products are available on earth so the lad keeps disappearing for days-long shopping runs when they need him to be around for missions too

[somewhereincairparavel]

firm believer that jason grace likes to kiss his lover in unusual spots of their face. like the small area above an eyebrow, on the temple and not specifically the forehead, the edge/corner of their lip, etc.

[essektheylyss]

The other thing about living vicariously through people blogging about their playthroughs of bg3 is that it really does make the game sound like a dating sim. The most important thing I know about this game is that no matter who you're playing, everyone at the forgotten realms tadpole brain worm party desires you carnally.

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

sometimes u just get so filled w thoughts about a pair of characters u gotta just go bonkers ya know

[chaoflaka]

[fadedapparition]

i think that in hindsight, people tend to describe origins as a game where your choices in dialogues mattered, but extrinsically, i don't know that's true. there’s plenty of cases where you can say 5-6 wild things and still get one of the two or three primary responses the npc has available. they matter intrinsically because of the impact on the history of the character. even if the npc the character's interacting with breezes past to ask them to run the same errand they would have anyway, the dialogue doesn’t need to make any noticeable change to the game world for its impact to be felt -- it's still slowly creating a defined past, expressed convictions, a particular mode of speech, and everything else that, in conjunction, turns a vague silhouette of something into a fully-formed person. it turns the player character into an actual character.

a common excuse for placing serious limitations on dialogue (3 potential responses, all communicating the same thing in the same tone with near-imperceptible alterations in phrasing) is that branching plotlines expend highly limited resources, but when people plead for more choice in dialogue, i don’t think that’s actually the ask. the value of varied, specific dialogue choices persists whether or not they're referenced again or even able to impact the direction of the conversation. characterization of this kind can be done entirely through text on a shoestring budget, and it does so much more to invest a player in the fiction that addressing the player directly

[gintrinsic-writing]

Twilight was a no-good filthy traitor. Legend hoped a bird shit on his head, or that he had to walk with wet socks, or that all of his hair burned off during the next monster fight. It would only serve him right.

“He looks like he’s plottin’ my demise,” Twilight muttered in an aside to Hyrule.

“Because I am,” Legend bit out, only keeping his voice down so the others didn’t wake. If there was any mercy to be found, it was that Twilight hadn’t told anyone else yet. Goddess knows that would only make things worse.

Hyrule took a slow, deep breath—bracing himself, or maybe out of patience. Legend didn’t know him well enough to say, yet. For a healer, he was surprisingly prickly at times. “We’re only concerned, Legend. Let us help you.”

“And I’m telling you, there’s nothing to help.”

“Twilight said he’s seen you wearing those rings every night.” Hyrule glanced at Legend’s fingers pointedly. “We recognize them. You once mentioned they’re for healing.”

“So what?” Legend snarked.

“So quit being a stubborn bastard and tell us where you’re hurt,” Twilight grumbled, voice just shy of too loud. “You wouldn’t wear ‘em without reason. You’ve said yourself you don’t like wastin’ magic.”

“They’re passive,” Legend sighed, then held up his hands when they both scoffed and opened their mouths to argue. “Why can’t you simply trust me to handle my own shit?”

“Because you’re not on your own now,” Hyrule argued. “We’re a team, and if you’re hurting when one of us can help—”

“Good Three, are you deaf?” Legend snapped in a whisper. “I already said you can’t!”

Hyrule’s ears flattened, and he lowered his gaze. Legend instantly felt like shit.

“Prove it, then,” Twilight said. “Let him do a quick scan, and if there’s truly nothing, we’ll apologize and leave you alone.”

Legend wanted to throw something. He half-considered shoving Twilight just to have an outlet for some of his frustration, but the farm boy was built like a brick shithouse. Probably wouldn’t do Legend the courtesy of budging. “You know what? Fine. Since you’re incapable of respecting my privacy, fine.”

They both looked chastised, but not enough to stop them from taking advantage of Legend’s reluctant acquiescence. Hyrule stepped forward—and wasn’t that its own sharp discomfort, allowing someone into his space without bristling—and placed glowing hands near Legend’s head and chest. For a moment, the only sound was the crackle of the camp fire. Then Hyrule made an unhappy sound in the back of his throat.

“Your right knee…”

As if on cue, an ache shot up through Legend’s leg. “Old ACL tear.”

“It didn’t heal well.”

“No.”

Seconds passed, Hyrule chewing on his lower lip. “What about your back?”

“Nerve damage after a fall.”

Twilight winced. “How high?”

Legend bitterly recalled the unforgiving rocky slopes of Tal Tal Heights. “High,” he answered curtly.

Hyrule shifted his hands. “Your hip—was it dislocated?”

“Mhm. Lynel clipped me.”

“It’s not… Your socket must’ve been damaged as well. It’s not a great fit.”

“I’m aware.”

“And your left ankle?” Hyrule asked quietly. “A fracture?”

“I didn’t have time to set it properly. Had to chug a potion and run.” He figured it went without saying that the alternative would’ve been much worse.

Hyrule frowned. “There’s some scarring in your lungs. Does it hurt to breathe?”

A small raft, a large storm. Choking on salt water as waves crashed overhead. Waking up on Koholint, convinced he must’ve drowned— “Not enough to matter.”

“I see…” Hyrule suddenly took Legend’s left hand in both of his. He was so, so gentle. It made Legend want to hide under a rock. “Can you feel anything in your palm?”

“Besides pins and needles?” Legend shrugged. “Hardly. Burn went too deep.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably where he stood. “Hyrule, can you heal any of this?”

Hyrule hesitated, then took a step back, letting go of Legend’s hand. “I can try but…” He shook his head sadly. “There’s so much more. So many little traumas that healed wrong, or weren’t addressed in time. Some of your joints are relying on scar tissue for support to function. The arthritis alone, it—I can’t even imagine. Oh, Legend, I’m so sor—”

“I know,” Legend hissed, feeling his face burn with embarrassment. “I fucking know, but you both insisted, and—and there’s nothing to be done, is there? Nothing to do but deal with it, like I always have.” He scoffed, fidgeting with one of his rings. “Only now, you know how broken I am. Congratulations, I guess. I’m proof of what it means to be the goddesses’ favorite.”

Twilight reached out, probably intending to offer comfort, but Legend flinched away. He wasn’t sure why he’d said that last bit. He wished he could take it back. “Just… please,” he started, too tired and ashamed to keep up his anger. “Give me some privacy, and don’t tell the others. Can you at least do that for me?”

Twilight finally looked appropriately regretful. Too bad it didn’t make Legend feel any better. “Of course, Ledge,” he murmured. “And I’m—truly, I’m sorry for pryin’.”

“It’s fine,” Legend said, which wasn’t true, but it was better than “whatever” or “you should be.” He thinks they understood anyway.