#that was that one scene while he was an NPC that he didn't do anything while Yogurt was in danger

[merrinla]

Lift the Shadow Curse. Cut content. Part I

It was supposed to be one post, but because of the audio limit, I had to split it into two. So this part will be mostly about the portal ritual and the next one will be about other details.

Some of the lines below are in the game, the rest are from the early access patch 8.

During the cycle of development, Halsin has gone through many changes. He was originally just another side npc in the camp, but the community adored him so much that he was promoted to a full companion. Previously his story was more related to the main plot and the Thorm family, but later it was retconned. In the full release Halsin's personal quest is to find and rescue his childhood friend, a fey boy, from the Shadowfell. This special child is the only one who can cure the land from the shadow curse. And according to some files, this quest was previously also different from what we see in the game.

Bones of Contention

Before starting the portal ritual, the player had to find three bones of contention. To do this, it was necessary to defeat three bosses - the Hospital boss, the Tollhouse boss and the Distillery boss.

As we know from the game, these are Malus Thorm, Gerringothe Thorm and Thisobald Thorm.

Ketheric's daughter, Isobel also took part in this quest. The player could give her the bones to research. Who else could help us with the secrets of the Thorm family better than one of them.

After that, you had to bring the bones to Halsin and he crushed them as it was necessary for the ritual.

In the release version this part was replaced with a quest Wake up Art Cullagh.

Thorm blood

There is a flag in the game with an interesting name that isn't used anywhere - "SCL_ShadowCurse_Knows_NeedsBloodOfThorm". Unfortunately, there is no detailed description. So I can only guess.

Most of the flags "SCL_ShadowCurse_..." are related to Halsin's quest. I doubt this one is an exception. If the Thorm bones were part of the portal ritual, then maybe the blood was too. And it's not necessary to kill someone for that. Well, depends on how much blood you need. If we needed a volunteer, then only Isobel comes to mind. According to another flag, the player could ask her about the blood. But again, there's no details.

Maybe the Thorm blood was needed to open the portal (reminds me of DMC3) or lift the curse. Maybe it was Ketheric's blood that was needed because he started it all. And he definitely wouldn't have shared it voluntarily, so it would have ended up in a boss fight. The same as it is in the game. Or something else.

The ritual

Unlike the release version, the player didn't defend the portal, but Halsin while he conducted the ritual. This prayer is longer and has different words. During the combat, his voice was louder and more intense.

The player could interfere with the portal

In the game Halsin repeatedly warns that only he should enter the portal and nobody else.

Now it's important that only I pass through the portal once it opens. The magic is fragile - any mistake, and our one chance will be lost forever.

If there's any interference with the portal, then our one chance is lost forever. And so am I.

Let's begin. Remember what I told you - we won't have a second chance here.

Let's begin. Whatever happens, do not attempt enter the portal, and do not let anything interfere with it.

Even if you want to enter the portal, it won’t work. The scene ends only after Halsin has used the portal himself.

But earlier the player could attempt to enter the portal before Halsin. And it would have collapsed it. Not to mention that this would make Halsin furious and after that he would leave the camp.

Halsin was returning from the Shadowfell through the Shar Temple

The description of one flag says that Halsin explains how to find him after he is entered the Shadowfell. Which means he was returning in a different way than in the game.

And according to some lines it was the Shar Temple.

Once I've entered, go to the Shar Temple and look for a sign of my spirit. I can't say for certain how it'll manifest. But you'll know it when you see it.

Hah. Once I've entered, you must seek the place where Shar is loved the most. Look for a temple dedicated to her. There will be little separating the realms of light and dark in such a place. Once you find it, look for a sign of my spirit. I can't say for certain how it will manifest, but you'll know it when you see it.

I don't know exactly how the player was supposed to find Halsin (Halsin didn't know that either). But it seems he must have seen you or something that he could see with your help. In the game, right before the ritual begins, Halsin says "You are the beacon that will guide me home." I guess we really are.

I see you! Hold on! The path home is becoming clear!

Nearly there! Just hold on a little longer!

And when did he finally succeed, there was no limit to his happiness.

It worked. Oakfather's mossy beard, it worked!

Better than alive, triumphant!

Oh, my friend. I think my embrace would break you in two, such is my gratitude. But as you can see, my hands are full... [with Thaniel]

After which, it seems he went with Thaniel not to the camp but to the Last Light Inn. Maybe because Isobel's magic protected this place from shadows.

But now, I can tend to him, and the recovery can begin. Find us at Last Light, and thank you. The sun will soon rise over these lands.

Promise

Another part of the portal ritual was the dagger Promise that Halsin gave to the player. And we could even ask him about this weapon.

I've heard the theory that the dagger could be a beacon for Halsin. But, alas, I couldn't find any more information other than a brief description.

A leafy pattern is carved into the dagger's blade. It glows faintly in the dark.

I wonder if this weapon has its own story as the glaive Sorrow.

The dagger is still in the game, but you can only add it to your inventory via the console.

-----

Well, this is too much for one side quest (3 bosses + Shar Temple), so I understand why they changed it. I don't think Halsin was a companion in this version yet. Otherwise, he would have joined the party only at the end of Act 2.

[20thcenturyfoxx]

OKAY OKAY RIGHT SO.

We pretty much agree that slime = guts n gore so if you don't wanna read that again skip, I just need to tell *someone* or I'll explode.

•

Since we saw the screen glitch out at when ranboo was cutting Charlie open in Ep2 the goo changed to red which pretty much implied it was blood and actual guts. (Also in Ep3 you can just see it on the screens at the end...)

Whenever the glitch happens, ranboo is broken from the "trance" or at least realises something is wrong, but even for the watchers, it becomes clear like a "filter" is being removed

So I just really love the implication of Charlie being covered in blood instead of slime in Ep1 and basically his whole house.

The ghouls, him hurling bits and pieces of flesh and blood at ranboo in the fighting scene ...

It also makes sense for him to have zombie-like creatures on his side, which would explain where he would get his "goo" from

He just possesses a bunch of dead bodies he can reincarnate? And there we go, that's how Frank came to be.

Anywho:

While Charlie probably made that disgusted face while eating the slime is because it tasted gross which made him break character for a moment, but for character's sake:

What if he actually tasted the blood? Like a hint of metallic or ended up biting on an eyeball or whatever.

Which, also, you know how he glitches out and keeps repeating that "slime I mean slime I mean slime-" line? What if he was about to say blood but the production ended up playing it off as a bit so the show doesn't get ruined? Imagine realising something is wrong for a split second, you're literally covered in BLOOD. But you can't do anything but get pulled back into a trance?

If we assume the little pieces in the slime bowl are flesh and guts,

What if this was LITERALLY an intestine?

The idea of Charlie in actuality taking a bite out of someone's digestive tract churns my stomach a little bit.

Sneeg having blood dumped on him is also a bit ...

Small Sneeg theory:

What if he was trapped in the cage because he didn't cooperate BECAUSE he wasn't fully controlled yet? And they just locked him up to once again, play it off like an intended act?

So when he was covered in slime, he was fully in their control.

He wasn't completely free, yes, since he couldn't see the cameras, the fact the house is a stage etc, but he seemed like he knew something was up, especially from him being confused of Ranboo acting so NPC like.

Yes, it also could just have been a character/personality type deal but I still like this.

So, somehow the slime has controlling powers too? No idea how that works though.

Smaller implications are also Ranboo just carrying a rag covered in blood with him

Or that goo chest you can see in the background being filled to the brim with blood

Or that the slime dimension is actually a body horror esque dimension of walls made from flesh and organs! That one can pretty much just be effects in the "real" world as the studio makes everything look like slime and theyre just at a green screen or whatnot (still, kinda cool)

•

I'd love if people added more little bits like these that I might have missed, btw (: this thing is really making my brain hurt, but in a good way.

[frogletscribe]

A:FoP Sky Breaker DLC Thoughts...

Alright so i finished the main story of the DLC and have let my thoughts cook for a minute. This is just some of my thoughts/opinions overall. I will have to do a separate post for my more intense thoughts because I managed to actually hit the character limit and I wasn't even halfway through everything (i didn't even know tumblr had one of those and I've been on here for over a decade)

Spoilers for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Sky Breaker DLC under the cut.

The opening? Gorgeous. Amazing. Fantastic. Obsessed with the little cut scene of our Sarentu on their Ikran. I am in love. I was really pleasantly surprised to see Kin right off the bat too! Thats my grandpa, i love him! And then walking with the Zakru and getting to hear other NPCs talking was really nice. I loved the banter about So'lek.

Getting into the main games camp was visually very pretty but confusing. I got lost immediately (distracted by the wandering Zakru) and accidently came in from the back? and then proceeded to not be able to find anything or anyone. I kept getting turned around and winding up back with Etuwa and Ka'nat. I did eventually find everyone else but it was a struggle.

Was Eetu only there at the very start??? He was hanging out with So'lek and having a very cute banter and then as everything progress he completely disappeared. Sosul too for that matter. It made me a little worried when he wasn't there after a while bc it felt like almost all the other key npcs got at least a small cameo in other quests but not Eetu? I got paranoid he died but also i think hes an important enough NPC that someone else would have said something if that was the case. I guess i just wanted more of him in general. (Im biased/delusional and ship him with my Sarentu, i will take literally anything)

Theres also a smaller moment, walking around where Teylan calls and starts talking about Nor, about how he would have loved the games, that really got me. For a second i actually thought Nor might come back later in the story, but given how things went it makes sense that he wouldnt. I do really hope that Nor shows up in the next DLC because I really need closure for him. He deserves to see and be a part of what his fellow Sarentu are building and to heal from all the hurt he has been through.

Can the Zeswa PLEASE catch a break? 😭 First the arches are collapsed, then Pasuk, now this?? I need this to be the last big bad thing that happens to them for a while.

More So'lek all the time please! I love him. I loved his role in the over all story and how he helps us throughout the final mission. He is the reason i am desperate for a romance in this game, but i can't have that so i'll just have to write it myself fhdjskghfs

I will be making a separate post about my thoughts on everything with Alma and Mokasa.

With the last of TAP (more or less) gone now, I'm really curious about the next DLC and the general future of Frontiers. Secrets of the Spires comes out in Fall, which is rapidly approaching, but i doubt we will hear anything until like September at the earliest. I think I remember hearing about a new clan in the new area for that one?? (Could be wrong though) Im really curious what the plot for that one is gonna be now that Mercer and Harding are gone.

Hopefully we will see Nor again. I'm kinda also hoping for a movie cameo? like Norm or Max showing up? We got an audio cameo of Ardmore, i think it'd be cool to see some friendly faces or at least audio for one of those guys. I don't think we will get a Jake cameo but i would lose my mind if we did lol.

Im also really hoping that theres more content coming in the future? More DLC or comics or something cause AFoP is the only thing keeping me sane when it comes to Avatar Brainrot rn.

[satureja13]

Jeb had been ingame for a few hours (real time, ingame time almost a whole day) and Saiwa didn't allow anyone to watch his investigations on the monitior to not interrupt. So everyone had been busy doing their work. After Jeb returned, he'd still been so upset, they delayed the meeting and went up to Jack and Kiyoshi's shop. They made pizza.

Their chatter and laughing distracted Jeb from the madness that has happened ingame and he soon laughed with them (especially when Jack told them the story how he fell into the tub full of nectar and Kiyoshi, in autopilot mode, didn't even react ^^' Kiyoshi didn't even react now on that story. Still on auto pilot. They'd had a quiet day together, Jack and Kiyoshi. After a while, Jack just started talking to him, as Jeb had suggested. Nothing important or upsetting about their past. Just funny stories and stuff about their shop and their work. Even though Kiyoshi never responded or showed signs he even understood what Jack was saying, it was a good experience for Jack to get more comfortable around Kiyoshi. And who knows, maybe Jack's words did find his way to Kiyoshi, anyhow. Jack was even able to keep it up during dinner. And Jeb calmed down eventually.

They changed into their detective attire and went down to the PD to let Jeb tell them about his investigations. Changing the clothes helped Jeb to change into a different role and put a lilltle distance between him and the happenings. He knows it's just a game but it was deeply touching him seeing dead Jack ingame. It reminded him of Jack in his coma and of the message future Jeb and Jack had sent them. That some of them might die should they drift apart.

The first thing they saw was the whiteboard Jack and Tiny Can had outfitted with the latest screenshots from the victim, the suspects and the crime scene. Jack made some effort to clearly point out who the main culprit is. And Tiny Can had a hard time putting Lou's photo on the culprits side, Jack only allowed it because Lou looks so hot ^^' Saiwa: "Omg, Jack! Greg didn't kill you. He just made this innocent - and understandable - wish and the demon got it all wrong!" Jack: "I will only believe it if we find the real murderer - the one who ripped my heart out!" Saiwa sighed. He bets his brand new Flamingo Island Balcony that Jack would still believe Greg killed NPC Jack, no matter which cast iron evidence they provide to him...

Eventually Jack sat down and Jeb stepped forward. He's nervous about how Jack and the others would react to the latest happenings... But Saiwa reassured him and so he started to tell them anything he witnessed and learned while he investigated.

About - the footprints at the crime scene, - interviewing new culprit Lou (but Jack didn't let that count, he just interrupted and asked Jeb how Lou is doing without him...) - and that Greg obviously found Jack's corpse and revived him - in a creepy frankenstein manner...

After Jeb ended his report, Jack hugged him tight. Jack: "Thank you for reviving me! You're a true friend! Now I can finally go back ingame and meet Lou again!"

Saiwa: "Let him breathe, Jack!" Jeb contradicted and told Jack that Greg did the majority to bring NPC back, but Jack does not want to hear anything about that. He still hates Greg ^^' And he's quite sure that the footprints are from Greg, who carried him away from the crime scene to Saarburg - and not from Lou.

After a short break to take everything in, they sat down again to discuss their further actions.

First, Saiwa made very clear that Jack will not go back to Lou until their investigations came to an end and they have a clear documentation about what had happened. They still need prove that the Therapy Game will be ready for the open beta at some point. But with warnings and disclaimers - enter at your own risk... But it might be still of great help for any lost creature out there. Creatures like them are often used to violence - sadly.

So, what next?

They gathered some ideas: - ask NPC Jack what happened That might be tricky since he appeared a bit a lot 'absent', to say the least. But maybe his memories of the happenings will come back at some point. - go back to the crime scene and see if Jeb overlooked something. He was distracted by the pawprints (that probably belonged to Greg) and followed them as soon as he found them and didn't look further around. - find the Demon (and maybe NPC Jack's heart) If the demon really 'changed' Jack's heart, he must know where it is and with whom's heart he changed it. Ji Ho agreed to help finding the demon, but Vlad was utterly against sending Ji Ho back ingame unless the murderer is found. He didn't believe in the 'crossroads misunderstanding'

Jack: "Hey, I could go ingame together with Jeb and see if I can help NPC Jack get back his memories. Then we know what happened and I can go back to Lou!" Saiwa: "And witness first hand someone ripping your heart out? No!" Omg, Jack! ö.ö

'The scenes that I spit out I don’t know how much influence it’ll have here Can’t even understand A single word I’m saying They’ll try to chase me but then give up Those who ran away will probably become rotten water' (translated from korean/not by me)

Living in the City - Pullik OST from the K drama 'Lawless Lawyer' I love this song <3 Still so good after all those years. Plus the male lead, Lee Joon Gi, is one of the most beautiful and stunning and talented men I've ever seen ö.ö

Outtakes

Barfolomew showed up out of the blue and Jeb was not happy about it ^^'

The Therapy Game Master Post with the sessions and places so far is -> here

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest

Current Chapter: 'Who killed Jack?' from the beginning ▶️ here

📚 Previous Chapters: Chapters: 1-6 ~ 7-12 ~ 13-16 ~ 17-22 ~ 23-28

[tikvin]

For the other durges you showed a while ago, which ones accepted/denied Baal? If they denied him do they have specific reasons for why?

Well this will be long, lol. I have full descriptions of my durges I plan to post separately for each, but I'll try to cut a lot to just accommodate to the question.

Some of them aren't that close to this matter, plus I'm waiting for evil epilogue to be added, I also have a bit of a soft spot for resisting durges because of that one camp scene in act 2, so most of them are resisting durges, just differ by smaller details like what quests they do/dont and who of PCs and NPCs dies and they kill during travels.

So, sorry for my boring durges :D

Eshra - I think you can already guess.

Vice is close to accepting Bhaal, because it likes Minthara a lot (even though it didn't initially sided with her) and she's is a bad influence. It already got the slayer form, also the first to consume the astral tadpole so far. How it will all end? Who knows, Vice loves Minthara and it's a novel concept for it, hence the drow is able to sway it's opinions, but Vice also likes to have a control over it's own body. So Vice is on precipice

Evann is THE evil Bhaalspawn™ 100%. With this one, I will tell for sure, they're a cruel evil bitch-bastard, but probably doesn't fully realize that their actions are considered cruel. For them it's pure curiosity and pursuit of fun, they are not concerned when they first have the urges. Probably remembers more than other Durges. Probably had relationships with Gortash.

Jericho is the one who was terrified and disgusted from the very start. I think it was easier for her to resist, because she is a wild magic sorcerer (who I headcanon to be masterful before amnesia) and she had to be careful from the very beginning. She's skittish, in constant internal panic, a coward when it comes to perspective of getting back her memories. She was the one who tried to fix everyone else's problems just to not face her own. She had a lot of growth during the travels and now researches bhaalspawn to prevent anything happening.

With Cadere (who will later rename themselve as Ithildin) is absolutely out of question, they will not be accepting Bhaal, simply because... Karlach. You see, that's a Karlach kisser in front of you, and with all anguish that this whole shit caused to her they just cannot allow that to happen. Cadere was indifferent at the start, which caused quite a few deaths, but Karach energy just rubbed on them and they did the ol switcheroo

Thana is all about freedom. Bhaal is out of question. Freedom for herself, freedom for everyone else, freedom!!! She probably planned to defy Bhaal somehow even before the tadpole.

Thalissa - No. No Bhaal, we're having fun kicking devils' asses in hell. Has hots for both Wyll and Karlach, and their righteous do-gooder demeanor rubs on her. Not completely tho, she's quite bloodthirsty on her own, which is why she's most likely going with them to hell to justly kill shit without consequences. At least if Karlach won't sacrifice herself for Orpheus. I planned more than one play through with her, so it's undecided, maybe she will have one game where she's evil, who knows

Mortis is very power hungry, even though their overall demeanor is quite chill. They might not go completely towards Bhaal but they're sure are tempted to kill Isobel...

Jago - was a simple person, but not dumb. No Bhaal. Much like Thana, he wanted freedom, and he teared and ripped and clawed for it. He wasn't very caring for others, but he got what he wanted, without hurting too much people.

[anotherdragon]

Honestly I really like when they put NPC's lives in danger because the player characters have a certain level of plot armor that they do not, so the threat seems real. In episode 97 of riptide there was this knowing that no, they were not dead, because the deaths were quick and meant nothing and none of them had a chance to roll anything. In 98 while Gillion very much could have died there was a constant feeling of no, he isn't going to, too much relating to his character is left unresolved that there would have to at least be another episode giving him closure.

But NPC's? That's free reign, baby. For one its less obvious if a death is just a fake-out or not because you don't know if the DM is rolling, or what they're rolling, in both the s2 PD finale and 97 how quick the death is and the lack of rolls makes it obvious that it isn't going to stick/was planned out ahead of time. But everything npc's roll is done behind the scenes, and even when PC's die there's always a chance of them getting bought back to make the person playing them happy, but a character that isn't played by a player doesn't come with that same sense of security. Thats why I LOVE the actual stakes behind whether Lizzie will die or not, or the discussions on of Arlin is already dead, and why the entire fight scene with Theo left me tense and constantly pausing and with an actual sense of dead that 98 didn't really give me (Though don't get me wrong I still LOVE episode 98 I just wasn't really worried for his life).

So what I'm saying is Bizly you should put those gay old men in more peril

[bo0tleg]

MY FRIENDS REACTION TO THE TOP GUN (1986) REACTION POST

In case you don't know what I'm talking about: I made a post a while ago of gems my friend said whilst watching Top Gun (1986) for the first time. I showed her the post, and she created even more gems about Top Gun derived from what she said originally! I'd suggest you read the other post, because some are references to prior gems. Enjoy!

"TOM CRUISE IS OLD, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE?"

"I said that? Jesus, I have the memory of a fish." (About: "Did he really need to be in his underwear for this conversation?")

"I DID COMMENT ON THE VOLLEYBALL SCENE!" "I distinctly remember laughing about you not saying anything." "I said 'Ah yes, the hetero scene that actually looks really gay.' Because it does. How the fuck are you gonna play sports looking like a hot piece of ass without looking gay? You're not supposed to be hot! Especially in volleyball. Why did they choose volleyball to make them look hot? You're supposed to slap that fucking ball, not be like 'hahaha look at me, I'm so dainty and pretty.' THAT'S GAY!"

"I'm only stating the obvious, these people should already know this."

"Iceman is the gayest in the entire movie."

"No! Actually, it's his plane buddy. His plane buddy is the gayest." "... Mind telling me why?" "He always says that he has a hard on."

"OH MY GOD THEY COULD BE EXES! It's not possible he always has a hard on. I KNOW IT'S AN EXPRESSION IN THE UNITED STATES BUT IT'S NOT POSSIBLE. They've definitely hooked up. Not in the movie, I think it was before he met Maverick, but there's no doubt."

"You wouldn't say that you have a hard on to just anyone."

"And I didn't even look anything up, I just watched the movie."

"I don't think it's possible to surpass the gayness in Top Gun."

(Upon being informed that Slider was not, in fact, the one with the hard on) "HE'S NOT? Oh, then it has nothing to do with Iceman. But I still think that they (Hollywolf) had something, that's the dynamic that I got the gay vibe from."

"I bet both of the actors are blond, or whatever." (shakes head) "I don't give a shit."

"It's not my fault the NPC's look like the protagonist!"

(Scrolling through the Icemav tag on tumblr) "There's a lot of fanart. A lot of fanart of them making out."

"Only the superiors aren't gay in this movie."

"Making out in a corner, having a fling with the best friend, there's definitely one of those somewhere in the middle."

"Oh look! More fanart of them making out."

"Even the handsome guy that seems like a protagonist but is actually an NPC looks gay! He has that gay vibe, I don't know." (Reminder: This a reference to the phrase "He's to handsome to be a rando!" This man had like 2 minutes of screen time on the Enterprise at the start of the movie, and a little at the end during the Layton Rescue. 2 min might be an exaggeration.)

BONUS: Reaction to Quentin Tarantino discussing Top Gun in "Sleep With Me" (1994)

(Silence for 30 seconds) "I... agree with everything he said... but I'm in shock."

I never... thought a straight man would say so much gay shit in three minutes.... but he's right."

"That part where he says about the girl, Maverick's chick, dressing up like a guy, I hadn't noticed. He's a genius."

"When he says 'STARFIGHT! STARFIGHT!' I don't know if he was crazy, high or hallucinating."

"Them screaming 'STARFIGHT! STARFIGHT!' looked like they were on crack. And they were just talking about a movie."

"If a military movie ever happens to be openly gay, it'll become a whore house."

"And the worst part is that he convinced the dude! My guy just watched Top Gun for fun..."

EXTRAS (The original language all of the phrases were said in was Portuguese. I had to translate all of them. You're welcome.):

"How am I going to translate 'Puteiro'?" "Aren't there any prostitutes in the United States?" (I went with "Whore House")

"How am I going to translate 'se pegaram'?" "There's a word for it in English, I forgot it.... eeeehhhh" "Hooked up?" "I meant to say that they fucked, but sure." "'Hooked up' can mean sex." "It can? Great, use that then!"

"How many phrases are there? I'm scared. I don't remember the atrocities I said."

My friend, who fueled this entire post: @annonimouslesbian

[elvenbeard]

House party scenes 2/5: River and Panam and Kerry and V

Simply given the fact that River and Kerry are the two love interests that always stay in Night City after the canon endings of the game, I think River is the one of V's friends that Kerry gets to know first and knows best. I mean, I even wrote that oneshot where they're invited over for dinner at River's, and I think it just becomes a more or less regular occurrence after that. River and Vince got along good from the start, both having an inquisitive nature and good heart under a hard exterior, despite Night City continuing to try its best at teaching them that compassion is futile. Vince is fully supportive of River doing his own thing, helping him out where he can with his P.I. business once it's up and running, and River remains an important contact to Vince's Afterlife operations as well.

Panam's and Vince's relationship is quite different and a lot more complicated than that (and damn, one day I gotta make a long post about it bc yeah, I won't be doing it justice in this context here xD). Like, they have so much in common actually, careful and mistrusting at first, have a hard time opening up to others, but deep down, behind the loud and gritty exterior, they also just wanna connect to others and be loved. Given the circumstances at the time, and adding Vince's misconceptions about the nomads as a whole, he and Panam didn't really develop a deep friendship over the course of the game's events. To Vince it really just was a "You scratch my back if I scratch yours" relationship for a long while, and he assumed Panam thought the same. By the time they reached a point where they could both openly talk to each other finally, the Aldecaldos were about to pack up and leave. They stayed in contact afterwards though and I think only then started to develop a real, deeper, long-distance-online-only-friendship (sidenote: I absolutely love Panam's text messages in game, how you can talk to her about the other main NPCs for example, I wish there was something like that with everyone).

The birthday get-together is the first time they see each other in person since the Raffen attack on the camp, and yet it's not nearly as awkward as either of them would have feared. Panam is accepted as part of the group right away, probably a bit awestruck still by Kerry just being there and talking to her like normal. She can finally put faces to all the names Vince always talks about, too, River and Judy and Takemura, and so on. If she's ever stranded in NC for whatever reason, Vince's home is her home and safe place, the same way she's offered it to him with the Aldecaldos camp numerous times.

And finally, I wrote before about how Kerry and Vince have this little routine of making up all kinds of batshit stories of their first meeting when people they don't care about ask about it. V's friends though get to hear the real story, even though it's probably even crazier than anything they could come up with.

[msviolacea]

There's a lot of "oh, Baldur's Gate, isn't that game all about sex?" out there - I've seen it on the internet and heard it in conversation - which is fair, that's what the mainstream articles have been about, and let's not lie, most of us around here are all about the sexytimes with pretty people. (Me included, 100000%. And my "romance doesn't make an experience less interesting or serious" rant will be saved for another day.) But anyway ... it's Monday, and I'm avoiding work, so I figured I'd list as many things as I can think of right now that make the game amazing that have nothing to do with actually having sex with someone.

GINORMOUS areas to explore.

There are lore books literally everywhere. If you like reading random bits of in-universe texts, you'll be spoiled.

Have you ever played D&D and wished certain spells had more utility - like Grease, or Sleep, or Create/Destroy Water? You're in luck here! Anything that can either create a ground effect or temporarily distract/take enemies out is OP!

Animated, voiced cut scenes with nearly every single NPC you run across.

At the same time, most of them are not required. Some will give you interesting side quests, extra approval/disapproval from your companions, or interesting information that will give you more options in a future quest, but you don't have to spend hours talking to people unless that's your jam.

In character creation, you don't pick male/female as a gender. You pick from four body types (two small, two large, two with breasts/more slender, two more broad/slightly larger), three sets of pronouns (he/she/they), and several different sets of genitals - mix and match all three categories to your hearts' content. I'm sure there are other things they could have done, but it's the most inclusive character creator I've seen in a major game for sure.

The turn-based combat is a blessing for anyone who struggles with real time combat. Take your time, consider your options, look at things from all angles, sort through your spells and attacks to find the right one.

Or you can remember you picked up that barrel of smoke powder three rooms back, climb up into the rafters of the room, and chuck it into the fire pit in the middle of the room for maximum effect. I cannot overstate how fucking satisfying that is.

Big fucking tiefling horns. Of a variety of shapes!

Your female companions are the tanks/hearty warriors. Your male companions are all delicate fucking flowers, at least until you get Druid Daddy who can turn into a bear.

While optimizing your 4-person party to bring the usual configuration - one tank, one healer, a couple of DPS - is useful, it isn't always necessary. There are some fights where bringing four ranged options is a great idea, as long as you give them some survivability spells or plenty of potions. Sometimes bringing four people who can just barrel their way into a pile of ogres is satisfying. Mix it up!

Okay every companion thus far (I'm still only through act 1 yet, listen I have two games and my partner didn't feel well enough to continue the game where we're the farthest this weekend so I spent my time catching my solo game up) is absolute gold, no duds in the bunch, and the next few bullets will be one awesome thing about each one of them that has nothing to do with romance.

Astarion with the Thief subclass at level 3 literally cannot fail most lockpicking or trap disarming checks unless he rolls a nat 1. He is invisible when stealthed. He can one-shot most low level goblins with sneak attack arrows from range. He is a very bitchy fancy-lad Super Rogue.

Wyll is the Goodest Boy - the speed with which he goes from "I am oathbound to kill you demon!" to "well shit you're just a tiefling guess I'll deliberately fuck up my very dangerous warlock oath for you" is wonderful. He's noble and impetuous and wants to be more than a rich boy and gives nearly everyone the benefit of the doubt. I would die for him.

Karlach does the ADHD idle dance of "I could not stand still if you paid me all the gold in Baldur's Gate" and has the best puppy dog eyes. Also the story tie-in to her rage mechanics is really great and excellent storytelling.

Lae'zel is nigh unkillable if you give her the right stuff. Speccing her as Battlemaster is amazing for controlling the most powerful combatants on the field. Trip Attack has saved my ass so many times, you have no idea.

On paper, Gale should be absolutely insufferable. But somehow the writing and voice acting managed to hit just the right notes of humor and good nature and wizard geek. I'm very impressed.

Shadowheart is a very interesting combination of amoral/self-involved but also compassionate and I find myself fascinated by it. She clearly contains multitudes, and thus far the story is doing a good job of doling out pieces of her at a satisfying pace.

And speaking of interesting moral dichotomies, I absolutely adore that Halsin is both the good influence authority figure and also utterly ruthless when things run afoul of his strongly held belief system. Also thicc, broad-shouldered elf supremacy.

The tieflings you meet in Emerald Grove are directly tied to the D&D adventure "Descent Into Avernus" - as is Wyll! (And I'm sure it has a lot of context for Karlach's story as well, I haven't finished reading it yet.) I'm sure there's more when you get to the actual city of Baldur's Gate, but I'm not there yet. It's just fun to have that as an option to read for backstory about some of the game's characters and situations if you want. It's not required reading, though - cough, Bioware/Dragon Age, cough - everything that happens with them is perfectly understandable without any additional context!

The "Balanced" combat difficulty is a really good mix of fights that take a LOT of strategy and ones that can be easily cheesed.

Have you ever wanted to shove someone off a cliff even though you have like 8 strength? Listen, a 30% chance is STILL A CHANCE, and you have limited bonus action choices. TAKE YOUR SHOT.

... feel free to add your own. I'm still pretty early in the game and can't wait to get to more.

(edited for some slightly better phrasing about the character creation gender options, hopefully)

[nianeyna]

I kept a bullet-pointed liveblog in a notes document as I played the new ffxiv expansion. now I have finally finished the story so I can share with the class without fear of someone responding to me with spoilers. speaking of which everything below is dawntrail spoilers, for the entire expansion, in case that wasn't clear.

⬇️ SPOILERS. FINAL FANTASY XIV DAWNTRAIL SPOILERS BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⬇️

Dawntrail Liveblog

- ok so the mean claimants are obviously not going to win, but catboy promise is a dark horse. also not ruling out "nobody wins"

- Urqopacha is super cute

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- Erenville's deal continues to be very mysterious no matter how much he contrives to appear to be telling us about it

- lol Erenville dialog: "I spoke too much" YOU BARELY SAID ANYTHING BABE

- Kozama-uka is sooooo pretty

- I like how the entire first dungeon was totally unnecessary since we would have got there FASTER if we'd just stuck around and helped Alisaie and Erenville repair the boat lmao. but that's not how the WoL does things!!

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- erenville lurking in the background... siddown boy lmao

- unknown dude: hey you uh... forgot something. yeah back there. come with me and get it this is definitely not a trap

- oh no it was a trap! who could possibly have predicted this??

- awwww, Koana. wasn't sure about him at first but he's just a cute little muffin isn't he

- wuk lamat getting all excited about eating the xibruq pibil was so cute omg. she just likes food!!! I appreciate that in a woman

- oh shiiiiit wuk lamat origin story?! dun dun dun...

- aaaaaand solo duty... ulp

- haha get wrekt

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- the mamool ja should look into tourism... this place is pretty as hell

- ok koana shooting the tablet was a pretty cool move

- have my doubts about the golden city being in yak tel... like if it was there why'd they go to xak tural then

- ok, I guess it... was there? or... the *entrance* was there... according to gulool ja ja, anyway...

- road trip alone with erenville be still my heart!

- out of context erenville quotes: "this is your first time, so let's take it slow"

- no need to apologize erenville... you can drag me into anything you want

- oh wow this is really fucking sad. wow. I wasn't expecting that!

- the ridiculous train plan is cheering me up a bit thank god (editor's note: it didn't last)

- sigh... there always has to be at least one zone per expansion that's all dark and gross-looking. did they sign a contract to that effect or something??

- I can't believe how mean this plotline is to erenville

- this is fucked up... this is so fucked up

- npc: "sorry to darken the mood" NO THAT'S FINE I DON'T THINK THE MOOD CAN GET ANY WORSE!!

- I want to rip Spene's crown off and push her off a cliff. her little I'm so cute and innocent and helpless act makes me want to puke.

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- if any more parents die in this story I am really truly gonna lose it

- YES finally we get to fight these horrible people. machine army. whatever.

- I hope the next trial is sphene... I want to kick sphene's ass SO bad

- well there goes otis which brings the fucking dead parent toll to at least 4

- finallyyyyyy made it out of heritage found... *collapses onto the floor of tuliyollal like a shipwrecked sailor reaching land*

- (ok obviously I've technically been back to tuliyollal while I've been doing these godforsaken quests but THIS IS DIFFERENT!)

- we didn't fight sphene but the prospects are looking really good for me getting to punch her in the face soon. probably not literally like we got to do with zenos, but I guess you can't have everything :(

- wow sphene really BELIEVES she's just a helpless little girl. fucking incredible.

- next expansion let's have a final zone NOT populated entirely by ghosts. change it up a little

- so should I count namikka and cahciua's deaths twice on the parent death toll scoreboard or what

- you know what I still don't get. is why the yok huy went to xak tural to look for the golden city. *why did they think it was there*? I mean heritage found is there *now* but it definitely wasn't hundreds of years ago!

- that face on the tower looks more like meteion than sphene tbh

- two more dead parents!

- I can't. believe. sphene erased herself before I could beat her ass. this is the most unfair thing that has happened in this expansion, and it is up against some STRONG contenders

- it's just not satisfying to pummel a weird robot that has none of her memories!

- oh sphene's SORRY? *loudest fart noise ever*

- it's a good thing wuk lamat is here to be nice cause if I had to do it I'd throw up

- "their lives remain unchanged"? uh.... we shut off the afterlife. which was a real physical place you could go to. I feel like that changes things a bit!

- I DID IT I'M OUT CREDITS ROLLED UP I'M DONE THANK GOD

First half I rate: 9/10

Second half I rate: 3/10

Overall I rate this expansion: 5/10 I guess

Up until the lightning dome appeared I was having a blast. after that the gameplay experience became one of gritting my teeth so I could get out and be done with it. all the alexandrian zones are dark and unpleasant to be in, which would have been bearable except the plot was literally nightmarish and any new characters I didn't hate either died or were already dead (except gulool ja, who's cute of course, but his story was still pretty upsetting in a different way). This is not to say the writing was bad, because I don't think it was. In the alternate universe where I was LOOKING for a tragic existential horror game I might have even really liked it. However I really really wasn't looking for that at all, so in the real world I feel pretty betrayed and upset. There's a line between "plot twist" and "false advertising" and I think they left it behind in the dust.

But hell, at least we got 4 campfire scenes.

[randomrabbidramblings]

A "little" bit regarding Phantom

Here's the analysis I've wanted to do (for a long time, actually) about everyone's favourite bastard opera bunny.

Minor spoiler for The Last Spark Hunter!

TLTR in meme form:

While my zero expectations to find the Phantom in this DLC were met (even if to be honest for more than a minute I tought Allegra's friend was going to be him, lol), I was hoping for another cameo. And Ubisoft delivered!

Sailing around the Ruins you can find this very creepy... giant plush half buried in the sand? Is that a reference to the real life Phantom puppet? Did Phantom's megalomaniac ass commission this? Creepy factor aside, I love that he looks like he's wearing eyeliner! Phantom wears makeup canon yesdonteventrytofightmeonthis!

Anyway, I'm not the only one that thinks Beep-0's comment is highly sus. Even in the tone he's using sounds like the devs behind are being so proud of their troll. Maybe I'm just overthinking as usual and that dialogue is just Beep-0's seething hatred towards Phantom, but... That, paired with everything else going on... it doesn't convince me.

Phantom does have his fair amount of reasons he could make a real return song and all, there are a lot people wanting him back (not only in the fandom) and he's also Soliani's favourite boss who, let's not forget, waited 20 years to make a boss like him. It would be a wasted opportunity to only use him once. Since Donkey Kong Adventure featured Rabbid Kong, who was one of the two main bosses that did not unmerge after defeat (the Bwah Trio didn't unmerge too, but they were mini bosses), it wouldn't be so odd to see Phantom having a DLC too (after all a lot of people thought he was going to be the final boss of Kingdom Battle after his feature trailer). Let's not forget this time he has a juicy chance for another diss track. To Rayman and his decennary absence in the videogame scene. Another thing: we still don't know anything about the third DLC villain. This may be a bit of a stretch, but hear me out. When the posters for the three DLCs were published, Ubisoft gave us very little info about The Last Spark Hunter, but we knew there was a new enemy. The only thing they told us about the third DLC is that Rayman will be in it. Now they gave us a teaser, info about the general setting, but still no villain. This makes me think that there will not be a new villain, but someone we already met.

I don't think the cameos, the updates to his shenanigans, the grammophone sitting right there in the third DLC poster and the last almost blatant bit of foreshadowing in the Melodic Gardens were put there for nothing. And be honest, at this point who wouldn't want to see Beep-0's reaction to Phantom after all the hate he has been expressing towards him? All of this make a lot of sense. Almost too much sense to not see him return. The funny thing is if he shows up wearing Cursa's broken mask (a fan theory, but far too appropriate to rule out) it means they have been foreshadowing his return since Sparks of Hope released.

Personally I'd be happy even if he had a very minor role, like an NPC with a quest. Or even a little cameo in person, just to see him in Sparks of Hope style since he seems like he's changed a bit since Kingdom Battle (canonically he can remove the grammophone from his belly and apparently he wears makeup). I hope they'll keep his fourth wall breaking abilities even if it's just for advertising the DLC or to justifiy his appearence, as we know he's well aware of the developers (and, as expected, he sounds like he has a bit of beef with them as one of his unusued lines says "I'll have the art director's head for this", lol).

The thing that worries (and at the same time excites) me the most is the dubbing work they'd have to do for him. Since now all Rabbids are fully voiced (and in a lot of languages too) and assuming an hypotethical song will not be dubbed (as I think they'd do), I'm very curious about how they would manage Phantom as he has a very characteristic tone and accent and everyone knows his voice as he wasn't dubbed at all in Kingdom Battle. I do think it would be epic if they managed to get an actual singer for every language, but... it would be a bit too much in terms of everything, at Ubisoft they are madmen, but not like that, lol.

In all this there's still that one unusued idea where the Phantom was going to change music genre as his battle progressed. Who knows maybe it will be the right time we hear the metal song Soliani has been threatening Kirkhope with all this time, lol.

The only reason I can think of that makes everything crumble, would be if Beep-0's lines about Phantom's cameo were a result of an oversight, like it seems to have happened with Allegra (her memory states that she can change the colour of her skin depending on the "mood" of the planet, but it's never shown in game nor in her backstory). Or, perish the thought, it's just a placeholder as to say: "if we can make him appear again, good that was foreshadowing, if we cannot, we told you" to save thier buttcheeks in case they'll not bring him back. Even if I highly doubt Ubisoft would do such a thing after making everyone suspect a foreshadow.

Foreshadowing or not: if he will not appear in something like a poster, a teaser or a full on trailer, this doesn't mean he will not be there. Remember they pulled this thing too in Kingdom Battle where the devs said he was purposefully left out of the poster with the bosses as they didn't want to spoil him (even if then they released a feature trailer for him, but... idk, marketing shenanigans I assume, lol).

As a conclusion, take all of this infodump as a theory, there's no real evidence to definitively assume Phantom will return any time soon. I don't want to influence people to think he'll come back and then have them disappointed because he didn't. This is just my thoughts on the topic. And don't think I'll be disappointed if Phantom doesn't show up because, while I am biased, I'm not only looking forward to that.

[the-snake-and-the-steel]

*loyal anon, as instructed, exits*

The walls shake and tremble as Hexe teleports to the center balcony of the castle. She looks out at the whole world.... the village. The forest. The beach.

It's all hers to use as she pleases..... and now Icia is trying to take it again.

"Puny. Worthless. Selfish. She cannot understand that she has lost..... and now she is trying to 'reclaim' what is rightfully mi-i-i-i-i-ine."

The sky grows dark with black clouds of smog.

Of course, Icia wouldn't be able to defeat Hexe, she's essentially a god. She can manipulate everything to her will. Everything in this kingdom, even those who have left, are all hers.

.... that being said......

"She wants to take over a kingdom. A ki-i-i-i-ingdom she will not get."

"Because If I-I-I-I can't have this....."

"No one can."

Hexe snaps her fingers.

And suddenly, everyone stops what they're doing.

Odette stops running to get to shelter.

The twins stop panicking.

Samuel stops trying to get all the dragons out of the cave.

Achilles hardly feels a difference.

Everyone slowly stands or drops whatever they are holding...... everyone except Slyn. He looks over at the chaos among people stopping while the castle continues to crumble internally, and the ground outside rips open. Several NPCs fall into pools of magma as the world tears itself apart.

One by one, people start marching.

It's a slow, steady beat. Every resident marches in time, synchronized footsteps echoing through the earsplitting cracks and crashes.

Everyone's eyes dart around in terror as rubble and pieces of ceiling barely hit each other. Myau tries to scream as she nearly walks right into one of the pits, though she finds herself unable to do anything but watch, unable to turn or run. Levi finds himself floating through the air in a section of water, as if invisible hands were carrying him along.

One by one, they march single file into the dungeon and pass Slyn, who looks just as confused and almost as horrified. Many people shoot him looks that could kill, although none compare to the hatred on Samuel's face as he follows Switchboard into the dark abyss. Some, like Vaga, stare at him with so much fear he almost feels bad.

Almost.

"Look at this, Slyn," Hexe whispers to him. They both teleport onto the balcony, and Slyn feels his stomach lurch as he sees the scene of what once was a beautiful, mystified kingdom.

"This is all your fault. None of this would have happened if you could control the rebels."

"None of this would have happened if you stopped Icia from leaving.

"None of this would have happened if you told me about the rescue."

His blood runs cold. She knew? Who the fuck told her? What is she doing?

".... Hexe, my queen, what is all this?"

"Icia is coming to 'rescue' the kingdom. She is bringing an army...... but she will fail, just like she did once before. Over 10,000 skilled troops, all died for nothing back then.... and how many more she brings today, they will all die and fail as well."

"But- why destroy the kingdom?!" He protests.

Sharp, searing nails dig into Slyn's shoulder.

"Discouragement. Icia is far too many years late, and she shall see that. The kingdom she once sought to protect will be no more than rubble and dust. And when she is gone, I shall rebuild it all and do what I always should have done to begin with. Clearly, freedoms are dangerous.... there shall be no more freedoms once Icia is gone once again."

Slyn feels his stomach start to churn as fires break out over the forest and village. This wasn't supposed to happen. He didn't know it would be this soon. He can't do anything.

All he can do is watch as his kingdom falls to rubble.

Hexe smiles and rises up, as red whisps surround her body and pool into her golden scales like blood.

"Now Slyn... pay attention. This is how a queen protects her kingdom."

A shockwave emits from Hexe's center, reverberating through the entire kingdom as all floors of the castle except for the first floor collapse.... all except the single highest watch tower, standing tauntingly over the rubble.

Explosions and flames rip through the ground, turning sand into glass, hot springs into clouds, and dragons into corpses.

Hexe cackles maliciously, thrilled by the apocalyptic, destroyed world that, only an hour ago, was thriving.

"We shall let Icia come. We shall let her and her companions have hope that the kingdom is salvageable. We shall let them witness the consequences of their lateness. And we shall watch as they fail to confront me. But still... I feel this is all too easy. There is no fun without a little suffering. Therefore, I implore her, when she arrives...

"Let her and her army TRY and stop me."

[bg3fandomcritical-active]

Welp I felt like I should throw my hat into the ring.

I am someone who enjoys Halsin, Wyll and Gale. And all I can say is outside of Gale, the other two's stories are nearly neglected or can be ignored entirely in some parts(seriously I missed recruiting Wyll cause I couldn't figure out where he was in the grove and didn't see him until I randomly found karlach and he showed up in the night)

But while Wyll's story could almost be completely ignored cause well his story relies on the player to do things for him in the sense that it more feels like he has zero spine in some of the scenes when it should be shown that he does and the only times your forced to acknowledge his storyline is finding Karlach and Mizora getting trapped in the mindflayer colony and thats about it cause fun fact you can actually miss the detail that his dads in the underwater jail in act 3. Halsin's is at least brought up a few times in act 2 but it's definitely not what it shouldn't be cause the cut content version of it would've actually made it so that he had an actual story outside of "Oh I gotta fix the lands cause my childhood friend is hurt and I'm a druid so the dying lands are bad." And at least have well ANY STORY IN ACT 3 AT ALL SERIOUSLY.

They both needed more character content and time, and before someone brings up the bear thing, I get it, it's fucking wierd as hell, and also yes Halsin shouldn't be replacing Wyll on the artwork, if anything Wyll himself should have more art in general, he's a great character that could've shown much better if more care had been put into him. Halsin also could've been a better companion if they didn't randomly throw Jaheira into the actaul cause well let's be real here that was just pure pandering to older fans of the game and also you get her at the end of act 2 which is arguably less time then you'll ever interact with Halsin(don't even get me started on Minsc don't get me wrong love the guy but he didn't need to be a party member they both should've been camp npcs.) Cause with the inclusion of Jaheira as a playable druid party member you now have 2 druids that both can do the same things which makes no sense from a part standpoint when we could've gotten someone of a different class that would've rounded things out like idk Alfira as an actaul party member instead.

I do apologize if I come off as harsh but I want people to know that well,, both of them could've gotten better character arcs and stories since they're both in act one, IF THERE WASNT TWO RANDOM FOLKS FROM THE OLDER BALDURS GATE GAMES, WHO MIND YOU ALREADY HAD THEIR STORIES AND ARCS, TAKING UP QUEST SPACE FOR PANDERING.

Seriously at least having Halsin tag along makes sense in the sense that he's grown fond of the player for helping him with the shadow curse and him being a playable druid helps give the class diversity, Jaheira as a camp npc to give you the stone lord quest would've not only made more sense but also would've free up room giving both Wyll and Halsin time for more scenes and story in act 3, hell I would've loved to see more of Wyll interacting with his father after saving him or him cursing out Mizora more for forcing him to chose between his father and his pact. I want to see a seen with Halsin showing disdain for the city for being a scourge on the wilderness outside of a companion walk around dialogue.

Tldr: Wyll deserves to have more story and be featured in more artworks and have his characyer handled better, Halsin deserves to have more story and scenes with his character and well something to do in act 3, and Jaheira and Minsc should've been camp npcs as a side quest and not companion cause they already had their stories told in the two previous baldurs gate games and didn't need to have even more in this one so that there could be room for the former two to get what they needed.

.

[messmersflame]

ok i finally have the braincells so here's some of my criticisms/pointing out of .... questionable content in bg3 that i've personally come across. it may get a bit long. apologies for if it's difficult to read, i'm just trying to lay out my thoughts here. some things are also more serious than others.

The Dark Urge this one is relatively small, as playing the dialogue for the dark urge kind of hints at it, but i do think that it needs a MUCH clearer indication that it can be dark and probably disturbing/distressing to play as. and also that it should probably not be reccomended for a first run, as it does change things quite a bit.

sexuality and romance choice i think it would just be helpful if, when a party member hits on you or shows interest, that you are able to say 'i'm not into girls/guys/anything at all'. and that this specifically shuts down their comments. i have a friend that was disappointed that he couldn't say this to lae'zel, and got further uncomfortable when she kept on saying 'you will wonder what i taste like' when he's a gay guy trying to play a gay guy. it would also be uncomfortable for someone not interested in that aspect of the game/romance and sex in general, i would imagine. also related to this, and i do understand why every single romanceable character is bisexual as this just makes things a lot easier, but i do feel that there should be characters that just are not bi, even just among npcs. there's some npcs in same gendered relationships which is good, though i think there needed to just be more characters that clearly are not bi. (though given the dragon age modding scene's track record, i also get just wanting to avoid that outright.)

trangender characters you the player character can be trans and i love this. i do wish there was a way to have the more feminine frames with a flatter chest, and vice versa, though. i mean we have genital options, but no chest options...? (also no weight or further body shape options but i digress). i also think i noted maybe, two? npcs? that were transgender? and i feel that there really needs to be more trans and nonbinary npcs, specifically prominent ones and not relegated to background characters that you blink and miss (which one of the ones i found was). bg3 has given me as a player far more options to play a trans nonbinary character than any game ive played thus far, but there needs to be more beyond just the player themself in terms of trans rep.

party member racism as a romani person myself, i found myself relating to the tiefling group quite a lot. i dont expect larian to not include fantasy racism in the game, but playing as a tiefling and having a party member, lae'zel, call you and your kind 'cockroaches' with no way to chew her out for it, and just having no proper way to direclty combat the racism of your party members in general is. very uncomfortable. astarion also has some lines like this, and while he does eventually change his attitude, i havent been able to change or confront that with lae'zel. not good for someone youre meant to adventure with and trust.

the goblins and treatment of the way that the goblins are depicted and treated (while not wholly larian's fault since they didn't make the setting- still not an excuse tho) could have been handled better. there are a few instances where you can stand up for them as being people without condoning their actions, but overall they are treated as 'dirty uncivilised tribals' and i hope i dont need to explain why that kind of depiction is bad. they're background cronies of the bbeg, explicitly revealed to having been manipulated and controlled into serving the bbeg, and any exploration of actual goblin culture is treated as a joke.

murdering goblin kids specifically is okay apparently on the topic of the goblins- i was appaled when i realised that in order to free halsin, you have to kill two goblin kids. in fact, if you choose to attack the whole goblin camp, you kill more goblin kids. nobody bats an eye at this. yet, when you do the reverse and attack the grove where there are children that you can kill/cause the death of, this is explicity treated as a bad thing. it's just disgusting that goblin children being killed is not given the same treatment, just because they're goblins.

ableist abuse is fine when the person was abusive to you first in the underdark in act 1 (and later in act 3 if you helped them), there is a dwarven? couple, baelen and derryth bonecloak. baelen has gone missing, and you can find and rescue him. he clearly has some kind of neurological disability, and has difficulty with verbal communication and his memory. his wife, derryth, berates him and treats him as stupid for his disability. you can confront her about it in act 1, and later in act 3 go snooping and find out more information about their relationship- baelen, prior to whatever caused his disability, was an abusive and evil man who beat her and gave her the facial scar she has, among other abuses. of course this abuse is horrific, but this is then used to justify derryth's own abuse of the man, since he now is reliant on her for food ect. she basically says that she can treat a disabled man however she wants because at least she cares for his needs and he abused her anyways so it's payback. i do believe that his disability does not override or excuse what he did in the past and that she has every reason to still hate him, but this still does NOT excuse this treatment of him now that he is disabled and relies on her as a caregiver. becoming disabled is not a fucking punishment and it's disgusting that larian even chose to include this kind of thing in their game at ALL. it's also worsened by the fact that i see many people commenting on how they're going to just kill him because he deserves it, and it's 'doing him a favour since he's disabled now'. this is the kind of sentiment that larian are encouraging by having this narrative in their game and as a disabled person myself, and someone who has family and friends who literally act the way baelen does with his disability, it is not fucking okay.

twin drow sex workers i hope i don't need to explain why it's fucking gross and creepy that larian have two sex workers in act 3 be twins that regularly participate in sex with the same client at the same time, and the player is also able to do so. some party members, such as karlach, comment on how them being literally brother and sister is gross, so it's not as if larian are not self aware enough to see why it's not good to fetishise incest. but they put it in there anyways! for the player to indulge in! and it's depicted as sexy! being a survivor of incest csa, i was pretty shocked and appaled by that inclusion. they could have very easily just had the two be runaway lovers. there was literally no need for them to be made twins.

sexual slavery and abuse is sexy when it's halsin if you do actually sleep with the aforementioned drow along with halsin, he will have a new dialogue where he talks about being held prisoner in the underdark 'chained to the bed, somewhere between a prisoner, a guest, and a consort'. so, he was kept as a sex slave and just slave and captive in general by drow for a while. the player can say that's horrible, but halsin brushes this off and says it wasn't so bad. because apparently he liked being kept as a sex slave? this is just brainwashing and coercive rape, larian. considering how they handled astarion's sexual abuse and slavery, it was outright shocking to learn that halsin's own abuse is handled so poorly and in fact turned into some weird bdsm fetish instead.

[honeycreammilkshake]

"gege will cater to the fans and bring gojo back"

I don't know, I think Gege hates Gojo too much. Yuji has a lot of fans too and he clearly keeps downplaying his achievements while praising Yuta (he dedicated A WHOLE chapter praising Yuta while rushing Yuji defeating sukuna LOL), I think he at most will use some flashback (the yuji gojo one) and keep baiting the fans for trolling.

Honestly leak culture made gojo more important than he really is and a totally different character. Like, for some reason they pretend he is like AllMight from MHA when he barely shares screens with his students. But of course AllMight is "ugly" Soo all his fatherly scenes with the students don't count lol.

Any person disconnected from online culture will just see him as some cool character then keep on with their lives. It's why you even saw anime only watchers say during the Gojo arc "WHEN ARE WE GOING BACK TO THE PRESENT I WANT TO SEE YUJI AND COMPANY". I can see Gojo being as forgotten as Levi Ackerman (people didn't even care about his chapter release this year lmao) once the hype dies tbh. Also Gojo is good in small doses, abusing him and make every other character a npc/drone around him would make me not even read a sequel if a sequel exists.

But like I said I feel like Gege loves yuta way too much and hates gojo, he knows gojo coming back would make Yuta look less relevant so while I don't care about Yuta much I trust Gege to use his stubbornness . Too bad he seems to hate yuji too though, this one and their already disappointed fans don't deserve this

Also sukuna has his fans too come on. Even Kenny got a nice out. He deserves his reincarnation/blob. It's not like volume will sell less, sometimes fanatics can even scare away potential new fans

hi, anon. i agree with you on a lot. i know gege hates gojo, and i definitely see why, but sadly i think they are getting a lot of pressure from fans and editors to bring back gojo or keep baiting it, cause ngl the majority of this fandom reads for gojo. i cannot stress enough how many people openly admit they only like gojo (and ofc geto cause they see them as a matched set) and don't even know the other characters' names. i'm not even joking, one person didn't even know who yuuji was ;-;

and this is more or less the bigger part of the fandom who really only care about gojo. they claim they care about yuuji but i only see them venting about gojo's death, not the lack of focus on yuuji.

and yeah. i don't know why gege's so obsessed with yuta, who didn't do anything really impactful or amazing to me. the fact that yuta is getting all the praise while yuuji literally confronted the very king of curses and came back the winner.... it's like gege slapped me and yuuji in the face. betrayal for both of us.

you're so right about the leak and manga culture twisting gojo's character. that's why i love the anime culture a lot more. and you made a really good point about that allmight and gojo contrast. i see a lot of hate on allmight (which i can sometimes understand why) and people overlooking his role in the series just because he's not a beautiful enough guy like gojo is. seriously most fans only love gojo because of his appearance, let's not lie. if that man was "ugly" i bet a lot more fans would somehow start acknowledging more of his problematic traits than they do now. and i agree that they really do exaggerate his role as a teacher. nanami had a more meaningful student/teacher relationship with yuuji imo, and a lot of fans sideline that sadly.

i think gege is stubborn enough to keep gojo dead. and i hope they have enough sense to not give into the pressure. but sadly that means yuta goes back to being the sole focus and with only two chapters left i don't think i can handle any more yuta worship.

gege really loves sukuna so i'm hoping they indulge all of us with some more of him. even if only mentions. because sukuna's death was a bit underwhelming in the sense that there was no discussion about it at all. some emotion and reactions would be nice.

i have hope for the next two chapters but overall i'm definitely not as invested.

[fixfoxnox]

When I first started reading SitO I had no idea who Jackson was and when I looked him up and saw he was the guy you play in the nuke mission in the original MW I was so glad to see you use him because the part where he dies was one of the only two scenes I remembered from that game. Recently I learned there were scrapped mission objectives that were going to have him survive the nuke. Now all I can picture is Jackson's survival being a well known thing in military circles and him making cracks about it to other people because whose gonna tell the guy that got nuked he can't joke about it? "Gaz please, this mild fever is nothing compared to the heat of the nuclear bla-" followed by Gaz trying to suffocate him with a pillow. He and Ghost start trying to out dark humor each other about their trauma while everyone around them is horrified.

AJDNNFJFJF NO PLEASE BECAUSE I KNOW THAT JACKSON IS SO EXCITED ONCE THE 141 KNOWS ABOUT THE REBIRTH STUFF SO HE CAN FINALLY CRACK JOKES ABOUT DYING

"Jackson don't do that, its dangerous."

"Can't be worse than a nuke lmao"

Gaz: *doing anything*

Jackson: damn, you make me hotter than that nuke did baby holy shit

Gaz absolutely hates it. Ghost is actually getting along with Jackson for the first time since knowing him. Soap is horrified every time. Price is silently resigned. Roach has been dealing with this for years (Roach has Jackson in his contacts as "🍄☁️" and Roach is in Jackson's phone as "🔥🪳" no one but them and Ghost think that its funny)

I also know Jackson would drop a "Where's another nuke when you need one" when he's in any situation that he doesn't want to be in lmao

Also I've lowkey been very surprised at how many people have told me that they didn't know Jackson before reading my fic. I really shouldn't be surprised since he only has like 4 missions though andjfnnfnf

It lowkey makes me wonder if there are people who think/thought that Jackson was an OC when I first introduced him. ALSO I WISH THAT JACKSON LIVED OMG

Fun facts about when I played Jackson's missions:

When I got to his first mission it took me like 30 minutes to do because I didn't realize I wasn't playing as Soap anymore (I talk a lot while playing games and was not paying attention bdbfjfnf)

So they're calling for Jackson to go do things and of course I don't realize I'm Jackson, so in my head I just have to wait for this npc to do something before I can continue. So for like 30 minutes I'm sitting there listening to them scream for Jackson to do something and I'm like "Damn this Jackson guy needs to get his shit together this is taking forever"

Then eventually I just went and did it and they were like "good job Jackson" and I was hit with the sudden realization of "oh shit I'M JACKSON"

Also after the Nuke cutscene happened, I was still like chilling and legit said outlook to myself "wow, I wonder how his next mission is going to handle this" like two seconds before they flashed the KIA on the screen sjdnfnnfnf

I am also deeply chaotic while playing Jackson for some reason like I full on do the dumbest shit while playing his missions snfjfbbf it took me forever to get through them on veteran cause I kept getting run over by the tank lmao