#the dlc raises so many questions

[highlifeboat]

Capcom could have done anything with Rose and they gave her normal teenage problems and milk sweat.

[d10nsaint]

☆ One of the Girls | Miguel O’hara x black cat! reader

sny: A few months after your breakup, you meet him at an art gallery.

notes: Comic references (2015) and Game references (the heist dlc for Marvel’s Spider-man)

"So, are you swinging solo now? Or back with whats-her-face?"

You say, as you trace shapes into the thick bulletproof glass seperating you and miguel in the art gallery, smirking at his tall figure. You walk a few steps backward and look at a painting on the wall. It was bland, but timeless.

"Too many questions." He replies. "now, what the hell are you doing with the Maria? I thought you stopped stealing art." He raised his eyebrows from behind the suit, crossing his arms sassily. He truly didn’t care if you stole it or not—he was only watching the painting because Peter asked him to.

"I dont want the Maria, I want whats in it." you say as you take the piece off the wall, get one last good look at it, and place the painting on your knee. You use full force and push your hands down to break the art in half.“It wasn’t even that pretty, anyway.

Miguel deeply sighs, knowing Peter is gonna kill him for letting you do that.

“Why the shock would you do that?!” He pulls his claws out;thick and sharp, and has half a mind to break the thick glass to get to you for doing that. Although he knows he could never hurt you.

You pull out a USB drive from the inner workings of the broken painting and smile at him. You flash it in front of him, taunting him.

“I need to give this to the Kingpin. He has something I need. I dont steal art anymore, either. I’ve lost my artistic touch.” You say, matter of factly, proudly smiling.

“thats…good,” he says. He feels a headache coming on as he thinks about how hes going to get an earful when he goes back to Parker Industries.

“You never answered my question, Miggy. Are you single?” You inspect the drive, making sure that it was in good shape to use.

“No. No, i’m not. And i dont think i will be for a while. And what the hell is on that drive thats so important?”

“Nothing that’ll interest you, i’m sure. Anyway, if you and…Temptest ever have problems, i’ll be waiting. Bye, Spider.” You say, turning around for the hole in the wall that you came from.

Tagging: @rubyredish , @lostandfound , @monoeve

[slavonicrhapsody]

did the Volcano Manor existed before Rykard?

I think it’s quite possible! The existence of the Serpent-Hunter essentially tells us that there has already been a concentrated effort to hunt down the Great Serpent:

“Weapon that serves as both greatsword and spear. Thought to have been used to hunt an immortal great serpent in the distant past, it manifests a long blade of light when facing such a creature. When their master's heroic aspirations degenerated into mere greed, his men searched for a weapon with which they might halt their lord.”

We also know that Mt. Gelmir’s ancient serpent-worshipping civilization died out a long time ago…

“Curved sword fashioned in the image of an ancient serpent deity and tool of a forgotten religion practiced on Mt. Gelmir.”

…so we have to ask ourselves, what happened to them? They may very well have been purged by the Golden Order, who created a weapon specifically to destroy their serpent god. The Golden Order considers the serpent to be a traitor to the Erdtree, so it makes total sense that they would have carried out a purge against serpent-worshippers in such close proximity to the capital… and maybe erected a fortress around the volcano to ensure the serpent god never returned. The question is, was this hypothetical conflict the reason why serpents are considered traitors (and the Golden Order was simply doing what it does best — eradicating any civilization that might pose a threat to their own), or did the Golden Order already despise the serpent because of a different reason? (we might find out in the DLC… looking at you, Messmer)

Anyway, I can see this fortress over time becoming less focused on hunting the Great Serpent, as it doesn’t seem like it resurfaced for an extremely long time, and more focused on being used as a dungeon where criminals and heretics were sent to be imprisoned and interrogated. What better place to send prisoners than a long-abandoned castle on top of a volcano? Unfortunately for the Golden Order, the guy they made Praetor, though being very good at his job, also happened to really enjoy committing heresy himself.

Volcano Manor also has some architectural details I find interesting; they might not actually be intended to imply a timeline, but I feel like mentioning them nevertheless: Volcano Manor is a Gothic-style castle (at least the outside is; the inside is actually pretty Neo-Classical), but it’s always struck me as inspired by 19th-century Gothic-revival palaces more so than genuine Gothic fortresses from the Middle Ages... the scale of the Manor, with its many intricate spires and chimneys and massive walls covered in windows, reminds me more of the likes of Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenzollern Castle, which were built by 19th century nobility as luxurious showpieces… you know what, maybe that’s why it’s called Volcano Manor rather than something like “Volcano Castle”!

This idea seems to go against the idea that Volcano Manor is extremely old, but at the same time, this is a video game, so historical architectural styles can’t technically be used to prove or disprove a theory. Also, castles can be rebuilt! The current Hohenzollern Castle was built right on top of the old castle after it fell into disrepair. Who’s to say Rykard didn’t take on an entire remodeling of an old castle to meet his own architectural tastes… it’s certainly in character. I’d also bet that he added that giant mechanical bridge that we raise up out of the lava:

Anyway, tl;dr I think it makes a ton of sense for the fortress to have already been there, but if it was, Rykard probably did some remodeling.

[dragonflight203]

Mass Effect 2 replay, Arrival:

Aratoht

-The moon in the skybox is gorgeous.

-Why does Shepard assume that the presence of varren mean that prisoners are sent there to die?

They could be feral varren, or there to chase down escaped prisoners.

-As you go through the mission, you overhear guards speaking about humans planning to destroy the relay. You probably assume it’s propaganda. The twist is that it’s true.

-The guards are correct. Dr. Kenson is a terrorist. One with very good reasons, but still a terrorist.

-Logs say that interrogation only produced frenzied rambling. Probably because they’re indoctrinated.

-This isn’t all that different from what the Alliance would do if they learned a batarian cell planned to destroy a Mass Relay in a human system. Capture them, imprison them, interrogate them.

Hopefully not as severely as the batarians are doing, but they’d definitely be questioned.

-As many have pointed out, the Reaper drawing in a deceased prisoner’s cell is a clue they’re indoctrinated.

-Dr. Kenson doesn’t even ask about the others captured with her. Does she assume or know they’re already dead?

-The conversation in the shuttle with Dr. Kenson is a reversal of the normal scenario. Dr. Kenson in the one insisting on a fantastical scenario, and Shepard is the skeptic.

-Shepard raises that mass effect relays are supposed to be indestructible. Dr. Kenson replies that it’s more that no one’s wanted to find out what would happen if one was destroyed.

At least Bioware addresses the change. I’m still skeptical a large asteroid can destroy one – the Reapers want to reset organic life, not destroy it completely. If mass relays can destroy a system when they’re hit with an asteroid, that’s a rather large oversight. Surely they could be shielded or the like?

-Dr. Kenson: Even a Reaper thousand of years dead contains power. Their artifacts are worthy of study, regardless of their purpose.

How does Dr. Kenson know that dead Reapers contain power?

(She’s indoctrinated. That’s the Reaper speaking. They like to praise themselves.)

-Shepard asks how they avoided indoctrination. Dr. Kenson insists they were careful.

Later we see Object Rho out in the open. Was it always so, or did they move it after the indoctrination kicked in?

-When Shepard sees the countdown, they immediately say that the Reapers could be at Earth in two days.

So the whole “save Earth” angle of ME3 had already started in this DLC. Never mind that Shepard may have no connection to it; it’s good marketing, damn it.

Just saying, they could have said the Reapers will start their harvest in two days.

-I repeatedly reloaded the fight in the Object Rho room and again and again ran into an issue where I couldn’t target anyone. How the hell can a vanguard charge if they can’t target?

-Why do the Reapers want Shepard alive?

They stopped the plan to turn the Citadel into a relay. The player is expected to play this DLC after they’ve destroyed (or collected) the Collectors base.

The Reapers should want Shepard dead. They’re too dangerous to live. There’s no gain to keeping them alive, except maybe to indoctrinate them and use them as an agent against the galaxy.

Which would have been a fantastic twist in ME3, but ME3 prefers to pretend ME2 doesn’t exist so nothing came of that. In fact, ME3 drops the “take Shepard alive” angle entirely for no known in-universe reason.

Maybe the other Reapers held a vote and told Harbinger to shut up.

-Hmm. I’ve wondered why Kenson tells Shepard about the Project and takes them back to the base – that seems counter intuitive since Shepard will of course try to finish the job and Kenson doesn’t actually want that.

I had mostly settled on Kenson telling Shepard as an attempt to fight off the indoctrination, but once in the room with Object Rho the indoctrination took over.

However, it makes more sense as an attempt to lure Shepard into a trap and capture them. Everyone knows that Shepard will go anywhere if the word “Reaper” is mentioned. That’s how Hackett convinced Shepard to go after Kenson in the first place.

And if Shepard hadn’t been able to shake of the drugs it would have worked. The Reapers would have arrived, picked up Shepard for whatever purpose, and carried on with the harvest.

-Why was Shepard able to shake off the drugs, anyway? Side effect of the cybernetics? Built up tolerance after being kept under for two years?

-The worst part of this mission is that it puts me back in the Cerberus uniform. My Shepard burned that the moment they got their hands on other clothes.

-Shitty security returns! The door out of the med bay only has three locks.

-I loathe pyros. Once they hit you with fire you’re dead, and Shepard can’t move in ME2 so good luck avoiding them.

-How is Harbringer communicating with Shepard? They’re not even in the galaxy yet. What, did they hack the comms tower from dark space?

Just saying, you could interpret this as Shepard hallucinating Harbringer as an early sign of indoctrination. They did just spend two days sleeping next to a Reaper artifact.

Normandy

-Back on the Normandy and in Cerberus clothing again. While meeting an Alliance admiral. Who thought this was appropriate?

-Hackett about Cerberus: I don’t like Cerberus or the way they do things, but they brought you back to life and they’re actually doing something about the state of the galaxy.

Ah, the renegade to Anderson’s paragon. Let’s not forget that “actually doing something about the state of the galaxy” does not necessarily mean good things. Cerberus is doing plenty – shame it’s all evil.

-Batarians have wanted war with the Alliance for a long time.

The batarian leadership have also been indoctrinated since shortly after they discovered the Leviathan of Dis in 2163 CE. ME1 start in 2183 CE.

Do the batarians want war with the Alliance, or do the Reapers want the organics fighting each other so they don’t team up and make the harvest harder?

-Hackett should have kept Shepard’s report. Sure, it’s a grand gesture of trust to say it’s not necessary. It’s also idiotic. Hackett needs to prepare for the Reapers and Shepard’s report is the most up to date intel on their movements and plans.

Also, it might make defending Shepard easier if he knows what the hell happened.

Codex

-The Alpha Relay can be “powered by an unprecedented amount of dark energy” to connect to multiple other relays or the Citadel.

Once again, an allusion to the dark energy plot that ME3 will abandon.

-The Hegemony knows about the relay’s abilities but keeps quiet about it to avoid hostility from other species that would be concerned about it.

Unusual for the Hegemony. They normally try to provoke everyone over everything.

-Object Rho is believed to be powered by dark matter.

If Bioware had put half as much effort into foreshadowing synthesis in ME3 as they did dark energy in ME2…

And with that, I’m finally finished ME2! On to ME3!

[peachiseas]

is the existence of the wards really an issue? i always thought it was more world building than anything. we never meet or talk to the wards and and baxter obviously doesnt share their ideals so. yea the supremacy exists but is it a flaw if we never see it personally? it feels more like world building than a flaw in the story to me so im wondering if thats wrong. people wanting to know more about them tho is fucked up and weird and kab should stop responding to them, even if shes just saying she wont answer those questions.

Yes, it is a flaw, and it's a major one because you are forgetting about one particular little thing.

Despite what tumblr might have taught you, a significant part of Our Life's playerbase is not white.

I have met so many people of different backgrounds through this fandom, but you know what tends to be a common link for them?

"Yeah, I like Baxter or think he's alright, but I can never finish his DLC cause of his family and how uncomfortable it made me"

This has become quite the sore spot among the community, especially with black and brown players because why would you bring such an awful topic up through one of your own LIs. It doesn't add anything to the story, the one conversation it's brought up in doesn't explain why exactly he cut them off besides just "oh because they were bigots teehee" when those sort of conversations Need to be fully explored in order to be conveyed well because otherwise you're tackling on the fact that Baxter could have easily internalized those white supremacist values. We need to know what he did to unlearn them, but in a game like Our Life, why bring it up then if you're not going to explain it in depth.

So that brings the question of whose comfort was this inclusion for? It's not for black or brown players. It's not for Muslim or Jewish players. And sure as fuck it ain't gay people. White people who are born majorly christian in their beliefs? Most likely, because they won't feel targeted by these people, but in a game that's main selling point is supposed to be safe for LGBT+ people and people of color, they sure as hell decided to alienate a good chunk of their playerbase for white people who didn't need that comfort.

It's a stupid inclusion that didn't need to be in the game. Everyone before the initial beta of that section was released thought his parents were just helicopter parents who just sucked and that was fine? But making them white supremacists??? It's so obvious she wanted to include something like this but gave it no nuance and how it would affect the player's views on Baxter.

TLDR, if you're not going to make a poignant point in your stories to actively be ten toes into explaining white supremacy and how your LI had to unlearn it due to being raised by white supremacists then you shouldn't include it point blank. The fact that hasn't been taken out yet proves to me that Kab really thought it's fine and is not trying to make Baxter's route a safe playthrough for people of color like Cove and Derek are.

[sylenth-l]

What are your thoughts on Cayde showing up in The Final Shape dlc?

Oh man, that's not an easy question… 😅 I think it's a horrible narrative decision, one that upsets me a lot for many reasons already, no matter exactly how it will be done in the end (I mean, for how long he's going to stick around, is it only his ghost/memory of him, etc, etc). Am I surprised? Not really. I always knew they won't hesitate to bring him back as soon as they'll want some easy hype. His story was good, his send-off was great, why ruin all this by digging him up... But what saddens me most of all is that Bungie couldn't come up with a better selling point for the supposedly great ending of their 'epic' Light-Darkness saga though. That's… a truly low point.

On the other hand, if I'm trying to be optimistic. I have a strong feeling for a while already that Bungie is purposefully trying to lower the stakes they've previously risen so high. And it makes sense if you think about it in the terms of a long game - if this story arc we have now truly would've been an epic clash of cosmic forces of Light and Darkness with some mind-blowing ending, what possible future Destiny's story could have had? Nothing as impressive for sure. Anything would've paled in comparison. So making the pyramids (which we had thought to be the embodiment of Darkness) just a tool of the Witness (who is also not the REAL Darkness) makes sense. It still is a great danger, yes. But in fact now we're opposing a single civilization in the form of a single creature, not some inevitable cosmic force like the Darkness itself. Introducing the Veil works as a teaser/cliffhanger for future in this case, which explains its late introduction and murky explanation. All that leaves a lot of room for the future confrontation, growing danger and thus raising stakes in the story (hopefully done better this time). Assuming they're planning to keep it going for a while, of course.

Sorry, got carried away a bit! Back to Cayde. I was trying to explain my reasoning for disliking his return in more detail several times, ended up erasing everything. I think in the end it's not worth it. If you're unhappy with this decision like me, then you know why. There are some other posts, like this one, which sum up many points well, btw (in case if you're just genuinely curious why a favorite character returning doesn't sound that great to some of us). If you're happy, then I don't want to argue or spoil your fun. It's a game that is meant to be played for fun, so if it works for you, then cool! I find some comfort in the fact that at least it's Cayde, it'd be nice to see and hear him again. I just hope he won't be too cringe and/or dumb, because what Bungie recently started to consider funny worries me in that regard asdjhfks

[thefirstknife]

i love how lightfalls story will continue in Deep and the rest of the year and it's a great move

ut god i WISH they had that idea for Witch Queen. I NEED to know how the Lucent Hive are developing, there's so much we don't know, andi would love to see how they're developing on like a cultural level.

My biggest disappointment with Witch Queen year is that after the dlc & risen the Lucent Brood are basically treated as regular hive that we can kill with no problem's and like nothing is exploring them anymore

I know its not the case but it felt like Bungie was building to this like:

"Are the Hive brutal and reprehensible to us? Yes. Will they change their behavior with the Light? No. Do they still deserve to be treated as sentient ppl with Intrinsic 'humanity' even tho they arent as sympathetic like the Fallen or Cabal? Yes. Does that make them good guys? Do we have the right to kill Ghosts just because they made the crime of "choosing the wrong side" etc etc

And like make us realize everything is more gray. and make us ask questions about assumptions we had, are Ghosts allowed Autonomy? Do.we have an inherent deserving of the light etc

and then Bungie dropped it in a bin and never brought it up ever again not even in flavor text or lore tabs

Agreed 100%

Witch Queen was an absolute banger of a campaign that I consider pretty much flawless, but when it comes to the whole year of Destiny last year, a lot of it ended up falling flat. There are so many interesting things raised in the campaign, but they were never explored. It didn't truly feel like "Witch Queen year" since pretty much all most significant bits of the Witch Queen were not explored.

Most importantly the Lucent Hive. Even in Risen, they were kind of background. They were literally attacking Earth directly and killing Guardians, but outside of getting rid of a few pockets of them, they've not been mentioned outside of that? Are they still attacking Earth? Do they still try to get a fort on the Moon? Are they only listening to Immaru or are there other aspects of their leadership? What about Lucent Hive who decide to go their own way? We know they exist so what's up with them?

What about Immaru and Savathun in general? We've not tried capturing him or investigating more into what Savathun knew, how she constructed the Throne World, how she utilised Light, her connections to the Witness and the Fleet... Obviously this might get picked up when she's rezed again, but I feel like a lot of it would've been important in the aftermath of the campaign. We got minor tidbits when Osiris woke up, but that just raised more questions; Savathun knew some WILD shit and we never investigated it.

We'll see how this continuation of Lightfall's story will go next season. I'm hoping for a quest that deals with some of the aftermath of the campaign and gives us insight into how time progresses in-universe; have the characters learned anything new in the past three months? Osiris will be present so we might get some new insight into Strand or the Veil or the portal the Witness opened.

Obviously, that's best case scenario. We have no clue what the quest will be like and I don't want to overhype myself and expect some incredibly long mission with 4 lore books, but the general gist of adding more campaign content throughout the year is really good. In hindsight, I would've loved if we got that each year. Campaigns are fine as is to me, but adding more content throughout the year that's directly connected to the campaign (instead of seasons) would've been a real benefit to pretty much every year so far. I really like the idea of the expansion YEAR dealing with the expansion reveals and information for the whole year in a more direct way that isn't tied to seasons.

[alltimefail-sims]

"📩 Simblr question of the day: according to you, what are the most underutilized gameplay features in the sims games you played, dlc included?"

Sharing the SQOTD from @simblr-question-of-the-day. I really liked this question because I'm excited to get more gameplay ideas.

Also, you talked about being busy recently so good luck with everything you are working on!

Yes I have been bit busier lately than I've been in a tick, but that's because I'm trying to be better about working on the book I'm writing!! But please continue to send asks and such, I'm still here and active just posting my own content a bit slower - but I'm still active and lurking about!

As for underutilized gameplay features...

I think the Club feature from Get Together is a really underutilized feature in the Sims. @sojutrait actually has a great guide up on their page that explains how clubs can be used for a more custom, immersive, hands-on gameplay experience.

I also think people don't realize how much fun the sales tables can be: I love doing "yard sales" to get rid of stuff in my sims home (for realistic gameplay), I love creating community lots filled with those sales tables to create a farmer's market/small community festival feel, and I love using them for my free-spirited, rancher, farmer, and homesteader sims specifically so they can sell their goods and rely on that income solely! Also you can create better custom food booths now with Home Chef Hustle and you can build a "food truck" OR like a pop-up ice cream stand at the park, for example. Idk it's just a fun feature to me, and exciting for those who don't think any of the rabbit-hole jobs suit their sim (or for those who want more flexibility in their sims' income without having to buy a whole ass additional community lot business).

The handiness skill as a whole is a gamechanger because of the "upgrade object" feature. The upgrades are actually super helpful and many of them will improve the functionality of the given object, will give custom moodlets, and will even help avoid disaster (fireproofing your dryer in the sims is a must... that shit catches fire if you look at it the wrong way lmaoooo).

The robotics skill is really cool and I love making the servos!! Cute little robot friend/family member and they can help around the house (crucial when you have big families, fun if you're going for a futuristic vibe or eccentric household).

Occults, in my opinion, are an underrated feature of the Sims. I think everyone should add some kind of weird, campy, supernatural shenanigans to their gameplay. Have your sim fall in love with a ghost; have your sim accidentally get bitten by a werewolf or vampire; befriend a mermaid; build a rocket in your backyard and go to space; get abducted and raise an alien; the possibilities are endless! Occults can shake shit up, especially if you're tired of vanilla, realistic gameplay.

FAMILY VACATIONS!!! HONEYMOONS!! FRIEND TRIPS!!! I love taking my sims on vacation and taking photos, making memories, etc. This feature is great too because you can get extended family members to go on vacation with your household and then it'll be a little family reunion (and you'll get moodlets for this as well that are like "The whole family is together" or something like that, it's really cute!). I think because you can literally travel to anywhere at any time without using the vacation feature this becomes really under-utilized, but it's a fun little thing to do!

Custom summer vacation holiday with seasons: depending on your lifespan/how you have your calendar days set up you can make it lasts a few days, a whole week, or even two weeks (so the kids can be off school during that time - I do one week in my saves). I just make the "mandatory events" swimming, grilling, spending time with family, stuff like that! Some days I literally have no mandatory events lol, just a day off school!

Honestly that's all I've got off the top of my head: I use a lot of mods and always have, so it can be hard for me to isolate what is a modded feature and what is just a part of the game itself! I hope one or more of these can help you spice your gameplay up a bit! Thank you for this question as always!!! <3

[markatoto]

I have the SILLIEST question, what is ur favourite kirby moment, lore or game wise

- A fellow kirby fan who is obsessed with the lore a totally NORMAL amount

oh god there are so many moments, lore or otherwise, that i love about this franchise. but i think i can at least talk about the ones that are super notable in my mind. it's been difficult narrowing it down to one moment, so ill give u two: one involving game-wise & another involving lore.

gonna be talking about some major kirby spoilers so if you dont care about that, hit the page brake here:

ill never forget the feeling i got from playing planet robobot and it straight up turned into a better version of star fox. kirby have delved into shmup elements before but seeing that progress even further, on top of the aspects with how absolutely dramatic and intense the star dream fight was... it felt like the stakes were truly raised beyond something id ever felt from the franchise. and then, on TOP of that, going in and reading up on how tragic the backstory between susie and haltmann is..... it just cranks up the intensity 5 fold, especially if you play the soul version of the fight - with the horrifying screams of haltmann's entire personality being destroyed as kirby goes further and further into the fight. it's absolutely horrific and exhilarating. i love that fight so fucking much.

that's gameplay..... but my favourite lore moment from the franchise is everything involving void soul. it explains so much about kirby, his origins and what they are. since FOREVER that aspect of kirby been shrouded in mystery and HAL has always played relatively coy about it, but since shinya kumazaki's been at the director's wheel, ive been loving all of the bits and pieces of lore he's dropped throughout the years... and, once that final star allies DLC hit the game, it felt like the culmination of everything he's been hinting towards up to that point. shinya kumazaki has been so good for all us long-time kirby fans, i really really appreciate his work. if i may talk about it real quick: a lot of people tend to shit on star allies, but speaking honestly: ever since the updates, it has since really thrived and became something fantastic. its been a real treat! if you're watching this and somehow havent gone through most of star allies, then please give the game another shot! it's great!

[aberooski]

Because I've been enabled once again, I've returned to my bullshit.

Once again, thank you to my favorite enabler/mutual @chazz-is-a-zelda-fan 💜

Today I present, a full and comprehensive tier list of every fanfic I've written and posted as well as a sneak at some WIP's and such 👀

Whether you've read everything or just a few of these, I'm curious to hear your thoughts and whether you agree or disagree with any of my placements of these works 🤔

Now that we've seen said list, allow me to briefly voice some thoughts on my placements 😌

Firstly, I've gone on record several times saying that I firmly believe that Favorite and Best are not mutually exclusive things. Just because something may be the "best" doesn't mean it has to be your favorite, and conversely, just because something may be your favorite thing doesn't necessarily mean you think it's the best of that thing either. But in this instance it just so happens my favorite fic, OUAD, is also the one I think is the best aksks.

OUAD is just brilliant. The combination of 4 of my favorite things: my favorite movie, my favorite Disney couple and just individually favorite prince and princess, my favorite show, and my favorite ship. A loose yet still fairly faithful adaptation of the film that brings me so much joy while also tearing my soul into shreds. And the casting? Phenomenal on my part. When I clear some stuff from my plate, I swear I'll be working on a sequel 😤

Salt In The Wound also got to sneak up into Best because in my opinion it's my best one shot. And also I just legitimately like the actual writing in it, I think it's some of my best work. Also I just needed it. I emotionally need that aftermath to Zane and Syrus's duel, I needed the comfort of them caring for Sy and catharsis from airing frustrations with Zane and the show didn't give it to me, so it's kinda a fulfillment that's on a totally different level than anything else I've done before.

Now Sons of The Stars. The fully crafted from the ground up, fully designed wardrobe, 130k fantasyish au that all stemmed from a throwaway joke in Angel's Tears. I love this one, especially the new updated version, I fixed so many things and just improved it so much from how it was originally. But I have some beef with it that keeps it from Best but still at the very top. The execution of Jaden and Jesse's romance isn't my favorite and I wrote it under a time crunch originally so you could tell towards the end I was rushing. That's been fixed a bit now but I still have a lingering disappointment with the idea that if I waited to write it originally I could've just done a better job overall with it. But as it stands I still think that fic is fantastic and it's my pride and joy.

Deviating from GX quick, my FFXV fic. What Goes In, this is just a good ass fic imo. Taking a segment from the game and answering for myself questions both the main game and Prompto's dlc raised and didn't answer, incorporating a lot of twists and turns and my own spin on what happens in that segment of the game, while incorporating actual game dialog and moments and shit too GAH it's good 😭 Also indulging in Promptis and Gladnis on the DL In the middle of all the pain and angst 🤭 biggest problem is that I haven't posted in it since March of 2020 and there's only 1 chapter left 😭 I promise I'm working on revising it right now and I'm finishing it by the end of 2023 that's my goal!

Might be controversial placement, but I put Sustained By Hate in the "Good" category......

Listen I love it. Camula coming back for revenge is an S+ idea. My problems lie with some of the execution, also me not really having the characterization of my version of Chazz's mom on lock yet. There's a lot of revisions I wanna do to that fic bro. Nothing too drastic or anything but still. There's also just so much happening in that one it feels a little messy to me now going back and re reading it. But Lexi usurping the main character role towards the end is brilliant and I actually wrote a duel which was hard as shit and I'm so proud of it and myself so extra bonus points for that! Overall, I love that fic but still as it stands I only think it's good. Perhaps a revised version would get bumped up on my list 🤔

Traffic Lights, my 5Ds one shot that's just Carly sitting in her car trapped in traffic 😂 not a lot to gripe about or say here, it's just a cute little work. I like it, I think it's good, but I feel like most of what I've written is better, it's that simple. I still really like it a lot though!

Angel's Tears, the first GX fic I ever wrote....... listen I thought this was my magnum opus for the LONGEST time..... if you've read the original version, that's embarrassing for me to say. Now the revised version I did recently? That's less embarrassing. But still this fic's only alright in my opinion. It was good at the time, I was 18 when I first wrote it and like I said, it was the 1st GX fic I ever wrote. But I've just improved so much as a writer, the newer version supports that better now akaksk and well, it's just not my best work in my opinion. I also don't really like the title anymore but it's been too long I can't change it now. But this fic was what got me started with writing these kids so I owe it a debt of gratitude for that. We wouldn't have all the rest of these works without it.

A Friend In Need, my Bastion one shot. Like the Carly one, not much to say about it. I like it, but it's just old and I need to revise it. It's cute and appropriately upsetting and a good idea to address Bastion's feelings of invisibility and inadequacy in season 2, the execution just needs to be given a face lift in my opinion.

Before I sneak at my WIPS, I'm gonna jump down to Rewriting.

Alice was an old fic I did that was basically an episode rewrite for episode 80, you know. The filler episode after they get back from Domino. With Alice... hence the title.... well if you read that story before I deleted it to rewrite it well you're entitled to compensation of some sort. It wasn’t good if you ask me. And rereading it there were a couple moments in it that made even me uncomfortable now that didn't back then. Literally I lost the plot while I was writing it like I jumped off the deep end a few chapters in and it dips so hard in quality. I'm just redoing it from like chapter 2 or 3 on, It has to be done.

Anyway now a quick roll call of my current WIPS for you babies because I like you and they're all S+ concepts 😌

We ALL know about Chazerella. My stormshipping Cinderella au riding the coattails of OUAD. I'll be starting writing that once we cross into the new year 👍

My Stormshipping + Alexis crossover with Mario.... yeah that started as a joke but isn't a joke anymore. I've posted about that so much you all know akakaka Chazz hanging out in Bowser's dungeon with Peach while Atticus and Alexis traverse the Mushroom Kingdom with Mario and Luigi to go rescue them??? Yes please!!

The GX/Fatal Frame 5: Maiden of Black Water crossover, I said that would be the next one after OUAD but well it's just gonna happen whenever it happens, that one is purely for me. I have actually started writing it and once I get a little further I think I'll be posting that one as I write it 😌 it'll take as long as it takes and y'all will have to deal with the suspense and cliffhangers while Alexis teams up with Yuri and the camera crew to find Atticus and rescue him from ghosts aksks (also I'm actually using the Japanese names for once in this one be proud of me!!)

And finally, So Take Hold of Me, And Hang On 'Till The Hurt Is Gone. You guys remember that one little snippet excerpt whatever you wanna call it with Chazz and Atty I posted I believe in like November or something? Yeah, this is that 🤭 I haven't touched it really since then but I'll make a full thing out of it mark my words! (Also the title comes from one of my favorite Yellowcard songs, "The Hurt Is Gone", that was actually the initial inspiration for that work 😊 that song, and the word "stay")

Anyways y'all, that's my tier list of my fanfiction! This was actually really fun but also really hard to make I'm so indecisive I went back and forth on a lot of these for so long akakksksksksks

But anyways hope y'all had some mindless fun with me, and I'm curious to hear any thoughts if y'all have any thoughts to share!

Keep your chins up and smile! 💜

[zestyderg]

new question: favorite aspect of each dinaurian character? or just stuff you like or dislike about each in general

>:D

Duna: Unlike Raptin and Dynal, Duna really just regards the humans at first with indifference instead of like... active malice, which I find interesting. She was just doing her job. In the trio of Hunter, Rosie, and Duna, Duna has the braincell. Actually, even between the dinaurians she has the braincell. Kinda funny since shes like 14. The fact that she chooses to defy her entire species to help humanity after Hunter saves her, knowing the consequences, is really brave of her. She's quite compassionate, even if she's not as outwardly emotional, and her being more calm and logical is a nice contrast to rosie's energy and short-temperedness.

Raptin: Ah the angry raptor man. Like Duna, he was just doing his job, and tried to see it through to the end. His undying loyalty to his kind cannot be overlooked, even if he was a total bitch to humanity. That's probably why he's an Elite in the first place. He loves his people more than anything and will do anything to ensure their survival. Like yeah he fucks up majorly and I think Rosie should get to maim him (she should get to maim many people honestly), but I still like him lol. Nothing will justify that ugly ass green he has though, like the devs could have chosen any other shade of green?

Dynal: I've already mentioned him trying his best for his people (he and Raptin are similar in that regard) after the whole Guhnash ate their planet thing. Another thing I like is just his presence throughout the story. Everytime he shows up you get this feeling of "oh shit, that's a guy you don't wanna mess with". He exudes power and elegance, and this comes across pretty well in his battle form too. He even outsmarts the protags, disguising himself as Richmond to trick them into assembling and handing him the missing sub-idolcomp, raising the stakes and really showing off how much of a threat he is. Dynal means business, and he has no problems letting everyone know it. But even then, he has a high sense of honor and believes in a fair fight. I still find it kind of funny that one fight earned his respect (it didn't earn Raptin's) and losing the fight would not have stopped him from pressing the button, but he was just like "oh humans are cool now, guess I don't wanna make them extinct after all". Also I just really like his design and theme.

ALSO his stupid little evil laugh he does when he plots to get the sub-idolcomp back. Literally boo ah hahaha levels of cartoonish evil lmao

BONUS MINI RANT ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCES IN CHAMPIONS BECAUSE BRUH

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?? Duna seems like herself, so I won't really talk about her.

One thing to note is how they all refer to humans as mammals in a more demeaning manner, and how every human runs from them. I refuse to believe EVERY human, especially in the world of fossil fighters, that they came across ran from them.

Raptin... bro... I get that you're a bitch but you had your arc last game. LIKE... he seems frustrated because people keep running away from him (he brings up the fact that humans look too greasy for him to EAT?? HELLO??), but Dino/Dina approaches him, and he's just mean to them. Probably why they run, Raptin. He does tell the protag that if they're lucky, Dynal won't eat them. Bro. Maybe don't spread rumors about your king EATING HUMANS? YOU KNOW, THE BEINGS YOU AND HIM SHARE A PLANET WITH NOW? Common Raptin L

DYNAL HOWEVER GOT THE WORST OF IT. HE IS SOOOO MEAN TO THIS HUMAN KID HE JUST MET. AFTER HIS CHARACTER ARC LAST GAME HE SHOULDN'T BE ACTING SO RUDE??? He should have been eager to test your strength but still courteous to you imo. Dynal's a good guy! Being mean to every human he meets would be fucking bad when you're trying to coexist with them, and he knows this!! GOD IT ANNOYS ME HOW THEY JUST MADE HIM THINK HE'S ABOVE HUMANS AGAIN.

Anyways none of the dlc stuff may even be canon so I'm probably just getting worked up over nothing.

[captainadwen]

playing the comrades dlc just raises so many questions about how the kingsglaive work. specifically their magic because why do they still have it after regis dies. they didn't make bonds to noctis and the archives specifically say regis shared his magic with them

cor's file also implies that after regis died he fully lost access to his magic (but is a formidable fighter even so). it might be that the amnesiac glaive is just too low level but having to use elemental stones to do elemental magic would suggest maybe the kingsglaive lost access to that after regis died

but why can they still warp, cast barriers, cure, etc? are they linked directly to the crystal with the king as a conduit? it still doesnt fully check out but its the best i can come up with

[khytal]

Would you mind elaborating on how you think stories in games are declining?

yeah I can do that I talked about it a little on twitter the other night

to start I just want to mention that this is based on the games I've played recently, so if you're thinking "well [this game] had a great story" I probably. didn't play it, or plan to sometime

also this is just an observation I'm making about myself. it's not very organized i'm typing this up at 5am

so this is about how good ghost trick's story is. as in so good, the feeling of finishing a game with no questions about anything significant was entirely foreign to me; and it may be the only game to ever make me feel like that for a long time

frankly I don't know if I just chose the wrong new games to play this year, or if it's the whole "sequels are generally worse than the original" thing, or if I've gotten picky about stories, or all of the above (probably all of the above and then some) but ghost trick made me realize I haven't played a single story-driven game (released in 2022) where I came out of the credits satisfied

just "...huh. ok. that's it then I guess"

however, I played a number of older titles where I was like "ohhh that was so good. wow" and was overall happy with the experience

but it's not really just limited to 2022; a lot of the games I played in 2021 too were lacking and/or didn't stick the landing in their stories

these include: p5 strikers (though I played that for the combat so I enjoyed it), ntwewy, lost judgment, nirvana initiative, and xenoblade 3 (this is a weird one bc I didn't dislike it but I didn't feel very strongly opinionated about it when I finished the game)

(tales of arise had several issues but I actually liked the ending a lot so it's an exception)

and then. there are some games I played that weren't story-driven, but had an interesting premise and just. dropped it completely somewhere along the way, or half-assed the explanations: monster hunter rise, world's end club, and smt5

rise is only here bc I thought the thing with the elder dragons speaking through the twins was really cool. and then it turned out to be nothing. but this leads into one of my points: that a lot of games are being released unfinished so players are compelled to buy dlc promising new story content for the loose threads that weren't wrapped up in the base game. and sometimes it still doesn't cover everything important that's missing

although rise doesn't count bc we got the rest of the story in free updates, it WAS literally unfinished at launch. extra content being released in paid dlc has been discussed by plenty of other people though (I just think it's one of the more significant factors contributing to why stories have felt. lacking) so. moving on

my big takeaway after playing ghost trick was that I had grown accustomed to stories that just. have the most slap-a-bandaid-on-it-and-call-it-good endings/explanations ever. I was used to being disappointed (in a "well that was a letdown" way, not an "I'm gonna miss this" way) when the credits rolled. I picked up games that promised a good story and expected important plot lines to never be addressed, because it's happened SO many times

in other words, gt caught me off guard because there was an entirely reasonable answer to every potential question I had. it's like when someone shuts your argument down so completely that you're speechless

this has also been discussed by others but I think being too hypercritical of little things/refusing to suspend disbelief is a "harmful" mindset to have. if you keep actively trying to nitpick something so you can go "I knew it!! this SUCKS" then of course you're going to be hard-pressed to find a "perfect" piece of media

and while I consider myself someone who's fully willing to go "okay, sure" in the moment, I've been exposed to so many posts that read so deeply into something incredibly minor that now I can't help but raise an eyebrow at things I never would've given a second thought to before,,,,,whenever that started

so I guess my other point here is that it feels like a lot of people don't let themselves enjoy stories when the plot gets a little nonsensical at times, or just get super hung up on the flaws. there's a difference between a game with an ending that's so bad you never want to play it again, and a game that was mostly solid but This One Negligible Thing absolutely ruined it for you

and I'm not trying to tell anyone what to enjoy or how to enjoy it but I think people could stand to not focus on the negatives so much, because it makes some stories seem a lot worse than they. actually are

xenoblade 3 is currently kind of getting this treatment (or it's at least pretty divisive from what I can tell), but some of it is actually warranted criticism while the rest of it is a lack of media literacy/not picking up on the show-don't-tell

anyway TL;DR ghost trick is the most complete game, story-wise, that I've ever played. I can't compare any other game to it bc it's on an entirely different level, but at the same time I now know what it feels like to finish a game wholly satisfied with its conclusion. and writers should put more care into the stories they've crafted for their games, particularly if they've been planning it for multiple years (though I'm aware that time constraints/pressure from higher-ups/other variables like that are detrimental to the creative process)

[sapphire-weapon]

One of the things that bothers me about the RE8 16 years later scenes, is that we see Rose, the girl that Chris was entrusted with from a baby and whose own mother doesn't have contact with her anymore (for some reason according to the dlc?) so Chris is probably all she has, yet she's ended up in a similar situation to Sherry. She's got agents watching her every move to the point she can't even visit her dad's grave without having a sniper rifle trained on her. I assume they're meant to be 1/3

government agents, not Chris' own people so I have to wonder how Chris ended up agreeing to that situation. Like yes, if she lost of control of her powers she's potentially dangerous, but surely growing up around people who have experience with BOWs like Chris, Claire and Jill who would also be more empathic to her would be better for her. I do wonder if they ever go back to that timeline tho if they could tie ending Leon's story into it. Perhaps after the DLC where she seems to have gained 2/3 a better mastery and understanding of her powers leads to the government becoming more afraid of her and taking her away, cutting Chris' contact with her so he turns to Leon to help find and get her back, since he could use his position to find out what happened to her, but doing so could have him labelled him a traitor. I think it would be a nice end to Leon's story for him to turn against the people he's worked for to help his friend get their daughter-figure back. 3/3

Leon is 59 and Chris is 63 in the Rose DLC.

For the sake of argument, let's say that Leon's story somehow does not end with him breaking free of his lifelong confinement by the government, and he lives out the entirety of his career.

Theoretically, if Capcom knows what the fuck they're doing (they don't but just go with me for a second), Leon will have already been forced to retire at 55. That's how federal law enforcement works and why there's a strict cutoff age of 27 to join the FBI. I don't know how many inroads he'd still have by that point.

If, for some reason (read: Capcom doesn't do research and doesn't give a fuck), Leon is still actively employed, the question then becomes: how much fight do these two old fucks still have in them? Because there's no way to just smuggle her out. This would be a fight.

However.

Sherry will only be 48.

And so I see your proposed scenario and I raise you: Sherry breaks Rose free in an effort to not let what happened to her growing up happen to anyone else.

[ainulindaelynn]

WIP Game: ACO 7, 8, and 9 please??

Ahhhh, the ones I wrote first and am dying to publish xD

Unfortunately, they rely on earlier details to some degree, so I'm holding back for now. There's 60k+ words sitting among those at present and more I'd love to do with every single one of them.

This'll be lengthy since it's three!

----------

ACO 7 - Underworld

This is a complete rewrite of that segment. It isn't Aletheia who sends her there though; it's Pythagoras (the shitty dad we all know him to be), who wants that artifact from Cerberos. This is the bit that started my ACO writing... It came together in my head WAY before I finished the game and knew the details, so originally it was a workaround for the First Blade DLC. I felt if Ubi really wanted to force the issue, was a more obvious answer to the lineage question and we were going subterranean anyway... 👀

I've since changed course on that completely (redeemed Deimos gets to do the Macedonia DLC later, bypassing the issue), but its still a very smutty, sentimental, angsty piece, where she and Brasidas finally come to terms (too late) with what's between them. They're both able to help a LOT with each other's healing journeys and he gives her a tool that readies her for her confrontation with Deimos. Phoibe is also central to this one <3

A snippet:

"You don't know what a shield means, so don't lecture me on it," he snapped, tone suddenly vicious. "You've never been in the phalanx, knowing in your bones what's staked on it holding - on the one beside you holding. 'Foot beside foot, resting shield against shield, crest beside crest, helm beside helm'," he quoted, every word rising from the bedrock of his being. Then his voice softened in a way she hated to hear and when she glanced up his eyes were sharp. "I'll never forget the day they first handed it to me. I was a boy; it was as tall as I was. My commander told me, 'To hold this up is to hold up Sparta. Drop it, and Sparta falls'."

She shook her head, furious.

More of the same propaganda that threw innocent children from Taygetos and raised their killer a hero.

His voice was stern. "How many of my men died at Amphipolis?"

"You were the last. The seventh. The Athenians lost six-hundred."

He nodded, dismissive.

"And how many have fallen since?"

Her eyes narrowed, sensing the trap.

"I can't make you understand the way it is in the lists," he growled, stalking toward and around her, "but those men were mine. And I was theirs. I had sworn myself to them. Six Spartans and six-hundred Athenians, you say? It was by my command that they lived at Amphipolis. That was my responsibility to them. I made the decisions that kept them alive. I've seen each of those cross the river Styx alone. And I'll see countless more before this war is done. And that is my failure. I let my shield fall and they are the ones who will pay for it with their lives.

She shook her head, trying to understand. "You can't blame yourself for dying, Brasidas."

"I can," he said, voice sharp, "because I didn't do it for them. And I would make that same choice again, even against my oath." The anger left his tone then. "That is why I'm here, Kassandra."

----------

ACO 8 - The End

This one ties together the game's Family and Cult endings. I always felt really weird about the fact that Deimos just sits at home while you finish the other storyline. It's a quick rewrite of the Taygetos scene, adding layers from my personal Athens captivity portion and my background mental health and trauma-recovery. Then there's a brief split while Kassandra finds her last cultist (and Alexios spends time with Myrinne), and then they come together, travel to Delphi, and take on Aspasia as a pair. This sets the stage for the relationship they build going forward.

A snippet:

She’d been keeping an eye on him all afternoon, watching the restless tension of his body like a rope frayed down to its last strand, hopelessly taut and precarious. For her, every mile away from Phokis brought her down by a notch, but for Alexios it seemed to have no effect. At times she even worried it was worsening, waiting for some excuse to snap. 

“He looks like a wild boar…,” Barnabas said quietly, uncharacteristically. 

It seemed she’d finally found the one thing that tempered the man’s boisterous nature - fearing being overhead by the god of terror himself. She smiled at the thought.

“…Like one snap of a twig and the first unlucky bastard in his path will be sent skyward with his entrails on the outside of his body.”

She raised her eyebrows, amusement overshadowed by a long, contemplative exhale.

----------

ACO 9 - Post-Game

This one is all about family. Kassandra comes home to find her footing, finally processing everything, and stays with Alexios as he struggles to find himself in the absence of his entire identity. They become very close, despite the rawness of their relationship.

There are also some obstacles here, for example, Sparta sees only Deimos, the child they rightly rejected. He is an enemy and a lone wolf in collectivist Sparta, a tension Kassandra feels as well. Nikolaos also makes his return to Sparta and comes under the kings' judgement to atone for his desertion nearly a decade earlier. It's all very messy.

A snippet:

"I aimed at him to strike at you," Alexios said slowly, enunciating each word as if he were sharpening a blade, stroke by stroke, and watching to see what he evoked. "I want you to hear that. I need you to know it was personal."

Time slowed between them, frozen in the silence. She could feel every muscle in her body coiled tight at the confession.

In that silence he continued, each word carefully considered. "And at Pylos, when you leaped to defend him, you were like the goddess herself, full of righteous wrath. I knew it was true after that. And I slaughtered him for it - slaughtered him to get to you."

His posture was soft despite the words.

"Why are you telling me this?" she hissed.

"I don't want secrets between us, sister. If this is to work, there can be no secrets. Or at least there can be no lies." His eyes were gentle, his shoulders hung low, arms crossed as he leaned back against the stones.

She looked away, scanning out across the view. Her eyes closed for a second, breathing deeply.

"Who was he to you?" he asked again, this time more gently.

—————

WIP List is here for anyone interested :)

[theharlotofferelden]

Not the same anon but I believe someone working for Pathea stated they where going to give more content to the popular and "attractive" characters so maybe that is why? I still want some content for Burgess. And I'll forever be sad I can't romance my fellow train enthousiast Jensen. ):

RE: Jensen -- apparently being able to romance all eligible characters was apart of their stretch goals on Kickstarter. But in order to reach that, they would've had to raise 3mil. Not sure where they pulled that number from but....yeah.

Someone talked about this a couple months ago. But I'll just go ahead and repost it. This was something that was asked about on Pathea's Discord, and this was their response.:

Are all Marriage Candidates gonna get the exact same amount of personal content/missions? If no, why not? No, someone gets more content. We've reached the wishlist goal of 500,000. This allows us to romance all eligible characters. However, as you know, there are many NPCs in the city, some of which are more popular and attractive, we'll make these memorable. On the one hand, our writers have more inspiration for special NPCs like Fang, they can tell more stories, so we can expect more about them.

They later followed up on this and clarified it was a misunderstanding (likely due to language barrier)

In concerns to the last AMA, one of the questions and answers were very concerning as a backer. I both backed the game and wishlisted it because of the promised rewards. One of which was about adding more fully implemented romance options. While I’m happy to see Logan and a few others getting more content. I am concerned for the less popular options who are still loved by some in the community, but the devs consider low priority due to being “less attractive/popular.” This contradicts with what was promised in the rewards. Will you guys ever address those concerns?

I think there was a slight misunderstanding a while back, this whole 'less attractive' thing. I believe a non-native English speaker used the word attractive, as in 吸引, or to literally “to draw in attention,” not having anything to do with physical attractiveness, which caused issues for some people. Sorry about that. And sorry to not address this sooner.

Yes, popular characters/10 original marriage candidates will have a bit of priority with content in the full release, but we do intend to continue to work on other less popular characters' stories after release as free DLC. I know that's not an ideal answer, it's not ideal for us, either. I'll say there are no unpopular characters in the writers' room, so I personally will be continuing to push for as much content for as many characters as possible. Note: as I mentioned in an above post, what we're able to do with post-release content depends on the success of the game. Personally, I'm confident in what we've created these last four years, but still, there is a universe where it doesn't happen.

I believe we will be able make good on our promise to have 'fully implemented' romance for all romanceable characters, but unfortunately fans of certain characters may have to wait.

Thank you very much for your support, and I hope we're able to meet your expectations with the romance content. We will be trying our best.

I think my problem is that I really don't know what this means for Pen's romance.

Knives Out spoilers under the readmore.

To me, him not being a marriage candidate has less to do with wanting to marry him and more to do with having some form of security. Pen not wanting to get married is fine. I know people who have been in 10 year relationships who have never gotten married and just view each other as life partners. Pen not wanting to get married is realistic to me. But as a game mechanic in a farming sim, it makes me nervous because I have no idea where they're fucking going with him lmao.

Like, it's one thing that he doesn't want to get married based on the writers wanting to characterize him as someone who doesn't care about marriage because of its connotations or whatever. But a lot of it with Pen implies that he doesn't want to be "tied down" to anyone. Which I suppose is par for what we've come to know of Pen throughout the game, but again, it just makes me wonder why they bothered to make him a romance option.

But even disregarding all that, you now have a romanceable NPC who not only doesn't want to get married, but also turns out to be one of the villains of the story and has gleefully admitted to Logan he murdered his dad. It's very unlikely he's going to get a redemption arc.

So.....? Where are we going with this? If Pen isn't getting a redemption arc, is he just going to be removed from the game? Is that the real reason he's not a marriage candidate?