#theres no screenshot on my console

[cicada-candy]

Replaying Midnight Suns atm and need to know if anyone else got that one hero op about Danny Ketch coz i can find no evidence it exists and I'm starting to wonder if I made it up lmao

[dreamdripdistance]

doodle of lynne ghost trick!

[moon-lords-lower-body]

Ive been looking into like, finding a way too hook up my computer to display on an old crt tv i found just lying around the house for a while now, but i didnt rly have the space or idk. Total drive to actually get the thing i need UNTIL TODAY (last night but whtever)

Its a novel thing and im sure theres people who like. First Actually played terraria on one of these back in the day (i know my family still was using primarily crt tvs back in 2013 when it was released on consoles, but i never played it on one cuz i only had a wii lol) but goddamn it made me so happy. It was so much less painful than i expected too it worked just how i hoped it would

More pics (screenshots from a video i took of the screen actually but)

[whomst-art-thou-whomst-whomst]

Texts from The Lost Tomb, part 3

I didn’t mean for this to stray into angst but like the lack of updates with Li Cu in LTR?? I had to do it to em.

Wushanju Crew Chat, 11:05pm

Li Cu: what’s up losers I’m outside

Li Cu: someone come on and open the damn door

Wang Meng: Language:(

Li Cu: fine, someone come on and open the damn door please

Snake Eyes Chat, 7:00am

Wu Xie: hey are you awake? Sorry I missed you coming in:) was finishing up some work. How was the end of your first semester? Did that geology paper go well? Did the food budget work out or do you need some extra money next semester?

Li Cu: yeah about your work

Li Cu: heard a little rumor

Li Cu: about you going through some stuff during ur recent trip

Li Cu: some stuff you maybe forgot to mention

Li Cu: and you told me we gotta check in with stuff, so this is me checking in, okay

Wu Xie: oh? What stuff?

Li Cu: idk just like

Li Cu: THE STUFF WITH YOU ALMOST FUCKING DYING FOR FUCKING MONTHS AND THE WAREHOUSE SHIT AND ERJING AND PEOPLE HURT YOU AND WHAT THE FUCK IS A THUNDER CITY AND NOONE FUCKING CALLED ME ABT THOSE PARTS ONCE

Wu Xie: oh. That stuff.

Li Cu: yeah asshat I’m in the kitchen whenever you’re ready to explain your fucking bullshit. Also you’re out of milk wtf how am I supposed to make breakfast here

Main Chat, 11:14am

Wu Xie: okay so it’s possible I fucked up a little bit.

Wang Pangzi: THERES JUST SO MUCH YOU COULD BE REFERRING TO I DONT KNOW WHERE TO START

Zhang Qiling: What’s wrong?

Honorary Wu Chat, 11:30am

Wang Pangzi: KID IM SO SORRY THAT PUNK IS A TRAINWRECK BUT YOU KNEW THAT

Wang Meng: Welcome home, Li Cu <3 not much has changed, ultimately.

Wang Pangzi: IT DIDNT EVEN OCCUR TO ME THAT HE WOULDNT TELL YOU EVERYTHING ABOUT IT ONCE THE REST OF US FIGURED IT OUT

WAIT HOW DID YOU FIND OUT

Li Cu: it’s okay. not your fault, uncle. Doesn’t matter how I found out. Wait wait hold on what do you mean “the rest of us figured it out” who figured it out

Wang Pangzi: SAY HELLO LIU SANG

Liu Sang: …hello.

Wang Pangzi: SAY MORE THAN THAT.

Liu Sang: uh…so you’re Wu Xie’s protégé, huh?

Li Cu: oh well howdy there homewrecker

Liu Sang: Excuse me??

Zhang Qiling: I think someone on the roof is calling me and I should go find out.

Wang Meng: I would also very much like to be removed from this conversation.

Wang Pangzi: AHAHAHAHA KIDDO IVE MISSED YOU

Li Cu: all I’m saying is aren’t you the little creep who’s obsessed with Xiao Ge

Liu Sang: ???

Zhang Qiling: Li Cu is referring to a brief period of irrational thought on Wu Xie’s part, where he mistakenly believed you to be a threat to our relationship.

Liu Sang: what do you mean a threat??

Wang Pangzi: WHAT DO YOU MEAN TIANZHEN HAD “A BRIEF PERIOD OF IRRATIONAL THOUGHT”

YOUVE MET YOUR HUSBAND RIGHT

Wang Meng: can you please take me off this chat.

Liu Sang: Wait, so Wu Xie told you about me, but…reading between the lines, he didn’t mention the cancer or anything bad that happened? Oh yikes.

Li Cu: don’t change the subject “Liu Sang”

if that is your real name

Like yeah you’re right abt it but still

just saying

heard you got good ears but I’ve got snake powers

kinda

so like no more funny business okay you superhearing harlot

Wang Meng: LANGUAGE, LI CU. IN THIS HOUSE WE SHOW GOOD MANNERS.

Wang Pangzi: LMAO OH DO WE NOW

Zhang Qiling: Li Cu, this is all unnecessary and childish. Please apologize.

Li Cu: you say that now bruh but apparently you weren’t complaining when he was all “idol this” and “idol that”

oh and hey Wang Meng while we’re here can I show you my business class grade report later bc Wu Xie is all “what matters is that you learned and enjoyed the experience” blah blah all eat pray love you know how he gets and I want to actually discuss areas to improve so that when I take over this joint I do better than Wu Xie? Tho that shouldnt be hard lol

Wang Meng: hurtful but accurate. I’ll bring my best red pen:)

Liu Sang: oh my god. I’m too jetlagged to keep up with any of this.

Wang Pangzi: BEST. DAY. EVER. IM SCREENSHOTTING THIS FOR HEI XIAZI.

Not A Homewrecker Chat, 11:52am

Liu Sang: Okay, we started off on the wrong foot.

Li Cu: I agree let’s start over

Start with how your little prank game almost got ppl killed

Liu Sang: And I seriously regret that. But we moved past that.

Wow, he seriously skipped over so much bullshit but didn’t skimp on mine, huh.

Li Cu: AHA so you ADMIT IT

Liu Sang: I’d like to think I’ve grown since then. That I’ve come to see Xiao Ge as a person and mentor, rather than an idol. I count Pangzi and Wu Xie as my close friends. I’m going to be staying here with them right now, I hope you can be okay with that.

Li Cu: see in my head you were going to be a lot less mature about it and I had a bunch of great follow-up insults planned

Liu Sang: I figured. I’d like us to be friends, though. Or at least not enemies.

Li Cu: okay but only bc you don’t know me yet so you won’t judge too much for this and I need to get this out to somebody I’ve been thinking about it for hours and my friends are still in finals and I’m stressing a little bit maybe

Liu Sang: ?

Li Cu: I yelled at dad

*Wu Xie sorry autocorrect

Liu Sang: …uh huh.

Li Cu: I yelled at him earlier. for keeping all that stuff from me. He started crying

Liu Sang: Wu Xie has been pretty emotional since we got back. Not necessarily your fault.

Li Cu: I made him cry right there at the kitchen sink and it felt like maybe the worst thing I’ve ever done

Snake venom and stabbings, no tears

Me saying I wouldn’t have gone to his funeral, all tears

Which I know was shitty to say but I was really mad

Liu Sang: If it’s any consolation, I think Wu Xie can understand the concept of being led by his emotions to make bad decisions…better than most people.

Li Cu: Xiao Ge came in then and looked weird

Like weirder than usual

Like he didn’t know which of us to be more mad at

Liu Sang: A common problem for the iron triangle, I understand.

Li Cu: I just ran out I didn’t have words right then and I feel stupid

but whenever they come back from their walk I’m gonna say sorry and stuff bc i could’ve come home to his funeral and I’m mad about it but also like. I could have come home to his funeral. I can get mean when I’m in a freakout mood. It’s not like I was scared or anything at all I don’t get scared really anymore ever but just like. Freaked out.

Liu Sang: He’s probably going to say sorry, too.

Li Cu: sorry I called you a homewrecker. Didn’t mean to slut-shame either

Liu Sang: I admit that after the initial shock, it was pretty funny. Super hearing harlot, it should be on my business card;)

Li Cu: this situation with Wu Xie is weird but kinda good ya know. And I have these freakouts sometimes that something maybe bad could happen to this situation. So consider this a shovel talk. But like, also not a shovel talk at the same time.

also I appreciate you saving his life and whatnot

Liu Sang: Noted. Now. Coffee?

Li Cu: sounds sick.

Be in the kitchen in 10. You can pick out what we watch for the household tv show tonight. no way is Wu Xie choosing some dry documentary about gravestone rubbings again. Pangzi just watches real housewives reruns and Xiao Ge won’t watch tv after he caught the last half hour of A Walk To Remember. Also i need my phone now to send some $ to Hei Xiazi since I owe him for…providing some intel

Liu Sang: Not even surprised.

[neomedievalistbr]

so yeah youre totally right it IS one of the games ever made!!!

the premise of the plot is that you wake up hangover ass naked, legendarily hangover and comin down from a high, to a trashed apartment with no memory of who you are or wtf is goin on. then you get told youre a cop, then you get told theres a guy that's been hanged rotting behind the shitty motel you've stayed at, and then a guy who claims to be your partner on the case (lieutenant kitsuragi aka The best character) informs you that youve got to find the murderer.

the universe is.... like a mirror of ours? the continents (isolas) have their own countries and histories, which is explored in depth by the game, and some of the quests. i can't really describe it, but its a completely believable world (im not even gonna call it a fictional world, THATS how good it is) with very well developed geography lore and mythology. The world is shrinking and there are cryptids to be hunted and theres a bitter old man in the square who fought against the revolutionaries, and the union fights against a corporate, and theres is something deeply wrong with the kids, and a man was hanged behind your hostel to keep in mind, the game is as much a game a political and philosophical manifesto. a LOT of interactions youll have with the world and the characters that are esoteric discussions about politics and the meaning of life and existence and how the revolution in revachol (the capitol of the world) and martinaise affected the people and their socioeconomic situation.

as to the game itself, its an rpg, where you have 24 skills that you can level, and you interact with the world mainly through various active and passive checks. so its partially based on luck, but to every problem, riddle or obstacle you encounter on your murder investigation there are a metric ton of ways to solve it (i have 130h in that game and i just learned recently that during one of the major plot events things can go south in a very specific way and you gain a new companion. for example) what i wanna say is, the game is absolutely massive and very branching in story elements but also dialogue! a Lot of what you do and say has influence on your character and his future, after you solve (or don't solve) the case

apropos dialogue. this is as much a game as a book too (devs say its a million words. of course you cant encounter alllll the dialogue in one playthrough but. yanno), BUT with the new patch its ALL fully voiced now, and on god the performances and accents and the speaking styles of the main/supporting/side or just throwaway characters are SO varied and distinct, its a pleasure to listen to! moreover, the skills i mentioned earlier arent just numbers. those are characters almost as much as any other, giving helpful advice and unlocking dialogue options, all the while talking and bickering among each other in your head (volition and encyclopedia my beloveds). roughly half of the 1 million words are them talking to you. in your head.

and did i mention literally everything looks GORGEOUSLY handpainted and textured? the visuals of the game, especially the portraits and some illustrations are breathtaking! genuinely the story and the art and the voices and the long winded but fascinating polit-philosophical tangents and discussions, its a masterfully crafted package, i literally could not gush more about it, and i barely scratches the surface

and well, if that doesnt convince you... uh you can be a commie superstar and a part of the homosexual underground with a fucked up kid on the leash and start a night club in a church. with a programmer lady who's trying to find out wtf is going on with the world, and thats just ONE way the story can go!

sorry for not answering this earlier, i was almost dying here but now im a little better

i have to say, this all looks really interesting, and ive seen some of screenshots of it, it looks very beautiful. unfortunately, its 150 reais (27 dollars) on console and 75 reais (13 dollars) on steam, and my pc SUCKS, so i cant buy it on steam AND its costy on console, so im gonna have to wait till its on sale :/

[autistic-victor-frankenstein]

If you are still doing the ask thing: Maybe Victor?

Favourite thing about them: I went on and on abt this before but I love talking about it.. also I'm gonna mention multiple things bc I'm a loser who loves this idiot too much to stay on just one

I think its just how gentle and timid of a guy he comes off,which i don't see people talk abt much. Maybe its just me but he seems to be this very mellow polite guy when he's not worked up. Even walton(though walton has bias) describes how gentle and polite he is,and how he passionately helps Walton out teaching him academics. (Which he also does w Ernest, and tried w eliza he likes to share his knowledge)

And also,again,how passionately invested and fascinated he gets ,even if its his doom i think that more stems from the pressure he recieved and longing to meet the expectations of his family and professors. And sort of overworking himself to prove himself. He seems to have like, a thrist for knowledge and how the world works and that contrasts with a lot of characters who live more in the moment. Hes overall just. Someone I find is oddly relatable? I sympathize with even his flaws,its fascinating to see like,someone who obviously very deeply cares for the people around him,but falls short in his connection with them in favour of his pursuits which may or may not stem from his want of their approval. And acting on emotion in the moment and not realizing til its too late.

Least favourite thing about him:

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH u already know what I'm gonna say. I mentioned it like a post before,but theres that disgusting quote thats specifically in the 1831 version and its burned in my mind "every praise placed upon her i recieved as if to a possession of my own,no words can describe my relation to her,my more then sister,til death she was to be mine only" Its very period typical given its the 1700s and sort of expected granted how much Elizabeth was presented to him by his parents as his sole companion and a "gift". But its like a personal jab in the gut when I see it. And while I don't go by the interpretation that Victor and Elizabeth were truly interested in eachother and he was motivated mainly by fate and Caroline,its still undeniably gross and shows that he does have that misogynistic view that women can be regarded as ur own.

Favourite line: that one where hes contemplating death sort of in regards to Henry ,like "and where is this man now? With all his thoughts and ideas and love? Is he gone forever? No! He consoles his unhappy friend"(not an exact quote my memory isn't that precise rip) but firstly I find it very moving just how he talks abt Henry so caring. And it brings up an interesting thought. When people die,especially those we care about. What happens to all those wonderful thoughts and ideas and personality we know them for? Is their entire being just wiped from existence once they fall into nothing? Or do they live on either in memory and/or by afterlife?

brOTP:

He and his siblings seem to have very good relationships. Other than *that* icky icky line mentioned earlier he seems to have a very good relationship w Elizabeth,(I do NOT see it romantically good) ite mentioned how when Victor had a thirst for knowledge and Elizabeth had this admiration for the simple beauty of things,and this sort of difference brings them closer. They sort of grew up together and literally at one point only really knew eachother,so I imagine they are close and victor trusts to tell her a lot of stuff and vice versa. Ernest was mentioned to be his "star pupil". He likes to share his knowledge w em and he looks up to him for awhile. I think they both share an admiration for things like nature,though i think Victor would ramble Ernests ear off abt how it works. William isn't mentioned much but I reckon victors always there to answer his nagging questions like in the musical

OTP: u already know its Waltonstein and Clervalstein. Talked abt them a lot in two other posts already but- Walton and victor are so similar and lonely and I AaA. And Clerval and Victor have such a starking contrast that works so well and they care.so deeply abt eachother.

nOTP: Elizabeth and Victor. I live in utter ignorant denial everyday of its existence. Easy to make sense of why

Random Headcanon: my favorite headcsnon I've made of him is that he's an excellent artist and doodles to calm himself down,he also taught ernest how to draw.

Song i associate w them: a lot but a new one is Daniel Johnstons Story of An Artist. Im gonna go in more detail when I post my playlist update tho.

Listen up and I'll tell a story

About an artist growing old

Some would try for fame and glory

Others aren't so bold

Everyone and friends and family

Saying, "hey, get a job

Why do you only do that only?

Why are you so odd?"

"We don't really like what you do

We don't think anyone ever will

It's a problem that you have

And this problem's made you ill"

Basically tho I feel like its Victor sort of talking abt himself and how critical his family (in particular Alphonse)seem to be critical of his commitments and interests?

Unpopular Opinion: i don't think he's the one true evil in the story,no one is,and i actually find him loveable and relatable even if he's a tragically flawed character. Which is relatively unpopular on its own but is starting to be otherwise i noticed.

Favourite picture of him:

I like how this doodle came out? Yes he's stimming. Yes I'm projecting.

[ID: A screenshot of a sketch of Victor Frankenstein fidgeting his hands together,he has curly hair ,glasses,and is smiling/End ID]

[two-calicos-in-a-trenchcoat]

CW: transphobia, homophobia. Also pretty long and I'm on mobile so I cant put a read more thing on it.

Ok so this is kind of a personal post so if you don't wanna hear about some of my personal drama, just scroll along. But I feel like I need to get this shit on record somewhere since I don't have the screenshots of the texts this is concerning anymore.

So a little over a year ago, I told the person who'd been my best friend, we'll call her E, since I was about 9 that I didnt want to be friends with her anymore. More on that later.

Back in senior year of high school I started thinking I might be Bi. I brought this up to E and she was super dismissive right off that bat. Saying that I wasnt, sounding like she was trying to console me. Like being Bi was this awful thing that I needed to worry about.

Well fast forward about a year and a half and I went up to my college with her so I could do new student orientation since I was starting the next semester. This is when the fact that I was Bi sort of smacked me in the face because the girl doing my orientation was super hot. I immediately knew I wouldnt be telling E that.

Fast forward to march of 2017. Its spring break. I've reconnected with my high school friends. I've never felt the need to hide my sexuality from them and they were instantly nothing but supportive of me. We never really hung out outside of school back in high school (or in elementary school either in Eric's case.) I start realizing that I've been having more fun with them then I ever did with E. And I finally had people to geek out about sciencey stuff with because E doesnt believe in science but eric LOVES science. It was nice.

Well a couple weeks after spring break me and Es mutual friend Althea asked me to drive her to the shelter so she could get her boyfriends cat fixed (it's way cheaper there then at the vet) and spent the day hanging out with her because she WAS planning to walk back there to pick up the cat afterwards and I was like "uh no. I'm not gonna make you walk across town by yourself." So I finally got to meet her boyfriend. Well that afternoon E came and picked me up to go up to the KU campus to get some more bus passes to go to our college in KC because our school was out of bus passes and didnt know when theyd get more.

Here's when I kinda started to realize I should maybe get out of this friendship. On the way to campus E starts telling me about her day at school and how "theres a girl that used to be a guy in one of my teachers other classes. It's making me uncomfortable."

Me: "that sounds like a you problem, E."

Now I knew she kind of thought that way already. She may not have said shit like that around our other friends but I had to hear it a lot. But because I'm pretty nonconfrontational and she was my only close friend outside of school and I was terrified of being alone, I usually just ignored it or politely debated her about it but generally just agreed to disagree. This was the first time I ever decided to speak up to her about it. Unfortunately I couldnt say much cuz her mom was the one driving us and i knew she agreed with everything E said.

But I'd been hanging out with althea and her boyfriend (who just so happened to be trans) all morning so suddenly having to hear E talk about how uncomfortable trans people make her got me more fired up than usual.

After this I slowly started distancing myself from her. I'd been hoping for a few years that she'd grow up and accept that not everyone is like her and try to be more open minded and accepting of people. Apparently that wasnt happening.

I stopped responding to her texts as often. I was trying to think of a way to talk to her about it but all my past friendships that fell apart, did so naturally and on a silent mutual agreement. So I was half hoping that would happen. Pretty stupid. Dont recommend. Just be straight with people.

After a few months of me only answering her texts every once in a while, she decided to start calling me multiple times a week. Often while I was at work. Sometimes from her mom and sisters phones when I wouldnt answer from her number. Idk y she thought that would work. She knows I hate talking on the phone.

I still didnt know what to say to her. I probably should've just told her I needed some space and she might've backed off for awhile so I could figure it out. But subway stressed me tf out. And i have no idea how you're supposed to end a relationship with your best friend of over 10 years.

(Also some of my other reasons for not wanting to be friends with her were specifically because of althea and I didnt want althea to get dragged into it. Unfortunately it ended up happening anyways. But basically back in highschool, if we were planning for all four of us (me, e, althea, and nikki) to get together, and nikki would have something come up, E would tell althea our get together was cancelled but would still have me come over and then made me promise not to say anything to althea about it.)

Around march or april of last year I blocked her family's numbers. This is when they started showing up at my work. The first time it happened I had a long ass line and was helping my coworker get through it before I left. Her sister came in by herself and just asked how I was doing but left pretty quick after she got her sandwich since it was busy. A couple more times they came and just parked outside like they were waiting for me to get off my shift but ended up leaving. The last time it happened E came in while I was there alone and I really didnt wanna have THAT conversation while i was at work alone and her crazy overprotective mom was out in the car waiting for her. So i made her sandwich very quickly so i could get her out as fast as I could.

I was planning on finally talking to her around the end of april but was still having trouble figuring out what to say.

Unfortunately any plan I had to let her down easy was sort of thrown out the window on may 13th of last year.

My mom texted me that morning about how she got a weird call from Es aunt. On her work phone. This is basically how that call went:

"IS THIS OLIVIAS MOM?????"

My mom, suddenly worried it's my work and something happened to me, "Yes?"

"Why isnt olivia talking to E anymore?"

"............I dont know."

So that kind of crossed a line for me. It really freaked my mom out.

I'm bad at articulating my thoughts when I'm mad or stressed out tho. So my friend Alice ended up writing out the text for me and I read through it to make sure it was ok.

Basically it said "I'm sorry but I dont think we can be friends anymore. The way you talk about the LGBT+ community makes me extremely uncomfortable, especially seeing as I am bisexual and have several friends in the community. The way you used to exclude althea from hanging out with us because you think shes annoying and then expect me to lie to her about it makes me uncomfortable. It was inappropriate to show up at my work unannounced to corner me into talking to you when I needed space. And it was even more inappropriate for your relatives to call my mom at work. I'm sorry I didnt say something sooner but I'm tired of pretending I'm ok with everything you've said over the years."

Then her mom texts me. I dont remember all of it but the gist was "you're a horrible person. E never judged you or anyone else (sure, miss "gay people are gross. I can see how conversion therapy might work." Totally isnt judging anyone and 100% cares about the lgbt+ community.) The only reason she did those things is because she was worried about you."

Then E left me a voicemail that I couldnt understand at all cuz she was crying and I felt terrible even tho everyone was telling me I shouldn't. Now I probably should've taken out the part about althea because it effectively threw my "not wanting to get althea involved" plan out the window. Honestly what really pissed me off about this next part both made me pissed at E but also at myself. E removed herself from the group chat I had with her, nikki, and althea. Blocked althea on Facebook and blocked her number. Didnt bother to explain why. I still feel terrible about this even tho althea has told me many times that it's fine and if she'd had to pick a side she wouldve picked mine. But I still felt like she at least deserved an explanation.

Alice told me to screenshot the texts. I almost didn't cuz I just wanted to forget about all this. But I did.

Anyways life moved on. Eric got a new phone and gave me his beat up galaxy s7. I stuck my s6 into a drawer and let it die and forgot about it.

Then on new years I got a call from althea. Not weird at all. She calls me every major holiday and birthday. Shes done this every year since junior year of high school.

Normal phone call at first. But then she says that her mom has been talking to E's mom. Apparently E's mom told altheas mom that I told E that althea hates her and thinks shes a terrible person and that's why E hasnt been talking to althea. Althea of course didnt believe that but wanted me know about it. This prompted me to try and charge up my old phone and get the screenshots off of it. I had it plugged in for a couple of days and it never turned back on. So that's out apparently.

That's also why I felt the need to get all of this written down. It may not be as great as having the actual screenshots but I'm bad at articulating my thoughts when confronted so I want to have something written down in case any of this comes up again.

[thicceon]

My Final Views on Pokémon Sword & Shield

There’s my Trainer! Isn’t she lovely? Anyways, this is a game I had so many strong feelings about, so I feel like jotting this down so I can give it a lil’ bit of closure.

The National Dex

This was perhaps the game’s greatest controversy leading up to release, so I want to give my thoughts on this first. I don’t mind the absence of the National Dex as long as it improves the game all around. I think it’s an okay decision moving forward. However, in these games you can tell half the existing Pokémon were cut just to save time in order to meet a holiday release, not to actually improve the game.

Presentation

The game makes a powerful first impression. The campaign’s strongest moments are probably the first couple hours. The narrative really caught my attention in the beginning and I felt SUPER hyped for my first few gym battles. The story’s climax is also pretty exciting. Game Freak did step up to the plate where it counted most, fortunately. 

Gameplay

The game is bare, short, and vapid. Halfway through it’s REALLY apparent how rushed the game is. You end up zooming through tiny routes that feel more like hallways than anything, and only have a couple Trainers in them. Most “cities” are smaller than the ones in Red & Blue. There is a town that’s literally just a corridor with a Pokémon Center and outdoor gym. This is also one of the coolest cities in the game, so seeing that wasted potential is very frustrating. 

The NPCs feel lifeless and have nothing interesting to say. I don’t see anyone else talking about this! The NPCs in BW, XY, and SM actually had some very entertaining dialogue once the tutorial stuff was out of the way, whether it was hilarious, straight-up weird, or genuinely thought-provoking and insightful. Everyone feels so...boring.

The Wild Area is...rough. It looks horrid. However, it’s still where I had the most fun in the game. It’s a great concept and I think Game Freak had a decent first go at creating an open world Pokémon experience. It wasn’t a particularly fun place to explore per se, but it was enthralling just to be able to control the camera and go where I please. Being able to see glimpses of other players here is also a wonderful addition, and something I’ve wanted from the series for a while. All in all, this area has a delightful MMO feel to it. Raids are also very fun! It’s great to have a co-op feature to play with friends, and the rewards and rarity of Gigantamax forms gives you a good reason to do them!

There are many wonderful QoL features in this game. Pokémon’s UI experience has never been smoother. There's one rather large caveat though, which is the online experience. It’s nonsensical not to include a friends list for easy trading and battling with your pals, and most of the time the stamp system just doesn’t work. It’s extremely frustrating, but sigh it’s workable.

I also must say that I hate the Exp. All being baked into the game. The feature itself is not the problem, it’s the fact that I have literally no way of turning it off, despite previous games allowing you to. This was borderline game ruining for me, as it killed any sense of satisfaction I felt leveling my Pokémon. It genuinely felt like the game was raising my Pokémon for me. Yeah, not for me.

The post-game is practically non-existent. There’s a lifeless husk that qualifies as a Battle Tower of sorts, but that’s all you’ll find, Champ. But of course, this has become standard for modern Pokémon games.

Graphics 

The Wild Area looks very shoddy, however, the rest of the game looks genuinely beautiful! The overworld textures are poor, and this is not a high-fidelity game by any means, but the general art direction and colors are gorgeous. The new Pokémon have nice models, and the older ones have greatly improved textures. The cities all look distinct and lovely. However, the pop-in of NPCs is very apparent and feels jarring. I can tolerate a little pop-in, but this draw distance is short enough where I will just about hit NPCs that appear before my eyes while biking.

Pokémon still lack battle animations that are even comparable to the Stadium games. _That’s _the type of stuff that should be improved by cutting Pokémon.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is decent and has its own flare. There are a few standout tracks, my favorite being the Slumbering Weald at the beginning. Gym battles have a great chanting effect that really adds to the atmosphere. My biggest complaints are that a few of the city themes are weak, and theres a real lack of route themes. 

Story

It feels rushed and empty, like everything else in the game. Conceptually I think it’s pretty strong, and as I said before, the climax is great. However, the story beats leading up to the climax are hilariously rushed and character’s actions begin to make zero sense. You also visit areas that were so obviously meant to be dungeons, but were condensed into single rooms. One significant scene didn’t even get a proper cutscene and was instead told via a slideshow that looked like screenshots of the models painted over. 

As for the characters, I’m extremely disappointed with how underdeveloped the main villain was, despite him having an intriguing, and surprisingly contemporary motive. I was also bummed out that Marnie, a rival advertised as being significant, had practically no story relevance whatsoever. Team Yell also was very underutilized. 

Hop was okay; decently developed. Bede is probably my favorite rival in the series since Cheren. I’m one of those people that’s been complaining for a decade about how we haven’t had a jerkass rival since Johto, and I’m very pleased to finally have one again. His arc is also solid, though a bit under-explored.

Leon was good. It’s rare for the series to tell us who the Champion we’re fighting is before it’s time to tango with them. It was nice to see him have a presence throughout the entire game, and it was interesting to see the types of responsibilities a Champion has, such as protecting the region and...signing endorsement deals.

Closing

Yeah, the game is okay. It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not a train wreck. Just okay. It’s very apparent that it was meant to be so much more though, and that’s frustrating. It feels like even 6 more months could’ve made a world of a difference. I don’t believe Game Freak is lazy. I don’t believe they’re incompetent. However, I do think the yearly release schedule of Pokémon games really hampers the potential of not only the games, but the developers.

But perhaps that’s just what we have to accept from such a juggernaut IP. Sword & Shield is about the quality you’d expect from most MCU movies, or those live-action Disney remakes. It’s solid, and it’s the standard fun you’d expect from the property, but it lacks any depth. 

But I can’t really bring myself to call it a step back for the series. It does its fair share of things better than XY and SM, even if if those two games are much fuller experiences. Right, this is a decent first real entry for the main series into the home console market. However, it’s still nothing compared to the sheer breadth of content available in the GBA or DS games.

But this game signified to me that the “golden age” of Pokémon is really gone for good. Sword & Shield was never concerned about living up to those titles though. Gaming has changed. Gamers have changed. And thus, Pokémon has changed. Most games aren’t intended to last you the better part of a year now, unless they’re a live multiplayer service with consistent updates.

As a veteran superfan that's been absolutely enamored by the franchise since before I could even read, I’ll admit that I find it a bit of a challenge to judge Pokémon games on their own individual merit, rather than against the now substantial catalogue that makes up the legacy of the series. Sword & Shield isn’t worried about living up to the past, it’s a step towards the future, clumsy as it may be. However, that future is still going to need some more substance to it before I can consider it a bright one.

[medievaldarlin]

I-

I just don’t get this Mary Pat plot. So immediately after finding out her husband was left for dead on the lawn she thought hmm lets conceal his death to continue to get checks and then let my poor grieving sons have no one to console in but each other because we have to keep Daddy’s death a secret and hold him in our freezer?? GOOD LORD WTF?? And whats even worse is the check is only $3,650 a month. 

Sorry for this wack screenshot but it makes no sense. And then for her to flip it say she killed Boomer and actually have the gall to go to Turner knowing damn well he was alive somewhere and could pop up at anytime. 

But ok lets say Rio Christopher never found the body and Turner found it, how would you explain them finding your first husbands decayed body??????

Theres a lot of things i don’t understand about this episode like Beth continuing to coddle weak ass Dean instead of going off on his ass for having a meltdown in front of your kids. I was so sure she was gonnna go off on him but no. I guess Dean is a sympathetic character now. And what did Ruby dumb ass think was gonna happen for paying Moesha daddy in counterfeit money. 

But this Mary Pat thing is just too much. It makes no sense. And Marion ol racist ass should have never been trusted. Boomer’s nasty ass still alive I ajebherervnfnernre

[daggerfall]

I hate that Skyrim didn’t really show the size difference between races. I’ve been playing eso non stop recently and my bosmer is absolutely tiny. Her face is at boob level with her altmer gf, Queen Ayrenn (she’s not complaining). She has to stand on a stool to kiss her. She’s so fricking small. Tiny elf full of rage (Also I love how since finding this tumblr community where everyone makes ocs I basically write fan fiction while I’m playing)

theres somewhat of a difference but its more noticeable with like, altmer compared to everyone else

velanna and erandur (altmer and dunmer)

if you’ve ever played oblivion and been subjected to male bosmer in that game,,,,, hoo boy are they tiny.

also i console commanded my imperial Teth to be altmer tall and theres some interesting moments

cicero. tiny man

teth and mercer

teth and mirabelle when teth was 1.10 tall (altmer are 1.08 iirc)

IN OTHER NEWS AS I SCOUR MY SCREENSHOTS

THE EBONY WARRIOR IS STILL TALLER???? WHAT THE FUCK

but yeah skyrim didnt do a great job at showing the differences in height between races 

[choicesyouplayandmore]

 Jake’s Relationship Development: Chapter 15 - Love Scene Pt.2 

Link to previous Chapters: I Chapter 1 I Chapter 2 I Chapter 3 I Chapter 4I Chapter 5 I Chapter 6 I Chapter 7I Chapter 8 I Chapter 9 I Chapter 10 and 11 I Chapter 12 I Chapter 13 I Chapter 14 - Love Scene Pt1 I 

Hi and welcome to my analysis of Chapter 15 - the epic finale! I don’t care if you’ve never read a single one of these analysis posts, or if you’ve never even read Chapter 14, this scene is very special, and I think any Jake stan would love to take the opportunity to revisit it. 

Anyways, let’s get into this “epic finale”. At the beginning of the Chapter, you and Jake have just had sex in your bedroom, when Varynn (Watcher) comes crashing in: 

(Scene above) Jake’s immediate reaction is to protect you, as if not caring about his personal safety. He loses his self-centred ruthless logic in battle when it comes to protecting you. 

(Scene above) Shit goes down, and basically, Jake sacrifices himself for you. He gets stabbed. 

(Scene above) Your instant reaction is to rush to his side. Jake acknowledges that he’s a dead man ( “Heh...that bad, huh?” ). The Jake that has gone to extreme lengths in order to avoid death simply accepts his fate, because after all, it was to save you. You cry, and Jake consoles you ( “Hey, none of that now...Don’t cry over a nobody like me. ), which is heearrrtbbreakkingg. Jake thinks he is a “nobody” compared to you, and saving you is the best thing he could ever do. In his last moments, Jake’s the one comforting you, being selfless to the very end. 

(Scene above) I swear I’m crying at this point. Jake thinks theres not much left for him in life, especially after all that he’s gone through, and he’ll loyally defend MC to the very end ( “And ain’t nobody...gonna...take that...from...). Jake spends his last moments trying to tell MC to live their life meaningfully, and forget him. Again, Jake’s a hero for love in the last moments in his life, a completely different guy from the man we met in Chapter 1. 

(Scene above) Just before this scene, you rip this strange necklace from Varynn’s (killed Jake) neck, and everything goes back to normal: “What can I say, Princess? You’ve got that effect on me.” Just to remind you, moments  before Varynn broke in you were teasing Jake about being emotionally vulnerable in front of you. You look at him strangely (supposedly in shock), and I would interpret this line : “I know it’s a cheesy line, but it ain’t that bad”, as Jake being nervous over how’d you react to his vulnerability, but trying to conceal it. 

(Scene above) Jake is startled by your tears. If you choose to ask him “Do you trust me?” (the other option, I checked is not that interesting), Jake will say “I guess you could say that”. The use of “I guess” suggests that Jake’s a bit reluctant to tell you this, and the happy emotion suggests that Jake’s lightheartedly making fun of himself here. “Is this a sex thing I haven’t hear of, or...” is a bit of a gem, never seen PB mention the word “sex” directly in a story, but I guess Jake would be the most appropriate person to say it in Choices universe! 

(Scene above) Anyways, you reflect on how much pain you felt when you almost lost Jake. Jake may not remember it, but you will. Next you hide from Varynn in the closet. Once he’s gone, you and Jake step outside. An emotional moment ensues - neither of you want to lose each other, especially after what you just did together. It would suck to lose someone so soon after falling in love (?). 

(Scene above) Jake kisses you for what he believes to be the last time. He doesn’t have much to say: “Be safe”, but of course, it means alot. He “kisses you on the forehead” instead of the mouth - traditionally, a kiss on the forehead is meant to be a kiss goodnight/goodbye - Jake thinks this is the end, that this is goodbye forever. Heartbreaking. 

Fortunately, this is not the end. You reunite with the group and battle the Watchers. The chapter ends with you about to storm out of the control room into the game room for the final battle. 

Thank you SO much for reading this, I really love this scene. Ch14 and Ch15 are probably the best scenes to analyze in the entire series. I do need to make you aware of one thing - I’m planning 2 bonus writings to release soon. One will be an essay about how PB has written Jake to be such a compelling character, and another will be a lighthearted piece about moments with Jake that you get from choosing unpopular options (some of them are very funny!). If you want one, or both, let me know and I will release it. I’ll see you tomorrow again for Chapter 16, which will contain a “recap” of Jake and MC’s entire relationship development, as well as news about Book 2 and Book 3.  (Screenshots from this channel)

[rabbitwrite]

Highschool AU! I.M

Highschool AU for the other members ;

Shownu / Wonho / Minhyuk / Kihyun / Hyungwon / Jooheon / I.M

Goes on business trips with his father, always comes back with souvenirs for his friends and anyone else who wants one/asks for one

Also brings cool stuff to show, will take 20 mins of class just to have a little show-and-tell session where he presents his stuff and talks about his experiences during the trips

His house is the designated hangout place for the Monsta X "squad"

Often has sleepovers with his friends, even on schooldays

Most impressive nerd collection ever

Aside from the biggest arrangement of video games, movies, and tv series, he also has tons of merch

Loaded with junk food and other treats that are considerably unhealthy

Tries to be the class clown

Rather immature and occasionally inappropriate

The one student who laughs very loudly, especially at the worst times

Also laughs for too long, and if he stops he'll probably laugh again later even if the funny thing happened like 15 minutes ago

Sits in the back of the room but still causes ruckus, if you hear a kid in the back yell out "OH MY GOD" it's Changkyun no doubt

Snickers when someone says something that can be interpreted "wrongly"

Always looks at people's answers or will straightforwardly ask for them

"Kihyun, what was the answer for question 14? ...Kihyun, hel-" "SHUT UP CHANGKYUN!"

Either buys his lunch or steals food from people, especially when they're not looking

"I swear I had like 10 chicken nuggets... CHANGKYUN"

Cheats the vending machine into giving him more than he paid for, and no one knows how he does it

Brings gadgets like his Nintendo DS/3DS or gameboy and plays them at every opportunity, will play them under his desk during class if he feels like it

The type of person who brings a console and small tv to school to play in the hallway, large corridor, or even overpass during a spare block

Tries to get on his teacher's good sides by complimenting them or being nice with comments such as "You're my favorite teacher" "This is my favorite class" "I'm so interested in what we're learning"

Even though he lives close to the school, he insists on riding his bike to school

The bike has a bunch of lights and streamers, as well as a little basket up front (like in the Fighter MV)

Never wears a helmet and will laugh hysterically if someone yells at him to put one on (he'll probably fall off his bike soon after he's told that)

His backpack would probably be something styled like a teddy bear or hamburger, but if he needs more space he has this backpack with cats and tacos that he probably bought in 2011

Pretty unorganized but knows exactly where everything is so long as no one tampers with his "whimsical order"

His binder looks like it's about to explode, and his backpack is usually hanging open much to Kihyun's horror

Knows secret shortcuts, escape routes, and any general knowledge that prevents him from getting caught or in trouble for the most part

Somehow updated on all the drama going around, he just keeps quiet about it

Except he'll lowkey gossip with Hyungwon and Kihyun

Also knows a lot of urban myths and likes to trick or scare freshmen

Writes in washroom stalls, but sometimes he'll feel bad and try to erase whatever he put

Has a confetti gun reserved for special occasions

Decorates people's lockers on their birthday

But for his friends (aka Monsta X members), he makes sure to make it extra special

Special as in a compilation of the ugliest pictures and screenshots he has of them taped over the locker door

Also stocks up on really ugly screenshots of his friends and will put them up around the school in weird places (corner of the wall, ceiling, stairs)

Probably has every person at school added on snapchat

Has a streak with everyone, probably screenshots everything and makes stickers of everything

Will make a HUGE deal out of streaks, hunts down people who lose their streak with him or need to snap him back before they lose it, begs for forgiveness if he's the one who lost the streak

Advertises his social media accounts by writing his usernames everywhere

Snapchat story is like 500+ seconds long daily

Does Instagram lives during class

"No Ms. Kim please don't take away my phone I'm vlogging... ok can you at least end it?"

His best subject is science, but his only problem is the experiments

"I got this," he would say with a wink as he completely ignores the lab demo. Later on in the experiment he'll probably mess up more than once, will probably get something on fire and/or gets chemicals on his clothing

Does really cringey stuff in the hallways such as whipping, dabbing

Says hi to everyone in the halls or in the classroom

If he says hi to someone and they don't hear / ignore him etc, he'll actually follow them until they say hi back

Has a mixtape but is a bit more lowkey about it, gets featured on other peoples mixtapes and does collabs though

Volleyball team, chess club, and debate team member

Hoseok encourages him to be less unfit and even offers to be his personal trainer, but Changkyun is like "please Stop"

Comfortable clothing! Oversized sweaters, jumpers, sweatpants, flannel

Always wears shoes that are unfit for rain so he screams every time he steps in a puddle

Winks at people who call him by his rapper name I.M, smiles at people who call him Changkyun

But if someone calls him Daniel he'll literally stop what he's doing, turn towards them in a heartbeat, stare at them with wide eyes and will be like "excuse me WHAT"

Occasionally says "I.M WHAT I AM MAN!" really loudly, especially if someone calls him I.M

Whenever there's a substitute teacher, they always make the mistake of calling him Daniel (his name on the attendance is "Lim, Daniel Changkyun") and he'd respond like "ITS CHANGKYUN BUT YOU CAN CALL ME I.M IF YOU WANT. THERES NO DANIEL WHO IS HE?"