#they r such similar games at this point that I do think it's fair to compare them

[forgetful-storyteller]

Okay but. What is tgcs long term goal. Because I'm really starting to think they don't have one,, everything they do seems to be building them up to a point where no one wants to play sky anymore?? Everything they do feels like massive self sabotage? It just feels too stupid on their part for it to be a coincidence and yet. It probably is. And sky is going to keep succeeding as a game because no matter what happens and no matter what they do, people only talk about it for a few days and then go back to playing like normal. It's like they know that no one will actually do anything to stop them,, they know no amount of people will stop playing "just because" of whatever the reason of the week is. They can just keep getting worse and worse and worse

[velvetvexations]

This is an edited version of something I posted to r/DaystromInstitute, a Star Trek sub. I'm proud of it and, having deleted my account, want to preserve it here.

Dukat is a fantastic example of Narcissitic Personality Disorder

I'm an individual with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. It's very, extremely frustrating to see people claim everyone from Dolores Umbridge to Donald Trump also have NPD because they're like, just the worst. NPD doesn't mean "selfish", or "controlling", or even "self-absorbed", and certainly is not a synonym for abusive, despite all the self-help books that say sniping a narcissist who came within eight hundred yards of you is legally permissible under Stand Your Ground laws.

You might expect me to not be so appreciative of Dukat, who is, after all, a pretty horrible person. I actually have a worse opinion of Dukat's supposed nobility than many, as fairly often the fandom prefers to back the idea that he really was a misguided anti-villain who only succumbed to devil-worshipping when the writers assassinated his character.

Well, unfortunately, it's harder to recognize authentic NPD traits in heroes, and "recognize" is a term I use loosely, since most writers certainly didn't have NPD in mind at all. Nonetheless, I love Dukat because he exemplifies a nuanced, if not overly flattering, portrayal of a personality disorder that actual human beings deal with, and 99% of the time is just flattened into a thing you call people you don't like.

As a child, one thing that did a lot to mitigate the more negative social aspects of NPD was having it imprinted on my brain by anime and video games that being a Hero and as good as possible was the best thing to be. While praise and attention in general does scratch a powerful itch too, once my child-self internalized the values of the media I consumed - helped along by also being autistic - the standard for which I judged myself was set. I would literally cry if I accidentally picked up dark side points in a Star Wars game.

I think Dukat went through a similar process. Not all narcissists cling to a model centering morality, but Dukat, for one reason or another, did. He sincerely believes everything he does is altruistic and fair, and more than that, he wants to be altruistic and fair, having misidentified the origin of his cravings.

Another thing that helped me a lot growing up was a book called The Screwtape Letters. If you're unfamiliar, it's by CS Lewis and is presented as a series of letters from a high-ranked demon to his nephew, who works as essentially a shoulder devil attempting to guide his patient into sin and disconnection from God. I feel like Lewis would probably be annoyed with me not getting anything properly Christian out of it, but it is an amazing manual for teaching you how to examine your own thinking and subconscious impulses. It started me down a path of being very self-aware, which made it easier to navigate NPD, because I'm incapable of tolerating the flaws in my internal logic that I'm able to catch. If I may be excused for saying so, I think I do a decent job on that count, with the downside that I'm often far too hyper-critical and it results in regular anxiety.

But Dukat never learned that skill. As a result, his attempted nobility clashes with his other competing impulses, and all his actions are reinforced, rather than rejected, by his conscious, which his NPD assures him is being followed to the letter. As Lewis said:

The baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity at some point may be sated; and since he dimly knows he is doing wrong he may possibly repent. But the Inquisitor who mistakes his own cruelty and lust of power and fear for the voice of Heaven will torment us infinitely more because he torments us with the approval of his own conscience and his better impulses appear to him as temptations.

Dukat's inner struggle is fueled by the need to be a revered benefactor while also having served at the head of the bastard offspring of the Iraq War and Holocaust. His solution at the time was to make it more like the Second Boer War, the conflict that originally popularized the term "concentration camp" despite the fact that those concentration camps weren't even meant to eliminate the thousands that were killed in them.

DUKAT: So in my first official act as Prefect, I ordered all labour camp commanders to reduce their output quotas by fifty percent. Then I reorganized the camps themselves. Child labour was abolished. Medical care was improved. Food rations were increased. At the end of one month of my administration, the death rate had dropped by twenty percent. Now how did the Bajorans react to all this? On my one month anniversary they blew up an orbital dry-dock, killing over two hundred Cardassian soldiers and workers. "KIRA": We didn't want a reconciliation. We wanted to destroy you. DUKAT: So I had to order a response. But even then it was a carefully tempered one. I ordered two hundred suspected members of the Resistance rounded up and executed. Two hundred lives for two hundred lives. That's justice, not malevolence. Justice.

Throughout the episode the Kira hallucination embodies the disrespected and ingratitude he feels he gets for being "nice". Cardassian values, attitudes, and objectives came first. Dukat, however, was smart enough to understand some of what was being done to Bajor was wrong, but not quite able to tear himself away from his own identity as a Cardassian and the protagonist of the universe. That was just too much to totally upend, as would be required to fully comprehend the reality of the situation.

So he tries, in his own way. Because he wants to be a good guy, the hero, the main character, and he truly believes that he is. Unfortunately, it remains pointed solidly in the direction of his own ego. He's unable to recognize that to err is Cardassian, but repentance divine, because he's already invested in so much. His identity as a Cardassian, his own past actions, his impulsive grabs for power, and being convinced he's such a good man shields him from thinking critically because it would necessarily mean criticizing himself. Dukat can only truly appreciate that he's made mistakes when it makes him feel like he's being the bigger man willing to compromise and graciously admit fault, but he was in charge of the Occupation for twenty years. It's hard to walk back from that.

And I should know, because even understanding I'm the one at fault, it's pulling teeth to force myself through accepting I did wrong, much less admitting it to someone else. I don't want to be someone who fucked up, no matter how minor. Pulling teeth. Quite a lot of NPD can be described that way, in fact. While half-brained wannabee psychologists present narcissists as being sociopathic manipulators who skillfully terrorize those around them, most of NPD is horrible, chest-thumping anxiety. It's not fun at all to want to break my controller in half every single time I get got in a game of Splatoon, even when the round is far from over.

Most Cardassians involved with the Occupation seemed to be either outright monsters or falling under the "banality of evil", like Damar. They considered the Bajorans as, at best, a bunch of backwards hicks who needed to shut up and listen to their betters. Dukat, though, fetishized Bajor and the Bajorans themselves, as quite creepily seen in his string of Bajoran lovers and his dogged pursuit of Kira throughout the show (which horrifically took Nana Visitor putting her foot down to keep from being canon!). He pursed his tenure as head of the Occupation with the zeal of someone who truly wanted his subjects to see he was doing all this for their own good.

The Dominion and most other Cardassians don't give a fuck if your subjects like you except insofar as it's convenient and makes them less likely to rebel. That's the Dominion's whole thing, they just want control, and if the carrot doesn't work they'll shrug and without a hint of emotion give you the stick. It doesn't matter to them how they're in charge as long as they are. When Dukat makes his point about having only executed two-hundred (suspected!) members of the Resistance, the Weyoun hallucination comments:

"WEYOUN": The Dominion would never have been so generous.

It's telling that Dukat is fixated on the contrast between him and the people he allied with enough for it to show up in his breakdown. Just a little before that, Dukat says:

DUKAT: Major Kira knows full well I made every effort to heal the wounds between Cardassia and Bajor. Since the very beginning it was my intention to rectify the mistakes of the past and begin a new chapter in our relations.

Dukat is capable of saying, vaguely, abstractly, "mistakes were made", but it infuriates and honestly baffles him that it's not enough for him to be recognized as the most brilliant and loving extraterrestrial patriarch the Bajorans could ever wish for. In an earlier episode, he has this conversation with (the real) Weyoun:

WEYOUN: If you ask me, the key to holding the Federation is Earth. If there's going to be an organized resistance against us, its birthplace will be there. DUKAT: You could be right. WEYOUN: Then our first step is be to eradicate its population. It's the only way. DUKAT: You can't do that. WEYOUN: Why not? DUKAT: Because! A true victory is to make your enemy see they were wrong to oppose you in the first place. To force them to acknowledge your greatness. WEYOUN: Then you kill them? DUKAT: Only if it's necessary. WEYOUN: I had no idea. DUKAT: Perhaps the biggest disappointment in my life is that the Bajoran people still refuse to appreciate how lucky they were to have me as their liberator. I protected them in so many ways, cared for them as if they were my own children. But to this day, is there a single statue of me on Bajor? WEYOUN: I would guess not. DUKAT: And you'd be right. Take Captain Sisko, an otherwise intelligent, perceptive man. Even he refuses to grant me the respect I deserve.

Weyoun ends the scene laughing at Dukat. Because he was just advocating they exterminate all life on Earth, and yet he's amazed, truly stunned by how crackers Dukat is. The sheer depths of Dukat's psychological need for validation is as clinically fascinating to Weyoun as it is to the audience.

As it is to me, anyway. Like Narcissus and his pool, I peer into Dukat and see myself. Unsurprisingly, he's one of my favorite characters.

[chumpovodir]

i don't have it in me at the moment to make a long, detailed rant about this but r/castlevania's insistence that games!Isaac is a lesser character for being a "self-harm obsessed, shallow BDSM playboy that only serves as an inciting incident" compared to N!Isaac?

first of all, i think y'all are letting anime stereotypes from the early 2000s massively color your opinion and it's really obvious you didn't bother looking at his character any deeper than that. edit: i'm putting this under a cut because it was actually, in hindsight, a pretty long post lmao

"BDSM playboy"? my man was sitting in the ruins of his home for 3 goddamn years letting the clothes rot off his back, in no condition to care about his appearance and with precious little materials to forge something new. you could also argue that his skimpy look is a mark of his arrogance (already well-established by his fight with Hector previously, and feeling so cocksure he sends his Devil away and even arms Hector with a sword, confident he could easily take him in a fair fight), going into battle barely clothed as a show of faith in his own skill after playing Hector like a fiddle. or even as a radical show of his devotion, the Devil Forgemasters crest embedded in his skin for the world to see; the fact that the physical marks of his position may fade away, but it goes so much deeper than that - it's seared into his very flesh, and will only die when he and his corporeal form finally leave this earth. also, it just speaks to a really shallow understanding of BDSM in general to associate "skimpy strappy outfit = kinky"

"self-harm obsessed"? first of all, where is ANYONE getting this notion from the game itself?? (considering there's a very low chance these people even know about the mangas) there is literally no scene in-game where he self-harms - further proof people are grafting a grab bag of stereotyped character traits onto him when the canon doesn't support it. if this is about his tattoos, i consider this a bit of a reach, but then i don't regularly associate tattoos with masochism.

there is of course this one, singular panel from Prelude to Revenge where we see him slitting his wrists:

but the context here makes it clear: 1) he's doing this as a morbid way to mark the passage of time and 2) most likely in response to the sheer contrast between him and Hector's respective situations - how would you feel seeing the guy who was at least partially responsible for your predicament living a happy life, while you're forced to live in the abandoned ruins of your home, constantly surrounded by all that you've lost? this is an act being shown when he's at his very lowest.

and this is the only instance we actually see - there is no other official material that implies this is something he does on the regular, although it's a popular headcanon considering the general fandom consensus that he most likely had a very rough start to life.

shitting on him for being "merely an inciting incident"? i don't even know what to say to this - do you understand how characters and stories work...? the narrative lives and dies on the push and pull of characters taking actions and other characters responding!

but it sure is curious (read: hypocritical) that this is a negative in these people's eyes when you point out the similarities between Lisa's and Rosaly's deaths.

sure, there is a bigger story about the cruelty of humanity as a whole that Lisa was executed, unprompted while Rosaly's execution was deliberately manipulated by Isaac - but that also adds to Isaac's character, the fact that both he and his younger sister were persecuted for being bonafide magic practitioners, and the sheer hypocrisy of and underhandedness of knowing that pain firsthand, and choosing to inflict it on an innocent woman anyway. it really shows how much his morals, if he ever had any, has truly eroded to the point he only cares about causing maximum damage.

i don't even want to waste my words on the ways N!Isaac is a worse character, comparatively, if you actually take into account the themes of the Devil Forgemasters' respective stories as presented in the games. but it does chap my asshole that, from this angle, both N!Isaac and N!Hector end up for the worse since now their stories are completely decoupled and it ruins the symbolism and duality that their game counterparts had.

[blvckentropy]

DS FINALE | 3/3

*Richie takes a deep breath*

Richie: Hello ladies

All: Hello

Richie: I want to start out by saying you all look absolutely stunning

All: Thank you!

Kierra: But why we all here?

Thalia: Wasn't there a winner?

Richie: Yes....this decision took a toll on me, so much I almost ran from it. But knew that wouldn't be fair to either of you

Richie: I can't make this decision w/o getting this off my chest

Richie: Kierra, you are amazing inside and out. I really enjoy spending my time w/ you especially. Any sim would be lucky to have you in their life and I'm lucky to have you apart of mines

Thalia, I felt a connection between us the moment I saw you. You took my breath away with your beauty, I still have trouble talking to you without getting sidetracked

Andrea, even though you're not on my team. Something about us makes sense. I felt like I was betraying my brother in some way, but he made it clear to me today that he wants the best for me. And I think that's you

Richie: Unfortunately, I can only pick one you. But can't deny what my heart wants. This girl feels right in every type of way. The longer I'm around her, the more I see my future with her. And hope the feeling mutual...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Richie: Andrea, I may stumble over sweet phrases, yet my heart sings only for you. Tell me your heart beats in time with mine, for I cherish the moment I fell under your spell

Andrea: Me? OMG are you for real?!

Richie: Yes, I am but I hope there's no hard feelings ladies. I feel guilty

Kierra: Don't be, though it hurts a little, I seen the way you two look at each other. This was a great experience. I can't wait to have something similar

Thalia: Same. I think at some point it was clear that connection was mostly physical, from both parties but I don't regret a moment. Congrats to you two

Richie: Thank you, I appreciate and cherish the time we had as well. I wish the best of luck to you both.

He holds out his hand towards Andrea

Richie: What you say Andrea, do you and Ms. Tilly want to spend forever together?

Andrea: *laugh* I thought you never ask sweet cheeks

---------------------------------------------------------

Andrea: How long you practiced that speech handsome?

Richie: You hate it?

Andrea: Never but I have something else on my mind

She grabs his face for a long smooch

@foxsimthings Thank you so much for Thalia. She a stunning sim and was a hoot to have. She kept me on my toes especially every time she interrupted the other sims 🤣 She was very delightful to have and I'm honor to have this experience w/ her 💛

@invisiblequeen Your girl came close and ngl I was rooting for Kierra from the beginning (no shade to the others). Unfortunately, when she caught Rich w/ Andrea, her bar took a hefty toll. But I loved every bit of her. She was definitely what you describe through and through because there was not moment she wasn't gardening and around those animals lol She may have not won the battle, but she won the house. I think I'm leaving it in good hands 💚

@havenroyals CHILEEEEEEEEE! this girl right here.... I literally have no words yet so much. She was a gem to tell you the truth. She and her hat (Ms. Tilly) had me on the ropes lmaooo I never smiled nor laughed so hard in my life. She really had me enjoying the game like gameplay wise. It's one thing, I thought she'd would hit it off with one of the boys but to have them both and a side piece! I don't think I could have written a better love triangle/throuple. You guys don't believe me when I say I really did nothing! She came in and made her own rules. I placed her R-bar on zero twice and she always managed to fill it halfway with Richie. It was sealed at the start, I tried to sway her, but she wasn't going. Anyways, thank you again and congrats! I think Richie got his hands full. *last bit is for Drea 💀*

[switch-writer]

The Fate of the Cards

A/N: AHHH. Okay, despite all the requests I gotta do, I THINK THIS IS A PERFECT PROJECT TO COME BACK ON. THIS IS MY PART IN A ART/WRITING TRADE WITH @giggly-toybox WHO IS A SWEETHEART. Genuinely give them a follow. BUT! They’re the biggest Basil Hawkins and X Drake fan around, and they deserve some fun shenanigans 😤 BUT THANK YOU FOR THE PATIENCE AND I APOLOGIZE IF ITS SHORT. And I hope you enjoy very much🫶🫶

Ah, yes, The Supernovas, otherwise known as the worst generation, were known to be… aggressive. Monstrous pirates of thieves and brutality… similar to the warlords in a weird way, except the worst generation weren’t Government dogs.

Not that most warlord’s did their jobs anyways… But that’s besides the point.

The point is that the supernovas were brutal pirates who wouldn’t team up for nothing. Not a chance. At least that’s what most would assume. Yet, here they were, Basil Hawkins, the blonde who happened to enjoy tarot card readings, and X Drake, the former marine who swapped sides and who’s since been a pirate.

These two were… reasonable enough to get together and make a strange sort of team despite differences. Although they argued a bit. Drake was more quiet, so was Hawkins… but Hawkins certainly didn’t hesitate to ask questions and came across as harsh. But didn’t most Captains? Especially since X Drake would give him the same attitude back.

“Relax, Hawkins.” X spoke with his usual calm, dead serious tone. While Hawkins typically had that same tone, Drake managed to get him worked up. Over what you may ask? “I refuse to believe that you won fair and square.” Basil accused harshly. This wasn’t what he predicted after all! It had to be cheating!

“Then keep not believing it. Doesn’t make it any less true.” The former Rear Admiral spoke with a careless tone, scoffing in slight disbelief. “Are you actually upset?” Hawkins shot a glare towards the man in response, making it clear he was upset.

“…Oh come on.” X spoke with a deadpan tone, but nodded slowly. “Lighten up, Hawkins, I don’t want to—“ He was cut short by the tarot reader tossing the poker cards of sorts at him.

Silence… a long… dreading… moment of silence.

“Basil Hawkins.”

“…If I had to assume, something tells me that was the wrong choice.” Hawkins spoke calmly, but his eyes showed uncertainty. Was this supposed to be what his previous reading was about?

Drake kept his cold stare as Hawkins slowly shifted his foot, ready to dash if the situation called for it.

“Do those cards tell you when to run? Because only a fool would sit here.” X Drake spoke.

“…Does that mean—“ “yes, it means run!” And suddenly, the zoan devil fruit user dashed forward, and if Hawkins didn’t go in slight shock, he would’ve squawked. However, he didn’t! Instead, he had let out a much more manly noise! Instead of a squawk, he gasped dramatically and then yelped like a dog as he stumbled backwards and began to run.

The long haired Blondie found himself rushing around a room, practically playing tag and using a structure for ‘protection’ so you can’t be tagged. Except this wasn’t tag, in fact, it was cat and mouse. And Basil had no clue what happened when the cat caught him, the mouse.

“You… idiot—! Woah—!” Hawkins spoke with a strong spike of frantic nature in his tone as Drake attempted to fool him by double backing around the couch. “Don’t be stupid—! Stop playing this game!” Basil spoke harshly, attempting to be intimidating and tough.

“You accused me of cheating, I don’t take it lightly. And that was before throwing cards at me.” “You had to cheat—!” The paramecia devil fruit user accused. Which the man who had reddish-brown hair inhaled, before giving a slight smile.

“Accuse me of it, and I’ll do it—!” He claimed, suddenly jumping over the couch, his cape/cloak flowing in the force and wind from his dash and jump, and he almost tackling Basil, wrapping his arms around him as they stumbled together, Hawkins almost fell down as Drake caught both him and the card reader, getting strength in his position and firm in his stance.

And they were stable.

And silent. Hawkins didn’t want to say a word. No. He couldn’t. Or else the reddish-brown haired man would strike—

Suddenly, out of the blue, the man began to feel giggles bubbling in his throat, a smile twitching on his face, his body even feeling that tingly feeling, causing him to squirm. “H-Hehey—!” Hawkins reflectively squirmed upon recognizing the feeling. A ticklish feeling caused by the ‘former’ marine’s fingers.

“Didn’t run well enough.” Drake claimed cleverly before his fingers spidered up ‘the magician’s’ sides and ribs, causing the man to panic and finally let out built up bubbly giggles.

“Y-You’re sohoho insuhufferable!” Hawkins scolds, attempting to remain tough despite it failing miserably. He was a bunch of giggles! And now that the giggle dam broke, it couldn’t stop.

But in response to his tough reply, X decided the best course of action was simple, his fingers teased and tapped across his ribs, occasionally making a stop to scribble between and on the sensitive nerves through there, causing a small squeak followed by soft giggling, and Basil squirming side to side, trying to get out of his grasp.

“Q-Quhuhuit it! Yohou’re a evil, awfuhuhul man—!” The insults kept flowing, and suddenly, Drake moved his hands, making them crawl up to his neck and spidering around his neck. Those feelings across Hawkins neck made him straighten up his hunched over posture and squeal, causing chuckles and a small soft laugh.

“Apologize.” Drake required in exchange for mercy.

However, the fellow pirate was quite stubborn! He refused, shaking his head and grabbing at the ‘X’ tattooed man’s hands in a strong attempt to win. “N-Nehever!” The man in the white wavy sleeved shirt stuck up his nose, showing strength…

Until the marine strikes right at his stomach, scribbling and wiggling his fingers across it, causing the almost electric sensations to spike. And within seconds, that brave face was a smiling one at the least, Hawkins laughing out as he slowly went to the floor, throwing his head back in laughter.

While he squealed, his actual laugh was deeper. Granted, it wasn’t as deep as his speaking voice, but it was still deeper than those girly and sweet squeals and squeaks that only a group of mice could hear.

Drake however was amused by it, his fingers moving quick and effectively, causing the man to squirm and curl up, practically rolling around.

“DRAKE—!” He called out, squeezing his eyes shut with a sweet smile, kicking his legs a little bit as he felt those fingers scribble and poke at his belly, causing more cackles and laughs. “PLEHEASE—!” The blondie softly spoke, his voice weak due to his breathless laughter.

“Hm.” Drake acknowledged, sitting on the man’s legs to prevent him from rushing off, but his fingers stopped. His hands pulled away as the man giggled breathlessly, his hair messily in his face.

“Y-You’re ehevil—!” “I could be worse.” The man reminds the giggling blonde pirate, who begrudgingly agreed. “…But I have no doubt you cheated.” Hawkins states, a wobbly smile upon his face.

…He was still on about this?

Admittedly… Drake wasn’t completely honest. His morals were honorable, but he may of… fibbed and happened to rig the cards in his favor. He was just surprised that the man who always had cards in his hand noticed so fast, or rather was consistent in his accusations.

But due to the man being so quick on his feet and keeping up his accusations, Drake felt himself get… flustered.

“No denial—!” Basil spoke out, causing Drake to immediately claw his hands at the soft tummy, causing the man with the power of straw to start laughing with a happy tone, he certainly wasn’t opposed to this currently. “I’ll shut you up! No cheating was involved.” The darkly dressed man who happened to wear a feathered hat spoke with authority… although a smile grew on his face as he kept tickling Hawkins.

“qUHUHUIT—! BUFFOON!” Hawkins yelped, squealing before scrunching his nose up, a bright smile on his face. “Apologize, then say I won fair and square.”

And the tickling ensued due to stubbornness, the blonde shaking his head before laughing, using his hands to cover his mouth, refusing to show his smile now, his laughter still vocal and quite lovely to listen to even if muffled.

But, during that monent, Drake striked by wiggling a finger right into his belly button, causing a snort to suddenly come from the usually cynical man’s throat. With that, more laughter flowed from Basil’s mouth, a finger teasing and tickling right at his belly button. It was driving him crazy!

But it stopped, causing the magician to slowly open his eyes, shocked it stopped. But the moment he opened his eyes, the zoan user lifted his shirt and brushed a feather across his belly, causing a squeaky sound of a laugh to leave his throat, and immediately. He caved.

“eHEHE—! IT’S FAHAIR!”

Yelled the tarot reader, causing the man holding a feather to raise a brow. “Hm?”

“…And I’m… begrudgingly sorry.” Hawkins spoke softly with a huff.

“Much better.” And for good measure, Drake gave him a congratulations stroke from the feather in his hand, causing the straw-man to tumble over with a small laugh, causing him to hold his belly to attempt to block tickles. “T-THAHAT’S ENough—!” He exclaimed with a laugh, his hands batting at him now.

And with a nod, the reddish-brown haired man moved off his legs, letting his breathing even out… and finally… he relaxed. They both relaxed in silence. Hawkins was sprawled out on the floor, and Drake sat calmly nearby…

“…I did cheat.”

“…” and a slow head turn with a glare occurred, and within a moment, the blonde was on top of Drake. “You’ll pay for feeding into a delusion!”

As dramatic and loud as his wording was, it was silly… and X Drake found enjoyment in challenging Hawkins… as for Hawkins… if anyone were to tickle him, he supposed it’d be best for it to be him…

Especially when he could get his revenge.

[hopeymchope]

I've finished playing through Another Code Recollection!

You can see my thoughts on the "Two Memories" part in this first post on the topic. But now we've got to talk about how they handled "A Journey into Lost Memories."

A lot of North American players probably never experienced the Wii original. But as big lover of CING's games, I soft-modded my Wii and imported the European release of "Another Code R." And I loved the CRAP out of it. They really took the innovative puzzles of the DS original and took them to a new level with the Wii Remote.

So. How does the "Recollection" version of ACR fare by comparison?

As I expected after playing through Two Memories, the new puzzles in the "Recollection" version of ACR are a lot simpler than the original. These are more typical to what you find in adventure games and less, shall we say, experimental. There's not nearly as much effort put into using the Switch's unique form/functionality in unexpected ways, but I still had fun solving them. I even got momentarily stymied by two of them this time! The "Two Memories" remake only ONCE had me stuck like this, so I really think they gave "A Journey into Lost Memories" a bit of escalated challenge, and I appreciate it!

Similar to how they removed the bad ending from "Two Memories," they took out some of the possible branches/decisions in ACR for this remake. You no longer have any means by which to identify/describe your lost bag to Dan, ultimately affecting whether you get it back later in the game; the path to retrieving your bag is now different and linear. The subplot where Ashley is briefly accused of robbing the guesthouse also only has ONE solution now. In the original ACR, if you were clever enough to snap a picture of Matthew in the back room while peeking through the blinds, you could actually bypass the entire "prove your innocence" semi-puzzle by just showing that photo to Tommy. But you can't pull out your camera during that part of the story in the remake, so you have to deal with the puzzle no matter what.

3. I positively love the redesign of Janet??? What a glow-up! They added some much-needed diversity into this one with her and Ranger Dan's new look, too. You can tell that both Janet and Dan are now people of some color.

4. The biggest shock is just how much Recollection changed the story of ACR. This is most notably present in how everything wraps up and comes together at the end. Matthew's storyline is NOT left hanging for a future game to pick up this time... he gets closure, though I admit the actual "solution" to his mystery doesn't quite add up and feels a little half-assed. But I understand that the devs had their hands tied a bit here... how do you end his storyline when you don't have a whole other game to expound upon the answers and you ALSO don't want to spend a ton of time destracting further from Ashley's own plotline? It's a tough situation.

5. The biggest change is undoubtedly Ryan Gray. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that Ryan's entire backstory is now different and MUCH more sci-fi in nature. It gets pretty wild! It does at least tie into the resolution to Matthew's storyline, although he also loses some of what made his ending so satisfying in the process. But in fairness, he also GAINS something: Ryan becomes more a sympathetic presence and far less of an emotionally detached person in this version of the story. However, unlike in the original ACR, Ryan no longer leads us to learning the ultimate mastermind behind all the tragedy in the series. Which is... a hell of a choice to make, because now it's kept very VAGUE who the actual mastermind was. I'm not sure if the game actually says who it is (one person is clearly implied to be responsible, but... ) or just leaves it vague for a possible future installment. But shit, if you were gonna do that why not just leave Matthew's storyline the same at that point... ?

6. There are other small changes throughout, of course. Most of them have no real impact on the storytelling to me, but personally, I really missed the scene where Ashley talks to Matthew about D from the first game after Matthew first witnesses a ghost. It's a great moment I wish they'd kept. Also, a funny change is that the characer of Sam Hillman - who never really did jack shit in the original game - is just straight-up removed now. Janet gets a slightly expanded role that lets her step into Sam's position instead. Sorry/not sorry, Sam. LOL.

7. It is once again impossible to overstate the value of the enhanced presentation. The voice cast does an absolutely amazing job throughout, and the more detailed facial animations give Ashley so much more SASS than she ever had before. I fucking LOVE it.

8. The ending credits had me literally choking up... just like the end credits of the original ACR did, but in a totally different way. The montage of beautiful artwork and that pencil-style animation of Ashley feeling hopeful and full of joy is just... SO beautiful. Seeing Ashley in her original outfit from ACR! Seeing Matthew with his dad! Seeing Charlotte's extended family! KYLE FUCKING HYDE cameo appearance! (So glad to see MORE confirmation of the shared CING universe.) That ENDING SONG - so beautiful and touching!!! LOOOOOOVE.

9. Ultimately, if you asked me "Is it better to play the original Trace Memory/Another Code games or just play Recollection?" I'd say "Yes." I can't honestly decide if I love this revision or the originals more, so just PLAY ASHLEY'S GAMES. The story is better presented and the dialogue is better-written here, but I prefer the puzzles and small branches/choices in the originals. But either way: They're beautiful, satisfying stories that, even when they're sometimes predictable, are still thoroughly worth experiencing and full of delightful characters and touching resolutions. I want more people to love these characters as much I do. JUST PLEASE PLAY.

10. #AshforSmash6 :D

[llumimoon]

Pssst Cal in a dndads Voltron AU which teen do you think would control each lion? ,':) (yeah Hermie is included here lol there's 5 lions after all!)

BABA YOU DONT EVEN KNOW ... I ALREADY ASSIGNED ALL THE TEENS LIONS BEFORE. I'VE THOUGHT ABT IT TWICE NOW WITH LIKE A MONTHS LONG GAP BETWEEN..... You came to the right place is all I'm saying JWBEVAJHAHAHA

Okay lets get the most obvious one to me out of the way, which is Link in the Yellow Lion. Like. First of all the fact that Yellow is A LEG and also Yellow representing kindness .... I think he really does support the team and grounds them in many aspects. Also Yellow is bulky like a dnd paladin LMAO it just makes the MOST sense to me? Yellow also being the color I associate with Link so maybe that gives me a slight bias lmaooo

The rest are. LESS clear to me. I HAVE already settled on an arrangement I'm more or less okay with but I could make a lot of arguments for alternative placements !! I will also admit maybe the places I settled on are a little color biased?

The Lions DO kind of have traits associated with each one except its. much less clear in some cases than others and I had to be a little flexible bc in my opinion NONE of the teens r like . smart enough for the Green Lion JWBECWUAGAHAA like they're all smart in their own ways and I do bend some rules a little to make their smarts work as an argument but I feel like Green is more book smart than anything which makes it difficult.

Uhmmm everyone else from here on out has at least two lions I could argue for and then I'll say which one I settled on? But like if you disagree thats totally fair LMAO like I said many assignments can be considered

Scary I mainly thought about the Black or Red Lion... There's the whole. Scary's the leader! Thing and also the idea of power corrupting... but also she can be pretty impulsive which is why I considered Red, also her tendency to have fire based magic mishaps LMAO I think Scary shows a lot of growth and inner reflection and also she has good insight on how the others seem to be feeling even if she doesn't always act on it or use it in the right way, so I could see that as the markings for the beginning of a Black Lion learning to be the leader type arc? Also to be honest shes the Main and practically Only contender for Black so she ends up getting it by default.

Hermie I think could be the Blue or Green Lion. I don't actually remember if they say IN THE SHOW what the Blue Lion stands for, but like. I've read so much Lance fanfic LMAO that to me it stands for Flexibility and what is Hermie if not flexible. Maybe too flexible? In the sense of. She will fill any role that is needed or given to her, like water will. I also thought Green bc to me Hermie is a character who is VERY in his head. Like they overthink to the point of looping back around to stupid again but also shes always playing mind games with other people. Hermie seems to always be one step ahead or at least is good at pretending they are. Also you can say the nature stuff is Hermie in his poison ivy era. Green is also pretty small and easy to damage which lines up with how fragile he is in a fight and maybe you could make an argument for the camouflage being like shapeshifting? idk. Anyways I decided on Green I think.

Normal I think I'm biased bc he's my fav and Lance was my old fav and I already made a post before about how I think they're similar and would get along and ANYWAYS LMAO I think its clear I gave him Blue. Something something, the legs being the support of the team something something water meaning flexibility but also ice can be stubbornness something something how I associate Normal (and lowkey the Doodler) with water (a whole nother thing to get into u can ask me to elaborate later) etc. I also played around with the idea of him in Red as Scary's right hand bc . shakes them . I think it could possibly fit but not as well? Fire isn't really Normals thing. I also briefly considered him for Black bc Normal is usually the one pushing the group towards a certain goal, but also his plans kind of never end up going through so I was like hmm not sure about that one. Blue I think is the best fit for him in the end which is why everyone else ended up where they did.

TAYLOR. Ok process of elimination you probably already figured out that I chose Red for him BUT I also considered Blue and Green. Green is fun bc you can play with his roughish abilities, like hiding and sneak attacks. His knowledge is more obscure facts and survival skills but I think it's enough to be a contender! I cannot explain the Blue stuff its all vibes in my head but trust me . I think also leaning into, Blue and Yellow are the legs that support and stabilize the team thing, Taylor is actually pretty good at keeping a cool head all things considered. Red, yes maybe slightly process of elimination but COME ON ITS BIG SWORD AND ALSO FIRE POWERS!!! Taylor would love that shit. Also going zoom zoom fast. Also the Red Lion is the second in command/right hand of the Black Lion and it just fits Taylor's protagonist vibes LMAO I think he usually is off doing is own thing which is also very Red Lion.

So to summarize: Scary Black, Taylor Red, Hermie Green, Link Yellow and Normal Blue.

Again I could totally see the justification for shuffling them around a bit but this is the assignments I settled on? The colors lining up is also nice I will not lie. I also could see an alternate universe where Normal is Red, Hermie Blue and Taylor Green, I think thats my second most favorable arrangement.

LMAO SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO MAKE THIS SO LONG I'VE JUST THOUGHT A LOT ABOUT IT BEFORE. AS YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE. I take sorting my characters into categories VERY seriously 😤 enrichment for me.

[glitchphotography]

If u think losing a gig to an AI is hard, try losing gigs because your bosses are racist or xenophobic or homophobic or sexist, or try not getting gigs at all because bosses dont think your work is as legitimate as the dude who can draw 100 identical spidermans.

There are serious structural issues with pay-to-play AI services like Dalle2 and it’s centered on how these companies data laundered copyrighted works using fair use laws and research institutions to privatize a tech that should be considered public infrastructure for everyone.

But AI Art itself isn’t evil, its a tool that has been used by new media artists for at least a decade. There’s obviously ethical ways to create AI art: train your own models, create outputs based out of your own works, attribute the artists you use in your prompts, etc.

But suddenly caring about copyright like you are now team disney and team nintendo is weak. And seriously, most of your artstation works aren’t original either. Yall living off of borrowed aesthetics from 100 years of comic books and cartoons and illustrations.

AIs can’t plagiarize the way humans do. You are seeing a calculated average of images. The reason shit looks like your favorite illustrators is because a lot of these illustrators make similar art, and most people writing AI prompts have similar basic tastes. Making great AI Art from prompts takes time and patience and a keen sense of poetics.

But seriously, y’all don’t hate new tech, you hate capitalism and the corpos and bosses who are out to expropriate you.

AI Art, if anything, is the new folk art. Same repeated motifs made by anyone with a clue. This is a wonderful mingling of collective creative energies. Embrace it!

Addendum for all the reactionary responses out there:

~~~~~~~~ Artists should be getting royalties from OpenAI, Midjourney, et al. And they should be able to opt in or out of having their work included in training models. This is a given and I would never argue against compensating artists!  ~~~~~~~~

This isn’t about defending these corpos either, but machine learning tech has been around before these companies started their thing and experimental artists from around the world have been using machine learning to make great art.

Another thing: the moment you post your digital art to a platform, you sign away much of your consent w/r/t how your art is used. Thats what those really long TOS are about. ArtStation and istock were scraped for data under the pretext of Fair Use, which allows or mass scraping internet data for research purposes. Fair Use is like the one law that for the most part, protects artists from the disneys and nintendos of the world. I wouldn’t be able to glitch video games without it. Emulated videogames wouldnt exist with out it either So the question is, why are corporations allowed to use Fair Use as a cover for developing privatized pay-to-play services? People who know a thing, will point out that Stable Diffusion is open source, and that’s great, but why are privatized services allowed to be built on open source infrastructure? Especially when this tech hasn’t been properly vetted for racial biases, pr0nography, etc

Yes its shitty, but these arent arguments against AI tech but against juridical structures under capitalist regimes.

[play-on-skinners-box]

SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER FIVE OF RAINCODE(And a LARGE amount of text)

I wanted to do more Raincode furries cause they're honestly so fun and are really good practice because I'm kinda rusty in general. I only did Yuma and Makoto this time just cause it's a more manageable workload and they are some of the last ones I'm especially passionate about.

OKAY, BUCKLE UP BABY, THESE CHOICES HAVE LAYERS TO THEM. L A Y E R S

OKAY SO, at some point scrolling on tumblr I saw this post by Nadox showcasing a piece of Yuma's concept art, and in the art he was depicted with long hair. They theorized that this was what Number One originally looked like and he sheared his hair into that wimpy fresh almost bowl cut so he could pass as a trainee, AND I L O V E THAT. I herby declare it as correct on the grounds of I said so.

Going along with this idea, Yuma is a young wolf that has a lame haircut so everyone THINKS he's just a dog. I know a wolf in real life would be a lot harder to reasonably pass as a dog, so this requires a bit of anime logic tomfuckery, but I'm fine with that because Raincode already deals in its fair share of logic jank. I am simply being true to game in that regard! The way I drew him already isn't super wolf-like cause I made him all squishy looking like human Yuma, and made the veerrryyyy tips of the ears flop over because the pointy ones just didn't feel quite right. I know real wolf ears are only ever depicted as pointy but it was for the VIBE. Yeaahhh in hindsight I might have taken a few too many liberties. I suppose to make it a little more sensible you could say he's a wolfdog and not full wolf or something. Other than the logic I really like this choice because everyone would naturally assume Yuma's just a pathetic little puppy dog when his real identity is hiding in plain sight!

I went back and forth on alot of the fur aspects. How smooth is too smooth? How much of it should just look like blunt cuts? Should I even give him his human hair? Usually I don't like giving my furries human hair in general because I want them looking a lot more like animals rather than people, but for Yuma his hair is such an important part of his design that I ultimately decided to keep it on both him and Makoto.

MAKOTO IS A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING AND THAT IS SO FUN, SO SILLY, SO GOOFY, HOOOORAY(Specifically a dall sheep cause they have those big curly horns). In theory, the hardest part of choosing an animal for Yuma is that whatever his animal is needs to tie into Makoto, and also be able to be implemented in a way where their connection isn't obvious. Makoto having a mask helps of course, but if you pick a really distinctive animal for Yuma you'll have to come up with better ways to hide it. Others have gotten a lot more creative with how Makoto hides his species, but I didn't do that and went in the full direction of just giving him a disguise. Its a littlllleeeeee lazy but I'm too smitten with the idea to care. I was a little confused on what to do with the tail. I considered just chopping off the majority of it to make it look like a short little sheep tail and put the justification for it in his suuuuppper tragic past(Though I honestly don't know if homunculi can regenerate like lizards). Luckily, the pose makes it so you can't see it anyway so I don't have to grapple with the responsibly of weather or not I need to brutally amputate one of Makoto's body parts. I consider this a win.

Disregarding his actual animal, I think the sheep is also weirdly fitting because of some of their associations. When I met Makoto I wasn't sure what to make of him besides being cautiously optimistic about him not letting Yuma die(What a fool I was), and sheep/lambs/rams and animals in that ballpark can vary wildly in their depictions from literaly the devil to good little fluffy guys!

For his actual look I wanted the sheep parts to look costumey sort of. I was going for a similar effect as the blood in chapter 0, where it's very noticeable but you write off the weird things about it because it's not immediately relevant. So, the mask has fake horns attached. The hand hooves are just little caps over the paw fingers, and there are two gold and silver caps to mimic his rings and point to their artificiality. The feet are also fake and are suppose to look a little clunky like Makoto's actual shoes. His hair is also much more full looking, a little less limp; because his actual ears need some place to get tucked away. I think the main problem with this design is it'd make for a really awkward reveal, cause when he dramatically gets the mask taken off then he'd just be a canine with hooves.

For both of them I think wolf works very well in terms of their characters and their shared forte. Yuma spends most of the game struggling with needing to rely on others, and Makoto has been carrying the weight of Kanai Wards secret on his shoulders alone for like three years. They also both have the Coalescence forte, which by it's very nature requires the help of other people, and at the end of the day being with others and working together is what brings them farther then they could do alone(even if some of the themes get muddled at the end and arn't really as clear as I'd personally like I find that Kodaka's games can have some not so rock solid theming with shakey conclusions but this is what I chose to take away from it)

These aspects of their characters fit perfectly with the stereotypical idea of a strong and stoic lone wolf in contrast to real wolves being pack animals that work together to survive!

I thought I'd like Yuma's design more by a landside cause I've grown really fond of his human design, but I actually really love this version of Makoto. I guess any designs with horns or hooves just appeals to me in a way that paws don't. Still really happy with these two. They could most certainly be worse! I think they're both cute little guys though and I learned a lot about how to like, render from this so that's a bonus!

[matrixxsystem]

Luck Runs Out (Terrapin Soup 2) Part 1

THIS STORY CONTAINS SMUT IN PARTS 2, 6 AND 13

"Hey Sagi, are you sure Hyo's okay with me spending the night over here?" 

Usagi nodded as he unlocked the front door, holding it open for Leo and following in after him, "Yeah, after dinner he has a bunch of errands to run anyway so he won't actually be here till tomorrow afternoon. Besides, we've been together for nearly three years now, I don't think he cares much if it's you I'm having over."

"Mm.. Yeah, good point. Are we cooking again or anything? I found this recipe online the other day that I think can translate pretty well to yokai foods if you want to try it?" Usagi gave a little shrug, taking Leo's hand and leading him upstairs after hanging his coat up. It was starting to get cold outside, perfect weather for things like cuddling and stealing your boyfriends hoodies.. Since the "Almost Apocalypse" as Leo likes to put it, that went down nearly a year ago now, he and Usagi started hanging out much more. He nearly died, and almost lost everything, after he recovered physically he finally came clean about some other things too. Like his eating habits, and what really led him and Usagi to meeting and eventually dating. The rest of his family came clean about their own issues they'd been hiding or putting off, like Donnie breaking Leos trust even after he was warned not to, Mikey knowing for a while now about Leos issues and habits and not saying anything because he had his own similar habits. Even Raph and his mental health that he'd been struggling with was put on the table. Who know all it took was nearly dying and destroying the world to get a little closer as a family.. "I think we'll save it for another day" Usagi said as they got to his room. "I don't wanna make you work on your birthday. Hyo's picking something up on his way home anyway so we won't have any dishes to do after. I wanted everything to be set so we could relax together."

Leo nodded, tossing his jacket onto the desk chair that sat near the window in Usagi's room then sat on the bed. Scooting back to he could lean against the wall, "Well look at you planning ahead~ What'd you wanna do then? Watch some movies, get your ass handed to you at YoKarti? Finally teach me how to play Hanafufa?" Usagi chuckled a little and sat beside Leo, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting his head on his shoulder. "We could play while we wait for dinner, I've been getting pretty good at YoKarti though, maybe even good enough to rival you now~"

"Oh yeah? You wanna bet?"

"Maybe~ What do I get when I win?"

"When you win hm? Okay Mr. Confident, what do you want if you win?"

"Well.. If I win I wanna give you your birthday present after dinner. How's that?" Leo thought for a moment, blushing as he remembered the talk they had a few weeks ago that because Leo would finally be 18 this year, Usagi was hoping to do some more intimate activities if Leo was okay with it since he was 19. And of course over text Leo wasn't exactly shy about wanting the same thing. He loved Usagi, he made Leo want to be a better person, made him want to get stronger and train more. And after loosing his arm he was pretty sure Usagi would get tired of helping him and having to do things for him, but he never once complained when Leo asked for help.. If he thought about it for too long he'd probably get emotional, he still had a hard time believing having a boyfriend as wonderful as Usagi was something that could happen to him.. Leo nodded a little, "Okay, I think that's fair. And if I win, you show me that scar you got recently, the one you said looks funny and you didn't wanna show me when I first asked about it." He stuck his hand out for Usagi with his signature shit eating grin, "Deal?" Usagi only hesitated for a second before taking his hand and shaking it, "Deal." Usagi set up the game system and handed Leo a controller, then sat beside him with the other, they selected their characters and picked a random race track. "Why'd you pick Prince Apricot Leo? Don't you usually go for BaoBao?"

"That's cause I was going easy on you~ I pick BaoBao cause he looks like a turtle, but Prince Apricot plays to win~ I see you chose with Monkey Kang again, nice choice"

"He's a classic! And his monkey king-ness is about to demolish your prince!" They both laughed a little as the game started playfully arguing as they raced their characters, first Leo beat Usagi, then on the second track it looked like it would be a tie but Usagi had more points and it put him in first. Then at the third and final track Usagi managed to pull ahead last second with a boost and win. Usagi threw his arms in the air with a wide smile, Leo was about to demand a rematch but when he saw Usagi that happy he held back. Damn he looked cute all excited and happy... Usagi set the controller down and turned to Leo, "What was that about price Apricot playing to win~?" Leo rolled his eyes setting the controller down and scooted closer to Usagi, "Y-Yeah well- Maybe I let you win~" Usagi chuckled a little and leaned in, "Now why would you do a thing like that hm~?" Leo blushed a little, his hand reaching over to Usagi's, "Maybe.. I just like how excited you get when you win~?" Usagi rolled his eyes a little, leaning in even more, the gap between their face barely an inch at this point, "How kind~" There was a sudden knock on the door that made Leo flinch and pull back instinctively, Usagi gave Leo a quick peck on the cheek then stood up, opening the door to see Hyo standing there. He couldn't hear what he said but Usagi nodded and left the door open as Hyo left. "Dinners downstairs when we're ready. Should we head down?" 

"Oh, y-yeah. Yeah let me- I'm gonna take my arm off real quick" He stood up too and took off his prosthetic off tossing it onto the bed since it still wasn't as articulated enough for fine motor skills, then heading downstairs with Usagi. They headed into one of the side rooms, the one with the tatami mats and a dip in the center for some kind of small fire but it was covered by a low table. Pillows were set out one on the left side and two on the right. Hyo siting in the one on the left sipping what looked like tea, Usagi took Leos hand and led him into the room, sitting beside him and keeping their hands together till the last possible moment. "Oh wow.." Leo looked over the food, it all smelled so amazing- He felt like he was in the movie Spirited Away seeing it all on the table. "This- This looks so good, and the smell- I mean holy shit-"

"Yeah well.. I got a pretty good pay from my last job so I had some to spare, if you're gonna eat like us might as well get the good stuff" Leo smiled and nodded, even if Hyo wasn't very friendly still it was nice to feel this at home with them. "That's awesome, I can't tell you how much I admire the work you guys do cleaning up the Hidden City and helping people, I know you guys don't usually get the credit or like to be in the center of attention around it, but I can't imagine what it would be like if not for you guys." He picked up his plate starting to add things to it, over the last three years he'd gotten pretty good at telling what meat what from where just by its smell or taste. There was ikameshi, which had squid, crab meat already broken out of the shell, even the red bean pork dumplings among other things. "I didn't even know there were squid yokai around here- Let alone ones stupid enough to fight you haha" He took a bite and instantly took another, even after three years new flavors always excited him. It took all his strength to both not talk with his mouth full but to also not scarf everything down like a feral animal. "Hyo this is incredible- Where'd you get it?" There was a pause for a moment, was he deciding weather or not to tell him? "There's a place that serves pretty uh, gourmet stuff. You might not like the rest of that answer though, just eat." Leo tilted his head, still taking bites as he listened. Not like the answer? He's literally ripped someone's throat out with his teeth and Hyo was worried he wouldn't like the answer. "Hey I'm a big kid, I can handle it c'mon" 

"Don't say I didn't warn ya kame. Big Mama sells the corpses from her arena if they don't have a family to go back to." 

"I could've guess, she'll do anything for a bit of cash.. So you buy from her then?"

"Nah I don't fuck with her, but the people who buy from her and run her restaurants I don't mind as much. This is from one of her more popular places in the East End."

"Ahh okay, I've never been that far yet. I hear its like, a lot of expensive places so makes sense she's run most of it.. Well- Can't do anything about it now, and I might not like he a lot but hey at least she's not just tossing them away to rot. I think I'd be more upset if she just tossed em out like trash, yknow?" 

"That's a good way to look at it" Usagi said, taking a sip of his drink then pouring another one for Leo since it was half empty now. Leo smiled at him, he was so fucking amazing.. Even after all this time he still was so attentive and did things for Leo without hesitation since he didn't have his right arm. He gave a little nod to him silently thanking him for the drink and took a sip once the cup was filled. They talked a bit more about how things had been going recently, the kind of jobs Usagi had been taking more of recently . What they had planned for things coming up event wise, since there was a festival happening not long from now. And when they were done eating Usagi helped clean up and insisted Leo stay seated, of course he helped anyway even despite Usagi's invitation to relax. And when they were all done cleaning up Hyo mentioned getting some gear then heading out so they headed back up to Usagi's room. Usagi took his phone out and started playing some music, a playlist they made together that had music they both enjoyed. He heard the stairs and stopped the music for a moment incase Hyo was going to knock and say anything else but after a few minutes he never came.

They heard the door from downstairs shut as Hyo apparently left for the night. Once Usagi was sure he was gone he turned the music from his phone back on and turned to Leo, "Hey um.." He moved his hand gently resting it over Leos, "Can I.. Kiss you?" Leo chuckled a little turning more towards him, "When have you ever had to ask that before~?" He chuckled and scooted closer to Usagi, waiting for him to close the distance when he was ready. "If you get uncomfy tell me okay? I don't wanna go too fast with you.." Leo shook his head a little, "It's not like I wasn't asking for it over text- But I will." He leaned in to Usagi's lips, kissing him again and letting his eyes shut. God he was so soft, and warm.. Usagi's other hand caressed Leo's cheek, moving down his neck to his plastron, tracing the curves down to his waist. His hand inched lower, going slow to give Leo time to back out if he wanted. "Mn- Usagi-"

"Yes love~?"

"..Can uhm... Can we move a little? I-I wanna hold you-" Usagi chuckle and let Leo lay back on the bed, letting him fall back slowly so he was laying on the bed with Usagi straddling his lap. "Don't be sorry, Id rather you be comfortable over anything~" He took Leo's hand in his, interlocking their fingers and looking up to him with a soft smile. "Kawaii~" Leo rolled his eyes and leaned in to kiss him again. He loved having Usagi's full weight on him, like a weighted blanket, something about it just felt comforting/. "Don't be afraid of being to much, you've dog piled me with my brothers before and I was fine-" 

"Yeah, I just, know I'm a little heavy-"

"Oh please, I can pick you up like it's nothing you aren't that heavy" Leo shifted his hips a bit, trying to get more comfortable, "If you're sure-" 

"I am~ But I would advise against moving you hips like that unless you wanna be pinned down to the bed~" Leo blushed a bit darker, smiling like the menace he is, "Oh~? You mean like this~?" He asked as he rolled his hips against Usag'is, "Why~?" He asked with a chuckle, obviously teasing him now. "Because of this~" He moved his hands to grab Leo's waist, gently holding Leo against him for more friction and rolled his hips. He watched Leo's expression quickly shift from cocky to flustered and couldn't help but want more. "I warned you~" He added with a little chuckle, his hands moving down from Leo's waist to his thighs. Biting his lip when he heard Leo inhale sharply, he knew his inner thighs were more sensitive compared to most parts, that and his neck which he'd get to later. "N-No fair-" Leo muttered, Usagi always knew how to push his buttons.. "No fair? You started this babe, I'm just playing by your rules." He shrugged and pulled his hands back, "Unless there's something else you'd rather have me do~? I'm all ears~" Leo huffed and stayed silent, he didn't actually have a better idea or plan for this.. And Usagi was just watching him waiting to hear it. "Well, since it's your birthday I suppose we can do something a bit different~?" Leo was about to protest, he didn't want to stop, but when Usagi got off his hips and scooted back to the edge he realized they weren't actually stopping, just switching positions a bit. "Is this better~?" He asked, sitting on his knees in front of Leo who was partly propped up on all of Usagi's pillows, his hands on Leo's thighs gently spreading them. "Personally, I'm loving this view~"

"..Y-Yeah, this is fine-" Usagi looked up at him, leaving a few kisses along his thigh, "You sure? Seriously if you get uncomfy just tell me, I'll never be upset if you wanna stop okay?" Leo nodded, "No- No really I'm okay, just.. Nervous, b-but not in a bad way-" Usagi nodded, smiling a little more, "That's a relief, you look really cute when you're flustered y'know~" Leo chuckled a little as he watched Usagi leave more kisses on his inner thigh. "Mn.. Perv..." He put a hand on Usagi's head gently running his hand though his fur. He held back from making noise but fuck it was hard to stay quiet with Usagi between his legs like that, even without doing anything too explicit it was driving him crazy- "Maybe~" Usagi said back between kisses, glancing up to Leo's expression and watching as he gently bit down leaving a little hickey on his inner thigh. "Ah-" Leo retracted his hand covering his mouth as soon as he heard himself making noise. Fuck, fuckfuckfuck- 

"Anata~ Motto miru koto wa dekimasu ka~?" Leo blushed even darker just hearing his voice, and felling his breath against him, how could he say no in this position-? Leo nodded a little, "S-Sure" Usagi moved a hand inward palming him through the silk pajama shorts he wore, "Part of my thinks you wore something like this just to tease me~?" He said with a little chuckle, god Leo looked cute all shy, a stark contrast to his usual over-confident self. "Well.. You aren't totally wrong heheh.." Usagi tugged a little at the waistband to his shorts, watching Leos expression still trying to make sure he was comfortable with it before continuing. Leo caressed Usagi's cheek, he loved this man so fucking much. "Hey.. I-I know I'm nervous but really, it's okay, I want this... I want you" 

"Me too.. I love you, Leo. Words can't express how happy you've made me, how wonderful you are.." He leaned into Leos hand, kissing his palm, "I've never had many people in my life, none I could really trust at least, I want to give you every ounce of pleasure you've given me these past few years~" Leo lifted Usagi's head gently, leaning down pulling him into a kiss, "Funny.. I was gonna say something like that to you~" They kissed again for a moment before Usagi pulled back, "I've stalled long enough, and I know I don't need to ask but, may I?" Leo rolled his eyes and nodded with a soft chuckle, "Yeah, I think I'm less nervous about it now, and hey.. We have all night right~? So there's no need to hurry~" He moved his hand helping take his shorts off and toss them to the floor while Usagi undid his shirt. He bit his lip seeing Leo undress before him, god he was so gay-  Terrapin Soup 1

LRO Part 2

[goldensunset]

first they complained that nonnumbered kh games come out on like eleven different consoles from eleven different companies thereby making it inaccessible and difficult for the average consumer to be able to play all of them (pre fm or collections) and now that the nonumbereds are releasing on a console virtually everyone has (phones) they r still mad about it. blehgh

and like y’know. tbh that isn’t a ridiculous complaint. the series has historically been inaccessible. it’s still inaccessible to me (because i personally can’t justify the financial investment of a playstation; i’ve poured everything into my switch) but like that’s my issue not theirs lol. (i mean i am mad that they kinda like acknowledged there’s a demand for kh on the switch yet made it cloud-only which is almost disrespectful and totally not gonna happen here. but like. i can get over it). i don’t see anyone out there actually complaining about kh being a playstation series like lbr that’s totally fair

BUT they’ve updated them with the all-in-one-playstation collections now! if you have a playstation there is no excuse! it’s not that hard and not that expensive! smh!!! and yeah, even with the updated collections now you do sorta miss out on some of the stuff that was removed or changed from the original versions. the mobile games only offer theater mode now. but like… it’s ok to have to go on youtube or wiki or second-hand sources to dig up old easter eggs and trivia sometimes…

and it’s ok to not have physically played every game yourself!!! like i honestly think if you take every single game up until now into account you’d be hard pressed to find a person who’s done literally everything from the console games to the handheld games to the mobile games etc themselves. like i’m sure they exist but there aren’t a lot of them. it is perfectly fine to just watch cutscenes. and if you care about the story of this series as a whole you really need to

like… i get it. it’s a video game series. one would expect to be able to play a video game instead of essentially watching a bunch of movies. that’s fair. but if you care about kingdom hearts as a franchise, whether you’re an old nostalgic vet or a newbie, doesn’t the story matter to you??? wouldn’t you do what it takes to be immersed in this world in order to fully understand the story going forward? if it’s just the gameplay you’re after like idk man i feel like you could find a similar style of gameplay as a replacement out there but idk

point is. one would have to be completely blind at this point to not realize that the mobile games are full of lore that are relevant to sora’s own journey and especially will be going forward. nomura has made it clear he’s not forgetting about sora and he’s never gonna replace him as the protagonist and heart and soul of the series. it is simply not possible to jump between numerical titles and still comprehend this stuff. this is where the series is going. there’s this thing in fiction called plot progression where some narrative threads will be resolved and left behind while new ones will be picked up. and it’s up to the author to determine this, not the nostalgia of fans. either drop the series as a whole or get on board with where it’s going

the original khχ came out like what, 10 years ago? almost half the runtime of the franchise. it is not new anymore. this is not new information. anyone who still hasn’t bothered to pay attention to that whole storyline at this point, even given all the hard work that fans have put to make it more accessible to either casuals or specifically stubborn people like that, then like. skill issue tbh.

and people complaining it’s all way too complicated? man.., find another series. i feel like it should be self-evident that this series is not known for narrative simplicity. it’s known for making everyone insane in a good way. even back in kh1 stuff was always kind of wild. everyone’s beloved kh2 is especially where we start ramping up the insanity. i fail to see how all that’s ok but the concepts of more keyblade wielders and like a lengthy timeline aren’t. after 20+ years it should be evident that things aren’t so simple and clean.

rant over *drops mic*

[joculatrixster]

thank you for replying! -i understand where youre coming from but i feel like some of the points you brought up about scott can't just be boiled down to homophobia if that makes sense- like people see scott as calculated because he calls making allies/friendships a 'social game' etc . and obviously grian and joel berating and teasing jimmy also isn't entirely fine but i think toxicity in the context of an alliance vs a canon-explicit marriage should be weighed differently, but ultimately im not sure that grian is actually necessarily "worse" than scott; while i think grian and joel and jimmy do have an unbalanced dynamic alot of the 'berating' between them is more like 'jimmy you idiot you died to xyz' whereas with scott in 3l it felt a bit more manipulative likewhen scott purposely placed something to scare jimmy and then made fun of him for being scared but. idk

also i think everyone understands that they're friends in real life and nothing ccjimmy is actually uncomfortable with would make it into a video but this is just to think about/interpret their characters within the context of the roleplay/storyline

again this isnt meant as an attack or anything at all - i just wanted to talk about why some people would have a different interpretation of fh!

thats fair, i read ur reply when i was busy i dont remember it well but honestly a fair take ^-^b i dont think it ALL is sorry i didnt make it clear i think the reason its POPULAR is bc scott fans r not rlly the ppl doing this its jimmy fans who dominate the fandom way more, but the fact irs happening to the gay guy IS weird and something to raise a brow to especially when there r more weird extreme fans who take it wayyy too far

it feels unbalanced to me bc it is, grian and joel have more fans in the life series rlly than scott bc most scott fans r just not life series postinfg, so when grian or joel does something mean to others in a similar vien its seen less in a negative light. im going off of memory so forgive me if i get a bit fuzzy w it

scott teases jimmy their friendship is kinda rivalry type thing its rlly just how they r, but ppl r not as used to it which is understandable too. idrc if ppl think scott is a bit manipulative hes just like. vilinized for it or seen as cold when he clearly still cares for his allies? he sacrificed SO much time in lil, he let ppl kill him in secret life, i wish i saw ppl rlly speak more on those better parts of him but also its just more normalized to intpret his actions more cold than it is for say grian who could be seen as cold for how easy he sheds alliances.

every intpretation is fine but w scott it genuinely goes into character bashing territory or just making him the stand in vilian jimmy needs to be saved from in fandom spaces which is agian fine if it happened to other characters who r similarly manipulative or calculating(martyn, scar, impulse even...) but deadass ive never seen anyone but scott put in such a position. which is weird. to me. especially when framed as him being bashed or vilinized for his straight friend who ppl hc he abuses like...ok. but where is the same energy for scar who is deadass evil af in 3rd life and limited life..? scar who destroys the ranch and kills his mother and doesnt apologize for either??? is it bc ppl just like him more so it makes more sense wven he does manipulative stuff??? martyn who is notoriously devisive for his ending and playstyle but in fics like its not great but he tends to not be as hated or put in the same level of bashing pll do for scott? hes prob the closest ive seen to the way scott is seen as an easy stand in vilian but i have not seen it as bad for him?

tho anon no not everyone understands there is a group of ppl who genuinely think scott in real life is an abusive person and actually that inspired my original post bc pll said w their whole chest they think scott is bad and makes jimmy uncomfortable

sorry if this is jumbled the other anon message is turning me into the joker...i get what u mean and i DO think its naunced but ppl REFUSE to acknowledge how weird it can feel for others to see and while i do think there r other factors...this fandom has leaned into homophobia for scott especially more frindge jimmy fans, sorry i think i mixed up a lot of things in my replys i was busy and also i genuinely dont care enough about tumblr anon posting to explain every naunce of an issue ie why i put pearl as a tag on bc the mysongy of all that is not for today thank u ^-^b

[missnight0wl]

Recently had a dream where I basically rewrote the part in Year 2 when MC had to go into Gryffindor Tower to search for clues about Ben but instead I literally made up ways for MC to enter based on their Houses.

The door portrait was Sir Cadogan and the non-Gryffindor MC has to convince him to let them in and the way to do it is by leaning on their House's strengths.

I can't remember what Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff MCs said but I play as Slytherin so I remember them clearly.

Slytherin!MC says because Ben is "theirs" and Slytherins take care of their people, they want to contribute to the search for him by also looking for clues: more eyes are better, right? MC is Ben's friend so they can know what the others might not. Sir Cadogan finds it "chivalrous" so he lets them in.

When Angelica comes with McGonagall, MC repeats what they said: Ben is their friend, he is "their people" so it's only natural MC would want to help, and they can provide an insight McGonagall might not have as Ben's friend and peer. Besides, Sir Cadogan let them in, and he supervised them too, so that should be alright, shouldn't it be, Madame?

McGonagall lets them off the hook with a slap on the wrist because of extraordinary circumstances and their "noble" intentions, but warns MC that next time, she won't be so understanding.

When I woke up, I felt like I saw into a universe where HPHM was actually good.

To be fair, back I Year 2, HPHM was good. Don’t get me wrong, the whole using-Reducio-to-get-to-the-other-Common-Room plan was a bit silly, but also… it kinda worked. I think the point is that it was silly, and not stupid. I don’t know, I feel there’s a difference, and HPHM used to be pretty good at handling some silliness.

Anyway, I do like your idea, honestly. However, it doesn’t quite work for the things I like about how this plotline was dealt with in the game. And that is the fact that Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs break into the Slytherin Common Room while Slytherins and Ravenclaws into the Gryffindor Common Room. I think it works really well because 1) everyone has a chance to break in somewhere (what would happen with Gryffindors in your idea?), 2) it’s really interesting to think about it from the story's point of view. Like, why there even was another Black Quill in the Slytherin Common room? Why was it implied that Snape was aware of R back in Y2 already, if he’s the one who catches MC? Sure, JC ignored all of that in the end, but it doesn’t mean I’d want to lose it.

Also, the idea of Slytherin loyalty towards Ben is actually kind of present in the game already. If I recall correctly, MC uses very similar arguments when confronted with McGonagall, and even earlier in Y2. Admittedly, it’s not exactly addressed as a Slytherin trait. And I see why you’d like to make it exclusively. But personally, I quite like it’s a default/available-to-everyone option. It shows that MC could indeed belong in any House, no matter where they go officially.

Again, I don’t want to sound dismissive. Your idea is not bad at all. But I guess I just don’t see much need for fixing in this particular case, to begin with. Of course, it could work really well for your own story.

(Also, I’m aware my reply is super late. I’m very sorry. Hope you see it)

[cto10121]

Okay, FINE, How Are Romeo and Juliet *Actually* Different?

The popular anti claim being that R&J have absolutely ~nothing in common and so would not have worked out in the long run (as if that would negate their love), I’ve spent a lot of my time refuting this awful anti clownery on my blog for good reason. I think it’s fair to say that Shakespeare conceived his R&J as two sides of the same coin, pretty much the same character and personality. So why, then, do antis whine and bitch and even fans prefer one over the other? Why is the Romeo the Death Eater (🤮) and Juliet the Basic Bitch Homewrecker to Poor Rosaline (🤮🤮🤮) clownery even a thing????

Well, apart from general ignorance of the play, fanon taken as canon, and antis being antis, it’s also the fact that Romeo and Juliet are different in a few ways. These differences are shallow and surface level, however, and ultimately are irrelevant to their love dynamic. How so? Let me count the ways…all of 4 (?).

1. One is A Girl and the Other Is A Boy

Yeah, this alone accounts for 99.99% of their differences, no joke.

So R&J are clearly the results of their typically 16th century socialization. Juliet is a girl raised to be obedient, quiet, and can only leave home for church. After her initial greeting to her mother she stands by quietly as her Nurse and her mother talk. She has fewer lines in her introductory scene than freakin’ Ophelia, and her response to the prospect of marriage to Paris is a diplomatic “Meh. Okay. If you want me to.”

Meanwhile Romeo is free to do whatever the fuck he wants whenever he wants. We literally meet Romeo when he has gone AWOL and his parents have no idea what is happening or where he is. They have to employ Benvolio to get the truth out of him. If Juliet is raised like a cloistered nun, Romeo is for the streets. No wonder adaptations have him and his Montague homeboys be so grungy at times.

These differences in gender roles contribute a lot to their personalities. More specifically, to their weighing of risk. Romeo decides to climb Capulet’s wall on a mere moment’s deliberation. Juliet has half a hundred lines alone wrangling over whether Romeo is sincere and not a fuckboy. And although they feel despair and rage at similar things, they show their tempers differently, thus:

2. Juliet Has A Temper, Romeo Has (Virtually) None

Okay, so I have a feeling Juliet getting more riled up than Romeo is 99.99% due to the Nurse being the Nurse. Homegirl will literally try anyone’s patience. And to Juliet Nurse is a more of a mother figure as it is, so of course she would respond more viscerally.

Still, canon evidence is canon evidence. Romeo had to be pushed to extremes by actual manslaughter (and even then he decided to fight only when Tybalt returned). Although Mercutio rags on him constantly, his only response is either to dismiss him or playfully rag him back. He only becomes really dangerous when he learns Juliet is dead—his John Wick moment, in short.

Meanwhile Juliet drops the Nurse like a hot potato after the Nurse advised her to marry Paris instead. The Nurse also mentions how angry she gets when she tells her Paris>>>Romeo. So yeah, don’t mess with Juliet.

That said, Romeo is definitely the most dangerous when he gets angry. Juliet internalizes her anger and grief (see point 1), hence her wanting Death to claim her maidenhead. Romeo is chill, but when pushed sufficiently, will cut a bitch, and very easily too. If Juliet is Jigglypuff, Romeo is Cell Games Gohan.

3. Juliet Is A Better Liar, Romeo Just Evades (Also His One Lie Sucks So Bad, It’s Clownish)

Juliet’s nigh-perfect equivocation to her mother comes to mind, a kind of deceit that is really tricky to pull off. One suspects she has had a lot practice in the past what with her stupid dysfunctional and oblivious parents. She struggles far more with Paris—her disgust for him is so palpable—but luckily for her, Paris is even more oblivious than her parents. Just brain smooth, no thoughts, head empty.

By contrast, Romeo doesn’t lie much or at all. You could argue that he doesn’t really have to—as a more or less independent youth he doesn’t have to give a full account to his parents and there is no real reason to lie to his friends. Mercutio and Benvolio don’t even ask him where he was, just ribbed that he had ditched them. Mercutio assumes he was out getting some; Romeo not only lets him assume this but slyly continues the game of wits until both Mercutio and Benvolio are satisfied at his return to form.

That’s the extent of Romeo’s cleverness in deceit, though. By Act 5 he is unable to persuade his servant Balthazar that he is Totally Fine, No, Really, Go Get the Horses. And then there is this whopper of a line to Balthazar: “Why I descend into this bed of death / Is partly to behold my lady’s face, / But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger / A precious ring, a ring that I must use / In dear employment.”

Romeo was clearly Not Well(tm), but dude. Dude. A ring???? A ring??? You could have stopped at “behold my lady’s face” but no!!!! 🤦‍♀️ No wonder Balthazar just disobeyed him completely. That said…

4. Romeo Is Better At Persuasion (Rhetoric), Juliet Is Just…Not

Okay, so it’s really just that one moment where Romeo successfully persuades the apothecary to sell him poison. He really does give a good argument in very few, terse lines (“fuck the law, it’s screwing you over by keeping you poor,” in short). Part and parcel with his rhetoric ability is his ability to tease, as shown in his battle of wits with Mercutio.

Juliet has some shrewd moments too (“how canst thou be out of breath when thou hast breath to say to me that thou art out of breath???”). But mostly she doesn’t or can’t persuade. Faced with her dumbass parents and uneducated Nurse, she even struggles to get a word in. When she begs her mother to delay the marriage to Paris, Lady C doesn’t even hear her out.

She also fails with the Nurse although, (very interestingly enough), she doesn’t even try to persuade the Nurse to stick with her and Romeo. And again, when the Nurse teases her about Paris being better Romeo, her response is just irritation. So yeah, safe to say that of the two, Romeo is more rhetorically adept.

5. Juliet Blushes Easily and Romeo Is Practically Shameless

I’m thinking chiefly of how much Mercutio rags on Romeo for mooning over Rosaline and Romeo just… dgafs, lol. He shows no embarrassment either for his pursuit of Juliet or his abandonment of his crush on Rosaline. Except for Tybalt’s death, he doesn’t express much guilt over his actions either. At best he doubts himself on occasion—he is no arrogant bro, at the very least.

Meanwhile Juliet does get embarrassed easily, though with very good reason. She blushes and rambles during the balcony scene, and the Nurse even explicitly says she blushes easily (“There goes the wanton blood up thy cheeks”).

Overall, Romeo is a much confident character than Juliet. Again, though, this is also part-and-parcel of their gendered differences and really just a part of Number 1.

6. Romeo Is A Discord Mod, Juliet Is His Kitten

Just kidding. All in all, most of these differences stem from number 1 in some way—gender role socialization is a very real and powerful factor when it comes to personality. Juliet’s introvert personality, her temper and her struggle to make her case reflects more her status as a girl to whom no one listens to or regards. Romeo’s temper, skill with a blade, and rhetorical adeptness comes from his obvious masculinized education.

When it comes to the rock hard traits of R&J’s personalities, however, these differences are mitigated very much and even disappear entirely.

Both have fairly mild tempers all in all, are expressive and charismatic. Both love and feel deeply and passionately, and get overwhelmed by their own powerful emotions. They are both obedient, sweet upper class kids who are pretty well immersed in their respective society and only go the distance for a love connection. They are both very brave and courageous, willing to take risks for each other. They are also equally in love with each other and, as far as them being together goes, are equal partners in love.

[crusherthedoctor]

To be fair, Eggman reusing badnik designs completely was rare in Sonic Team games until Colors. 1991-1998 only the CD needle bug was reused in Chaotix, and Egg Robo for R, making it very rare that period. Metal is distinctly a unique class

2000 Pocket Adventure cuz Dimps was new is the first case to reuse entirely. Internally it seems to be intended for Jam's release

Then 2000s;

-SA2 E-1000 reuse Gamma/Zeta's base. The new Unidus and Spinner from SA1 return. Also Green Hill for 10th anniversary

-Advance has some Adventure 1 enemies since ST and Dimps were bringing forth a new 2D era and needed a base early levels. Advance 2 replaces most of them, with only 2 (Stinger, Spinner) being used in all 3

Rush reuses some Heroes enemies (Flappers, Pawns, Hammer, Magician), though Rush Adventure replaces em fully

06 and Riders had new robots

Unleashed similarly is completely new

Motobug wasn't even ladybug based initially until Colors/Gens

Colors, Gens, Sonic 4s, LW, and Mania unashamedly reuses many Sonic 1-CD + 3K enemies.

Forces brings new enemies, bar the reused Egg Dragoon (though that's a boss/mech)

*It's important to note many share design similarities for gameplay

All this shows Eggman for a good chunk of his career was innovating. Sadly romhacks spam the same exact designs/enemies, despite him moving on, until early 2010s

Sadly "Classic" Eggman is just stuck with 1-3K enemies for branding after. Hurray for nostalgia pandering

Again, I don't have a problem with classic robots and mechs being used in itself. Having all new Badniks or new variations of old ones is great, but I'm okay with old ones reappearing so long as there's a decent amount of new ones alongside them, which is the case with... most of the newer games. (I feel it's harsh to take Generations in particular to task for it since it's already about revisiting old levels. Mania has a similar justification, albeit to a different extent.)

The reason I take issue with it in IDW - aside from it coming completely at the expense of new Badniks and inventions - is because they're clearly being used for brownie points by crewmembers who don't know the games nearly as well as they and their stans think they do. Stuff like Eggman in the Egg Emperor VS Starline in the Lost World mech, or obscure Game Gear/Advance Badniks hanging around in the background doing nothing, or multiple Egg Viper recolors, makes it easy for fans to be all like "See? They know the franchise so well! They're True Fans just like us!", even though they're constantly misremembering what happened in the games and getting the characters wrong.

Nostalgia "pandering" is one thing, everyone has their views on that one way or the other (considering the complaints of such tend to come from fans who suddenly approve of it when it's the Adventure Era's turn...), but using classic likeness to distract from writing fuck-ups is where I call bullshit. It might be minor in the grand scheme of IDW's list of faults, but as an Eggman robot connoisseur, I don't appreciate it when they're used in such a cynical way.

[shadowthoughts22]

Cot death(s)? - Kids

Just putting thoughs on the record on who may die by my logic (could be very wrong). Also might be fun to for me to check later when cot is released (if I'm not drowning in tears!). Spoilers for previous books obviously.

Okay so I'm assuming when cc says someone we love dies she means a TLH character, however TID characters could be fair game:

James &Cordelia: are fine I'm fairly confident they r main characters

Lucie: could die/ marks stripped all that stuff but tbh I think worst case scenario is that she fleas with Jesse somewhere for life. I don't think cc would do more damage to poor Jesse.

Jesse: same as above, seriously he is killed, raised and then killed ? Nah. However he still could be exiled or something etc.

Matthew: tbh he is set up for something to happen to him, we don't get povs(he's thinking things apparently) and has no love interest (also not saying he needs one). But anything could happen 🤷‍♂️

Christopher: see I've debated this and whilst could be easier to kill off, after him getting injured in ChOG I'm not so sure ( i have a rule that if their life has been threatened once it can't or shouldn't be again) cuz it could be *slightly* cheap.

Grace: i have no clue, i can't even say her presence on the cover will save her! She will have a big role I'm sure. If i had to pick a side maybe live because most ppl will live but...meh

Thomas: similar to what i mentioned under Kit earlier - we were scared of the 'dangerous' shenanigans he was up to in COI, plus because his sister died I don't think 2 deaths in one household is fair - especially when you have 5/6 or so households to choose from.

Alastair: I'll admit I'm biased i rlly want him to survive. I don't think his odds are horrendous, but it is very possible he could die - especially when i think he has an important charavhter arc ( expect an essay if he does die on here). But the whole Cordelia revenge/morn quote worries me (could be a lot of ppl tho)

Charles : ah yes, what is there to say. Honestly i think he survives, i would 100% think he would die if he hadn't of almost died in COI. Anything is possible tho. I will say that if he lives Matthew may have a greater change if dying.

Anna: tbh i think cc like her and Ariadne. It is very possible that Anna could die since she hasn't really change much between the two books previous, tho she could open up in this book.

Ariadne/Kamala: i think that she will survive, there is no point in killing her off. She has developed much and now will be even more free in COT. Maybe she moves in with Anna permanently, maybe she gets Anna's appartment if Anna dies?

Overall i will be shocked if Cordelia, James or Ariadne die. Of the others on this list probably one will, if not two ( definitely not unless Charles is one?)

I may do parents/ adults soon if I'm bored.

Go néirí an t-ádh leat!