#xkatchy

[felassan]

this blog was mentioned in tumblr's 2022 'My Year In Reviews' under 'Blogs I reblogged the most' by @martyelise, @thebookworm0001, @asongofwitchesandwilds, @ketallpot, @mass-effect-galaxy, @nerdierholler, @maharielhawke, @merrybandofmurderers @xkatchy and @caerwn. thanku!! 🥺

[kueble]

My wife @xkatchy put this together for me because she loves me so. I would die for him.

[swaps55]

Swaps the post made it out of your queue, did you schedule those appointments yet

cc: @xkatchy and @mallaidhsomo

NOPE.

[jadziabear]

My Ships

Thank you for the tag @steeleholtingon

1. First Ship - Probably Riker/Troi from Star Trek TNG?

2. First OTP - Mal/Simon from Firefly

3. Current Favorite Ship - Loki/Mobius and Geralt/Jaskier (The Witcher)

5. Ship(s) You Wish Had Been Endgame - does this mean ships that are canon but not endgame? Dude, I don't ship mainstream enough ships to even have anything for this one.

6. Ship You Wish Was Canon - how long have you got? Steve/Bucky, Bucky/Darcy/Steve, Darcy/Jemma Simmons, Hugh/Elnor from Star Trek Picard, any combination of Aaron, Daryl and Jesus from The Walking Dead etc.

7. Ship That Most of the Fandom Hates but You Love - I don't hang out in circles where people hate on stuff so I don't even know what qualifies, though I totally ship Daryl/Beth from The Walking Dead, which I know some Caryl shippers were very angry about back in the day.

8. You Don't Even Watch the Show, but You Ship It - Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski from Teen Wolf (I blame @devildoll)

9. Ship You Wish Had a Different Storyline - I mean, all of them, but let's say Finn/Poe and Finn/Poe/Rey

10. Favorite Ship(s) That's Endgame - there's not many. My brain seems to prefer non-canon ships. I guess Riker/Troi, Wanda/Vision, Jamie/Claire from Outlander, David/Patrick from Schitt's Creek

Tagging @typhoidmeri @melifair @lokidokeyartichoki @danimydear @kueble @xkatchy and anyone else who wants to play :)

[xkatchy]

Tagged by @kueble my lady wife

This got kinda long soo...

When's your birthday: May 2nd and I'm very fond of it for some reason

Where do you live? Buffalooooooo 🦬

Three things you're doing right now: Listening to some lovely Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas music, watching my adorable almost-3 month old play like a big boy in his sit-me-up seat, and drinking a protein shake.

Four fandoms that have piqued your interest: Currently on the radar are The Witcher and What We Do in the Shadows. Marvel Universe is always there in the shadows, lurking, waiting with something funny. And Dragon Age is like a warm comfy blanket that I keep going back to.

A song you can't stop listening to right now: Well, according to my Spotify Wrapped, Grave Digger by Matt Maeson. Not ashamed. It's a great song. I like to turn it up really loud in my car and get all emotional with it like I know how to sing or something. My 3 year old enjoys trying to sing it too 😂

How has the pandemic treated you: HAH. You don't really want that discourse nor do you have the time. Just know, not well.

Recommend a movie: Fifth Element. All time favorite movie. BIG bada boom.

How old are you: 33. I hate it. I have a "thing" with numbers. Some just rub me the wrong way. And 33 is definitely one of those numbers. Told my wife to hold off on having the baby because I didn't like what the birthdate would be 😂 (spoiler: he was a jerk and refused to come out so he was finally born the following day, which was a much better date in my opinion)

School, University, Occupation: I stamp ridiculous car registration forms for the state of Massachusetts for a national insurance company. You'd think if your job revolved around filling out this ONE form perfectly for your customer you'd be pretty well-versed in it... but Mass dealers are dumb as rocks and do it ridiculously and sometimes hilariously wrong.

Do you prefer heat or cold: I like to be warm. Give me hot summer days. Big warm fluffy blankets. Soft fuzzy socks.

Name one fact others may not know about you: I have a minor in forensic anthropology and at one time could tell you the specific name and side of the body a single small hand/wrist bone came from just by looking at it. I'm sad to have lost that knowledge and not been able to utilize that degree.

Are you shy: to an extent? I want so badly to be liked. I have so much horrible anxiety. I always feel like people are pretending to like me and laughing about me when I'm gone. I try to hard to be funny in our group work chat, especially since the pandemic. I cover my intense depression and anxiety with a smile and a joke like a band-aid. But if I'm in a situation where I don't know anyone I won't try to enter the conversation. I'll wait for an invitation. I don't want to "bother" anyone. I don't want to intrude. I'm afraid to interact with others here on tumblr. I have no mutuals.

Biggest pet peeves: they're probably all work related, and let me tell you I get REAL salty about them.

Pronouns: she/her

What's your favorite "dere" type: is this like tsundere and stuff like that? Yeah I don't vibe that.

Rate your life from 1 to 10: objectively it's probably a 7 or 8. I'm not doing bad. I have a house and 2 beautiful boys and I can put food on the table and afford nice things for our family. But man with the way my head's been it sure feels like a 3 or 4 sometimes.

What's your main blog: just this. My og. xkatchy for life.

List your sideblogs and what they're used for: I understand the point of sideblogs. You want to have a fixation. Or you have an aesthetic to keep up on your main. But I just don't care lol. I post what I like and if that changes with the wind than so be it. My blog is organic.

Is there something people need to know about you before becoming friends: I'd love to be friends! Let's tag each other in stupid memes and communicate exclusively in hashtags. I'm all for it. I'm just here to have fun. I'm not trying to cultivate a "presence" or become someone. But it gets awful lonely talking to an empty room (well I mean I do have my wife @kueble lol) and tumblr people are some of the best people around. Getting back to that shy thing though... I'm not really able to reach out to people. So my inbox is always open ❤

I tag: @beepbeeprobotlovesong @evilbob653 @jaegerjaw why not.

[goo-demons]

Um um um. Dorian/cullen cuddle time. Vivienne and josephine have a tea party. Cassandra and krem bonding. Sara and varric have unconventional target practice. :D hopefully one helps?

idk i just decided to do all of them

Dorian smiled as Cullen's arm wrapped around his shoulder, and he pulled the blanket tighter around the two of them as he melted into the Commander's side. They observed the other guests of the Inquisitor's slumber party in content silence... Josephine and Vivienne were on the other side of the large bed, having tea and sharing ideas about how to tell someone to go fuck themselves as subtly and sweetly as possible. Cassandra and Krem were huddled together and conspiratorially whispering about different kissing games across Thedas, from what Dorian could gather from the pink blush of Cassandra's cheeks and Krem's interested smirk. The Inquisitor was off pulling some kind of prank on Harritt on a dare, and Varric and Sera were taking turns lobbing grapes at each other and catching them with their mouths. Dorian looked over at Cullen and caught his eye, Cullen gazing and blinking at him sleepily. Dorian winked at him and brought his hand out of the covers to cast a freezing enchantment on a grape just before it flew between Sera's lips. Sera squawked and swore at Vivienne, and Dorian settled against Cullen, basking in the soft warmth of his body through his pajamas as they laughed at the ensuing chaos.

[beepbeeprobotlovesong]

I was tagged by iamcoollikebowtiesandfezzes

Rules:

Answer the questions from the person who tagged you

Write 11 new ones

Tag 11 people and link them to the post

Actually tell them you tagged them 

Favorite Questions? ones that actually make me think and/or give me a good setup to a funny answer

Favorite movie from before the turn of the century? oh man oh man, um, I'm gonna have to go with The Last Unicorn.

Why did you join tumblr? I have nerdy friends. 

If the Doctor ever came to you, where and when would you go? a couple generations ahead, to see if they're still worried about the same shit we are now

Favorite method of transportation? trainnnnns

Immortal or nah???? ehhhhhh depends...if I had a cool group of other immortals to hang out with, and whether or not I'd have to be something undead, or if I get to stay young and pretty forever

Favorite eye color? grey

What is the wallpaper on your phone? Link because reasons

Favorite word of phrase? banana, butts, radicool

Favorite villian? Jake the Snake from Rango

Favorite animated movie? not Rango actually, I will have to go with Howl's Moving Castle

My questions:

1. What do you do when you get up in the morning?

2. How did you react when you lost your first tooth?

3. What was your favorite toy as a kid?

4. What are your top three fandoms?

5. Do you like to design characters? If so, how?

6. Would you rather be a famous actor, singer, or writer?

7. If you could turn your hair into any color - natural or not - what would it be?

8. If you could commit one crime without any repercussions, what would it be?

9. What is your favorite thing about your face?

10. What is your favorite t-shirt?

11. Do you believe the stars are watching you back?

[felassan]

I have a friend that has never played the games (They're very close to my heart, I forgive them this sin 😂) but they are really interested in watching Absolution. Do you have a basic run-down or know of a pre-existing post that would have the most important bullet points of the games to get the most out of the series? Appreciate your immense wealth of knowledge!! My wife and I intended on watching just the first 2 episodes and at the end all 6 were like.... that's it?! We need more 😭

hello! tysm and I know what you mean, more pls!! (๑*ᗜ*) that's a good question. the Dragon Age wiki has plot details/summaries of each of the games (DA:O, also DA:O, DAII, also DAII, DA:I, also DA:I). lots of YouTubers have done Lets Plays of the games over time. Ghil Dirthalen has a series of YouTube videos on Thedas lore here. in the one called "Nations of Thedas", the segment on Tevinter starts at timestamp 9 mins 30, and "A Brief-Complete History of Thedas" covers the history of the world. IGN did a "Dragon Age in 5 Minutes" video that covered the story so far/general broadstrokes lore up until before DA:I, Kotaku wrote a beginner's guide to all things Dragon Age article designed to help new players to DA:I who hadn't played DA2 and DA:O which could be useful, and The Kingdom has a series of 3 videos explaining the history of Tevinter (one, two, three). and to help get the most out of the series it might be helpful if they browsed the wiki pages on Tevinter, mages, blood magic and spirits/demons/possession.

I think the most important bullet points would be that:

the world is called Thedas and in it, being a mage often comes with a cost due to risk of demonic possession or perceived risk of this. because of this in most of the countries in the world mages are made to live in a system which is part of the main in-world religious organization, the Chantry, called the Circle, which keeps an eye on them and is policed by an order of knights called the Templars. however in one country, Tevinter, the country's government is made up of noble mages called Magisters, and it's effectively a magocracy. lots of bad things, dark magics and corrupt stuff goes on in Tevinter so it doesn't have a good reputation among the other nations

the Chantry religion is centered around a god called the Maker and his prophet, a human woman called Andraste

Tevinter has its own version of the Chantry, its own Chantry leader and its own Templars

Tevinter is a socially stratified society which has slavery

there are 4 races in the world, humans, elves, dwarves and Qunari (a tall horned people). elves are oppressed by humans who are the dominant race. in Tevinter elves are often enslaved. members of the other 3 races are also sometimes enslaved in Tevinter.

blood magic is a form of magic powered by blood (usually through sacrifice), it's very powerful but most people fear it and consider it to be evil. it's usually forbidden. it carries increased risk of possession. there's lots of blood magic stuff going on in Tevinter

a few years before the show begins, a corrupted ancient Tevinter magister from long ago basically came back to life and tore open part of the veil/barrier between the waking world and the magic dream world where spirits and demons live because he was A Bad Guy. this was called the Breach and demons from the other world poured through. a group of heroes got together and set up an organization with Chantry backing called The Inquisition. it was led by the Player Character from the most recent video game in the series. they could close mini-holes in the veil because of a magic mark on their hand. their title was the Inquisitor and some people thought they were chosen by Andraste so they called them The Herald of Andraste. many people joined the Inquisition to help. after closing the holes and saving the world, the Inquisition did some other stuff and then eventually disbanded.

I feel like those are the main things someone would need to know? (I tried to pare it down and put it into like, non-DA fan general fantasy terms)

I hope something here is helpful and that your friend enjoys the show ^^

[kueble]

I just booped my wife @xkatchy 69 times.

[swaps55]

Happy N7 day friend. In the spirit of all things Shepard/Normandy/Bioware, mine has been a flaming disaster 🔥 If I only had a krogan to keep shit in line for me 🙁 and then blow some fun paty horns. Lmao. #letsgetwreckedwithwrex

HAPPY N7 DAY!!!! I am so sorry you had a rough day!!! Hopefully your tumblr dash brings you some happy. The art, fic, and love that comes out of N7 Day is overwhelming in the best way. I love it so, so much. I'm always fried by the end of the day because I expend so much emotional energy. XD

[jadziabear]

I was tagged by @typhoidmeri

List 5 TV shows that make you feel better and tag other blogs.

In no particular order…

1. Star Trek (TNG, DS9, the one with the whales)

2. Nailed It

Special mention for other lovely cooking shows like Baking Impossible and School of Chocolate.

3. The Good Place

4. M*A*S*H

5. Blown Away

Tagging anyone who wants to do it, including @kueble @xkatchy @yolandaash @lokidokeyartichoki @danimydear

[kueble]

Let's have some fun fandom friends. I have sangria and my ask box is open. The wife will keep an eye on me, right @xkatchy 🥺

[kueble]

🎶✨when u get this u have to put 5 songs u actually listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) 🎶✨

Thanks to @lakka-arts for the tag!

1. Bejeweled - Taylor Swift

2. Chords - The Amazing Devil

3. Old Flames - Kesha and Dolly Parton

4. Beach House - Carly Rae Jepsen

5. King - Florence & the Machine

Tagging with no pressure: @xkatchy @julek @rebrandedbard @a-kind-of-merry-war @srapsodia @valdomarx @d-andilion @jaskierswolf @nallaz @welcomemysentence @contemplativepancakes @writinglizards

[kueble]

Specifically because you said you probably won't get any asks I'm sending you an ask. What's your favorite thing about either your favorite piece of media/fandom, or xkatchy.

Also what's your favorite type of alcohol, I have yet to find anything alcoholic that does not taste like flaming bad decisions

Aww, thank you! I didn't meant to taunt people into asking things lol.

My favorite movie is Clue. I love how fucking silly it is, with ridiculous one-liners and with 3 random endings. Just brilliantly done. My favorite thing about @xkatchy is our crazy conversations. We will lay around making up stories about our cats or just being weird with each other. She gets me 💟

My favorite alcohol is gin, but most people hate how strong it tastes lol. Sangria like I'm drinking tonight is good! Fruity wine.

[swaps55]

So I do a lot of puzzle books and this one particular clue for alliterative initials was "1979 Pulitzer winner for Drama". Are you aware there was an American actor and playwright Sam Shepard? You probably are, but made me think of you nonetheless!

Ha! I did not know that!!!!

I am laughing hysterically over the irony that he won a Pulitzer for drama.

Thank you for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!

[felassan]

Hi! I have a question that I'm not sure you'll know the answer to - and please don't judge me. I've gotten really terrible at shooters as I got older lol so I was thrilled when MEA had a roleplay difficulty that was more about story immersion and less about how good you were at actually killing things. Will MELE have this too? I've never played the trilogy and I'd really like to!

Hello! Zero judgement don’t worry, everyone has different ability levels and preferences when it comes to playing games, and people play these games for a variety of different reasons depending (combat, story, characters, a mix of several factors, etc). I usually play ME1 on the Casual difficulty setting, I’m better with the combat mechanics in ME2 & 3 but even then I usually just play them on Normal. ME1 was my first shooter/shooter-type game and I come to these games primarily for RP, world, story, the characters etc, not for combat.

I haven’t seen anything in the coverage about this subject. (The only detail I’ve seen about difficulties is that the Hardcore and Insanity difficulties will be available to select from the outset and will no longer require the player to complete the game on a lower difficulty first in order to unlock them.) I’m not sure on whether this is something they’re doing/have done for MELE. There’s more coverage to come and they’re going to be telling us more about it in the coming while.

What I can say is that Mass Effect 3 in the original version of the trilogy has an existing, easier, story-focused difficulty of this kind called Narrative. The description for the Narrative level is:

This difficulty level is intended for players who are more interested in story than combat. Shepard and squadmates are stronger, weapons are easier to handle, and enemies are weaker and less aggressive. This is a nonrepresentative Mass Effect 3 combat experience.

ME3 also has 3 game style modes or experiences that you choose from when beginning a new game: Action, Role Playing and Story. The description for Story mode is:

Customize your character. Experience and control the interactive story without difficult combat.

I think ME3′s Narrative difficulty is similar to the Narrative difficulty in Andromeda (which is described as being “Intended for players who are more interested in the story than combat. Combat scenarios still exist but are less intense.”) My guess is you’d be okay playing the original ME3 already at least.

In og ME2 the lowest difficulty is Casual, which is “Intended for players who have difficulty with or are disinterested in combat”. In og ME1 the lowest difficulty is Casual, in which “All enemies, including bosses, are scaled down relative to the player's level. Most enemies have no special protection or immunities”. For remastered ME1, this is an assumption of mine as we haven’t yet seen much gameplay and I obviously haven’t played the game for myself to see and be able to tell, but fwiw my guess is that the tweaks and changes they’ve done to ME1′s combat in terms of modernizing it and making combat more unified across the 3 games and so forth will go some way towards making it a less janky, more intuitive experience.

I hope this info helps some and I do hope you can play the trilogy! 😊 I’ll keep an eye out in case something on this front comes out too.