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rayroseu · 7 months

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THE MAJESTIC EXCELLENCY HERSELF 😍😍😍😍💚💚💚💚 also maybe its just me but is it a reach to hope that an ACTUAL Disney villain can cameo in TWST?? 😆 You know like how Mickey randomly appears before us akjdkss

Also i find it interesting how Yuu immediately got up to go to the Maleficent Statue after concluding the dream as "Maleficent is being left out..." She reminded him of One Guy lol 😭 Also Yuu lore crumbs that theyre finally catching up that their dreams is related to the next overblot lol

ALSO AAAAAHHH SEBEKKKK 💚💚💚✨✨✨ I missed hearing his "human!!" FULLY VOICED✨✨✨ Haruki Ishiya san... thank you 😭💚💚💚

I love his attitude change LMFAO and Silver being the polite person he is insisting Sebek to apologize and Sebek just doesnt lol... SOBS... Also agree with Grim lol Diasomnia literally the most dramatic dorm lol

Also I find it so funny that "Malleus evil smile" expression is his Happiest Expression LMFOAOAOA He's thoroughly AMUSED by Yuu calling him Hornton in front of Sebek (of all people) without hesitance 😭😭

Ohhh Malleus loves chaos alright ✅✅✅💥💥 and his family and friends getting along...😭😭💕💕💕

Also the part where the npcs talked about him broke my heart aughh...

He's just talking with his classmates and everyone is already whispering how "he shouldn't be in this school he's going to curse everyone" (OKAY maybe theyre going to be right about that in a few more updates butksjdjs) But aaa knowing the fact he has superb hearing skills.... I like to imagine he's hearing these rumors while talking to Yuu and the knights but he's just ignoring the rumors since there's a few peopke who are treating him like a normal person right now 😭😭

I LOVE HOW THIS IMPLIES LILIA RELIES ON SILVER THE MOST TOO!!! He couldve asked Sebek or Malleus since theyre the people with no sleep problems... but nooo he insisted on Silver waking him up!! AUDGAUHS I thought he's a general who focuses on efficiency... 😭😭 He just wants Silver to wake him up... i know you lilia 🔍🔍🔍🤨🤨

I am in good pain... considering!! in Book 7!! Lilia repeatedly appears to be a reliance for Silver whenever he feels hopeless... I CANT. Lilia is just like more lowkey about how much he actually relies on his son 😭😭💚💚

ROOK BEING IN THE RUINS TOO IS SO FUNNY LFMAOOO THATS ONE OF MALLEUS' TOP INTERSHIP LIST??? ITS LILIA'S P.E VIGNETTE ALL OVER AGAIN LMFOAOAA HE'S GONNA HARASS MALLEUS DOWN IF THEYRE COWORKERS AHFHAHDHA

Imagine them in the ruins and finally Malleus has someone who is enthusiastic about ""boring facts about Gargoyles and Abandoned Ruins"" but its just... got to be THIS GUY Rook Hunt... who once tried to playfully harm Lilia lol

Malleus and Rook Duo is actually so funny though 😂😂 It still cracks me up that Malleus was once invited on Rooks Bday but he didnt attend cuz he's annoying to him and most notably Rook is not even hostile to him??? He just didnt attend bcs he hates his guts omg😭😭💥💥

This fact is so weird to me... What do you mean that some teeth just becomes an automatic RADIO under the right conditions????😭 Is this a foreshadow to Zigvolts Dentistry??? 😳⚡💚✨✨✨

Can a fae teeth play Elvis Presley just by opening their mouths...?? You know like Stitch acting as a phonograph... 😂

But I doubt??? They have radio towers at Briar Valley so it probably doesnt happen????? But It'd be pretty funny if Briar Valley radio just play bardcore music and one poor fae was "cursed" to have "magical radio teeth" playing bardcore everytime lol

My first thought was "Sebek!!!!✨✨✨" here actually 😭💚 Since he's the only freshman we're missing rn...

But I was surprised Yuu thought of Malleus??? That just further implies Yuu recognizes him as a friend that'll help them too 😭😭😭

Its just precious to think that someone finds Malleus reliable, he'll be so happy to assist Yuu if they're having trouble with anything just like how he enthusiastically offered to explain more about the Thorn Fairy since Yuu is curious about it...😭💖💞💖💗💕 I love them to BITS OMFG...

(I'm sad that Yuu is going home too but I'm ignoring that lol🚶‍♀️🚶‍♀️ Yuu is a self insert theyre supposed to speak MY language of staying with Mal-)

Its devastating that the freshmen are so hyped up to be working together THEY ARE NOT PROCESSING THE IMPLICATIONS OF YUU GOING HOME... 💔😂 if Yuu truly goes home, theres no reason for them to be gathering like this on the cafeteria anymore... 😭😭💔💔 Making myself sad that they'll buy an extra plate for them during lunch break and not even Grim touches that food... just to honor their friend😭😭😭

Wait so we know that the first night in "sleepover to discover Mickey" consists of Deuce and Ace as Grim and Yuu's companion...

Maybe the next nights (without Malleus' overblot interupption) consisted of Epel and Jack, and then possibly Ortho and Malleus??? (since Ortho is the one who suggested that therell be a fae)

Oh but Im going to cry if at Book 7's ending consisted of Yuu inviting Malleus for a sleepover at Ramshackle despite what happened... 😭😭😭 and and like the stars aligning appears once again but this time he's not at ruined Ramshackle missing his friend... He's at a peaceful sleepover with a friend group auGh... 😭😭😭💖💕💞💗💞💗

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kafus · 7 months

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okay i just talked to every NPC in veilstone because it's been a long time and man sinnoh's NPCs are peak, at least out of the 2D games i feel like they provide the most humor and the most random lore tidbits and stuff. i love this region. i'm going to talk about it

first off sinnoh is full of little things like this. random dialogue/flavor text that ties back to the mythos of the region. i love how widespread the sinnoh myths are

i'm also obsessed with when there's two NPCs that link together like this. you talk to one and you move on and then you talk to another and you're like oh! lmao. by the way the rage candy bars being here is cool because sinnoh is canonically connected to johto through the sinjoh ruins and the rage candy bars are from johto, which means they're imported and sold here. in general i'm obsessed with the locations in pokemon that have special treats associated with them, like the pewter crunchies of pewter city in kanto, or the lava cookies from lavaridge in hoenn. iconic

btw don't worry lady literally everyone sucks at making poffins. unless you have four players it's pretty much impossible to make poffins that are better than the storebought ones. good luck getting four people with rare berries who are good at the minigame to play with you, ESPECIALLY in 2023 jesus christ. the basement poffins are OPTIMAL

anyway in speaking of linking NPCs, these two - i wonder if the dialogue in the french version of this game is turned into english? they did that for lt. surge's french pikachu trade, the french versions of HGSS make the pikachu english instead lol. but anyway as usual it's very fascinating to me how much pokemon loves to drop foreign language in its titles, and fittingly i know a lot of people with english as their second language got interested in learning english from a young age due to wanting to play pokemon. how many kids do you think got interested in french because of dialogue like this. the girl even implies what the meaning of his words is

veilstone isn't short on game hints either, useless to me now as an adult longterm pokemon player who knows all this stuff already but still really cool to see. if sinnoh is your first time playing pokemon, those hints on trade evos and stuff are always appreciated.

of course, funny dialogue too that got a wheeze out of my nose, not uncommon for pokemon NPC dialogue SDKFSFDK some of this shit takes me so offguard it's like extra funny

like GIRL ISN'T THAT WHAT A PARASOL IS FOR????

edit: my DUMB ASS (lighthearted) has been reminded that parasols are for the sun and are NOT an umbrella equivalent. okay she makes more sense now LOOL

also LOOKER JUSTIFYING HIS GAMBLING :skull emoji: this shit is taking me out. see this is useful because it's like oh galactic is really all over this city huh. not only their massive building but they have their logo in the fucking slot machines, they probably have some amount of ownership over this place like team rocket did over the celadon game corner. but also it's funny because SDFSDFK

OH AND MAYLENE'S DAD IS JUST... HERE? generic NPC. generic sprite. no name. he's just here. maylene's dad. you know, one of the gym leaders. help girl

anyways i'm aware i basically just posted most of the dialogue in veilstone city verbatim but I JUST THINK IT'S INTERESTING! I MISS WHEN POKEMON GAMES WERE FULL OF DIALOGUE LIKE THIS AHHHH i have more to say about the galactic lore but i'm running out of image space and i need to use the bathroom and get some food so i'll post about that a little later

#kiki was here #kiki.txt #kiki plays games #pt playthrough #long post

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anneapocalypse · 1 year

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On Dragon Age II's Ending

The ending of Dragon Age 2 has always felt to me like the least morally ambiguous of any of the games' mage-templar decisions and frankly one of the least ambiguous "big" decisions in the series.

DA2 makes it extremely obvious that the Circle mages are about to be executed for something that absolutely none of them had any part in and no one, not even the Knight-Commander, is arguing that that isn't the case. You can feel whatever kind of way about what Anders did, and still recognize the staggering injustice of killing all the Circle mages for something that everyone, including the Knight-Commander calling for their deaths, is fully aware they did not do.

And just in case that wasn't clear, someone made a point of dropping in that bit of ambient dialogue telling us that Meredith is already trying to get clearance for the Right of Annulment before the explosion; she's just looking for an excuse. The game is pretty clear about the injustice of this situation, regardless of how many demons and blood mages there may or may not be in Kirkwall.

I'm a chronic replayer who enjoys making up new characters every time to see things I haven't seen before and I didn't have a particularly difficult time coming up with in-character, circumstantial reasons why a character might annul the Circle in DAO or recruit the templars in DAI and believe they're doing the right thing. For the former: dwarven noble who knows little about magic and believes what the Knight-Commander tells her, and chooses the wrong dialogue option with Morrigan in the party so Wynne attacks and therefore is not present in the party as an emotional anchor and a voice for the mages, and listens to Cullen when he says it's too dangerous to let any of the mages live. For the latter: non-mage human noble from a Chantry-connected family who just implicitly trusts templars, as he was raised to. Or Dalish elf who walks into Redcliffe, sees a magister stinking up the place and says "Well, the Dread Wolf take the lot of you then" and turns around and marches straight to Therinfal, conscripts the templars, disbanding the Order in the process. Just a couple of easy examples I've actually played.

But the ending of DA2 is a choice between "Yes, I will help to execute these people for something everyone knows they didn't do" or "No, I will not do that and I will help them defend themselves and escape." Of course it's possible to come up with in-character reasons to make the former choice, and I have! But it's much less of a choice a character could just stumble into, and you have to do a lot more ideological contortions for a character to do that and believe they're doing the right thing.

Yes, there are a lot of blood mages and demons in Kirkwall. While we don't get a lot of opportunities to treat blood mage NPCs with much nuance apart from Merrill as most blood mages are programmed to attack on sight (and this is likely a product of the game's tight development deadline), the game itself offers an explanation for this in the writings of the Band of Three, the Enigma of Kirkwall codex entry that you can collect throughout the story. While you have to look to find it, this history does make it clear that Kirkwall is meant to be an outlier, for reasons both political and historical (which is another post for another day). And Merrill herself, whether you agree with her viewpoints or not, does offer an important counterpoint: a character designed to be sympathetic while giving a more nuanced perspective to the player on why a mage might choose to use blood magic.

And yeah, even with the fact that the game makes you fight Orsino in the mage ending, I still think this. It's clumsily executed, yes, but Orsino going all blood magic harvester abomination is just one more example of what the game has been showing us all along: that mages (like most people) turn to extreme measures when they're backed into corners with no sense of hope, and the templars then use those extreme actions to justify further abuses of mages. I don't think it was strictly necessary (and for what it's worth, Mark Darrah agrees with that; it's a decision that was made out of concern for gameplay balance more than narrative and in hindsight he's said that he thinks it was a mistake), and I definitely think it could have been executed better, but as it stands it does fit an ongoing theme, and Orsino's actions still do not justify the murder of every other mage in the Circle.

And then there's that thing where Hawke can only receive the support of the nobility and become Viscount if they side with the templars, thereby agreeing to uphold the existing power structures in Kirkwall. It's easy to miss if you've never played through the templar ending (and also because Hawke doesn't hold the position for long and Inquisition doesn't really acknowledge that they ever did Correction: It is actually mentioned in the Champion of Kirkwall codex entry, and possibly other places as well, my memory just failed me), but to me that outcomes is absolutely inspired. It serves to highlight how deeply intertwined the nobility are with the Chantry. The nobles of Kirkwall want Meredith deposed because they feel she's overstepped her bounds by denying them a proper viscount, but they are not anti-Chantry or anti-Circle; they still want mages locked up, and they probably also remember what happened the last time Kirkwall's nobility decided to try and contest the Chantry's power in their city (see: Perrin Threnhold).

I find the templar ending genuinely interesting to play through in terms of seeing the story from that angle, and in terms of what it has to say about power structures and politics in Thedas generally and in Kirkwall in specific, which I also wrote about recently. (To say nothing of how differently it frames Varric in Inquisition when the Hawke he idolizes is the Hawke who slaughtered Kirkwall's mages to a one.) I would honestly recommend playing it at least once for lore reasons if you're into that sort of thing. But I would hardly say that you as a player come out of that ending feeling like you're playing the good guy.

And I'm not even arguing that all choices in the games should be this in-your-face. On the contrary, I don't think they all should. I like it when it's possible for a character to make a choice with unintended outcomes, or get accidentally locked into a worse choice because of previous decisions (like annulling the Circle and then being forced to kill Connor or Isolde). Those are some of my favorite kind of choices in these games. In this particular case, I do think the extreme nature of the choice is important to the story, both as the catalyst for the mage rebellion and to underscore why Anders did what he did.

So when people tell me that DA2 "both sideses" the mage-templar conflict... I respect that it's possible to feel that way about it, but I just don't see it. The game allows the player to role-play a character who might make various choices within its narrative; that is not the same thing as presenting all choices as morally equivalent in-universe, and it has never been the same thing, in any of these games.

If you're looking for one mage-templar choice that puts the injustice squarely in your face, I think the ending of DA2 is very much that.

#dragon age 2 #dragon age #blunders of thedas #dragon age meta #chantry explosion #i've had this unfinished in my drafts for a while but today's the day i guess!#lmk if there's anything else i should tag this #i realize this is stuff we all have very strong feelings about #if you disagree with me that's fine #i just ask that you be civil please #there's some very gentle criticism of the game in here but mostly re: the rushed development

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screemnch · 1 year

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The Pathologic Russian and English analysis: Bachelor Daniil Dankovsky

So uhhh.... Turns out my priorities aren't as messed up as I thought, which is why it took me a whole month just to finish this thing. Let's cover some basics shall we? The approximate structure will, depending on the length of this analysis, go as follows: I’m gonna tackle Patho Classic and the three healers from each other’s perspective, look at shared dialogue options and then talk about all the other important NPCs and how they interact with the playable characters. Since Patho 2 only has the Haruspex run, we’re gonna move through that a lot faster in a similar fashion, and then we’ll look over Marble Nest.

What I’m going to be focusing on: there’s a huge amount of dialogue between all the characters in the story, and I couldn’t possibly note down all the differences at once. I will mainly be trying to relay the “voice” of the character that is present in the original Russian version and noting the biggest differences. If there are also pieces of dialogue that shine a different light on a few story aspects, I will point these out too. Mainly I will talk about how the characters in these interactions seem to treat each other (which will be difficult, since opinions of characters change frequently in this game), note interesting mannerisms and sometimes quote the fun differences and try and fail to explain why the use of this specific idiom is funny in this context. Sooooo yeah.

The Bachelor

The Bachelor in the other characters’ campaigns is, as we all know, a drastically different character. Before I dive nose deep, I’m gonna establish what kind of impression we have of our English Bachelor, so we can compare and contrast things easily.

Daniil in the English version is, as we all know, a prickly prick. He speaks in a usually rather conceited manner, gets irritated with people easily and likes to throw in latin phrases at random points. He sees himself as smarter than everyone else which then in turn leads to him being manipulated by most people that he meets. He’s having a no good, very bad week and he will let people know about it. In the Haruspex campaign the “asshole” part of his character seems to be a bit diminished, and when watching him interact with Artemy, I almost saw something similar to… Respect? He even appeals to Artemy’s knowledge of the kin, as opposed to his own Capital beliefs, when asking him to save the Polyhedron. In the Changeling campaign the Bachelor’s prickly prick factor is ramped up to a hundred. He’s arrogant, talks down to Clara while also being heavily dependent on her and does his best to seem unaffected by all the shit hitting the fan.

Overall, he does give off an impression of a capital dandy that’s in way over his head in both campaigns, and has a very distinct voice and mannerisms. Partially I’d attribute that to the fact that the speech quirk of “randomly starts speaking latin like a pretentious asshole” was a rather easy thing to translate. So, what do we get when we meet the Bachelor in Russian?

As the Haruspex: Before I even discuss the tone, I want to set a little groundwork - although it might be something people already know if they're that deep into learning about an obscure Russian game. And that is - the use of “you” in the Russian language. Similar to German, we have two versions: formal and informal.

The formal version - “вы” (vy - phonetics are difficult) - is used in Russian when referring to strangers, figures of authority, people older than you, people whom you respect, as well as a group of people.

The informal version - “ты” (ty - once again, phonetics are stupid) - is used when speaking to a friend, someone younger than you (like a child), someone you have no respect for, or someone you’re familiar with. Also family, even if they’re older. This being said, for 90% of the time in the Haruspex campaign, the Bachelor uses the informal “you” when speaking to Artemy. More on that as we get into the nitty gritty.

Dankovsky’s tone throughout this campaign is separated into 2 groups - before and after you receive a letter with his list of Bound, where he decides to dedicate himself to the Kain's cause and to saving the Polyhedron. I’m not sure if that is clearly visible in the English version - reading them side by side has blurred a lot of things for me, but it’s quite apparent in the Russian version.

In terms of consistent mannerisms, there is one detail that I think doesn’t shine as well in English as it does in Russian. You’d think that our bachelor of medicine would speak in a very formal tone, using big boy words and scientific terms only. You would be wrong.

The Bachelor speaks in very “deliberate” sentences. It’s like he is trying to get all the possible clarifications out of the way, before getting to the point of the sentence. That doesn’t make him sound formal or anything. He uses diminutives and “rough” words every now and then, and doesn’t overcomplicate his sentences too much.When I say rough words, I don’t mean cussing, per se. In fact, other than the equivalent of “damn” (which literally translates into something like “imp”) Daniil doesn’t swear at all. Even when he calls the Haruspex a bastard in English, in Russian it’s a lot softer and more akin to “scoundrel.” Rough words, I guess, would be more like… “Lower-class” slang terms. I say lower-class because for a long time many words in Russia were considered to be unacceptable, since they were, or at least were reminiscent of, prison talk. The closest example I can think of in English is the way one person might say “making love” and another one might say “screwing.” Except in Russian, there are “rough” words for eating, going somewhere, etc. And the Bachelor, even though you’d expect him to be a high-strung formal ass, is very liberal with those words. This goes into contrast with what we get in the English version, where he seems to mostly use very formal language, except for a few moments of frustration.

In the first half of the Haruspex campaign, Daniil speaks in an overall warmer tone, starting out with what seems to be boundless enthusiasm. It’s only slightly mitigated by the frustration towards the townspeople. In English he sounds like he’s only frustrated, but in Russian it sounds like he’s frustrated because of how much he wants to help. He expresses a lot of his frustration by riddling his speech with tiny connector words, as if rushing the other person to respond. It’s like if there were a bunch of different alternatives to the word “then,” and you’d see him being like “Well tell me then, what, then, is this thing?” This creates an appearance of impatience, desperation, and helplessness. Which is what I imagine the player would feel at that time in the Bachelor run. Anyways, now onto the fun little details.

Everyone’s beloved “far be it from me to call myself a person of mystical inclinations...” line is, for the most part, pretty accurate. The biggest difference, from what I found, is in the first sentence itself. In Russian, it’s simply “Yes… Mystical feelings/sensations are alien/foreign to me.” Everything else is pretty much the same. Though, tone wise, the sheer presence of an informal “you” makes it a lot more personal. Instead of someone talking about an odd, otherworldly and foreboding feeling, the tone is more of a person bitterly commenting on an unfortunate and cruel burden that they realise they share with another person.

Day 2 and it’s main quest have a fun little detail that I will talk about later when we discuss formalities a little more, but for now I will simply note that throughout all of Day 2, the Bachelor speaks to Burakh using the formal version of “you” (and being addressed informally right back). But also, in one of the dialogues that happens during that quest Artemy says “I’m beginning to like you, oynon” the Russian version instead has “I’m liking you more and more, oynon” which is a fun detail that I think some people may appreciate.After examining the samples, you can ask the Bachelor what he is working on now. In his reply he says he’s looking for the sources of the outbreak and needs hard evidence. In the Russian text, he specifically says he needs evidence of himself being right. In the rest of his dialogues he seems rather open-minded to unorthodox practices, as much as he sneers at them, but in this particular case he seems focused specifically on being correct, rather than right. Not too empirical of him, smh.

I found this difference absolutely hilarious. I imagine the main reason that this line was translated the way it was is because they wanted to maintain the tone of suspicion coming from the Bachelor. In a more literal translation (and keep in mind, this all has a bunch of little words strewn in to pad out the sentences) Dankovsky says something more like “And what sort of specimen is that?” except it’s not “specimen” it’s “subject” which in Russian can point to a person, and it’s very difficult to convey the absolute snark that comes with this question. Imagine a suburban mother in a polka dot apron and red glasses, as she stares down a dead bird that her child has brought in from the backyard. There’s suspicion, a hint of disgust, and a demand to know why this is being brought to their attention. That being said, I don’t know if there was a better way to translate this. Maybe “Who the hell is that?” is the best way to convey this. I just wanted to point out how starkly different it is in Russian.

Interesting difference here: in the English version the Bachelor says “Your father was a natural.” Here, the specific word used usually refers to a gemstone, something extremely valuable. A literal translation of the word would be “self-born.”

Additionally, Dankovsky seems to speak very fondly of Rubin throughout the campaign. Like, it’s something that’s present in the English version, I guess, but in Russian it genuinely seems that the two share a strong bond. There is a lot more warmth when talking about his expertise, and a lot more concern and sadness, when it's implied that he might be in danger.

Two things about this. 1: The whole “half-dead” thing is absolutely hilarious in Russian. Essentially the word that he uses can be loosely likened to smth like “half-corpselings” with the use of diminutives, as if the bacteria were a bunch of tiny little guys that were about to die. More to my argument that the Bachelor doesn’t sound professional, just very deliberate. Secondly, the whole “Oh yes, I would very much like to have a serious talk with Rubin” makes it sound like he’s an angry parent whose kid is absolutely in trouble. In Russian, he sounds like he’s talking about meeting up with a college buddy, or as if the desire to ask for someone else’s assistance is a sudden urge. That comes specifically from the word he uses - охота (okhóta). The primary meaning of this word is “a hunt.” But it can also mean a desire, or want to do something, often paired with the fact that it’s something that you can’t or won’t do at the moment.

Fucking this. I was so flabbergasted by this line when I came across it, because the entire Haruspex campaign these two get along really well. And then this happens, and it suddenly sounds like the Bachelor is spitefully making fun of Burakh for not finding something that they both believe is impossible to find. Like, it was so mean and petty and out of the blue, it immediately paints an image of someone who lashes out the moment they have to admit defeat - which is not something the Bachelor has been doing so far. In the original Russian dialogue? “Yes, after everything you were unable to find this creature.” Or something to that effect. I’m translating the vibes here to my best ability. Oddly enough, this is one of the instances in which the Bachelor uses the informal version of “you” again. It’s not mockery. This is Daniil drawing the line of all that he could accomplish, but also all the things he tried to help realise, all the people he supported, before he is executed (at least he thinks he will be). He mentions being unable to look in the eye of everyone he failed earlier in the conversation, referring to his colleagues at Thanatica, but at the same time - at this point he’s already insisted that he wants himself and Burakh to collaborate and sees their separate goals as one. Artemy’s unfortunate conclusion is one he feels partially responsible for. The meaning and vibe of the sentence goddamn changes near everything about this interaction! It goes from spiteful gloating of a cornered, near dead man, trying to find solace in another person’s failings, to instead something more akin to… Regret? Pity? Empathy? That’s it, Marble Nest, I’m coming for your “oooh, Bachelor Dankovsky has no heart” bullshit.

That being said, after the Inquisitor’s appearance, the tone that Daniil takes on shifts drastically. I wasn’t able to find or remember when he sends his letter about the Bound, but I’m pretty sure it all happens around the same time. And the main idea of that is - the Bachelor has his own agenda now. He’s found out about what happened to Thanatica and is now dead set on preserving the only other miracle he knows of - the Polyhedron. And, maybe I’m getting a little to interpret-y here, but seeing as the Haruspex can help lead to that goal of his, the Bachelor then starts giving Burakh the same treatment that the Kains have been giving him.

His tone becomes a lot more familiar, a lot more personal. He constantly brings up the things that he’s done for Artemy and the looming threat of the town getting shelled. Oh, and I’m pretty sure around that time he also starts calling him by his first name. He does his best to act like he really cares about what the “udurgh” can be, while pushing his own idea, and condemning Aglaya for doing the same. He also doesn’t use those little exasperated and rushed filler words in his speech, despite the situation being arguably a lot worse. I remember seeing some of that even in the English version, but I don’t know if it’s the fact that I got to see all the dialogue, or that some Russian words just hit different, but it’s a lot more apparent when looking at it now.

Now here’s a moment where I’m a bit lost as to what translation I prefer. I want all these characters to get along in a universe where they’re nice and kind to each other, but that’s simply not Pathologic. Besides, if I’m sticking to my interpretation, I should really be telling y’all that the Russian version is more effective. Because in Russian, dude literally says “I’m sorry if you thought I was condescending” or something to that extent that would imply that him being an ass is simply Burakh’s own misinterpretation. But hey, this is also the conversation in which he decided to “play unfair” and pressure Artemy into speaking to the Foreman in his stead, so it’s not like this changes much. Maybe being manipulated for what, a whole week now, has finally gotten to him, or he’s just gotten familiar enough to use such tactics - interpret it how you will.

More fun differences - when asking the Bachelor about how to get into the Polyhedron, he will mention Maria and Khan getting into a spat and not being on good terms. In Russian, he refers to her as “my Maria” which he hasn’t done before or since (at least between these two).

That’s all I’ve got about the campaign as it is, but I’ve also promised a little tangent about formality and so here it is. Throughout the entire campaign, there are only a few instances in which the Bachelor addresses the Haruspex using the formal version of “you.” Those instances are: 1 - when asking him about his inheritance. 2 - when talking about chimaeras and how they don’t exist before heading off to face the Inquisitor. And 3 - when you’re speaking to him late at night. Instances in which he’s either asking you to leave him alone, or offering to use his own bed to rest in. My theory is that the Bachelor - as far as I’ve read in his interactions with Burakh - switches to a formal tone (with people who he’d usually speak to informally) if he is uncomfortable. Consider: he uses the formal version of “you” when speaking to Artemy about his inheritance - because that’s a really awkward topic. He needs to get crucial information from Isidor’s notes asap, but the person he has to speak to about them is the man’s grieving son, who’s still being blamed for his death. Awkward as hell. Next instance? He thinks he’s about to be offed by the inquisitor and is (at least in my interpretation) expressing a degree of guilt for the failures of someone who’s at the very least an acquaintance at this point. Very uncomfortable, especially for someone with an ego as big as the Bitchelor’s. And lastly - late at night, tired out of his mind, having to either turn away a guest, or offer them his own bed. Both awkward and uncomfortable things to do, for a city boy. Now, this is, of course just from what I can see of Daniil in the Haruspex route, my conclusions might change drastically when I get through the other interactions, but it's still a fun difference.

And I would say that about wraps it up for the Bachelor in the Haruspex run. The biggest differences have been mainly the fact that he is a lot less formal than his English counterpart, the interesting insights that come with addressing your fellow doctor formally, and the very precise moment where Daniil’s kind and determined attitude turns to that of a manipulative snake.

On a quick tangent here about that, actually - in both the English and Russian version, you can very much engage in a way that allows Burakh to catch on to the Bitchelor’s tricks, and even start lying back to him, when you’re trying to gain access to the Polyhedron. But there is a certain bitterness present in these interactions that I’m not sure is well conveyed. Maybe it’s in the way Artemy himself speaks like an old soul, a fairytale wiseman, that makes these interactions that much more saddening. It’s especially visible in the dialogue where he tells Dankovsky that they’re dolls - it’s sad in the English version, but god if it isn’t absolutely tragic in Russian. And weirdly enough, I feel like a little bit more of that could have been conveyed if people opted for the clunkier but more literal translation? Like what I imagine the old translation was, that everyone complained so much about. Like, if the line “They don’t love us, but they way.” was instead. “We aren’t loved, by the way.” I think it’s a bit more personal, a bit more sad, and doesn’t have the “they” in it, which I feel makes it a little more… Potent. In fact, for most of that dialogue, the “they” is omitted in Russian, because grammar and all, except for the moments where Burakh explicitly mentions the children. And I like that more, I think. It’s not about what the powers that be are doing in the sandbox. It’s about how their dolls feel. How they’ve been stuck into this situation and how they aren’t loved. Even the line of “I hope my side wins” is different, instead it’s more like “I hope I’m won with” as if these characters were a means to an end and they are!! They are a means to an end! They’re dolls!! It’s a lot. This is already long enough and I have the Changeling to deal with. However, as this turned out to be a lot longer than anticipated, I will have to give that it's own post as well. Feedback, question or recommendations on how to format this better are always appreciated)

#pathologic #pathologic classic hd #мор утопия #ramblings #daniil dankovsky #artemy burakh #the document in which i wrote this is already 11 pages long

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gachagen · 4 months

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I haven't played Penacony yet and already I'm hearing there's some racist shit in that region which I'm not surprised by, Hoyo can't go 5 seconds without "accidentally" stumbling into some racist bullshit.

But this just makes me realize just how great Reverse 1999 is compared to Hoyo gachas. Hoyoverse would NEVER give us an event where a majority of it is spoken in a language like Hindi, but Reverse 1999 does it without hesitation AND without making a mockery of other languages. There's ONE character in this newest patch for Reverse 1999 who speaks in broken english and there is not a SINGLE instance in which any character corrects the way she speaks, or mocks her for it, or belittles her for talking that way.

Everyone just treats her language barrier the same as any other without being a piece of shit to her, even when she does questionable things to others, there's never a moment where they try to make fun of the culture being represented in the game. The only real criticism I've seen of this character is that her "broken english" isn't really the right kind of broken english that many people speak in that region, and that it's kind of innacurate. I've also seen people say they don't exactly like the stereotype associated with speaking english badly, but I think it's just the fact that nobody in the game once ever tries to make her feel like shit for NOT speaking english perfectly or whatever is like amazing (because the bar is in hell for gacha games these days)

And what did Hoyoverse do when THEY had to represent the same exact culture that Reverse 1999 is doing now? They invite an NPC back from Sumeru to fontaine, and the very first fucking dialogue option you can pick is to yell and run for the hills because the "Eremites are invading". You can even say "Wow you speak so much BETTER now" to this NPC as a "compliment".

And now we have an instance where one playable character calls another an ACTUAL real slur for idk character development? World building? Hoyoverse is trash when it comes to representing real world culture and they should've stuck to something else if this is how they were going to handle it in 2 different games.

#genshin impact #honkai star rail #reverse 1999

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tinyinvadr · 5 months

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Everyone, I have returned from the Void with a new chapter! I really hope I’m able to keep consistently working on this, I feel like I almost never finish a fic anymore!

Hide & Shrink

Chapter 5

We returned to the main stage where the rest of the circus members were waiting for us. They all seemed happy and relieved to see me. I still couldn’t really tell with Zooble, though. They’re hard to read.

“Welcome back, Pomni!” Gangle greeted, a smile plastered on her newly restored comedy mask.

I waved to her, still feeling kind of awkward around everyone. It had only been two days, they were all still strangers. Giant strangers.

“Okay, so Pomni’s back, but we still don’t know where the %$!# Jax went. I don’t like when that creep goes missing.”

“Language, Zooble, language! And… Jax said he won’t be participating today. Neither will Pomni. As for the rest of you, today’s adventure will be…”

With his free hand, Caine snapped his fingers, making bubble letters appear above us as he spoke.

“Wrangle the Wroinks!”

Zooble glared at him. “Didn’t we JUST do that?”

Caine started laughing hysterically. He was so loud I felt the need to cover my ears, even though I’m pretty sure my character model doesn’t have them.

“No, those were the Gloinks that you were gathering last time! The Wroinks are completely different!”

The Wroinks in question suddenly appeared and started bouncing all over the place. They looked exactly like the Gloinks only this time they were wearing hats.

“Right. Of course they are.”

It wasn’t long before a Wroink bounced off of Gangle, knocking her comedy mask off and breaking it.

“Not again…”

Ragatha picked up the pieces for her, looking over at me apologetically.

“We’ll catch up with you later, Pomni. Caine, you remember what we talked about, right?”

Caine gave her a thumbs up. “Sure do! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure our new little friend is safe and at ease!”

After everyone left, he just floated in place, not moving. I sat in his open palm, staring off into space as I waited for whatever was delaying him to pass. This seemed to be a common occurrence. He would just… stop.

“Well then, Pomni, have you decided what you’d like to do today? The possibilities are limitless! *Notethatthepossibilitiesarelimitedtowhatisallowedbyourtermsofservicepleaseaskforadditionaldetails.”

I didn’t have a real plan in mind. If I had the option, I’d just do nothing for the rest of the day, but I had a feeling Caine wouldn’t understand that. Even if he was considering my feelings, it was clear he required some sort of constant entertainment.

“Well… what do you normally do during the adventures?”

He paused, as if he wasn’t sure whether or not to tell me.

“There’s a restaurant Bubble and I go to, but that’s an NPC-only zone! Then again… this is kind of a unique case… Ah, no, no, I’m not picking favorites! Oh… but you’re so gosh-darn adorable! Alright, you make a convincing argument. Let’s go!”

Before I could even attempt to process anything he said, he snapped his fingers and we teleported to a new location.

It was a small, casual restaurant, with wooden mannequins seated at every table. It was strange how it didn’t match the aesthetic of the rest of the circus at all. I guess that’s why it was considered an off-limits area, since it would ruin the immersion. Not that I cared. If anything, I liked that it looked more grounded in reality.

Caine floated over to a table where Bubble was already waiting for us, and sat in the available seat. He then carefully set me down on the table, and leaned on his elbows, resting his lower jaw in his hands.

“Well, this is the place, Pomni! Want anything? Food? A drink? Just an appetizer?”

“Oh, that’s okay, I don’t need any-”

“Nonsense, it’s my treat! Excuse me, waiter? Could you bring out today’s special for the little lady?”

A mannequin in a tuxedo suddenly appeared beside the table with a tray of food and placed it in front of me. Across the table, Bubble eyed the food in anticipation. Caine let out a sigh.

“And a second order for my gluttonous friend?”

The waiter mannequin disappeared and reappeared with more food, putting it down in front of Bubble. He ate the whole thing, plate included, in one bite. Caine stared at him for what felt like a solid minute before clearing his nonexistent throat and addressing me again.

“Now then, I get the sense there’s something on your mind. But rest assured, I am ready and willing to hear you out! So tell me, what seems to be the trouble?”

It should have been obvious what the problem was, but I tried not to let myself get too frustrated with him. There was no point.

“Okay, so… I was talking to Jax earlier, and he thinks I might have a glitch of some sort, which is why you can’t change me back. Do you… know anything about this? Has this happened before?”

“No… but it doesn’t appear to be a major concern! You can still live your digital life to the fullest just like everyone else! I’m sure with a few accommodations here and there we can-”

“CAINE!!!”

We both froze after I suddenly shouted at him. I didn’t know what I was thinking in doing that. He didn’t appear angry, at least. Just confused.

“I-I’m sorry, but… I don’t want this life. I want my old one back. The lack of an exit is already bad enough, but now I’m scared. Being stuck like this, people grabbing me and dropping me and being held against my will… I don’t think I can take much more of it, Caine. I-If this keeps up, I think I might…”

I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Even though I didn’t fully understand what happened to Kaufmo, I knew it was horrible. The idea of losing everything, becoming an out-of-control monster, never being myself again…

Caine sighed, looking down at me sympathetically.

“I hate to see you so down, Pomni. I wish there was more I could do to help, but I just don’t know. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Is there anything you can think of that might make you feel better?”

There were so many things that could have helped me, but they were all outside of what Caine was capable of. He couldn’t make an exit, he couldn’t change my size back, and there was no way he’d be able to protect me from Jax or my own impending abstraction forever. There really wasn’t anything he could do for me.

But Caine is persistent, and I knew he wouldn’t stop until he could find some way to help me.

“Maybe… a new room? Something private, and scaled down so only I can go in there. You know, a place where I can take a break from everything and not have to worry about being abducted in my sleep?”

“An excellent idea! I’ll get right on that as soon as the adventure’s over. Speaking of which, I should check and see how the others are doing.”

He sat in silence for a few seconds, his eyes wide and locked in place. I could only assume that he did this every time he needed to see out of any of the additional eyes he had planted everywhere. Creepy.

“Hmm, it looks like they’re almost finished up with the Wroinks, so we should probably go meet back up with them. Ready to go?”

He offered his hand again, and I climbed on. As strange as it was, I was starting to get used to the feeling of being carried. At the very least, I was comfortable with Caine and Ragatha doing it. It wasn’t something that I necessarily liked, but it was important for me to adjust to it.

“You seem to be a lot calmer. Good for you! I’m sure we’ll get this all sorted out in no time!”

I had to admit his optimism was endearing. I really didn’t feel much better, but maybe if I just played along I could convince myself that everything was fine.

But at the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about the glitch. If there was a chance that it could somehow get us all out, maybe it was worth looking into. I’d have to figure it out on my own, though. I wasn’t sure how the others would react, and I couldn’t fully trust any of them yet. And there was no way I would let Jax “help”.

The future was so uncertain and it terrified me, but I didn’t need the others to know that. So, I lied through my teeth.

“Yeah. Everything will be fine.”

#giant/tiny #g/t #giant tiny #g/t writing #tadc g/t

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deathmetalunicorn1 · 8 months

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Overlord AU

So a game function of Yggdrasil was the adoption/foster system (yes I’m taking it from the Lands of Leadale) that can only really work with guild members

Basically everyone who made an NPC for Nazerick had Momonga adopt their creations so that he could add to them with skills and equipment and all that

Then the change of worlds happens and all of a sudden Momonga is the adoptive father of several hundred children

How would this scenario change the story of Overlord?

-This is hysterical! I love both of these series! Skargo never fails to make me laugh with his flower power XD but I love this idea!

-Thinking more on the Overlord side of this idea, I think Momonga would initially panic, now the father figure of who knows who many NPCs (as I know there are a lot and some that we have yet to meet just yet in one of the forms in this series).

-Speaking on the personalities of the NPCs, like they may fight each other, but are total loyal and subservient to Momonga, this would be similar in this scenario, where they are all loyal and behave with him, following his orders, and like most siblings, they can go for each other’s throats while his back is turned then deny everything if he asks.

-I can see Momonga using the floor guardians to his advantage, by appointing them the ‘big brothers and sisters’, turning them into the second in power and authority, so he doesn’t have to deal with the shenanigans all the time of all the other ‘siblings’.

-I can see him becoming that idolized type of father, where he’s willing to give any of them a chance, like if they do something bad, to explain themselves, and instead of punishing them, just talks to them- as he doesn’t want to punish anyone, giving him a benevolent air about him.

-He would definitely claim he doesn’t play favorites and treats everyone equally, but I can see him doting a bit more on those like Mare and Aura, the younger looking ones, but nobody calls him out on it, but they will call out the twins when he’s not around.

-With this ability to grant skills and powers, as in Land of Leadale, I can see him easily turning his ‘children’ into very powerful warriors, pairing skills with the abilities they were already given by their creators, and if any of them were to ask, he would just say something like, “I want all of my children safe and I’m giving you the power to do so.” Which then would turn into more admiration for him for being such a good father figure.

-Nazarick would be even more intimidatingly powerful than in the original series, giving Momonga’s extensive knowledge and power and with being able to grant these skills and powers to other powerful people as well, there would be nobody who could stand up to him and all his adopted children.

#overlord

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bltngames · 6 months

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Let's Talk About Fortnite's Big New Update

It's been about a week since Fortnite added its three new main modes, so I figured I could jot down some notes about how I feel about each one, since I continue to play an absolute obscene amount of this game, given it's basically the only live service game I've ever connected with.

Lego Fortnite

This is maybe the biggest new mode added to the game, and at a glance, you might think it's their take on Minecraft. Having put about 10-20 hours into it now, I can tell you it's a lot more like Valheim, sprinkled with a bit of Terraria. It's a survival game, where your goal is to start a town out in the procedurally generated wilderness. As your town levels up in size and complexity, you attract NPCs to take up residence, which you can put to work gathering resources, manage farms, cook food, or party up to help you explore the world and raid various caves.

There's enough content here to support that 10-20 hours, but you'll eventually run out of things to do, given there's just three biomes and only a handful of creatures. Updates are already promising things like merchants, more creatures and even quest givers, so it definitely feels like it has legs, and I think what's here plays well enough. It just feels more like a foundation right now. This is one of those things where, like, it may be worth checking in on 6 months down the road, because there's a lot of potential it could grow into. And hey, it's the only one of these modes that doesn't have any additional fees hooked on top of it yet. That's a plus.

Rocket Racing

Created by Psyonix, this is a racing mode that's a little hard to quantify. The actual racing mechanics themselves are solid: drift to charge up three levels of boost, with a kind of "active reload" system that can almost double your boost if you hit it just right. There's a jump button, and your jump jets can be used to hover over hazards. After you jump, you can also use the drift button to perform a flip in four directions, because your car can also drive up walls and across the ceiling. So, if you jump, push up on the stick, and then tap the drift key, you'll flip up on to the ceiling. Despite all of this mechanical complexity, Rocket Racing still feels too simple to have much lasting power. Some of the fun of a racing game is how everyone tunes their vehicles differently, but so far there's just the the one Rocket Racing car.

Epic and Psyonix could be going for more of a Trackmania feel, and user-generated tracks (the main appeal of Trackmania) are something they're teasing for Rocket Racing, but it's worth mentioning that Trackmania has always seemed kind of niche. It's never had the success of something like Forza Horizon or even Need for Speed.

This also has one major strike against it that Trackmania does not: you collide with other players in Rocket Racing, which is actually sort of a nightmare thanks to network latency. I've run into a lot of shockingly aggressive opponents that treat the game like bumper cars, and every time they crash into you, it's like rolling the dice as to whether or not the collision will actually register. Sometimes your opponent harmlessly slides off the side of your car, and other times the most gentle tap will send you into a tailspin. I wouldn't call the mode terrible, but judging by Fortnite's own menu system, player numbers are dropping fast. It's cool being able to flip around between walls and the ceiling, but there's not enough to sink your teeth into long-term besides overpriced vehicle cosmetics.

Fortnite Festival

This is literally just Rock Band 5. The main change is the way you play notes -- there's no plastic instrument support yet (that's coming later, apparently), so you're limited to playing it on either a keyboard or a gamepad. The way the buttons are mapped out by default, there are certain combinations of notes they are never going to make you press together, because it's impossible to hit both left and right on the d-pad simultaneously. Besides that, I'm not kidding, it's actually just Rock Band, and unfortunately I'm one of those people who struggles to connect with rhythm games.

I love something like Parappa the Rapper or even Theatrhythm, but I just don't connect with a lot of the genre in the same way most people do. This version does at least connect to Fortnite's cosmetics system, so you can have Michael Myers singing vocals in Gangnam Style, backed up by Beast Boy and Ellen Ripley wearing a Ghostbusters proton pack. During downtime where you might not have any notes to play, you're given the option to use your Fortnite emotes. That's fun enough on its own, but it's extra fun on skins with transformation abilities. Going back to Beast Boy, it's fun to watch the camera pan by him in his regular Teen Titans attire, only for him to suddenly be a bass-playing gorilla the next time you see him.

Also included are "Jam Tracks", which let you play specific pieces of songs outside of the Rock Band mode. So if you want, during a Battle Royale match, you could start playing the bassline to Seven Nation Army at any time, anywhere, and even change the pitch and tempo. Other players can choose to join in, adding vocal tracks, or lead guitar, or drums, all from different songs, creating a strange sort of on-the-fly mashup. It's not super deep, but I suppose it's there to justify the fact that songs in Fortnite Festival are roughly $5 each. Festival also has its own Battle Pass, at $18 -- almost twice what the Battle Royal Pass costs, and unlocking stuff on the Festival Pass feels like the slowest possible grind. Too many Festival quests only give 10 or 15 "points" towards the pass, when you often need THOUSANDS for the next unlock. Kind of a bummer!

Battle Royale

As a bonus, some commentary on the current chapter of BR: as of this latest iteration of Fortnite, it feels like they've basically rebooted the entire game. If you've been paying attention to industry news, Epic's had quite the exodus of high-ranking staff lately, leaving me with a feeling that a completely different team is handling Fortnite now. Every piece of the gameplay has been retooled seemingly overnight, from healing systems to movement speed. The best way to sum it all up is that it feels a lot more like PUBG now. But like, worse? Weapons have attachments now, foregrips and sights and stuff, but there's no way to pull a sight off one gun and put it on another. You can only buy attachments at a workbench, of which there's only, like, seven on the entire map.

So generally you're stuck with whatever attachments are already on a gun when you find it, and there's no easy way to compare attachments if you want to swap for something else. The previous system -- which was basically just WoW's rarity system -- was a lot clearer and easy to understand. A purple gun is always better than blue. Now those waters are a lot muddier, and you don't have access to the information you need to make informed decisions about what is better than what. The simplicity that made Fortnite more accessible than PUBG is gone now. The other changes just take some getting used to, but the slower movement does mean running from a closing storm circle is a lot harder in a way that feels like nobody on the team really understood or accounted for.

The main issue is that Battle Royale is still trying to be the "spotlight" mode in Fortnite right now, which means its trying to incorporate a little bit of everything and it's hurting the experience. The new cosmetics locker system is a total nightmare to use, more tedious in every single conceivable way, to such a degree it's hard to comprehend anyone actually thinking it's a legitimate improvement. Fortnite also tries to pull in your Rocket Racing cosmetics to BR now, but only for certain vehicles, which in itself taps into a long standing frustration with Fortnite's handling of vehicle cosmetics overall.

Close to five years ago, Fortnite introduced its "wraps" system for guns that work like liveries in a racing game -- basically a custom texture for your gun. Wraps have inconsistently applied to other things as well. Fortnite's earliest vehicles like the golf kart and quadbike accepted wraps, as did boats. There are even skins now that can wear wraps as clothing patterns.

But cars could never have wraps applied to them. There were hints that maybe wraps would eventually apply to vehicles, as there were updates where they started appearing on pieces of a vehicle, but never the whole thing. Now we finally get vehicle cosmetics, but it only applies to one vehicle type, and transforms it into a completely different car body? It feels half-baked and deeply arbitrary.

Fortnite has often had many different vehicle classes on the map together, between pickups, sports cars, sedans, and hauler trucks. But now the sports cars are the Rocket Racing car? It's cool on the surface, but a strange portent of future seasons. What of the other vehicle types? They're not in the game right now, but will they be? Will sports cars be a permanent fixture of the Fortnite map going forward, so the cosmetics always carry across between modes? Is this a hint that other vehicle types are coming to Rocket Racing, and that eventually, we'll be able to apply cosmetics to everything?

Which is to say nothing about the fact that wraps don't even seem to apply to guns anymore. There's a lot of systems that hook into wraps that they can't just get rid of -- but it definitely seems like whoever is in charge of things right now is trying to find a way to ignore them, starting with the core functionality they were invented for.

Like a lot of things about what's happening to Battle Royale in Chapter 5, it feels super weird, and very divorced from the Fortnite I used to know and enjoy. Their attempts to try and tie everything together like this so that Battle Royale can have elements of all (or most) of the other modes incorporated into it just don't mesh very well or feel very necessary. They're recreating and then solving problems that were already solved four years ago.

Which is ultimately the bummer: I'm not sold that any of this needs to be inside of Fortnite, and I don't think it's going to pay off in the end. It's hurting the core experience a little bit and the best, most fun new modes would have still been fun as standalone games.

I just don't see the point. How big is big enough, Epic?

#writing #epic games #fortnite #lego fortnite #fortnite festival #rocket racing #psyonix #harmonix #rock band

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fanonical · 9 months

Note

sorry if this is a silly question but in trans hyrule is everyone trans? like zelda ganon and beedle too etc

no! #trans hyrule is just what i call the basis of the fic(s) because i haven't got a proper name for it yet. well, i do have ONE idea, but it's kind of ambitious, so i want to do more work on individual smaller projects first before i commit to the megafic.

it's just called that because it focuses on transness, transition & the different types of trans people and how they might live in Hyrule, not because literally every character is trans (though that would rule).

plenty (probably even a majority) of characters will still be cisgender -- or at least presented as perceived to be cisgender by Link at first; many of those characters may eventually reveal "oh no i am actually trans i'm just stealth" (i'm thinking Paya maybe?) or come out part way through the story or whatever (i have a couple of other NPCs lined up for this) because i want to portray a vast variety of trans characters with different identities, experiences & who are at different points in their journey

the three examples you used are interesting though! because i think i have interesting answers for those three specifically.

i think Zelda was assigned female at birth, but doesn't have feel a strong connection to that assigneder gender, & also hasn't (and perhaps won't) really examined that and how she feels about her own gender; i think that maybe if she were really forced to confront with it and identify a certain way she might even identify as agender, but i don't know if i'll depict this happening -- to me this seems like it might be beyond where she is at as a character in BOTW/TOTK, and something she might discover about herself later in life? imho, her own gender couldn't be the furthest thing from her mind so probably doesn't think about it much.

Ganon i think is a cis guy, just because i'm doing other stuff with the Gerudo, and i think it's actually really interesting to explore with what Nintendo's already set up for us; a lot of the Gerudo stuff in canon is whack and imho racist & kinda transphobic (not to mention it relies on some pretty backwards ideas about gender). i wanna see what i can do to "trans" that up a bit whilst still leaving the gendered tension in place; a lot of peopke have suggested making gerudo a total trans haven or just removing the gender stuff from it at all & making Ganon a trans guy from a culture with traditionally only one gender -- these are all interesting ideas, but what i have stored up for this is way more interesting i think; i want to challenge the idea that "every man" born to Gerudo culture is evil like Ganon, and explore how both transmasc Gerudos & transfeminine people of other races visiting Gerudo City might be treated worse for their perceived affiliation to Ganon & darkness. i'm being pretty vague here because whilst i haven't posted about it, the changes i'm making to Gerudo City are some of the most developed so far and i have big big fun fun plans to explore gender there

Beedle is a trans guy. it is known. i literally can't imagine this guy as anything but trans. i probably won't explore this too much because he's kind of a tertiary character at best, but trust me, it is canon to my fic, and he'll show up often enough that it'll be relevant

thanks for asking!!!! hope this was interesting

#Trans Hyrule

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ninthprime · 8 months

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post where i just talk about what im palisade shipping. because im bored.

bucci real. i like to think about how gucci ended up in this deep. how lonely are you that the fish who you know used to scam you and did war crimes is the one you’re falling in love with!! why are you having romantic thoughts about being great heroes and saving everyone with them!! brnine likes gucci of course but i truly don’t think they realized how deep it was until that pre-sun convo. and its like oh gucci is in deep with me. well i’m not gonna process that in my brain because i can’t connect to my own emotions. it’s toxic they’re not good for each other but its ok. care for each other anyway.

brnine/jesset is real too you know it is. but i also think that’s jesset occasionally wanting to make out with them and brnine would probably agree but is not processing it and is just thinking Jesset’s my best friend! ok brnine.

this does mean gucci/brnine/jesset is real i think. bucesset. as it has been dubbed. usually i dont think its romantic with gucci and jesset but it’s. A Relationship. what if we mind melded once and hated each other and what if we were currently each other’s ally on the terrorism council nonetheless and what if we were both in love with a pathetic war criminal. i want them to freak out about brnine being on the pact ship together. i want them to both be a little fucked up about how they nearly just had to give themselves up to the bilats. i want jesset to make gucci promise to not fail brnine like they both did valence.

you all know gurbalence is the forever ot3…for years i have thought of them every day…you know we will get it. ali is already providing us a steady stream of balence. and you KNOW we will get gurlence. you know dre and austin will make that happen. you know gur and brnine are going to have to exist around each other via figure proxy. and it will be awkward and bad. but they are associated forever by grief :) do you think brnine has opinions on the gur puppet. hey if they try to free gur do you think someone will have to make him another body. hey do you think brnine has thought about how they have the notes and tapes that are valence and gur’s legacy recently

i think figure/gur (figur) (you know we have to call it figur) could be real but i need to see it. i KNOW how much a dre pc loves a npc romance. but it could also be so bad for them in the wrong circumstances…them being tied together ties them to clem in many ways still…they have such similar hurts. it is probably not great to finally gain freedom and then have a spider bound to you. but also i think they could understand each other. figure will definitely project on them a little as is their habit. i have to see the flirty quotient…well sometimes gur is just naturally like that.

i did mention this recently in replies but secretly though the figure ship i have been thinking about a lot this season is figure/thisbe. honestly it may be my largest ship this season. but i have been nervous to talk about it because the best thing about thisbe is that she does not see things the way others see them so it is a hard sell while still true to her character. but im not seeing things right. they like to rush into action together. figure wanted to know if she was being treated well and seems to have picked up on how she sees the world differently and will defer to her judgement. thisbe made a clock just for getting them away from clem and prioritized it for multiple missions. they are like a plant to her and now they have plants growing from them!! i think figure will be very grateful and may try to make it up to her and it will be cute and funny. this is thisbe’s weird little crewmate and she is going to hook them up to the blue channel irrigation system and provide them beneficial nutrients. this will be satisfying to her and they will feel very safe.

cori/elle real. they will kiss i think. what i need to see is for them to talk about devotion more. what made you realize you didn’t believe elle. what happened to you as a double agent. can what you know cut through cori’s pain. can it cut through her devotion. how can you share this with her without her punching you again. do you care enough about her to share this. i want to see it all on screen

my friends are much better than me than talking about arbitred the hot new ship but it’s real. sending someone a digital ham slurper is real. when you don’t have a candidate because that’s so demeaning but you work closely with a weird little cyborg girl that’s not romance you know that’s just putting someone under a microscope and thinking they’re entertaining. it’s not like you feel the nonhuman equivalent of a satisfied rush when she sends you an emoji and talks about how successful the two of you are at selling contracts together. simply an incredibly beneficial business transaction. you are sending her five more ham slurpers and watching her say npc dialogue about this.

this isnt a big ship yet but i want to see more of the crusade squad because i miss ignadiah and ramondre the swordbearer rivals. i think hets are allowed if they are constantly trying to destroy one another. they are so much fun to me.

#fatt personal tag #palisade spoilers #yaaaay time to be embarassing yaaay

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eukarisparadise · 6 months

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(bad English and long text)

I understand that I'm probably far from the first person to say this, but one of the few things that genuinely touched me in MP100 was the moment in the "Claw" organization at the end of season 1, where Reigen told Mob to run away. I understand that he was most likely just broadcasting his self-preservation style – "flight" – but personally, I saw something different in it and my heart still aches with joy here. Reigen told him "you don’t need to take this all on yourself, let the adults handle everything."

As the oldest sister myself, I understand what it’s like when parents leave their other children to you, giving birth to them with the default thought that you have already grown up as a helper, while you, for example, are 11 years old. Mob's situation is different – there is only a year difference between him and Ritsu, but judging by the way Ritsu reaches out to him, takes his example not only as an esper, constantly emphasizes that Shigeo is his older brother (I can't speak for everyone, but I still don’t really perceive my older cousins, who are ~4 years older than me, as an elders, but as peers), and also from the apparent complete absence of parents in the boys' lives, I can assume that all his life Shigeo has been left to his own devices at best, and with Ritsu in his care at worst.

I don’t think that their parents are completely indifferent to them – they attended their school race after all – and I haven't read the manga, so I can't judge with certainty, however they have catastrophically few appearances in the anime, besides the standard dinner scenes together (my friends even joked while watching that "these NPCs at the table have one script about spoons"💀 lol).

Mob's whole story is about how he gradually develops his personality, learning to express emotions. But I don't believe he suppressed them solely out of fear of harming someone with his magical outbursts.

I know how children mature beyond their years behave, because I was one. Mob always acted like he was too burdened for his age, having restraint uncommon for kids. He himself disliked this fact, and it was a hard-fought battle to loosen the internal grip. All because this is the consequence of too much of a burden that good-natured but absent parents could've placed on him (I mean, come on, your child – the most powerful esper in the universe – disappears for days and sometimes nights, occasionally even with his brother, and not only do you not know this, but you also keep repeating your spoon script?).

This is where Reigen comes in. Little Mob needed guidance, advice from at least someone who could understand what to do with his gift and his life – and Reigen, not yet knowing about his abilities, gave him this advice, which he listened to with his mouth open. It was clear from that scene how much Shigeo needed support and guidance, and frankly, a parental figure. Real parents, as I wrote above, don't seem to care at all that their son easily comes home late at night or even in the morning, nor did they show any interest in his studies or hobbies. Maybe I'm wrong, please correct me on that, but it's really so little of them in the series.

Reigen, be he thrice a manipulator and swindle, saw a child with a truly divine gift, and his first instinct was "I can make something out of this." Mostly money. But as it turned out later – a good person too.

And Reigen's parenting abilities can be judged by the fact that Mob not only turned out to be a good person himself but also was able to guide others by his example – for instance, Teruki.

Even if we take into account the fact that Reigen never failed to use Mob’s abilities, relying too much on him, he still took care of him: he always treated him to food, never smoked around him, came to pick him when he had problems, stood up for him (in the episode where Mob was almost scammed in the vase incident by con artists, who did he call first? Not his parents, no. Reigen).

And finally that scene in the "Claw". Reigen told Mob to run away because the problem he was getting himself into was an adult problem, as he himself said. He literally said that Mob shouldn't act against his own morals, because he is still a child, he hasn't grown up to make such decisions (and it was clear how difficult it was for Mob to decide to harm someone from those espers, because it went against everything, what Reigen taught him). That's why he freed Shigeo from this responsibility: run away, leave it to me, kid, I'm an adult and you shouldn't risk anything and challenge anything in your heart.

Reigen may be a scammer, but he could put a lot of parents to shame. Including mine (in our translation he even literally said in that episode that he is Mob's "acting guardian", my gooood 😭😭😭). I wish having someone like him growing up, someone who can willingly take responsibility when it's necessary.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

#also their soundtrack is officially “don't you worry child” because I said so #mob psycho 100 #mb100 #reigen arataka #mp100 reigen #mob psycho reigen #mob #shiego kagayama

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lemonaera · 1 year

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As someone who played sl from launch to end: as a concept it wasn’t bad, it was VERY poorly executed. Blizz threw new characters at us and told us to care about them, But why? Why should i care about this bear who’s world was destroyed? When they could have put Fandral at their place? They should have made every npc someone who the fans already knew (i would have cared about Bastion if the character leading us was Taretha who struggles to let go) and not retcon everything from Warcraft 3 to Legion in order to make the Jailer ”make se se” (cool raid fight but made absolutely 0 sense) the final nail in the coffin was the zererh mortis (that didn’t make sense even as a concept) apprently all beigns are just weirdly shaped robots that get thrown into realms and develop personality? And Since Elune is related to the eternal ones, she is also some sort of robot! Just… what was that?

I agree, Shadowlands AS a concept is absolutely interesting and if they had competent writers, could have been really neat. You're better than me though LOL I could not finish it.

All of the horrifically bad plot writing aside -- My biggest beef was the treatment of primarily the female leads and how blizz likes to depict 'female rage' and 'female power' as literally just evil and insane.

Sylvanas had no actual logical reason to do anything she did. To take one of Arthas' primary victims and then literally YEARS LATER play her out to "become him" is so gross and erases her entire character arc to that point. It was just another 'we gave her a position of power so GUESS SHE'S EVIL NOW' crap move from blizz. And how they handled that in the end was even more disgusting. Oh its okay now guys she's nice again, was used by another "arthas" (even tho she denies it!!!) and hates her "old self" and is going to go on a journy of 'self loathing and repentance'. The fact that they really had her pick up a mournblade (WITH ARTHAS IN IT!!!) and take away Anduin's free will was just. Nauseating.

They didn't treat Tyrande much better either. She got a power up, uh oh, guess she's crazy now. ????? Ya'll massacred her people but you want us to believe that its just 'women irrational' to be upset by that?????????? Sure, blizz.

Calia's whole existence is just ??????????? ?????????????????????????????????????? Insult to injury to take out Sylvanas and half replace her with Arthas' SISTER, but then act like she can totally relate to the forsaken when their entire existence has been about suffering horrifically, being mind controlled, being DAMNED, and having everyone hate them for something out of their control, and Calia doesnt have a single one of those issues ....... ??????????

Jaina gets her kick ass harbinger song and then ...... nothing. Just more of the usual for Jaina.

And finally my last beef, the "foreshadowing" of Anduin and Arthas parallels WHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY. These two characters are NOTHING alike they don't share any kind of similar anything, not back stories, not personalities, NOTHING. They were both blonde. Both blonde royalty. ???? JUST ?????

#Bad writing. Bad. Bad bad bad. Very bad.

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inktog · 7 months

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YOU ARE A MONSTER, AND TONIGHT IS HALLOWEEN. It's the one night of the year when you can exist in the open—by passing yourself off as a human in a costume.

Players: Create Characters

What monster are you? doppelgänger, Frankenstein’s, ghost, headless rider, incubus/succubus, mummy, pumpkinhead, skeleton, vampire, werewolf, witch, zombie, other. (Start thinking about your supernatural capabilities.)

Choose your number from 2 to 5. A low number means you’re better at TRICK (slinking, skulking, spooking, scaring, killing). A high number means you’re better at TREAT (boldness, bluntness, upfrontness, playing nice, passing as human).

Write down your character’s name, monster type, pronouns (if any), and number on an index card so everyone can see them.

Players: Choose a Scenario

Decide as a group: You’re trying to

thwart an evil plot,

get revenge on someone,

escape from the human world, or

live it up for a night!

How’d you all end up with each other? What do you already know? What’s the plan? And if it’s not already obvious, why do you need to traverse the human world?

Decide for yourself: What’s your personal stake in this?

What does the evil threaten that you care about?

What’d they do to get on your bad side?

What’s waiting for you back home?

What’s one quintessential human experience you can’t wait to try?

Rolling the Dice

When you do something risky, roll 1d6. You roll +1d if you’re using supernatural gifts (a witch’s magic, a werewolf’s teeth and claws, a succubus’ seduction, etc.) and +1d if you’re taking the initiative (being proactive, not just reacting to danger).

If you’re TRICKing (acting in the shadows), you’re trying to roll above your number.

If you’re TREATing (acting in the light), you’re trying to roll below your number.

Each success is a hit.

If you roll 0 hits, something goes wrong. Brace for the worst.

With 1 hit, you barely manage it. The GM will give you an added complication, harm, or cost.

With 2 hits, you do it well. Good job!

With 3+ hits, not only do you do it well, but you also get some extra bonus effect of the GM’s choice.

Rolling your number exactly is TRICK OR TREAT: you gain a special insight into what’s going on. Ask the GM a question and they’ll answer honestly.

Some good questions: What do they know? Who’s behind this? How could I get them to [BLANK]? What should I be on the lookout for? What’s the best way to [BLANK}? What’s really going on here?

(A roll of TRICK OR TREAT counts as a success.)

When you help someone out or act as a group, each person rolls individually. The number of hits equals the number of people who rolled at least one success on their dice.

GM: Run the Game

Set scenes, roleplay as NPCs, give players challenges to overcome, and adjudicate the rules in the service of fun.

Start by giving the players a lead based on the scenario they chose: some immediate task or relevant info to help orient them at the start of play.

Call for rolls when it makes sense. Interpret the results as the dice dictate; don’t pre-plan outcomes. Let no roll go to waste: even failures should push the narrative forward in new and interesting directions.

Before something bad happens to the characters, show signs that it’s about to happen, then ask them what they do. (“The Pumpkin Queen rushes you, her blade crackling with dark magic. What do you do?” “After you reattach your eyeballs, you see a shocked little boy staring at you—he looks like he’s about to scream. What do you do?”)

Ending the Game

Call it a night when you succeed at your goal or reach an appropriate cliffhanger. If you’re playing more than one session, you can increase or decrease your number by 1 in between sessions (min. 2, max. 5).

If you’re discovered as monster, you attract a mob and are defeated (killed, exorcised, captured for government experiments, etc.). You can also be defeated by other monsters. Either way, you can make a new character to keep playing—as long as your friends are still alive.

Credits

Trick or Treat (by Joy Sherwood) is a hack of Lasers and Feelings (by John Harper) under the CC BY 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

#lasers and feelings

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wentian · 1 month

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2.1 rant (from someone who loves aventurine)

i already complained to friends about 2.1 but i still need to vent while i drink my morning coffee. i'm really not happy about not liking that patch much despite it being focused on the character i was waiting for almost a year and it confuses the hell out of me when people praise this patch's story...

i know we're talking about genshin's fandom and they're notorious for having no taste or media literacy ('genshin is so good at telling stories, i don't understand anything at all' said someone on the forum unironically) but let me remind you that the whole patch is told from the perspective of a character who just appeared in the story. not a friend, not even a long-time rival. my big problem with star rail (especially after how h3rd followed kiana closely) is that it doesn't treat its main character... like a main character? it constantly robs the trailblazer of a context and an agenda in every story past the prologue. penacony started really strong with shifting the focus back to the trailblazer and yet somehow we got back to the luofu's level of storytelling in one (!) patch. as much as i love aventurine and was excited to learn his tragic backstory, this patch was ridiculous if you remember that the trailblazer and not him is the main character.

you know how in genshin you can't have npcs living their own life with the traveler and paimon following everyone everywhere and there's no escaping them? they must know and see everything, even if it doesn't concern them? i can't believe i'm saying it but it would nice to have a bit of this annoying trope in star rail because the trailblazer has no freaking idea what was aventurine's deal the whole time. from their perspective they promised to be allies and investigate the murder cases together, then the trailblazer went to grab some drinks in a bar... and then aventurine attacked them out of nowhere. that's it, that's the story from the main character's perspective. wow, such a good writing... aventurine was yapping about his tragic past for 4 hours TO HIMSELF the whole time. i'm pretty sure he knows his own story??? and don't get me wrong, i don't think that we need to follow every single character but it doesn't make any sense to have a whole big patch dedicated to a random guy who just showed up in the story if they don't plan to alleviate his status to a friend or a companion. luofu's story was terrible but at least dan heng is our friend, so it makes a little bit of sense to follow him, and not the trailblazer to get to know his story. aventurine is a no one to us.

and also i need to complain about it otherwise i'll combust. as much as i appreciate that star rail didn't need 30 hours *cough* endwalker *cough* to come to a conclusion that life is ultimately meaningless we all die so make your own meaning while you still live, it feels so terribly unearned that instead of coming to it on his own, acheron comes to aventurine and just TELLS him. and it would have been okay if the game didn't touch such heavy themes like depression and suicide (cocona's story made me cry the other day) only for the writers suddenly decide that their audience is tiny silly babies who need every single plot-point being spoon fed to them... it makes me violent honestly.

4 hours of boring cutscenes from 1 or 2 angles is already a torture. 4 hours of boring cutscenes that have nothing to do with the main plot of the expansion or the main character... 2.1 isn't a continuation of 2.0. it's a glorified personal quest, and it shouldn't had been there so soon, not until we dealt with the major conflict. if you really wanted to repeat 3.3 from genshin, then at least give us and the character whom the narration usually follows a reason to care for him. idk i want to love this story, but i can't stop thinking about how caelus was mixing drinks while aventurine had the worst day in his life.

also i don't want to talk about it much but. fucking. firefly. killed. my. hype. i'm sorry but listening to sam's voice with her uwu moe intonations was... a bad experience. maybe i'm a cold-hearted hater, but her whining on that roof was a huge red flag to me the last patch. suuuuuure you're soooo not going to die to milk emotions out of me only for them to bring you back because weebs are going to whale for you two patches later. uh huh.

and also also i'm so mad we can't have a cool robot guy, no it's gotta be a little girl. forget that this whole 'plot-twist' ruined the drama of the previous patch, i can't stop thinking how STUPID the stellaron hunters are now. immortal blade who seeks the release from his misery, enigmatic and charming kafka who plays the hearts like she players her violin... and two schoolgirls, one of which is a cool hacker and the other is completely useless but have big armor suit. like REALLY why is she there? next thing we know elio will turn out to be a twelve year old girl too. i'm so tired of mhy coming up with really solid ideas only to throw any hint of diversity into a trash bin. instead of having siobhans and svarogs we keep getting fireflies and ruan meis and it kills me.

#hsr stuff #hsr critical #also firefly hate under the cut #i really don't want to go back to the luofu's wriring :(#it really sucks to have expectation when playing mhy games #but until they add a skip button i'm going to read and watch and criticize the bad writing if i can't escape it

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