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#im not even this far in his playthrough
bluerose5 · 3 months
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"Honey, those elves are kissing on the rooftops again!"
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mcpicklebreath · 10 months
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questions I have about astarion romance storyline, I have lots of thoughts about him and want help from people who have played already, uh spoilers for his early romance plot below
does anyone know if you have to have sex with astarion for his romance scenes to lead up to you both working together to figure out what you both really want?
haven't gotten to play yet, and while he's undeniability charming (like he's trying to be) I'd like to refuse him without it shutting off the romance if that's an option? I'd still want to pick flirty options when I think they'd be fun but the character I have in mind would see through the more performative bits and wouldn't really be interested in sex with someone they think is lying to them, it would fit the character more if they refused.
I'm okay with mild spoilers if it relates to his story.
I feel like the answer will be no, and given the story stuff with him I've seen I could understand why, but this game has a lot of branching options so thought I might as well ask!
and if it is possible and because of everything astarion is dealing with we don't end up fucking ever that's totally okay with me
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puphoods · 1 year
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tumblr users when the liberal cop character is a liberal cop
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paeinovis · 1 year
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There are very few ace attorney characters I don't like but when I don't like them I REALLY don't like them
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barbatusart · 1 month
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bit of thinking outloud but for my current tactician run im doing a special wyll origins playthrough im calling the Evil Wyll Run & it’s given me a lot of food for thought about his character (or at least the freedom of psychological movement + exploration afforded to an origin run!)
wyll spoilers abound we’re entering the wyllenium here
wyll always felt a bit underwritten to me - i know that’s partially because there was that big kerfuffle in the 11th hour with changing his whole story and personality on top of having to recast his VA, and frankly hats off to both original VA lanre malaolu & new VA theo solomon for their hard work - both brought tremendous performances, & i sincerely hope mr malaolu was paid well for his work & time even if his voice wasn’t used in the final cut (i would also say warlock as a class itself felt a bit underdeveloped but im 100% OK with chalking that up to me the player not understanding how to play warlock effectively yet lol im more of a fighter barbarian Hit Stuff guy)
but honestly this feeling of being “underwritten” combined with a character with a long history of heroism in his pocket made wyll really interesting to me even in my tav playthrough. for all his accomplishments he still feels like a blank everyman, or like he’s someone who fully believes he’s the main character who doesn’t “need” to do any extra work on himself - and honestly he feels Very much like he could be The Main Character. once his backstory of the son of the duke was revealed too i immediately got the sense of like, rich boy trying to prove his worth beyond his wealth and status by striking out & becoming that hero, or that Prince Charming. basically that perfect happily ever after somebody. and im of the opinion that you don’t get mixed up with a cambion in the first place unless you’re either the kind of naïve “everything will just work out” immature that tends to comes with his status as the son of a noble, or you’re hungering for power. depending on playstyle he’s very easily both of these things
on the naïve front (ie a good wyll playthrough) if anything he feels very believably immature, & from that perspective the events of the game feel as though they’re the prequel to the actual start of wyll's story where he finally finds himself & learns what kind of man he really is. we just dont get to see it alas, but i really enjoyed the thought exercise of somebody still grappling with overcoming his own immaturity. he feels like someone who can still grow and that his tale is just beginning
Evil Wyll (meaning any time mizora shows up he drops everything to enact her instruction & hasnt once tried to find a loophole out of his contract) which ive come to be far more fascinated by is someone clearly vying for power, which is interesting because his noble status would’ve given him all the power he wants had he Played Nice. to me it speaks of someone who wants to be able to take what he wants from life without it being handed to him, which contrasts in a really fascinating way with entering into a warlock pact at all. maybe he thought it was better that it be a decision he made as opposed to nobility given to him by his family ties, maybe there’s still that pollyanna sentiment of “it’ll just work out & ill live happily ever after.” again maybe both. maybe in a sense the fiend, as he calls himself, is a good excuse to shuck off any poor decision he makes or any genuinely heinous thing he does under mizora’s instruction - an identity he uses as power fantasy (and very much in tandem/interchangeable with the blade of frontiers power fantasy) until it means taking ownership for any of his misdeeds, and then a scapegoat.
may be a bit incoherent but im only now hitting act 3 in my origin run & im Really enjoying this difficult characterization ive cooked up for myself lol
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snapscube · 1 month
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im loving your p3reload playthrough so far. my favorite thing about it is you doing a perfect impression of the mc before even hearing him say his battle lines
sometimes u just pick up a vibe from frame 1 yknow
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animentality · 6 months
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the fun thing about durgetash for me as far as definitely toxic ships go, is that gortash and durge, as individuals, are toxic. but the ship itself? not toxic at all in my take. because as horrible as they are as people, the love they have for each other is actually very genuine. everyone else in the world is dust under their boots except for each other. they truly respect each other and get along frighteningly well and listen to each other and support each other’s atrocities and so, if you ignore the screaming of their victims in the background, their relationship is actually kind of healthy.
to be fair: this is with my version of them in mind lol i know other people have spicer takes where they ARE actively toxic to each other and such, and those are fun too but ive gotten so into the version of them where they both just exude toxicity to everyone in their lives EXCEPT each other. it’s already a trope im very weak to but its especially crazy with them. its like they cancel each other out somehow lol
like i think it takes a while to get to that point of course, to build up actual trust enough to feel even slightly safe around each other, but once they open up to each other the affection-starvation just jumps out. and then despite everything they manage to actually be gentle with each other. and neither of them deserves gentleness of any sort, but they get it anyway, from each other.
so for me durgetash is “toxic” only by virtue of the individuals involved being horrible terrible people, and because they gleefully support each other’s evil plans, and not because of how they actually treat each other, which is actually the closest thing to “normal” either of them will ever experience (and it is still so, so far from “normal” lol)
but it’s still also nice to be in a ship where the discourse is so obvious we don’t even bother lol. yes gortash has a list of human rights abuses longer than he is tall. yes he’s gonna have an evil cuddle with his evil partner-in-crime in their evil bedroom after a long, hard day of being evil. and i’m gonna be thinking about it <3
Anon, you get me.
I think durgetash just works because...they are so blatantly evil.
Gortash tortured a bunch of people trying to figure out how tadpoles worked, and the evidence of his crimes is in the mindflayer colony beneath Moonrise and in the Steel Watch Foundry. His Steel Watch guards literally kill children and innocent families.
The Dark Urge mentions killing (eating?) a BABY. They have killed thousands. They eat human meat. They torture people.
They both started the entire plot by being total pieces of shit.
So what are you going to do?
Cancel them???
The game cancels them.
Gortash literally got cancelled so hard his brain popped.
The Dark Urge dies in most playthroughs. They only become redeemable by literally dying and becoming a new person. Plus their life is so fucking awful, that it almost cancels out how bad they are, because they're a vessel of Bhaal, who can either choose obedience or death.
They are both so outrageously evil, you can't even be outraged.
No one on the entire planet is defending either of them.
It almost defeats itself as an argument, like, you say Gortash is horrible, and I say yeah, man. You say, the Dark Urge is evil, and I say absolutely.
But that's kind of why...a relationship between the two of them IS so good, though.
Sure, there have always been villainous ships, but...something about these jagged creatures having a soft spot for one another...
It just works.
It's...it's taking two wretched beasts, and giving them something human to hold between their claws.
How can you support them being together, but how could you deny them this?
They're so horrible, they don't deserve love, but at the same time, seeing profoundly evil people are still capable of love, and humanity is inescapable, no matter how inhuman you are...
Hmmmm.
Yes.
The worse Dark Urge and Enver are, the better Durgetash comes.
That's the wonderful conundrum.
It's honestly such a SHIP, anon.
THE Ship.
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So I'm confused about Wyll. He looks LESS like a devil than the Tieflings he saved, and yet he makes a big deal about his looks making THEM uncomfortable, no one wants a devil at the party etc
AND his dialogue about his looks when the PC IS A TIEFLING THEMSELF is really weird to me
I've done 4 playthroughs thus far and Im still stumped I need someone to explain this. Him being uncomfortable with HIMSELF looking different than before? Yeah yeah we Gucci I get that he suddenly has horns
But it makes him look MORE like the tieflings and not even as devilish as say, KARLACH who is at the party jazzed as hell and mingling with all the other horned, TAILED people (WYLL DIDNT EVEN GET A TAIL) it's really reality breaking for me
You can be a dragonborn or a tiefling and say he's good looking and he's like IM A MONSTER
..... you're LESS monster looking than any of the other horned members of this team. Hands down. Was this weird for anyone else??
What am I missing? (I don't wanna hear that he's just adjusting to his own change, cause of course he's shaken from a change but his responses just doesn't match the dialogue considering who he's surrounded by)
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wickedcriminal · 1 year
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Just started playing Skyrim as Edward Elric, here's a few highlights of my run and the Lore:
I'm playing on legendary survival mode because Ed's life sucks <3
One of the essential goals is to level alchemy up to 100. I will also be playing as a mage (which I've never done before so this should be interesting)
I'm not allowed to kill ANY PERSON. Not even bandits. Because Ed's a staunch pacifist so the 'people death' counter stays at zero for as long as humanly possible if not the entire playthrough. This is only for people, though, so draugr, animals, monsters, robots etc don't count. (I'm not sure where dragons land on that but I've already killed one so I guess it's too late to ponder it)
Also im not allowed to use soul gems. Those are functionally philosopher's stones, so Ed's not keen on that
I will also not be using any shrines/amulets because Ed's an atheist
Only steel and iron weapons! He's the Fullmetal Alchemist after all. Preferably one-handed weapons, as the sword arm is his go-to.
Enchantments are allowed (outside of soul trap for obvious reasons) as long as they come with the weapon when I find it, and I can't recharge them or make my own since I can't use soul gems
Leather armor because Ed wears leather in canon. Presently looking for a red outfit that looks anything like his coat. I'm thinking the vampire armor will be my best bet
I've got no mods otherwise I'd add a dwarven centurion follower and have that be my Al
As it stands, though, I've come up with a story that Al is functionally dead but Ed can summon his soul to fight for him in the form of conjuration spells. So far I've been summoning 'Al' as a wolf familiar and even a storm atronach when I found a scroll for it
(I considered dressing a follower up in armor so that they can be 'Al'. Still thinking about it but i kinda like the conjuration thing)
Ed's 'journey' lore wise is researching the Dwemer, since he thinks their disappearance could be related to Al's body being gone. I'll be reading every book possible about the Dwemer and researching every possible Dwemer ruin when I find it (I don't know a lot about the Dwemer anyway so me and Ed both are learning Together)
I'm also gonna be going to hermaeus mora's creepy realm cuz that's probably the closest to the truth dimension im gonna get (I've never finished that quest before this is gonna be fun)
I've got no Winry stand in but every time I upgrade my armor and weapons I pretend I'm stopping by Rush Valley or smth. Winry is there in spirit
I will be punching every godlike being in the face whenever humanly possible because that's what Edward Elric would do
That's it so far, I'll keep you updated on what's going on with the pipsqueak as i go along✌️
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monstersandmaw · 11 months
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I am unreasonably excited for this stardew fic im hearing about 👀 (also seb, my love- i always end up romancing him)
Thank you! In all my playthroughs (maybe five before this one, lol) I've never romanced anyone. This one (which inspired this story) I decided to romance and marry Seb :).
The story is gonna feature a lot of the game and setting as inspiration, but I'm going to edit the mechanics a bit so it's less contrived, and there are gonna be more supernatural elements and folks at play... :). And an affectionate, fwb situation with Elliott before the end-game Sebastian romance, just a heads up.
Since you were kind enough to reach out about it, here's a 1400 word WIP sneak peek of Rowan, my gruff, buff werewoof farmer:
(CW: standoffish, loner character with scars on his neck from a werewolf bite, passing mention of a werewolf attack at night that nearly killed him)
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This run-down, wild farm, with its endless tangle of fairytale brambles arcing around the roots of maple and oak trees, and its overgrown ponds full of frogs and flowering water weeds, was beyond perfect.
Of course, Rowan knew next to nothing about organic vegetable farming, but that was a problem for another day.
Mayor Lewis dithered on the top step a moment longer before taking his leave with Robin and heading back up the rutted path towards the town. Apparently Rowan had been taciturn enough to drive the chatty old man away, and something about him had evidently unnerved Robin a little. Maybe it was the mess of scars on his throat. He didn’t much care. If it meant they left him alone, so much the better. He wasn’t sure that anyone but Robin in her off-road pickup could make it comfortably along the winding drive to the farm anyway, and it was a miracle that the old man hadn’t toppled into a pothole or a ditch on his way over.
Rowan watched them leave together, deliberately ignoring their nattering gossip about him, which carried easily enough on the spring air to his sharp ears, and he felt something new prickle down his spine. It wasn’t even close to the full moon — he’d made damned sure of that before booking his one-way ticket to the sleepy little valley — but something about this place set the wolf in him prowling. He realised with a jolt that his wolf liked this new territory, with its fresh air and cacophonous birdsong. Where he’d been fractious and aggressive in the city, prone to lashing out when he felt the least bit cornered or trapped, now his wolf was practically bounding on the spot to explore his new territory and claim it as his own, and Rowan recoiled from the idea.
“I am not an animal,” he snarled at himself.
He thought that after bearing the curse for a year, he should have been far more accustomed to the feeling of there being a whole new part of himself inside his own head, or in his heart. And yet, noticing that the way he was feeling was largely because of the wolf, and not his human side, still freaked him the fuck out.
He turned back to the front door of the tumbledown cabin where his grandfather had lived until he’d had to go into care five years earlier, and immediately put his boot through the rotten boards of the veranda with a curse and another snarl. A small family of mice skittered away beneath the house, their pungent smell rising through the new hole to his sensitive nose, and he sighed. “Still not alone, even out here.”
Although the moon was only halfway to full, and against his better judgement, Rowan did let the shift sweep over him a few nights later, and as he sloughed off the complex trappings of his human life and sank his claws delightfully into the velvet-soft dirt, he patrolled the perimeter of the farm where his human self had spent his first week in Stardew Valley clearing weeds and setting up his first organic vegetable beds.
His wolf didn’t think about the uppity shopkeeper in the general store or the awkward blacksmith who’d smelled of a nauseous cocktail of discomfort, anxiety and axle grease, or the harried-looking man in a tweed jacket who’d smelled of coffee and antiseptic. His wolf lowered its head to the ground and inhaled the scents of rabbit and squirrel. It couldn’t decide if it was relieved or saddened to find no trace of wolves — shifter or otherwise — in the area, but seemed to settle for relieved as he slunk like a deeper shred of shadow from the porch of the farmhouse and bounded off into the dark to explore the place with the new, golden eyes of a wolf in place of the slightly blurry, hazel eyes of a human.
A rockfall in the cliffs behind the wreckage of the greenhouse had exposed a damp cave some years ago, though it smelled of bat guano and little else to interest a wolf. He let it be. Trotting eagerly on, the wolf relished the decadent flex and stretch of its powerful muscles, and the bliss of being able to shift whenever the fancy took him was enough to make him tilt his head to the sky and howl his ecstasy at the silent stars.
Rowan knew that being bitten and turned, and dumped unknowingly into the secret world of the supernatural, had taken its toll on him.
His sanity had been right on the ragged edge when he’d come across that forgotten letter from his grandfather in a desk drawer. After a year of trying to hold the remnants of his miserable life in the city together, of slinking down into an old storm drain on the edge of an abandoned industrial estate every full moon, to cage and contain his frustrated, furious wolf, Rowan had known he had to get out of the city. Permanently. It was messing with his wolf and he was losing more of his awareness to it with each passing full moon. He’d also started zoning out at his desk at work and coming-to with claws out and the wolf prowling right beneath his yellow-eyed facade of calm, even halfway through the cycle. The constant clacking of keyboards, the shrill, metallic ringing of office telephones, and the stink of leftover lunches from the cubicle next door to his was going to make him snap. Violently.
Part problem and part gift, his wolf existed purely in the ‘now’. There was no painful past; no human lying abandoned and bleeding and irrevocably changed on the rain-soaked tarmac of a grotty bus station; no human who’d drifted out of touch with his one surviving family member; no bills overdue and no landlord to keep happy. There was only the scent of moss and emerging spring grass and last year’s fallen pine cones, and the echo of a fox’s passing trail across the land which was now his territory.
Rowan’s wolf followed its nose down to the lower pond and lapped luxuriantly at the rich, cool water. His ears drew back and another thrill of delight ran down the length of his body as the sweet, wholesome taste of the water exploded across his tongue; he could detect none of the pollution and chemicals of the city water, just fresh spring that bubbled up from the depths of the earth, carrying with it the minerals and magic of the place.
Yes, this place had magic in abundance.
His grandfather had married a witch, so magic had been in Rowan’s blood already before he’d been mutilated by a lone werewolf at three in the morning in a filthy, city bus station. Perhaps that had been why a bite that messy had taken when it would have killed most people. He prayed he never met his monstrous sire, because he knew he’d rip his fucking head off for ruining his life and turning him into a slathering, near-mindless monster once a month. It was probably only by sheer, dumb luck that he hadn’t been killed by hunters, or killed someone himself by accident, and it had only been by the grace and patience of a blue-haired witch named Mercury that he’d even known what was happening to him in the first place. He shuddered to think where he’d have been without her.
A figure moved in the darkness at the edge of the trees on the southern-most reaches of his property and his lips drew back into a snarl.
“Easy, Rowan,” came a resonant, bass voice, and he froze, tilting his head, ears pricked. He recognised that voice, but couldn’t place it. For answer, he just growled a warning. “Easy,” came the voice a second time. “Rowan MacTavish, I am not here to hurt you. It is I, Rasmodius.”
At the sound of his full name on the still night air, Rowan’s whole body shivered, but the wolf let go of his mind a little. Thought came to him just a little easier. Rasmodius. That was the name of the wizard in the tower. Rowan blinked his golden eyes and sat back on his haunches.
“May I approach?”
He whined and ended the sound in a soft sneeze. Close enough to a petulant ‘fine’, he supposed.
___
(more soon, hopefully, if there's interest :3)
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sugar-omi · 9 months
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oh my GOD SELF AWARE COVE HAS SO MANY POSSIBILITIES IM GONNA BE THINKING ABOUT THIS FOR AGES
JUST- the thought of Cove slowly realizing he’s going through a loop over and over and over and with every loop the MC starts to look and feel stranger and more far away to Cove and it’s driving him INSANE. Cove starts to keep track of these loops and notices that sometimes things get ever so slightly different or drastically different (say the players deciding to romance a different character or is doing a 100% platonic playthrough etc etc)
THE WHIPLASH COVE WOULD FEEL WHERE IN ONE LOOP THE MC IS ALL LOVEY DOVEY THEN IN THE NEXT THEYRE COLD AND INDIFFERENT TOWARDS HIM CAUSE THE MECHANIC OF COVE FEELING THE SAME WAY WOULD JUST BREAK UPON HIM BECOMING SELF AWARE
Cove having to deal with the feeling of closing his eyes as an adult only to open them and see he’s 8 years old again. What the hell just happened???? He was just at his own wedding with the love of his life and now he’s suddenly a crying child back on the poppy hill!!
AND THEN- and then Cove paying more attention to the MC as the loops go by and seeing them fade into this weird uncanny husk, they’re starting to feel more like a puppet than a person, and it terrifies him. What’s going on??? Are they okay?? Why is this happening to them????
Soon enough as he looks at the MC he finally notices and realizes that the MC “never existed”. This whole time the person he’s spent basically his entire life with never existed as someone in Coves world. No, instead they’re just a projection of someone else. Who? Coves not sure, but he feels like that whoever it is they’re the person who he’s actually been falling for over and over again.
And at that realization he come to the conclusion that he needs to meet this person beyond the veil, and he needs to meet them now.
This got kinda horror adjacent I apologize I got carried away-
NO THIS IS PERFECT
it tears him apart every time bc if you choose to romance someone else or not befriend/romance him, he can't say anything different since he doesn't have control over the system and he doesn't wanna alarm you
so he's forced to feel indifferent to you, and even in between he can't talk to you bc you're not real, the "you" that's here isn't interested in cove, and if "you" do take interest in him it's bc of the system, and everything is set in place as always
slowly he works out how to get to you, and he's leaning over you in his buff/lean, (tatted,) 6+ foot glory and teary eyed, asking why you keep playing with him, experimenting on him like this, making him watch you confess to baxter after he's loved you for 15 years. asking why you'd make that deal n choose his best friend derek over him.
well, it doesn't matter anymore. you can be together now, don't worry about his life in sunset bird, you can just build a life together just the two of you for now!!!
he actually prefers you like this compared to the game. you can say whatever you want without limits or prompting. and he can see your expression, hear your voice, actually touch you...
oh, and please don't go anywhere without him if possible or look at other men, fictional or real, with interest. he's everything you need, you've made him to fit your needs every time. you've came back to him hundreds of times in the end, so if you see smth you like on another man, cove will change his style, look, or behavior so just stop looking else were.
unless you can't, then he'll have to punish you. make you look him...
don't worry, he won't hurt you! he really could never do that, no matter how broken or.. well, twisted. he is
just wants to make sure you remember you're his, and he is yours. so if he makes you sit in his lap for hours, making you trace his face and body and features, telling him everything you love abt him inside and out, then just do it.
and if he decides to punish you in other ways, you can handle it right? you've played his 18+ dlc's multiple times, you read all those dirty stories abt him and you always kiss him n grope him when you can in the main game
he just wants to love you, and be loved by you for real. so indulge him a bit, won't you?
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snailfen · 11 months
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not that anon but who's your favorite sluggy
so i never played the original MSC, but originally my favorite was the saint. i loved the idea of being able to just Leave situations and have a grappling tongue at all times as a newbie. i really struggled with platforming and survival back then, so i really liked them. fuck losing all karma upon dying, i could just Leave!
out of the vanilla scugs, monk was also my favorite back then. i REALLY hated the lore removal, but my gaming skills were already just Piss Poor in general so rain world was almost nigh impossible at first. also i liked being friends with lizards and scavs and i couldnt bring myself to attack scavs back then.
so, between then and now, my favorites have changed. between the MSC slugcats...
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this is one of those few times i can answer from Every Possible Aspect of the candidate, like gameplay, campaign plot, etc. Which is really cool! when MSC dropped, Riv was the one  I played first using the "unlock all campaigns" cheat. I REALLY wanted to play saint first, but knowing from the start that the slugcats were ranked by difficulty and saint was locked behind 2 slugcats as opposed to 1, I curbed that urge and went for Riv since they were my second favorite.
now, their super exaggerated movement was hard to get a handle on, i will admit- but i hadn't played this game in a long time so i was just rusty on top of that. but i can confidently say im used to them! i love using their abilities to see just what i can do. there was a time i was playing with a randomizer and it was really fun having to adapt to each new situation like an opportunist. i wish i recorded it! but riv really helped me get over my hesitance when i was faced with predators, which was a bad habit I'd had for a long time.
campaign gameplay tested my lay of the land as well; especially by starting out in drainage system. i practically never set foot in drainage system back in the day, so i didnt know where in the world to head. I luckily detected the garbage wastes gate like, right away. trying to navigate the parts of the game more beaten off the main path of vanilla was difficult but fun! having only so much time to get from place to place was a fun challenge. then, after getting the rarefraction cell, trying to see how far i could go in 1 cycle was even greater.
now the plot is really where riv got me for sure.
looks to the moon has been a favorite character of mine for years. i never really stopped thinking about what happened between her and pebbles; every few months or so i would think about it. just how... hopeless things were for moon. It really made me sad. i think i speak for a lot of people when i say i wished that i could help her in some way. but the only thing i could do is bring her neurons, really. i never really made sense of pebbles side of the deal, like i knew what was going on with him and i felt bad, but it never really hit me how horrible things were for him. it all just felt so... tragic, yknow? that things ended up the way they did for the two of them.
exploring their superstructures was an experience. i originally planned to go to pebbles through shaded citadel after visiting moon on my first playthrough, but plans changed when i considered dealing with memory crypts, and the leg, AND underhang with my cycle limit (i had already sort of guessed that riv was after monks point in the timeline, but i didn't know that those areas got worse for riv so i was just thinking in terms of vanilla) so i went through the wall.
I kinda wish I saw at least memory crypts, but thats ok because the low gravity in the normally zero-gravity access shaft, plus the proto dll at the end, told me everything I needed to know before facing Pebbles chamber. Floating through his decayed structures... it hurt. I remember my first encounter with him in vanilla felt just a word away from being downright incomprehensible. he really came off as some god I couldn't percieve. but now, seeing the walls corroded by nothing but Rot, only small parts I actually recognized just barely peeking out amongst the decay, I just couldn't look. I felt like... like my arteries were clogged just by seeing his condition. Hearing him listen to Halcyon Memories, a favorite (previously) unused track of mine created a special kind of somber that I will Never re-experience.
Then, Moon's structure. This one is special. I got suuuper lost in here, but im glad I did. Up until a certain point, I had been taking the scenery in with a kind of reverence you would have while walking around a graveyard. I wandered for a few cycles, and at some point, Random Fate started playing. I didn't recognize the bass line yet, but when I had stumbled into what I immediately recognized as Moon's Memory Conflux, the Sundown melody kicked in.
Recognizing both things at once, I got all... like, choked up. Like... I'm finally helping Moon!  But... what about Pebbles? Why can't I help him? ...And like, I knew why; he brought this fate upon them both. But that didn't make it hurt any less. He asked me to do the only thing he wanted: to give all he had to redeem what he did. So in the end, this was all I could do to help him; in the same way that this was all Pebbles could do to make up for what he did to Moon.
Don't get me started on the ending. Seeing Moon restored to even a fraction of what once was had me so happy! It was exhilarating to say the least. But I was tearing up on the edge of my seat when she reached out to Pebbles. Watching the messages roll in slowly, seeing what she had to say, all the while praying that Pebbles could hear her.
Seeing Moon call herself Pebbles big sister is what broke the dam. From what I saw back in the day, people usually skirted that title of hers when it came to Pebbles, or never really acknowledged it. Even I did, for some time. But it never made sense to do that! Moon and Pebbles would never feel such anger, betrayal, or regret over everything that had happened if they weren't very close. I found it very important that that's who Moon was to him. Not just a great friend, but a big sister. I'm so glad the MSCteam felt that was important as well.
Speaking of which, seeing the names of community members and fans that I recognized in the credits got me sobbing again when I thought I was done. This expansion was a loveletter to the game from the fans, brought in officially by the actual developers. The Rivulet campaign especially enforced that feeling of love for the game- by having compassion for the tragedy two iterators and finally helping them reconcile.
I finally felt satisfied, not only because I was able to help Moon- but because I had also realized the tragic life that Pebbles had led. Those two things had never really left my mind.
anyways WOOOOO that was a lot of rambling. hope you enjoyed......
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inspectordookie · 10 months
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i saw someone use this picrew (https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1564386) to try recreating their tavs, and i wanted to give it a try (possibly also because im too lazy to draw them) in spirit of bg3 being released :D mind you these won't all be 100% accurate to in-game appearance but close enough alongside my personal envisions
i've only played as one of them in early access,, i may or may not have taken the time to plan the rest of my tavs for future gameplays LMAO yes i am that kind of person when it comes to rpgs🫡 the common thread between all of them is feeling out of place, and how each of them deal with it in their own ways
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ismene farahani-diamandis (she/her) my chaotic good human sorcerer in wild magic (i'm thinking about multiclassing paladin for her but idkk), my first tav and honestly kind of my favorite :') even created a backstory for her parents too. a catastrophe in more ways than one, but truly one of the most caring and fun-loving people, like a disney princess but just a bit more disastrous. a bit of a dreamer who longs to be loved and have adventure like the heroes in stories told by her father, but has often felt she cannot have both or either whether it was due to the utter though consistent bad luck when she tried or feelings of unworthiness because of others even when they did her wrong (aka a list of exes). she has lost most of her family outside her younger, paladin brother and distant noble family in mulmaster, who she has no interest in reaching after her mother's departure as a young adult with her father (it's a very long story involving a rogue noble and a wizard from a family of barbarians). first it was her father from an incident causing his memory then life to be slowly eaten away, her younger sister the one time she was far from home to a village raid, then her own mother the minute she garnered a name for herself as a hero amongst the people. she has since felt a lost sense of purpose, having no family or loved ones to put first having been the eldest sibling for so long, and strong guilt in wanting to pursue more with the unpredictable yet wondrous abilities she was born with, as she has felt she has failed to use them to save precious lives time and time again
even so, ismene is someone who chooses and wants to do good or the best possible thing no matter what challenge stands ahead and hopes that despite everything, she can find a way to be her happy, flirty self once again. trying to make the most of the brain worm situation and genuinely aspires to befriend all in her party, even though most of them prove difficult. lucky for her, if shes anything, shes stubborn enough to keep trying anyways in her newfound but chaotic family--it's almost refreshing to be in a band of fellow disasters. really stuck on either astarion or halsin for her romance because i think story-wise, her and astarion in my brain just are really interesting dynamically and have been in EA, but halsin would probablyyy be her most ideal partner (cause she honestly deserves at least one stable part in her life LMAO) but HEY---MAYBE THEY CAN POLY *if* larian allows it, her mbti/enneagram is ENFP 7w6
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amée tanor'thal (she/her) will be my second playthrough, a neutral good seladrine drow cleric of selûne in the life domain. her backstory is probably my favorite amongst everyone, she's actually the mother of my first and only d&d character that i got to play about a year ago now :D i already had her story in mind alongside her daughter (obviously), and thought bg3 would be a good opportunity to play as her. she's always been more reserved and cautious in nature, someone who always tries to consider things beyond how they're presented in front of her. the inquisitiveness is what led her to learn more beyond her corrupt family, religion, and the normalized suffering within her home at the tanor'thal manor in skullport, she went through a lot to escape from it. initially, it was her and a group of hidden eilistraee followers in the city who she planned an escape route with, amée had met them through a boy around her age that she befriended on one of her secret escapades. they opened her to the possibility of a world filled with joy---with light, a life that the underdark, her own family would consume and make impossible for anyone to have. unfortunately, the heavy security made the journey abruptly take a turn for the worse. amée wound up separated from everyone as they continued the planned path, whilst she wound up chased by her own family on a completely different one; she barely escaped with her life. she followed a path of stars, scared and unsure, and it wound up leading her to a church of selûne in waterdeep where she was kindly taken in for sanctuary.
upon learning more and speaking with the clerics and daily visitors, choosing to serve her and the philosophy of having choice and helping to guide those who are lost, amée is a rare and often misunderstood person in the church. it is something she is aware of but is far more concerned in carving a path of peace for all those who need it---especially misunderstood folk of the underdark. despite her gloomy appearance, she is easily one of the most compassionate souls, one who has sworn to devote her life to healing instead of hurting, though she may or may not have had to kill off most of the family sent to the surface to take her life, including her own mother. needless to say, she'll spill a bit of blood here and then and maybe roll with all the evil goons who give her easy access because they think she's evil too. she's a bit funny and often direct, albeit unintentionally. anywho, she'll be romancing gale, who will not only engage her in intelligent conversation but in a child-like wonder through magic after devoting much of her life to her personal cause. i also feel like his romance route has the potential to be veryy angsty cause of his magic chest bomb so. sorry amée. her mbti/enneagram is an INFJ 1w2 :)
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fynn tranquilfoot (they/them) will be my third playthrough, a true neutral rock gnome monk specializing in the way of the shadow. from a relatively normal family in comparison to a lot of my own characters tbh LOL, they stem from a gunsmith family business that has flowed for generations in a city full of fellow gnome entrepreneurs and inventors. fynn never flowed well with it and was rather easily overwhelmed by it at an early age. as a kid they expressed no genuine interest in anything really, and instead preferred doing nothing, so long as they were allowed to be alone. it was something that did not sit well with their family. fynn was to carry the mantle of their success, history, and more children to keep things going, which did not, in fact, sit well with them no matter how many of their peers in the same family dynamic gushed about their shared lifestyles and destinies. it was yet another thing they could not relate to, among other things being thrust upon them as labels they never asked for; fynn quickly became the talk of their town. they never cared to argue against them or their parent's complaints; "better to play dead to stay alive", then nothing could truly nag at them. however, if there was something that gnawed at them at all, it was a distinct lack of purpose. they had spent so long doing nothing to the point it almost felt depressing to not be really good at anything; it was one boat ride away that allowed fynn to venture around the mainland and see entirely different things.
one day they saw a monk stealing a noble of all they had in only five seconds, asked how they could do what they did and the rest is history. they went to the same temple, learned the same techniques, and found they were quite good at all of it. fynn knew that sometimes the assassination gigs weren't the most morally correct, or that even when it was they wouldn't get any credit for the deed, and they were content with that. fynn is not someone who has any desire to be remembered and is passionate about the life they've led for themselves and protecting that peace it gave them. they're a rather smart and self-aware individual, and quite understanding as they're not very judgemental. isn't opposed to knowing their party, but has no plans of sticking around at the end either, while the parasites possible power to heighten their prowess at work is intriguing, they're aware that trusting its stability in the long run is likely dumb (but somehow they aren't exactly opposed). plan to romance them with wyll : ) i think his desire to have purpose vs. their lack of desire for one will somehow end up complimenting and opening each other up. their mbti/enneagram is ISTP 9w8
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meet magdalena (or mags for short) of berdusk (any pronouns are fine), a chaotic neutral half-orc school of valour bard, and the physical embodiment of the term "here for a good time, not a long time". her story is relatively simple and feel-good in comparison to my other tavs, and i already know i'll end up having the most fun playing him aside from ismene LOL her human dad and orc mom are easily the best parents anyone could ask for, endlessly supportive and loving to whatever their child would choose to do or be as they navigated what he liked and didn't, even though their collective eccentric personalities made them stick out like sore thumbs even in a populated city like berdusk. nonetheless, neither of her parents really cared what people thought so inevitably, he didn't either and in turn became an unapologetically confident and outspoken person. mags learned music from her initially nomadic parents, who traveled all over faerûn sharing their own music, dances and stories, and it became yet another thing they inherited and completely loved. the more he wrote, composed, and sang while playing her father's harp, the stronger mags' music undeniably became, practically wooing anybody that came near it---even those who picked on every surface-level thing about him became unable to deny the magnetism (get it) magdalena of berdusk possessed. they enlisted into a bard academy, attending for years until magdalena found the curriculum to be severely boring, leaving only a year before they would have graduated.
her parents, of course, cheered them on.
so from then on, magdalena felt the rest of faerûn was ready to hear his songs, constantly writing while on the roads, fighting weird shit, performing at nearly every tavern she could find (and shagging only the finest of folk on the way). no matter what though, mags always makes sure to find the time and place to write to her parents no matter where he is and even with a creepy crawly worm in his brain. the situation doesn't necessarily phase them aside from the fact the idea of a worm in her brain skeeves her out a bit, like what if it lays eggs or something? she doesn't exactly understand the full circumstance. other than that, mags is content with chilling with these newfound travel partners of his and seeing where the course takes them, and even if he is to die inevitably she hopes that by the end of it, he'll have a sick ass album to compile before they can. she truly enjoys to savor and experience, so naturally i'm pairing them with shadowheart of all people LOL they'll probably soften each other up. also probably only gives into the tadpole for a while in exchange for the wicked sex dreams until their gf is like "alright you goob can you maybe stop before it kills you faster". mags is an ESFP 8w7 !!
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last but not least is zaludra strombjörn (she/her), a lawful neutral wood elf enchantment wizard. omfg shes honestly such a sourpuss LMAO she'll end up likely being my most "evil" route (and by that i mean i have a hard time making mean choices in game lol), but she'll also end up having the most significant development. from a young age, zaludra never had the easiest time connecting with others, and wasn't really allowed to due to her condition. albinism wound up giving her severely overprotective parents who didn't even let her skin go near where sunlight pierced the ground. thus her whole childhood essentially was this reinforced idea that she was deadweight, something that didn't do wonders for her self-esteem as she was unable to directly contribute to anything in her village. in the silence, zaludra only grew a resentment for her home and the situation she was in, only finding more things to dislike about the wooden elf's way of life.
the only time she felt any sort of gratification was in occasional conversations with the only person who would talk to her outside of her parents, her village's sole druid. their magic captivated zaludra, the ability to be anything else, to be something great was---and begged to learn their ways. unfortunately, a severe lack of connection to her people or home made it impossible, and zaludra was back where she started. so, she resorted to other means of obtaining the art of magic; zaludra would venture the nights in the nearest town over in magic shops draped in whatever cloth could cover her skin, checking out basic spell casting books from the local libraries. the more she practiced magic in secret, the more determined she became to be the best in it. overtime it became clear zaludra was a natural genius in the arcanic arts, even learning to craft potions as well, concoctions of her own to make her condition easier to live with rather than hiding in shame because of it. she left her home publicly declaring it beneath her and the potential it had hidden her from and set off to further her education in the city of silverymoon where she only continued to succeed.
she would prove everyone wrong she thought, all of them, including the people who should have supported her the most---her own parents. but highkey though shes super lonely but basically represses that with her undying ambition, but then city and school life makes her highkey more annoyed by other people (likely because she had no clue how to connect with them but dont tell her that). probably will want to learn how to control the tadpole at first for her own power until she starts to unexpectedly not hate her companions, especially karlach because a fine ass tiefling solves everyones emotional problems <3 also i hc that her and astarion get confused as siblings/twins all the time cause of how similar they look she probably hates it. also shes an ISTJ 3w4
anyways thats all IM STILL WAITING ANXIOUSLY FOR THE RELEASE AS WE SPEAK
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somekindofsentience · 3 months
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Omori and its parallels with OCD, or my personal connection to this game
SPOILER WARNING: AS USUAL, MAJOR OMORI SPOILERS FOR MOST ENDINGS AND THINGS.
CONTENT WARNING: MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM, SUICIDE, SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS, DEATH, LOSS AND OMORI-TYPICAL CONTENT. I will also be referring to my own intrusive thoughts a lot, so please take caution if it might trigger you to spiral.
DISCLAIMER: I AM BY NO MEANS A MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL. I am in the process of seeking a diagnosis (we're getting there :) ), but it has been otherwise confirmed by professionals that I experience OCD. This post is about my personal experience with OCD and trauma, and the way I believe these feeling manifest in the game. I don't believe Sunny or Basil experience OCD, but I want to compare my experiences with obsession, compulsions and trauma-related OCD. Other people may have completely different experiences, and those are valid!
You could call this catharsis, some form of healing. Really I'm doing this for myself, which was kind of why I started writing Omori analysis in the first place (???). and im a nerd for this game
Guilt
Guilt has always been one of my biggest hurdles, and it's also a very relevant theme in Omori.
For the longest time, my brain and I have been actively trying to develop compulsions to cope with guilt, and it seems to consistently fail. I've tried singing songs on repeat, extreme self-harm, distraction, avoidance ect, and nothing seems to work. Sure, I've never committed recital day, but even small things can make me feel horrifically guilty, as my intrusive thoughts tell me I'm a horrible person or a liar.
I see this in Sunny, too. For the longest time, his mind has been trying to cope with the guilt, and it chose to delve deep into repression. But no matter how much he represses, the truth is still there, and so that guilt is still there.
The Fear Polaroids in the Omori Route are also a representation of guilt, as is the mirror during the Truth segment, both depicting Sunny has a hideous demon. My intrusive thoughts depict me as a demon, too, doing horrific things to myself and others. The images of mutilated, demonic Sunny capture the... inhumanity that my mind makes me feel.
I get it, Sunny. I don't feel human either.
Mewo's Death as an Intrusive Thought
Cat Dissection is an interesting area of Black Space, in that its immediate relevance to the truth is less obvious. It's also one of the more horrifying ones - on my first playthrough, I was running blind, and I figured you'd have to kill Mewo for the key. You do not. my biggest regret
Mewo is obviously linked to Mari, but at the time, we'd only ever seen this slightly mentioned in the real world photo album. At that point in Black Space, Mewo was closely tied to Sunny and Omori, being an essential part of White Space.
The player can stab themselves to get out, or cut open Mewo and suffer the regret. This room feels very reminiscent of a gruesome intrusive thought that just won't go away, those days where you see yourself murdering all your friends, or violently injuring yourself. Much of Sunny's hallucinations, or creatures like Something, also mimic this kind of thing.
That room has far deeper analysis to dive into, but this is as far as I'll go for this segment.
Compulsive Behaviour - Repetition
Basil is probably the first character that comes to mind when I think of compulsive behaviour. His most iconic line...
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This sort of repetitive action is the root of a compulsion - an attempt to relieve anxiety. Whether or not Basil fits the criteria of needing repeat those words otherwise something bad might happen is unknown, but this sort of behaviour is very relatable in my experience.
I have a tendency to not be consciously aware, but others notice that I'll mumble things to myself. Typically this is me trying to talk back to my intrusive thoughts, as far as I know, and trying to confirm to myself that they're wrong. This will often end in asking someone else or doing research to confirm.
By repeating these things, Basil is trying to ward off the reality, which is that everything isn't okay at all, and likely won't be. But the specific framing is future-oriented - he isn't saying that things are okay right now, he's saying that they will be. This could link to my later point about uncertainty.
Avoidance
Not many people talk about avoidance behaviours as a compulsion, which is probably why much of my OCD went unnoticed as a child. You don't really consider mental compulsions, and avoidance can be very easily hidden, especially if you the ability to force yourself through something if you have no other options.
While it's not exactly the same, Sunny's repression of rooms in his house and the shaking head that prevents you from going to particular areas are forms of avoidance. The sliding glass door that leads to the backyard and the piano room are the most notable - it's not repressed, it's there, but Sunny shakes his head every time you interact with it. He can't go in there. He just can't. There's no explanation for the player.
I relate to that. I have strange rules that mean I can't do things. I just can't. There's no real explanation for myself, either, and sometimes I don't even get intrusive thoughts of the consequences, just some insistence that I can't do it. Perhaps this was confusing or frustrating for the player, but I found it incredibly realistic.
Uncertainty and Abandonment Issues
I've heard somewhere that OCD is, ultimately, a fear of uncertainty. As a result of this disorder, combined with trauma, I also have abandonment issues the way Basil does.
Even before the recital day, Basil's abandonment issues are prevalent. He clings to the group with the photo album, preserving his memories. He took photos of the things he didn't want to lose. After the recital day, Basil really did lose everything, and he was broken as a result of that.
I imagine this sort of thing was one of his regular worries, everyone abandoning him, Sunny in particular. And I can relate to that - one of my more common intrusive thoughts is others leaving me after they find out I've done something horrible. It makes you want to shut off from relationships, just to be safe - what if everyone leaves?
I think that 'what if' is what made Basil so attached to Sunny in the present day of the game. He wants to save Sunny, he wants to make things back to the way they were before, but at the same time, there's this uncertainty - Sunny is moving? Sunny is leaving? What will happen? What if everything gets worse?
This wasn't the easiest to write, but thank you for reading.
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moodbroads · 3 months
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BACK IN MY WOLFQUEST PHASE ONCE AGAIN!!! MEET ROSEMARY :3
also heres some goofy ah photos of my mate being scared of his own pups-
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ANYWAYS IM SO EXITED FOR HELLROARING MOUNTAIN!!! i wonder if theres gonna be a new achivement for like interacting or killing a wolverine since i think they said its gonna be rare or smthin! i already know theres prob gonna be new cool collectibles so im exited about that- OOH WHAT IF THEY ADD A WOLVERINE SKULL
would be nice to also have a den in an abandoned human camp ehehe tbh my dream wolfquest update would be if you could raid like a rabbit warren or maybe get revenge on stranger wolf dens so there could actually be war n stuff >:D MAYBE IF YOU FIND A NON-ABANDONED FOX DEN IN WINTER U CAN MAKE IT UR OWN BY DEFEATING THEM >:D
it would also be so epic to have mutations like having a piebald pup!! aionguedbhklwsuv i have SOOO MANY IDEAS like a 'rp mode' in multiplayer servers where ur able to play as a puppy or special rp-only emotes like stretching, shaking or play fighting/roughhousing! and maybe even splitting players into diff packs (maybe being able to attack the other players- if in a diff pack XD)
BUT YEE ANYWAYS BACK TO RAISE MY PUPS-6 MORE POUDS TO GO (to 15) AFTER THE DEN FLOODED T_T (edit cuz im too lazy to make another post)
I FORGOT HOW DRAMATIC WOLFQUEST CAN BE LIKE SKIPPER JUST GOT YOINKED BY A COUGAR AND THEN 5 MINS LATER THE ALPHA FEM OF THE MOLLIES CAME
also yaya its spring i can finally bring food cuz the only beavers are like a million miles away :')
OH AND I SAW AN EAGLE PERCH FOR THE FIRST TIME ON LAMAR PEAK AND IT WAS SO PRETTY-
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PLZ GROW SKIPPER PLZPLZZPLZZAAA IM ON MY WOLF KNEES AND HOWLING WHY DID U HAVE TO DO THIS UR BROTHER IS 16.9-
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anyways yeah i saved and left after that to take a break-hope to update yall once again soon XD
i have returned once again i couldnt resist >:)
WE GOT TO THE REN SITE FINALLY!! :D the personalities of em are rlly starting to come out sooo...
introducing...creek the napper/antisocial, ember the explorer/rebel, and skipper the energetic/extremely lucky XD
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i got revenge on the cougar that snatched skipper /j
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BONE PARTY!! (yeah thats creek sleeping once again ;-;)
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fun fact i found out durin this playthrough: the plane will visit your mate if they have a radiocollar on and you dont! even if your far from the den and theyre still at it! i saw it a few times and it was pretty cool but very hard to get good shots of :')
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AGRHJ MORE DRAMA- dang calfree creek moved in super close to my home hex while skipper got sick- ;-;
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once again skipper being 1 tiny pound away BUT AYYE SHE GOT HEALTHY AGAIN LIKE 2 NIGHTS LATER SO YAYA
also me findin the barbie bag and lance being scared of it for some reason (AgAinSt GuRLiEpOpS?!?1/1/!?)
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underappreciated local redhead XD
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i finished and creek got air jailed by lance for tryna be active T_T
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I KNEW SHE WAS A RUNT >:(
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ANYWAYS HERE THEYRE ADULT FORMS!! ember got a cool tinted buffy which was my first npc coat!! (XD aint suprised tho cuz lance was stormy) and creek looks like he ate face-first into a bag of flaming hot cheetos
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ANYWAYS YAYAAA I HAD A FUN TIME!! i might continue this bloodline too..someday >:)
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t4tails · 2 months
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what did u think of the characters in the quarry i feel like they were hard to get into if that makes sense
tbhhhh i think almost all of them are at least entertaining if not likable. im watching an until dawn playthrough rn to compare and while im not far in i will say im so far definitely preferring the quarrys cast.
dylan & emma were my personal faves... dylan is a no brainer cast stand out for sure hes super fun, and emma like. she sucks but i like her LMAO. kaitlyn was also pretty cool but i feel like she got kind of shafted in the development department :/ she doesnt have much to do and despite being the expert marksman she uses the guns surprisingly little. jacob & ryan got on my nerves a lot but i think they both have the clearest arcs in the game even if the formers just ends with him crying in the woods lol. nick & abi were super boring and inoffensive... like unless emma gets infected abi really doesnt have any major cool scene and nick is just a werewolf for half the game, and also his character models mouth was obviously rigged to be smiling as the default and it was really distracting. max and laura were really cute together but laura coming back and taking over the plot was super fucking annoying
i think they all definitely wouldve been a lot better if we got any kind of real conclusion. like its actually insane that so much of the early game plot hinges on their flirty blooming romances and then its just all dropped with jacob & emma being the only relationship to possibly get closure if you pick up one (1) extremely easy to miss item in the first chapter. like its actually such bullshit we get no max and laura reunion ☹️
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