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#it's like ready player one but vampire romance
dragonomatopoeia · 2 years
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i love themes and parallels and connections so much and yes the narrative is consuming me a little i think but it's fine because the human is apophenic by nature, seeing patterns in everything. it is in our nature to draw meaning from the world around us. this does result in false positives but it's my own business if i'm analyzing vampire romance through the lens of debordian spectacle it's fine
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♡ A Collection of Favorite Fics ♡
HI! This has been sitting in my drafts since early august of last year, what I had originally planed was a beautiful organized and linked list to surprise people for Fanfic Writers Appreciation Day (August 21) but i had gotten really busy at work during that time, and linking each individual fic is very hard on mobile. Also i was burning out in life at that time BUT i really wanted to give a proper shout out to our fanfic writers as they are the backbone of fandom and don’t get nearly enough credit. I see yall and i love yall more than you know. Thank you for taking time of of your day to share pieces of your own little world with us. I’m leaving each one of you in my will and leaving you large amounts of money under mysterious circumstances~~
I tagged each author (sorry ahead for tag spam!!) and you can find each of their master lists- all of these are also within my “Silvers Fan Favorites” tag
AS ALWAYS please read the rules and respect any DNI/rules of each author and their blog!!
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Inumaki Toge:
Kingsuki by Kirketeer on AO3! (used to be bakughosts here on tumblr but I couldn’t find the blog :( ) god, my favorite comfort fic. The ultimate strangers to lovers with the perfect spice
Purple Notebook by @just-jordie-things jordie writes the best inumaki fluff I’m always kicking my feet and twirling my hair!! Also check out p much everything written (that new choso!neighbor fic I simply passed away)
Romance Alley and Prettier by @thebellearchives bestie. You know I love you. I love that we share the same brains cell and feed off eachother brain rot, inumaki professor, queen of tooth rotting fluff
This blurb requested by me (sorry can’t link it BUT GUESS WHO JUST UPDATED THIER MASTERLIST?!?!) 💀 by @arvandus shameless self plug. But this was Arvs first time writing for inumaki and it made me fall to my fucking KNEES. 11/10 wordsmith this one is!!
ALSO DABI GIRLIES CHECK OUT TOUCH. BARBATOS GIRLIES CHECK OUT E V E R T H I N G
Itachi Uchiha:
Patching Up by @hauntedhokage BESTIEEEE the way you had me emotional for WEEKS. Patching up will stab you, soothe you with fluff and spice, and then twist the knife. I am forever smooching your brain for this one, Lex ilysm
Restraint by @saintrocklee LISTENNN this is the fucking fic that rekindled my Itachi brain rot. You capture Itachis mannerisms so well and build tension that makes me want to rip my skin off in the best way. On my knees for this fic 🤌🏻🤌🏻
Eddie Munson:
Fire and Tape Dates by @madaboutmunson MADDIE MY BELOVED the first Eddie fic I fell in love with. Maddie writes the best tooth rotting fluff and will make you twirl your hair then laugh your ass off. If you’re also a steddie lover you’ll find plenty of fics here!!!
Sorry I Missed You by @raccoonboywrites when I say this fic has everything, it has everything: fluff, angst, billy slander, spice, beautiful characterization and description. Eddie simps come get y’all juice!!! please also check out the blurb list, there’s a vampire smut blurb (don’t read it at the dinner table like I did. Learn from my mistakes yall) and a shibari blurb that itch my brain until I curl my toes. Rowan is THE BEST at Eddie characterization. You would think he is Eddie after he survived the upside down as an immortal vampire and started a new life overseas (squints eyes)
Bakugo Katsuki:
They Came at First Light by @katsukikitten - my OG blog I fell in love with years ago. *the* Bakugo blog. It was hard to pick one (also check out kicked dogs!!) ABSOLUTE favorite worldbuilding, I’m always so immersed when I read any of your writing!! I think I have the OG OG master list somewhere in my requests, and it’s like a stroll down memory lane from years past.
Ready Player 1 by @kingkatsuki my my my, 34k words of perfection. If you’re a bakugirly and need the perfect slow kindling relationship and toe curling smut, go make yourself a lil’ drinky drink, sit down, and buckle up. Also HUGE archive one-stop-shop for the bakugirlies!
Crybaby by @hauntedparadises - Lvov love love everything about this storyline. It makes me giggle, cry, scream at my phone. And.. hehehe twirl my hair if you know what I mean
Kakashi Hatake:
Pollen Count by @hauntedhokage again, Listen, just read the whole blog. You wont be disappointed I promise. I remember I came across my dearly beloveds blog when I randomly rekindled my kakashi love and not only did I get a story that I thought about for 3 weeks straight but I also got a best friend out of it
Sukuna:
Is it Really Peace? (Also tethered ALSO Yandere!Nanami im frothing at the mouth) by @tenkomura - If y’all are into dark content, THIS is your one stop shop. ITRP also has some FANTASTIC lore- trust when I say Si is your girl ILY
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peppercupcake · 7 months
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Astarion and trauma: Approval and moral compass.
I'm jumping into the Astarion train. I want to give my two cents using my playthrough and what I saw in the fandom as references.
I feel like a lot of his character is lost under so much misunderstanding, probably because he shows the history of a “less mainstream” victim of abuse. Which, in my personal case, and I bet in many others, hit the nail on the head.
I truly believe that Larian got some mental health professionals to help write him. It feels way too real.
The whole big argument around him saying that he’s evil and that he disapproves of a lot of good actions, is a trauma response. One that maybe not a lot of people are familiar with. Maybe because it's hard to find accurate representation in media.
Buckle up! This is going to be very long.
Pointing into a more "evil" playthough will make him like you quicker. Why in quotes? Well...
Let's start with what gains his approval.
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He highly values loyalty and support. He values it so much so that it’s totally possible do a “good” run, have 100 approval and still romance him. (I could do it, at least). Baldur's Gate 3 is based in D&D 5e universe, so taking a quick look at the dnd lore we can see that Vampire Spawn are monsters indeed.
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But Astarion clearly doesn't want to be seen that way. You can get an incredible amount of approval every time you support him and treat him as a person instead of a monster. Specially when you find out/he tells you about his vampirism.
C'mon, he's asking for less than the bare minimum here.
He approves greatly when you respect his limits and you don't push him towards things he doesn't want. This is such an important thing for him that failing to do it just once will terminate the romance immediately.
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I can (and I will) write an entire post about this topic. For example, you can gain quite a few brownie points if you stand up for him when you are with the drow in Moonrise towers.
He is the only member of the party that (from the get-go) is open to continue to use the tadpole's powers and approves its use. No persuasion needed. Keep in mind that the tadpole is the thing that nullified all of his weaknesses, severed his link with Cazador and is allowing him to live a more 'normal' life. Looking at DnD lore again:
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(Although he is still vulnerable to the stake to the heart if the player kills him this way, though).
He also likes cats. You can gain a couple of points if you talk or pet them. I found it so silly. Have your potions ready if you can't talk with animals.
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The last important character trait about him is that a lot of the things he does/says are just for the fun of it, or to see what happens. As long as is funny, he doesn't really care much about the rest. You can get some approval just by fucking around and finding out. This is why he's so hilarious all the time.
Now to the things he disapproves.
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He clearly dislikes playing the hero and he'll disapprove helping people, specially if you are going out of your way to do so. He can approve it if you try to gain something from the good deed. For example, asking for payment in advance before accepting a mission. His reaction is just plain ol' jealousy. Why should I help others when nobody gives a rat's ass about me?
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After knowing his whole backstory and how Cazador is hunting him down, can you really blame him for wanting to put himself first?
If I was tortured and slaved away for 200 years, I also will harbor quite a resentment towards everyone and want to be left alone with my misery.
So what's the conclusion?
Victims of abuse aren't "perfect" once they get out of the toxic environment.
At the start of the story he doesn't know better. Can he be a jackass or evil at some points? Absolutely! That's all he knows.
You, as a player, can change that. Show him that life can be more than that and help him heal from his toxic tendencies or enable him while he becomes his abuser. But that's a topic for another post.
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Help or break, the choice is yours!
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larkingame · 3 months
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so, i don't usually crosspost these posts, but this week's update on patreon is available to everyone and I know I have a bit of a larger following on tumblr, and I'd really like everyone on the same page so I'm dropping all I have to say here too.
good evening friends!! i hope you're all doing well! welcome to the first update of 2024. momentous for me personally, because this is the year we finish larkin. i am making this post available to all patrons, (paid or not) because I'd really like to start 2024 on the right foot with everyone aware of the road ahead. i am so determined to get it done you have no idea. this is my year. 2024, i christen thee: the year of the vampire cowboy.
okay, so big things ahead, lets talk about the update, explore some of the features we have in the game, plans for this weekends release, the schedule and a couple other things.
so, if you've played at all with the new version of the game, you'll take notice that it's a little bit different than my first image of the game. at first larkin was just a straight interactive fiction following the likes of cog like games, with choices and avenues and split stats and the like. but now, as of 2024 (crazy) we're seeing a game that is more reminiscent of a ttrpg, like dnd or cyberpunk, with stats, classes and dice rolls. admittedly, the very first encounter of the game is well (it's a little rigged) the game, of course, could not really get started if the preacher gets cooked before they've even made it to nevada, so, the odds are a little bit stacked in the players favor this round, but at least, it gives you a little bit of a taste of whats to come. to dive into the specifics of what's important with this first encounter (or just, how to avoid getting your ass really kicked) these first few rolls give bonuses to players with high dexterity and athleticism—-but that's not to say you need to make your character beefed up in these departments. each stat will get their time to shine later down the line.
but let's talk about what i'm really excited to discuss: classes. so with the new version of larkin, i've introduced a system of classes that operate somewhat like your standard dungeons and dragons class, but with a little bit more of that classic background from the original ttrpg mixed in—coloring the way your character sees the world of the game, sort of how a race might effect a dnd character--(a dwarf player is going to have a much different worldview than say, an elf.) for this i was heavily inspired by games like dragon age origins and baldur's gate, and while I do have those original background ready to be dropped a little bit later on the game in relation to your character's perspectives on the abrams family, I really like how these have come to form.
in total there are seven new classes: con-man, outlaw, healer, thief, gambler, showman and slayer. each of these classes warps the perspective of the player character, giving them new motivations, dialogue options, and affects their relationships with the other characters in the game and the world around them. to illustrate this, I'm thinking of making a little bit more of an in depth explanation screen to be added to saturday's update to really get that point across, but I'm still toying with how I want to phrase the specifics of it. what i might do is something similar to baldur's gate with little pop-up tutorials that can be turned off/on depending on how you'd like to play.
to give an example of some of the more in depth motivations/choices each class offers lets talk about the thief and the outlaw classes. the thief class i am especially excited for, because like the con-man class and similar to a few others, it really allows your character to be very money/materialistically motivated. it opens up routes later in the game, like romancing one of the sokolovs—with motivations reminiscent of gold-digging (hehehe very excited for that—i think it will be very fun to write—because you have this idea of a cold hearted player who is entering into a relationship with them strictly for business, versus a cold hearted player who is in it for the cash but also. might be falling in love with one of the sokolovs? ((a lot of fun dynamics afoot here.)) the outlaw class is also one i'm excited to work with because it really puts something of a strain on the preacher and wyatt's relationship—-mostly because you see a strong division in terms of their ethics—the preacher in that case is very 'do what you gotta do to survive,' whereas wyatt believes (key word—believes) he's living by some sort of moral code—that he's failed to instill in the person he views as his child. so like there are layers here boys. layers of resentment, failure—to connect, to teach, to bond. a final tidbit about the slayer class before I move on: if you would really like to play into the enemies to lovers trope with one of the vampires, I would highly recommend giving your player this class ((that's all I'll say))
so: saturday, that takes us to the bar, where each class will get a unique scene, similar to how the scheming tactic section worked in the original game. we're gonna finish up the encounter with the first vampires, meet our guild pursuers and move to the bar. I'm planning also to implement the character customization here—(sort of a way to prep before the player heads out to the bar.) most likely won't get to all classes by saturday's code, but after that, I'm planning to release again on next wednesday, so we're keeping on track. I'd really like to give a full picture of customization for the player character, with all the original options for physical appearance (i might keep clothes vague for now though and let you dress your character later on, until you get a taste of the inventory/bartering system-—you have to deal with MY poor fashion choices for a little bit.) but that being said, about character customization, if there's something that's lacking here and you'd like to suggest an addition I'd be all ears. This is what I'm planning to implement so far:
skin tone
body type*
hair color
hair texture
hair length
hair style**
height
skin details (acne, scars, vitiligo, rosacea)
facial hair
make-up
piercings
eyewear (glasses, no glasses, eyepatch, prosthetic eye)
gender-affirming customization (for ex. use of binding)
* a note on the body type section, I kind of had this idea of digitally drawing some silhouettes of different heights, shapes and sizes, and allowing the player to click through arrows to select a rough estimation of what their body-type might look like. I'm going to do an art dump later this month, and I have a few sketches of what I'd kinda like to do with that, but I'm still toying with it, because even that could be a little limiting in terms of options. if any of you had thoughts on that, I'd love to hear them.
**I think it might also be cool to kind of have drawings of different hairstyles available to the characters, arranged in the card formats like the previous gender options in that same red colored sketch format.
speaking of art though--and this is purely tangential so I apologize, I'm sure you've taken notice of some of the art being repetitive--for the moment that's purposeful. I'm planning to commission some work for the cards to be implemented in a later update--so what you're seeing are just placeholders for now.
okay! with saturday's notes out of the way, plans for the rest of the week. I need to finish the timeline and then I need to make it readable to people other than myself. it is currently incomprehensible and of the few people that have gotten their eyes on it only one (1) could make sense of my mad ramblings. (shout out to friend of the game bianca from exiled from court if any of you are familiar with her or her stuff, we are  big bianca fans here.) After that I need to do some edits with the new update and such, and poke at the code.
Tonight after I post this, I'm specifically working on sending a few more emails to betas (know that sending emails is. my personal hell because of intense social anxiety. BUT we must persevere. emails will be sent tonight.) after that, I have to work on the phillip/kc/sam schedule + calendar for this month, just to keep the three of us on the same page. I'm in the process of looking at some stamps.com printers for sending out packages with this next round of physical rewards and ordering the merch (hehehe)
okay. super long update for our first one of the year, but I am so excited to get to keep working with you guys :) i'd like to thank you all for your continued support and I can't wait to show you more of the little universe i've crafted :)
until friday! i'm gonna be posting some cyrus asks/scenarios for you all to enjoy, so look forward to that! <3
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thranduil-aran-edhil · 5 months
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OK, so. Finished my first run. Gotta admit I'm not 100% satisfied with some endings. BUT NO BIGGIE, THAT'S WHAT HEADCANONS ARE FOR, DON'T WORRY I GOT A PERMIT (i'm a Dungeon Master) SO LET'S GO, HC TIME D&D STYLE BC WE STILL GOT 8 LEVELS TO GO: (spoilers for BG3 and Descent Into Avernus going forward)
They'd all stay together and continue to go on adventures, the 8 of them, Tav, Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Gale, Astarion, Wyll, Karlach and Halsin. Found Families stay together. (I do enjoy the polyship aspect too, so just throwing it out there) There's an exchange you can have ingame with an NPC in the Guild and Tav will say the party's name is Wormskulls and I love it. I do also love Tadfools. Maybe they are Wormskulls to the general public and Tadfools to their close friends and allies lol. After the tadpoles are gone I think it would be very useful for them to commission earrings enchanted with Rary's Telepathic Bond. Less invasive than a mindflayer tadpole and just as useful. Also symbolic for Gale. I think the earring would have a pendant of a skull with a serpent coming out of its eye and being bitten by the teeth.
OK SO, my girl Karlach. I haven't romanced her yet, gonna do a run for that. But she's not dying on my watch. She's going back to Avernus, BUT YOU CAN BE SO SURE THAT THE MOMENT THE WHOLE PARTY IS READY WE'RE KICKING DOWN ZARIEL'S DOOR AND KICKING HER ASS. Or giving her her sword back and possibly turning her back into an Angel, something that whatever party of adventurers that managed to save BG and Elturel in Descent Into Avernus CLEARLY didn't do, it would probably not only nullify Mizora's contract with Wyll bc Zariel is now a completely different entity, if you decided to redo Wyll's contract with her, but also would give us a better chance of Zariel taking the infernal engine out of Karlach herself. Maybe turning Wyll into a Devotion Paladin? (more details about Zariel here) I'd ask Jaheira and Minsc to take care of Scratch and Albie (owlbear cub) because the Hells is no place for pets. Even very brave ones. Maybe Halsin's "ending" fits here, taking care of the pets and the kids while everyone goes to Avernus, they leave him with a Sending Stone. And when they are back he's there waiting for them. 🥺
If we saved Duke Ravengard and broke Wyll's contract. (or didn't but are hcing that we broke his contract by defeating/unmaking Zariel) what does that mean to Wyll? I think it be super cool to go more in depth about it. How does he reconsile with his father? Does he accept to be reinstated as heir and becomes the Duke right away or does he think it's best for his father to continue his role a bit longer? Does he even want to be Duke or does he think he can serve the people of the Sword Coast better as an adventurer? If he turns into a Duke, what sort of benefit does that give an adventuring party?
Finding something to make Astarion able to walk in the sun again I've seen people talk about the Ring of the Sun-Walker as if it's from the 5e books, it's not, it's homebrew. HOWEVER, any freaking DM with a heart would create something similar for their player to continue playing without being afraid of dying instantly bc of the sun. The Cloak of Dragomir is canon to the Baldur's Gate videogame universe, so it be a good tie in, but it would be a temporary solution at best since it penalizes the player quite harshly, Strength: -6, Dexterity: -4, Intelligence: -2, Wisdom: -2, Charisma: -4 and Vampire Regeneration divided by 3, to 1 HP per 3 rounds. That being said, I wouldn't make it TOO easy to obtain as there are other ways for Astarion to be safe, like the Darkness spell. It would be interesting to see him (and Tav) struggle a little bit more, really feel the sacrifice Astarion made by rejecting the Ascendance even after they find something to combat the Sunlight Hypersensitivity. Astarion's biological family would be something very interesting to explore in the future. They would be Elves themselves and are most likely still alive, we even have a surname thanks to people analyzing the shit out of that tombstone: Ancunín. As a DM I wouldn't wait for a player to decide to search for these people, I'd throw them at the players! Strolling through the Upper City in a quick shopping trip? You hear a loud gasp, things clattering and bumping into the ground, hurried desperate steps and then someone sobbing "Astarion?? Astarion is that you?!" What do you do?
Visiting Waterdeep and Morena Dekarios. This woman deserves to see her son again, and Gale deserves to finally go back home and see his mom without the burden of an ancient artifact lodged in his chest and a goddess wanting him to kill himself. Would he stay? I'm not sure, he went through an entire Hero's Journey and maybe now home, although pleasant, is not as comforting anymore. Waterdeep is the element of Gale of Waterdeep and he's not him anymore. I think this would be a great premise for a roleplay focused arc. Gale is invited to the Blackstaff Ball for the first time since Mystra shunned him, the Wormskulls are famous now, The New Heros of Baldur's Gate (Gala Episode anyone? All of them SLAYIN with their fits? Poor Halsin totally out of his element). He's once again welcomed into the society of the Lord Mage of Waterdeep and his peers seem to have all but forgotten he was ever a pariah. Is that what he wants? And Waterdeep has many opportunities for more adventure. A paranoid Beholder underground anyone?
Kill the Lich Queen (CLASSIC D&D). Vlaakith IS FINISHED. TIME TO SPELLJAM AND BE SPACE PIRATES YALL. Lae'zel deserves to see this through to the END.
Shadowheart goes through another journey to find out if she wants to truly embrace Selûne or maybe become another thing entirely. Selûne should reach out or Isobel and Dame Aylin would help her out. Or maybe Shadowheart is tired of being a Cleric and following a god. But change and inconsistency is something that is under Selûne's portfolio, she's often followed by those who are lost, so I think she'd find more than fitting for Shadowheart to be a cautious and weary follower of her.
Your Tav's personal stuff. The Dark Urge sounds amazing and I can't wait to do a run with them, but I think most of us got very attached to our Original Characters Do No Steal. So I'm excited to see what people come up with for their Tavs. Otessa, my Tav, doesn't know her dad was a pirate, he never told her, so I expect that his past will come bite him in the ass and she'll have to help him out of that pickle.
When the party has reached level 17, Gale has access to the Wish spell. And I really do think they'd use it to get rid of Astarion's undeath. As a DM I wouldn't let Gale simply get the spell outright, he'd have to research it. Not only that, I don't think Astarion would be totally free of undeath, some remnant of it would linger, he'd probably turn into an Elf that needs blood to survive and is forever locked out of the Call of Arvandor or something. But he'd be mortal and would be able to walk in the sun without that ring, cross bodies of water, wouldn't instadie from pointy wood objects in the chest etc. (i'm writing a little one-shot about this, should post it soon)
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kaija-rayne-author · 6 months
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I guess the discourse today is about Astarion being the favourite poster boy of the devs to the detriment of the other characters.
Yes. That's unequivocally true. Wyll having so little compared to Astarion is also an example of racism.
It's also capitalism. Larian can't make more games unless BG3 does well. So far it has, so in their choice of poster boy they chose correctly.
Every business, especially entertainment ones, follows a similar model. Develop stories or games that the previous game helped fund. It's common in book publishing too.
(Which, tbf, is my realm of knowledge, but the business facts are the same.)
What you, if you're indie, or the publisher, if not, chooses to spend time on is the thing/character/aspect/story that will sell the most copies so they can stay in business.
They bet on Astarion being popular because:
1. Vampire, vampire stories don't seem to get old. People want more.
2. White hair, if you're at all into gaming or anime, you should recognize the white-haired anime boy coding Astarion has.
3. He's pretty. In games & books like these, people want to get turned on or be sucked into emotions, that's rather the point. So, of course, they made him pretty and gave him an angsty backstory about it. Have you noticed that his vampire fangs are the more traditional style and the rest have funky (and likely more efficient) chompers with the fangs on the front teeth?
4. Twink, you'd have to be really not paying attention to not notice that one. They tend to be attractive to the largest section of players.
6. Slow burn, a lot of people prefer slow burn romance.
7. Classically handsome. You could turn him into a statue (and can!) and he wouldn't look out of place.
I don't experience this type of point form character building, my characters tend to march fully formed into my head and demand I write them.
But Astarion was built as a fictional character that would (hopefully) capture a broad cross-section of players and give the game some more sex appeal.
Sex sells.
I'd lay money I don't have on every aspect of Astarion's character having been a deliberate choice to encourage sales.
And that's fine. That's what capitalism does. Don't like it? Start voting for social support programs and things like ubi so that people can create without worrying about the bills.
Is it fair to the other characters and to the gamers who love other characters more than Astarion? Absolutely not. I do hope Larian gets the message and produces more content to make them all equivocal.
Especially for Wyll, they did him so dirty.
Is Wyll having the least lines and scenes racist? Yup.
Larian, despite their faults, produced something that so few games companies have done recently. A single purchase, single player RPG without micro-transactions that was an excellent game straight from release.
Other games companies are bitching about that because it's like sand in the oyster of their business models.
Which, for a while now, has been to roll out a game that wasn't ready yet and use the players as unpaid, uncompensated labour to find bugs etc. As a gamer, I've really hated that.
Did Larian fuck up? Uh, yeah. On several issues. But they also made an amazing game that was awesome from release.
It would be a shame to lose sight of that.
It's important to call out the shite when we see it, but the current 'it has to be perfect for me, or I won't play' attitude rampant on the 'net these days is disturbing to say the least.
I've read Larian has a feedback thing on fridays. If this really bothers you, hustle on over and participate in the feedback session.
They're still actively working on the game. They can still make changes and they seem reasonably responsive to fan feedback.
But just remember... the reason Astarion is the poster boy with the most content is because of capitalism. It was likely a cold, business focused decision vs anything else.
Which doesn't make it better. I just figured inserting a bit of entertainment business knowledge might be helpful to the discussion.
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ot3 · 6 months
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finishing up fionna and cake... overall it was a fun ride but i really don't think it worked structurally. 6/10 show. i didnt think this was gonna be a long post but apparently i've got some thoughts. sticking below the cut
this last episode is kind of underwhelming... theres a couple of parts in this ep where they just sit and explain to the camera how simon realized betty was constantly sacrificing her own desires for simon and how simon wanted to put on the crown because he thought he didn't deserve to live. and it's not like those are bad realization for the show to come to but the show has very clearly established that it's intended for a more adult audience than the original adventure time, and so this kind of writing just feels really condescending when not directed at literal children. like yeah we could have figured this out from the writing, but. you didn't have to just tell us
i also didn't vibe with scarab as a villain, he felt super arbitrary to me. like they needed Something to be forcing them to move between dimensions, but i feel like scarab was an extremely meh choice for that. he wasn't particularly funny or interesting enough as a character to get to be one of the only people who showed up in every episode. i honestly think it would have been better if the existential threat these characters were facing was more of a force than a character, because it was already running so tight on time anyway it didn't really have the space to develop a good villain.
gary and marshall's screentime was another thing that i felt like is a huge waste of space. them doing their whole meet cute bakery au romance is something that's funny on paper but it's not compelling on its own and the only slight interest it has comes from our pre-existing investment in marceline and bubblegum's much more interesting dynamic. it didn't add anything to the overall arc of the show and took up time that could have been used to deliver more solidly on the core premise.
fionna and cake themselves were really cute but i don't feel like fionna's arc was as strong as it could have been. like ohhh yay shes come to love her normal world with all its imperfections.... obviously thats where it was going the whole time and once again. its not like i mind that ending. i just feel like they didn't do anything interesting with it. her character doesn't get to learn and progress as much as she's just marching down a straight path that we all already knows where it leads. i wish they would have just called the show 'Simon' so i wouldn't have to feel so disappointed in this.
adventure time has always been on the cutting edge of bizarre stuff in animation so the biggest let down overall with this show is how much when you strip away the Adventure Time coating of surrealist visuals on top of it it just feels like any other middling adventure cartoon. it didn't lean enough into the episodic structure to benefit from that the way the original show did, and it was too beholden on the episodic structure to linger on any of the parts that were actually compelling.
overall, the show feels like pandering to the adventure time fanbase, but in kind of a lazy way. Compare this to the distant land specials which I think were pandering in an excellent way. im not anti pandering by any means. The whirlwind tour through universes and characters that lifetime adventure time fans will recognize tries to come off as a love letter to the series, but instead just comes off as the adventure time version of that 'rejected ready player one theme song' video. remember farmworld? remember prismo? remember the vampire king? remember shermy and beth? remember Up a Tree? like. yeah. i do remember. thanks. do you have anything to say about any of this stuff or - oh. no. just showing me. got it.
its not someting i think i'll ever rewatch but at just ten eps definitely worth one watch through. theres some really good fun to be had in it and the art is gorgeous all the way through, it just fails to come together into a successful complete work.
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antiqua-lugar · 3 months
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I think basically everything that can be said about that interview regarding Gale has been said but I did see some people be like “Well, but Gale is annoying and his stans are just woobifying him” and like. 
Like, okay. Gale is annoying. And Lae’zel is mean, Shadowheart is a bitch, Astarion is a cunt, Karlach is happy all the time all the time and Wyll is boringly well adjusted. That’s…the first impression you get of them in Act 1. That’s not even their full arc in Act 1, that’s literally the first few minutes you get with them! And then all of Act 1 is just undoing all of that.
In Gale’s specific case, being annoying isn’t even his main flaw. Like it gets brought up, I think because the writers wanted to make sure we would know this is a flaw he actually has in case you, like me, did not even notice you were supposed to be annoyed by him. But it’s not a serious issue or something it’s even remotely implied he has to work on. They still all end up liking each other and working together and flirting at each other. He’s a nerd that talks a lot and unless you end up in a jealousy convo no one really cares. His blissfully happy ending is to become a professor. His infodumping is so good the narrative lets him do it forever.
Gale being annoying (or being bothersome for eating your artifacts) is the player’s problem. You don’t have to like him, you don’t have to like anyone, but the narrative is not there to make a big deal out of it. Why should it? Everyone is flawed and then they get better. If you ignore Gale for being annoying or stake Astarion for being a vampire or forget to save Mizora condemning Wyll to the hells it’s a you problem, just like it’s a you problem if you push Shadowheart to embrace Shar and then Shadowheart is cold to you. 
Which is why the writers saying “Well, Gale is annoying so the fact that he sacrifices himself helps him redeem himself” is bonkers (just like rewriting Lae’zel lines to be more palatable is bonkers). Like it’s not just a bad take, it’s a “Gale was annoying so I ignored him the whole game so I don't know what his deal is” take. From the writers. Of the game.
And the rest applies to other weird instances of writing during the game. Like yeah, you can treat Gale horribly, you can treat everyone horribly. You can take advantage of Astarion, you can sell out Shadowheart, you can cheat on Wyll with Mizora and then tell him it’s his own fucking fault for not “pulling out”. But the game doesn’t try to imply that it’s funny that Astarion dissociates during sex. But it somehow is when Gale has to be persuaded into group sex, bolts and then the morning after he is like “Can we just never talk of this again”. And like Gale isn’t special in this regard, there is some stuff with Halsin, Wyll (no seriously what was that short) and even Raphael that is frankly appalling, but it really doesn’t help with the “we just never talked to Gale” vibe. Like if you romance Gale there is a line in the brothel where you can say that if you wanted boring sex you would have just had sex... with Gale. 
Gale “I read tons of erotic books and I have so many ideas. Let's do it in the Weave so we can try as many as possible” Dekarios. 
Also, nevermind all the serious implications, “He wasn’t ready for [his sacrifice] before but now he is” it’s like not even what happens. Like it’s not even what he says. I should not be reading an interview with the writers of a game and be like “did they just skip all of the dialogue”. 
(That interview was also very weird about Karlach but also I just feel like that interview was weird in general, like they just were in a rush and couldn’t really talk in depth about anything so it was vague lines for everyone, it's just that those about Gale particularly sucked).
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noxale · 4 months
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Why people like "Ascension" from a psychological point of view.
\N: A message from me, the post itself starts with the word "START". Hi, It's not my post and it's not my words. But I think it would be helpful to understand it. I can see how the situation already seems better (?) maybe I just don't go on reddit. But I feel like this post just still needs to be. From myself I want to say thank you to all neutral, calm players and just those who have fun. Thank you Ascension scares\dont like a lot of people, but people aren't picking it because they want dom-sex (not the only reason for sure) and haven't understood anything "character theme" with their head. Things are different, complicated and there can't be just one theme. Everyone has their own emotions and life experiences. Stephen Rooney didn't dictate the character's theme like in class. Also, the BG3 game is positioned "...or make chaos in the world, you decide", "Great paths of evil". Hi's neutral Author to both endings. Evil and Good - you play hero or villain. Here's how I understand it.
layered and complex. For example: Poetic justice for neutral evil, in an evil way it is evil, and still complex (not black and white). Power (just any power) corrupts, ambition as Jupiter - dangerously. Freedom is nice, permissiveness - not so much (but this game is all nice).
But that's not what we're talking about. Here's a little essay, (a little emotional, but emotions are like that) why people do "Ascension" from a psychological point of view. START\\\
You know what, i wrote this "little" essay and decided to leave in some treads on Asc Astarion, because I got triggered and annoyed by this drama enough to feel like i need to share some thoughts about toxic vampire love thing in name of education for everyone. If you like it, feel free to repost it anywhere you want. (\\\N: which I do)
So, what this dark romance fantasy is about for me personally, (even though i prefer spawn romance, i absolutely understand the appeal of asc Astarion because honestly, i was all about this kind of romance during my childhood and teenage years, hardocore the Phantom of the Opera girl is here, inside your head) and why it's also healing route for some players, and no, it's not about kinky vampiric banging.
1) A lot of people feel extremely worthless and insecure, lonely, like no one really cares for them at all. It's a very deep wound that hurts and it's difficult to overcome even in perfectly loving, healthy and supportive relationship with a good partner, and even with therapy. So fantasy about a vampire, being obsessed with you so much that he is ready to do absolutely anything just to be with you for forever is really comforting. Also, you don't have to think too much about your imperfections, because for him you like a center of his vampire heart. Besides, you sympathise with him - it's like a selfcomfort mirror, i love this monster despite everything, so in a way, i accept myself despite any flaws i see in me. 2) Safety. When the world around you feel like a wilderness, full of monsters, it feels like only the most terrifying loving monster can protect you from it. He is powerful and protective, and i am so precious to him, that he will set the world on fire just so i would be safe. 3) Responsibility. As you may see, this kind of relationship have daddy issues vibes and codependency, and in real life, you can't just fully submit safely to anyone, I don't think i have to explain why it's a dangerous idea to seek this kind of relationships in real life. You have to stay a grown up independent person and seek safety for yourself without expecting someone to come and heal all your wounds. But this is fantasy, so finally you can use this as a comfort fantasy with no fear about being taking advantage of, without shame to be called childish and etc. 4) Independence. Spawn ending is very terrifying for anyone who has issues with feeling safe and independent, because some of us prefer violent power fantasies over "we have each other and that's all that matters", second of all, this ending also has some shady co-dependency undertone to it that can be triggering for some people. I love Spawn Astarion a little bit more more than Asc and yet my heart stayed absolutely broken after running away from the sun scene, and i hate that he is so dependent on Tav. Larian owes me some emotional refund after this.
5) SA trauma: it wasn't even seen as possibility for healing way by writer, but it is for some. Asc Astarion feels like he is the most powerful creature in the world, and he is fully controlling everything that happens between him and Tav, so finally, it's a kind of situation where there is no chance of him being abused again. It's one of the reasons why some people become Doms in BDSM-dynamic relationships: finally, full control of the process and a partner, who trusts then enough to fully submit, trust issues is also big deal in Astarion story of healing. I find idea that that only Subs can enjoy Asc Astarion a little bit naive. Because, well, some news for you: Doms like it too because they understand why he is so eager to be a top :D Unrealistic, not the healthiest way? Probably! But this man and this love is not real anyway. Yes, i think many of us, especially folks who went through therapy and a lot of self-reflecting are already aware that it's basically romanticized version of narcissistic obsession and in real life this is creepy, but it's not real, it's a fantasy. People use BDSM to heal, romance books and all other forms of art to deal with their inner demons and it's absolutely normal. Even if someone is blind to see what is wrong with Asc Astarion, I highly doubt that toxic bucket of shame and aggression are able to help see anyone problematic side of things. Do you know who is usually up to romanticize toxic dynamic in romance? Victims of abuse. In real life, if you just scream and yell at any poor girl/boy/whatever about how stupid they are for believing that their abusive partner really loves them, people will either break down and cry or tell you to f!ck off and they will have every right to do so, but they won't see what's wrong with their partner,in whom quite often victims of abuse see their only source of love and safety in life. Hells, I am so sick and tired from this "white cloak knight saviour from cycle of abuse" toxic flood in this fandom. If you really want to educate people - do it with extreme care and compassion. Real life healing is not working like it's with Astarion in the game,few right dialogs and boom, dude is on the right path. It takes enormous amount of patience and love, be kind to one another, and stay safe, darlings. Being toxic on Asc fans you are not helping anyone, you just hitting your superiority complex button in your ---. To heal others with their lethal dose of poison, it's hilarious /Sorry for the wall of text, sorry for grammar, English is not my first language/
\N: That's it. I hope this essay makes someone realize that those who choose Asc also have deep feelings, thoughts, and personal experiences in life. They have the right to think differently deep than most about video game, history, and any art. And discussing the canon to in different ways. It's Dark Fantasy, complex topics. So especially The Canon. I am enjoy learning new, different opinions. Also I hope this helps anyone who has felt uncomfortable with the toxic wave. I'm going to try very hard not to look at the responses to this post for my personal calmness. All the Best\
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utterdrip · 2 months
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right like!! the take that astarion doesn't really care until act 3 or even straight up post-cazador is a little confusing and a really pessimistic read on him tbh. like, what part of "you deserve something real. i want us to be something real," says that he doesn't have feelings for them. it's right there, he's trying to tell them as openly as he can!! dude's been lying nonstop for two centuries and he's struggling so so hard until cazador is dead, but that doesn't mean his feelings are any less real just because he's Going Through It and doesn't have the emotional space left to put it to words.
he's gotta have something going on early act 2 at least, i agree lol. the dialogues you get when choosing between him and another romance before he confesses are marked as "disappointed, trying to hide it" in devnotes even. he's not ready to tell them, but it's still there!
i always saw "i didn't care for you when we first met" as referring to like. early early act 1 lmao. it changes pretty fast just being decent toward him, given how vulnerable he gets about how he's perceived a little while after the vampirism reveal no way mister show no weakness is showing a weakness that quick to someone he doesn't care for a little bit.
idk. sorry for rambling back at you!! thanks for hearing me out afehiebdi i support your agenda fully and i'm looking forward to the comp video!
this is such a good ask smooching u on the forehead
pessimistic is a great way of putting it !!!
AND PLEASE RAMBLE ALL U WANT I LOVE READING ABT HIM AND LEARNING WHAT PPL THINK ESP WHEN IT LINES UP WITH WHAT I FEEL BUT HAVE A HARD TIME ARTICULATING LIKE !!!
its just like. this man has never known tenderness in the past two centuries and even before then he doesnt remember fuck all because of the trauma and torture hed been inflicted so its like
he is truly flying blind here and does not understand intimacy and even just non sexual intimacy and FRIENDSHIP without any sort of. ulterior motives. he is in survival mode from the get go. he is the least trust worthy and least trusting. and STILL. STILL. STILLLLL he falls hard and fast for the player. finds himself having genuine Fun and Joy in conversations with them. is able to joke about being undead/wanting blood/BEING HIMSELF around people who arent even like him but LIKE HIM and will listen to him and have a sort of rapport he has NOT had in centuries. bc cazador and dev notes and the spawn all say that no one likes listening to him when he talks, and now hes surrounded by people that Will Listen to him??? and not for the sake of pleasantries and niceties but ??? because they enjoy him ??
oh he never stood a CHANCE
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bananasfosterparent · 3 months
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I read the post saying ascended astarion fans like him for 100% kink related, and it just piss me off. The post and reblogging comments that are agreeing with it all see it from their point of view. Those agreeing comments are even worse. Their hate toward ascended astarion, actually just astarion, is more noticeable, and by doing so hating on his fans.
Oh, astarion is not actually powerful and talented, and it doesn't change even after ascension, so ascended fans must like him for 100% kink related. You know because ascended fans are just horny and definitely can't come up with interesting story with their player character.
Astarion is so cringe, yet ascended fans must have fell for it. And i am going to give impression that those fans are low for falling for it. You know because once again ascended fans are cringe horny.
Post is like i respect ascended fans BUT wow how can you like ascended ASTARION of all characters, there is no way you like him for other reasons than you're KINCKY! You know because it's not like astarion is a character you can romance and be deeply part of your story unlike gortash and raphael. It's not like manipulative player characters exist. It's not like the first and only ASCENDED vampire is actually powerful, even if he isn't able to control his power yet. It's not like he has eternity to figure out how his power works while having powerful lover and friends who stayed by his side against Cazador and Gur. It's not like he is alive and praised as a hero. It's not like he has eternity to establish powerful connections, especially since he can find Cazador's helpful notes of powerful people and blackmail materials.
No, ascended fans are 100% just kinky! Seriously?
You're not the only one, anon!
At this point, I can only chuckle about it.
If someone claims people only like the ending for how "sexy" and "kinky" it is, they are ironically reducing the ending to its sexual parts and seeing nothing else of value within it, thus rendering them guilty of the very thing they're accusing someone of lol
It's totally fine if you can't see anything valuable in the Ascended ending outside of how sexy it is! But don't assume that everyone else just sees only that too. Especially those of us who actually enjoy the ending. For many of us, it goes well beyond that part, or that part barely matters. And that's why we like it so much.
Honestly, a lot of us actually dislike how the sexual parts are handled in the Ascended ending. They don't connect to the rest of the story. In Act 2, Astarion has his confession to Tav and the pair of them come to the agreement to stop having sex. And from what I hear, this choice is carried through in other ways later on (if you invite Halsin in your romance and things like that). YET it somehow is forgotten about after he's ascended, even though there is no reason it would be forgotten about. And Tav can't make any mention of their previous agreement or anything when he asks if they'd like to make love during their last night as a living being. It's so bizarre and jarring. I mean, a simple "Are you okay with that? We don't have to have sex if you aren't ready." dialog option would have sufficed.
And I know, I know. The explanation is often: "it's because Tav has confirmed they only see him as the sexy vampire once they ascend him and he's just giving them what he knows they want now, blah blah blah!" except... no? NOTHING in the canon, in-game dialog says that. The narrator doesn't say that. Astarion doesn't say that. You can have your Tav say it for some reason, but having the option "I want your body" isn't canon unless you choose it (and even then, there's nothing wrong with wanting your forever lover carnally too).
I wish people understood that more. I really think Welch's comments were meant as damage control for people actually roleplaying instead of just going along with the most popular interpretation.
ALL of that said, what's WRONG with us finding it sexy too? I mean we all find Astarion in general attractive, right?
Besides, I see Spawn fans talk about how hot and steamy Asc Astarion is all the time. In my BG3 related FB groups, I see people post screenshots of the Ascended Astarion romance scene and Spawn-only fans commenting things like "I'd never ascend him but this is so hot!" or "I like to pretend this is Spawnstarion 🥵" or "I could never do this to him but I'm so glad there's screenshots posted so I can experience it still!". I've seen spawn fans react to those scenes with horny/arousal gifs too. So if THEY can find him sexy, why can't we? Especially since we also like that version of him for who he is and the relationship dynamic, outside of all the sexual stuff.
If they don't find him sexy, then they talk about how "pathetic" and "powerless" he is. I've seen someone who wrongfully yet confidently claimed ascension did not make him stronger and actually rendered him mortal, therefore weaker than full vampires and fully doomed. It's wild. It's why many enjoy his bat form. Once he's harmless and small you can comfortably call him pitiful and powerless, just a drunk bat who falls asleep in the punch bowl and the embodiment of the Old Man Screaming At Cloud meme. It's really unfortunate how Ascended Astarion has been bastardized by anti-fans and their own interpretations of things.
I've literally seen people say there is only one way to interpret the ascended ending (and that is, as a bad, horrible, negative, awful, tragic, abusive thing) and it's supposed to be impossible to see it any other way. And if you want to see it that way, or can't help but see it that way based on what you know in your real life, that's fine! But don't come at those of us who don't see it from that same perspective. Have some respect for others. And the character. It really does feel like some people just... hate him yet claim to love him. I dunno.
At the end of the day, it's like... I'm sorry you aren't aware of how roleplaying works and aren't creative enough to see outside of your own real world perspective and step into the mind/perspective of someone else lol
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angelasscribbles · 9 months
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Still Believe
Series: None, this is a one-shot and you can find those here.
Fandom: The Royal Romance
Pairing: Drake x Riley
Rating: MA
Warnings for this chapter: Vampires
Word Count: 460
A/N: This is for the Rewrite Challenge hosted by @choicesprompts. My mashup is TRR x The Lost Boys.
The scene I'm recreating is here. You should watch it for the Sax player if nothing else.
@choicesjuly2023challenge prompt Boardwalk.
My other stuff: Master List.
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Santa Clara, California, 1987
The boardwalk was crowded. It was warm, a perfect balmy California night. The salt air kissed my skin as I moved through the crowd, the music surrounding me as the shirtless singer gyrated on the stage, his bare chest glistening with sweat.
I was aware of him as I was aware of everyone in the crowd, my enhanced senses picking up sounds and smells that no mortal would be able to track. But the singer wasn’t why I was here.
I was on the hunt. I had been sent out on a mission and Liam expected results. We had lost several members of our nest recently and we needed to shore up our numbers.
Why was this my responsibility? Because I had staked a couple of them myself. Neville and Tariq. Trust me, they deserved it.
The back of my neck prickled as I felt his gaze on me. I stopped my forward momentum and turned to face the stage. Forcing my attention to the band, I lifted my hands in the air and clapped along. I didn’t have to look to know that he was still staring.
All right then, time to take a peek. I turned my head to the right, just as the younger boy next to him grabbed him by his cheek and turned his head away. His eyes slid sidewise toward me, and his head moved slowly as if against his will until he was staring at me openly again.
His gaze was heavy, intense and it would have sent heat plunging through me even if I’d still been mortal. There was no mistaking the desire there, his eyes were heavy with it. The weight of it sent an ache of hunger through me, and not just for his blood.
I gave him the barest of smiles, my eyes darting away and back again. The laser focus he directed at me caused my smile to widen as molten lava poured through my center. The corner of his mouth lifted into a tantalizing smile of his own. That smirk made promises. Promises I wanted him to keep.
I felt an inexplicable pull to this total stranger. A pull like I’d never felt before, in this life or my previous one. My body was screaming at me to move, to run toward him, to wrap myself around him and let myself drown in his intensity.
But interacting with me would be signing his death warrant, one way or the other. Was I really ready to consign this beautiful boy to a half-life of living in the shadows? Take him from the sunlight?
No, I was not.
Even though my body was on fire, I broke eye contact, turned, and disappeared into the crowd.
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the-resurrection-3d · 10 months
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Decided to post the essay I wrote a few days ago. Of course, this isn't meant to shit on anyone, but to work through my feelings on TOH's themes and how I see the fandom working through them.
TOH has a very – let’s say uneasy relationship with its fantasy elements—or at least, that’s how the fandom has received them. I just saw someone talking about how Luz shouldn’t have gotten a Palisman of her own because she “doesn’t need to look any more like Azura,” considering that Luz’s whole thing at the beginning of the series was needing to better “tell fantasy from reality.” But I feel like that’s only getting half the point—the issue with not being able to tell fantasy from reality rests, as the series argues, with expecting the world to cater to you and then lashing out when it doesn’t.
The series makes this most clear with Belos, who rejects the traditional high fantasy genre signifiers as spiritual pollutants and yet is living in as much of a fantasy world as Luz was. “[He needs] to be the hero of his own delusion” locates Belos’s major flaw—in a character way and in a thematic way—in his refusal to see himself as just another part of the world, rather than its center. All of this is spoken to us directly by the embodiment of the Boiling Isles and its magic. This character flaw is then reinforced by how Belos gets defeated and starts rambling on about how humans are innately “better than this” Because Reasons.
I think part of this disconnect might be happening because we’re used to anti-escapist stories rejecting the fantasy world in its entirety. For example, Ready Player One ends with the reveal that the creator of the VR world—it was called the OASIS, wasn’t it?—regretted not spending enough time in the “real world,” and the main character rectifies this by enforcing a weekly one-day service outage. Even though the book explores reasons why people would want to escape into the VR fantasy, including escaping the confines of marginalized identity categories like gender and race, it still asserts that you’re missing out by leaving the “real world” behind. I think also of modern fantasy stories with creatures like vampires and werewolves that bend over backwards to justify why being a human is still totally the best option— “Be glad of your human heart, Feyre,” and so on. Even in series where the human main character becomes inhuman, it’s often through force—characters like Feyre and Elena Gilbert are killed and then revived as monsters, but only Bella Swan actively wants to become one. (It really is the equal-but-opposite response to the question Robert McRuer says is asked of disabled people IRL in his article about compulsory able-bodiedness: “Yeah, but in the end, wouldn’t you rather be like me?” In both cases—whether disabled or super-abled—the normate, abled, “regular” human position has to be reinforced as the ideal.)
And let’s be real, it’s all cope. We can agree it’s just cope, right? But even besides that, I think we also need to keep in mind that, contrary to what internet discourse would have you believe, subverting tropes is not good writing in and of itself — subversion and deconstruction need to be ways of creating meaning within the work, rather than the meaning itself.
I think, then, we can see TOH’s conversation with escapism from s1 to s3 as a way of asking, “What parts of our childhood should we keep?” In Luz’s case, like in many of our own childhoods, the fantasy elements are from the actual fantasy genre because Luz wants to imagine a bigger life for herself than Earth allows, one that is scary and dangerous but in the end still caters to her/us. (See also Freud’s concept of the family romance, wherein a child dreams that their parents aren’t their “real” parents and that their “real” parents are magic space fairy royalty who will one day reclaim their child and everything will be awesome forever.)
In episodes like “Witches Before Wizards,” these genre signifiers provide Luz with a set kind of “script” for how she believes interactions should go—the disappointment and restlessness she feels in the episode is from the fact that it’s not catered to her just because she’s there, in a similar way that Belos believes humans are better just Because They Are. Worth noting that even in that episode, the “reality” Luz needs to learn to accept is still based in a fantasy setting—signaling that the word “fantasy” in “differentiate fantasy from reality” should not be about the genre or the act of consuming fantasy in and of itself. Season three then literalizes this with The Collector turning people into puppets and acting out “The Owl House” as a game with suffering participants.
Conversely, season three adds more nuance by revealing that Luz’s hyperfixation stems from her relationship with her father. The season does a lot to explore the relationship-building potential of fiction, from Amity suggesting her and Luz dress as Hecate and Azura to the reveal that Camila is a secret Trekkie.
A fellow autistic person once described their special interest not just as something they’re obsessed with, but as part of how they processed the world. We can see this kinda play out in Camila’s conversation with Luz right before Stringbean hatches: she says she has forgotten the “Astral Oath” and responds to Luz’s question of her being a “secret nerd” with the admission that she shouldn’t have let her own fears of and experiences with being non-conforming compel her to try and change Luz. The Astral Oath and how it played out within Cosmic Frontier provided a framework for Camila that she admits she should have followed: “My biggest mistake was trying to protect you by changing this beautiful, good witch into something she wasn’t.” The best things about Luz are also the things that make her more drawn to the fantasy genre.
The rampant egoism of the genre should be left behind, the show says, but not the good lessons and the relationships you’ve built from it.
This anti-egoism does, of course, run up against the fact that Luz is still the main character. If Luz getting a Palisman makes her too much like Azura and therefore undermines the message, then honestly I don’t see how the final battle itself isn’t just a colossal fuck-up. Not even in the sense that Luz got Titan magic, which I have seen people say is now suddenly Luz being A Chosen One all along, but in the sense that Luz straight up shouldn’t have been in the final battle at all. (Honestly, if you want YA with a good anti-egoism message imparted through its structure, you’re looking for Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War—book, not movie.)
I said on Twitter while I was reading Charlie Ledbetter’s “The Dysphoric Body Politic” that TOH has an interesting relationship with its escapism messaging because Luz DOES leave the human world. Even though she had to finish high school in the human world, the finale makes it clear that she’s been putting all of her spare energy and labor into the literal rebuild of the Boiling Isles. She entirely gives up on making a life for herself on Earth.
This isn’t super surprising, (I was always sure it would happen) but I do think it’s where the uneasiness—the messiness—between TOH and its genre comes into play. Yes, Luz needed to dial back her daydreaming and yes, her being in the demon realm ultimately led to it almost being destroyed, but it still is the worst possible ending if she doesn’t get to stay there.
In the article, Ledbetter, a transmasc who discovered themselves through fandom, writes that “Escapism is not a departure from reality. Rather, escape decenters the hegemony of oppressive systems that announce themselves as real and creates space to imagine alternatives.” And yet within the show, it’s a closed circuit—the threat to diversity and self-expression comes from the human realm, and yet there is no attempt to save it. Ledbetter, writing of fandom’s political potential, suggests using fanfic to imagine alternatives specifically so we can give ourselves the drive to try and enact them in the real world.
TOH’s sister show, Amphibia, gives us a taste of this in its finale: in the ten years since the Calamity Trio has left, the once-evil king lives out his final days planting seeds, and the girls themselves are dedicated to either educating others or creating art. They honor the memories of their childhood fantasy—Sasha with two crossing swords as a patch on her jacket and a charm dangling from her rearview mirror, Anne with her entire career—but the portal is closed. It’s not coming back.
Given everything TOH does in season three to reaffirm the value of fantasy as a lifelong interest, though, I think what it wanted to avoid suggesting, like a lot of traditional portal stories do, that the fantasy world is the world of childhood and needs to be escaped. Aslan tells Peter and Susan, after all, that they’re getting too old for Narnia. Peter and his siblings return there only in death; Susan isn’t so lucky. If Luz shouldn’t have gotten a Palisman, something which symbolizes she’s discovered a fundamental truth about herself and has “earned” her place as a Witch, then honestly she shouldn’t have been able to come back to the Boiling Isles, either. How many of us would've been happy with that?
If we want to square this with the show’s politics, I think we can read this as the show saying that, yes, there are some things you have to do as a child, but once you’re free, you aren’t obligated to stay with the society and people who won’t ever see you for who you are. In a way, Luz going back and forth between the human and demon realms parallels the teenage fantasy fan, making space in their lives for fandom as a place of joy and connection after all the boring hard “adult” work is done for the day. You don’t have to leave it behind; building outside of the system and making your life centered around your joy is hard work, yes, but worth doing.
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party-in-eldarya · 1 year
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Writers of Beemoov, during last 4 episodes of ANE:
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The title fo 16th episode is "what's left to save"- honestly, nothing. The plot is beyond repair. I think it will be done like TO's ending- which mind you, had some impact and style, but was v rushed.
IMHO we will get one-two sentence for each living character, MOVE TO ANOTHER- and that's all. Sorry, we pay for each sentence in ANE, so it means more chopped lines, but with little substance.
In TO finale we learnt from those last few minutes what is happening with our friends and it kinda worked. We, players (and Erika) thought that everything is going to be fine from now on (altho what they have done with Ez was still low). All of them were suposed to live in Eldarya, a better Eldarya. But if Earth and Eldarya merge, we should know what will happen to all we know- what will our father do? Will he try to lead plp against faeries, start doing business with purrecos? How well will faeries adjust to the new reality? Like, I do not care for them. ANE failed making me care for Koori, Karenn and Chrome, and I am mildly interested what will happen to rest of the crew. However, I guess that most player care for them, and will want to know something more- logically
At the TO's ending we also knew that ANE was around the corner and we could hope to see old characters soon.
However, as ANE is according to official Beemoov's infos the last season and we cannot hope for AL (again, official infos), all loose ends of plot should be tied and there is really no way to do it but to skip over some major plots (why add new things then? Why vampires? They could make Nevra's arc without adding more on writers' plate. But this is an old problem with ANE: When ANE started we got some news that it will be shorter than TO, and thus I am baffled why waste 3 episodes on Genkaku mission that didn't pushed action or romance at all. They wasted 3 episodes of something, that was a waste of time, it wasn't even a filler ("A beach episode").
Uffff, weekly rant over.
But wait, but there is more:
In 16th episode Erika (source: tumblr, BR forum and trust me bro) gets horny and tries to have sex withphysically injured and emotionally hurt Nevra, just after he confessed to her he is in bad shape.
So, in episode 14th they had done the v same thing and we didn't notice this! Leitan just got back rescued by team, he confessed he killed many people, is traumatised by using his "unclean" powers, and he admits that he used them because he was tortured by templars. You could think that is a nice, ripe prelude to  PTSD? No, he is totally fine and ready to be used by Erika later. I know that this scene was described as tender, sensual, yada, yada. Some say that it was really nicely done- with mentioning of special connection between him and Erika.
However, I cannot help but notice that some one in Beemoov doesn't believe in abuse of men. It's like they are always ready to have sex, always there to be blamed for being toxic*, and their vulnerable moments are not treated seriously.
*I do not care what you think, Koori blaming guys who minded their things was WTF moment and I don't get her.
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newaprilia · 1 year
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Welcome to VIVARIUM (v1.0)
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After weeks of hard work, it's finally ready.
VIVARIUM V1.0 - Official Release
Vivarium is my first attempt at sharing my weird stuff with the world, in the shape of an inhabited custom neighborhood for TS2.
It's inspiration comes from the movie of the same name, "Vivarium", as well as the popular TS4 100 Baby Challenge.
It was also born from my annoyance with Family Aspiration sims and their constant wants for MORE children. So, I did what any sane person would do, and pitted them against their own nature.
Essentially, the matriarch, Ms. Violet, plays the role of Birth Mother to an entire town of male baby daddies, except there's a twist! One of the baby daddies has alien ancestry. The player successfully wins the challenge if:
They reach the 100 baby mark, using whatever means necessary (except adoption, of course)
 They have an alien baby and therefore find out who the alien baby daddy is.
It is meant to be played like it's TS4 counterpart, with minimal tweaks to the rules. Kinda like, 100 Baby Challenge meets a Find The Alien in Disguise Challenge. The baby mama is also not allowed to have any sort of income, asides from child support! 🥵
Includes:
50 lots that look exactly the same, for insanity purposes. All baby daddies have the privilege of owning one, as Mr. Jack here is keen to demonstrate.
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One very neat birthing station mommy homestead home for Mrs. Violet.
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Including a real neat tree house in the back for your kids! Clearly, the children aren't the prisoners of this hellish experiment.
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There are a total of 50 baby daddies in this challenge, 37 of which are normal sims, 3 are warlocks, 3 are werewolves, 3 are plantsims and 3 are vampires. It's up to you now to find out who the alien is!
Rules of the Challenge:
Please refer to the spreadsheet!
Mods & CC:
There are a number of Necessary Mods for this neighborhood to work. You will run into errors if you don't have these in your downloads folder. These are:
Custom Skintone Selector - You just have to keep this in your Downloads folder. It keeps the alien in his disguise.
No Sim Loaded
Smarter EP Check
Anti Redundancy
No Stray Respawn
No Townie Regen (search for "notownieregen.zip" to find it in the list)
The Necessary Mods in order for the challenge to be played, unless you want to play the challenge your own way! These are:
Child Support Controller v3.A - So that your birth mother can have a source of income while popping out all those babies
TeenStar PC / PC Omega 3000 - A PC that allows teens to move out on their own
Last Name Chooser (Baby) - So that you can choose the children's last name to be their father's. Note: Last Name Chooser seems to conflict with two Mods by TwoJeffs: "No Smart Milk Drag" & "Same Sex Marriage"
The following mods are Optional / Recommended, as well as some buy-mode cc included in the lots.
Hereditary Supernaturalism
Autonomous Casual Romance / ACR
More Realistic Genetics
Lot Imposter Lights
Thirstiest Bath Mats + Recolors
Maxis Match Wall Cabinets
I've also taken the liberty of including a spreadsheet for easy note-keeping.
Without further ado, happy birthing!
SPREADSHEET & DOWNLOAD
Please feel free to approach me regarding any issues you may find, here on tumblr or through discord @ yanna.psd
And keep me posted on the happenings of your save file!
Have fun, and enjoy.
- April / Yanna
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doomingthenarrative · 2 years
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UM okay better idea give me webtoons and quick summaries and i’ll choose from those??? bc i don’t Know
Morgana and Oz
super short so far. fantasy, very fun vampire/witch romance PROBABLY (who knows at this point but they have a Nice Friendship at least)
super cute art style + adorable characters
almost a feel good???
Your Smile Is A Trap
this dude who is Famous gets a crush on a girl who looks Very Angry all the time and does not realize it.
he has. not even golden retriever energy. he has puppy energy.
she is a sweetheart but looks very angry all the time
theyre super cute. no major drama. they just dont admit their feelings
Blades of Furry
this one is SO GOOD AND FOR WHAT???
they ice skate but also fight each other. it will confuse you. i didnt figure out what it was until later
the romance actually gets requited very quickly!!
side characters are v good. which is important
also one of them is a vampire
The Doctors Are Out
GAY PEOPLE LMAO
a vet and a people doctor meet. rivals to lovers. its very cute. one of them has a son.
they date<3
Not So Shoujo Love Story
almost enemies to lovers except its one sided, and the other views her as a Rival in Love
lesbians
theyre super cute
lots of memes and strange plotlines but its so cute
defo a feel good story
Always Human
cool world!!!!! super soft art style!!
once again, lesbians
some world where people get nanobots injected in them to help with stuff ???? (like studying and cool hair and CAT EYES)
adorable
The Greatest Estate Developer
this one sounded so dumb at first but its very funny
this dude gets dropped into a book he used to read and uses his knowledge of the book and construction to Do Stuff!! also he has cute little pets
Lore Olympus
persephone and hades retelling
this one. yells
its rlly good its very long but its so good.
the side characters are also very well developed
swag art style
The Strongest Florist
ESSENTIALLY. this dude who is Super Buff discovers a video game where u can do ANYTHING (like ready player 1) and he wants to run a FLOWER SHOP except he accidentally does a BUNCH OF REALLY COOL SHIT
he also looks scary
its rlly funny
The Reaper And the Waiting
GORGEOUS art
gay people
its about a grimm reaper and the Mysterious Soul that follows him.<3
Muted
AAA A A A. A A
A A A A A
gay people
AAAANANSBSBDBEVSVRBDBBD
bonus: eps reads it 
other bonus: nish reads it
third bonus: witches
Gourmet Hound
have You Ever Wanted To Cry About How Food Affects Peoples Lives
Boy Do I Have A Webtoon For You!!
there is romance EVENTUALLY and a lot of side romance
all the characters are named after food
its really cute
i love it
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