#I can't even open a game

[rosquinn]

Saw a friend's book demian fanart and I think it has unlocked a fifth secret mental illness in my head because I have not been able to focus on anything throughout the whole afternoon because of how bad it altered my brain chemistry

#I'm 100% srs #I can't even open a game #Or read #Demian autism is back at it I fucking GUESS #I need someone to kill me with a rock #mine #demian

[vynnyal]

So let me get this straight:

Hollow knight is about the journey of a small creature possessing the corpse of a god's discarded child, and the character arc that unfolds as they realize they're more than the path they were set to take, eventually defeating the corruption instead of merely postponing inevitable destruction.

Rain world is about the journeys and experiences of many small creatures sent by a bunch of gossiping computers, and the efforts to help stop the destruction caused by a corrupted god that unfolds over hundreds of years, all to postpone his inevitable death.

Man, video games are fun!

#rain world spoilers #hollow knight spoilers #gonna ruin both games in one fell swoop for y'all kekekek #I have SO MANY THOUGHTS about rainworld rn #I also have many thoughts about hk but I've been sharing those for years already #Truthfully I haven't talked to Moon in the final campaign yet #I'm afraid to #Rain world plays like a novel you can't set down #Every time you open the game there's more to see #Not to mention just how ridiculously high the skill floor can get #You can absolutely play the game without learning any tech or even caring about the lore at all #But when you really get into it? Aw man it's just absolutely infatuating #hollow knight #art #rain world

[egooppidum]

I want some moments in romances where I can tell another character that I'm already in a relationship and want to stay in a monogamous relationship. For example, I want to directly tell Halsin that I'm in a relationship with Astarion, that's why I am not interested specifically. And then still go up to Astarion and tell him that there was such a proposal from Halsin, and I want a reaction “do you want to be only with me?”.

In early access there was a moment with Gale, when at first player and Gale flirted in parallel with Astarion, and at a tiefling party, if player choose to spend night with Astarion, the next day Gale offer to spend night with him too and there was an answer option “I won't betray Astarion" and then was Gale’s touching answer about loyalty. It was so good. I want this scene back and I want more scenes kinda like this with all the characters.

By the way, this is the scene I'm talking about:

#sorry I'm a monogamous romantic bitch and I can't be in a poly or open relationship even in the game #honestly doing evil playthrough is even easier for me than this and and I still can't do the evil playthrough #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #bg3 #bg3 astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion x tav #baldurs gate astarion #baldur's gate iii #astarion x reader

[sysig]

Blind side (Patreon)

#Doodles #UT #Handplates #Sans #Papyrus #Gaster #Sans closing his good eye every once in a while and keeping his blind eye open - obviously he does so in-game as well so it's a style-match #It's just interesting in the context of him being textually-confirmed blind in Handplates hehe #There's a level of vulnerability there! Not more than closing both eyes around someone - and potentially also distrust! #''I'm baring myself blind right now but /you/ don't need to know that'' - it suits him ♪ #Especially when he does it around Papyrus! Because obviously Papyrus knows about his partial blindness #But when he's trying to be duplicitous - the way he looks at him sidelong with his blind eye when he's trying to lie unsuccessfully ugh <3 #And again-again it being about how much he trusts Papyrus! That he can be a little lazy or spacey and Papyrus will help him! #Also something about his entire right side being impaired - pawing around with his plated hand for something he can't see on that side #The dynamics! Internal and external! Very good like them lots #And then there's Gaster lol ♪ Throw him into the mix I'm sure it won't make a mess at all haha #I guess he's visiting? Just spacing out - he and Sans have a lot on their minds - separately haha #I do love how Sans pushes Gaster to be kind to Papyrus - very deservedly! He wants Papyrus to be happy of course #And he's obviously still angry with Gaster a lot but how might that present itself when Papyrus is Papyrus at Gaster hehe #Even just in that small jokey way of ''you tryin' to step on my turf?'' hehehe #Especially since the comparison wouldn't even come up if he had two functioning eyes hm?? Right Gaster???? Lol #Speaking of that scene and Sans' partial blindness tho ughhughuhg <3 <3 The fact that Sans stands with Gaster to his blind side #It's the vulnerability/distaste/confidence of it all! He's grown up so much it's all right there in how he holds himself #That he either trusts Gaster enough not to attack him - starting to believe him - or that he has enough faith in himself to protect himself #And only looking at him with his peripherals unless he looks directly at him hghhhgh I am Normal about shot composition I swear lol #Also I like how that last panel turned out lol - Sans just appears at the bottom of the steps like how's it going. care to gtfo thx

[thefirstknife]

New article with more details (from Jason Schreier who first broke the story). If you can't see it, I'll copy the whole text under read more.

About 100 employees were laid off in total (8%) and one of the main reasons listed is "underperformance," "sharp drop in popularity" and "poor reception of Lightfall."

So you know when for the last year and a half content creators have been shitting and pissing on the game as a full-time job and the amount of negativity and ragebait content became the only thing to make content about for them? Well they certainly won't take the blame, but I will let it be known. These people either don't understand the influence they have or they do and they're doing it on purpose, and I don't know which of these two options is worse, but I am 100% confident that their campaign of rage and hate contributed to this.

You don't base your entire community around constantly hating everything about the only game you play (despite clearly not enjoying it anymore) and somehow avoid galvanising thousands and thousands of people into perceiving the game negatively. Imagine being employees who have barely worked there for 2 years and the only community reception they've seen is 24/7 hate train for their work and then they get fired because of "poor reception" and "drop in popularity." How can they not take that personally? I am absolutely devastated for these people who delievered a banger product and who were met with an unrelenting barrage of toxic gamer children which ended up having more sway over their boss than them.

Which brings me to the next bit and that's FUCK THE CEO. He is now my mortal enemy #1. I am projecting psychic blasts directly into his brain. What an absolute spineless coward who is more willing to bow down to fucking gamers than to protect his own employees. This is absolutely rage inducing because this has happened before. From the article from 2021 about the toxic culture at Bungie:

Reading this shit from the new article absolutely fucking sent me into blind rage because I immediately remembered this. Another instance of employees suffering because of comments on reddit. And because of toxic players. And proof that leadership is not protecting employees and is instead siding with players.

Match made in heaven. Asshole gamer content creators and asshole CEOs, all of whom sit at home on piles of money made from someone else's labour. I hope they all explode. None of the people that worked on this game deserve this.

Another article with an infuriating comment from the CEO:

In an internal town hall meeting addressing a Monday round of layoffs that impacted multiple departments, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons allegedly told remaining employees that the company had kept “the right people” to continue work on Destiny 2.

"Kept the right people." Really. Veteran composers weren't the right people? Die!

Bloomberg article in full:

Bungie’s decision to cut an estimated 100 jobs from its staff of about 1,200 followed dire management warnings earlier this month of a sharp drop in the popularity of its flagship video game Destiny 2. Just two weeks ago, executives at the Sony-owned game developer told employees that revenue was running 45% below projections for the year, according to people who attended the meeting. Chief Executive Officer Pete Parsons pinned the big miss on weak player retention for Destiny 2, which has faced a poor reception since the release of its latest expansion, Lightfall. The next expansion, The Final Shape, was getting good — not great feedback — and management told those present that they planned to push back the release to June 2024 from February, according the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The additional time would give developers a chance to improve the product. In the meantime, Parsons told staff Bungie would be cutting costs, such as for travel, as well as implementing salary and hiring freezes, the people said. Everyone would have to work together to weather the storm, he said, leaving employees feeling determined to do whatever was needed to get revenue back up. But on Monday morning the news got worse: Dozens of staffers woke up to mysterious 15-minute meetings that had been placed on their calendars, which they soon learned were part of a mass layoff. Bungie laid off around 8% of its employees, according to documentation reviewed by Bloomberg. Bungie didn’t respond to requests for comment. Employees who were let go will receive at least three months of severance and three months of Bungie-paid COBRA health insurance, although other benefits, such as expense reimbursements, ended Monday, sending some staff racing to submit their receipts. Laid-off staffers will also receive prorated bonuses, although those who were on a vesting schedule following Sony Group Corp.’s acquisition of Bungie in January 2022 will lose any shares that weren’t vested as of next month. The layoffs are part of a larger money-saving initiative at Sony’s PlayStation unit, which has also cut employees at studios such as Naughty Dog, Media Molecule and its San Mateo office. TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz wrote in a report Monday that “events over the last few days lead us to believe that PlayStation is undergoing a restructuring.” PlayStation president Jim Ryan announced last month that he plans to resign. Many of the layoffs at Bungie affected the company’s support departments, such as community management and publishing. Remaining Bungie staff were informed that some of those areas will be outsourced moving forward.

#destiny 2 #bungie #long post #and like i don't care what's anyone's opinion on lightfall. it doesn't matter #the expansion is fine. there's some bad shit in there as there is in every expansion #literally nothing on this earth was so bad to deserve the amount of vitriol that lightfall got #it was purely motivated by hate and rage from people who have clearly lost their interest in the game a long time ago #no one else normal enough would respond even to a weaker expansion this way. and lightfall wasn't even weaker #literally nothing ever released in destiny deserves to have comments bad enough to end up affecting employees #there's been some bad expansions/dlcs/seasons. whatever. none of them were like... gollum level. not even close #people genuinely treated lightfall like it personally killed their dog. it was insane. the reaction to it was insane. #it stemmed from people who should have stopped playing a long time ago and stopped being content creators for one game #i can't even properly explain just how long and tireless the ragebait content campaign for destiny has been #opening youtube and seeing 10 videos in a row of just complaining and bitching #opening twitter and seeing thousands upon thousands of posts and comments dedicated solely to hating the game #imagine being an employee trying to maintain some communication with the community #hippy was relentlessly bullied by people I've seen suddenly lamenting that she was fired. you caused this #they will never accept even a miniscule portion of the blame for this ofc. they will just keep claiming they don't have that influence #but they do. it's been proven years ago. in the same way #community comments DO reach devs and community comments DO influence what happens to them and the game #'the event is bad' 'meta is bad' 'pvp is bad' 'raid is bad' 'story is bad' stop playing. no longer asking. #it's a video game. if you hate it stop playing. you don't have to justify it to hundreds of thousands of people and take them with you #especially when it leads to employees taking the fall #so to all content creators who are appalled and baffled after spending 2 years hating the game: you did this. #and to the ceo even more: explode into dust and be forgotten

[skymantle]

not shipping something subtextual? alright whatever

not shipping it because a wildly popular INACCURATE fan theory says the characters are related? annoying.

not shipping it because you believe (falsely) that they're related + claiming there's no subtext when the crux of the series is the relationship? DIE.

#i need to write my thesis on portal as a feminist story it's been brewing in my head for years and every time #someone says something stupid about caroline or chell or glados it bubbles up and i become exponentially more evil #maybe writing it will inspire less rage within my heart when I see a godawful take in the wild #even if you don't like chelldos. and I get that. you can't deny that the chell and glados' situationship is the heart of both games #the first game ends with them trying to kill each other. the second one ends with them saving each other #logs #portal #chelldos #I swear some people opened the game and absorbed nothing but british men and glowing hole #I think of the GLaDOS line ''I'm being serious I think there's something really wrong with me'' every fucking day #the delivery and context of it. also she's just like me

[mattodore]

a little update on what i've been doing in the sims lately! don't mind the huge walls of text for once i'm saying things in the post instead of the tags lmao

matthias's scars are very slowly coming along! i really love his left leg scar but can't really show all of it because i'd have to get him naked for that and it also wraps around his leg. um, but it starts at the side of his hip and carves down at an angle before abruptly following a steep line to the back of his calf. it looks gnarly which is exactly what i'm trying to achieve with matthias's scars! i'm also pretty pleased with the scars on his wrists and side, but the scar he has on the back of his right leg is... a little too crunchy? i don't know, it just looks weird. it's kind of hard to get the scars i'm making to look good on matthias's body. especially scars that're smaller or delicate... like the instant loss of quality makes me want to chew on exposed wires. but that's where i've left off on them! his arms and back are where he has the most damage but my god... it's SO difficult trying to get scars to look nice over his biceps and back muscles. also the hair ties i made for him look nice on his wrist <3

theo's apartment is also finally in the works. i've got the base layout finished and a general idea of what all the rooms are for. building and decorating isn't actually that daunting to me, surprisingly—instead, what's actually causing me a lot of grief is the realization that this is too big for theo to really be comfortable in. so, i was thinking, okay, that's fine, just get rid of three of the rooms and scale down the living area. only to pause and take into account the fact that theo's parents pay for this. they're controlling and also very big on appearance so i'm not sure they'd be fine with their son living in a shoebox—i mean, what would people say if word got to them that he doesn't even have a walk-in closet? like... that's the kind of people they are. but i wanted theo to feel comfortable in his apartment so now i'm feeling conflicted on how i want it to look. i'm definitely going to scale down the bedrooms and the living area... but it'll still feel too big to theo. there are just too many corners for him to ever fully let his guard down... which, hm... well, maybe that fits the story more anyway.

this is his general aesthetic for the interior btw... i want it to be brown, cream, and green all throughout the apartment with splashes of orange (this mix between his old dorm and his childhood home but with something new blending it together). i really wanted him to have stained glass windows in his kitchen and bathroom but couldn't find any </3 so sadly that's not happening. and i need to find a nice curio cabinet for his collection of bells... along with bells too lmao. but that's where i'm at so far! i'm seriously going to just sit here in build mode for hours just... trying to figure out how to make this place more comfortable for theo. like it's supposed to be where he feels safe but it's just too much rn.

#river dipping #matthias evanoff #theodore doe #echthroi #also if anyone has any tips on getting scars or other skin details to look good let me know please... #i'd love to try projection painting again but my laptop is too slow and i can't get opengl to function on my desktop </3 #like i get an error every time i try to open matthias's .obj and even reddit is failing me on a fix for it <///3 #and okayyy theo's apartment!! i'm so torn up abt it now #but does his bed not look super fucking comfortable... #i might have to change his bed to that queen bed in the guest room just because the one in theo's room is... interestingly colored. #i'm going to recolor it to just plain white/cream sheets... and maybe mess with the mesh a bit. really i should test the bed in game #bc i'm not sure it'll work very well... #i wanted theo to have a wooden headboard but all of the ones i had like that just didn't look like he could nestle into them #he's just. a little guy. if i can't picture theo curling up in the center of the bed then it just won't work #but yeah. that’s my update ☝️ #........i'm super excited to start on the home matthias buys shortly after he starts falling in love with theo btw #the floor plan in my head is so beautiful and it's all very open... bc <3 matthias was thinking abt putting theo in his home from the jump #long post

[ineed-to-sleep]

I wanted to say, bc I saw someone mention Geralt as an example of a predetermined character in an rpg that works, that yeah, I fully agree it can work! But in Geralt's case, for example, he's a well established character who's fully written before you start the game. He has his own traits, his flaws and shortcomings, history, relationships, etc. He's just as well written as any other character in the story, and the only things you have power over are his choices and a bit of his fighting style(sometimes his hair as well), but everything is made to fit with who this character is as established before the game even starts. Think of the origin characters in Baldur's Gate 3, it's the same thing- they're not customizable, they're established before you even start, and the only control you have is over their journey. None of these are ever meant to be a blank slate, and they're written as such.

With this Phyre character it's like they're trying so so hard to tread the line between "this is a character that stands on their own" and "this is a blank slate you can fully customize". What you end up with is a very "meh" sort of character, who's not one or the other, without enough wiggle room to make your own story however you want and not enough to get attached to them as they are. We get attached to Geralt bc he's a fully written character in the game, you just control his actions. The problem with Phyre is that they're neither a fully written character nor fully yours to write.

#and like ok it's normal to have limitations #like for example dragon age has background limitations right #but things are still left open enough that you can easily make your own story with those limitations #a story which could be wildly different from another player who chose the same background #and that's the fun of it #but this isn't it #you can't even customize their appearence for starters #which is a big part of a character's writing. you can't write a black character for example if you're forced to play as a pale woman #how could you write a native american who maybe never cut their hair bc of their culture when you're forced to play as mr or mrs undercut #honestly I think either you commit to making them a blank slate and allow as much customization as possible #or you just write a predetermined character that's actually compelling #sleep.txt #vtmb2 #but anyway this is just my opinion rn with the current information #I could be wrong idk!! maybe they did it right. maybe when the game comes out it'll be so good I'll have to eat my words #but rn I'll be honest with u chief I'm not feeling very optimistic

[mothenbythighs]

god i fucking love yugioh, man

#yugioh #yugioh card game the chronicles #yugioh chronicles #I'm so fucking excited for what Konami is cooking with their new animation studio #i can't wait #even if its the world legacy anime I'll welcome it with open arms

[thebramblewood]

Has anyone else still not patched since before For Rent? I know I'll have to eventually, but it's been so long and I just can't bring myself to deal with it.

#i'm mostly scared of the slider/preset issues #which is kind of unreasonable because i only started using sliders more recently so my most important sims don't really have them #but WHAT IF #i just can't stand the thought of opening cas and seeing even one of them fucked up #anyway I AM OPENING THE GAME #it's been a few days

[quirkle2]

the strong strong STRONG urge to get elden ring. but knowing for a fact i'd get so so SO fucking mad

#qktalks #^ this user got mad at slime rancher once #i get frustrated w games so easily man i can't help it it's simply who i am #and elden ring looks so so fun but also would i Really have the patience .. to fight a boss. like 80 times #the answer is probably no #debating on getting it anyway cuz like ? even if i don't ever beat it i still think running around the world #and killing the little guys would be fun #i looooooove exploring open worlds especially if u have a mount #i definitely wouldn't buy it at full price i'd wait for a sale that's at least a little bit good #decisions decisions

[faelapis]

so um. tears of the kingdom slaps in so many ways. i'll post some thoughts for real eventually (including some hot takes), but right now, i'm just kind of basking in it. there's a long discussion to be had about its story, but right now, i'm just happy it HAS a story. like, a real one with an evolving narrative and twists. it made me feel things.

#not su / #totk #tears of the kingdom #zelda #very much feels like a sincere attempt to create a 'complete' zelda which relies both on the idea of the grand epic of past 3d #zeldas with the open-world exploration of botw But Better and Even Freer. and the result is pretty good #in fact its so good that i really want the next zelda to be Very different (especially in storytelling since - while well-executed - totk #relies on a lot of old zelda tropes with very little incentive to come up with anything new) but hey i would rather that be done WELL #than hardly trying at all #i could talk about logic and tropes and things like that but i can't deny that holy shit it made me cry at one point #which is sincerely impressive in a freakin nintendo game

[bibiana112]

Kinda weird question- do you have any links to people talking about Mira from ZTD and ableist stereotypes? I mentioned that I was uncomfortable with her portrayal but kinda fumbled it and made some other ND people in chat uncomfortable. I searched for various keyword combinations but most of what I'm finding is like "and not to mention the ableism with Mira" and doesn't elaborate lol.

Not weird at all! And uh, you see, there's a recent post I made where what I complain about is the very fact I've never seen anyone post too in-depth about her at all, I'd love to see posts that do elaborate on that but I do not have any that I know of right now, sorry :/ hopefully someone else who sees this can point to one? Okay!! After some tag searches I have found exactly one post who kind of gets into it I like this take still would love to see. more than just one but hooray

And like though I complain I couldn't elaborate much on it myself I don't think, I believe most of the posts people make about Saito from aitsf would apply since it's a different uchikoshi take on the very same trope of "emotionless characters who cannot function without killing others" I guess he's a worse portrayal though since she's at least not stated to get reward brain chemicals when killing people and I guess her case also has the added layer of "femme fatale" to it? Which either makes it less bad or worse depending on where you approach it from As I said I am not doing a good job of being coherent on this oh and also there's her being "redeemed" and "cured" in the epilogue which in on itself is kinda not great to imply it just goes away like that and honestly I personally don't even buy it I think she'd just be like oh okay Akane over here has like a thousand reasons to hate me after all that oh and what's that she's the leader of a super wealthy underground organization who's organized one of these death traps before yeah no I'm better off going to prison I'll be fine there lmao bye

But I'll say as an autistic person with relatively low empathy I usually see a character who just doesn't understand other people's feelings and wants to feel them too and is just trying to survive despite getting no help and I just kinda go hm. yeah. shout-out to roxas kingdom hearts shout out to mary from ib shout out that's why I started hyperfixating on media art helps me with understanding others a great lot and Mira is just in a story too badly executed for me to care or even begin to wrap my head around tbh like god she's so fucking terribly used as a plot device in every conceivable way that it makes it difficult to see past it and into what she could possibly be if it weren't for the stereotype of equalling low empathy with no compassion what's with her killing off screen in ways that wildly deviate from her stated m.o? why or how was she even in cahoots with Zero why was that a thing? Honestly her dynamic with Sean could have been better fleshed out could have done something interesting about robot child and his aspd big sis but we just kind of don't get any attention brought to the subject of emotions and the authenticity there of except for the "reveal"...

YOU KNOW WHAT that's probably one huge reason it feels so fucked up actually! Like the whole fucking game is written so you could experience it in whatever order you want and therefore Mira being a serial killer at all is something that though not very well hidden it also cannot be a topic of discussion or explored Ever ever because the player may not have seen the fragment where that is revealed yet- problem being the menu design of that game sucks so bad and practically everyone gravitates towards the same few more interesting looking thumbnails first and then the rest is kinda just there, I mean that is part of the reason A Lot of characters feel half-baked I think but also I think it definitely does impact perception of her character specifically probably The Most and then there's just the general not being given nuance not being able to see the minutiae of how that disorder manifests in her character aside from the killings about how she acts aside from being overly flirty trying to lure in Eric but that affects pretty much all of the new cast we don't have last names and in her case we barely have any backstory at all like Saito is a harmful stereotype sure but we get So Much Context for him that people still love talking about him and delving into different aspects of his life since we have that very well telegraphed in the narrative meanwhile for Mira all we can do is fill in the blanks guesswork that only highlights the worst aspects of the surface level portrayal we got and ultimately that people just don't care enough to dissect because there isn't much there character wise once you remove it

#oh to be miraposting on a sunday evening instead of catching up on schoolwork #I love how you can see the exact moment while writing this that I had a brain blast akdhks #me: sorry I can't elaborate also me: types out. three paragraphs #also if you're comfortable with that I'm curious what you could have possibly said that it'd be considered fumbling #dms are open if you send it into an ask I'll answer privately and again only if you want to share #cause like I want to see different perspectives on this so bad even if they're not eloquent #especially since it's not really something that ever got to me much? but that I can kinda see why it'd be upsetting #my suspension of disbelief is just too tanked for it to get an emotional reaction of me especially with the rest of the cast for contrast #I'm too busy being annoyed at everyone else's portrayal in that game not to mention idk it feels like #like schlocky hollywood no thoughts character archetype go brr type ableism #not the really insidious woven into the narrative stuff that I usually want to rant about cough cough youtube video I'll probably never mak #like pretty sure it's stated somewhere that the idea for her character was uchikoshi going hm. there's been femme fatales in these games #but none of them have been Really “Fatale” you know? he literally just wanted the big booba character to also be the stabby character #zero escape #ztd #mira ztd #if this should be under a readmore. let me know #zero escape spoilers

[limeade-l3sbian]

fuck. my ps4 is on her last legs. buying a ps5 would be really fucking stupid of me to do. plus, i hate sony so. damn. fuck. DAMN IT.

#i have like three games i NEED to play and meanwhile my ps4 can't even open the ps store anymore lmao

[revenant-dumpster-fire]

One of my friends got a warning from EA for their name being "Shit Grass, Eat Ass". (I had the duo name "Skate Fast, Smoke Grass" which was apparently fine.)

Either they managed to kill a developer or someone reported them specifically, because I have seen astronomically worse names in the kill feed on a regular basis, and personally I love the things people come up with.

Legitimately I don't even know why they care when the ESRB reliquinshes the company of all liability the moment the player goes online. It's not like there's a slur in there or anything. Why can't people be silly?

All this to say,

God forbid Apex Legends players do anything and have fun with it.

Anyways don't think to hard about this post, I just found humor in it.

#apex legends #ea #smoke grass #eat ass #skate fast #godspeed you magnificent bastards #the continued sanitization of the internet bothers me as an old fuck #like it's coming for people's silly senses of humor #this game is clearly for teens and adults it's not like they haven't heard these words before #legitimately it's probably only a matter of time before my actual moniker gets nerfed #my actual moniker is a reference to my multiple near death experiences and it means a lot to me #but someone could misinterpret it to mean something far worse but also far more rediculous #like damn #when I was a baby I could put my cousin's headset on when he opened up COD and heard words I couldn't even look up at my school #it's weird that in a game about killing for sport we are expected not to curse or partake in a little bit of mud slinging #like sure don't open a can of slur juice but my goodness can't we make a Your Mom joke without being censored? #oh yeah Apex censors Your Mom #but not Your Dad #kinda rude to moms that only dads get to have all the fun ngl

[heavensentofficial]

Hello Miss Lettie.

I was wondering if you'd be willing to discuss your religion and the way you feel about the temple itself with me? I know you're a busy person, of course, so I'm happy to work around your schedule.

If not, that's perfectly fine as well.

Thank you in advance,

- @code-dread

Hello there!

Of course! I am busy, but I would consider this exactly the kind of thing I am busy with. By which I guess I mean my job? Hehe... And it is an interesting question... Somehow I'm not sure I've really been asked before...

I did notice you speaking with Jordan, by the way! It's always heartening to see new people take interest in the temple c:

As for your question,

I think I may have a different perspective on the temple than most people here? Mostly in that everyone else here has made vows of their own volition and experienced other things, while I've always been here! And in that I have a lot of information that the others here don't. I even need to keep secrets from Brother Jordan ahaha ^^; I'll have to be careful with that sort of thing when I'm sharing my opinion, come to think of it.

...

You know, I'm not sure where to start! The temple is all I've ever really known, so as much as I'd like to give you helpful, concise information, it is a bit of a case of trying to explain how I feel about my life as a whole ^^; ... I hope you will forgive me if this is a bit all over the place!

Hmmmm... Firstly, I think I have to make the disclaimer that this is an organised religion, right? I'm not sure there really is such a thing as organised religion without flaws or corruption - and because of my position, I tend to see a lot of it quite up close, which makes me really sad. :< I have a lot of affection for this place and the people in it, so seeing certain individuals use it in such a way truly hurts. I often find myself wondering just what it is about the temple that seems to be enabling the sort of exploitation I keep seeing, but I'm not sure it's something I'm brave enough to bring up to anybody. Maybe one day... I do what I can to make things easier for people for the time being. ^^; The safety of our flock is of the utmost concern, after all. (hehe. flock...)

That aside, I think the temple does a lot of good! In my own experience, I was raised here, so I'm naturally thankful for that. I've been kept very safe from the various dangers and corrupting influences in town and had lots of opportunities to learn and to help people because of it. ^^ (Besides, from what little I've heard of the alternative outcome, I'm not certain that someone with my constitution would cope very well at all.)

One of our main rules is obedience to our elders... I choose to take this to mean that we are allowed to privately question them, but to we are expected to only act on this after the fact. (Unless you find someone older still whose age-authority cancels the other person's out! That's why I have learned the exact ages of everyone at the temple, to avoid those with unclean intent ^^) While there are those who would take advantage of this, in theory, the idea is that we should look up to and respect those with experience - and in the same vein, have a responsibility to guide and care for our juniors. And I think if everyone did that, it would be a lovely world. ^^ So in that sense, I'm quite blessed to have so many elders here.

We also place a heavy emphasis on sexual purity... To my understanding, this temptation is a constant plague that humankind suffers from greatly - especially in this town. I've heard frightful things of what happens outside, perpetrated by those overcome by their sin, so perhaps we are onto something. I myself believe that everyone can grow and improve so long as they truly desire it, so I try to be kind even to people that do bad things, but the temple as a whole is uh... Quite firm in their treatment of sinners as a whole. This is probably good, though ^^ To grow and become pure, people need both harsh correction and balm for their wounds. Otherwise my approach would just be coddling, right?

Ummm... I hope this has been helpful? It's hard to know what to include and what not to! This being my whole life and all. If you ever see me, feel free to approach me to talk, if you should so wish! Or to just ask more questions here, I suppose? Whichever you prefer if you need to.

#((This question was challenging to answer but also super fun! Love the opportunity to try to sneak in a lil character study)) #((She is of course being uh NOT FULLY HONEST here - she can't exactly get away with that. Or even Very honest.)) #((But I hope people enjoy extrapolating what they can from this hehe)) #((Fun game to play is drinking at every red flag)) #((Another one is overthinking what she actually means - particularly when she seems like she's being #super guard lowered totally open and honest lmao))