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melverie · 11 months

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So......about Solomon

Before we get started: Discussions on this post are more than welcomed as long as you keep it civil and constructive. At the end of the day, this is still a game about fictional characters, so there's no reason to literally harass others over liking or disliking a character If it truly upsets you that much--which is valid btw--than the best thing to do would probably be to simply not engage with the other party, and not harass them over it; you won't change anyone's mind that way. I know most of you aren't like this but unfortunately it still needs to be said Also, if you want me to add sources to some points, feel free to ask! I've tried to mention the chapters as I go, but I might still have forgotten some. Some of the arguments I make are also hidden behind certain player options; if you can't find them, fell free to ask about them and I'll gladly tell you Also also, general spoiler warning for both the og game and Nightbringer. I'm not really covering anything specific after lesson 60 in the og game and lesson 14 in NB, but I might still mention things from later lessons

Now, onto the actual topic. There've been quite a few arguments against Solomon in the past few days, but I mostly just want to focus on those three:

Solomon wanted to force MC into killing Lucifer at the end of season 2 in the og game

Solomon betrayed the brothers and keeps hiding behind "wanting to protect humanity" as a scapegoat for his actions (putting these two together bc I think they go hand in hand, but it'll make more sense later)

Solomon tricked Asmodeus into a pact without his consent

This entire thing is very long, so feel free to jump around if one point interests you more than another

Solomon wanted to force MC into killing Lucifer at the end of season 2 in the og game

[mainly 38-12, og & 38-15, og]

He did, yeah. But here's the thing

They were all forced into a corner since the fate of all three realms was on the line here, and with the Ring of Light's whereabouts still being unknown at the time, they literally had no other choice if they wanted to save everyone. It wasn't Solomon that randomly decided the only way to restore the Night Dagger's power was by killing a powerful demon, it's always been that way. And he can't just be like "Oh well, let's switch strategies then and focus on finding the Ring of Light" when the entire cast (minus Simeon) has no idea where the ring is and the last time any of them saw it was centuries to millennia ago, if not longer. They don't have the time to search for it considering all the destruction MC's Ring has already caused in such a short period of time

Solomon first tells MC to do kill Luci, only to add that he was just joking and knows MC would never actually go through with it. Then, he says that if they wouldn't do it, he'd do it himself. Which kinda sounds like forcing, right? Except this happens [38-15, og; pic below]:

He was prepared to, which doesn't clear him of trying to indirectly force MC, let's get that straight. But ultimately he drops it and accepts that maybe their only option really is to just die here. This is also the only time we see him acting against his beliefs btw

Also yes, Solomon might not have been the one that decided they needed to kill a powerful demon, but he seems to be the one that settled on said demon being Lucifer. The only other viable options would most likely be Diavolo and Barbatos. Don't know if the Demon King in his vegetative state still counts but similar to Diavolo, killing him would probably be seen as a direct declaration of war, so they're out. And from a strategic standpoint, Barbatos is the better option to be kept alive simply because of his powers. There most likely also is some kind of sentimental attachment at play here since Solomon is much closer to Barbatos than he is to Lucifer. None of justifies killing Lucifer of course, but we also need to acknowledge that everyone's hands were tied, they were out of time and given the circumstances, this was probably the best decision they could have come to (until Simeon showed up with the Ring of Light, of course)

Solomon betrayed the brothers and keeps hiding behind "wanting to protect humanity" as a scapegoat for his actions

First of no, he did not betray them. Ever since the end of season 2 Solomon has made it clear that his ultimate goal is to protect humanity and that he, similarly to Diavolo in regards to the Devildom and its denizens*, would do anything in his power to protect the human world and its inhabitants [38-15, og; pic in the point above] [38-19, og; pic below]

*friendly reminder that Belphie was charged with treason for planning to destroy the human world, since in Diavolo's eyes that would have severely damaged the chance of peace between the three realms [13-14, og]

Solomon continuously sticks to his beliefs. He said he'd protect humanity, and that's what he's doing. He never extended that kind of protection to the brothers, he never made any false promises, he didn't betray them in any way, nothing

I'd also like to point out he's not actively going out of his way to antagonize demons, or angels, or whatever. In fact, he even explicitly says that he does not wish to make an enemy out of either party [10-A, NB; pic below], which of course also extends to the brothers

You can even outright ask him if he's planning on backstabbing the brothers, and this is what he has to say [11-8, NB; pic below]:

And you know what? That is a valid concern. They can't say for sure what the future holds, and they just recently had to deal with the entire Ring situation that could have very easily destroyed all three realms, so wanting to be cautious and to be prepared for the worst makes sense. He also makes it clear that he does not wish to fight the brothers if it can be avoided, so there's that

And no, he's also not tricking MC into siding against the brothers in Nightbringer. Rather, he just wants to know that they're fighting for humanity should the relationship between humans and demons in general ever turn hostile. He puts the cards open on the table and gives a proper explanation to his reasoning for siding with humanity [11-8, NB], and once again goes a little further into detail before MC gives their answer [14-16, NB; pic below]. Plus it's up to the player if they choose to stand with him or not, and no matter what you choose, he accepts the decision

Also keep in mind that season 3 heavily suggests that the human world at large has no idea that angels and demons even exist, so MC is pretty much the only one he can even ask to help protect humanity alongside him to begin with. He can't just go up to a random guy on the street and ask them to fight something who's existence they aren't even aware of in the first place

Imo Solomon also seems to know more about where things might be heading than he lets on, with him actually knowing Nightbringer and whatnot, so granting himself some peace of mind by making sure he has at least one ally is perfectly reasonable

Also, Solomon is very much aware that he is not infallible. For example, he states that he realized he still has a lot more to learn about demons [60-20, og], and he even admits that he doesn't always know what the right course of action to any given situation is, which was part of the reason he first asked MC to help him with protecting humanity all the way back in season 2 [38-19, og; first pic below]. In season 2 he actually wanted for MC to be aware of what's happening, but it was Diavolo that decided it would be better to keep them in the dark for the time being [36-18, og]. He trusts MC's judgment and that they will help him make the correct decisions [14-16, NB; second pic below]

Solomon tricked Asmodeus into a pact without his consent

Before I get into anything, let's summarize the base situation so everyone's on the same page. This is based on the things Asmo tells us [53-16, og], as well as the things Sol tells us [6-18, NB]:

Asmo was trying to flirt with someone but their friends kept on telling him to leave them alone since he's a demon -> Asmo's dejected by this and goes to a tavern in Solomon's hometown

Solomon notices and feels sorry for him; he offers to talk to him and they chat for a bit

Asmo lets it slip that he's Lucifer's younger brother

they get drunk and end up forming a pact -> Solomon says that he was only able to forge a pact with Asmo because his judgment was impaired at the time

Right of the bat--yes, the way Solomon got his pact with Asmo is not okay. I'm not putting that up for debate. He fully took advantage of Asmo here, and there's nothing that can excuse that. I also want to make it very clear that it is in no way my intention to relativize this in any way. The way he went about getting this pact is, to put it simply, fucked up and I do not wish to condone that in any way. With the following points I simply want to explain how I see things. Maybe it'll put things in a slightly different perspective for you, maybe it won't. Now, I hope I made that clear enough, so let's continue

The way I see it, Asmo seems to be pretty okay with the pact. From the way he acts around Solomon in the present day all the way to him describing his reaction to the pact as just a "did I really sign that" [53-16, og], nothing seems to suggest that he holds any ill feelings towards Solomon, and personally I don't see any reason to be angry for someone who himself seems to take no issue with a situation that is directly about him

If it were as upsetting to Asmodeus as some make it out to be, surely he would have found a way to get out of it? Asmo is one of the most powerful demons in the Devildom; if he truly wanted to break the pact he could have just killed Solomon and that's it. And if the pact itself somehow prevented him from doing so, I'm sure Lucifer would have more than gladly stepped in. Heck, I bet all of the brothers would have made it into a family thing in a heartbeat if Asmo wanted out but couldn't do anything himself. As Thirteen told MC, Solomon is immortal, not unkillable

But speaking of Lucifer, shouldn’t the same sentiment about forcing others into a pact be held toward him, too? Because he basically did the same thing with MC. This is what happens when you tell him you don’t want a pact with him [20-14, og; pic below]:

Yes, this comes down to player choice and yes, you need to make the pact for story continuity, but it ultimately does not change the fact that in-universe he forces MC into a pact if they say no

Also speaking of forcing others into a pact--Mammon and MC, anyone? Yes, MC did it because Levi asked them to so he could get his money back. We know they had no ill intentions. But you never know what the future holds and Levi literally proposed to basically hand over part of Mammon's agency over himself for the money Mammon owns him, to someone Levi has met about 5 minutes prior, knows nothing about and who's only been in the Devildom for a couple of hours at that point, no less. Lucifer also mentions that demons literally cannot resist temptation [4-10, og; pic below], so there literally was no way Mammon could have just noped out of that pact. We all know how badly he wants his credit card back, after all

To top it all of, we have MC's and Mammon's conversation in Nightbringer where Mammon explicitly says that he would only want to forge a pact with someone that is special to him [2-9, NB], and that he'd make sure to be their first pact [2-11, NB], yet he is forced into his pact with MC. A pact that ultimately turns out to be exactly what he wanted, but nonetheless he was stripped of the ability to say no when it was forged

And for the record, I'm not saying "oh, others did it too, so we shouldn't be so harsh on Solomon!!!" No! Forcing a demon into a pact isn't something that should be taken lightly. A pact literally means a demon hands a huge chunk of control of themself over to a human for as long as the pact exists. And on the other hand, for a human, making a pact with a demon usually means selling their soul. Neither party should EVER be forced into it. We of course don't know if MC actually sold their soul to Lucifer when they made their pact, but even if they didn't, Lucifer's "I won't belong to you. You will belong to me" speaks for itself

What I am trying to say here is that if you want to be mad at Solomon for forcing Asmo into a pact without Asmo's consent (which, again, is valid), you should also be mad at MC for forcing Mammon, and Lucifer for forcing MC into a pact

Anyway, back to Solomon now

Solomon actually admits that he used to treat demons like collectables--more or less, at least since he immediately follows the confession up with "just kidding" [14-14, NB]. Judging by what we've seen in the og game though, he seems to genuinely make an effort to better his relationship with the demons he has made a pact with, or at the very least with Asmo and Barbatos. I mean, the difference between Sol's relationship with Barbs in the og game vs in Nightbringer is night and day

In the present time, Asmo and Solomon are also super close. I literally cannot think of a single instance where they did not get along (though it might have happened like once or twice). You can literally pic any part in the og game to see their relationship play out, but some highlights include Solomon saying he got a huge oil painting of Asmodeus as his "permit" to summon Asmo across worlds [39-13, og] (which is not something you would allow someone you hate to do btw) and both of them mentioning that the two of them repeatedly hang out together in the human world [Proud Brothers, devilgram on Asmo's page, og], the hickey on Solomon's neck that's most likely Asmo's doing [Who Left the Hickey?, daily chat with Mammon, og]. Asmo (while drunk) is comfortable enough to tell Solomon that his cooking sucks and Solomon actually takes it to heart [47-16 hard mode, og]. Then there's Asmo's excitement at Solomon being in the Devildom for the first time [Proud Brothers, devilgram on Asmo's page, og; both of the pics below]

There's also that infamous chat pic of them doing face masks together (that I unfortunately don't know which chat it belongs to, so if someone could tell me, I'd appreciate it <3)

I don't know about you guys, but that's not typically an activity I do with someone I despise

So it's clear that current day Asmo holds no malice toward Solomon

Which, finally, leaves us with the way they forged their pact in Nightbringer

[mainly 7-12, NB & 7-15, NB]

@impish-ivy already went over it in this post, especially in the tags (I highly suggest checking out the reblogs as well btw), but to reiterate--Asmo was IN NO WAY forced into that pact. His brothers tried to talk him out of it, but at the end of the day Asmo willingly agreed to it. Yes, they were in a dangerous situation, and yes, Solomon used that as a basis to ask for the pact, but as ivy correctly points out in the tags, Lucifer could have easily handled the situation by himself, yet Asmo agreed regardless. By implying that Asmo was in any way, shape or form forced into that pact you're not only taking away a huge amount of his agency, but you also deny him his character moment and development that came with this scene. Asmo himself says that forging this pact will finally help him accept himself as a demon. Taking this moment from him is doing him a huge disservice

Aaaand that's pretty much all I have to say

If there's anything else you'd like to add, OR if there's anything you don't agree with, feel free to share! And once again, I'd like to remind everyone that civil and constructive discussions are more than welcomed on here!

Anyway, thank you all for reading, hope you have a great day! <3

#can't believe i'm writing something like this about some fictional guys that are loosely based on some other guys from the freaking bible #but here we are i guess #obey me #obey me swd #obey me nightbringer #obey me solomon #obey me asmodeus #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me mc #;mel's analyses #mel's starry musings

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mixelation · 9 months

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wait okay notes to self on the Political Situation in reborn au ->

for plasticity/reborn au (and i sort of just like this headcanon in general), oto as a village is 100% an orochimaru project, BUT there are native ninja families to the country (which is where the Oto team we see in the chunin exams come from). none of those families took "sides" in the third ninja war but they still had to deal with a lot of spillover fighting on their land-- ninja cutting off routes through the country, burning down villages at strategic locations, shit like that. a lot of scuffles with oto clans trying to push foreign ninja out of their territory because that's THEIR LAND and then it not going super well because they'e individual families vs whole villages that can just send more ninja if they think occupying that land is a good idea

so towards the end of the war orochimaru swoops in with a bunch desperately needed supplies and is like: aren't you TIRED of being tiny and weak? you know what would really help you-- and he unites the clans in his own village. he's been REAL good at buttering up clan leaderships and also investing in improved training and playing at being respectful of old traditions so everyone's on board with him being leader.

once he has his village, orochimaru immediately starts pushing out older ninja-- they go missing or weird shit happens to discredit them, etc. he also starts bringing in interesting wayward youth (and the occasional disenfranchised adult) from across the continent, which is why oto morphs from something that looks like a cohesive "new" village with themed sound-based attacks in part 1 to a series of hideouts filled with teenagers with weird powers in part 2.

so tori is around for the unification and it actually benefits her a lot because she's able to leverage it to get actual ninja training. it's a delicate game of getting enough attention from orochimaru to get what she wants but not SO much attention that he decides to poke at her, but she has the significant advantage of being mentally an adult. she's not actually a doe-eyed eight year old orphan who's desperate or love-- she's a fully actualized adult who doesn't need his approval or attention the way he tries to twist all his followers.

anyway, the fun of reborn au is that this is late-game plasticity tori who's fully come into herself as "not a ninja, still a monster" so i want her to have a lot more agency than she does at the start of plasticity. so she plays the ninja training game but at some point she's like: well, i should just nip this whole oto thing in the bud. and so she flees but in a way that really cuts the whole thing off at the knees and makes it dissolve early [DETAILS DEPENDING]. early reborn au tori isn't used to thinking like a ninja so she avoid combat-oriented solutions, but she's very effective at causing chaos in new and unexpected ways

(orochimaru is deeply annoyed but after he mellows out i think he'd be like: you know what. respect)

ANYWAY, I generally use the narutopedia map for geography (although sometimes i ALSO use made-up small countries not on there so don't treat it like a bible), so. grass borders sound to the west (and rain borders grass to the west). in plasticity, i said that grass did better in the war than rain because they were able to ally with larger nations early on. so. ~5 year post-war, grass isn't totally wrecked but their neighbor sound definitely IS and grass's take-away is that they're also basically at the mercy of bigger nations, and so they're interested in making themselves stronger, and fast. and their neighbor just? imploded? and now there's all these new science experiments running around and up for grabs? grass is like: YOINK OURS NOW

(konoha is like: hey what the fuck is happening? which is why kakashi's team was sneaking round)

unfortunately for grass they've gotten kind of cocky in their invasion of their neighbor and have underestimated the weird ass shit show going on in rain. i need to rotate the timeline of the ame trio/third war stuff some to know what nagato-konan were up to (i think i'm going to make them very focused on just rain so major events in other countries are still mostly the same, bc otherwise it's a nightmare to plan), but basically i think the winning nagato-konan strategy is that they would just unilateral make themselves leaders of the ninja village AND the country. so the outcome is yahiko has been put in charge of the country to distract him so nagato-konan can do unhinged ninja stuff. also yahiko might be the one non-reincarnated person who knows bc i think that would be Funny

(everyone: you just? TOLD someone? immediately?? nagato-konan: um, yes?)

anyway, long story short, grass has been kidnapping wayward ninja for Experiments and fucked up by grabbing a handful of ame citizens. so shortly after the tori-kakashi-deidara escape, konan show up and is like: hi. :) what the fuck. :)

i haven't decided how extreme ame's movement against kusa would be yet, but i DID decide karin & her mom end up in rain as a result. is this fix-it fic enough for u

#reborn au

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rinbowaman · 8 months

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Hiiii girl I think its been like a while since I sent an ask but I have a question for heethan!! So basically I was watching youtube and then in the video came the boys being dared to put their hair in 2 little pigtails. Do you think heethan would let YN do that to him or does that go against his image he has of this guy who like doesnt do stuff like that?

Love your work cant wait for the new chapter of HHP, MT, and TO

Em anon

hey love, so when it comes to silly things like that generally, heethan (bc of how dominant he is) he would carry out his attitude (kind of how he did in the couples questionairre smau/drabble) and he'll be like "thats dumb, i'm not doing that. come here and let me kiss you." if you're still upset about him not letting you do it, knowing heethan, he would do something like this....

“Pig Tails”

.................

"Come here, let me kiss you."

"Heeseung stop....."

"Whats wrong?"

"......nothing."

"are you mad because i wont let you put those stupid things in my hair?" he' spoke out as he raises your hand to his head and gestures for you to play with his hair with your fingertips. "you can play with it...just not with those stupid clips or ties."

"I just wanted to put them in small pigtails...like in the video of that one couple.....i thought it was cute."

"Sorry pretty.....i'm not into that......besides....you'd look way better in pigtails than me......you wanna puts some on for daddy?" he smirks against your throat, trying his best to not only lighten up the mood, but to get you hot and bothered.

"thats not the point heeseung...." you remained firm in your annoyance as you crossed your arms and tilted your head away from him.

Sighing in slight frustration, he pulls you in on his lap as he sits and taps his fingers along your thigh. "get your jacket, we're taking a a small drive."

Confused, you look up as he grabs his keys and hat, and extends a hand in your direction. Pulling you up and leading you out to the car, he drives you just around the block.

........................

"Oh my God, he looks so cute! I wish we could have done this sooner!"

"Yeah....i mean....its really not the same to what i wanted to do but this is good too." you laughed out as you and H/N admired your work.

"he looks so adorable!" H/n exclaims. "Jake! doesn't he look so cute?"

Nodding and strategically covering up his laugh, Jake stands next to Heeseung as they both hid their faces away, turning to the side and cover their mouths. "He looks great babe. Keep up the good work. You too, y/n."

.......................

You and H/n look and admired Johnny, or Jugnwon, as he sat there and allowed the both of you to fix his hair. With the promise of the new video game that was coming out, Jungwon agreed as Heeseung sealed a deal that both appeased you, H/n and Jungwon.

"I want the special addition with the bonus features." Jungwon remarks towards Heeseung.

"You got it." Heeseung scoffs out trying to maintain a serious face, yet failed as his eyes were watery and his skin flushed red as he cleared his throat.

"I want a new controller too."

"Yeah man, whatever you want."

"I also think i deserve a free dinner for this."

Jake nods and raises his hand as he volunteers to grab Jugnwon dinner. "I got you bro."

Enjoyed this piece? Show love and treat your girl to a cup of coffee. ♥️

☕ Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/reinbow

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deadmomjokes · 3 months

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Betwixt Christmas gift cash and Steam Family Sharing workaround shenanigans, the husband and I have finally started Baldur's Gate 3.

Went in basically blind except for knowing the names of the companions and the fact that Astarion is a vampire (couldn't miss that cultural osmosis).

We also came in on two different meta-levels as players.

He is very familiar with D&D, D&D-based games, computer games in general, and these sorts of games specifically. He's also that kind of person that plays things on Extreme Difficulty Mode for fun. He quits when something isn't challenging enough. His idea of relaxing, rewarding gameplay is ultra-hard-mode Elden Ring and Dark Souls.

I, on the other hand, am bad at games. Full stop. I have lost Wii Mario Kart to a 6 year old, repeatedly. I get hopelessly lost even when there's detailed maps, trackers, compasses, and flagged waypoints. I also panic in combat situations and have no strategic ability aside from "stand there, hit it, and hope it doesn't move." I'm more of a low-stakes visual novel sort of gamer. Stardew Valley is as intense as I get.

He is playing a Seldarine Drow warlock in a pact with an archfey. She's a noble with a ridiculously high Charisma score, a perfectly balanced spell loadout, and an even more balanced overall stat build. She's DPS without being totally squishy and helpless, and has advantage to almost everything. She also has an impeccable fashion sense and always looks put together, even when on death's door to a brain worm. Or, to put it in a way my husband would loathe, she got that drip.

I am playing a ginger himbo of a high elf fighter with -1 to Charisma and a -1000 to common sense. He's an impulsive maniac with, somehow, a +3 to intimidation despite being a truly gentle soul that believes every sob story he comes across. He's a sweaty, dusty, grubby little feral child (outlander background) with the world's messiest ponytail and greasepaint-turned-eyeliner that a 90s ex emo kid would be proud of. And that's him trying to look presentable. Despite having an impressive dexterity score, my natural disadvantage to dexterity (and Wisdom and Intelligence) as the player makes it so that this man bumbles his way into everything and only gets out by making horrifying threats he has absolutely no intention of following up on, or by being forced to stand his ground and take it on the jaw.

So this was going to be An Experience no matter what. And boy, it sure has been.

Thus far, we have:

Accidentally pacifism'd our way into every Goblin/Absolute aligned settlement we've encountered on the pure luck of husband's choice to play a Drow because he thought it would add an interesting dynamic. That interesting dynamic, he thought, would be difficulty. He thought being a Drow would make it harder because of the general hatred toward them. He's technically good-aligned, but, y'know, planet-of-hats racism means he was expecting it to work against him, which he likes because he likes when things are hard. Only now it's basically a free pass into all the areas we'd normally have to fight or sneak into. Great for our shared pacifist tendencies, but LOL

Lost a full hour of progress because my computer screen is tiny and bad at graphics and I hadn't learned all the controls yet, so while trying to investigate a hole in the floor of an abandoned church I tripped in face-first and got us into an unescapable, imminent-TPK situation, whereupon the game immediately autosaved for the first time since waking up on the beach. We have since learned to spam the quicksave button liberally.

Accepted a ton of mutually exclusive quests, half of which we have no intention of doing, just to try and get out of situations without combat, so now the mini map now looks like a cubist rendition of a simple sun drawing and I'm SO worried it's going to come crashing down and get us shanked in our sleep.

MET BEST BOY DOGGO I WILL DIE FOR SCRATCH 😭

Discovered husband's character is, build wise, a carbon-copy of Wyll. This was 100% unintentional and he's BIG mad about it LOL RIP

Impulsively pushed a button in a crypt without saving and woke up a bunch of skellies we weren't prepared for, but were somehow also saved by that same impulsivity because I had previously run around the entire area and looted every single skeleton no matter how useless it was to my character, so they all woke up without their weapons so HAH take that I TOLD YOU being a klepto would pay off

Immediately after this fortuitous stroke of fate, having learned exactly nothing, my impulsive maniac opened the shiny sarcophagus before consulting anyone or healing. Luckily it wasn't cursed or trapped or full of enemies (it was Withers, and I'm love), but I'm now not allowed to open or interact with anything bigger than a crate without announcing it first so husband has the chance to go NO WAIT LET ME SAVE FIRST

Sneaked into a secret underground passage, whereupon my husband sent his invisible'd familiar around to carefully scout the area, discovering the button that would turn off the overpowered guardian statue. My character then readied a crossbow shot to hit said button, but in trying to move out of the way of the other party members, stepped right into the statue's attack circle. I panicked, tried to move, but couldn't figure out how to unselect the attack I could no longer use, and tried to fix it by pausing. But all of that just resulted in me standing there, doing nothing, until I finally dropped dead. Luckily I passed my saving throws, and more luckily still, my husband managed to stop laughing long enough to eldritch blast the statue to pieces and come get me.

So anyway, we're having the best time. I know we're late to the party, but it really is so good. I may have even teared up a little during the dream sequence with the psychedelic neon light guardian warriors. This is going to consume my brain for the next few months, and I'm happy to have paid for the privilege. 10/10, absolutely deserves that GOTY and the $60 price tag both.

No spoilers please, we're only level 3 and just encountering the Goblin Camp. (We've met everyone but Karlach, I believe.) But rest assured, as we learn and discover more I will come yelling and seeking those who will screech with me. Probably mostly about my new sons that I've acquired, namely the lying purple sadsack trash wizard with some horrifying kind of chronic illness and/or addiction, and the prettiest most specialist murder machine who definitely won't admit it but is definitely gonna need a hug when I finish breaking down those obviously performative emotional walls.

Also, Lae'zel scares me. Please stop yelling at me, you cranky fish woman, I'm trying my best here 😭

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #no spoilers plz #also i love how the companions are:#scary women #and secretly messed up sadboi prettymen #i have so many sad sons

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shigayokagayama · 23 days

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maybe a weird question, but do you have any recommendations for non-mob psycho media? I’ve been in search of something that hits similarly/is as well made and I trust your judgement o wise one. I’m not super picky, so recs of any kind would be appreciated :)

im like the worst person to take media recommendations from because you have to tie me down to watch something new and then i get obsessed with it forever, in terms of things ive seen recently that hit the same tumblr is NOT lying dungeon meshi is really good and if you start watching now you're gonna be watching at the part where it starts getting crazy

other stuff ive been into (gets progressively less mob psycho and generally more depressing like the further down we go bc i tend to get into really, really sad shit):

-i <3 deltarune but everyone has already played that. deltarune good. if you havent played deltarune play deltarune. genuinely like it more than undertale. also if the last chapter of deltarune is just the confession arc i called it and deserve a million dollars

-same w spiderverse. listen usually i dont care about superhero stuff but god these movies are good and i really hope they stick the landing.

-everything everywhere all at once continues to be one of my favorite movies ever

-rainworld (video game, very difficult but skurry's playthroughs do a good job summarizing the plot and general vibe of each route if you wanna watch those. i watched my friend play survivor ages ago and ive been playing through survivor with a friend on multiplayer and decided to watch some playthroughs to get a feel for the map and GOD DAMN the story of this game. rivulet route almost made me cry.) fair warning this is animal death the video game.

-severance (live action tv show, general plot is some sort of dystopian future where they invent a surgery where you can seperate your work self from your normal self so you clock into work and then black out until your shift is over. except your work self is just stuck at work forever. only 9 episodes but very, VERY good)

-i actually really enjoyed the scott pilgrim comics and the anime i wish anyone ever could be normal about them. id definitely suggest comics (if you can handle the 2000s humor) then anime. also basically everyone knows this but fair warning that starting out the main character is in his early 20s dating a 17 year old, it is explicitly treated as a shitty thing by the narrative and theres nothing explicit and its made very clear that he has 0 feelings for her whatsoever and is just using her as an ego boost but if youre sensitive to that stuff i might skip this one

-lots of webcomics about animals. i read so many webcomics about animals its like. my main media intake. this is part of the reason that i dont understand complaints about the art style my favorite webcomic looks like this

its called doe of deadwood and ill think about it until the day i die. others im currently reading (since this one wrapped a while ago) are "what lurks beneath" (cat cult on an island) "waves always crash" (cat cult on the beach) "i didnt know" (cat cult in a barn), toufati sawa (hyena trying to avenge her clan) and africa (leopard trying to survive the harshening world with her cubs) warning for animal death with all of these and general abuse warning for all those cat cult ones bc. cults.

-i like warrior cats. do not read warrior cats. its not very good and youll get stuck here forever.

-pathologic but the actual game and not just people describing the game please watch someone play the actual game summaries skip so much of the meat of the story and the characters. or play the game if you can bear learning to strategically quicksave. fair warning there is a lot of racism depicted against indigenous people in these games and while the framing of it generally aires on the side of "racism bad" there are a lot of kinda shitty tropes that come with it.

-listen bojack horseman is one of my shows it is the polar opposite of mob psycho in like every way and i would never in a million years recommend it if you want something that hits like mob psycho but if we're asking for just things i enjoy this is one of them. heavy cw for drug usage and abuse with this one. might want to give "does the dog die" a look for this one bc people are not joking about how heavy this show is

-same with hospice. hospice is a concept album about a hospice worker and a patient and has had more of an influence on me than any other piece of media ever bc i found it at the exact perfect time in my life for it to be relevant to my circumstances and now its like part of my identity. heavy cw for abuse also

-speaking of concept albums hey have you listened to tyler the creator he has several. WOLF especially i really like because the plot is actually like. kinda intricate. he also says the f slur a lot in WOLF but hes bisexual so diversity win?

-succession good. tw for like. everything though. probably "does the dog die" this one.

-hey have you ever watched david lynch's 1972 film "eraserhead"

#me and my friends tor and mich read the entire manga in 2 call sessions #i put everything else under a readmore #i feel like the more you know about my interests you can look at anything i write and go #hey. hey i see you.

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local-diavolo-anon · 9 months

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Might as well write it so

DayCare Attendant General Headcanons

(This is for biblically accurate and canon compliant versions of these guys)

it's all under a cut to avoid a slab of text in ur faces lol

Sun has separation anxiety, he was not meant to have it, but sometimes shit happens

Their face being stiff and unable to move left them forced to figure out how to express emotions through body language

The easier thing to read are the clicking of Sun's rays and Moon's entire head: the more clicking, the stronger they feel

clockwise turning = positive reaction, counter-clockwise turning = negative reaction

Moon is a gremlin. And also a bit of a bastard and likes to make pranks and play games on people

Depending on the game its up to you to figure if he likes or dislikes you (which could be difficult since mean pranks also indicate liking)

Moon stashes candies in his hat to give to children who behave nicely, Suns doesn't like that

Both of them are very obliviously jester-oriented in their movements, but Sun more in the way you'd expect from an actor whose performance include interacting with people, Moon moves more like an actor on stage

So sun is energetic and moves like he does in the game, (mainly exagerated, circular motions aimed at not scaring children), he is acting but he still keeps in mind that he is interacting with someone and they need to be included in his play somehow

Moon however does not give a shit and you might be talking to him and he just start cartwheeling around you while keeping his head and eyes locked on your face

Sun is absolute trash on their wire and could faceplant from 30 centimeters (roughly a foot)

Moon is the most skilled one, he loves his wire and likes to perform intricate tricks with the cable, like strategically propping himself up to spend some time up there as if he were in an hammock

Sun is a ray of sunshine and pretty much a golden retriever of a robot... if it weren't for his crippling anxiety, which gives him more the vibe of a stressed chihuahua (he is still doing his best)

He tries very hard to be sociable but the "i'm at my fucking limit" point is reached fast, especially on busier days

Neither of them can swear by programming

Or well, not directly at least, Sun finds creative way to curse people he dislikes when he is very stressed; even if he feels mean afterward

Moon doesn't do it but he thinks its hilarious to watch

Eclipse has the disappointed stare but it's amusing and harmless so he let it go

Sun curses are on the "your mother is a hamster and your father smells of elderberries" kind of level, and not everybody understand what he is saying

If Moon dislikes someone that someone will simply end up with everything in their possession stolen and dissaminated through the whole pizza plex

Moon is the most strict about following rules and absolutely hates when rules are broken, even smaller ones

Sun is less strict, despite like moon being neurotic about keeping things clean

Eclipse cares about rules, especially safety ones (for sun and moon are rules are important the same), so while he is lax on anything else, safety measures have to be respected no matter what

However, despite being the more adamant about rules Moon is also the first to try and find loopholes and walkable paths around them

That is why the pizzaplex has some oddly specific rules that would leave any normal quest to wonder just what the fuck happened for that rule to exist, kinda like the "don't poop on the floor" rule in fnaf 1 but somehow worse

Some rules could not be implemented necause they went against necessary programming or legally mandadory safety protocols

So basically Moon is fully authorized to kick down a door if he deems it necessary, which could be at any give time even if nothing is happening

The management just gave up after a while and gave him the rule to simply not go beyond a certain amount of money in damages

Oh and while Eclipse does not care, Sun hates when Moon walks around rules, that's something that fuels his anxiety

all 3 of them would dislike a daycare assistant because of past experiences, most people do not like taking orders from a robot and that combines bad with people who priorly only worked as nannies and teachers

mainly because when you're used to work in a position of control, being told you need to respond to a robot of all things, might not sit right with many people

them scaring each assistant away is the reason of why at the time of the game settings, the daycare has been closed since a while

while Eclipse agrees with them on the assistant, he thinks scaring them away is not worth the trouble

Eclipse is made to be the caretaker of sorts, the one who runs the daycare and gives instructions

at the time of the first game, the glitchtrap/mimic virus had him in permanent standby to prevent him from interfering, which is why we never see Eclipse in the first game

he is the one that would kick in when there is a child in danger, that needs help or when they needed to talk with a parent

he is basically the customer service one of the three, the other two are one to anxious and the other takes too much satisfaction in scaring people

#not an ask #fnaf #fnaf security breach #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fnaf sundrop #fnaf moondrop #fnaf sb #sundrop #moondrop #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf daycare attendant headcanons #fnaf headcanons #sun headcanons #moon headcanons #by the gods i hate when there are this many tags for the same characters #i feel like i am going insane ngl #:((#fnaf eclipse

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lunar-lair · 7 months

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oh my god i never told you guys abt my disaster twins competitive pkmn players concept. one sec ill put it under a cut for you bc this might get long lmao

so basically. gen 9 came out, and the boys, in their recent-switch glory, were like omg hell yes. game time. donnie and leo both get violet and mikey and raph both get scarlet (theyve got their own games bc they would tear each other apart if they had to share physical copies trust me) and generally trade around exclusives and chill etc etc. also while im on this leo picks quaxly, mikey is a toss up between fuecoco and quaxly, raph picks fuecoco obvs, and donnie picks sprigatito, as does april when she gets her own copy of violet later (which she honestly only chose for the loyalty points lmao she likes karaidon better)

anyways i was saying. donnie is one of those nerds who like perfectly iv trains his normal ass in-game team and builds perfect compositions around typings and looks up the gyms types n stuff and he was SO excited when he learned abt tera types and how they impacted team comps

leo on the other hand has the messiest type crossover and team comp EVER but still manages to thrash his opponents bc he uses really good movesets and strategies

the twins get into watching competitive videos while they play violet in silence together (hashtag parallel play) until donnie eventually starts commenting on weird stat spreads and leo eventually bursts out about shitty move choices and weird sets, or leo starts showing donnie videos abt odd pkmn getting high in latters, and then they start watching showdown battles...

and they lightbulb.

donnie loves building teams more than anything else, loves making them efficient as humanly possible.

leo loves showing the potential of odd pokemon and would kill for a good strategic challenge after all this time (hes been protecting against nemona and using electroweb against gym leaders, poor guy).

and, well, its not like you need anything special to get on the ladder in violet...

they start out simple, donnie building a basic team and leo reviewing it before going at the basic gen 9 ladders.

they kind of wreck house.

they just start going at the ladders with that team in their free time, then a different one when they get bored, then one with a few oddballs when donnie decides to ask leo what pokemon he wants to use, then they get kind of bored of just paldean pokemon so donnie gets to work understanding showdown...

but while its fun, they dont have anyone to brag to, because their brothers have no fucking clue what theyre talking about.

donnie has experience with youtube, right?

so they set up a little joint thing; a channel called disasterx2, no webcam, just videos about ladder battles. they end up specializing both in unique teams and movesets and in just vids about breaking down walls in ladders with a normal team. what makes both nifty is that donnie explains the whole team comp in a separate video to the battles, and the aesthetic quality is improved by donnies sensibilities and mikeys input (he was absolutely excited when they asked him to help with it. leo was no help. so much offense, actually, i have a feeling his fashion sense is good but the moment you try to make him make something look good visually on its own hes screwed.), and leos strategies are batshit, and ofc the boys are the boys, they go on tangents sometimes when they do real-time audio during battles and sometimes they just. dont cut them out. raph and mikey make guest appearances sometimes, april cheers them on on occasion, her and raph are very relieved bc its finally something non destructive they can spend their time on, its all great.

leo very often picks pokemon and movesets out and then donnie provides the pokemon (through breeding and stat spread tweaking, because god knows hed love that nerd shit). donnie likes it because 1. how leo uses those outlier pokemon is very interesting and 2. it gives him an opportunity to think about how to apply the right stats, natures, etc to apply to the pokemon and moves leo chose.

one of my favorite ever headcanons is that leo gets quiet when he focuses. like, dead quiet, and terrifyingly quiet. hes well known in their fandom for being very chatty over voiceover and then pretty quiet whenever hes playing challenging battles. donnie doesnt understand the strategies all that well so when leo gets too focused he just talks a lot abt the stat spreads and they add extra text to the video lmao. sometimes they utilize their clueless family members to have them ask questions they wouldnt have considered due to their knowledge in videos, sometimes donnie snags mikey while leos too quiet when theyre doing real-time audio, etc the fam knows theyre just glad theyre having fun

looks around flips through my mental notebook. nods twice. thats it i think! basically i think itd be fun if the twins played competitive but donnie built the teams and leo played hehe. i thought of it one day and it just stuck with me. anyways thanks for sticking w me through this long post that i need to end before my phone glitches out oops

#i DO have a laptop but. i started on mobile. sooo #hope a post thats just a headcanon like this was fun to read at least lmao #rottmnt #pokemon #lunas lies #for new ppl context thats just my talk tag im not actually lying prommy lmao #disaster twins #ehhh kinda? its the focus/the point at least #rise leo #rise donnie #mom come pick me up im still bad at tags

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kira-moonrabbit · 1 year

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i wanna scream from the heavens "GO PLAY LOBCORP AND LIBRARY OF RUINA NOW NOW NOW" like everyone else when it goes on sale, but hear me out. What if you can only buy one. Or only want to buy one for some reason. Or maybe it's like a book and you want to know what's in the book before you buy the book. Let me help you, ok?

For ease of scrolling I'll just put the rest beneath a cut. Below is me going over everything notable about lobcorp and library of ruina that would influence the decision of what you want to buy, positive or negative. Mostly positive, though.

WHAT DO BOTH OF THEM HAVE?

Customizable side characters to get attached to. Employees and Librarians.

A story about the horrors of capitalism, I think.

A world that they expand upon to such a huuuuuuge degree. Lots of worldbuilding. Huge world.

Lots of beasts!

Both have soundtracks that will explode you!

They also have a lot of body horror and gore in them. Be safe, okay?

WHAT DOES LOBOTOMY CORPORATION HAVE?

Lobcorp is a management game. If you like to manage things, it might be for you! Basically, you work on monsters to make energy, and you need to work on them to unlock more information about them to make breaches less likely. It's a game of experimentation!

Failure is about halfway between forgiving and not. Resetting the day if something bad happens costs nothing (barring a few exceptions, but those are very, VERY rare). But you have to actually finish a day to progress. Take the knowledge of what went wrong to try and fix your mistakes! ...But sometimes that doesn't help, either... It's that kind of game.

You have to let your agents work on Abnormalities to improve their stats and let them use better equipment! It's easy to get attached to your little guys, if that's a plus.

Story's pretty good, y'know. I'll leave discussing the nitty-gritty of what Lobcorp's story is about to the professionals, though; I didn't pay enough attention to it cuz I was more focused on the gameplay.

Lobotomy Corporation is STRESSFUL. Your Employees are made of tissue paper, and combat is essentially just ordering them from room to room and hoping they escape from an attack in time. It's very, very hard. That could be your cup of tea, or it could also not be your cup of tea.

It's the less gore-heavy of the two games! Its art style is cutesier. Still, again, be careful.

The game is, admittedly, a bit lacking in polish. It was left with a few bugs unfixed, and some of the workable monsters are nightmares to manage!

...Buuuuut, if it helps, Lobcorp has a modding scene! Albeit a very, very small one. There are a variety of mods to make your experience easier, if that's what you'd like to do. There aren't very many "content mods," though. Like I said, it's a small modding scene. It's also not an "official" modding scene, meaning you need an external tool to load mods in (rather than an official Workshop.)

TL;DR - Very challenging but worth it in the end if you like management sims.

WHAT DOES LIBRARY OF RUINA HAVE?

Library of Ruina is a card game! And also a dice game! You give cards to your Librarians to use in card battles. Each card has its own dice with set roll ranges. (Not classical dice either; no D20s. Instead, a die on a card, or "combat page," will have, say, a roll range of 3-7.) You "clash" against other cards that the enemy is using, comparing rolls on those dice.

There are also various passives and Abnormality pages to use to turn the tide in battles, such as a Passive that makes your pages stronger the faster you are, or an Abnormality page that will make a specific type of die more powerful and inflict a debuff.

Generally, it's easier to play the game to get a proper wraparound for how Ruina works. It's simple to learn, but takes true strategic grit to master! ...Mostly!

It's more laid-back than Lobcorp! It's still a pretty hard game, don't get me wrong, but it's MUCH easier than Lobcorp is. You can take your time with 95% of all battles. (the 5% is a single battle with a time limit.)

The story is a bit easier to understand! Plus, you get to see characters interacting with other characters more.

MUCH, MUCH gorier than Lobcorp. Without spoiling anything, a certain chapter with two characters called Tommy and Merry might be a bit tough to handle especially. Take care of yourself!

It has a Steam Workshop page! And lots and lots of mods! Some better than others, but still, there's a lot worth checking out! Even if you don't particularly want to toy with mods, there are also custom skins to try out.

...Yeah, I recommend Library of Ruina over Lobcorp any day, it's a much more polished experience.

TL;DR - Very polished, if difficult, card battler

Now, I can say it. If this piqued your interest... GO BUY LOBOTOMY CORPORATION AND/OR LIBRARY OF RUINA ON STEAM RIGHT NOW GOGOGO!!!!

#project moon #projmoon #you can reblog this if you want. always happy to help get more people playing projmoon games.

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dimensionslip · 1 year

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Fire Emblem Engage Thoughts

I finished the main story recently and thought I would note down my thoughts on the game.

TL;DR: Definitely buy the game if you enjoy Fire Emblem’s battle system. If you’re looking for a deep story or something that involves the supporting cast more, this isn’t the game for you. But if you can tolerate the weak plot, I think it’s generally a fun time.

Story spoilers for the whole game are included, so tread carefully under the cut!

Things I liked:

The battle system!! The engage system adds a really interesting dimension to the base tactical RPG system and I like how it makes things quite more flexible (you can either use it to make the game easier or try out some interesting matchups to see what happens).

I also enjoyed the maps in general! They make me think, especially the later maps but not to the extent where I find it unfun to try and strategize/figure things out there.

The rewind mechanic for when you mess up. I love tactical JRPGs but one thing I’ve hated about them is having to restart a whole ass 30-min battle from the very beginning when I mess something up. So for me this is a really nice qol thing because I do not have so much time in the world to keep restarting battles that I fuck up.

The Japanese voice acting is really great. It allowed me to tolerate one of the biggest issues I had with the game (the story) and factored in to my enjoyment.

The character models and animations. They are so fluid and also good. I like that you can see them animated too before you commit to an action.

Them making the Somniel as your base (similar to what they did for Garreg Mach Monastery in 3H, though with a caveat–see stuff in “Things I wish this game had”)

Things I didn’t like:

The story in general, but I think it’s more an issue of, it’s not what I’m looking for in a plot. I could see why the simpler storytelling might appeal to some people, but I prefer a lot more morally grey characters and while one can argue that they do exist in this story, I’m not sure I like the execution of said characters. Specific bones I have to pick with:

Lumerra’s introduction and death. At first I was a bit suspicious of her because, wow, isn’t it convenient to have a very kind mother?? And apparently she IS a kind mother all along indeed, BUT THEN. She’s killed off really early and honestly while the voice-acting in that scene was really great, the way it hits you out of nowhere is just… jarring? In the sense of it’s hard to feel anything about it because you barely knew Lumerra.

In general, everyone’s acceptance that you are the Divine Dragon and having zero doubts about it. Like a little more suspicion would have been neat to play into, even if it’s easy to prove that you are who you say you are.

The game’s habit of telling you ALL about an antagonist’s backstory and motivations before they get killed (either by your hand or someone else’s). They repeat this formula so much, even for the big bad and it’s just. One heck of a text vomit without any creativity to it, and we’re just supposed to accept how it is. It doesn’t make the characters very redeemable to me though, but I wish they exercised more creativity in getting people’s motivations across.

Sombron is such a bad offender, maybe I just don’t pay attention to his lines very well but there was little to no indication that he was doing everything just so he could reunite with an Emblem. The whole time it’s really just postured as “this guy wants to take over the world(s)”

I understand this is typical of older games in the series and large casts, but the lack of relevance of most characters after the chapter you acquire them is kinda meh in my opinion.

The minigame controls. Coupled with my controller drift issues, my poor A button is just never gonna be the same way again, huh. I think the wyvern ride one is quite fun, but the reliance of spamming the A button isn’t the best way to handle some stuff I feel, especially with the way the Switch controller is designed. I know I can just get a controller or something. But still.

Gold being so scarce in the game. I never had a gold issue in the past games I’ve played as I would earn it passively by not spending on things so much, but in Engage you can’t even do that. It seems like a ploy to get you to buy the DLC as it has some stuff there that will make your life easier, so that kind of adds to the mixed feelings I have regarding the situation.

Most characters being very one note, and it reflecting in their supports. Like if you have a character who was an antagonist turned into an ally, half/most of their supports will end up with them being eager to make amends. If someone likes muscles/training, that’s also gonna be most of their lines and their supports. But it’s a very taste-based thing, and granted I haven’t looked at everyone’s supports yet, so I might change this bullet point in the future.

Things I wish this game had:

More unique dialogue in the Somniel based on what point of the story you’re in. There are some unique dialogue for plot-relevant characters but it would have been interesting to see what the others thought too instead of their dialogues changing depending on where they were located. I think this would also solve the problem where the characters don’t feel relevant to the story anymore after you acquire them.

Lengthier support conversations. Wishful thinking, but the supports in general felt really abrupt, though this is nothing new in FE. Some were pretty deep/thoughtful, but most didn’t really leave much space for characterization.

Please let us change people’s clothes in battle. It was a little disappointing since you spend more time in battle than in the Somniel. The clothes customization in this game is pretty nice, but I guess they just left it to the Somniel because rigging those properly for battle was probably extra work they didn’t have time to properly test/implement.

My rating in numbers: 6/10 if I had to account for the plot, 8/10 if we’re just focusing on gameplay/how fun I found it.

To end this more positively, Diamant, Ivy, and Seadall are my favorite characters. Ivy (with Celica) and Alcryst (with Lyn) are my MVPs, with a special mention to Seadall and Emblem Byleth for letting me do some crazy stuff in one turn. Chloe was also really fun both in and out of battle (okay, I also like Saori Hayami) and training Anna to be my gold farmer eventually paid off lmao. Praise be to Anna.

#fire emblem engage #fe17 #fe17 spoilers #fire emblem #just my two cents

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cutie-writes · 2 years

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SPY X FAMILY GAME NIGHT HCS

Warnings: none!

Characters included: Anya, Loid, Yor, Frankie, Yuri, Fiona, Becky, and Damian

ANYA loves operation, connect four, pictionary, and easier-to-play board games. she really enjoys among us but isn’t as excited to play irl since she can read everyone’s minds. outdoor favorites include tag, hide and seek, and nerf fights (something both Loid and Yor have begun to like as well) she also plays a lot of mario kart with her classmates and almost always chooses princess peach)

LOID’S favorite games are mystery-themed, clue is his absolute favorite but he also enjoys chess, guess who, battleship, and candyland (though it seems out of character for him) outside of board games he really likes hide and seek

YOR’S favorite games are more physical, she loves playing darts, as her aim is top -matched. she enjoys a game of pool as well. board game wise, I think she’d be a fan of trouble. she loves playing among us with Anya but isn’t too good at being the imposter (Loid ofc is the master)

FRANKIE loooves dungeons and dragons and will always choose the same class over and over again. he likes role-playing games in general. Loid and Frankie like to play checkers or battleship with each other. unless it involves role-playing of some kind (even something as simple as the tickle-monster) Frankie doesn’t exactly care for more physical games.

YURI loves strategic or trivia games the most. cranium, clue, chess, and monopoly are his favorites. he also isn’t one for physical/outdoor games— he considers gaming as a way to relax, so why would he put a lot of physical energy into it? he’s interested in the game among us but hasn’t had the opportunity to try it out yet.

FIONA mostly just plays card games. poker, rummy, blackjack, and solitaire are her favorites. she hates playing simple card games such as uno or go fish. she knows how to play chess fairly well but doesn’t exactly enjoy it. the only card game Anya can understand when playing with her is skip-bo.

BECKY LOVES dance games the most, she doesn’t like standing still. just dance is her favorite but she also really enjoys musical chairs (she gets a little too competitive over it, once pushing Damian to the ground so hard he had a bruise on his tailbone for weeks) she mains rosalina in mario kart.

DAMIAN doesn’t exactly have a favorite game. the games he most often plays are checkers, scrabble, sorry! , and backgammon. he invites Anya to play checkers with him for the “sole” purpose of defeating her with strategy. of course, with her ability to read minds Anya remains the winner of the two. he switches between bowser and donkey kong when playing mario kart.

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ofloyaltiesvhearts · 3 months

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🜲 ⸻ · 。… [ hannah dodd / 27 / cis woman / she/her ] in the conflict between lions and men, alerie lannister begins their first steps up the ladder in the game of thrones. known to be exuberant and generous, their rumored highly impulsive and materialistic tendencies might prove to be their unmaking. the court bards play upon themes of ; large peals of laughter while playing with her ladies, ; the delightful tuberose fragrance containing the notes of cream, vanilla, cedar and sandalwood scents, ; giddy and ecstatic happiness when lavished upon with the finest of gifts, when composing a tune for them. while they are the princess of the seven kingdoms, it is said that their loyalties lie with house lannister & the realm. only time will tell if the tides shift favorably for them or if the climb is too hazardous for even the most sure - footed.

Alerie Lannister is quite the typical pampered princess of a royal family – doted on, adored on and every single whim of hers catered to. Living in this environment was heaven for her, so as a result, she became an extremely bubbly and precocious child, always optimistic , highly impulsive, extremely outgoing & super playful. And yes ofc being pampered equals to being quite spoiled as she isn’t used to hearing the word ‘no’ and can be quite stubborn & persistent in getting what she wants. She will once in a blue moon throw short childish tantrums but most of the time, she’s giving the cold shoulder or holding grudges if things don’t go as planned or if she is upset with someone.

Alerie can be manipulative & charmingly persuasive sometimes when trying to craftily get what she wants . It also helps that she is very naturally charismatic, physically beautiful & well in-tuned with her feminine wiles.

She is very loyal to her family & friends but since she is super fun-loving and mischievous, she doesn’t hesitate to shake things up every now and then with pranks or surprises ( both good & bad ) & is naturally quite the life of the party with her being such a social butterfly.

Oh how she does love to tease in good humor and flirt sometimes but she is deep down a romanticist and is strongly adamant that she wants to marry for love and of her own choosing, traditions & politics be damned. She’s managed to weasel her way out of a few betrothals before and by hook or by crook, she’ll do it again with the next one. Alerie is also no stranger to sex having lost her virginity about 8 years ago and has indulged in casual flings/one-night-stands. She’s a pansexual.

In true Lannister fashion, Alerie is as materialistic as they come. She adores all the luxury things her family’s money can buy & she has a weakness for pretty things especially ones to do with clothes and accessories. Hence in a modern world, you could say that she’s quite the shopaholic and very fashion-savvy. Alerie has a super sweet tooth for all kinds of desserts too. Despite all this extravagance, she is also pretty generous in sharing all of her luxuries with her friends and won’t hesitate in over-paying the merchants she sees when shopping around the city & in other regions. She does quite live in an idyllic bubble though { not really bothering to play the game of thrones at all } & can be said to be a little self-absorbed as she doesn’t really bother to know much about other people’s suffering unless it concerns her family members, friends or an acquaintance she knows about. Thus she has zero idea ofc abt their family’s debts and just sails by life indulging herself as she thinks that there are more than enough lannisters around who can deal with their hold of their family power and standing without needing much of her assistance. And lives in carefree ignorant belief that the king’s council are slowly but surely engaging in strategic methods to help the poor in the crownlands.

All in all, she is a very exuberant and amusing person to be with and very deep in her core, she is quite a morally good person but if you become her rival or enemy , she is willing to get her hands dirty for payback or to gain the upper hand or to bring them down.

#glory.intro #more things will be edited/added once i plot more stuff with you lovelies!! xoxo

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clarissaexplainingitall · 1 year

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Is Octopath 2 worth picking up? I held off on Octopath 1 just due a general disinterest after the demo. That said, I enjoy a good JRPG!

Oh boy long post ahead but in short? Yes. Absolutely.

The longer answer depends on what you did/didn't like about Octopath 1 or JRPGs in general. Am going to put this behind a cut because I have a lot of thoughts about this, will avoid massive spoilers. But my other recommendation is I do very much like Octopath 1 still, so if you do try 2 and end up liking it, it's definitely worth going back IMO. But I digress:

Mechanics:

Octopath 2 overwhelmingly improves a lot of the mechanics that were already good in 1.

They expanded path actions (each unit now gets 2 active and 1 passive) and added a combat specific "latent" action that works well with their primary class.

So for example, Ha'anit in Octo1 had access to Provoke and then in combat could capture beasts, Therion had Steal and could unlock purple chests. Ochette (Octo2's hunter) can Provoke, but at night she can Befriend (trade various foods to NPCs to make them summonable in combat), and they added 25% chance of auto-capture on any creature she KOs (which made Beast combat much more viable and useful). She can also turn captured beasts into foods for Befriend purposes (but also party buffs). Throne (Octo2's thief) can steal, can KO based on level at night (Ambush), and automatically buffs all allies at the start of night-time combats.

This isn't to speak of their latent actions, which are special chargeable actions they can take in-combat (I won't spoil those - some are very good). The range on those is really nice.

They also got rid of the stupid purple chests, for which I thank god every day. So the primary thief is no longer mandatory to avoid backtracking (bless).

Skills were reworked and reassigned to ensure all characters had more even utility. For instance, the Thief ability Steal SP was removed from thieves and given to clerics, which lets them be more self-sufficient, etc. It just means you can mix up party comp a lot more without feeling like mechanically compelled to bring Hunter, Apothecary, or suffer.

Bewildering Grace was improved, more interesting options were added, some hard hitting debuffs were reworked. Farming, while much less necessary (thank god) is now also easier.

The focus is a lot less on long-slog dungeons and more on the boss fights and story, which I prefer. They weren't afraid to try out some more interesting fight concepts in late game (rather than sticking to just one debuff and theming the fight around that). Several of the bosses vary dramatically based on party comp, forcing you to strategize beyond "Idk, bring leghold trap, bring a heal/rehabilitate caster, bring chunky damage." Hikari has killed my party like three times because I brought his overpowered ass to the wrong fight. It's been great.

Story:

Honestly, this is the meat and potatoes. I think... Octopath 1 had a tighter overall narrative with the combination of the eight paths, but Octopath 2 had some of my favorite characters and extremely strong individual paths, gave most of them* a ton of depth, and really the only places* where the ball was dropped were the back half of endgame.

They also added additional chapters focusing on two characters per pop, which start off as seeming side-stories and then circle back around to be relevant for endgame.

*we aren't talking about Throne. I can't do it, I'm not strong enough. Throne's arc frustrates me immensely because I know, in my heart of hearts, that they could've done a better job. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and it's just gratuitous layers of playing up the creep factor of incest, which is not really what I'm here for. But also it depends on your level of JRPG exposure - like, some fire emblem games are kind of worse, so it really varies. It's like if you crossed the worst parts of Prim's story (sexual assault/harrassment, being constantly put in situations where oh look, she has to masquerade as a prostitute again and be deferential to a guy who likes to be called Daddy) with the weakest parts of Therion's (instakill collar that can't come off).

****

TLDR:

My biggest hell yeahs:

DRAMATIC QOL improvements to UI and combat system, all the changes in mechanics fucked. Better spread of talents that made using certain underutilized abilities from Octo1 more worthwhile.

Greater monster variety I feel???

Dramatically improved environments, more variety in dungeons

Unexpectedly deeper characters - only one feels tonally off to me, but even she gets to have a really great fight etc at the end.

General better handling of stories with narrative weight? Most bosses make sense when included. Every final chapter boss was great, there were no more Alfyns with big birds that weren't relevant. Death is given narrative weight in this game more than 1.

That one sequence in postgame where you find the journal entries. I am being vague on purpose. Anyone who's played knows what I'm talking about.

Castti's chapter 3.

My biggest oh my god ceases:

Throne's narrative abandoning potential every five seconds so someone can abuse/harass her

No fucking boss rush before the Superboss : (

The superboss thing a second time, I'm so sad about that

I thought for SURE we'd circle back around to Roi since he didn't die but no. No Graham 2.0, Redeye 2.0, etc. Boo.

#neorelic #you got more than you bargained for congratulations i am very enthusiastic about this game right now #octopath 2 #octopath traveler 2

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nebulaleaf · 1 year

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goodbye persona 5 royal. after 121 hours (140 on my switch profile) i got 69% of thieves den achievements, 99% in the compendium, and took 910 switch screenshots (third sem having a recording block really cucked me fr.) I think I did as much as i possibly could. despite my gripes this was my most fulfilling playthrough i've ever done of P5. i have a lot of bad things to say about royal but i really did have so much fun with it. getting excited over the new moves with the grappling hook (guessing where the cutscene would be and having fun being technical with chains de hook), making more strategic personas with fusion alarms, using all that extra time p5r gives as efficiently as possible. I loved maruki's confidant even if it ended in a kind of mediocre palace. he's just a fun guy who's so naturally inserted into the story it feels like he Should've always been there (except for the end). though its a shame because of how his confidant is structured in terms of topics, you cant easily insert it into p5 (its basically just a huge foreshadowing/ general set-up for the themes of 3rd sem). akechi's though... akechi's confidant and the addition of kichioji was WONDERFUL and i'd have killed for it in vanilla. im so glad for it. its such a fun place to explore and i love all the new npcs; penguin sniper was fun to play (though i hate playing with akechi, esp because its useless to) and jazzjin's gameplay elements were REAL FUN TO MAKE BUSTED ASS TEAMMATES WITH. no more what-ifs is also... a good song. i think i might even add it to my personal faves playlist. i'll have to sit down and listen to the ost when i don't have a headache. anyway there's probably a lot more good things i can say, but my head is kind of muddled rn lol. that post-game feeling fr.

ahh, but even when it comes down to the bad, like kasumi-- groaning every time she came on screen was fun in its own way too; whether it was laughing at the hilarity of it or coming to tumblr and grumbling about it with whoever was following along with my posts that day. honestly i just wish they tried a little harder with her and we got to know *sumire* instead of kasumi a little more. reading the interview where the devs admitted to her just being a marketing ploy and how they treated her as such really is crushing. its kind of a reflection of royal as a whole in a way to me. care *was* put in; i can see the heart behind a lot of this, but it's more focused on being flashy and appealing to those who missed the first wave of p5dom; or trying to draw back in those who have already played. which... is the point of a video game definitive edition, but kind of ironic when presented against the morals p5 seems to stand for. (or tries to, anyway. corporate meddling and cultural norms... this is still a video game that needs to sell.) i know i shouldn't treat silly anime game #685 that lets you date a maid-teacher as an 'art form' but i always felt p5 had a pretty solid and profound message. so to see royal trample p5 vanilla and then dance around wearing its skin is... certainly something. i know they're technically the same game, so royal has those messages too, but they get all tied up in the new stuff that royal brings forth (and doesn't deliver on. lmao. lol) on top of the already shaky at times writing p5 came with. i guess what im just trying to say is that royal's content is good... but it's being too much. and that just makes me really, really sad. despite all that, royal still kind of rekindled my love for p5 that was already present. every new playthrough for me lets me look deeper into what i like or neat details i missed; seriously i always find something new when i come back to this game. but this was especially true in royal. i found myself noticing when the tiniest detail was changed and it was always fun to compare them, even if it devolved into a tangent. i really only am disappointed like this just because I love persona 5 as a whole *so much*. its everything to me, so i want it to be the best it can be, yknow? anyway, thanks persona 5 royal. you've been a journey in multiple ways. try as i might, i won't forget you.

#nebroyale

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mariacallous · 1 year

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After years of trying to outmaneuver China in a game of global diplomatic recognition, Taiwan is finally shifting strategies.

China last month convinced Honduras to break formal ties with Taiwan and recognize Beijing, a significant setback for the independently governed island. The diplomatic blow left Taiwan with just over a dozen countries around the world that recognize its sovereignty and convinced top Taiwanese policymakers that it can no longer financially match Beijing in its bid for global influence.

Taipei’s era of so-called checkbook diplomacy may be over. Decades of economic competition between China and Taiwan have developed a David-and-Goliath dynamic, as Beijing competes fiercely to undermine any recognition of the island as a sovereign country. Amid that competition, Taiwan has competed to maintain formal ties with a number of small countries around the world through generous development programs and investments in recipient nations’ health care, transportation, and technological sectors.

China, meanwhile, has sought to buy out the competition in a long-term strategy that seems to be paying off. In South America, China has focused its efforts on energy, mining, and infrastructure, totaling approximately $122 billion in those sectors alone as of 2021. Big money, and big promises, for big sectors has lured more than a half-dozen countries to Beijing’s side in recent years.

In 2012, 23 countries recognized Taiwan. Today, it is only recognized by 12 countries—the majority of which are in Latin America and the Pacific—and the Holy See. When Honduras became the latest country to ditch Taiwan for China, ending 80 years of ties with Taipei for lucrative investment and infrastructure funds from Beijing, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said that Taiwan will no longer “engage in a meaningless contest of dollar diplomacy with China.”

“The Taiwanese president’s statement reflects a recognition on the part of Taipei that it simply cannot compete dollar for dollar with the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] deep pocket,” said Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit advocacy organization. Tsai’s statement is also a recognition of the need for a more pragmatic global strategy, particularly given Taipei’s more limited resources, he added.

China is one of the largest economies in the world, second only to the United States. In 2019, China’s international development aid and investment reached $4.8 billion, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Taiwan reported that its official development assistance, as defined by the OECD, was about one-tenth of that, just $502 million in 2020.

This shift in strategy has been a long time coming, experts said. Tsai’s statement underscores Taiwan’s growing recognition that it needs to find savvier ways to play a weaker hand against the global economic superpower after years of diplomatic losses.

“They’re just trying to keep the allies that they have. The idea of expanding the list is kind of out of the question at the moment,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It’s prompting a soul-searching in terms of its ability to keep allies through innovative development projects.”

The diplomatic gamesmanship between Taiwan and China has taken on outsized geopolitical importance as Washington ramps up its support for Taiwan and raises new alarm bells about a possible Chinese military invasion of Taiwan in coming years if Taipei doesn’t bend to Beijing’s will. The strategy also comes as China itself is altering its practices on the world stage, taking a more hard-line approach to Washington and its allies and flexing its hard-power muscles in unprecedented ways.

“The Chinese attitude toward Latin America has changed,” said Julio Armando Guzmán, a former presidential candidate in Peru in 2016 and 2021, now at the National Endowment for Democracy. “At the beginning it was based fundamentally in soft power, in trying to convince Latin American countries that China’s rise would be very good for the region.” Now, he said, “China is willing to impose its power and is using hard power to try and get countries to do what it wants.”

A preview of this tactic came in Europe, when China tried to bully Lithuania into submission after it agreed to allow Taiwan to open a “representative office” in Vilnius. China responded by castigating the Lithuanian government, downgrading its diplomatic relations with Vilnius, and blocking most of its trade with the country. In another case, China also threatened to block key exports from South American countries if they didn’t fall in line behind Beijing’s preferred candidate for an influential job at the United Nations, several diplomats told Foreign Policy in 2019.

Chinese developmental aid is still often hailed by its partners in the developing world because there are no strings (at least bothersome ones like environmental standards or human rights) attached, and China seeks to present its loans as more flexible and forgiving than those offered by the United States and international banking organizations. That’s not always the case. Sri Lanka already had to hand over a big port to China to cover its debt; now China is even repossessing monkeys.

Washington and its allies are banging that drum. Prior to Honduras’s dramatic withdrawal of its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan, a Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned Honduras not to “quench [its] thirst with poison” by accepting aid from China and falling into its “debt trap.”

If Taiwan can’t outspend China for its diplomatic recognition, it still has the opportunity to emphasize other values to keep lit the flickering flame of international recognition, said Isabel Bernhard, assistant director of the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center at the Atlantic Council.

To do so, Berg said Taiwan needs to find its niche: using its own economic and democratic development story to continue to appeal to its remaining diplomatic allies, many of which are developing small island states.

“Maybe it doesn’t do infrastructure the same way that the PRC does, but it develops human capital and talent in a way that the PRC doesn’t,” Berg said. “Or, it has an approach that really takes transparency and environmental, social, and governance standards into greater consideration. Or it has digital transformation in a way that the PRC doesn’t.”

In a trip to Guatemala and Belize earlier this month, Tsai emphasized Taiwan’s record in the medical and health fields. In Guatemala, the Taiwanese president toured a $22 million hospital built with the support of Taiwanese donations. She then made her way to Belize, where the country’s prime minister thanked her for a $16.5 million Taiwanese grant to build a hospital.

While these projects pale in comparison to the $300 million investment provided by China for a hydroelectric dam in Honduras in 2021, which formed the basis of renewed negotiations for another Chinese-financed dam weeks prior to the diplomatic switch, Hsiao said it differentiates meaningful development assistance offered by Taipei from China’s cement-heavy checkbook diplomacy.

“I see these initiatives that Taipei has announced with a couple of its remaining diplomatic partners in the Latin America and Caribbean region as part of that effort to both maintain its international diplomatic space while also trying to distinguish its model of international assistance with that of the PRC,” Hsiao said.

Beyond putting the dollar sign on the muscle, Taiwan may also look to strengthen informal ties, both with former allies and with countries that were never aligned with the island, “whether that’s via subnational exchanges, educational or technical diplomacy, agricultural ties, and things like that,” Bernhard said.

And Taiwan might be able to ride Uncle Sam’s coattails. While the United States does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan and adheres to the “One China” policy, it has strengthened relations with Taiwan in recent years and framed the survival of a sovereign, democratic Taiwan as a linchpin of its strategy to counter China, especially in the Western Pacific.

Michael Mazza, of the American Enterprise Institute, said recent U.S. diplomacy, both bilaterally and in forums like the G-7, has put Taiwan front and center on the international agenda. This has helped encourage U.S. partners to deepen their own informal diplomacy with Taiwan, despite not having formal ties.

“This is a way of the United States using its own diplomacy with its own partners to highlight the challenges Taiwan is facing and also to highlight the reasons to engage more deeply with Taiwan,” Mazza said.

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