#and don’t get me STARTED on my characters when i play skyrim

[dalishious]

My Five Biggest Fears for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is highly anticipated by BioWare fans. At one point, I would consider myself to be excited for it too, however, unfortunately the long wait with zero information about the game has only wrecked my personal anticipation. Will my hype return once we actually start to get some regular news about the game? Most likely. But until that time comes, all I find myself doing is just… worrying.

These are the five biggest things I worry about.

5. Big, beautiful maps of nothing

In both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect: Andromeda, most of the open world maps are very… empty. Instead of creating an adventurous feeling of excitement to explore, it just makes travelling those maps a tedious task. Games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim or the new Baldur’s Gate 3 have open maps too, but those developers actually made use of their space with level designs. Skyrim is full of caves, ruins, etc. content to stumble upon. So is BG3, as well as introducing new dynamics to a fight depending on which direction you approach the encounter from. These games prove an understanding of how to best equip an open world concept that BioWare has only executed in a few maps across both their most recent RPGs. I do not want to see Dragon Age: Dreadwolf be yet another case of luscious forests where developers spent far too much time making look visually beautiful, and not enough time actually filling with game content.

4. Shoddy attempts at retcon

For those of you who don’t know what “retcon” means, it is short for “retroactive continuity”, and refers to the phenomenon of fiction introducing new information that is inconsistent with past information. The purpose is to revise old material. Dragon Age: Inquisition had more than one attempts at retcon that were terribly executed. For example, the player is told not once, not twice, but three different times—as if repeating it enough will erase all the extensive lore up to that point saying otherwise—that the Dalish get rid of their mages if they have “too many”. This is despite the previous games and extended materials showing that the Dalish practically revere their mages.

Now, not all retcons are bad. For example, in Marvel Comics, the superhero Karma’s real name was recently retconned to be Xuân Cao Mạnh, a real Vietnamese name, after spending years and years with the made-up Vietnamese name, Xi'an Coy Man. This is an example of how retons can be used for a good purpose, like fixing a long-lasting mistake. But what exactly is the mistake in saying the Dalish are good people who don’t hate mages like most of Thedas? That was just a cheap, transparent excuse to villainize both elves and mages further.

Cheap, transparent excuses like that make me lose faith in BioWare’s writing. It concerns me with what other lore they view as needing “correcting” in order to reinforce their idea of Grey Morality™ where it doesn’t belong.

3. Imposter characters

One of the biggest grievances I had with Dragon Age: Inquisition, was how the Hawke written in that game was in no way the same Hawke I played in Dragon Age II. I understand that it would be impossible to capture the exact customized character, but the Hawke in DA:I was placed into the game with an anti-blood magic agenda, and wouldn’t shut up about it. This is hilarious, considering how many players chose to make their Hawke a blood mage personally!

With this in mind, I am terrified that my Inquisitor, who will very likely make an appearance in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, will be used for whatever new agenda needs to be pushed. I better not hear a single anti-Dalish comment from my Lavellan, is all I’m saying.

2. Whitewashing ahoy

For all the talk about #diversity values, BioWare has a very extensive criminal record when it comes to whitewashing their own characters. Almost every single one of their most prominent visibly non-white characters have had their skin lightened or completely washed out, as well as ethnic features erased, at some point or another. This is why I cannot share any excitement or desire for existing characters to make a return; the fear that we’ll have to see Zevran next looking like Chris Hemsworth next haunts me too much.

But this particular fear runs even deeper than individual characters. Why? Because we know that Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will be taking place in northern Thedas, which up to this point has been consistently depicted as having largely non-white demographics. I’m not saying there are no white people in Tevinter, Antiva, etc., but I am saying that if I see the same mix of 80% pale tones and 20% “everyone else” we’ve gotten from the last three games, I will absolutely flip shit. White characters should be in the minority for a change. Otherwise, what is the point of shifting focus away from the dominantly white countries in the first place?

1. This will end of the Dragon Age franchise

Is this the most likely to happen of all fears? No; it is probably the least. But after the pathetic failure that was Anthem and the lacklustre response to Mass Effect: Andromeda, I would not be surprised if BioWare is on thin ice in EA’s eyes. (Which is ironic, considering the demands made by EA to chase after multiplayer fads and micro-transactions are what got BioWare into such a mess in the first place.) Electronic Arts is a garbage company run by garbage people. That much has been proven time and again. The executives behind BioWare itself aren’t clean, either. Unfortunately it will be average employee that suffers the most punishment and blame if the game does not meet the likely very high standards set out for it. In some ways, they are almost set up to fail.

It’s not fair, and there’s not we can really do about it, because the gaming industry is run by selfish idiots. It’s because of this that if events come to pass that the Dragon Age franchise was put “on hold indefinitely” so BioWare can work on clunking out an Anthem sequel, I would be very upset, but not very surprised.

-----

Times are really tough for me, and all my patron supporters are greatly appreciated! If you like my work, please consider becoming one yourself, and I'll be forever grateful!

#dragon age #dadw #dragon age dreadwolf #dreadwolf #bioware #meta

[danshive]

The evolution of my opinion of Starfield:

I don’t know if I’m going to get this game

I’m going to give it a chance, mostly because I like the challenge run scene, and several YouTubers who are likely to play it. I want my own perspective on the game.

I am so frustrated that I’m considering looking up XBox refund policies.

Oh hey, YouTube tutorials! Ones that should have been in the game! Okay, I can play this now.

This is okay now that I know what I’m doing.

This build isn’t working. New character.

This remains okay? I kind of like this faction quest, but I’m starting to hate my companions.

This really isn’t working. This can be fun, but it’s SO flawed, and I don’t think it can be fixed.

Onto an external hard drive with ye!

Dang it, I thought of something I want to try that might make the game more enjoyable. Back onto the XBox.

That thing I wanted to try mostly made me want to play Skyrim.

I think Starfield might be a bad game. I genuinely think “okay, but flawed” is too generous. It’s broken, and not in a fun way.

WOW do I not like the game’s companions. I miss Preston Garvey. At least it was usually “fair enough” when he disliked something. Also, there were other companions with their own opinions.

I don’t want to upset anyone who still enjoys it, but I’m hoping that YouTube community I was talking about earlier mostly ignores it after this year.

#dan shive says stuff #starfield #video games

[99corentine]

How To Write Good by Corentine

THE DRAFTING PROCESS, PART 1/2

Hello, people were interested in some writing tips by me so I, uh, sort of kind of cranked out a writing guide in a few hours. I’m not sure if this will be a very comprehensive or helpful guide but let’s give it a try!

⭐ Starting disclaimers: Please remember as with all things that my method is not necessarily the best method, everyone is different and over time you’ll find your own process.

I write romance, so my advice is skewed towards writing that and I’m not sure how helpful it will be for gen fic. I publish fanfic chapter by chapter to AO3 so it’s also skewed to someone doing the same, not someone writing a full novel they want to get published. 

I’m going to be using GOL HAH DOV (GHD) for writing examples because, well, it’s a (almost-)finished longfic so it’s as good a reference as any, but obviously GHD is not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ll also occasionally reference Tooth for a Tooth (T4T) which apologies is very far from finished, but the Baldur’s Gate 3 fandom is vastly different to the Skyrim one, so it’s useful to cross-compare them.

Also worth bearing in mind: I have been writing fanfiction since I was about 13, and I’m now 33. That’s 20 years of experience. Do you know what I wrote when I was 13? Hot garbage. Writing is a learned skill that, much like playing a musical instrument or learning literally any other craft, you must put time and effort into to improve.

However although ‘practice makes perfect’ is fundamentally true, that’s also kind of lame advice. So here is what I personally do, which may be helpful in figuring out what you want to do. 

STEP ONE: YOU NEED AN IDEA FIRST DUMMY

Think of a fic idea. Probably you have lots of vague ideas. As I’m trying to turn something from a daydream into an actual writing project, I tend to ask myself these questions:

⭐Who is it about?⭐

Pick your pairing, romantic or otherwise. Think about what you like about the character and what traits you want to emphasise in your writing. If you’re writing about fan character x fan character, what makes them go well together? What causes tension between them?

If you’re writing fan character x original character, do remember that your readers are here for the fan character, not for your OC. There is no getting around this, your OC is not what brings people to the fic. GHD’s Chrysanthe was largely intended as a blank slate, quite literally, I made him an amnesiac because the point of the story was Miraak not Chrysanthe. 

Over time I was able to shape him into something more distinctive (softly-spoken, stoic, paladin-like, secret tricksy side only Miraak brings out, gets more dragon-like as the story progresses) but that was a gradual thing. Your readers will hopefully come to love your OC as you do, but it takes time for them to get invested. I’m very grateful that people did come to root for Chrysanthe – but make no mistake, if the story had no Miraak in it, people wouldn’t be reading it. Your OC is always a vehicle for the fan character.

⭐What are the overarching themes of the story?⭐

A cohesive story has a theme that repeats throughout, and picking one early on will let you write with that theme in mind. As an example, the themes of GHD are:

Soulmates / we were destined to meet each other

There’s no-one else like me / you and I are the only real ones here

One’s a hero one’s a villain

Zero to hero / hero becomes progressively more badass

Redemption arc but the villain is never fully redeemed – for GHD this turned into the repetition of Miraak’s theme he’ll never be pure but for you he’ll try and later Chrysanthe’s I love you exactly as you are

Your own themes might be something like best friends who don’t realise they’ve been in love this whole time or can’t live with you can’t live without you. Tropes count towards this too, so something like soulmates, Modern Coffee Shop AU, hanahaki, all of that stuff is a story theme.

⭐What does this fic do that other fics like it don’t?⭐

GOL HAH DOV was sort of easy mode in this regard because there aren’t many fics featuring Miraak at all, so writing anything was already doing something different. Of those existing fics, I wanted to see more where Miraak was evil and scary, and you should be the change you want to see in the world (of fanfic), so I decided to write it myself. I get a lot of comments on Miraak’s personality, so I assume this is mostly what makes GHD stand out!

I’ll use T4T as a contrasting example, because Skyrim is old and Miraak is niche, but Baldur’s Gate 3 is new/popular and Astarion is a fan favourite. That means there’s a veritable sea of fic about him, so what can you write that will stand out from the many, many other fics out there? It doesn’t have to be the only one of its kind or anything, but it does need to have some special about it.

You’ll want to either go for a strong theme or trope (i.e. soulmates, magical spell curse, we’re both monsters), or change the setting (canon divergence, ‘what if X happened instead?’, or even outright alternate universe and a brand new plot). Personally, I choose to follow the source material but go off-script. I gotta say, nothing makes me sadder than seeing plot and dialogue lifted straight from a game with zero changes made to it. That’s a personal preference obviously, but I think if you write a fic it should strive to do something different to the rest.

⭐Do I have enough enthusiasm to finish it?⭐

This is more applicable to longfic, but you really need to be in love with a story to see it through to the end. Be realistic with yourself, how much free time and energy you have – if you start it, do you think you can finish it?

I have a whole planning process (detailed later) and sometimes I start planning out an idea just to realise I don’t really have the enthusiasm to actually write the whole thing. This is fine! Even just planning is still a writing exercise, and it might spark some different ideas.

Once you have your idea, and you’re confident you’re going to actually write it… then for the love of all that is holy, do not share it in detail with anyone. You can pitch an idea to see if people will be interested but if you go into specifics about story events or certain scenes? You basically get the endorphins from having ‘created’ it, only you haven’t actually created it, and now you’ve had the chemical pay-off you probably never will. Keep your ideas to yourself until you’ve actually written them.

STEP TWO: WRITE THAT DOWN

In terms of writing software, I use Scrivener, which is a paid-for software but is not subscription based (I wouldn’t pay continually for software unless I was reliably writing every day, and sometimes I go ages without being in the mood to write). Scriv’s word processor isn’t the most intuitive thing, but I like its organisation features. This is what a work in progress looks like for me:

That’s essentially a folder (the story) containing a bunch of word documents (the chapters). You could break it down even further and have a chapter folder with each document being individual scenes, then stitch it together later - if writing is a daunting process for you, it’s useful to break it down into small, manageable chunks. You can do this in other software obviously, I just find Scrivener the most visually pleasing.

Set up your writing document, and let’s get to planning what we’re actually going to write!

...Apparently tumblr has a word limit I've exceeded, so I'll write the next bit separately. Here's PART TWO.

[vodkassassin]

:3c Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love❤

1.

and i’m reminded of the simple life (where I work and just be used) (SVSSS) Shang Qinghua

It’s my Shang Qinghua superwhump fic with an overlaying plot that evolved from a one shot I had written one morning over coffee before work a few years ago. I never anticipated it growing into something of this scale. Through this fic, I’ve been able to explore certain characters and their motivations and behaviors in ways I wouldn’t in other stories. It’s great fun for me <3

2.

Shakespeare in the Park (Skyrim) Dominic Moriah (OC)

My good old insert-OC Dominic and his adventures in Skyrim, transmigration gamer style. This one is a story I’ve been working off and on for YEARS and I still have so much planned for it. I’ve barely even started m. The fact i have gotten so many comments on this fic along the lines of “I don’t even go here (skyrim) but I love this story” is mind boggling. I hope my writing was able to inspire someone to play the game at least once 👀

Plus, Dominic as a character is just so much fun to write. And, gratifyingly, I have been told he’s also very fun to read.

3.

Ear to the Wall (Naruto) Hatake Kakashi

Ah, my baby. One of my most successful fics ever. Topping the charts of my statistics. Raking in the bread (I wish lmao).

The fact that this story, too, started from just a one shot of a vague idea I had one day and somehow snowballed into this absolute monstrosity that so many people love is what I live for as a writer. So many people nuts enjoy reading about sick baby Kakashi tumbling blindly through his own time travel fix-it, and it breathes life into me every day.

4.

above, and beyond, and below (MDZS) Su She (OC-Insert)

Genuinely I am so proud of the way I’ve written this story. I can reread it and come across barely any points in which I feel like rewriting, which is rare! The pacing, the emotion, the character voices, the implications of future plot points… I wanna chef kiss myself with tongue for the great job I’ve been doing with this story.

Plus, the amount of people who have raged at me for making them cry with this one specifically is how I survive in this cold and cruel world 💖

5.

bundle up tight (American Dragon Jake Long) Jake

Listen, this fandom could use some new blood. Not people, I mean, just stories — I mean, the world building potential alone! It deserves more attention. The sandbox is unlimited and there’s room for more people to build castles next to my small and humble home.

I’ll come back myself and read this one, and it always brings me joy. Nostalgia paired with my own ideas in writing it just makes me feel cozy.

Honorable mentions:

Pelsitheos (Percy Jackson) Percy [time travel, canon overhaul, character motivation focus, collecting adoptable characters] WIP

cornered animals bear their teeth (SVSSS) Shang Qinghua [throat tearing, badass SQH, infatuated MBJ, just 😏] COMPLETE

Attempt #2 (Trash of the Count’s Family) Cale Henituse|Kim Rok Soo [protective papa Eruhaben, best big brother Alberu, Cale Henituse Protection Squad] COMPLETE

#my favorite fics of mine #tag meme #Vodkassassin fanfiction #scum villain #mdzs #Naruto #Kakashi #Percy Jackson #American dragon

[siofra-river]

Ive been trying to play morrowind. But unfortunetly I grew up with Skyrim and I can tell it's effecting my gameplay descisions. (Just picking something up, but I couldnt see any indication that I was stealing) Any begginer tips?

I almost deleted this ask by accident gave myself a heart attack 😭 but um ok I’ve got a few tips.

So #1 would honestly be. Get openmw. It’s not hard to figure out how to download but it’s basically a new engine for the game and it’s super easy to mod for things like bug fixes(which you really want), new textures, better texture mapping etc. really useful stuff. You also need morrowind on steam to run it iirc so maybe snag it when it’s on sale. It might be on sale rn I think the winter sale on steam just started …

2. Find some kind of character making guide. Unlike Skyrim and a lesser extent oblivion. How you make your character like really really actually matters. You choose your race, your class, and a star to be born under. All of these have different stats that mesh w eachother differently . Like each race has stats they’re better in and so you want to choose a starting class that can actually mesh with those skills. Skills are separated into major,minor, and misc skills which determines your proficiency in them. The game is very very reliant on your skills and like th other games the more you do it the better you are but if your short or long blade skill is like 5, you’re not going to hit someone very often. ALSO, there’s a lot more skills than Skyrim, armor is divided into 3 class skills, heavy medium and light, swords are separated by long sword and short sword. There’s skills like armorer which will determine how much you can fix your own armor, and some skills will level up just as you run around like acrobatics. Also, just bcuz your skill levels up does not mean you leveled up, you have to level up a bunch of skills before you get a whole level up.

Which also gets me into 3. Which is like. Combat and dying. Combat is weird and a little clunky, you’re not guaranteed a hit every swing but neither is your enemy (again, dependent on skills) ,stamina really matters, and if you choose magic (which iirc is like one of the more first time player friendly paths) than you regain magic by resting, not passively overtime . Which is smth I wish I knew first time I got into a fight I was so confused 😭. And uh, you’re going to die a lot at first? It’s frustrating but like it’s part of the growing pains imo. If you can stick with it you’ll get a lot a lot better.

4. Would be , get used to a different way of questing. In morrowind you don’t have a quest marker, you don’t have a quest list, and you can’t fast travel outside a few select ways but even then not to everywhere. If you join the mages guild they can teleport you to a few other mages guilds, for a small fee, or you can ride a silt strider for a much bigger fee, but again they don’t take you everywhere. You may also run into a spell or scroll that can teleport you. It may sound intimidating but I swear it gets better, it’s not as bad after running around for a couple hours. You do get a map, but like it only fills out where you go, which I honestly really like, gives a good sense of your progression. But most importantly, you store all your quest info in a little booklet, which will automatically update as you progress thru a quest, so it’s important to remember and check it when you need directions .

5. A little cheesy but . Have fun? It’s a different style of game and can get a lot of getting used to, if it’s really frustrating, not fun at all. Don’t be afraid to step back and look at what might be frustrating you. If you don’t like one style of combat don’t be afraid to start another character and try another kind.

I know I have a few friends who know a lot more abt morrowind so if they wanna add on to this I don’t mind. But yeah, morrowind is a good game! With good(and crazy) writing!

#lychbeast #asks #I hope this helps :-)

[exhausted-eternally]

Fic Writer Interview

Saw Topsy did this and it looked like fun so now Imma pester y'all with one.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35, currently, and only 1 is for a fandom other than The Lego Movie lmao

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

496,195 over the course of 6 years

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1- Reboot To be honest, I'm kind of baffled by this one. I started it just when covid was really starting to take off, lost where I was going with it before I was even halfway through writing it because I got SO swamped with work that writing was taken off the stove entirely for a while, and a lot of it was honestly just half-assed to get it finished but so many people LOVE it. I don't think I'll ever stop scratching my head about it, but at this point I've just accepted that it's my most popular fic ever. 2- Atonement Still ongoing and without a clear ending in mind yet. I had 2 ideas I was wanting to play with when I started it- wingfic, and house arrest. I've been having fun with it so far. 3- Prizes, Plunder, and Adventure This one was actually written based on a friend's doodles & half-finished ideas. I took them & ran with them as far as I could lol. I'm honestly happy that this one's in my top 5. 4- Hot Spring Another one that I'm kind of baffled by. It's a oneshot that's barely over 400 words. People like their coppernauts fluff, I guess lol 5- Time Travel Troubles This one was based on a prompt a friend gave me when I complained that I wanted so badly to write but had 0 ideas, lol. Of all my oneshots, I'm glad this one made it into my top 5.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Most of the time! Sometimes I can't think of a response though, and once I got overwhelmed with like 25 comments on one fic in one night from the same person so my brain kind of short-circuited lol. I definitely read and cherish every single one though.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don't really do angst tbh, so none of my fics really have angsty endings.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

That's a tough one to pick, I always write happy endings. XD; I guess I'll go with Starting Over Again.

7. Do you write crossovers?

Sort of; honestly I think they'd qualify more as AUs than proper crossovers, but sometimes I just get bit by a bug to write all my favorite characters in some other media settings for shits & giggles. Murphy's Law (Skyrim), Space Shenanigans (Star Wars), The Stranger (Myst), Octan Nights (1001/Arabian Nights), and Hollow Heart (Beauty and the Beast)

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah, when I first started posting Murphy's Law on ff.net. Honestly it just made me laugh, it was so obviously some kid doing a shit job of being a troll.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I tried once. It was SO awful that I ended up deleting it and swore off ever trying again.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. The fandom I'm in is pretty small so no one's bothered to translate any fics in it, at least as far as I know.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh, eons ago when I was still just a little baby birb. I wrote a pitiful attempt at an OoT fic with 2 of my cousins that never got far. All my works since have been solo.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Coppernauts. C:

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Lord I have SO MANY. Think I'd pick Tech Support though (with a much better rewrite to boot, so no link for this one. If you want to read the atrocious original, you'll have to hunt it down yourself :P).

15. What are your writing strengths?

I'm told I'm pretty good with characterization. I'll choose to believe it. ;3

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Describing literally anything. I am terrible for just... not doing it. Which is something I REALLY need to work on if I really want to reach my 300k goal with The Umiran Amulet.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

There's only one language I can speak in any capacity, so I just stick with English. If it's something that's meant to be in another language, I just italicize it. Only every once in a blue moon will I use a word in another language, like if a character is swearing in their native tongue, and only if I'm absolutely 100% certain it's the right word.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Ocarina of Time. It was the fic I mentioned earlier that I wrote with my 2 cousins.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I don't really have any, at least at this time. I am very, VERY slow to move between fandoms & ships and am probably still going to be quite happily writing for TLM even when there's literally only 5 of us left lol.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I'd have to say The Atlantis Expedition, which was my first ever fic for the TLM fandom, and the first one I'd ever finished period. I have others that I love just as much, but this one will always have a special place in my heart.

#the lego movie #coppernauts #gcbc #benny the spaceman #president business #lord business #good business #emmet brickowski #wyldstyle #unikitty #vitruvius #metalbeard #general mayhem #sweet mayhem #queen watevra wa'nabi #rex dangervest

[kookaburra1701]

WIP Wednesday - Aristeia (working title)

Tagged by @dirty-bosmer thank you thank you

tagging: @thana-topsy, @expended-sleeper, @tallmatcha @gilgamish @nientedenada

Fandom: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Rating: T (blood and violence) Category: gen Genre(s): Adventure, Homer retelling Main characters: Borgakh the Steel Heart, the orcs of Mor Khazgur

Summary: When the chief of Mor Khazgur goes missing, male orcs from across the Reach show up to vie for the stronghold, causing chaos and disruption in their corner of Skyrim. The wives of Mor Khazgur must figure out how to deal with them while they wait for their chief's return.

I blame @thana-topsy for the Pavo Attius/Gat gro-Shargakh brainworms. Everyone go read Finding Mara and join me in the worm bin.

This is a pretty extended snippet, because the chapter's almost dooooooone~!

3rd First Seed, 4E 195 Borgakh did not need familiar landmarks to tell her they were getting close to the stronghold. She could smell it.

The daylight was waning as the mountains of the western Reach swallowed up the sun, casting long blue shadows over the land. Olur had spotted a clean spring for Borgakh to wash up, and there had been an untouched patch of wild winter radishes growing in the clay. They had picked all that they could fit in their packs and on Karagh’s saddlebags - all in all, a much more productive expedition than either of them had had for many months.

They crested the final hillock; Mor Khazgur dominated the shallow valley below. When she had been younger, Borgakh had often imagined the longhouse was a lazy cat asleep on a bright green rug, curled up against the rocks of the Druadach Mountains. When the stronghold’s goats were pastured in the glade, they played the role of mice scurrying about under the cat’s nose.

Now, there was no bright green rug, or herd of goats browsing the first buds of spring; the ground in front Mor Khazgur was a frozen mud pit.

Tents with various clan symbols painted on their roofs and sides crowded around the stronghold stockade with not even a semblance of order. The orc men who had arrived first had set up their lodgings without care for the foot paths, winter forage, or even well-tended herb beds outside of the walls. Later arrivals followed suit, until every bit of grass and brush had been ground into the dirt.

Then the thawing rains came and the winter snow had melted, and turned the broken mess into a mire.

Borgakh could hear shouting from the central bonfire of the camp, the one thing the orc men seemed to be able to work together to maintain. The stumps of the trees used to feed it stuck up from the ground where thick copses used to be.

“We should go around the side to the gate,” she said.

Olur continued to lead Kharagh down the slope to the main entrance of Mor Khazgur. “We meet our fates head-on, like Malacath commands, Borgakh. I for one won’t slink in like a thief to my own stronghold.”

Borgakh sighed, her stomach starting to knot. Coming home to Mor Khazgur used to be a source of comfort, a safe refuge from the harsh environment of the Reach.

Father used to be here.

Now every time she approached she had to run a gauntlet. Kharagh snorted at the mud, picking his feet up high with each step.

I don’t like it either, old friend, she thought and reached out to pat his neck. We’ll be through it soon.

Olur pulled up sharply, peering down into the crowd below. Borgakh followed his gaze, and saw what had caught his attention.

An orc leading a spotted mule and a human man were at the gate to Mor Khazgur.. They were surrounded by angry orc men. Borgakh could see some reaching for weapons.

“Pit, that’s Pavo and Gat-” Olur said before breaking into a ground covering jog, throwing Karagh’s lead at Borgakh. Borgakh swore and followed him, pulling a protesting Karagh behind her and loosening her knife in its sheath as she did so.

The mud was slippery and it was difficult going; Olur quickly outpaced her, breaking a trail through both the muck and the crowd. As he reached the knot at the gate, the shouting crescendoed and one of the orcs struck the human across the face, knocking him into the logs of the palisade.

The orc leading the mule was on the one who had struck the blow in an instant, his larger mass bearing the other to the ground with a thud that Borgakh felt through her boots. Olur had reached the man, and hauled him to his feet just in time as the orc men formed a circle around the grappling pair, stomping their feet and yelling encouragement and insults.

The orc that had assaulted the man was one of the newer arrivals; Borgakh did not know his name. It would probably not matter in a few minutes, not with the way Gat was driving his fist into his face.

Despite the blows he was taking from Gat, the other orc managed to get his axe free from his belt and swung it at Gat’s head. Gat intercepted the blow, and with a practiced twist jerked it out of the other orc’s hand and flung it away. Several of the onlookers were forced to jump out of the way as the axe flew by at eye-level.

Borgakh pushed her way to Olur and Pavo. Pavo’s brow was split and bleeding. The mule let out an anxious bray as the crowd grew wilder, adding to the din.

“We just came to trade-” Pavo was saying, swaying on his feet despite bracing himself on Olur’s arm.

“Can you get him inside?” Olur asked, transferring Pavo’s grip from his arm to Borgakh’s shoulder.

Borgakh, who had just grabbed the mule’s lead to prevent it from bolting, looked at him in annoyance. “How many hands do you think I-”

“Stop this at once!”

The authoritative voice cut through the noise and chaos, and in a few moments silence had descended on the crowd.

Gat landed another blow before standing, and turned to the stronghold.

Sharamph, Wise Woman of the stronghold, stood on one of the scaffolds that lined the inside of the stronghold defenses. She surveyed the assembled mass of orc men with a sneer.

“The wives of Mor Khazgur are still in seclusion. Fighting over the Chieftainship before it has ended is an affront to them and the Code!”

“I apologize for the disturbance, Wise-Woman,” said Gat, ignoring the other orc who was just now staggering to his feet. “I have no desire to fight for the leadership of Mor Khazgur, merely to extract the Blood-Price from the one who insulted my blood-kin.”

“And are you satisfied?” Sharamph asked.

Gat now looked over at the orc he had bested. Blood was oozing from his nose, and smeared around his mouth. Borgakh guessed he would wear the bruises of his defeat for a fortnight at least.

Gat looked over to where Pavo was leaning against Borgakh, holding a hand to his head. “Yes, I am satisfied.”

“If they aren’t competing for the right to be chief, then send them away! They have no business here.” Ansug gro-Yufethz, one of the first to arrive and declare his intention to fight for the right to be Chieftain of Mor Khazgur, stepped forward, and addressed Sharamph. “If you allow unrelated orc men in your stronghold during seclusion, then what meaning does that word have?”

“He is not an orc, and he has come to trade,” said Sharamph, indicating Pavo. “We need supplies after the winter, and the miners of Kolskeggr have always trusted our smithy for their tools. If you deny him entry you are only weakening the stronghold you wish to lead.”

Ansug narrowed his eyes and glared at Pavo, but after a moment relented. Borgakh was relieved - he was the largest and most influential among the candidates for Chief, and if he agreed, the others were likely to do so as well.

“Very well. The Imperial can enter for trade. But the orc must stay outside!”

Sharamph nodded once and disappeared behind the pointed timbers of the stronghold wall.

“Gat, I don’t like this-” Pavo said as Gat returned to his side.

“I’ll be fine,” Gat said, quickly removing a pack and a bedroll from the mule’s back. “I’ve slept in rougher places than this, you know that. I’ve got rations and our tent, and there’s no elves slinging firebolts at us. What more could I want?”

“But-”

“Olur, I think Juniper lost a few nails from her near-hind shoe in the mud.” Gat interrupted Pavo. “Will you be able to take a look while Pavo trades with Shuftharz?”

“Of course. Take him inside, Borgakh.”

The heavy gate swung open as Borgakh clicked to Karagh and Juniper. Pavo was standing on his own now, and Gat put a hand on his arm and bent down to whisper something in his ear. Pavo nodded and Gat gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder before hefting his pack and bedroll and disappearing into the crowd.

As she passed through the threshold of the gate, Borgakh felt tension she had not realized she was carrying leaving her neck and shoulders.

“Ghamorz, get the packs from the mule and bring them inside,” Sharamph said to the orc that closed the gate behind them.

“Do you really think Gat will be alright out there?” Pavo was already turning around and was staring at the closed gate. He opened his mouth to say something more, but was interrupted by Sharamph gripping his chin and turning his head in order to cast an experienced eye on the cut over his brow.

“This will need cleaning,” she said. “Come with me.”

“Thank you, ma’am, but I should really see to Juniper first-”

“Borgakh will see to your animal. Your goods will be safe in the longhouse, but your blood is still flowing; much more and Gat will be compelled to extract more from that idiot to make up the difference.”

#mor khazgur #fic: aristeia #borgakh the steel heart #skyrim fanfiction #skyrim #tesblr #wip wednesday #kb writes #orc posting hours #it's not easy being green #orc #hot orc summer

[thequeenofthewinter]

2, 6 and 18 for the “Asks to Spread Love 💖” meme please ☺️💙

Hey there, Blossom! Thanks ever so much for the asks! <3

2. Tell us why you love one of your OCs or an obscure canon character (link to any fics/art you have featuring them!) 

While you might be expecting me to talk about Dahlia, I think it’s really important that I do.

I love her for a lot of different reasons, but the most important one is that she is my first OC and the one who taught me not to give up, to persevere, and really, how to write. She’s the one that I have been finding myself through and honestly, I put a lot of my heart and soul into her because of that. I am eternally grateful for her and will continue to be from now until whenever my writing journey ends. She taught me that I can do something I didn’t think I would be able to and that I can create a story with words and have the best time doing it. She helped me explore a few things in my life and talk about things I might be afraid to otherwise, and perhaps most importantly, she helped me find a community of friends (like you!) whom I have come to cherish.

Link to my Dahlia Art Stash

6. Ship or platonic relationship that you got into because of the fans

Teldryn/OC, anyone? Let’s see here…calling @paraparadigm @changelingsandothernonsense @mareenavee. I mean, I always liked the cheeky bastard and he was my favorite vanilla follower because of that, but I didn’t really get behind him as a ship until all of you beat me over the head affectionately with him.

18. Something you initially did not like but came around to

Hm, interesting question. Perhaps, I would have to say Elisif. Maybe she isn’t really a something but rather a someone, but I really came around to her as I started writing her. You might be saying WHAT? But Winter, she is clearly very much like a bad telenovela villain in your fic and—Yes, it’s true. I don’t write her very positively in my fic, but when I first started playing Skyrim, I didn’t see any good in her at all and really thought she was just an airhead and nothing else. As I started writing, my perspective shifted. I think there is a lot of nuances behind her and could be a lot more than what meets the eye. Did I still write her as a villain without much substance? Yup, but we needed someone to boo at.

#these were fun to think about #go check my friends' writing and art for Teldryn #winter answers asks

[coolwali]

Dream that Lokir from Skyrim became Self Aware

I dreamt last night that I was starting up a new playthrough of Skyrim. As my character was waking up on the cart, my character looked at Lokir. The camera then shifted to Lokir’s perspective where I saw that Lokir was having a Jimmy Neutron-style brain blast where Lokir learned he was a video game character in Skyrim. Then the POV switched back to my character. 

Lokir then looked at me/my character and tried to tell me/my character that he knew was a video game character in Skyrim and that I had to listen to him and help him. However, Ralof said that it seemed Lokir hit his head in the ambush and was confused. I selected the option to have my character act oblivious to what is going on. Lokir then said to me “I know you’re playing along. I guess we have to wait until after the execution”. Ralof thought he was talking about meeting in Sovengrade after the execution.

At the execution, Lokir requested he be executed second as his only and final request. The Imperials decided to oblige. My character was then up first. Then was saved by Alduin and then the entire opening level in Helgan played out normally.

After the tutorial was over and my character exited Helgan, Lokir then caught up to me and started talking to me. I selected the option to say “Hey, you tried to get me killed first”. Lokir responded with “Firstly, I just said I wanted to go second. I didn’t say you had to go first. And Secondly, you know as well as me that this is a video game and Alduin would always have saved you so you could go play. The game is literally programmed to do that. But enough of that. I need your help to exit this game and enter the real world. I need you to go the co-ordinates -12, +27”.

I selected the option to say “what are you talking about? What game are you talking about?” Lokir responds in an annoyed tone with “Quit stalling. We don’t have much time. You know what I am talking about. This is Skyrim: ‘Arrow in the Knee’, “Do you enter the Cloud District of course you don’t’ Now can we move past this and help each other here?”

I selected the option to say “But why should I help you? I could just go and play Skyrim”. Lokir responds with “If you help me escape from this game, I’ll tell you when TES6 is coming out”. My character then began running towards those co-ordinates for some reason.

#dream #posts from a weirder timeline #i dreamed a dream #the elder scrolls #tes 6

[tanadrin]

okay, final thoughts on beating inquisition. good stuff first:

the game is of course very beautiful. it is realistic without being drab, full of color, and very good at atmospheric environments and dungeons. the incidental art--the character tarot cards in particular--also have a very distinct and delightful style.

the sound design is also terrific, and that's something i usually never notice. the music is great, too.

the characters are all great. special mentions to Ms.-Killing-For-Jesus-Or-Possibly-Just-For-Fun, Captain-Buzzkill-The-Lady-Cop, The Ancient Furry Who Is Also an Elven Fascist, Mr.-Gets-An-Erection-Every-Time-We-Fight-a-Dragon, and the Necromancer with Daddy Issues. all of them would be exhausting as hell in real life.

many of the mechanics, like recruiting agents, the war table, and the way skyhold changes over time do make you feel like you’re building up a big organization, and that’s quite fun. it’s a pity it mostly goes to waste when it comes to the actual plot.

the game develops the backstory to the setting in tantalizing ways. the plot in some ways feels like it’s obviously setting up a sequel, but it manages to do so without feeling incomplete. the bioware method of storytelling and incorporating player choice is fraught in a lot of ways, just because of the limits of what video game designers can reasonably do with those choices, but overall i think dragon age as a franchise and DA:I handle those limitations well.

the meh stuff:

not wholly bioware's fault, but the fact that the only mod manager for DA:I is extremely hit-or-miss seems to be down to the fact that an awkward rube goldberg machine of software must kick into gear for da:i to start. if you are going to force me to use your storefront rather than selling me a standalone piece of software, *it had better run flawlessly.* as it is, i cannot recommend buying any game that isn't available solely through steam. (DA:I wasn't available on Steam when I originally bought it; it seems to be again, but if it's like DA2, you still have to install EA Desktop and run it every time you play). unfortunately, mods are a must for reasons i covered elsewhere. they help sidestep some of the boring padding, like idle mechanics and bad map design. otherwise, though, i think moddability in an RPG like this is a strength: one reason Skyrim has had such a long afterlife is that Bethesda has made modding relatively easy, allowing people to customize and embellish their gameplay experience in countless ways (only some of which involve giving the Dragonborn a monster hog).

shallower ability trees and thus less interesting combat. give me more tools, not less!

took away attribute customization for no good reason. let me minmax, dammit!

in general, despite the crafting system (thbbbbt), the armor and weapon customization still feels pretty shallow. you just don’t have that many options for stats, and since i can’t minmax my underlying stat scores, the benefits are limited.

the stuff that i think really fails:

all those zones are a fuckin' slog, lemme tell u. it would be one thing if the zones' quests fed in an interesting way back into the main quest, or if the zones had unified and compelling stories, but it's honestly mostly fetch quests and random collectibles. DA:O was *really* good about having narratively unified side/sub-quests as part of the main quest; there were other small tasks you could accomplish while doing those, but they didn't require taking a break from the main action. They were woven into it.

doesn't help that the zones aren't differentiated enough, and there's too many of them. why do we need three desert zones, all next to each other? why not have fewer, larger zones?

and on top of all that, the main quest is actually kinda sort! it's 1) join up, 2) recruit the mages or templars, 3) close the breach, 4) go to a party in Orlais, 5) visit the Temple of Mythal for a surprise macguffin not foreshadowed at all elsewhere, 5) kill the final boss. The only reason the game is as long as it is is that next steps are usually gated behind large amounts of inquisition power, so rather than the story carrying you along as it did in DA:O and DA2, it's "do a ton of filler quests and then have a major story beat as a treat." That structure sucks ass! and the recruitment/inquisition-building work you do only shows up in the background of quest 5. it doesn't take you to open-world locations much, mostly to one-off specialized zones like halamshiral, the temple of mythal, or the breach.

despite gating main quests behind inquisition power, i did a ton of sidequests and was swimming in it by the end. i had like 200+ power. i couldn’t tell you what those side quests were about, really; they certainly weren’t memorable, and didn’t affect the main plot at all. i wish all the time poured into those side quests had gone into developing the main story.

even da:o had a way for the armies you recruited to matter in the final battle; your forces are explicitly absent in DA:I (but it’s ok because the villain shows up to the final confrontation alone anyway??), which means that, narratively, it feels like all the side stuff you do to build the inquisition is mostly pointless. the final showdown is a 4-on-1 slugfest, and not even an especially interesting fight. and this is related to the next point:

last quest is kinda random and makes no sense. we made a huge stink about closing the breach earlier; but surprise! it's open again! and suddenly we transition to a boss battle, with very little intro. it feels *very* rushed, like they had to cut out a bunch of stuff in the middle. (also why dos a guy who can lift mountains into the air need an army to conquer Orlais?? he could just turn Val Royeaux upsid-down if he wanted) visually, it looks like a lot of the assets meant it was gonna take place in the Fade or something, but they changed it up at the last minute. Where do those towers in the distance come from? There isn't anything like that around Haven or the Breach.

there are no decision points, no interesting mechanics, and no stakes other than “lol the breach is open again i guess kill this guy or the world ends.” compare the battle of denerim in DA:O, where you’re defending a whole city, or the last quest in DA2, which (though it starts with little buildup), has immediate fallout with your companions, and forces you to pick a side, with repercussions for the game’s ending.

also this feels like kind of a minor writing quibble in comparison, but corypheus seems to go from "self-aware and very much in control mustache-twirling villain" to "gibbering megalomaniac" in the last mission, and it's pretty jarring

we got a moment with each companion before the climax in da:o and da2, and we don't get that in da:i for some reason. i guess it's in part bc the game doesn't actually end like in previous installments--you can finish up side quests after if you want--but it really contributes to the rushed feeling.

all the language in the post-battle scene about "just getting started" feels very strange knowing they shut it all down in the trespasser DLC just two years later. i still think that's a terrible ending--they should let a dragon age protagonist rest on their laurels a bit for once!

seriously, why the FUCK do i not get a mabari in this one?!

despite all the things i like about inquisition, it’s just not as good a game as da2! or even da1! i don’t know if the team was bigger and the franchise so popular by 2014 that it was harder for a single creative vision to cohere, what development was like and what executive mandates were handed down from above, or what constraints the frostbite engine imposed. i worry that with the departure of david gaider and the game’s financial success, those problems might only get worse with dreadwolf as commercial demands trade off against creative consistency. as it stands though i’m hoping dreadwolf is much more structurally linear--the three act structure in da2 was actually kind of a godsend from a narrative perspective, since each act had to have its own contained arc, and you had room for time to pass between them, and i would very much welcome something like that showing up again in dreadwolf.

#dragon age #da:i

[venacoeurva]

IRT the slavery jokes, and the tag about how bad it must have been years ago: I’ve been in the fandom for almost twenty years, and it honestly wasn’t too bad until Oblivion came out? The fandom shifted from quiet nerds to mainstream very quickly. Could be that I was insulated to some specific forums where the biggest drama was “stop asking us where the puzzle cube is” and one of the mods wanted to make dremoras and atronachs kiss, but I don’t remember much in the way of slavery jokes and offensive bullshit until Oblivion happened and attracted a bunch of randos, a lot of whom were edgy teens who started the whole thing. Worryingly, a lot of people also came in and played Morrowind out of curiosity, then walked away thinking the whole Dunmer xenophobia thing was “cool.”

HOMOPHOBIA, on the other hand, was a big deal even before Oblivion. Lots of people gnashing their teeth over Vivec being canonically bi and AlienSlof making mods that had assless chaps for men. It’s kind of funny that Voryn/Nerevar is the big ship nowadays because I can still remember all the dudes who felt personally threatened by mesh shirts for elves, and screaming “IM NOT GAY” while staring at the Nude Better Bodies option on GameSpy.

Yeah, I can see that happening (keep in mind I was like 6 when mw came out and I wasn't exactly Online), Oblivion promo was everywhere around when it came out and permeated everything for YEARS (at least around here, everyone had it, everyone was playing it, same with Skyrim, but I feel like Oblivion was a BIG big thing because the high fantasy sort of appeal, the lore wasn't prohibitive for new players, and it looked graphically ambitious for the time). I think the aughts were around when being a Gamer started being seen as a semi-cool/acceptable subculture, too, so I'm sure that emboldened a lot of those dickweeds because they felt like revolutionaries or something and circlejerked, including their shared bigotry (and then the skyrim nazi problem happened). Biiig gateways to get people into the older games.

But yeah, I remember constant homophobia and every other [minority]phobia was just a Fandom Problem in general regardless of series... at least the fragility of homophobic dudebros toward even the most basic shit like a male character being shirtless or had tight pants, or having long hair (or a female character having short hair, because they're afraid that's too gay for them) was funny and pathetic as hell when they weren't expressing a wish that people like me die or something. The fact that people still act like this makes me wonder how they survive.

I saw it in multiple places. I think it helps along with general social progress that social media is more than mostly just forums, old style blogs, webcomics, and dA so more lgbtq+ people can just be out there and not get flamed and harassed to the point of just leaving all available mainstream platforms for fans of something and sites are (usually) more proactive about preventing as much hate speech and the average person will shut down or ignore and simply report/block anyone trying to be bold with it.

Also yeah it's kind of funny it's so big suddenly? I think people just really like running with subtexts with fanbases in general these days instead of just sticking to staunch, outright and stated canon that's put directly in your face (which is kind of moot with dying on that latter hill for this series lmao) because people used to just fight you on that shit back in the day for any series, and going nuts and finally have the freedom to do so. New people coming in with their pre-established behavior and accepted norms from other fandoms helps as well I'm guessing. And judging by tags on my art, gay dudes just really like Voryn and see him as a projection character/he was a gay awakening for some of them? I think being on the gay trans website in an era that shipping is its own subculture within fandoms helps

#I don't doubt at least some people consume it as a gay fetishization thing but I have mostly just seen mlm or other lgbtq people into it #not without some questionable stuff though #asks #not art #homophobia mention #racism mention #Sorry if it feels like I'm explaining things too much I'm just telling u my observations #this is how my ass is hfjsk #long post

[mareenavee]

For the dragon asks, let's do ice!!

AH thank you so much for this :D I do have a couple solid ones for this prompt (: (:

Ice: share a snippet where a character is taking a risk.

I'm picking a snippet where two characters are taking a bit of a risk.

From Chapter 17 (upcoming) of The World on Our Shoulders

She sat with her back to the corner and read while she finished her drink. Her face felt a little bit warm from the beverage. It didn’t seem like much, but perhaps Sujamma was stronger than mead, after all. The peace was nice, but was interrupted faster than she’d hoped. The chitin-clad mercenary had invited himself into her space again. She sighed and put down the book.

“I’m sorry if this sounds a bit rude,” she started. She shifted a little in her chair. “But I’ve had quite a long trip from Skyrim. I’m content to sit here in peace without conversation, if you don’t mind.”

“So I can tell,” the mercenary drawled. He had pulled his scarf back up over the lower half of his face before he’d sauntered over. He propped his elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his hand. He stuck out his other hand in greeting. “Teldryn Sero, blade for hire. Best swordsman in all of Morrowind.” She eyed his hand for a moment and then relented with a sigh. She shook it. He tried to play the part of the charming gentleman, albeit one who forgot he was wearing a scarf, and pulled her hand up to kiss the back of it through the fabric. She resisted rolling her eyes.

“Nyenna Hemlock of Whiterun. Mage,” she said, opting to omit the Dragonborn business, knowing full well the revelation would cause even more chaos and disruption of her peaceful evening if everyone in the tavern found out. “Are you really the best swordsman in all of Morrowind?” She raised an eyebrow, unable to resist questioning the man’s improbable statement.

“Would you care to find out?” he said, somewhat suggestively. Nyenna leaned on her own hand and narrowed her eyes. Bold, really. But she’d seen this sort of nonsense before. It would be better to switch tactics.

“What is your fee?” she asked. A question for an answer. She’d learned the trick from Farengar, who almost always employed the strategy when he was mostly annoyed by stupid inquiries. Teldryn snorted from under his scarf, apparently amused by her answer.

“Five thousand Drakes,” he said casually. Nyenna’s eyes widened and she laughed sarcastically.

“An inflated sense of self, I see,” she said dismissively. He cackled at her comment. She grinned. “Is that why you’ve been unable to find another patron, despite the full tavern this fine evening?”

“Honestly? I’m worth the price. You’ll find I’m full of surprises,” he said, leaning in closer. “Tons of tricks up my sleeves.” He was doing that thing with his voice again, trying to be sultry or something. It wouldn’t work. It made him sound…rather desperate, didn’t it?

“I’m sure you are,” she said after a second. “But honestly? I’m going to be just fine. Thank you for your…ehm…offer.” He leaned back in his chair.

“Well, if we won’t be working together,” he started and paused, as if reconsidering what he was about to say. “Would you care to walk with me? I could use the company, and it’s difficult to hear myself in this place.” Nyenna had just said she was enjoying the peace she’d found before. It seemed to have slipped the mercenary’s mind.

“Why me?” she asked, confused. Teldryn Sero laughed quietly to himself.

“How often do you think any of us get to talk to interesting outlanders, sera?” he answered, using her question-as-an-answer tactic back against her. She paused and tapped her chin. There could be a downside to this. Likely, he’d be expecting more from her for the drinks he’d bought. He could be wily and untoward and she’d be getting herself in trouble going anywhere with him. But she could Shout him down and stab him before he even knew what hit him, mercenary or not. He’d not be expecting it. But the other side of that would be if anyone else heard about it, they’d know instantly who she was. This mercenary was persistent, and perhaps a bit overconfident. It was probably not the best idea, but she reasoned that if he wanted to talk, maybe she could get a little more information about the route to Tel Mithryn, or about this Neloth character for her trouble.

“I’m not that interesting,” Nyenna lied. She sighed. “But sure. I’ll walk with you.”

#AskMareena #MareenaWrites #The World on Our Shoulders #Nyenna #Teldryn Sero #idiot mercenary for hire #(: #LDB/Teldryn Sero #Skyrim #Elder Scrolls #skyrim fic #skyrim fanfic #skyrim fanfiction #fic #fanfiction #fanfic #fanficblr #writeblr

[atlas-liv-crain]

05 - May - 2023

I’m not really doing a whole lot today, but I don’t ever really do a whole lot anyway. I just feel like archiving my dull life because I can. There is also the nice likeliness that not many people would even find this blog… so that’s nice.

Just a day of ripping up paper, watching movies, and doing some cleaning… nothing exciting and that’s okay.

Anyway, when your friend mails you a badly printed book for the intention of ripping it up and using it (eventually) to make new paper and learn how to bind little books — you sit around and rip it up into tiny little pieces.

There’s something satisfying to me about doing this. It’s calming, I guess. When I was stressed out with university (before I dropped out), I would rip up my scrap papers into tiny pieces while crying and snotting everywhere.

I was ripping these up while watching Mean Girls and then some Angelika Oles videos.

But needless to say, I’m gonna be here a while…

1:25PM lunch of something that belongs in r/shittyfoodporn — an extra cheesy (Colby Jack) cheese sandwich on lightly expired butter bread.

Anyway, it’s TONY TIME!!

Something I’ve been doing a lot is watching movies for the intention of taking notes on tropes and character development, but also mood, ambiance, and writing down any little ideas they give me for things I want to try with my own stories or with roleplay stuff. I do this at this cinema too (although on paper and pen and not a tablet for my fellow moviegoers) so why not at home too?

It helps me feel slightly less guilty for just having me days and like watching movies or TV. I know it’s stupid to feel like that, but I can’t help it. I already feel like I don’t do anything because disabled and can’t find any volunteer work that I can actually do, but yeah.

Anyway, watched this movie because I can.

Yesterday, I was trying to make flour tortilla chips, but it’s been so long since I made them, that I forgot how to… so I’m trying again in the toaster oven because something about all that oil also made me uncomfortable. So here’s hoping these turn out all right.

Update: 5 minutes later, they’re almost done and they taste pretty good. Less greasy than from the stove. I have 2 chips not cooked yet because the toaster oven tray is kind of small though so…

There were 8… but I ate (haha) some before I took the picture.

I miss them :(

{ I wish there were pirate games that weren’t pirates rewritten or sea of thieves…. or that one assassins creed game. I just want a Skyrim or No Man’s Sky like RPG game that was ✨ pirates ✨ … is that so much to ask for? }

Hehe also played good pizza great pizza too today.

For some reason, I’m drinking lavender water… it’s okay. I liked it so much, I took a couple of sips and then dumped it out for regular plain water.

Speaking of water…

I’m watching this hehe. Again.

And I found out I’m losing my health insurance and my income so . . . day started off good and now it’s fucking garbage. It’s great because no place near me is hiring (that I qualify for) haha.

Things I gotta do:

Driving lessons - time to start again.

Writing as Harold Porter again.

Make a layout for Harold Porter.

Sketch out the Ventus layout I wanna make and make it.

New Valentina layout.

Start… writing!!!!

Also become active on RASPBERRY PIE. (iykyk)

Get a job.

Anyway, good night…

#liv’s dull life  #ldl2023

[salsalvador]

I love no mans sky’s story and a lot of that love origionates from spite, let me explain

No mans sky’s story is very similar in terms of objective to another game, that being Starbound, by objective I don’t mean they share the same story beats or themes or anything like that, instead I mean that they both attempt to fit a somewhat linear story into a procedurally generated, “infinate”, sandbox game, a style of game that is inherently nonlinear, and both of them go about it in different ways, and obviously I think one of them does a much, much better job then the other

But first, let’s take a quick look into the storylines of both games, at least what I remember from them, because I have to get up early-ish for work tomorrow and I can’t be assed to research starbounds shitty ass story, if it means that one of starbounds two fans roast the hell out of me for it then so be it, anyways…

(Spoilers for both games ahead, duh)

Let’s start with the shitty one, starbounds story is oftentimes considered to be when the games popularity began to take a turn for the worse, as this story literally came out of nowhere and basically gave the player a god or savior or chosen one complex, they and only they could defeat the giant hentai meatball that killed earth, even though said hentai meatball is apparently locked in some alternate dimension or whatever the fuck, and how exactly this fucker killed earth is never really explained, the story attempts to incentivize exploration by forcing the player to go to different structures of the different races and scan some shit to unlock the boss challanges, witch was just a really bad way to incentivize exploration, as it’s less like a gentle or even moderate nudge in a certain direction (like how subnauticas radio incentivizes the player to get further and further from their safety pod, and thus into more areas with more content) and as such it’s probably the biggest gripe a lot of people had with the story iirc, then you have the bosses and the characters associated with them, most of witch are fine, nuru fucks tho, but If you know Starbound you probably already knew that, the thing is, tho, in the early early betas, the bosses were something you summoned on your own planets and thus on your own terms, and as such you kinda had these really cool potential encounters where you can build terraria ass style platforms in order to combat the bosses, and comparing that to the less manipulatible and more story centered boss arenas is kinda dissapointing, I know it probably won’t work with all of them, the ape one and the dope ass bone spider are such examples, but even excluding them why does the UFO have to be locked behind an arena? Why the penguin mech? Why the bone dragon? Why the funni cult leader? I’m obviously not saying that bosses with their own dedicated arenas are bad, I’m saying that transferring between one and the other is a whiplash that isn’t likely to be good for your audiance, you are basically shifting genres, but that’s not even my biggest Issue with the story, the biggest issue is how the savior complex the story forces on the player hampers the roleplay aspect of it, likely the main thing a lot of people are playing the game for, an exact same critique I have with fallout 4, both games story tries to force your character to be a certain archetype, witch means you can no longer be whatever the hell you want, a concept that similar games like Minecraft or terraria, or even other story based games like new Vegas or skyrim, take massive advantage of, as the ability to play as different archetypes inherently helps with replayability and immersion

Now for the good game, no mans sky, hopefully this is a lot shorter then my tired ass 12am Starbound hate rant, the two stories are very different outside of the objective I outlined at the start, so it’s kinda hard to compare the two directly, but while it’s fresh on everyone’s minds, how does no mans sky handle player choice regarding backstory and roleplaying within their story based game? It basically makes it so there’s not much inherent information about the player themself, the player character is a traveler, something that’s slightly more special then the common geks or korvax’s to some extent, but are still largely indistinguishable, the story seems to take pains to reiterate that the traveler is one among millions or billions, countless others have come before and after them, somewhat making the player largely unspecial, a minor footnote as the main character, and I think that’s great, the only really required thing for backstories is that the player character crashed on a planet and lost their memory, and that they are a traveler, that’s kinda it, compare that to how fallout four forces do much into the player characters backstory, they were married, they have a child, they were a pre-war veteran, they got frozen and skipped two centuries, their spouse died during the freezing process because of some asshole, there’s a lot here that’s forced into the players backstory witch hamstrings what you can use with the playable character as a roleplaying tool

There’s also another thing I really commemorate no mans sky’s setting for, and that is it’s greater setting, it’s set in a simulation, a failing one at that, witch allows there to be a crushing twist that dosent directly force your character to act a certain way, and also fits for all potential player orientations, if your character is on the greedier side, them helping the atlas could very easily be seen as an act of self preservation, If they are on the more noble side, then it’s a more cut and dry “for the greater good”. It also helps a singular, nonlinear story work in a setting that potentially allows for multiplayer, the main multiplayer hub is the Anomaly, something that’s set up outside of the direct control of the atlas, and two players interacting is kinda like two universes coming together temporarily, witch allows both of their stories to be equally canon without hamstringing the story in the process to accommodate for multiple potential people

What if you wanted to ignore no mans sky’s story tho? Well good news! You can! After the atlas there are basically nothing major the game locks behind the story, iirc you have the potential to get glyphs without going through the story, by finding special npcs and talking to them, and there’s like a largely insignificant tech or two that is used as a reward or trophy for ending the story, and it dosent hamstring content either, you can still get most of the tech and whatever else you want at a similar-ish rate, there are even other substories that arnt attached to the main one, like the living ship or the Laylaps/Minotaur upgrade story, or the colony one where you find people to work for you, or the one where you become mayor of a settlement

Is the story of no mans sky perfect? Nah, I’d like there to be more areas that take advantage of roleplaying, for instance, to really take advantage of no mans sky’s unique oppertunity in player freedom in tandem with its story, like just smaller villages that mostly act as areas to “vibe” or maybe small cities in space, the space stations we have now mostly feel like glorified gas stations or supermarkets, and in general just kinda roleplay as a drifter or vagabond without the need of a freighter, or have more of a roleplay planned route with populated areas to hit and sell too

Anyways, enough of unhinged 12:30 neurodivergant rant, goodnight Tri-state area

#my video game moments #my rants #no mans sky #NMS #starbound #tw: spoilers

[tiny-cloud-of-flowers]

i feel like you have an old oc or s/i that you never talk about anymore but still think about pretty often just for fun :]

(@sleuthinginstinct)

Hello, anon who is totally not Icarus =P

(source: this post by fkclou)

anonymously make an assumption about me and i’ll confirm/deny it - Some of the self-inserts on my carrd could almost definitely count for this one, hahaha (and because of that, I’m confirming this as true!)

I’ve talked myself into a tangle about this before, but I think my arguably oldest self-insert is Amber, one of my Skyrim self-inserts. I originally created her as part of a Minecraft RP, of all things - she was half-human, but also carried the blood of the Ender Dragon (giving her certain powers as a result), and the story was that she was seeking out other “half-Enders” like herself to stop the dragon invading the overworld, while the dragon was doing the same to try and get those same half-Enders on her side instead. I then started playing as her in Skyrim, because I realised that her concept of “sword-wielding girl with dragon blood fighting on the side of humans to stop the evil dragons” fit that game extremely perfectly. While I don’t really talk about her, especially not here since she isn’t connected to any of my F/Os, I do still think about her whenever I’m playing Skyrim, especially if it’s on her save file ^-^

(Incidentally, my other two self-inserts for Skyrim - Camille and Carmine - are also ones I think of as being pretty old. In Camille’s case, it’s because she again began as my character in an RP on a Minecraft server, though it was after the one I made Amber for - in it, she was a dream mage who gave the others support as they explored a mystical forest trying to save it from being tainted, only for it to have been revealed that she herself had been tainted all along. This origin is why she gets raised as an acolyte of Vaermina in Skyrim, since Vaermina is the Daedric prince of dreams. In Carmine’s case, she was established for Skyrim from the start, because I’ve played Skyrim since I was eleven years old and I liked playing as a Khajiit a lot because they’re cats - however, I didn’t really give her any particular lore of her own until after I started actively selfshipping and I decided she could be Inigo’s sister. Prior to that, she was just “how I played the game when I wanted to play as a thief”, not “my self-insert who I played as in the game” - which is why I don’t tend to think of her as the oldest self-insert. This logic is also true of Emily, my Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons self-insert - I’d played HMDS Cute since I was little, but I only actually gave her any kind of name or story as an outright self-insert after I started actively selfshipping in 2020, so I don’t think of her as being an old self-insert in the right way!)

My oldest OCs (that I can remember/still think about, at least) are my Splatoon ones, but I came up with those when I was in year 10, so they definitely came later than the fledgling self-inserts. However, a discussion about old self-inserts would be arguably incomplete without mentioning my main Kingdom Hearts self-insert, Aria - she was, I would say, the first instance of me actively giving lore and story to who I was playing as, from near the beginning of playing her game (so she was an outright actively-developed self-insert, and wasn’t just “how I played the game”). She’s also the first self-insert I used to actively express my love for a character (specifically Aqua), and establish story for a selfship with that character, in a way that wasn’t just “I like this character so I’m going to focus on them a lot while I play the game”. (This is why Aqua and Anti-Aqua are my only romantic F/Os where the start date of my selfship is before I made my first selfship blog in 2020). But I created Aria when I started playing KHUX in mid-2017, and the others already-mentioned existed prior to that, so she doesn’t quite count - and also, I talk about her a LOT, so she doesn’t count for your assumption for that reason either =P

..I don’t seem to be getting any less long-winded, do I? Apologies for writing so much; I wish it was this easy to write so much for all my lab reports and essays. Still, thank you for sending this assumption, and if you did take the time to read my very rambly answer, then a) thank you and b) I hope you enjoyed what you read!

#heart of the void #selfshipping #self-inserts #how is it two o’clock in the morning.. #and how do I go about tagging this.. #I haven’t used amber’s tag yet and I’m on my phone so I cannot type it in #self‑insert: illusory dreamweaver (camille) #same also with carmine’s #self‑insert: sprite‑seeking sweetheart (emily) #self‑insert: darkness' champion (aria) #of endless adventure (skyrim) #of lux and daybreak (union x) #out of the inbox #selfship asks #icarus tag! #I think I miiiight have to leave the last one for tomorrow morning if that’s alright

[horatio-fig]

The Mandalorian Season 3, Episode 1 - The Apostate.  

I never do these ‘My thoughts on’ posts coz I figured no one cares, but Don't knock it til you try it, I guess. Here are some thoughts I had watching it -  

An Alligator ruined that kids little party so I will be calling the covenants new planet ‘Space Florida’ until told otherwise.  

Did Din see they were in trouble and rush in to save them, or did he sit back and watch for a while as he tried to remember if this was part of the ceremony.  

When The Armorer first said the whole ‘bathe in the living waters’ thing and Din was like ‘but there’s no water?’ I thought it was Mandalorian Idiom like ‘when pigs fly’  

I low key hope there are no waters and Din has to realise the only think that makes him Mandalorian are the friends he made along the way or something like that.  

I love the Purrgil (I could do without everyone who recognises them from Rebels acting like they’re the only person who’s seen Rebels however) I just love Star Wars, so anything remotely related to the world of Star Wars and I'll lose my shit. If I see a Loth-cat, I hear the word caf, if they reuse a planet, I love it.  

They gentrified the pirate cove. The bastards.  

Of all the side quests Din has been offered ‘become a Thane of Nevarro, you can even purchase a house’ is my favourite.  

The episode paused to give us a truly batshit ‘let me drink in the school’ Monty Python sketch and I request they do this once an episode.  

I saw a lot of articles demanding to know what happened to Cara Dune but honestly, they all had the same energy as my Grandma asking ‘are you still friends with Susan from your year 9 English class?’ Like, we worked on a group project years ago and last I saw she was posting shitty all lives matter takes on Facebook.  

Considering the First Order is kind of supposed to be a look at this right wing resurgence. (The enemies where once nazis and now they're angsty little white boys who wanna be nazis) it could have been interesting to have Greef be like ‘hey you still friends with Cara?’ and Din go ‘she started saying stuff like ‘I don't always agree with the First Order but every now and then they say what we’re all thinking’ and now we don’t talk anymore”. But, I understand the importance of separating a character from an actor so it’s probably better they don't do that.  

I’m glad they didn’t bring back IG-11. I kind of don’t want them to cheapen his heart wrenching death scene, but this is Star Wars, when has death ever meant anything? Can't wait to have him back.  

90% sure Grogu was trying to eat the Anzellans  

If this season doesn't win an Emmy it’s because they cut out a scene where Din crawled on his hands and knees to get into that droidsmiths.  

I hope Din teaching Grogu how to fly becomes a Chekov's driving lesson and Grogu has to fly the ship to save the day. 

That dogfight with the pirates was pure Saturday morning cartoon and camp and it’s why I love Star Wars. 

I have never been sure if Mandalore was a planet or a planetary system so this episode did kinda clear some of that up. (And it’s always fun to see more Mandalorian places) 

Bo-Katan's hair is giving me Halloween Store Ginger Spice Wig realness and I’m sort of into it. I also love how all the other Star Wars ladies are infamous for constantly changing hairstyles and she just went ‘nah, this is the one’ 

Bo-Katan sitting/slouching/laying on her chair is me every day, sprawled on out the sofa trying to figure out why have back problems. Finally, the representation we need.  

Overall, solid first episode. It kind of felt like when you start up Skyrim again after not playing for a while and just spend the first hour or so just remembering where you got up to.  

I enjoyed the different in tone to this episode. The first episode of Season 1 showed a lone ranger type, mowing down enemies and having no time for people like Greef. In this episode he is much less bloodthirsty and we see him catching up with multiple friends throughout the episode. I understand the need to up the drama and stakes with every season, but it's also nice to see your character get to enjoy the benefits of their success and character development.  

I know some people are mad that the show had no planned ending and will keep going for as long as they want. People have been saying this will make the show ‘aimless’ but the Mandalorian has kind of always been an aimless wander through the galaxy, picking up friends and questing and I think this episode show cased that.  

Finally, I saw a review saying that the Mandalorian premiere fails to match the high bar set by Andor and it pales by comparison. That's like saying winter isn't as warm as summer. They’re different things, that do different jobs in the franchise. (Also, I remember when Andor premiered and there were plenty of revies saying it was no The Mandalorian) 

It’s too cakes! Two amazingly good cakes! Andor has a prison break episode and it's a gut punch of a saga that makes you feel the need to go for walk and appreciate your freedom after you watch it. The Mandalorian had a prison break episode and it was a fun romp of double crossing and cartoon violence. And we get to have both, and it’s great and I just love Star Wars in all shapes and sizes.  

I have more to say but I'm gonna leave it there, I might do one of these for the next episode, but we’ll see. All in all, it was a good solid The Mandalorian episode and I am a fan.  

#I have thoughts regarding gatekeeping and that but I got save something for the thesis 😚 #Might do this again might not might call it horatio finks #the mandalorion spoilers #the mandalorian s3