#harry potter desktop

[dinxieyinxie]

yall have no idea how in love i am with this piece it makes me so soft and warm inside QwQ i didn't have internet for like a few days and made this to keep me sane it was so fun i think im gonna make more like this >:)))

pic source: @discophotomode on twt !!

#severus snape #young snape #yonal linx #harry potter #dinxdraws #my new desktop wallpaper TEEHEE #peace and quiet #<33333 #just a buncha kids still up past curfew #fake screenshot

[bobateahunnie]

Gryffindor desktop wallpapers!~

Please do not repost!~ Like/Reblog!~ :]

- Bobateahunnie <3

#bobateahunnie #desktop wallpaper #desktop wallpapers #harry potter wallpaper #gryffindor #gryffindor desktop wallpapers

[spiritualbaby777]

Remember 10 years ago when Tumblr had a tool to add an audio to your page so when people clicked on your blog, they also got to hear your vibe, not just see it

That was an era

#elite times #and Tumblr was catered more to computers/laptops #now it’s catered to phones and sometimes I miss scrolling on my desktop and eating and watching Harry Potter in the tv

[pauein]

Good fuvking god this is horrid. Yes the message stays the whole and time and makes mobile scrolling near impossible. And this is with my tall ass screen i DREAD to think how it wouldve been on my older phone.

Anyway My filters -> www.tumblr.com##.JAYfv if you use Ublock origin.

Also side note you can use extension collections for desktop on mobile with firefox nightly which means you can use Xkit Rewritten to remove the stupid carousel thing and ALSO add tags + comments with quick reblog. And like a million other things

#Tumblr #In case anyone asks why im using adblock on tumblr at all after the whole Tumblr needs our support to stay up yadda yadda #Its because i respect tumblr less and less every day. Honestly im surprised i dont block ads on here on desktop #Ive said it before ill say it again Tumblr is a platform and corporation not your buddy #It is getting WAAAY too cozy trying to be Hip with its audience while not really fixing much and making worse decisions #Lest we forget the harry potter incident. #Also did you know you cant scroll tags without being logged in anymore? YOU COULD do that for a while #Its gone now lol.

[bratprivilege]

.

#Really need to update my blog theme and get that old Harry Potter picture off their #The struggle of desktop Tumblr being an accessibility nightmare and needing someone to edit it for you #But it does not spark joy anymore and I don’t want people to get the wrong idea when they see it…

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

No matter what happens, I get to live my life knowing that I’ll never be as much of a loser as the guy at my work who’s desktop background is commissioned artwork of him, his wife, and his child wearing harry potter robes

[disquiet-doll]

read Chilli and the Chocolate Factory: Fudge Revelation

(ff.net isn't working for me right now unless I swap between mobile and desktop, so if it's not working for you either uh. Sowwy.)

It was really, really good

(If you like somewhat silly metafiction that takes gags to their full conclusion even in serious- what am i saying.

It's good if you like Homestuck. OK? That's what it is.)

There's a lot that could be said about it, but the most interesting thing to me right this second is really how it calls itself "Rational, but not strictly".

Because a thing about me - which I believe I've mentioned before - is that I did used to read rational or rational-adjacent fanfic, on occasion. And I have enough knowledge there to say this... Isn't. Not really.

Because the thing about rational fic is the motivation tends to be, like, "this world doesn't make sense, these characters are doing stupid things, blah blah", all while inserting the rationalist vaguely progressive in theory but very often reactionary in practice (namely by ignoring their - usually white, cishet, etc. - background while assuming their viewpoint Most Knowledgable one, but I digress) worldview

And this does like, the inverse of that? Because it looks at all the whimsy and silliness of Roald Dahl's work and just accepts that, for the most part. No problem there!

But what it does take umbrage with - the reason it drips with animosity toward it's source material even as it demonstrates deep familiarity with it - is the worldview of both Dahl himself and his work, most importantly Charlie and the Chocolate Factory itself.

Basically, the equivalent of this fic for Harry Potter would not be Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, or anything else couched in how the world of this children's series is "too dumb".

It would be a story that looks at all the whimsical nonsense of Rowling's only notable work and says "that's fine" while understanding very deeply - and criticizing very openly -that the real problem, the truly odious thing, is the thatcherite neoliberalism the entire world is built on.

It's great!

Also, it's really fucking funny. There was more than one point where I realized some gag from the very start had been building up to a punchline that made me leave my seat and pace around thinking of how good the setup was.

And also also, the metafiction element really was quite fun. I need more time to stew on that - I read the chapters that made the criticism click last night and have been thinking on them since, unlike the hard metafiction chapters I only just finished - but I can't imagine I'll do anything but enjoy it more as I think about it.

Really the important thing is that it ends how I wanted Homestuck to end while it was running - and how I wanted the epilogues to go as well! - which means I can put this Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fanfiction in the "Homestuck but good" pile. You have no idea how much this delights me.

So yeah, recommended if you have the time. It's not too long.

Mahuika vapes.

#musing #i don't know what else to tag this so I won't

[platonic-pals-punchout]

WELCOME TO PLANTONIC PALS PUNCHOUT!

If Saturday cartoons taught us anything it’s that The Power Of Friendship is the ultimate weapon that can defeat any obstacle! But can it defeat...other friendships!? 

This tournament will pit Dynamic Duo vs Dynamic Duo to see who has the Ultimate Friendship. They will do this by punching other pairs in the face winning polls! The competition will be single-bracket-style (because that’s the only kind I know how to do lol)

[SUBMIT HERE!] but read the rules first :3 We have 100 fandoms represented by over 130 submissions! Thanks so much to everyone!! Preliminary polls are being organized NOW to limit the number of pairs to 1 per fandom. 

Rules: 

👉Characters must be (or once were) canonically friends, which means they’ve had on-screen/in-text buddy time together, or have mentioned their friendship explicitly. Characters who start as friends but lose their friendship are allowed! 👉No real people, real people playing themselves (DSMP, etc), or country-fictions (Hetalia, etc). I may accept pets or OCs IF they get multiple submissions from different people and there’s room left in the bracket (I feel bad when they lose :(  )  👉No Harry Potter or Attack on Titan. 👉Pairs only. As fun as groups are, I worry that having more characters on their team may sway the votes. Characters with DID or who otherwise have alternate identities count as a single character. 👉Canonically romantic pairs must have significant on-screen/in-text platonic time, and/or emphasis placed on buddy-hood over romance throughout the story.* (a good example is Phoenix Wright & Miles Edgeworth) This is semi-subjective & somewhat controversial, so I’ll be prioritizing purely platonic friendships. Friends With Benefits™️ are totally fine as long as they are actually friends.  👉Familial pairs are fine as long as their buddy-hood is emphasized throughout the story. (a good example is Goofy & Max) 

*Sometimes characters only get together late into the story, or use the Power of Friendship even after getting together, or their relationship is on the vague side, so these duos may be included ^^ Essentially, even if they get together romantically, you’re still submitting them as friends, and confirming that their relationship is portrayed as comfortably platonic more than romantic/pining. 

As for me, my name is Murphy (he/him or she/her), I’m arospec, Autistic, and I’ve never run a tournament before. I can’t make polls on desktop for unknown reasons & barely know how to use mobile, so this blog might be a bit...scuffed, at first ^^; please be patient with me.

Shameless self-plug: if you like my me, please check out my [YouTube channel] where I do art & science education, or my [Warriors/art tumblr]. Thank you!!

#tournament #tumblr tournament #character tournament #bracket #friendship tournament #platonic tournament #pair tournament #duo tournament #team tournament #aromantic

[ellecdc]

Hi amazing writer! I just finished come back, be here and it was AMAZING!!

I just wanted to ask about the orbs -which is such a creative idea and so well thought out. I mean I’m kind of convinced you were a ghost writer for Harry Potter. But besides the incredible idea, I was wondering which colors represented who?

We know Sirius is silver, Lily is orange, and James is red -but what about the rest? I tried thinking guessing of who is who by the borders but it still stumped me.

Amazing and mind breaking writing sweetheart, you’re genuinely a literary gem and genius.

CW: CBBH spoilers below if you haven't already finished

Hi hi hi hi FIRST OF ALL I love you, thank you so much for writing me 🫶 I'm so glad you enjoyed that piece! Definitely a favourite of mine and tbh, I have like 3-4 different versions of CBBH saved onto my desktop because I was so entrenched in that plot -> different pairings, different themes (some way darker etc) so I'm so glad everyone is enjoying it as much as I do!

As for our orbs, let's pull it up, shall we??? ..... *drum roll* .....

okay so like you've already pointed out, the red is James (Gryffindor), the orange is Lily (her hair), the yellow is Remus (the moon), and Sirius is silver (his eyes). The only other orbs I discussed in CBBH were the black and the green. I never explained who they were, but for me the black orb was Regulus (last name Black) and the green was Narcissa (Slytherin).

I made the core characters (Moony, Pads, Prongs, Lily) larger because of the amount of memories that Vix needed to store (these were some of her longest friends) and then the amount of work Cissa and Reg put in with her made their orbs fairly large too.

I imagined the little mauve orb (between Sirius and Remus) to be baby Harry (she'd not known him for long), and the little baby blue orb to be Draco.

The other colours were added to represent various members of the Order that she would have protected when subjected to torture/legilimency etc. (& just think, one of the orbs would have been her memories of Wormtail as her friend 🤢) I imagine there were more orbs along different strings/paths, but these were the ones I emphasized in our borders.

Fun fact! The very first hint I gave that suggested Reg was the spy (other than the form of a cat running in the forest) was when Vix asked Sirius if his hair was shorter when they knew each other in chapter one! 🥰

Thanks for being here with me, you're the best!! 🫶

#ask elle #marauders come back be here #marauders era #marauders fanfiction #sirius black x reader #sirius black x you #elle chats

[agerefandom]

Fanfiction Masterpost

In the current absence of AO3, may I remind everyone that my fanfictions are accessible on tumblr? ;p

If you'd like a full list of my writing, including both headcanons and fanfictions, my story page is accessible on desktop but I think some mobile users may have trouble accessing it! So here's a mobile-friendly version of my fanfictions.

Animaniacs  Yakko To The Rescue: big brother!Yakko with regressor!reader 

Avatar:The Last Airbender Flourishing in Sunlight: cg!Zuko and regressor!Katara, post-canon

Be More Chill Safety In Numbers: regressor!Rich, worried Jeremy

Boku No Hero Academia Sound and Silence: domestic regressor!Aizawa and cg!HizashiSomething Wrong: regressor!Katsuki gets cornered by Izuku and doesn’t react well (heavy fic)  Class Outing: Izuku regresses while at the mall with Class 1A

Calvin and Hobbes Old Friends: regressor!Calvin with Hobbes

Critical Role (C2) Books and Pigments: regressor!Jester and regressor!Caleb playdate Picking Up The Pieces: struggling regressor!Caleb and helpful Caduceus  Through Anything: regressor!Beau and Jester, doing Yasha’s hair

Death Note Restrained: Classification!AU with regressor!Light struggling in confinement 

Doctor Who The TARDIS Playroom: regressor!Thirteenth Doctor and an unexpected Graham

Good Omens  Evenings Of Eternity: regressor!Crowley, cg!Aziraphale (chapter two)  Mornings and Knights: sequel to the above story 

Harry Potter What Family Is: regressor!reader and their cgs, Remus and Sirius Golden Slumbers: regressor!reader, big brother!Harry Potter, and cg!Fred Weasley (cglre terminology) 

Hazbin Hotel Angels At The Window: regressor!Reader and caregivers!Vaggie and Charlie

Hetalia Bedtime Tears: Human AU, regressor!Italy with cg!Japan&Germany 

Homestuck Cupcakes and Moms: regressor!Dave and his mom Roxy  >Dirk: Regress: self-indulgent Dirk regression Big Brother, Little Brother: regressor!Dave and regressor!Dirk, regressing together for the first time, cg!Roxy and John.  Simple Days: minific with regressor!June and cg!Rose

The Magnus Archives Song of the Hive: regressor!Jane Prentiss horror story 

Marvel Quiet Days: cg!Natasha and regressor!reader drabble Kitchen Friends: regressor!reader (he/him) and cg!Bucky/Steve

Les Miserables Calling You Home: regressor!Enjolras and caregiver!Grantaire

Minecraft  It Takes A Village: regressor!reader in a minecraft world, ft. cg!villagers and curious enderman 

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812  Natasha is Young: regressor!Natasha and cg!Helene

Night In The Woods Shapes and Friends: regressor!Mae with Gregg and Angus

Ouran High School Host Club  To Weather The Storm: Tamaki finds out that Haruhi regresses (cglre terminology)  Taking Care of Mori: regressor!Mori and cg!Hunny, ft. observant!Haruhi Fancy Tuna and Frantic Texts: regressor!Haruhi, cgs Tamaki and Kyoya (cglre terminology) 

Pinky and the Brain The Joy of Theatre: Pinky puts on a play, Brain indulges him All The Great Men: Brain is having a hard day: Pinky does his best to help Yakko To The Rescue: regressor!reader and their big brother Yakko 

Phantom of the Opera Forever More: regressor!Erik and cg!Christine, established dynamic

Resident Evil VIII Only Heaven I’ll Be Sent To: regressor!reader (she/her) and cg!Dimitrescu (cglre terminology)

Sanders Sides Just Plane Overwhelmed: regressor!Virgil and cg!Patton on a stressful plane ride The Playtime Solution: regressor!Logan needs a break, cg!Patton To The Moon And Back: regressor!Logan, cg!Roman

Steven Universe Safe and Sound: regressor!Steven tries to stop regressing, cg!Crystal Gems (also rewritten here with transfem Steven going by Stephanie)  system/REGRESS.Steven: a rewrite of the Spinel fight, the rejeuvenator works on Steven and Amethyst is the one who has to collect all her regressed friends

Twilight Cold Palms, Warm Words: regressor!reader with cg!Alice and Jasper Sugar Sweet: baby-regressor!reader with established cg!Alice and Jasper  The Doctor’s Office: regressor!reader with cg!Carlisle  Home Sweet Home: Carlisle and Esme as parents, the other Cullens as regressors with varied age ranges Baby Steps: regressor!Bella with caregiver!Charlie (cw depression) 

Undertale A Story For Sans: regressor!Sans is exhausted, and Papyrus is worried Sweet Pea and Papyrus: cg!Papyrus and a regressor!reader who’s had a bad day 

#masterpost #agere fanfiction #long post #my writing #fandom agere #misc fandoms #links

[sor--en]

Lemme make a new icon : file dead on desktop

Mandatory booba : neuron activated

Yes they are Tom Riddle's bully,an they are basically sona but Harry Potter themed because the first art I did in this dang fandom was a drawing of me n my friends so I'm going down with that

#hp oc #harry potter oc #not really but still #brb going to hell

[controversial-blorbo-bracket]

tbh i think anyone that bothered by her name probably has Harry Potter as large blacklisted already. i know i do. ahh i guess it's too late to retag since polls can't be edited but another option might've been to directly tag her poll with something like "cw racism" or something. but yeah I'd completely get wanting to remove her for that. especially since i wouldn't be surprised if actual hp fans were voting hate for sinophobic reasons instead of voting hate because of the sinophobic portrayal (i.e. feeling her character deserved better or wishing she were cut entirely or something). (i feel like a lot of the controversy ive heard about her character was...not great but that was back in 2015 or something)

either way i don't blame you for including her! and she certainly is controversial!

First, a helpful fact for anyone who makes polls because I know it’s not common knowledge but it’s super useful: you actually CAN add and remove tags from poll posts by using the mass post editor on desktop! It’s a bit of an inconvenient workaround but it’s very helpful. So I could do that

Second, the only problem with the above is that I don’t want to have any polls up that require that, it’s the same reason I disqualified a character for wearing nazi garb or being a school shooter: the triggering aspect would be in the post. Like if a character says bigoted stuff or their media has bad views I’m not gone write “the author said x and y slurs” in their post, but the words “cho chang” are right there

Third, yeah your point about voting hate for sinophobic reasons is also a big point. I’d assumed based on what I remember from the harry potter fandom when I was like 14 and the submitter’s propaganda that fans hated her because she “cries too much” or she rejected Harry or whatever, and non-fans hate her bc of her racist name, but I didn’t even consider the other factors that could be causing her to get a lot of hate votes

So yeah thanks anon, you’ve helped me reason through it and come to the conclusion that she really shouldn’t be here. I’m gonna continue to allow any other Harry potter characters and other problematic medias, but one with racism in the post does not belong

#that poll will be deleted #not a poll #ask #anonymous #tw racism #should I tag all these as discourse? #I guess I will #discourse #harry potter

[bobateahunnie]

Hufflepuff desktop wallpapers!~

Please do not repost!~ Like/Reblog!~ :]

Bobateahunnie <3

#bobateahunnie #desktop wallpaper #desktop wallpapers #wallpapers #wallpaper #harry potter wallpaper #harry potter desktop wallpaper #hufflepuff #hufflepuff desktop wallpapers

[romanceclub-lovers]

🌹Amy. G Author of the short story "The Desert Rose".

Calls herself a “Sims2 maniac.” In fact, she loves this game very much because it reminds her of the past.

She has been writing since childhood.

Now she writes lyrics and poems

Below is a poem Amy wrote before "The Desert Rose" (text taken from the author's page

Amy wrote the lyrics to the song that accompanied the CG animation in the Season 1 finale "The Desert Rose".

Amy worked in the media as an editor and journalist.

Amy has brothers and sisters.

Amy plays the piano.

She used to dance.

She loves to read.

Amy loves to travel . She has already visited France, Italy, Turkey, Germany, the Czech Republic, and the UK. Dreams of visiting the desert.

Amy is a music lover .

Amy has a cat.

Amy has many favorite books . For example, "The Plague", "The Thorn Birds", "Pride and Prejudice", "A Farewell to Arms", "Wolf Hall".

Amy likes all the stories in the Romance Club, but her favorites are Moonborn, Legend of the Willow, Dracula: A Love Story, Shadows of Saintfour, Sails in the Fog.

Amy herself has an umbrella like Mustafa.

Amy has a friendly relationship with authors Anastasia, Aleksandra...

In her youth, Amy really liked the couple Chuck and Blair (TV series “Gossip Girl”)

Amy is a fan of the Harry Potter universe.

Amy is married.

She loves makeup and everything connected with it

As a bonus photo of Amy's desktop.

Amy. G TG 👇

#romance club #romance club game #rc writers #rc the desert rose #rc tdr

[bmaxwell]

Game of the Year 2023: The Top 10

2023 was a great year for the videogames industry. A lot of great videogames were released in 2023. It was a fucking lousy year for the industry if you had a career there. It has been deeply disappointing to see record sales and critical acclaim alongside frequent layoff announcements. It feels like the pursuit of endless profit, whatever the cost. It's not sustainable and, as someone who has loved this hobby for my entire life, seeing the people who create games treated as disposable is disgusting. So, as much as this post and this blog are about YAY GAMES, there's also an undercurrent of filth that we have to keep in mind.

Apart from that, 2023 had its usual ups and downs for me. I played non-mobile games on my phone more than ever, thanks to two things: I got a Razr Kishi adapter to clamp onto my phone, turning it into a tiny Switch. Oh, and I got a pretty decent new phone. And Honkai Star Rail hooked me. That's three things.

Speaking of HSR, the ability to access cloud saves from my phone and my desktop PC was a godsend. This is true for Game Pass as well. Frequently I'd pull out my phone in the breakroom at work and pickup whichever game I'd been playing on Xbox, and it worked surprisingly well. I played a lot of Dead Cells this way, and finished Fuga 2 and Dordogne there.

If you'd told me at the start of the year that my best experiences of the year would include Baldur's Gate, a Harry Potter title, and an ALAN WAKE game, I'd have been pretty skeptical. But here we are. Also, if you're a theater kid I feel like this year had a couple of really special moments for you.

2023 also marked a return - at least somewhat - to the hobby of boardgaming. I was neck deep in the hobby from 2008 - 2015. I recently picked up Wingspan and it became a Sunday afternoon staple for myself, my wife, and our youngest child. I've missed the tactile non-digital experience of boardgames. It's nice to be back.

10. Honkai Star Rail

Well. You win universe. A gross free to play mobile game chock full of microtransactions and gacha mechanics is one of my favorite games of the year. The Genshin Impact people made a turn based RPG, see. And it's stylish as hell, and music is great, and when you get a new character from the loot boxes you get this little dopamine hit, and...

The game's events have been really surprising and well done. There's one involving staffing and stocking a museum, one involves shipping logistics, one's themed around ghost hunting. I wish I could have the $70 version of this game that isn't compromised by trying to squeeze players for money. The problem with that, of course, is that this game would not exist without all the bullshit.

But it feels good to play, it looks incredible, and I can swap between playing on my PC and my phone pretty effortlessly. So, despite the predatory MTX bullshit, I have really enjoyed my time with Honkai Star Rail this year.

I think my second biggest issue with live service games is that I don't get a sense of closure. I can't Finish Honkai Star Rail. And I'm not going to play it forever. So I get really into it for awhile (most of the year in this case) and just kind of...stop.

9. Goodbye Volcano High

This one is reminiscent of Night in the Woods; it's a coming-of-age story about anthropomorphic dinosaurs graduating high school, with all the fears and doubts that come with that. Some folks seem to have their entire future mapped out, some are just gonna work an hourly wage job and play D&D, and your character is serious about making a career in music. More serious than her bandmates are. Also, there's a meteor coming and it looks like it might hit Earth.

This game resonated with me on a few levels. The writing is great, the characters are well written and, unlike Stray Gods, the music landed for me. It does a great job of showing us different attitudes and values clashing into one another while making each of them relatable. The hope, resentment, and willful blindness of "My friends aren't invested in this thing we're doing together as much as I am" really blindsided me. It dredged up some feelings I haven't examined in years, both for better and worse. I didn't have much in the way of expectations for this game, but Goodbye Volcano High wormed its way into my heart. Goodbye Volcano High is the game mostly likely to be the game where I look back in the future and regret putting it outside of my top 10 for the year.

Hah! Suck it, me! Top 10 babyyyyy!

8. Pikmin 4

I've never really engaged with Pikmin, but this one was a blast. It does the Honey I Shrunk the Kids thing of "tiny dudes in a normal environment so it looks all big" thing that I love. Solve lots of puzzles by throwing little plant being at them. I love that the inspiration for the series was Miyamoto watching ants carrying leaves in his yard. It still has that feeling all these years later.

It feels odd to call Pikmin a relaxing experience, as you can and will lose Pikmin. Sometimes due to the natural attrition that comes with war, sometimes when the wrong little doofuses wander into water or fire, etc. There's also a timer, which is usually a dealbreaker for me. And the story revolves around rescuing fellow space travelers who have been transforming into mute plant people on this hostile planet. In fact the whole thing sounds like a pitch for a horror game. Despite all that, there's an easy charm to Pikmin. Your little astronaut dorks keep their spirits high, and there's playful music as you explore this huge, colorful world. I found it to be a great way to unwind at the end of the day for a couple of months this year.

7. Persona 5 Tactica

Persona 5 achieved mainstream success that the games before it never reached. Atlus has been milking it for all it's worth too - Persona 5 Dancing in the Moonlight, Persona 5 Royal, Persona 5 Strikers, and an upcoming Persona 5 mobile game. Some folks are feeling understandably burned out - I didn't get into dancing or strikers, and didn't play Royal (after putting 120 hours into Persona 5) so I was geeked when they announced a Persona 5 tactics game. On paper it's a strong pitch for me.

And in execution it's every bit as good as I'd hoped. My only complaint is the chibi art style. It isn't bad, just not to my taste. Beyond that? It's got the Persona charm, the banging music, and good solid tactical gameplay with just enough of a twist to not feel dull.

The "one more" mechanic from the series is key here, allowing the members of your 3-person team extra movement and actions. This is especially important because of the game's version of the all-out attack, which forms a triangle between your 3 party members and deals heavy damage to enemies caught inside. This makes combat an experience that rewards putting thought into. The game even has some side battles that are basically puzzles, giving you one turn to finish.

The game's new characters - Toshiro and Erina - are a welcome addition to the Phantom Thieves crew as well. I came around on Toshiro in a big way and was immediately in love with Erina. The game is about fighting against oppression and finding your courage to resist. Your friends are there for you when times are tough. It's hammy and melodramatic in the way that Persona is, and I love it. I love the game's revolutionary aesthetic, even if it's largely window dressing.

The DLC has been great so far too, starring Akechi and Kasumi in gameplay I can only describe if "What if Persona and Splatoon had a tactics baby?"

6. Diablo IV

The Diablo series has been the most consistently great video game series for me. I love the first 3 games and spent a TON of time with each. Diablo IV has the worst longevity of the series, but the best campaign. Now, I have to add a bunch of qualifiers here. The "best campaign" is a pretty low bar to clear. Diablo has always been - and continues to be - find new gear/numbers go up. The cutscenes are, as usual, top notch. While the story wasn't necessarily riveting, it was nice to have an antagonist with a personality and some ideas beyond RAWR I AM VERY EVIL RAWR. In fact, I was half-expecting the game to ask if I wanted to side with Lilith near the end, and I just might have done so. And the cinematic of the human army marching into hell while Lilith and Imperius have a philosophical discussion was incredible.

As for the replay value, maybe they'll find their way much like Diablo III did. My main issue with Diablo IV is the way new content is handcuffed to new seasons, how seasonal characters are siloed off from the rest of your characters, and how the game feels like it was built around microtransactions and milking money out of the player.

The game feels good to play. Abilities feel powerful and interesting, the loot grind is fun, and exploring the variety between the classes is a joy. Diablo IV is one of the best games released this year, it's just a shame that, like a lot of modern games, Diablo IV feels compromised, it feels like a Product in a gross way. Still, every previous game in the series has had a long tail for me, so I'm not counting Diablo IV out yet.

5. Darkest Dungeon II

Darkest Dungeon is my favorite game. I have a tattoo of it on my arm. It's impossible to expect a sequel to improve on that or even meet it. Subsequent journeys into a fiction can never be special in the same way that first one is, and Darkest Dungeon II is no exception.

The game is immediately recognizable - you'll see some familiar faces lined up in a tug-of-war formation against a group of enemies. A row of skills at the bottom of the screen, a torch at the top. Artwork with thick, dark lines and plenty of shading. The moment-to-moment gameplay IS a lot like the first game, but the trappings around it are not.

Gone is the persistent campaign of the first game, replaced by a more familiar roguelike structure. You embark on runs that either end in victory or failure, unlocking new things between runs. This makes the game more approachable and forgiving, but it means the lows are less low and the highs are not quite as high. In the original title losing your veteran Crusader you've sunk hours and hours into feels like a real gut punch, but by the same token finally - FINALLY - conquering the darkest dungeon feels incredible. Those extremes are lost in the sequel, and that probably makes for an objectively better game.

It's not just the same run every time; there are 5 chapters to conquer, each themed with a personal failing: Denial, Resentment, Obsession, Ambition, and Cowardice. The game's personality is still here in full force thanks to Wayne June's narration, Stuart Chatwood's music, that incredible artwork and gallows humor that I love so much. Each of the characters is treated as an individual with their own dark backstory this time around, each crafted in loving detail and unfolding by way of cutscenes and/or interactive gameplay moments. The stress mechanism is still here but takes a bit of a backseat, while relationships between characters are brought to the forefront.

Darkest Dungeon II is just what I wanted from a sequel to my favorite game. I'm glad they didn't just make the same again but prettier, but still kept the game's bones intact.

4. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name

Yakuza has become one of my favorite game series over the past few years. I'm down for whatever they throw at us. Bringing Kiryu back yet again? Sure. New protagonist? I'm down. A period piece starring the cast as historical figures? Fucking bring it on.

I love the series. The melodrama that hits me in my feels, the never-ending parade of lovable weirdoes and freaks in Kamurocho, the deep well of fleshed-out side games like bowling, pocket circuit racing, and karaoke - it's all here. I'm not tired of it. I thought I would be, but I'm not.

Kiryu is a lovable, stoic doofus with a strict moral code and penchant for helping out anyone who needs a hand. This time they gave him a Clark Kent disguise after faking his death, and also a bunch of James Bond Spider-Man gadgets. Let's go.

I will never get tired of my big hearted himbo beating people with bicycles and helping out folks in need. And I got misty-eyed at the ending. I was not prepared for my stoic boy to full on ugly cry. Still waters run deep.

3. Hogwarts Legacy

In the years since JK Rowling outed herself as a human shaped pile of garbage, I've distanced myself from the Harry Potter universe. And when Hogwarts Legacy released, the game was a lightning rod for controversy. I decided to see for myself, and was treated to a wonderful, smartly written game that managed to capture the magic of the world without constantly referencing the movies and books that everyone knows. It's the same trick that Jedi Fallen Order pulled a few years ago, and it works every bit as well here.

The school feels massive and detailed, and it was a joy to explore or just get lost in. The game world outside the school was unexpectedly huge as well, and the broomstick flight felt so good and natural that I rarely bothered to travel by floo. Optional side activities like growing your own plants for your potion brewing, decorating your Room of Requirement, and breeding creatures were all pleasant distractions that served to flesh out the world of Hogwarts.

The game's cast is fairly diverse, and most students felt like real people rather than caricatures of their Hogwarts houses. Most students do have their house traits, but they're not constantly front and center. The side stories and main story kept me engaged throughout my time with Hogwarts Legacy, and I was a little sad to see it end. It's a shame the IP has JK Rowling's stench on it, and that a lot of people will miss this game because of that.

2. Alan Wake II

Alan Wake and Control are both posterchildren for games with incredible world building and lousy game play. I've started both multiple times only to end up walking away in frustration. Alan Wake 2 largely fixes my complaint with those previous games by letting me explore and become immersed in the world without throwing frequent contextless fights in my way.

Alan Wake 2's combat isn't necessarily more engaging, but there's far less of it. What you're left with is the good stuff, a Twin Peaks-like horror mystery in a small town where everything and everyone feels a little bit off. Sometimes a lot off. It's a game where the characters play everything straight, but there are plenty of winks and nods in the margins. The game is full of wonderful freaks and weirdoes, many of whom had me frequently grinning like a fool. Alex Casey. Warlin Door. The Koskela brothers. Rose. Odin and Tor. Alan and Saga. Ahti. Thomas Zane. All hamming it up in a story that gets entirely up its own ass in the best way.

The Herald of Darkness scene is one of the best things I've ever seen. Ditto for the late game scene on the lakeshore. Hell, the game had me sitting and watching a short Finnish art house film at one point. It's a game full of glee and confidence from a studio with the belief in itself and its fans that allow it to swing for the fences. Not every part of it works for me, but the parts that do are so effective that the whole experience is lifted up on high. I wish Remedy's gameplay worked for me, which is never has. But this is a terrific work of art, and the good stuff far outweighs the bad.

Baldur's Gate III

My love of Baldur's Gate and the CRPG genre was something I'd left long in the past. Despite playing excellent modern entries like Divinity Original Sin, and Pillars of Eternity I hadn't been captivated by one of these in some 20 years.

It's hard to put into words what a triumph Baldur's Gate 3 is. I can't name a single thing it really does to revolutionize the genre but Larian executed on every single element of the game. Starting with the story, they make the stakes incredibly personal on top of the usual "Oh shit the world is in danger!" thing we always see. A mindflayer puts a parasite in your brain at the beginning of the game. World saving aside, getting that out of you feels pretty important.

Or not! You can decide to lean into it, and the writers did a great job of mixing viewpoints into the story. Mindflayers are horrible monsters but wait. Are they really though? Your party members will have their own opinions on the matter, as well as their own traumas and baggage and backstories. The writing and voicework for these party members are the best part of one of the best games ever made.

The game's ensemble cast might be the best of any game. By the game's end my party was my Tav, Karlach, Jaheira, and Astarion/Gale depending on the situation. There are party members I missed, and one I may or may not have killed (I regret nothing). Baldur's Gate III's story branches in so many ways, it all feels like it's a hair away from collapsing in on itself but it never does. My friends and I were exchanging stories about what we'd seen and done in the game as we played, and the variance is impressive. Baldur's Gate III is like a dude spinning plates while juggling chainsaws, and people keep tossing stuff into the mix and you think "Well no WAY can he keep all this going!" but goddammit, it all keeps going.

The way the game rolls with whatever choices you make (or dumb shit you want to try) whether in or out of combat, is truly incredible. It feels closer to having a DM than anything I've ever played. If you want to do something weird or dumb, the game does an incredible job of yes and-ing you. And it's not without consequences, the game reacts to the wide array of shit you can do within the D&D ruleset. The game sets up storylines both big and small early on, and manages to pay them off in interesting ways before it wraps up.

The combat was a sticking point for me in Divinity Original Sin 2. It's not that it was bad, but it was overwhelming. Combat could be long and difficult, and losing after an hour only to reload a save was incredibly deflating. Baldur's Gate 3 threaded this needle almost perfectly for me. Most combats were challenging but not crushing, and did not overstay their welcome.

I kept waiting for the game to drag and lose its momentum, but it never happened. I was glued to it for the entire 100+ hours it took me to roll credits. I fully plan on replaying it one day.

#goty 2023

[kvtnisseverdeen]

things i miss as a tumblr veteran™

when you’d actually have more reblogs than likes

268px and 177px gifs

the hunger games and harry potter fandom EATING up the graphics edits

picspams (!!!!)

the different phases of colorings (the really bright orange/pink coloring, the colorful sets, and then the pale edits etc.)

when tumblr mobile wasn’t a thing (tumblr is a desktop site. period)

seeing peoples tags and how they organized their blogs (the creative queue tags are a personal favorite)

x-kit extensions

when people would have about me pages and tag pages and just pages!!!!

the #user tags not existing because people would actually reblog what they see on their dash

the longevity of fandoms so even if a show/movie was over, it was still edited/posted about 

being editors not content creators

#just rambling #have a lot to say #i really just #need to go back in time #tumblr for ts #text