#I'd talk to her more but I already used up my one dialogue option

[infizero-draws]

girl what do you feel about kris' and noelle's relationship in snowgrave i want to know

OK OK. first of all thank you for specifying "in snowgrave" because if you just said their relationship in general i would literally never stop talking.

second tho, im really bad at putting how i feel about character dynamics into words because often there's just soooooo much to be said and different ways of looking at it and i get overwhelmed if i try to make some all-encompassing analysis. so let it be known that whatever i say here is not the full picture and there's so much more i could say.

putting this under the cut because i already know im gonna talk for way too long:

that being said oughghghhgh. where to fucking begin. i'd say the most fascinating (and disturbing) thing about their relationship in snowgrave is the weird romantic undertones. the fact that you have to pressure noelle into the idea of riding the ferris wheel with KRIS instead of with susie, her actual crush.

one of the most overt symbols of this weirdness is definitely the thorn ring. i know it isnt the only ring you give to noelle to equip, but this is the one that's mandatory for the snowgrave route. in order to do the route, you have to make KRIS give NOELLE a RING. a ring that literally HURTS HER TO WEAR. if that isnt a metaphor for a forced relationship i dont know what is

however perhaps the most damning and obvious one is of course this option:

i would say something about this myself but @/sorrybutiforgothowtomakecontent's tags on another one of my posts really summed it up:

im also aromantic so this really resonated with me. but yeah just going back to the first point they make. you literally HAVE to say "we're something else" in order to do the snowgrave route, which seems to make it pretty clear that this kinda subtext was intended. snowgrave can only exist with kris and noelle being "something else" because that's literally what snowgrave IS.

my favorite way to view snowgrave is through the lens of an arranged/forced marriage. again, the ring. it just feels so gross, especially because it's not just a regular marriage but an abusive marriage. snowgrave is abuser simulator (2021). im sure i dont need to explain that part

but the thing is, SNOWGRAVE IS NOT JUST ABOUT NOELLE and that's what makes it SO BAD. not only is noelle being forced to go through all of this, but KRIS is being forced to be the one who does it to her! kris clearly is EXTREMELY upset about snowgrave judging from the constant opportunities to choose more "normal" dialogue and abort the route, and from afterwards when they meet back up with ralsei and susie:

kris, under no circumstances, wants to do ANY of this. but they literally do not have a choice. snowgrave isnt kris manipulating noelle, it is US forcing kris into manipulating noelle. no one is winning here. they're both traumatized, and kris physically cannot even talk to their friends about it or show the true extent of their hurt. it SUCKSSSSS

and when you consider the idea that kris and noelle's friendship may have become strained specifically due to dess' disappearance, and kris possibly having something to do with that with the bunker and whatnot..... well now you're just forcing kris to hurt their friend AGAIN, when in the normal route this could've been their chance to finally reconnect. ahghrhgrhghh

going back to the marriage stuff, it's just so uncomfortable to see these two forced together like this. noelle is in love with susie. we dont know kris well enough to know if they have a crush on anyone (or if they get those kinds of feelings at all), but that doesn't matter. the fact is these two are likely not romantically interested in each other at all, and they are being forced together BY THE PLAYER. and it's horrific. (and even if one or both of them felt that way, this is still entirely wrong. they do not get a choice here)

@/hellspawnmotel's tags on this comic of hers will always haunt me, bcuz like. yeah. this is it:

there's also the fact that kris is naturally kind of a goofball; they're a prankster, especially it seems when it comes to noelle, as can be seen with the stepping off the button thing or the many, many examples from their shared childhood brought up by noelle.

but in the snowgrave route, kris drops this entirely. all of the alternate dialogue options to abort the route, which are very likely FROM kris, are very genuine and apologetic. kris is scared they're going to lose their friendship with noelle completely because of what you're making them do, and it's like they panic and all of their usual goofiness and sass is just dropped for genuine emotion. it's really sad to see honestly, esp in a full snowgrave route where you know that their efforts will be in vain.

OH OH ALSO. can't believe i haven't mentioned this yet. the fact that NOELLE KNOWS SOMETHING IS GOING ON WITH KRIS. THAT'S one of the things that really makes me insane.

noelle goes through ALL THAT, seemingly AT THE HANDS OF HER FRIEND....... and yet. she knows that something is wrong. she KNOWS kris, and she knows that they don't act like this. you'd think she would instantly cast kris off, it would be the right thing to do, but she doesn't. because she knows that something is off.

i cannot stress enough the fact that noelle is the ONLY one who seems to have noticed just how strange kris has been acting. sure other characters comment on kris seeming off or doing something they usually wouldn't do, but it is NOELLE and NOELLE ALONE who takes such notice of it and decides to actually DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.

"i have to figure it out" is a mission statement, it implies that noelle (at least in the snowgrave route), is going to actively try to figure out what's going on with kris, WHICH IS CRAZYY and i feel like not enough people are talking about. not even kris's own mother has fully realized something's wrong. like she says, noelle seems to be the only one who's noticed just how off kris has been acting, and the only one who might try to understand and help them. genuinely makes me insane thinking of where that might go in this route oaugurhghh

im gonna stop here because im exhausting myself but. in conclusion I LOVE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS GONE WRONG!!!!!!!!! FAVORITE TROPE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!! anyways read this comic (all 3 parts) and you'll get it

oh also "kris, why are you wearing my watch?" still makes me go fucking insane

#i genuinely could talk about these two forever. favorite dynamic in deltarune hands down #they're my favorite characters individually so the way that snowgrave intertwines their stories #noelle's strength and kris's possession #into this horrible thing of being forced to force someone else to kill and make them think THAT'S what true strength is. augurgrghhrgh #they genuinely make me insane. i need to see more of them NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW #not art #asks

[goldensunset]

ok ok khml beta spoilers (part one of whatever this is going to be idk i'm just gonna ramble about my thoughts and observations)

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh wah awa wahhhhhh i want this game now i won't lie to you this looks really cool i can't believe it's real. or a mobile game for that matter. imagine this as a full console game. imagine khux and khdr as this. insane

remus... nice!!! can we like. see him in full lighting though so i could get a good sense of his color scheme. ok i like this guy already i like his casual/rude vibes and the way he talks

i hope he has a brother named romulus and i hope romulus kills him it needs to happen sorry. idc whether it's shock value or something very narratively heavy i need fratricide in this game idc

so they're doing the good old 'every other character in the cutscene is gonna be voiced except the protagonist whose dialogue just shows up silently but their mouth still moves' thing huh. can't wait to see how this plays out. looks like player is still gonna have limited dialogue overall so that works. but like man i kinda wish they'd just give player a canon voice or two or three. imagine that being something you could choose

i'm gonna read too deeply into player's amnesia including their name but not including their fighting ability. like they could've had you type in a name during the character creation screen and had player respond to the question later but nope we specifically establish that they don't remember and have to make one up on the spot. you know what they do remember though? combat. weapons. carrying out their missions as a keyblade wielder, all they were ever meant to do. gonna be normal about this for sure

the scala world card... DUDE...

so after multiple joke posts we finally have a real freya... i don't know why i'm surprised. dunno if i vibe with her full outfit yet (i think the red jacket uniform is kinda overbearing and might get old fast if both she and remus and probably at least 20 other characters will have it but in a cleaner or more stylized render i'd love it probably) but like dude the cat ear accessories... were those there last time? did i not notice them last time? those are perfect

literally ALL of this music is so cheerful... the dearly beloved is super upbeat, the new field theme for scala and the astral plane and combat and the tutorial menus etc etc... it's so strange. i KNOW they're hiding the absolute tragedy from us. goth aesthetic combined with whimsical peaceful tunes. what's happening here

the. the pit... that's their portal?? when you wanna go to the astral plane you jump in The Machinery Hell Pit? absolutely not you would never convince me to do that

so begins the gacha/microtransaction hell. i sure hope it's easy enough to get whatever ingame currency there is through other means

i'm actually loving the amount of customization options dude that's so cool

#khml #khml spoilers #i haven't seen all of the beta yet just the first part #kingdom hearts #mine: kh #dude i'm so hyped. This Will Fix Me

[mcl-alloveragain]

ARMIN'S AL EP.2 — QUICK GUIDE

---

YELEEN: I'd surely have to make out with you right now.

A. Mmm... Sorry, I'm talking too much, aren't I?

B. Don't tempt me! (+5)

C. I'm having a hard time knowing if you're serious or not?

--------

ARMIN: What... What do you say, Candy?

A. Okay. (0)

B. I'm not sure I want it... (0)

C. What proves to me that this time it will be different? That you're sincere? (0)

(both B i C makes him begging us on knees. while choosing C, we make him beg, when B, it's his idea. all up to you. option A is the most boring one)

--------

ARMIN: And you find that in my quest to win you back, it's not a great first move.

A. Exactly! You see, when you put your mind to it! (+5)

B. That's it. Things are off to bad start, in any case... (-5)

C. (I smiled at him, indulgently) (0)

--------

Now you can find Agatha!! She's in the library! Her gift is a brand new laptop, it's pretty cute tbh :)

--------

ARMIN: I have a big 4G package, I was able to work from here...

A. That makes me really happy, thanks. (0)

B. Don't overdo it either... (-5)

C. Be careful not to set the bar too high... (+5)

---------

ARMIN: I'm not all soft, I'll have you know! Go ahead, you can check!

A. What a "charming" remark, for a first date. (-5)

B. Go ahead, show me (+5)

C. For someone who doesn't even want to set foot outside, that's a very daring proposition.

---------

ARMIN: Little flings, girls I have met at school, or online...

A. But you didn't take any to Disneyland, did you? (+5)

B. Wait, when you say "a few", is it a few three or four, or a few ten or twenty?

C. Didn't you try with Anais, after all? (-5)

---------

ARMIN: You must have been chased after non stop, like a golden snitch.

A. Not really, a bit like you, in the end... (0)

B. Actually, no one... (0, but nice dialogue)

C. Yeah, I had quite a few boyfriends, in the end. (-5)

--------

ARMIN: Is it okay with you if I order Vietnamese? Do you still like Bun Bo Nam Bo?

A. I never liked that! You must be confusing me with someone else... (-5)

B. You're impossible. Did you make a list of everything I eat?! (+5)

C. Don't even ask me, I have no idea what you're going to order for yourself. (?)

--------

ARMIN: [...]Or relaxing in front of a good film.

A. Let's watch a movie, but I get to choose what we watch! (Possible illustration on the couch)

B. Come on, let's play LoL. (Possible illustration while gaming)

--------

VERSION WITH MOVIE:

ARMIN: And you? Who would you choose?

A. Iron Man. Already, to be a billionaire. (?)

B. Wanda! She's super classy. (+5)

C. Black Widow, of course! One of the pioneers. (0)

--------

A. (I don't want to skip steps.)

B. (Just a little kiss...) (ILLUSTRATION)

C. (More, I want more.)

VERSION WITH GAMES

ARMIN: (talks something about the fact that dubmi was fed in LoL, i don't have the direct ss sorry 😭)

A. See, I'm not that bad (0)

B. They're too good! (0)

C. Maybe you're not as good as you think (+5!)

---------

ARMIN: If I were you, I wouldn't take that... There you go. Ouch, what a blow.

A. Fff.... Help me, I'm failing. (ILLUSTRATION)

B. Stop commenting on everything like that, you're not helping me!

C. I can do it! I just need to focus!

#my candy love #mcl armin #mcl #mcl alternate life #mcl alternate life armin #my candy love armin #alternate life armin #armin #armin mcl #my candy love alternate life

[blackjackkent]

Another restless night. The promise of hunting down Ragzlin with Halsin has the beast in Rakha's head hungry, and her attempts at rest are laced with squirming images of dead and dying goblins. She is beginning to think there will be no sleep for her at all, when suddenly...

...everything goes quiet.

She sits up with a sharp snap, drawing in a hoarse breath of cold, still air. She is back in the dreamscape the visitor brought her to before, and the beast and the tadpole lie dormant - or perhaps frightened into submission.

"I promised I'd be back."

The dream visitor is standing nearby, looking out at the starscape. She turns slightly, hearing Rakha stir, and looks down at her with an inscrutable, almost sad expression.

"Don't worry," she says softly. "I have things under control. For now."

It is hypnotic, the sense of peace in this place. The woman's voice is soothing. The emptiness in her mind is soporific. Rakha stands up very slowly; the guardian watches her steadily, appraisingly.

"I see you've been using the powers the tadpole gives you," she says approvingly. "Good." A pause. Her expression turns grim. "But things haven't gone as you expected. You hoped a druid as powerful as Halsin might be able to remove your tadpole. But he couldn't."

She takes a step forward, rests a hand gently on Rakha's shoulder. Her touch is light and cool as the air around her, and there is sympathy in her gaze. "You're desperate to be rid of it. Understandable, but you're looking for solutions in the wrong places."

(A/N: I really enjoy the Durge-specific dialogue option here: "I don't care about the tadpole. I have been offered a greater power by my butler." Which is just. An absolutely incredible sentence out of context. 😂 )

Rakha nods slowly, as if she understands - though of course she doesn't. Nothing about this makes sense. She has so many questions. Who is this woman? How does she know Rakha? What does she want? How is she soothing the beast that Rakha can't restrain herself?

"Tell me who you are," she says. It emerges as a harsh mutter, as if the words are being swallowed up by the infinite, quiet vastness of this place.

The guardian tips her head with the faintest hint of amusement. "It's complicated," she says noncommittally. "But I'm an adventurer, just like you. Just like you. Just like you, I was infected with a mind flayer parasite. Just like you, I seek to be free of it."

Rakha nods again. This is, she realizes, not an answer. It seems sincere enough, and what the guardian has already done for her is unmistakably positive. But it is certainly not the whole truth. Even I had a name when I woke up, even if I had nothing else. You have one as well.

The woman is still talking. "But to do that, we'll need to think beyond local healers. Your parasite is unusual - it is wrapped in magic that prevents its removal. Until the source of the tadpole's magic is destroyed, any attempt to remove it will kill you." She smiles faintly. "You were lucky that Halsin knew this. His instincts are right. The parasites are merely a symptom of a greater sickness in Faerun."

Rakha frowns. The guardian and Halsin are, at the very least, confirming each other's stories - but all of this is still more vague implications without details. "What is the sickness?" she asks bluntly.

The guardian's calm demeanor flickers for a brief moment, revealing a hint of troubled waters underneath. "The Absolute's aims are not yet clear to me," she says pensively. "But its progress towards domination is clear. These parasites are more than illithid spawn. They are vessels for control. The infected hear the voice of the Absolute, and believe it to be a god. That is how the cult of the Absolute is spreading."

She gestures towards Rakha's right eye where the parasite lies, soothed into stillness by the dream. "The highest of their rank - the True Souls - carry a tadpole just like yours. It is how they receive their oders. It is what makes them obey. When the order to transform is given, it will not be a matter of days - they will be mind flayers in an instant."

She takes a step closer, looks up into Rakha's eyes intently. "Were it not for my protection, so would you."

Rakha's eyes drift half-closed. She feels a soft shudder of discomfort in her head, and then stillness again. Yes. That protection is unmistakable. There are still so many questions, but she cannot escape the fact that whoever this woman is, whatever she is not saying - this part, the moment of peace, is a true thing.

But it is only so certain here, in the dreamscape. In the real world...the beast is never so quiet.

"My mind tells me to do foul things," she whispers. "Are you sure your protection is working?"

Again that sad, gentle smile. "I protect you from becoming a mind flayer," the guardian says softly. "I cannot protect you from yourself. But I know what it is like to be burdened by forces outside of your control. We are alike, you and I." She inclines her head slightly forward. "I've been trying to escape from this evil for a long time. Once, I almost succeeded. Now - through you - I've been given a new chance. You can go where I cannot. And I can protect you from that evil. If we work together, we may turn this around."

In the unusual stillness, Rakha's brain feels as if it has been wrapped in wool. She struggles to parse all of this with her usual alacrity. The guardian... has no control over the beast, and yet the beast is quiet here. And the guardian understands about it, nevertheless. They are alike, she says.

There is something here to be found, some answer not yet given, some explanation for the howling chaos that is Rakha's mind.

There must be.

She has her mouth open to ask another question, to demand an answer, when a low rumble echoes through the air and the guardian starts as if she's been struck. "Hells. They need me. I have to go."

No. I need to know what you know. Please. "Tell me where I can find you," Rakha snaps - but this only seems to drive the guardian's sudden agitation higher.

"No!" she says urgently. "It isn't safe." A pause, and then she goes on hurriedly, "The power I use to protect you - I stole it from someone. They want it back. I will hold them off for as long as I can, but sooner or later I will be worn down. You must discover the source of the magic that controls the parasites before that happens."

She holds Rakha's gaze with an intensity that is so overwhelming that Rakha feels herself nod almost without her own volition.

At that, the guardian seems to relax a little. "The cultists are gathering at Moonrise Towers," she says, echoing Halsin's words from the warg pens. "Use the powers your parasite gives you to convince them you are one of them. And when you find the source of their magic, destroy it."

Again her fingers land briefly on Rakha's shoulder, then release, pushing her backwards. "Go. Our freedom depends on it."

Rakha snaps awake in her bunk, staring into the dirty, cracked stone ceiling of the temple antechamber where they've made camp. For a long time, she does not move a muscle, lost in thought.

Damn it. You have such power, but who are you? What do you know of me? What aren't you saying?

#bjk plays bg3 durge #rakha the dark urge #i have come to the realization that the emperor is absolutely playing rakha like a FIDDLE and it's kind of wild to see #hector was not averse to the original guardian but he definitely had some skepticism right from the beginning #but rakha... it is pushing all of her buttons so expertly #shutting off the voices in her head #giving her a place of peace - kind of like a drug tbh #giving just enough indication (falsely i think?) that it knows who she is and what the dark urge is #seeming to have answers without actually telling her anything she doesn't already know #and in doing so it's undermining her connection with lae'zel also which lae'zel can't possibly be happy about #much more drama here than with hector lol

[frauleinandry]

a persona 3 reload review

uuuuuuh so i was meant to post this like... two weeks ago, but then real life hit me in the head like a frying pan. now that i've had the time to edit this though, here are my thoughts on p3re! this is also a minato route review, as i played kotone's in P3P (i know it's not his canon name, but i don't want to use makoto due to P5 confusion).

on the whole, reload is a fantastic game. the gameplay easily rivals P5R, and surpasses it in some aspects. the new content is typically great. i also enjoyed minato as a character (well, as much of a character as persona protagonists are anyway), though that leads me to the main gripe i had with reload...

... and that's the lack of kotone's social links. to be precise, two of her social links, the absence of which greatly hurts the overall story.

don't get me wrong, i'd still rank reload a solid 8/10, but it could have been a 10/10 with the addition of those two links (plus one other spoiler thing), and I think that's a shame.

my in depth analysis is under the cut - note, it's very much not spoiler free.

okay, so, i'm gonna split this into 3.5 segments - the good, the mixed, and the bad (you'll find out what the 0.5 is later).

1. the good:

minato - while i'm still a kotone girlie at heart, he's not a bad protagonist at all! his dialogue options have a very distinct personality to them unlike joker and yu, and his character arc is one of the best of all of the persona main leads. an aloof, apathetic boy who learns to love the world/his friends so much he's willing to die for them... it's good!

koromaru - minor, but worth mentioning. you can pat him, and it's so cute. in fact, everything about him is perfect. from his all-out attack screen, to his animations, to... well, everything. no joke, if I needed to sell this game to a non-persona fan, i'd use him as the main draw.

hangout events - while I think being able to chat to everyone in the dorm already made SEES one of the more developed casts, having additional scenes really helped flesh out the party members who are less prominent in the plot (fuuka, pre-january aigis, ken). more things to do at night is also great, given there was nothing to do in the evening after maxing your social stats in the older versions. the perks they give you are great too, but i'll talk about that more later.

voice acting - not gonna lie, i generally don't like the persona dubs, and normally always play with the JP audio. given reload features some of my favourite voice actors though and was basically fully voiced, i decided to give it a chance this time. and i don't regret it! while some actors are definitely stronger than others, none of them were actively jarring, and quite frankly, they hard carried a lot of the social links. kudos to the cast!

strega - while they could have gone a bit further with it (jin needed a linked episode for sure), takaya finally got the development he sorely needed, and his and jin's final battles were actually interesting, instead of being annoying distractions from nyx. in fact, i'd say takaya's new content is easily the best of the new reload exclusive material. in portable, he made no impression on me whatsoever, but now, he finally gets to be the anti!minato he deserves to be.

1.5. the tartarus (aka good part 2, electric boogaloo):

i have so many things to gush about in terms of the new combat/exploration system, i decided it needed its own section! the glow-up tartarus got was massive. i was pretty disappointed when i heard they were keeping it randomly generated, but somehow, atlus pulled it off! i'll talk about individual things below.

collectables/monad doors - one issue with OG tartarus is that it's monotonous. breakable collectables make it much more entertaining to romp through though, as smashing things is Fun. the monad doors interspersed throughout are another good addition - if you want a break from roaming, you can challenge them, but if not, that's fine!

floor layout - another thing that makes tartatus more fresh to explore is that the HD graphics really make the differences between the blocks pop out. the generally smaller floors with more unique layouts really helps too.

shifting - it's baton pass, though without the ridiculous power/sp bonuses that made baton pass a little bit too gamebreaking in persona 5. in other words, perfect!

theurgy - out of all the battle-specific improvements, theurgy and the personality traits have got to be my favourites. showtimes were fun, but too random/gimmicky to be that useful, and ultimate skills tended to fluctuate between being absolutely gamebreaking or too SP intensive to be worth using. blending them into one feature with a content-specific gauge fixes all the problems with them while keeping everything that made showtimes/ultimate skills good.

ambush mechanics - this was one of the things i was most worried about before playing reload. ambushing in P5 is fun, but ambushing in the other persona games...? not so much. reload manages to fix this though by making the shadows less sensitive, which makes the early game a lot better, and but introducing dash-ambushes once the floors get bigger. if the persona 6 ambush system works like this, i'll be happy.

navigator skills - fuuka being retooled to work more like a playable character was an A+++ decision. making her skills player-activated but with an SP cost is so much more immersive than randomly getting a stat boost/enemy info.

unfortunately, while i think most of the tartarus additions were great, there were a few new mechanics which weren't... dreadful, per say, but could have been implemented better.

great clocks - they're better than nothing, but quite frankly, i would have preferred it if benched units got 50% exp instead. they incentivise you to drop two units for a period of time, which is annoying, given i want to use everyone on my first playthrough. late game, great clocks are also a pain to summon, for reasons i'll talk about below.

twilight fragments - i think they're a neat idea in theory, but they need to be easier/more reliable to farm. once you finish off the bulk of your social links/elizabeth's requests, replenishing them becomes a nightmare, which is annoying because you need them for great clocks.

2. the mixed:

while reload did a lot of things right, as per above, there were some things that didn't quite hit the mark.

linked episodes - i'm gonna be blunt. anyone who thinks these are better than social links is smoking something. one thing i like about party member social links is that it gives them a subplot outside of the main story, focusing more on their mundane struggles as opposed to their supernatural ones. half of the linked episodes just develop the main plot more though (and really should have just been included in it), meaning the linked episode exclusive subplots are underbaked.

another problem is that some of the linked episodes are just... kinda badly written. ryoji's completely lacks his existential dread, akihiko's comes off as a poor attempt to make his arena behaviour less OOC, while shinjiro's... it feels like persona 5 writing, in the worst way possible. it's like atlus completely forgot that subtext is a thing that's Good, actually.

while I have been fairly critical of them so far though, there are a couple of linked episodes i liked. koromaru's actually worked with the format, given he's a dog, but the real winner here was takaya. i loved all of his. if linked episodes appear again, i'd rather they be locked to antagonists like him.

art direction- i'll say right now - the UI is fabulous, the model shaders are great, and tartarus looks fantastic. the environmental design on the whole though is a bit iffy - a lot of the environments didn't translate to the super HD very well, and the lighting sucks in general. i needed to turn down the brightness it was so eye-searing. the animation of the 2D cutscenes is also pretty mediocre, and while the 3D cutscenes tend to look better, they're held back by some of the character models looking a bit goofy (mitsuru's is probably the biggest offender). i also think they were too scared of making the sprites 'ugly', and therefore on the whole they're slightly less emotive than the ones in the older versions of the game, which is a pity.

3. the bad:

minato's social links - the vast majority of the minato-exclusive social links are just flat-out not great. serious props to the voice actors here, since they hard carried them. quite frankly, they're just... bland, except for maya's and suemitsu's, which. uh. have problems. on the topic of social links, while i'm happy the romance isn't mandatory anymore, i don't like how half the girls explicitly confess to you. i much prefer the more subtle vibes of the P5/P4 romantic options, as yeah, most of them can lead naturally into romance, but they don't make the MC feel like a harem anime protagonist (derogatory). it kinda brings to mind this twitter post; sometimes, subtlety is simply better.

the absence of shinji and ryoji's social links - i can live without saori, rio, and most of the new and improved SEES member social links, but this is where i draw the line. while shinji dying is better storytelling, just like with chidori, having the option to save him is also important. lock it behind new game plus, yes... but keep it. also, him priming kotone to support akihiko one he's gone is far better than him just flat-out telling minato that he's dying. ryoji's missing social link though is infinitely worse. where is his slowly mounting horror as he starts poking holes in his backstory? his desperation to validate that he's actually real? that he exists?! like yeah, it's nice that the linked episode doubled down on his bisexuality, but i'd rather keep the psychological breakdown aspects of it, y'know?

the difficulty - i started playing reload normal - the level i'd typically use for a blind run of a persona game - aaaaand swapped to hard the second i unlocked theurgy. even then though, the game was a cakewalk until january hit. while i love theurgy, the game is absolutely not scaled around it, especially since you can charge/concentrate them. doing that, you can easily rack up thousands of damage without even going ham with fusion. unfortunately, reload is just... really easy.

the plot's too faithful to the original - while reload added new content, it pretty much left the story untouched outside of the beach scene. that's... not good, as persona 3's narrative had some pretty big problems. the biggest issue is the unchanged pacing - the strega storyline really needed to start a month earlier, and ryoji needed an extra month to integrate with the characters due to his lack of social link. this is one of the things i'm explicitly docking a point for - reload still doesn't kick off until the yakushima arc, which is well over a third into the game.

despite my criticisms, i do want to note that my experience with reload was predominately positive. it's (extremely) sad that you still need to play portable to experience the full persona 3 story, but p3re is still a fantastic game, and has a lot of gameplay features i'd be delighted to see in persona 6.

that's all i've got to say for now - until next time!

#persona 3 #persona 3 reload #p3re #p3 reload #review tag

[errorwarblesrr]

I'm terrible with coming up with conversation topics, especially on the fly, but uhh uhh uhh who is your favourite link and why are you correct for it being wind waker <3 (wjajdhsk no it is an actual question. I feel like a more interesting question would be who's your favourite Zelda and why, so maybe answer that instead? Idk I just hope college is kinder to you soon u_u <3)

Thank you for the ask and the last message. I really appreciate it 💕💕💕 (I hope so too lol)

I can answer both questions >:]

Well, you already know my favorite Link, it's Wind Waker lol. I don't think I have gotten into why he is my favorite, though. I've always been drawn to silly characters so he kinda just perfectly fits that criteria. I was just naturally drawn to him at this silly little guy who is constantly expressing himself. I found though that the more I thought back on Wind Waker the more reasons I find to like the little guy. I enjoy how impulsive he is, especially when it comes to saving the ones he cares about. On that note how he genuinely just wants to help people, I know the "haha he's a pirate now so he's gonna do pirate things" is fun, but he is genuinely a good kid. There's a sidequest where he stops a thievery and the ONLY correct dialogue options have him be kind and compassionate, but he admits that he is honest and calls himself "an ally of justice!". To my knowledge it's one of the few times there is correct dialogue so I'm choosing to believe that's canon compared to something like Skyward Sword where you can get the same results from different paths of dialogues and options if that makes sense. I think it's cute how he and Aryll have matching bracelets in their outset clothes (no one else has these on outset) he's apparently a fasionista too so I'd like to imagine he made those for her or they did it together. Uhhh okay this is getting too long and I'm just rambling so tldr

This is very rambly I'm sorry. Maybe one day I'll do an actual more thought out post lol.

For my favorite Zelda, it's definitely Spirit Tracks. A Zelda who is actually with us the whole time and plays an active role in the story while growing as a character and has a charming personality? Yes please! I genuinely she is the best Zelda no contest. We first hand get to see her grow from someone who wanted nothing to do with the adventure to playing an active role and even seems excited to take the step in the adventure. It's hard to talk about Spirit Tracks without bringing up the Link and Zelda dynamic but they are really the best duo out of all of them imo. It's def not as noticeable or big as Zelda's arc but Link does have an arc of his own and it's definitely in part because of Zelda. They both help each other grow. Enough of that though since this is supposed to be about Zelda. I think it's great how even though she is a lot more feminine than Tetra she still has that sass showing their connection. On that note her femininity isn't a weakness and rather they play it up for comedy but not in a way they are making fun of her for it if that makes sense. Idk tldr

#asks #spirit tracks #wind waker #I'm actually not that great at articulating why I like a character without overexplaining every little detail #this is me trying not to do thay #that*

[nekooru]

₊ ☾⋆ angst dialogue prompts ⋆⁺₊⋆

a list of prompts i use to inspire my writing. i hope they're helpful for you !

more prompt lists: x

˙⋆⁺₊⋆.

1. "you're allowed to fall apart sometimes, you know."

2. "what's the point in trying when i know i'll never be enough?"

3. "i wish your love wasn't conditional."

4. "when did things fall apart? i never noticed until it was done." / "that's exactly why things fell apart."

5. "you were my best friend. i wish i had been yours, too."

6. "i wasn't enough for you." / "no, you were too much."

7. "i thought i could learn to like it this way. i'm sorry i dragged this out."

8. "it's tiring, missing you when you're right here."

9. "you seemed to like me best when i was lying."

10. "don't pretend you missed me. i'm not as stupid as you clearly think i am."

11. "why are you drinking so much? what did you do?"

12. "please tell me i'm wrong. tell me i'm jumping to conclusions— that i'm misunderstanding. please, just say it..." / "..."

13. "you really love her, and she doesn't love you back...how ironic."

14. "you left the most bitter taste in my mouth. how could you bring it all up again when i'm trying to move on?"

15. "i fucked up. god, i fucked up."

16. "so that's it? we're just— over?"

17. "i wish i'd never met you. i wish this was a lesson i never had to learn."

18. "you're fucking insane."

19. "am i the reason you cry every night? be honest."

20. "well, how did you expect this to turn out? it's not my fault you've been in denial."

21. "i don't understand how you sleep at night, so blissfully uncaring of the pain you wreak."

22. "will you miss me at all?" / "very much so, unfortunately."

23. "are we doing the right thing? is there no other option?"

24. "i know when it's good, it's really good— but i don't think i can handle the lows anymore."

25. "when did you want to hurt me again? today? tomorrow? you know, so i can note it in my schedule."

26. "do you fantasize about a life without me?"

27. "you're not the same person i married." / "well, people change. you didn't get the memo?"

28. "i wish i could forget your phone number. and your face. and everything we ever did together."

29. "let's not get irrational here. we're going to talk sensibly, and take it outside— so i can punch you without breaking anything."

30. "you thought i cared for you? why? i made the opposite excruciatingly obvious."

31. "god, why do you have so much blood? i can put it back— don't cry, i can fix it. just don't leave me, please."

32. "you're so dramatic. is this really necessary?"

33. "i'll be better next time, i promise." / "next time? no. i won't be here to put the pieces of your life back together next time."

34. "i don't know how to ask for help."

35. "when was the last time you told me that you loved me?" / "..." / "hah...you can't remember, can you?"

36. "it's okay if you need time to heal. i'll still be here, waiting, for as long as it takes."

37. "i can't keep going when i'm the only one putting effort in. i'm done begging for what i deserve."

38. "i can't lose you. i won't lose you." / "what? after everything? you've already lost me."

39. "you left without saying goodbye. i finally moved on, and you expect me to let you pop back in just like that? no."

40. "i always said i'd die for you." / "idiot...i didn't believe you until now."

41. "i can't believe i thought you meant what you said."

42. "for what it's worth, i'll never give up on us."

43. "you keep going radio silent on me, and i can't handle that any more. wondering if you're dead in a ditch? or cheating on me? i don't deserve that."

44. "you are not your past, so stop acting like you are. that's not an excuse to keep hurting me and everyone around you."

45. "how many broken promises are we at now? you know, i'm starting to think you're doing it on purpose. is my face that pretty when i cry?"

46. "don't give me that look. no, what did you really expect?"

47. "he/she/they showed me more love than you ever did. isn't that sad? it makes me sad."

48. "oh, i see where it went wrong. you're a little confused, but you're almost there— you're supposed to break up with me, then fuck other people."

49. "don't even try to kiss me. get the fuck off me."

50. "don't worry, it's not my blood."

51. "i was stupid to think you would change for me. to think i was good enough to change for."

52. "quit crying. you're the one who hurt me, why are you making it about yourself?"

53. "no, i'm not just going to leave you here."

54. "i can't bear when you look at me like that. like i'm something from hell."

55. please— please, just...get out."

˙⋆⁺₊⋆.

☾. please like/reblog if this post was helpful !

#angst #angst fanfic #angst list #prompts #prompt list #fanfiction #fanfiction writer #kooruwrites #writing #writing prompts

[angelosearch]

Okay so no one asked about my Of Mind and Magic WIP but I really want to talk about it anyway. And when I say WIP, I mean a page of notes. But in my head, there's a lot.

Of Mind and Magic is my... comfort fic? It is the core plot of all my daydream scenarios for the last year. It is where I export my brain when I need to not ruminate on something irl. It is the longfic I will likely never write because it is basically an FF8 post-game soap opera that is loaded with every headcanon I've ever had. However, every once in a while, I will come up with something in this sandbox that I will use elsewhere.

The fic is honestly deeply personal and there are some concepts I'd want to introduce but may feel too distant from the "reality" of the game for me to confidently write about.

BUT just because I am unsure I will ever write it, doesn't mean I don't want to talk about it! And perhaps if I do talk about it enough I will give in and try...

This fic is the ULTIMATE marrying of my two "unskippable cutscene" topics: FFVIII and mental health/psychology/neuroscience.

The main concept is that using magic in the world of FFVIII takes a toll on your mental health. We already know that summoning GFs affects memory storage and retrieval, and this is pushing that idea further. The more magic you use, and the more powerful magic you summon, the more potential there is for diseases of the mind and the development of toxic thought patterns.

But it also works the other way. Those with mental illness and those with still-developing brains (children and teenagers) are predisposed to being able to capably wield magic. This blurred "membrane" between the conscious mind and magical power can also manifest in other magic-related abilities, like manipulating dreamscapes and premonitions/visions of the future.

Particularly, those with developing brains are more capable of using magic because their pre-frontal cortex (the decision-making center of the brain) is not fully formed until age 24-27. On some unconscious level, people must decide to accept magic as something they can tap into, and if your brain is fully developed and functioning it recognizes the magic and rejects it as an "immune" response. This is why women must receive Sorceress powers for the first time as children or young adults. Once the magic is accepted in this vulnerable place (Sorceress magic or otherwise) the capacity to use magic (or accept more magic from a sorceress) never goes away. Adults can choose to use magic for the first time after their brain fully develops, but it is never as strong. People cannot junction GFs if they haven't done so before they are in their late 20s.

There is some optional dialogue with Edea at the orphanage on disk three (after the promise): "A knight will present you with peace of mind. He will protect your spirit."

In this fic, this idea plays out in the sense that the knight must ground the sorceress and help her limit her magic use so she does not descend into "madness" - melt her brain and lose herself to the all-consuming power of the magic. However, the bond between sorceress and knight does weaken the mind-magic membrane further, so there is a reciprocal need for the sorceress to also monitor the mental health of her knight.

If a knight was already predisposed to magic (maybe by using it heavily before their brain finished developing) and had a mental illness, they could have tremendous potential for magical ability.

Do you see where I am going here?

It is an eight-year post-game story from Squall's POV (at least in the first part). It's Squall/Rinoa but in the beginning, they have lost themselves and each other. It's really a story of self-discovery, change, caring for the inner child, legacy, and longing. Lots of family stuff because that's what I do, including a major plot line involving Raine and LAGUNA LAGUNA LAGUNA always.

This is why I hesitate to even try to write it: It is steeped in mental health/therapy stuff. I think I am capable of handling that as a writer, but the intensity to which I'd want to take it I am not sure is... appealing? Especially because I wouldn't want to give many trigger warnings to avoid spoiling. Also, I wonder if people would find it "appropriate" to bring super-heavy stuff into this world? Does anyone want to read about Rinoa suffering from an eating disorder in a very serious and as-accurate-as-I-can-make-it way? Or is that just insulting to people suffering from eating disorders? I like reading about this stuff, but I'm not everyone.

Squall comes to realize he has bipolar disorder... I am bipolar, I relate to Squall, and I know what bipolar experiences look like. I have no in-game "proof" of Squall being bipolar (though there's nothing in the game that disproves it either) but it's one of those things where you long to see yourself in the media you consume. Honestly, "Squall is bipolar with cptsd" (like me) was where this fic started. He has a very complete and public breakdown in this story. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to be admitted to an acute crisis psych unit in a hospital, this fic would show that. But maybe that is something that is better to write about in nonfiction??

A lot of this stuff is based on lived experience - either of myself or of other people via case studies/memoirs I've read. I rarely see stuff of this intensity depicted in works of fiction, let alone fanfiction. Is that because of a lack of representation, or is it because people don't want to read it? I honestly do not know.

I don't have a clear idea of where this story is going or when/where it will end, which is another factor that makes me hesitate in writing it. In my mind, I have two "season finales" but it's still ongoing (though Chaos Theory has taken over lately).

Anyway, I've been dying to throw this all down somewhere. If you've made it to the end of this post, good for you. You now know what the inside of my brain looks like.

#fanfiction #wip #fanfiction idea

[frozen-fountain]

Weird Questions for Writers

…All.

Alright, everyone else go home, I guess. I'll be doing this in stages over the next couple of days because, as much as I enjoy talking about myself, I do still have to write this afternoon. Thank you!

What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

Basic Times New Roman, more out of familiarity than anything. I keep meaning to try the Comic Sans trick that supposedly makes it easier to focus, but I don't know if I can bear to look at that all day.

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

I don't relish the thought of those wrist cramps, but yes, I think I would. I can't stand the thought of just keeping it all in my own head.

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

I usually end up doing it early afternoon, after lunch and a few minutes of pacing or stretching to clear my head. I'll also play with my cat for a while beforehand, as if he's tired from being a fearsome hunter he's less likely to get up on the clackboard to help me (results may vary). Then I procure something to drink, pick out something to listen to, and freewrite some word association for a bit if I'm not in the right headspace.

While I have a vague goal in mind for where I'd like to write up to, these days, I only make myself do a single sentence per day. It's usually much more than that, but just that sentence absolutely has to happen every single day if it's really all I can manage. When I'm done, I try to leave at a point I'm actively excited to get back to and have a clear picture, so it's easier to pick up the next day. Usually I jot down a few notes to help.

It's cursed because a lot of the music I enjoy probably is, and because the aforementioned notes have sometimes been things like "toilet paper" or "[character] on her Caravaggio bullshit" and I'm left just sitting there trying to work out what any of this was in reference to, or why Past Froze thought it was going to be helpful.

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Susurrus. I try to limit it to one use per story, and maybe one per chapter if I'm feeling extra indulgent.

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

Not a superstition I actively believe, but every time I think a fic might do well it's met with silence, whereas the ones I assume are for me and an audience of three end up performing way better than expected. I don't judge success on external factors and will write what I want to say regardless, but it's a nice reminder that whatever niche oddness you're cooking up might have more of an audience than you realise.

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

It's more a fear about myself, which is that my ability or lack thereof to execute an idea doesn't matter, because what I have to say in the first place is of no interest or value whatsoever and no amount of minutely crafted phrasing can change that. (Needless to say, I would never think this of another person, no matter what they were trying to tell me.)

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

That I do it anyway. That, regardless of how it does or doesn't impact on the world outside of me, I experienced something that made me feel strongly enough to take the time to attempt to recreate it in words. And when, after minutes that feel like hours of agonising over which words to use, I find some that hit the exact resonance and well of allusion I was hoping for? It's about the most accomplished I've ever felt.

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

I'd choose the all-dialogue option because that would be a bigger challenge for me, and also because I have a great model for how to do it in The Fall by Camus. So I'd reread that and pick apart how it was done in a way that worked; I can picture the setting of the novel so clearly even though it's only described in ways that feel naturalistic for characters who are walking through it. I'm guessing this would remain a shorter piece, and I'd have a specific reason for zooming in so completely on what's being said to the exclusion of all else, and I think this would be a great medium for an unreliable narrator. The negative space around what isn't said would have to be as intrinsic a part of the story as anything that makes it onto the page. I think it'd be a really interesting experiment, some time.

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

I believe many, many people have experienced things we currently (and most certainly always will) lack the scientific method to understand and quantify. I'm about ninety percent sure I had a premonition once. I also believe what we say and do resonates, in ways that are hard to track and trace, beyond the moment where they occur. I'm not sure whether this means I believe there's a non-corporeal part of us all that lingers after the physical body reaches its planned obsolescence, and that sometimes this remnant is able to reach out and touch the living from time to time, but it's something.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

At least a fragment of everything I've ever read or written lives under my skin. Even if I hated it or even if I can't remember anything about it besides that splinter that stood out the most. All I've lived - and not lived, especially when I might have had the chance to - is waiting over my shoulder and following me along the corridor, whether as a warning or a tormentor or a guide.

#froze fics #the--calamity

[rainofaugustsith]

FFXIV: I love the Dark Knight

I thought I'd write about the absolute joy that have been the Dark Knight story chain and job in FFXIV. After reaper it's my second favorite job in the game, and I never thought I'd feel that way about a tank class. I wanted Viri to have one so she could do all the Cardinal Virtues quests and such, but up until now Viri has not enjoyed tank jobs. DK is the third one Viri has tried. I noped out on Gladiator by the time I hit level 20 and I didn't get past level 5 with Marauder. Dark Knight, on the other hand, has been very Viri.

The combat won't spoil the story at all so let's talk about that first: it's great. I did glamor the ginormous sword away for something far sleeker, but there are numerous options for that. There's jumping, there's slicing, it's supported by magic, and it actually does seem like a natural companion to the reaper DPS job. Like the reaper and black mage, there's a lot about harnessing the power of the dark side and using it to help others.

One of my quibbles with some of FFXIV's jobs is that they clearly seem designed only for group play. Like Black Mage. Yeah, it does a lot of damage, but you're planted in one place and that doesn't seem to work unless you have a tank and another DPS forming a barrier so you can stand at a distance and cast. Taking the time to cast in open world combat, solo, has really not worked well for Viri. I find her Black Mage cannot survive things her other jobs could easily do.

DK seems like it's intended to be sustainable as both a solo and group content job. Yes, it takes longer to kill things than DPS, but the DK also puts out a lot of damage with certain skills. I'm finding that Viri's DK can tackle enemies a few levels higher than herself without struggling or being in any danger of being defeated. In the dungeons I've done with the Grand Company squadron and Duty Support, she's also been able to do well.

Now, then, the story. What comes across so clearly in the story is how much the WoL hurts from all that has happened to them, and it's really illustrated by the DK. Spoilers for the Dark Knight story up through level 70, mention of CSA and parental abuse.

There's the entire premise of how the dark knight came to be: a clergy member abused a child, the establishment ignored it, and this one knight who was horrified - took care of it. There's an ongoing theme of standing up for the little guy, the oppressed and ignored; those subjected to institutional abuse and marginalization. In truth even though the dark knight is supposed to work in the shadows, it really isn't that far from what the Warrior of Light already does. They are trying to protect people who need the help.

Caption Sidurgu: All that anger, all that rage...born of a fervent desire to protect that which we hold most dear. In the initial and Stormblood Dark Knight quests, the writers seem completely in tune with how the WoL might be feeling. A lot of Frey and Myste's dialogue were sentiments I'd felt myself as I played through. Guilt over the deaths caused by the WoL. Guilts over deaths of beloved characters that the WoL could not stop. Deep resentment and anger, especially in the end of ARR and Heavensward, about how the Scions and Cid seemed to consider the WoL nothing more than a machine to do their bidding.

This scene where Frey finally loses it and tells off this man? chef's kiss Viri wanted to do that far more than once during ARR and Heavensward.

Caption Fray: You spineless sack of shite. I kill your enemies. I fetch your things. I do what you people can't or won't do yourselves.

So of course when one realizes Frey is actually someone only the WoL can see, and all Frey's dialogue is actually coming from the WoL themself? It makes sense. It's their dark side; it's every time they bit their tongue. It also makes sense that they'd have to confront it, and embrace it. In Stormblood when it's their guilt coming to a head, again, it makes perfect sense.

Caption Viridana Dragoi: ...if this is how it must be, then so be it.

And Heavensward's quests? Showing the deep extent of abuse again, and how the Holy See's zealotry destroyed lives. We had a child who had dragon blood through her father, being pursued by an inquisitor mother who referred to her as 'it' and made it clear she would not rest until her child was imprisoned or dead. And one of the dark knights protecting said child was a young survivor of Ishgard's genocide of the Au Ra, which makes it even more poignant. He was harmed by Ishgard as a child; he does not want to see another child harmed.

Oh, and they manage to sneak a Moogle quest into the gloom and doom, which is hilarious.

Caption Merry Moogle (singing): Could it be that the darkness is born of a light? A flame burning for another? How graaand! The level 70 ending to the DK quests honestly made me teary, but in a good way. You're on good terms with Sid, the Auri DK who has very heavy Esteinen vibes, and his young charge, Rielle. The WoL is reminded again that they are loved, that they are remembered, and that they share the loss of their friends with others who cared about them. At the end of the day the DK arc really is about love, and how to protect those you love, and the anguish when you can't.

Caption Count Edmond de Fortemps: Haurchefant...lived his to the fullest...and if his story is preserved for generations to come, then...I should be glad of it... Count Edmond de Fortemps: You will always have a place here, Viridana. For you are family. Now go! Do not let me keep you from your labors. The world waits for none - not even you.

#ffxiv #heavensward spoilers #dark knight spoilers #ffxiv dark knight #Viridana Dragoi #rain talks FFXIV #rain plays ffxiv #tw csa mention #cw csa mention #tw abuse mention #cw abuse mention

[goddessofchaosposts]

Hi!! You asked for feedback, so I'm giving it, and please don't take offense!! I'm simply trying to give you tips

Really the only thing I have to say is dialogue. I saw you used

Character A:

Instead of using quotations. This is typically a big put off for some people, including myself. I understand that quotations can be confusing, so here's a few things to note.

1. When you use a dialogue tag (he said, she asked, they muttered) the sentance will always end with a comma unless you are using a question mark or exclamation mark. When you don't use a dialogue tag, you will just use a period.

Ex.

"I really don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"I really don't know what you're talking about." She laughed and faced away from him.

2. Don't repeat the same dialogue tags too often. Seeing 'he said' over and over again gets repetitive and boring. Switch it up every now and then. Use words like breathed, shouted, spoke, etc. They add more flavor to the writing. You can find a good list of different tags here. Another tip is to break up your dialogue with actions in between.

"If you're not going to listen, then leave," he said.

"I am listening," she said.

"Clearly not. I can see you staring out the window," he said.

Vs.

"If you're not going to listen, then leave," he said pointedly, frustration clear in his tone. He crossed his arms and shook his head.

"I am listening," she replied, still not turning to face him.

He huffed in disbelief. "Clearly not. I can see you staring out the window."

3. If there are multiple people of the same gender/who use the same pronouns speaking at a given time, be sure to specify the person. It gets really confusing for the readers, even if it makes sense to you as the author.

"Have you read Mike Smith's new book? It's amazing!" She gushed, holding up the book.

"No, not yet," she replied. "Don't spoil anything!"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed. If you don't already have it, you should hurry, because I heard that it's selling out everywhere." She sat down across from her and set the book on the table.

Vs.

"Have you read Mike Smith's new book? It's amazing!" Anna gushed, holding up the book.

"No, not yet," Leah replied. "Don't spoil anything!"

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed. If you don't already have it, you should hurry, because I heard that it's selling out everywhere." Anna sat down across from her friend and set the book on the table.

4. This is more of a style preference, so it's not that important, but I thought I'd throw it in anyway. Sometimes dialogue tags can get repetitive and at some point you may just stop reading them and skip to the next text. A good way to avoid this is to just do dialogue by itself or have that character do actions. Only use the first option when it's clear who is speaking.

5. Whenever a new character speaks, a new paragraph starts. This is pretty self explanatory, just watch how many times you do this and how much dialogue and description you're putting in to one paragraph. Too little can lead to the screen looking empty and too much can lead to the lines seeming to bleed together with no break. This is a hard balance to master that I myself haven't gotten, so don't stress it too much.

I hope this helps and wasn't too wordy! I look forward to seeing what all you create and how you grow as a writer 🫶🫶

Thank you so much for your help. I'm trying something new with this whole Tumblr writing thing. This was not offensive but very helpful. I greatly appreciate you.

[semi-imaginary-place]

started playing the triangle strategy demo. politics right from the start, excellent. and of course there's royal half siblings am i going to need to draw a family tree? i should probably draw a family tree. let me look this up. why is aesfrost a grand duchy? its a kingdom it has a family line of rulers. being a duchy ruled by a duke means your under someone else but the aesfrosts are ruling independently. wait if both frederica and her siblings were headed to glenbrooke why didnt they go together. yeah they're here for alliance peacetalks, pretty sure frederica's marriage is a part of those dealings. ok im confused. theres 2 international meeting with the nations top delegates. one in that side scene and one in the main story. this is all for the same event right? part tournament part festival part business meeting for mining. but wait no the tournament is in the capital and the mining meeting is in wolffort castle. or maybe they need to meet the king first and then to wolffort? yeah yeah i think thats it

i wonder how old the characters are? im assumming roland, serenoa, and frederica are in the same age group. serenoa comes off as young adult maybe 20? i dont think he's older than 25 or younger than 16. but if erika is younger than frederica and already an international delegate ... wait different mothers so who knows what the age difference is.

i feel kinda bad looting people's houses like here's the lord of the realm taking your pocket change. maybe if i do nother playthrough i'll leave it alone but for now i want to see if i pick up anything interesting.

things worked out for fredrica huh left a place that didnt want her and entered a place that doesnt scorn her for her heritage.

why was the feast held in wolffort? dragan and.... the other one didnt have house wolffort specific business did they? or is the mining operation headed on the glenbrooke side by wolffort? i missing some simple link. why hold a feast for the joint mining venture when most of the players are in the capital. oh lyla and symon are friends that explains it

hmm i had assumed roland and serenoa were old friends given they are part of the two most important families in the kingdom but if serenoa doesnt know hugette, either she is new, serenoa didnt come to the capital much or his friendship with roland is a more recent thing but no even then as the heir to wolffort he should be familiar with the kingsguard.

uhhhhhh my one weakness.... remembering names... who are all you people? this is why i'd be a terrible politician irl.

i learned why aesfrost is a duchy.

where does the river go? these 3 nations are land locked but a river that big probably runs out to sea and that would solve the salt monopoly. or are they really like dead center of eurasia.

roland's my favorite character so far. the only orher character ith significant screentime is frederica and im neutral ln her. serenoa seems ok.

i like this voting system. ah yes the racist theocracy and the other dictatorship that hates us. i chose the unlocked option every time. im unsure if the unlocked one is always the right answer or if it just presents another option but i convinced everyone i tried. and because i wanted more dialogue i convinced people both ways for funsies so minus frendrica and .... the wolffort arms master guy... e-ed something who were like talking to a wall i switched everyone else. you want to go to hyzante? no you dont. you want to go to aesfrost? what you actually want is hyzante. its fun.

i do like how racism against the roselle is portrayed so far. its based on a superficial (racialized) characterisic. "everyone is equal in hyzante except for the roselle" yeh that tracks. good worldbuiling in the sense that theres not a good nation with pure and good traditions and an evil nation with twisted barbaric traditions.

in general i've liked how the choices have been done so far often times im like mmmmm all 3. ive been choosing so far based on a mix of personal opinions and what is most diplomatic for the specific person im talking to sooo what ever i feel is best as nebulous as that is. for example with the hierofant about the mining venture i think its a stopgap measure but i do hope it works and can help build fair and peaceful relations. i chose the fair profit option tho because we are in hyzante which prides itself on its measures to increase equality.

is frederica having second thoughts about coming? shes the one that wanted to come most strongly and not only that both her and greeta's arguments were "do it for ferderica". if she did this much to go she should have prepared herself.

ooooh i want the full game now. i wonder how i can get i on sale... eh gamestop has 5$ off wonder if black friday would get me a better deal

#triangle strategy

[sokkastyles]

People usually says that Katara and Aang are best friends, but I really don't see this. Katara and Aang never shared any deep conversation or understanding, I mean, Katara does understand and protect and cuddle Aang, more like a mother would do, but Aang never does the same. Actually, I think he disrespected here more than just a couple of times. On "Southern Raiders" Katara even said that she knew Aang would never understand her. Best friends are supposed do be supportive, understanding and Katara knew that Aang wouldn't be able to do this for her. I don't think that Katara goes to Aang to share her burdens because she is constantly protecting him and he probably wouldn't be able to handle it. I do think they are friends, but never best friends. Katara gives and Aang just takes.

I'd like to hear your opinion.

I think it says a lot that Katara tells Aang in "The Southern Raiders" that she knew he wouldn't understand this part of her. Katara is always trying to protect Aang from anything, including herself and her darker emotions. That says to me more than just feeling protective of Aang, it says that she feels like she can't be her true self around him. Like when she yells at him in "The Waterbending Scroll," she immediately apologizes and is afraid of hurting his feelings. When she is praised for her bending skills in front of Aang, she deflects and says that Aang is the Avatar. Whether or not Aang actually does understand Katara (and I think it ALSO says a lot that he claims he understands but then completely misunderstands at the end of the episode, and is wrong about his assumption about what Katara would do) it is clear that KATARA thinks Aang wouldn't understand this aspect of her personality, and that's true not in just what she says in TSR but in the way she hides the darker or more selfish parts of herself when she is around him. Like how she waits until she is alone with Zuko to finish her threat to him. Or when she breaks down in the catacombs (again while alone with Zuko) because she has to always keep it together for Aang and the rest of the group.

If you look at that scene in TSR, Katara didn't even want to tell Aang where she was going.

Katara: I need to borrow Appa.

Aang: [Jokingly.] Why? Is it your turn to take a little field trip with Zuko?

Katara: Yes, it is.

Aang: [Slightly surprised.] Oh. What's going on?

Katara: We're going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn't understand.

I mean. Look at the way Katara approaches this situation. She's not asking Aang's permission, they're already packed. She doesn't open with telling Aang where they are going and why or bring up her mother to appeal to what he already knows about her trauma. She just tells him she needs to borrow Appa. She's already decided that he's not a part of this, she doesn't want him to see this part of her, and she already knows Aang won't understand.

And Aang's response in the face of Katara's seriousness is to joke about it. And he's totally surprised when he realizes how serious she is. I'm supposed to think that these two people have a deep and intimate connection?

Moreover, Katara becomes even more defensive in response to Aang's levity. Her dialogue changes from "I need this" to "WE are going to do this." Meaning her and Zuko. Because she feels unsupported by Aang. She's already decided that Zuko will support her in a way Aang won't, and she hated Zuko like five minutes ago! But she trusts him more than she does Aang, the supposed wholesome option, her supposed best friend.

Another very interesting thing is that when she says she knew Aang wouldn't understand, it is to refute Aang's dismissal of what Zuko said. Zuko is speaking in support of Katara after Aang's initial dismissal of her, Aang is dismissive again, and Katara says what she said to Aang not only in response to his tone, which makes it clear that he doesn't take what she wants to do seriously, but she says it to defend Zuko. It is, like, hilarious when people use this episode as evidence that Katara and Zuko are toxic together because what they just did right there was support each other instantly, while Aang and Katara bicker with and talk past each other.

Katara could have said something like "Zuko says he knows where to find him and it's the only chance I have" or something to indicate that she didn't really trust or want to go with him, because she hasn't forgiven him yet, but she doesn't do that. Instead she lets Zuko explain the situation to Aang, who should know her better and who she should feel more comfortable with than a guy she only recently stopped hating.

The thing that gets me is that there were multiple opportunities to use this episode as a bonding moment between Katara and Aang, even as its purpose is to establish a bond between Katara and Zuko. Aang could have apologized to Katara for not understanding or used it as an opportunity to learn about her. Instead he assumes she'll do what he thinks she should do and is totally wrong, makes an assumption, and Katara's look of guilt when Aang says he knew she'd "make the right choice" is so painful. That look says so much. Because I believe Katara wished Aang understood. I think she wished she could show the more hurt side of herself to him without fear of judgement. It's the same look she gets when she overhears Sokka talking about how he thinks of her as a mother figure. And whether or not it is Aang's - or Sokka's - fault that Katara feels this way, the reality is that she does, and that is so sad.

It's sad that a fourteen year old girl feels that much pressure to be perfect, to not show anything that might be interpreted as ugly or uncomfortable for the people around her to deal with. To take care of other people to the point of feeling guilty for her own emotional needs.

What annoys me a lot of the time about this conversation is that a lot of people center Aang and how good of a person he is and how he "deserves" Katara, how dare you say Aang did anything wrong, etc etc. The problem with this - other than that no one deserves a relationship based on how good they are - is that it's not necessarily about what Aang did wrong, it's about Katara's needs not being met. And the show weirdly went out of its way in one of its last episodes that focused on Katara and her relationships to show that Katara's emotional needs were not being met in her relationship with Aang.

#katara #antikataang #the southern raiders #zuko #the runaway #the waterbending scroll

[relatablegenzwriter]

How to write erotic moments or short stories without making it convoluted, cheesy or tacky? I grew up very religious and although i no longer believe have lots of trouble with sexuality in general. I'd like to try writing stuff as exploration cause i find p*rn too exploitive and iffy and dont wanna support that industry. but i'm not really sure what to do to do it "right" instead of dull or cringy. I just sit for hours with a blank paper till i give up

Writing Non-Tacky Sex and Romance

I'll start right off the bat by saying that this is definitely not my writing area of expertise, and I don't know how much I can tell you that you don't already know. So I'm gonna offer a couple of tips and then send you to a lot of posts that might answer your question better than I can! (P.S. I know your question was about sex specifically, but as you can see from the title, all of this can be applied to romantic scenes as well, which I got similar questions about.)

1. Be careful with metaphors. Of course, no writing style is "right" or "wrong", but flowery language can often make or break any scene, especially romantic ones. Many times, the overuse of dramatic, romantic metaphors can overload a scene and make it feel cheesy and cliche. And let's face it, millions of tiny stars aren't bursting around a couple every time they kiss, and we all know that sex is not magical in the slightest. I think the biggest problem with these kinds of descriptors, though, is not that they make you groan with how sappy the writing is, but because they often feel impersonal to your characters. So instead of your character "hearing a symphony swell around them", maybe "for a moment all their worries about [plot conflict/subplot conflict] seemed to move toward the back of their head". (not my best descriptor i could come up with on the spot but you get it) Although, while this will remove the cliche aspect of your scenes, it can still go overboard. Bringing me to my next point…

2. Be realistic. Like I said before, not every romantic or sexual interaction your characters have is going to feel like a Nicholas Sparks movie. There are lots and lots of awkward, ordinary moments. Include these! Of course, you probably won't want to make every moment of every sex scene say "yeah it wasn't that special" (unless of course this is the direction you want your story to take). If your character enjoys kissing or sleeping with someone, say that. But there are very few people whose worldview has shifted after one night together, and I doubt this is true for your characters, either.

3. Be careful about your source information. It's okay to take inspiration from everywhere, but it's important to take everything with a grain of salt. Particularly with sex scenes, writers tend to take inspiration from two major places: porn and WattPad (you know, THOSE fics). Keep in mind that porn is not meant to be realistic in the slightest, and I could go on a whole other tangent about the horrible expectations it sets for sex in real life. And don't get me wrong about wattpad: there are great writers on there and it's a great option to share and read fiction (for free, too!). But a lot of the ridiculously smutty fics, while entertaining and well-written, depict fun-sounding but sometimes unrealistic sex, that may not fit into the fantasy novel you're writing, @sjmaas. (Disregard that last bit if you are writing something akin to wattpad smut) Also, just a little side note that you should never be treating porn or wattpad as legitimate sex ed for real life!

4. Try building your scene from the ground up. I did a post on this a while back, but I used to really struggle to write romantic scenes until I figured out a method that works for me. Basically, you picture your scene as a building that you first need to lay the framework for, then fill in the cement/bricks/whatever, then furnish and decorate. First, I go through and write all the dialogue that will be taking place and mark crucial events. (example: "Hey, can I tell you something?" "What?" "I think you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." [kiss]) Next, I rewrite the scene almost monotonously, in the plainest way actions can be written. ("They held hands." "She took her jacket off." "He walked across the room.") Once I have my "building", then I can go in and add all the emotions and little details. I do this so that I don't have to stare at a blank page, since I already know how my scene is going to go. Then all I have to do is fill in some little details that make the scene more personal to my characters. I highly recommend this to you, since you talked about how you know what you want to write but can get scared of a blank page (hey, me too!).

5. Extra Resources! Here's some people that can probably help better than I can with specifics:

Including Consent In Writing (SUPER IMPORTANT)

Non-Explicit Scenes

Explicit Scenes

Romance In General (with a section containing tons of nsfw writing advice)

Good luck with your story!

#answering asks #writing tips #writing advice #my advice posts #writing romance

[blackjackkent]

We do get some more chat with Jaheira and Minsc before sleepz though!

"I think you might have made a terrible, terrible mistake. Chasing rumor halfway around the city and back. Crossing the Guild, wading through filth, defying the one creature upon whom your very life depends. All for a madman and his rodent."

"The Absolute threatens thousands - the entire Coast - and still you risked much to help one man. I should berate you, but... I can only say thank you."

"Your reasons were your own, but whether you meant for it or not, your fight is our fight. Both of us. To the very end."

Aw. <3 Jaheira is so fkn great, and look at the big grin Hector gets when she says she's with him to the end:

He really likes both Jaheira and Minsc a LOT to be honest. Jaheira reminds him a little of some of some of the older monks at the monastery (well, older when he was a young man; he was just starting to become one of those older monks himself when the nautiloid hit); she's wise and experienced and does not wear her heart on her sleeve, but she's also very kind, clearly feels things deeply under the surface, and believes strongly in the work that they are doing. And Minsc is... well, Minsc. I think on some level he reminds Hector of Karlach - intense balls-to-the-wall fighter with tremendous energy and a kind heart - and he would clearly put himself between any of them and danger in a heartbeat.

No matter what Jaheira says... it was worth it to help them both.

Amusingly, one of the dialogue options here is "Hm. None of that was a thank you," but like. It literally was? She literally said the words "thank you" two lines ago. XD

Instead, Hector just teases her gently - as I've noticed he's now done several times; it's not entirely characteristic of him, and speaks to the fact that he feels very comfortable with her and the sort of person that she is.

"Don't go getting sentimental on me, Harper," he says with a slight smile.

She laughs, and to his surprise he does hear a hint of a catch in it, a slight tremble that hints of tears. It is honestly rather touching; all of a sudden there is nothing of the frustration that came out earlier in the conversations, none of the sardonic deprecation or fear for the road ahead. She is tired; they have reached the end of the day and Minsc is safe - for all that he should never have been in danger in the first place, she has been worried for him for so many months... and now it is done, and he is safe. He is not another friend she has had to see into the ground.

"Ah," she says ruefully. "Those misty eyes are just age. Yes, I feel myself growing older as we stand here. So... lead the way. We are yours to command."

The message is clear; whatever tangled cocktail of emotions she is feeling at present, it is none of his business and she does not want to talk about it. He can certainly relate to that. But the understanding is between them, all the same.

-----

"Fine lodgings you have found, my friend! Boo is already in negotiations with the guardian spirits of this place. In Baldur's Gate, they are likely to be rat-formed and eager to charge rent. But Boo shall secure safe slumber for all! Now - what do you need of Minsc?"

I love him, your honor.

I also love the mental image this conjures of Boo sitting up guard and judo-chopping any rats that try to crawl out of the sewers.

"I'd like to know a little more about you."

"There is more than a little to know, I think. I am huge!"

Lots of fun back-and-forth to be had here. Annoyingly it's one of those conversations where I can't ask all the questions at once, so I had to reload a number of times to get everything. I'm not going to write all of it out, but some highlights:

He told Hector about Rashemen, described the "telthors, guardian spirits of every root, rock, and tree. Here in the Sleeping Lands, they are silent, but in the far north, they know how to speak still."

Apparently he went back to Rashemen for a while after BG2 (yay, my fic was unintentionally correct XD ); the "Iron Lord" there told him that his dajemma was done and he should work for the lord, but Minsc disagreed because Dynaheir was dead and he felt his dajemma could never be over. The Iron Lord felt disrespected, challenged him to a fight, and lost (obviously), at which point the Council of Witches told him he should probably get out of Dodge.

He did mention Aerie too! Hector commented that he seemed to toss the Wychlaran title around pretty freely between Dynaheir and Jaheira, and he answered: "You suggest that Minsc uses the term lightly? Simply leaps from Dynaheir to Jaheira, with no caring for the custom itself? An unworthy thought - and WRONG! In between there was also Aerie, my second witch. She needed a protector, and Boo suggested that it might as well be Minsc. And when she went her own way, Minsc and Boo set to thinking - there is power in the wychlaran bond. Far too much to be wasted on weeping. To use that power to serve the living does not sully the dead - it honors them." The way this is phrased seems like it could be read to imply that Aerie is also dead, but she is definitely not. However, it does concur with the assumption I made in the previous post, that Aerie basically was doing her own thing with Caden and no longer needed a protector and set Minsc free, more or less.

Hector pointed out, very carefully, that when Minsc described why Jaheira should be his new witch, he seemed to be just describing... friendship. Minsc thought over that for a minute... "Hm. So. Duty, camaraderie, help in troubled times - what I call the bond of a wychlaran, you simply call... friendship? I think I understand your meaning. Then Jaheira is my wychlaran. And so are you! You are my wychlaran! And Wyll is my wychlaran. And Astarion is my wychlaran! And Gale is my wychlaran! And Shadowheart is my wychlaran! And Halsin is my wychlaran! And Karlach is my wychlaran-- or, no, Karlach is a berserker, so... perhaps Minsc is *her* wychlaran? My thanks to you, wychlaran. You have given me much to think on - and should some enemy blow knock it loose again, Boo shall remind me." LOL. Minsc is not a subtle man but I honestly think he's fucking with Hector just a smidge here. (Or at least, to be honest, I hope he is; Minsc knows what a friend is, and his relationships with Dynaheir and Aerie are significant to him on a different level. The BG3 writers are doing fantastic with Minsc for the most part but this line, while funny, doesn't really play well for me exactly.) That said, I think Hector has a point that Minsc latching onto Jaheira specifically this way is him taking her friendship and trying to make it into this other important thing that he is missing, because he doesn't know how to handle being without a witch entirely. (Probably also a BIT of coping mechanism for having been teleported forward in time a hundred years, even though he doesn't actively claim he's bothered by it.)

Hector asked if Minsc knew anything about what deal Roah was striking with the false Jaheira and the Stone Loard; Minsc had no clue, unsurprisingly. Boo then piped up with quite a lot of agitated squeaking, which Minsc interpreted to mean that Boo thought he should open his mind up via the tadpole so that Hector could view his memories and perhaps understand elements that Minsc didn't. Minsc was clearly uncomfortable with the idea, though, and Hector isn't keen to use the worm more than strictly necessary, so he just told Minsc they'd find another way.

Hector asked about Boo and Minsc told Boo to explain himself. Boo squeaked. "Clear enough?" asked Minsc. XD Hector asked a little further and Minsc told roughly the story I was already aware of; he received a head wound from bandits and Boo showed up as he recovered. It is neither clear nor, I think, meant to be whether or not Minsc actually understands him. (Though I'm curious to see whether we are able to Speak With Animals with Boo on my druid playthrough. XD )

He talked a little about his experience getting turned into a statue. (Hector mentioned that Jaheira had told him about it; not sure if I missed a dialogue somewhere or that was supposed to have happened off-screen). He doesn't seem to know much about why it happened; just that he was ambushed while doing "cleanup" work in the city's underbelly and then woke up in the Wide a hundred years later when someone cleared the petrification.

And finally, some longer bits actually worth writing out -

Caden references! He cheerfully told Hector about fighting alongside "the Bhaalspawn" ("Gorion's Ward," etc... he has a NAME, Minsc! XD ) and fighting off evil. Hector, whose only exposure to a Bhaalist is Orin, was kind of skeptical: "How did you come to trust the spawn of such an evil god?" Kind of fun to see how the dialogue dances around making any specific assertions about the past game player character. In this case, Minsc goes off on a tangent: "A curious question. Are a child and his father always alike? Take Minsc! He does not have a clear memory of the face of his father, but he does remember tugging on the thick, red whiskers that sprang from his chin. A beard for the ages! Boo could have nestled there happily through even the harshest of Rashemen winters. Now - look closely at Minsc, and what do you see?" Hector, patiently, grinning in spite of himself: "You don't have a beard." "Correct! There are more whiskers on Boo's tiny face than on the mighty chin of Minsc! If Minsc did not inherit the flaming red hair of his mother, or the bushy red beard of his father, why would the spawn of Bhaal inherit his wickedness." Hector looks kind of impressed. "That's... surprisingly insightful." Minsc grins brightly. "I have many more thoughts about beards to share! I did not know you cared to hear them!"

-----

"I'd like to know your thoughts on our companions."

"You hear that, Boo? Your keen skills of observation have not gone unnoticed! Our friend wishes to consult your wisdom."

Hector blinks a few times rapidly but rolls with it. (Yet again he is quite like Caden in some ways. XD ) "Yes, Boo, I'd love to hear your opinions."

"So small is Boo that he is often mistaken for a pinecone, and many secrets are spoken in h is hearing! He will tell what he knows - but Minsc of course will translate."

Astarion first: "Oh, the pale scoundrel has his charms, it cannot be denied. But my friend, it gives me no pleasure to tell you - Astarion is not what he claims to be. Just last night, Minsc was dressing one of his many heroic wounds in camp when Astarion stumbled upon the scene. I tell you, he grew pale as death itself. He licked his lips and trembled so violently that Minsc thought he might faint on the spot! The truth is painful but undeniable. Astarion... is a coward. How can he fight the battles to come when he grows soft at the first sight of blood?"

[LOUD SQUEAKING FROM BOO] "...Just one moment." [MORE SQUEAKING] "You are sure? And you could not have told me this before?" [SQUEAKING] "...Minsc may be mistaken. Boo presents compelling evidence that Astarion may in fact be a vampire."

Hector finds himself once again fighting the urge to grin; this seems to be his default state when dealing with Minsc. "I know. But don't worry, he largely gets by on rats."

"Minsc has met many vampires and never one whose smile did not hide treacherous teeth. But... as you say. It is good that we do not have any friends who could ever be mistaken for a rat, eh Boo? If the sun can bear to look upon Astarion's monstrous face, then so can Minsc and Boo! For now, at least."

(Wonder if he is thinking about Hexxat and their battle with her in the crypts of Athkatla, so many years ago...)

Wyll next: "Ah, the great Blade of Frontiers! A fine name. Minsc has no idea what it means, but it suits young Wyll's air of mystery well. It is good to know the city did not go unprotected while I wore pigeon droppings on the Wide. Jaheira did her part, of course, but she prefers to scowl from the shadows. The city needs a name. A face! Preferably a furry companion, too!" [LOUD SQUEAK FROM BOO]

"He has a companion, all right," Hector says dryly. "Her name is Mizora."

"Mizora. This is... some manner of exotic bird?"

"Close. A cambion, bound to him by an infernal pact."

"What? Wyll, the Blade of Frontiers of whom I heard, is no man to deal with devils!" [SQUEAKING] "Ahhh, Boo speaks sense as ever. There is goodness in Wyll; we have seen it! If there be a devil on his shoulder, then Minsc and Boo will sit astride the other! He will not be long in coming back to himself, I think."

Gale: "I do not wish to speak of the wizard." [SQUEAK] "I could not have said it better myself."

"Gale's great - what's your problem with him?"

"He came to me one night with a little book of mischief, full of words and their meanings. 'Posterior,' he says. 'Can you say posterior?' I refused! Minsc does not need to know the language of wizards!"

Hector, swallowing yet another smile: "Posterior isn't wizard-talk. It's another word for butt."

"It is an inferior word! Far too long to use in a battle cry, which is where a butt belongs! Gale would do better to educate himself in the ways of sword and steel than to throw these pointy words at Minsc. Ah - yes, Gale also owns a cat! A cat with wings! That is most unnerving for poor Boo!"

"You should give him a break - he's only trying to help."

"Never! If he is not careful, Boo will shred his books and use them as bedding!"

And finally, Halsin: "Who is Halsin?"

"The elven druid."

"Oh, the tiny puny elf with leaves in his hair and dirt under his fingernails. His name is Halitosin? How very unfortunate."

"Halsin," says Hector patiently.

"That is what I said."

"You're both giant hulking do-gooders; I thought you'd get along."

"Pah. Minsc saw the druid chasing himself in circles and sniffing his own butt last night! He has spent too long as a wolf and not enough as a man." [LOUD SQUEAKING FROM BOO] "NO, BOO! THE DRUID DID NOT BEAT MINSC AT THE ARM-WRESTLING! IT WAS NOT A FAIR MATCH, AND HE TURNED INTO AN OWLBEAR HALFWAY THROUGH, AND THERE WAS GREASE ON THE TREE STUMP!"

XD

-----

"When our minds mingled, I saw some... strange things."

"Oh? The mind of Minsc is a simple place. Of what strangeness do you speak?"

Narrator: The memories resurface, a lifetime of battles blurring into one. The single constant is Minsc, launching into the fray no matter the foe - be they god, monster, or man. It seems just the barest glimpse of what the man before you has ssen and done, but enough to know that he has no right to still be alive."

"Ah! Wait! That look in your eyes - I know exactly what visions of Minsc you have seen, to cause you such wonder..."

"My pants! Thrice-laced in the Rashemaar style, so that a berserker might split skulls without fear of splitting britches too. They *are* fiendishly complex, but fear not for Minsc! With training, he has learned to master the many little knots."

"Never mind your pants," Hector says firmly. "You've walked between planes, fought gods!"

"Well, as have you, no? Do not forget that when you gaze into Minsc, Minsc also gazes into you! We both fight evil, wherever it is found. The who and where are less important than the hamsters you meet along the way. On this matter of sharing memories - I see no reason for us to worry at one another's worms. If there is more we wish to know, we can simply... ask, no?"

Hector is very okay with this; he does not want to use the tadpole at all if he can help it. "Of course. A warrior speaks their mind, instead of reading others."

"Exactly so! If I must peer into the mind of my enemy, I use an axe. For friends, there is ale. No, my friend. If you fear you have a question that Minsc cannot answer, then you can simply ask Boo!"

I repeat: I love him, your honor.

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #holy shit i thought this was just gonna be a short camp convo but minsc had SO much to say! #and i was just gonna do highlights but then i realized it's minsc and it's ALL highlights #he doesn't miss #realistically this post is like 95% just for #springagainafter #so she can experience all the minsc and jaheira content vicariously XD #hector is really happy they're both in the party now though <3

[oatmilkovich]

I'd really love if you made a post about Noel's acting this episode! If you still want to

hey!! <3

this episode reminded us (not that we needed the reminder, looks at the writers) what the show is missing out on when they reduce the characters and their storyline’s down to comedy with very little substance. 

this is the first time in a long while that it feels like mickey’s trauma surrounding terry has been giving the time, space and the dialogue it deserves. I’ve been waiting many, many years for this sort of resolution for mickey...

my thoughts on noel’s performance under the cut (it’s a little lengthy!)...

as always, disclaimer: this is all my opinion, but i did go to drama school and have a degree. there’s a pandemic and nothing else to do, i just like talking about it. 

firstly, something I’ve always admired about noel’s work is his ability to tell us a thousand things without saying a single word. we’ve seen it from the very first season – there’s very few other actors on the show that consistently carry that much power with their silence and noel really did the most this week. let’s look at this moment:

mickey doesn’t say anything until prompted by ian and yet because of the intensity in noel’s look and the sheer amount of tension he’s carrying, we’re completely aware of mickey’s feelings in the moment without having to hear any dialogue. his physicality tells us more than any dialogue would. his shoulders are tense, his face is fight – it’s a deep, visceral reaction to seeing his father. noel has clearly thought about mickey’s pov here – not only about terry, but about this moment in general, about the first time he sees him after coming home from the hospital, about watching the man who tortured him for years finally be met with even an ounce of the same pain he was subjected to. immediately, we’re thrown into the heavy weight of the moment and when mickey does speak, it only echoes what we already know from his physicality. the dialogue complements noel’s performance, rather than solely carrying it. he’s managed to tap into the perfect balance of allowing the lines to come from truth — they don’t feel planned out or rehearsed but delivering them in a way we can tell that mickey has thought about it – mickey’s history with terry is lengthy and incredibly complex and that’s completely embodied in how noel delivers each line. It’s important to me that we can feel the history there, but that history is left at the door when it comes to his work in the scene. he’s not displaying the history, he’s existing in it. 

my personal ‘acting theory’ (to avoid sounding like a wanker) is that you don’t act as your character, but that you exist as yourself under those circumstances. mickey’s circumstances in the scene are noel’s circumstances and he reacts — as he would — in the moment. prep work for this is key. noel has said in previous interviews that when approaching mickey in the earlier seasons, he focused on having a secret and lengths he would go to protect it. knowing this, we have a small idea on how he approaches mickey now. he clearly has taken something in his own life and used it to personalise this situation with mickey, he’s thought about how he himself would react in those circumstances, because he is himself in mickey’s circumstances — this is why it feels so personal, this is why his performance is still so consistently nuanced all these years later. this is why he can tell us so much in a simple shift of the eyes. 

take emma’s performance during this episode – in the moments she’s talking about sandy and how upset she is (eg: inside the ambulance with ian and mick) she’s very much really going for the oh my heart is so broken blah blah, but it doesn’t land because you don’t believe her heart is broken. the lines are empty. you compare that to the subtleties noel shows us throughout the episode and it’s almost unfair that they have her scenes next to his. this isn’t to roast her, but just to highlight the differences in nuance and depth. allowing dialogue to carry a performance vs actually living in the performance. 

discomfort played a huge part in noel’s performance in 11x06 too and discomfort in scenes can bring wonders. mickey is uncomfortable — he’s faced with some horribly difficult decisions. we see a stark difference from his easy going ‘just pull the plug on him’ energy vs when he’s actually given the chance to. the stakes in the scene and situation are extremely high – mickey is quite literally battling with an opportunity he’s been waiting his entire life for. the weight of those stakes are heavy on his shoulders and the highlight of the episode for me was the physical journey on noel’s face as he holds the gun to terry's chest. noel gives us mickey’s internal battle – there’s the pent up rage he clearly had been carrying with him on the ride over, then the irritation, the fear, the sadness, the frustration. you can almost see everything mickey has ever had to go through because of terry in the way he looks at him. 

this shot above in particular has really, really stuck with me. the way he doesn’t respond to ian, keeping his eyes firmly planted on terry – he’s lost in his thoughts, in his history and you can feel everything behind noel’s eyes. 

it’s such a fantastically layered performance that he makes it impossible to look away. he allows the moment to play out and live and doesn’t speed run to achieve anything in his performance. he doesn’t push. noel doesn’t walk into the scene and go ‘oh i’m gonna make mickey feel this on this line and this on this line’ – he gives the emotions their time and place to land, we see and feel mickey’s journey without a single word. it all comes from his natural reactions to the circumstances. he doesn’t try and show us what mickey is going through when faced with the option to kill terry — he lives it, he sits in it and he exists in it. 

we also had a great example of noel’s range this ep. he delivered his funny, usual one liners like he has done throughout this season but really hammered home his talent when given dramatic scenes. it was a refreshing balance. 

overall, noel’s performance in this episode is a great example of how a well acted scene doesn’t have to contain screaming or crying or overt, obvious dramatics in order to be categorised as ‘good’. similarly to what I said in my post about ian’s vows, some of the smallest and subtle moments can carry as much as a 5 minute monologue or an intense shouting match. 

this is long and probably a little boring, but I could honestly talk about his work for ages. thanks for the question (and the other anons too!) and please feel free to send me anymore – especially as we now have a 3 week break before the next episode <3

#i lied and got anxious so here it is an hour later #willa's acting thoughts #enjoy though! i hope i didn't ramble too much #but really i just enjoyed this episode so much #pls ask me anything else if you want to have a discussion! #noel fisher #shameless #tw guns #actingasks