#in expansion on the twitter updates i just like

[svtskneecaps]

The purgatory discord screenshot was one of higher ups saying:

i'm gonna be honest, the only way to move someone from their favorite pov is:

drama

create drama

drama moves people

if u can make two teams fight or two players fight each other, or a winner, we can set those situations

Lea (french admin who tweeted the screenshot) also tweeted extra context, saying that this message was about purgatory preparation and how to get people to talk about the project.

Tbh it seems to me to be talking more about the entire basis of purgatory as a team-based competition, not necessarily about intentionally making the teams as unbalanced as they ended up being. But anyways, wanted to share the original message to you since you were looking for it! And either way theres huge problems structurally in the server organization for sure, and full support to Lea and the admins.

yea the stuff coming out is super wack, i'm honestly shocked that they've had less than 5 admins on the TWIT UPDATES EVEN, let alone PER LANGUAGE, like that's crazy. guess it kind of explains some things i've discussed w my sibling even before all this came out, though!

thank you for the transcript and the clarification!! with context yeah it does seem like how you've interpreted it. i doubt it was referring to intentionally unbalancing things, or at least it doesn't read that way to me either. "moving someone from their fav pov" seems kind of counter to "put a lot of the active players who have huge audiences on one team" (listen i mained bolas, i Know). they aren't strictly wrong in terms of conflict breeding conversation; purgatory certainly got people talking (ha ha ha 🙃)

mad support to the team who've managed to keep the server running all this time despite everything, and absolutely mad respect to those who've spoken out about it!! hopefully they can straighten everything out.

#shut up vic #block game brainrot #in expansion on the twitter updates i just like #like tbh if they're volunteers why not have like TEN PEOPLE per acc #you don't exactly have to tell the updates accounts what's coming any more than you tell fans #like 'hey make these teaser tweets' and send them the stuff there's no real need to tell them lore details #so you don't have to worry about big team = more people to spoil? they don't really need spoilers #the most they would need is 'hey we're planning on doing an all day event who's available on april 11th' etc #and then they have TEN PEOPLE who could be available #somebody's streaming until 2 am? well out of ten people ONE OF THEM can probably do it and they can TRADE OFF #idk maybe i've never run a twit updates account but i see no downside #like you already aren't paying them at least with ten people dividing the workload it's less of a full time job #it IS somewhat funny that the server known for communication developed poor backstage comms (but i have faith it'll get sorted) #funny in like a 😀 kind of empty eyed laugh-or-cry way lol #ANNNNYway ty anon!! have a good week <3

[asharaks]

it is, i think, symptomatic of the way larian has built this brand: bg3 was always marketed as being mature (read: sexual), and that was one of the big draws for players - myself included! especially as media pulls more towards extremes, with mainstream video games starting to get increasingly graphically sexual, graphically violent, and the vogue for 'grey morality' becomes the norm, those boundaries get pushed, and it becomes more and more of a selling point.

larian obviously focused on this, along with the How Do You Do, Fellow Kids brand, the increased accessibility of game devs on twitter, and adopted it heavily into their marketing strategy, and are now pretty reliant on the horny gamer crowd for a lot of their audience, and more importantly, they're doing this on purpose.

which is how you end up in situations like this.

characters (white men) the players want to fuck get centred: they get updates, they get more content, they get favoured. halsin's gone from a side character in EA to a half-fledged romance option, to a full romance option: he shows up in the promotional material, is larian's poster boy for the sex scenes, he gets more content with every update.

now gortash gets more heavily implied situationship lines with the dark urge, because players are horny for him. nevermind that some people aren't playing that way, or that he was originally set up to be a lower-level antagonist; nevermind that if the durge's storyline needed expansion, it should've been with orin and sarevok and bhaal, or that it muddies the writing for the rest of gortash's arc + characterisation: people want to fuck him, so it gets put in the game. it's not even to do with karlach, whose quest so desperately needs expansion! it's specifically catering to the people who want their character to have a Relationship with the slaver, because they're either not interested in or not able to focus on strengthening the weak spots in the narrative: they're just doing things that will net the 'my favourite dating sim' people lmfao.

meanwhile, literal main character wyll gets his quest demoted to a subquest, doesn't get bugfixes, doesn't get a single unique romance greeting after 6 patches and months of requests. he's not a Horny character, so he doesn't get the focus: he's not a player favourite, so he gets nothing. it's just... so unbelievably, indisputably racist, and it's incredibly grim and disappointing to watch it happen in real-time.

#also #and I can't believe I'm saying this #it feels like character assassination against enver 'can't be in a room with you without 5 robocops for protection' gortash. like come on. #stop trying to make him sexy he'll never be sexy #he's a slaver. #i feel like larian have backed themselves into a corner where they have to pander to this side of the fanbase #because they've encouraged it so strongly that now it feels like a majority share of their audience are here for the sex #bg3 #larian critical #bg3 fandom critical #to be clear. Yes i am being a hater #baldur's gate 3

[once-upon-an-animation]

There are many things that frustrate me with the writing of Annabeth in the PJO TV Show, but I think one thing that I haven’t seen people talk much about is the mini-arc of Percy needing to help Annabeth with her sense of fun/humanity.

Just so we’re clear, I absolutely hate this arc.

Prior to the show’s premiere, I believe there was a quote from Rick discussing new-ish things that we’d see in the show, and one of those things was Percy helping Annabeth “tap into her humanity”. I can’t find the exact quote, but it should be on the series update Twitter account if you search it.

When I first read this quote, I wasn’t exactly sure what it meant, but I thought maybe we’d get an expansion of the theme of forgiveness that we got in the original books, or maybe we’d get an arc about Annabeth’s pride and how that gets in the way of her relationships with others. Or maybe they’d try and break down the ways in which Annabeth helps to uphold the gods’ ways of doing things, and align her more with the mortal point of view (which they essentially did, but not the overall point).

What I certainly wasn’t expecting was for them to strip Annabeth of most, if not, all of her smaller/softer traits, and give her this unusually stoic and stiff personality, where she suddenly has no familiarity with casual aspects of the mortal world (movies, Disney world, common idioms), and needs Percy to introduce these concepts to her in an effort to “unlock” her humanity.

What.

The.

Fuck.

Words cannot emphasize enough how much I despise this arc. Not only is it entirely nonsensical for Annabeth not to be familiar with these things (she was with her dad at least until the age of 7 and she goes to a camp full of other children who are regularly in contact with the mortal world; do you seriously expect me to believe that at no point in her 12 years of life, she never saw a single film, heard of Disneyworld, or heard common idioms and slang terms from her camp-mates? Seriously???)

But ALSO!

Book!Annabeth had PLENTY of humanity to go around! Even with her pride and initial coldness towards Percy, she plays hackeysack with him and Grover on the first day of their quest! She has a cute silly crush/admiration/infatuation on Luke. She nerds out big time over the St. Louis Arch! She’s the first to steal clothing from Waterland! She screams and cries when she encounters the mechanical spiders! She has an expression of sadness when she shares her backstory about Thalia and Luke! She gets lost in her little construction game at the Lotus, so much so that Percy has to use her phobia to pull her out of the trance! She grabs Percy’s hand when they first enter the Underworld because she’s scared! She tears up when it’s time to leave Cerberus!

And you stripped her of all these things, because you’re so desperate to overemphasize the Percabeth romance, and you felt that it was absolutely necessary to have Percy educate Annabeth on “unlocking humanity”??? Why!!!!

Not only did Book!Percy help Annabeth discuss things about bad parents and approaching forgiveness, but Book!Percy already had something important to offer Annabeth: loyalty, trustworthiness, and reliability. You didn’t need to take away her already-present traits and wits to convince us that Percy was the type of person she needed in her life, because we can already see what he offers her in the books. So why oh why did you feel the need to give us the silly “tap into your humanity” arc? Why did you turn her personality into something that it wasn’t? Why did you take away her depth just so her character could better serve Percabeth?

I don’t even necessarily agree with the criticism that this version of Annabeth feels like it prioritizes Percabeth more, but I can see why people made that complaint. Y’all took away so much of what made this character endearing, because you felt like it was a much bigger priority to have Percy help her unlock humanity than to let her be human prior to meeting him and outside of him. Not only does her personality get shafted, but her relationships with other people get shafted too! Her interactions with Luke are affection-less, she sent Grover off on his own in the Lotus so she could go off with Percy, and I don’t even think that she and Chiron interacted once this season; I don’t even think she mentioned the part about her calling him to come pick her up after she attempted living at home again!

But don’t worry; we’ll get plenty of scenes doubling down and tripling down on how Percy is the center of her world now! Yay!

#rick riordan #annabeth chase #percy jackson #pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #pjo hoo toa #pjo series #pjo tv show #percabeth #pjo tv crit #anti pjo #anti percabeth

[brittle-doughie]

Infinity and Beyond - Looking Into The Sweet Signals from Space Update!

We’re finding the imposters among us with this one!

The aim of this concept is to have it be a multi-update deal akin to the Dragons storyline with how they say “like the dragon series, we’re diving into a story set in a rich, expansive universe”. This peaked my interest, I’d love to see what they have in store! I know there are some folks who like or don’t like the Dragons story, so I wonder what you all think of this!

Meet Astronaut Cookie! She’s cute, has an ice cream sandwich satellite for a pet, even has a cat cookie motif with her costume? What more could you want! Yeah, her skill might be a bit too reminiscent of Cyborg’s (who also got a skin after 84 years lol), but I’m willing to look past that.

Alright, I’m kind of vibing with the setting already, cookies are probably toothpaste, wonder if they clean your teeth when eaten. How does one “escape” or even fortify against a blackhole? The event itself sounds similar to the Sugar Maze event to me…in a way somehow. Wait, why is Stollen Cookie here?Also Planet H A M B O R G A R

I’m now getting Star Wars: Rogue One flashbacks. Just like Cyborg, it’s been 84 years since he got attention, so I’m happy to see he got a cool skin to deck himself out with!

The Surprise Bears. They can either go well or go very poorly, still means I don’t have to run over and over again for the god damn legendary ingredients. However, I do hope the challenges aren’t meant to be a cap in any way, since that already drags it down when you were able to AFK for hours beforehand, even if it sucked. Team Fight getting a gem boost might give me more incentive to play.

(Gmod flatline sound effect plays)

The Deal with Legendaries is canceled, y’all /j. I can’t keep up with their pace, bro. I’m over here trying to write it from time to time and they already have another one on the way, I’m dead. Xylitol Nova himself is getting flak for having a supposedly dull design unworthy of the rarity, I’m already seeing it in the QRTs on Twitter lol. For me, I’ll wait until I cast judgment, he has a pretty cool skin though…

———————————————————————

(Astronaut Cookie looked all around her new setting, seeing the city’s sleek, clean, futuristic design she hasn’t seen much of back on Earthbread. The cookies here didn’t look all that different too, save for their ingredients being possibly toothpaste in some capacity. She was caught staring at this one cookie in particular, she observed them inspecting the shield and instructing the robots to different spots close to the barrier, Xylitol Nova Cookie chuckled at her once he noticed.)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Ah, I see you’ve taken an interest in one of my cookies. That would be Xylitol Y/N Cookie, they’re in charge of making sure the barrier is in peak performance, they’ve been hard at work ever since we’ve seen reports of the blackhole.

(Xylitol Nova walked over to them as Astronaut followed. Meanwhile, you were instructing both cookies and robots alike on the status of the barrier, making sure that no fault in any way was detected. Until the voice of someone very familiar to you called your name..)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Hello, Xylitol Y/N Cookie. How are you doing?

(You greeted Xylitol Nova in return and proceeded to ramble on about the barrier. You did your best at trying to speak to him, but couldn’t ignore that cookie next to him staring at you. It also looked like Xylitol Nova wasn’t taking your analysis seriously with that smile of his, something that bothered you to no end!)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: How routine of you, Xylitol Y/N Cookie. Always thinking about the barrier when we haven’t had any issues in the past couple rotations. We have a guest here today and I’d like for you to meet her-

(You couldn’t, you had to inspect the rest of the barrier-when Xylitol Nova Cookie suddenly hugged you from behind with a strong grip, a scene that made Astronaut Cookie feel…envious. You complained and grumbled as you try fruitlessly to free yourself)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: Xylitol Y/N Cookie. You are taking a break from now until further notice, I’d hate to use my authority on you, but this is for your own good. Feel free to interact with your fellow cookies, come and see me in my residence, or even introduce yourself to our guest here~! (I’d prefer you pick the second option in my opinion)

(You continued to struggle until it felt tighter to move, you looked to your front to see Astronaut Cookie hugging you from the front, her head resting on your chest. You swear she’s…shaking a little bit?)

Xylitol Nova Cookie: What do you know? Even our visitor is agreeing with me, she appears to have taken a liking to you too.

(…Who was this?)

#brittle speaks #cookie run x you #cookie run x reader #cr x reader #cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak #cookie run ovenbreak x reader #crob x reader #crob #astronaut cookie #xylitol nova cookie #cookie run update

[askagamedev]

Hello! I have a question that I've always pondered. Why do certain franchises like Pokemon and The Sims have no serious competitors or at the very least never had a serious breakthrough competitor? on the internet; I've always seen very loud complaints from fans who say that the games have gotten worse overtime so naturally I wonder why a competitor has never been able to swoop in and grab a foothold. Is it because these games are hard to replicate in reality or something more that I'm missing?

Major genre leaders are really hard to unseat once they've gotten going. There are a few major reasons for this.

First, every major genre leader has an incredible amount of momentum going forward. Any competitor that is entering the space can't just compete with what Pokemon, the Sims, Call of Duty, or League of Legends launched with, because that's not what those players are playing. They're playing the latest update with the latest features and all of the expansion content for that title to date. A Pokemon competitor is competing against all nine generations of pokemon, all of the game systems, all of the lore, all of the entrenched goodwill and memories players have from growing up with the brand. This means any competitor must launch ready to compete with the current state of the genre leader - and that can often be decades of combined developer hours.

Second, the genre leader has a huge amount of player data at their disposal - they know what their players like, what they want, and they have the tools and years of developer experience to build the kind of content that they know their players will engage with. These hard-obtained data from actual players are much more actionable than the market research for a game no one has ever seriously played (or paid for) before.

Third, it isn't enough just to match the genre leader - any new competitor must be significantly better to draw users away. Humans are very conservative by nature and they don't like trying new things. It's the biggest reason why sequels sell far better than new IP - people are scared of the possibility of not liking it, so they stick with things they know they like. Any new offering must be so much better that the difference overcomes the comfort of the player base. That's a mighty tall order.

The result of all of this is that any attempt to wrest leadership away from the current leader is an enormously expensive undertaking that has no real means of recouping that investment until launch. It's a huge gamble with extremely long odds. As such, it's very difficult persuading people with money that such an endeavor could successfully dethrone an existing major genre leader like the Sims or Pokemon. These are all major reasons why Twitter users stay on Twitter, Facebook users stay on Facebook, iPhone users stick with iPhones, and so on - despite all of the other issues that have arisen with them, the offered alternatives are just not appealing enough to overcome the need to make that switch. Instead, most competitors don't try to become the leader but instead aim to carve out their own sustainable niche within the space. That's a much easier ask.

[Join us on Discord] and/or [Support us on Patreon]

Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

#follow the leader #franchise management #working in the game industry #the business of video games

[blustalker]

Wrong Room

Narrator x Top!Male Reader (smut)

Warning(s): NSFW, small degration, praising, unprotected sex, biting, top reader

a/n: With the lack of narrator x m!reader I had to write something. I haven't written anything in months so I'm very fuking rusty @mxbrahms made me do it cheers.

The narrator has been ranting about his impression of the game and how it's horrible. Y/n couldn't agree more. Jumping and elevators? Really?!. Who knows, maybe there's more to it up top.

“Yes, I knew there has to be something else. Let's see it. I'm ready for whatever it is." Y/n was urged to walk through the bridge. From the distance he could see a blackboard with words scribbled on it. He passed through the door as he looked closer, his posture slumped down in disappointment.

Thank you for enjoying the new content.

"That's it?! Oh, you've got to be kidding me! You see, Y/n? This is what happens when greedy video game developers with no respect for their fanbase rush a cheap expansion to market for no reason other than to make an easy dollar! And don't get me started on the level of craftsmanship that’s gone into it-" Narrator shouted in disbelief

"Truly! what kind of-" Y/n stopped talking his mouth agape. Did he just speak? He slowly looked up at the ceiling in shock and confusion, questioning the narrator.

"My god y/n? How- This is wonderful! For once the developers did something right! Go on, Y/n speak up." Y/n was speechless; he didn't expect this to be one of the new content.

"Hello?" A grin formed on his face; finally, at last, he could actually speak up and stop using gestures.

"This is wonderful Y/n! Can you believe it? I was intending to find these people on Twitter and hold them accountable for this terrible update. I should rather send them a nice comment" The narrator said giddily as he typed on his keyboard.

"You seem so enthusiastic about this"

"Why of course, I must admit you sound so beautiful y/n- Sorry, ahem I'm just getting tired of hearing my own voice all the time"

"So straightforward of you narrator. You like hearing my voice then, don't you? '' Y/n teased him might as well take advantage of this new found content. The narrator could be heard shifting in his seat and clearing his throat.

"Yes, well of course after being stuck here for eternity it’s nice to hear something new.. Moving on. I'm going to reset the game and we'll test out our new found content, and try to get back what The Stanley Parable is really about. Just you and me having a great time together like always. What do you say friend?" He could hear the smile in his voice and grinned.

"Sounds good to me" 

___ 

Y/n appeared in his office, he didn't stay long, and exited out the door. Everything was different, the walls were now gray and the lights were dimmed. He took a few steps forward and called out for the narrator.

"Psst! Y/n! Come over here… in the vent. I want to show you something." The narrator called out in a hushed tone. Y/n walked up the stairs and stared at the vent. He never followed any instructions from the narrator, and instead went into the room to his right.

"Oh come on y/n! When are you ever going to listen to me! I wanted to show you something special"

Y/n only giggled in response and entered the room beside the vent. He'll explore the vent later on.

Inside the room was strange. It was dark, a black void in there was a computer, and a person. The computer was the only light source illuminating the person's face. Y/n froze as the person glanced at him.

"Y/N?! God how can I be so stupid. I forgot to lock the doors. Go shoo you're not supposed to be here. This is going so wrong"

Narrator approached y/n forcing him out of the door, before he could speak up, the narrator cut him off.

"Oh, who am I kidding. I know you won't listen. I'm gonna restar-"

"Hey! No wait- You know this is a perfect time to test out this new content plus I know the best way to test it." The narrator got a proper look on y/n. He couldn't help but get flustered at how close they were and took a few steps back

"Fine Y/n, tell me what is the best way?" Narrator tilted his head a bit questioning you

"I'm a lonely man narrator. It's only me and you all the time. Everytime you talk I can't avoid imagining bad things about you can I? I know you thought about this too once you heard my voice. So do you want to test it out?" Y/n said as he looked at the narrator, eyeing him as he got closer. He would never pass up this opportunity.

"Yes.. please"  He replied, flustered; the narrator didn't expect it to get to this point. He's not wrong, he did want this.

"Good. Let's reverse the roles shall we? Summon a bed, lube and lay down on it and strip" Narrator obeyed, stripping out of his clothes and summoning things you asked for

"Already obeying huh? so good for listening. You might as well take my place." Y/n can’t help but get excited and approach the narrator. His hands trailed down his chest, down to his stomach. The narrator whines impatiently, his lingering touches making his cock twitch.

"Someone's impatient" y/n whispered in his ear. His hand caressed his waist while his eyes trailed down the narrator's body, down to the neck and chest. What a perfect place to leave marks on.

“You still have your clothes on. P-please take it off. I need to feel you” He asked him, tugging on his shirt. Y/n complied to his request, stripping down off his clothes, and attacked the narrator's neck. His kisses felt warm on the narrator's skin making him buck his hips up, wanting to get some friction, though Y/n pinned his hips down with his hands.

"If you keep doing that I won't let you cum. You won't like that now would you?"  narrator shook his head frowning a bit

"speak"

"yes, yes please touch me. I want you" He whimpered

"You learn so quick don't you? Very good at listening."

His hands held  the base of his semi-hardened cock, making him gasp. Y/n stroked him on a torturous slow pace. The narrator didn't dare to move; he learned his lesson.

"A-ah your hands feels s-so good around me. Please, pl-please go faster M-mhh" He mumbled. His eyes were closed, focusing on the hand stroking his cock.

"Is that all you got? I know you can do better than that. Tell me what do you want"

"Please! Just I-i want you to fuck me ha-ard and cum! Pls-"

Y/n sped up his strokes. Making him moan louder. He back arched a bit close to cumming but y/n stopped

"N-no please let me cum. I've been listening" he pleaded at him

"I know honey I'll give you what you want. We don't want you cuming already before I fuck you

right? Lay on your back"

Narrator immediately laid down, desperate for his cock. Y/n couldn’t help but admire what he's done. Narrator begging to be fucked like a dumb slut. He opened the lube and spread it all over his fingers and inserted it in his narrator without a warning making him gasp and moan out. He pumped his fingers in and out getting faster each time. Narrator only gets louder and louder as you add a second finger. He isn’t used to feeling this good. It's too overwhelming.

"P-please! fuck me y/n ple- please i want your c-cock-" He said the best he can y/n curled his finger making him stop and shout his name. 

"Look at you, you're such a cock slut huh" He took his fingers out of his ass making the man under him whimper. 

He put a generous amount of lube on his cock pumping it slowly, making him moan before lining it up to the narrator's tight hole. Y/n pushes the head of his cock in slowly and separated narrator's leg further. 

"A-ah fuck. You feel so good" He pushed his whole cock  inside his ass drawing a whine out of narrator

Y/n thrusted into him deeper and faster. Drawing out moans from the two. Narrator wanted to kiss him so badly so he threw his arms around his neck and pulled him in. 

The two kissed heatedly. Y/n pushed his tongue in the narrator's mouth and he submitted to him fully. 

"Y-you feel so big and fit in me so well- F-fuck" 

Y/n reaches for the narrator's dick and jerks it off. Making the narrator moan as more pre cum leaked out of his cock. He tried not to cum yet he wanted the feeling to last. Skin slapping and moans filled the room. Y/n trailed kisses along his neck and bit his shoulder not enough to break his skin. Narrator's moans got louder as y/n fucks him hard. 

"Please I'm so a-ah close please y/n '' He buried his face on y/n's neck kissing it lightly and inhaling scent. 

"Cum for me, be a good boy and cum for me alright" He groaned. He too was close to cumming 

"Fuck- FUCK Y/N-" Strings of cum goes on y/n's hand and narrator's stomach. It was hot, wet and sticky. 

"Shit I'm close- I'm gonna cum-" Y/n moaned out his thrust gets sloppy and cummed in his ass. Narrator cupped his face and kissed him tenderly. 

"You alright?" Y/n asked panting for air and pulled his cock out slowly. Making narrator whine "Y-yes I'm fine..I can say that this new content very nice"  narrator replied giving y/n a lopsided smile making him laugh 

"Alright, alright I'll get us cleaned up"

#the stanley parable x male reader #narrator x male reader #the narrator x male reader #stanley parable x male reader #stanley parable x reader #the stanley parable x reader #narrator x reader #stanley parable smut

[lilbittymonster]

It’s been a year since my original pinned post for my WoL was made so it’s probably time to update.

Edit: Updated for 2024!

About the Blorbo

Name: Kitali Moonblade

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Main Job: DRG/NIN hybrid

Age: Mid 30s

Her tag is #kitali moonblade. Her inspo board tag is just #kitali. Her wolmeric ship tag is #pure azure and her wolstinien ship tag is #bastards in arms. The triad tag is #the ot3 agenda.

Kitali is the daughter of two mercenaries, part of the Xaela diaspora who left the Azim Steppe before the tunnel to Yanxia was sealed off. She has no memory of living on the Steppe and instead grew up in Doma. She lived in Othard for almost two decades before splitting off on her own, eventually finding herself in Aldenard by way of Gyr Abania.

In a word, Kitali Moonblade is unsettling. At first glance, she’s stoic and standoffish and spends more time observing than participating in a conversation. Even people who’ve known her for years are still surprised by her. She doesn’t make friends very easily but once she’s decided she likes someone, they’re stuck with her. Her trust is hard to win and easy to lose.

About the Blog

-This is an 18+ only blog. No exceptions. Minors will be softblocked, come back when you're older.

-This is my main account and will not be FFXIV exclusive! I try to tag alternate fandoms but am inconsistent. You get what you get.

-This is not a follow4follow blog. I have not done and never will do follow4follow as it is the antithesis of curating your space. Nothing personal.

-I do try to keep FFXIV spoilers to a minimum, but it is not a guarantee. I will tag expansions pretty regularly, and will tag spoilers as "[expansion/patch] spoilers". There is no 2 week embargo bullshit here, it's extremely rude to both new players and to people who don't have the time or energy to blast through a new expansion in only 14 days.

-I don't do RP with Kitali but I do enjoy doing ask memes, writing, and gposing. The best way to interact and learn more about Kitali is to send asks from lists or go tag diving. I don't do well with open ended questions like "tell me about your WoL/ wolship", being precise and direct is the best option for me.

-I do have other OCs as part of a shared canon with some friends and they can be found under #the GAP tag, #the allagan tempest, #magiposting, and #into the blorboverse.

Permissions

-You are welcome to draw art of my characters! If anyone were to draw art of a scene from one of my fics I'd actually cry and probably put it on my wall. (SFW only, no lewds/nudes/sexual content. If I wanted that for a character I would commission it myself.)

-You may not write any fiction of any kind of my characters. This is a hard boundary. Unless I am heavily involved, I am not comfortable with my characters being used by other people.

Other Socials

AO3 | Twitter | Pillowfort | Bluesky

#pinned

[shadouge01]

I’m back.

My discombobulated thoughts now that I have finished Sonic Prime SPOLIERS!!!!!!!

********

Okay so I watched season 1 in parts and season 2 when it came out and just watched season 3 today. I binged everything, so if I don’t remember something 100% correctly, that’s why.

Sonic prime is good.

I know, shocker.

Okay, I haven’t watched any of the other shows so I can’t compare it to X or Boom or whatever. But this seemed to have a darker tone than most other sonic media and I enjoyed that a lot. (I know I need to watch SATAM, don’t yell at me.)I’ve dipped in and out of this fandom a lot. And my participation is all over the place (I won’t be posting about Ken spenders anymore, I took my Kenspiracies too far when I had that stupid twitter account yeah, that was me) but ANYWAY

This show was great. Not perfect, the main flaw I found was the pacing is very fact paced and action heavy which is good for a Sonic show and good for a person with ADHD like me. However I found the first season took awhile to get going and was more episodic. I know it was to introduce the characters but I got bored a bit. I’ll say again I liked the episode in Season 1 with Thorn Rose but the Boscage Maze and especially No Place never felt that fleshed out to me. I still wanted them to be saved because I cared about Sonic and his friends, but the worlds weren’t very interesting.

I. Love. New. Yoke. The aesthetic of this place is perfect and VERY Sonic CD bad future-seque which is PERFECT. I only wish we spent more time there. Especially in season 3 which takes place entirely in the Grim after the first two episodes, which I get, I do, but the pacing again, I felt was too fast and too much action and not enough character moments. The he ending felt rushed, because I really wanted to see the rebels rebuild New Yoke after the Egg Council was gone (assuming the other shatterspaces didn’t freeze in time like Green Hill did, but I got the implication that was a unique case.) and I wanted to see the others return home as well. I guess this leaves it open to a sequel or expansion of some kind, comics, some kind of spin off media, I’d even love an animated movie if they fixed the pacing issues, but yeah, that was my only gripe. I guess I wanted more time with Sonic and Nine reconciled too before everything happened but that’s the painful thing in life, sometimes you don’t get that. We know the prism still exists so then interacting again some way in the future might be possible, if they know how to control portals and such, hell with the chaos emerald they might be able to go to other worlds anyway. I wonder where Shadow is keeping the prism. I wonder if Nine stays on the Grim by himself or if he goes back to New Yoke. He deserves friends, and I’m sure some of the others would come around to him given time. renegade Knucks was up there fighting with Sonic after all. It could work. I just want him to be happy :((

I guess those are small nitpicks in the grand scheme of things because I want to say that the tone and storytelling was GREAT, the music was epic and cinematic and fit the tone of the show very well, the contrasting color palettes of different worlds really helped make it pop. The 3D animation was fantastic and felt perfect for a show like this. Characters were VERY expressive. (Hey Sega, can you update your in game models please thanks, you know it’s bad when the SA2 models have more dynamic facial expressions). Anyway, I thought the voice acting was great. Shadow’s voice felt a little wrong but I’m probably just used to Humphrey and Griffith, I don’t like his voice in forces either but I digress. It worked for this. Sonic’s VA was amazing and really able to convey a wide range of emotions and I thought the other characters had good VAs. Nine was great. I do wish maybe he’d had a redemption earlier against a greater threat a la Zuko style but one can dream. Nine is still easily the best version of Tails, ever. I was lukewarm on Tails as a character before and Nine made me appreciate everything about all versions of Tails. Incredible. What I love about Nine is he takes things too far because he has serious trust issues and him and Sonic fail to communicate which as a neurodivergent person is very relatable. I think Tails in general and especially Nine, is very autistic coded, and I love that. I just wish season 3 Nine had more development before the end because his arc was perfect until the end of season 2 but I’m at least glad he did realize and did the right thing. He’s really just a scared kid who wants a safe place, don’t we all? Again I REALLY want to see more material with him in the future and what becomes of him with Sonic gone.

My other favorite side characters were Thorn Rose, Rusty Rose, and Dread, but I thought they were all great. I loved that the roses had a great character moment, as did Dread when he finally realized that saving his friends was more important than treasure. The Egg council was awesome, taking different traits of Eggman and turning them into a squabbling family was PERFECT. The fact that they met their demise because they were arguing over the prism was so real. Great stuff.

I want to talk about Sonic himself because this is one of the best Sonics I’ve seen. I haven’t decided if this is better than Movie Sonic, but I love both a ton along with Adventure. This Sonic is one of the most expressive Sonics with the most emotional range. Yeah, he’s still overly cocky and hilarious, and mostly always optimistic, but I love that he actually learns from his mistakes and comes up with new ideas. The fact he even took inspiration from the Egg Council to never give up was great. I loved the robots of all the main characters as well. Sonic was well written, VERY in character but still serious when he needs to be (unlike Archie Sonic (sometimes) and 06, which is bad).

Speaking of 06, this is the best written Shadow we have gotten since 06. I mentioned very early on in this blog how I love his arc through Shadow 05 and Sonic 06. Sonic is way out of character and the Elise thing is stupid, BUT, Team Dark was perfect in 06. It’s sad we don’t have Team Dark anymore, but Rouge on team sonic was cool, I just like Rouge in general and if they’re gonna make her part of the main cast, good. Okay, back to Shadow. His development in game is that he goes from being angry at the world and wanting revenge, to being emotionally numb and trying to figure out the truth, to finally realizing his purpose and knowing not to give up and kicking the bad guys when it hurts. He’s hard to crack, but he DOES care about his friends, as you can see through subtle actions, rather it be Team Dark, Sonic, whatever. He’d never ADMIT to Sonic that they’re friends, but I do genuinely think he cares for Sonic.

Anyway, Shadow has been stagnant as a character since then, the best writing was in Forces with him vs. Infinite but it didn’t do much to further his character. He hasn’t been in a lot of media lately like Frontiers (although maybe they knew they couldn’t write him well for games and wanted to see how he went over in prime and the upcoming movie). Prime Shadow made me more excited for Movie Shadow, because if we got one of, if not THE best Sonics ever in Prime as well as the movie, I’m expecting good things from Shadow in the movie, considering they really nailed Tails and Knuckles in Sonic 2, imo, and now knowing that Shadow is allowed to have feelings again is so good. He’s very in character, overly serious, and cold, but he is incredibly dedicated to the cause and unquestionably a hero, like 06 Shadow. Prime Shadow reminds me a LOT of 06 Shadow and that’s GOOD. He’s also just great with his subtle nod to Sonic when Sonic talks about his friends, their excellent back and forthing with Sonic cracking jokes “I didn’t know you were a hugger” and Shadow responding with his straight man persona “do you want me to save you or not?” It was great stuff all the way through. I thought he was decent in Season 2, but Season 3 was AWESOME. I guess I had to trade Nine for Shadow, sigh. Nine did come back around in the end which GOOD, if they kept him as a villain the whole time I would’ve been pissed, but I digress. This might be the best Shadow since SA2, he’s SO GOOD YALL and I could keep raving about Prime Shadow all day. I loved when Dr. Deep called him an edge lord, it’s great meta humor, and in character for Deep who actually is an edge lord. Really hope SEGA takes the positive feedback from this and makes Shadow better in upcoming games/comics. LET FLYNN WRITE A GOOD SHADOW FOR GOD’S SAKE!

Ahem.

Anyway, I’m glad I watched Prime, it gave us the best Sonic Shadow and Tails maybe ever and it took the darker tone that Forces tried and really fleshed it out. Good job guys.

#sonic prime #spoilers #sonic prime spoilers #sonic prime season 3 #sonic the hedgehog #shadow the hedgehog #ramblings #nitpicks #me raving over Shadow OMG

[rebelrebelwrites]

Another week, another…

Fic Friday! ❤️ Weekly Fic Recs

Let’s dive in.

This week’s recs are…

As always, please mind the tags on any recommended story for your own personal preferences.

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The Classic You’ve Heard Of But Somehow Haven’t Read Yet: Like Calls Unto Like by Elahrairah_Inle

What you need to know going in:

Oof, this fic. If you haven’t been reading it, where you been, fam? It’s been a while since it’s been updated, but don’t let that deter you — this S1 continuation begins with Gal and Hal in Eregion pre-reveal, then progresses to a full-blown post-S1 epic that is just that: epic. In addition to a spellbinding narrative, steamy AF smut, and captivating characterization, the thing that strikes me most about this fic is the love and care the author clearly takes with the plot. It’s intricately woven, and I am SO excited to see where they take it. This is a fic that’s worth waiting for, however long that may be.

WIP, Explicit

Read the story.

Follow the author on Tumblr and AO3.

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The AU You Need to Immerse Yourself In Because, Well, Wow: a dust like thine by @mortaltempless

What you need to know going in:

Agh! Recently completed, and I’m still basking in this fic’s beauty and perfect execution. (Also, be prepared to see mortaltemples on this list a few times; everything I’ve read of theirs has been 🤌.) This fic follows a BatB-style fairytale premise in the First Age, with Galadriel bargaining with Sauron for her brother Finrod’s life: he can have her, instead, as long as he’ll also help her overthrow Thingol in Doriath. The resulting story is thrilling in its pace and intensity — every moment builds and crests so that you’re constantly on the edge of your seat with the dynamic set between these two, which sees a very measured but mercurial Sauron and a very lovably impetuous Galadriel who has zero qualms making herself… we’ll say at home in Sauron’s fortress. I don’t want to say too much more for fear of spoilers, so just go read it/bookmark it. You won’t regret it.

Complete, Explicit

Read the story.

Follow the author here on Tumblr and on AO3.

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The Complete But Never Forgotten Masterpiece: the nameless by @bimmyou

What you need to know going in:

35k words, one chapter. Folks, I was intrigued, to say the least, when I stumbled upon this lengthy one-shot — reason being, I’ve become more of a minimalist as a writer/reader in recent years, so that WC made me curious, and I admit, initially a bit hesitant. Let me tell you… every. Single. Word. Was. Incredible. Absolutely not one wasted in this stellar masterpiece; I think I said in my comment something to the effect of Tolkien not being able to do it better, and I meant it. Before I spend too much more time waxing poetic about how absolutely incredible this one-shot is, I’ll give you the long and short of it: it charts Sauron and Galadriel’s story through to the Third Age after they meet on the Sundering Seas, and the care and consideration given to their characters, to the tragedy of them and all of Middle Earth as a result, is nothing short of harrowing, and spectacular.

Complete, Explicit

Read the story.

Follow the author on Tumblr, Twitter, and AO3.

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The WIP That Will Wreck You (In the Best Way): dig up the bones (but leave the soul alone) by @wyrd-syster

What you need to know going in:

Listen, it’s so damn hard not to start every summary with an embarrassing noise of both delight and anguish because every story/the talent in this fandom is incredible? I’ll stop wasting words with my nonsense and get on with it: Post-S1, in which Galadriel accepts Sauron’s proposal, and takes up the mantle of his Queen with a ferocity and strength of will you just don’t see in most fics, and it’s glorious. The expansion of orc culture and overall world-building in this is sublime, and even heartbreaking in the unflinching view it takes, always at the pitch perfect moment. The battle for dominance between Gal and Sauron in this, for me, may be my favorite so far I’ve read. It’s breathtaking. And did I mention that the smut and sweeping narrative is also stellar? Well there you go.

WIP, Explicit

Read the story.

Follow the author on Tumblr and AO3.

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The Can’t Stop Consuming No Matter What Time It Is Fic: a man is a god in ruins by eye_of_a_cat

What you need to know going in:

This is another case where you can expect to see this author’s works recommended more than once, but I believe it was a man is a god in ruins (and the larger series) that I fell in love with first. As stated, this 5-chapter completed fic is part of a larger series where the author explores different ways for Sauron’s identity to be revealed, and I urge you to read the entire series as well, but this specific story takes the opposite approach: the one time Sauron successfully maintains the guise of Halbrand. I don’t want to give too much away apart from that, so the rest I’ll say is that the sense of foreboding this fic builds is terrific, and masterfully done. Coupled with undeniable romance, scorching smut, and a series of twists and turns that will make your heart palpitate hard, you will be riveted the entire time, and blown away by the end. That I promise.

Complete, Explicit

Read the story.

Follow the author on Twitter and AO3.

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🤩🤩🤩

Me at all these fics:

Don't see your story on this list yet? Keyword: yet. Please don't fret! I can only recommend so many each week, but I am always looking for more stuff to read, share, and generally shower with love, so please feel free to reply with your own fics or your personal faves. I have plenty more to recommend... ❤️

Until next week!

#saurondriel #haladriel #sauriel #saurgal #galadriel x sauron #sauron x galadriel #galadriel x halbrand #halbrand x galadriel #fanfic #fanfic recs #fic recs #saurondriel fanfic #haladriel fanfic

[destinylegendrpg]

What is Destiny: Become Legend?

Destiny: Become Legend is a custom tabletop roleplaying game fan project co-created by @frombrad2worse and @cassiefisherdrake , crafted from the ground up with a unique dice system designed to capture the rich universe, expansive lore, and tactical combat of Bungie, Inc.'s sci-fi shooters Destiny and Destiny 2.

Click below the cut to find out more!

We are B (@cassiefisherdrake) and Danger (@frombrad2worse), two huge Destiny 2 fans and the creative force behind the Destiny: Become Legend TTRPG. B is a proud Titan main (Missile Titan Supremacy) and Danger is a filthy Hunter main (with a crippling Gunpowder Gamble addiction). Here's a picture of our Guardians!

We don't want to show too much until we hear back from Bungie's licensing team, but we'd love to give you a few glimpses into our game and the system that drives it! All you need to play is your imagination, your fireteam, and some six-sided dice.

In D:BL, the players, as Guardians, explore the vast universe, interact with its colorful inhabitants, and fight back against the forces of Darkness. When a situation with an exciting and uncertain outcome arises, you roll 2d6 and add stat modifiers to determine what happens. If things get dicey (pun intended) and weapons are drawn, combat begins. In combat, you have a pool of d6s you can expend every turn to fire weapons, activate Light abilities, and perform various Heroic Actions. Combat is designed to be fast-paced, tactical, and exciting. Just like the games, D:BL is built to be easy to pick up and fun to play for beginners, but contains a wide array of character customization options to provide a rich and rewarding experience for players that want to dive deeper and build the Guardian of their sci-fi fantasies.

While we wait to hear back from Bungie, we're cooking up an actual play livestream to show off D:BL in action. This short campaign will begin two years after The Taken War and will show how one small change can alter an entire timeline. But will it change for better or worse?

Each week, we'll join our two fireteams as they to race to save the Last City - and maybe even the timeline itself! Many sessions will even come with their own lorebook entry, read aloud at the end of play to further delve into Destiny's depths!

Whether you're ready to find out about the campaign, hear a fan-made lorebook, or just want to see how the mechanics of the D:BL system shake out, join us every Monday, at 8:30PM Eastern / 7:30 Central as we play live on our twitch!

Now you may be asking yourself - how soon can I play this at home with my other Destiny-loving nerd friends? And the answer is: soon! Right now, the system is in testing stages as we flesh out the rules, organize Vanguard playbooks, and more. Once we have things nailed down, the D:BL system will be free for all to play and engage with. Yes, free! After all, we are a fan project - our only goal is to spread far and wide so we can all have fun with our friends, playing together in the Destiny universe's sandbox. Follow us here or on twitter for updates, news, and stream announcements!

#destiny #destiny 2 #destiny the game #destiny2 #tabletop roleplaying #ttrpgs #destiny fanworks

[sim-berry]

Reminders for the upcoming TS4 update!

Simmers, the new expansion pack For Rent comes out on December 7th and as we all know, big updates can mess with your game especially if you use mods. I've learned my lesson from the last few updates and I'd like to give some suggestions to help!

Note: I use the EA App for Sims 4, on a Windows computer. The methods I describe here will probably not apply to MAC users. I also don't know if these work for pirated games so just be careful!

-BACK UP YOUR SAVES. Just in case your save gets corrupted or the update somehow manages to lose your saves (this has happened to me- after the update, my saves were gone). Here's what I do:

Navigate to your "Sims 4" folder. In my case it's Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 4.

Find your "saves" folder and right-click to copy it.

Paste your copy of your saves folder to your desktop (some people paste to their external hard drive as well, but I'm not sure how to do this)

Right click on your copy to rename it. It's a good idea to write the date on which you copied your folder. Here's my current backup:

Your saves are now backed up! If you lose your files in the game or they become corrupted, open up your backup folder, then select and copy all the files in the folder and then paste them into your actual saves folder. Your saves will then be restored! You should do this every so often just in case. I try and back up my saves once a month.

-Turn off automatic updates. This way you can choose when to update your game. I personally wait until mod creators start updating their mods and then update the game.

Open the EA App and head to your settings, then the "downloads" tab.

Turn off the "update games automatically" option.

When you're ready, update the game and enjoy!

-Follow mod creators on social media. If you use mods, it's a good idea to keep up with updates and what the creators are up to. When there's a huge Sims update, many mods (especially script mods) tend to break and need to be updated by the creators. Keeping up with them allows you to see what their plans are for updating the mods. Creators use many different platforms, but from what I've seen most tend to use Tumblr, Patreon, and Twitter/X to post updates. If I find a mod I really like, I always follow the creator. They also deserve tons of support for their amazing work!

-Know which mods are broken and updated. In addition to following mod creators, there are multiple threads that log all mods with each update. They tell us which mods are broken, which are updated, and which were unaffected by the update. If you're experiencing a glitch with a mod, you can report it on these threads. Here are examples of threads from previous updates:

Always check these before writing to an official Sims/EA forum about a glitch. If you use script mods, the bugs you're experiencing will most likely be from these mods. Also, if you use UI mods like UI Cheats, don't freak out if your UI looks like this:

Your game isn't corrupted, the mod is just outdated. UI Cheats almost always breaks after a big update. The creator of UI Cheats updates frequently, so make sure to check up on their Patreon page.

-Check in with the community if you have a bug. The Sims Forums, r/Sims4 on Reddit, and Simblr are good places to go if you have a question about a bug you're having. r/Sims4 was a lifesaver for everyone who had the dreaded tooth glitch in Growing Together. If you're having a non-mod related bug, chances are others are having it too, so don't feel afraid to ask!

I hope this helps some of my fellow simmers. Good luck with the new update and pack, I can't wait to see how my favorite Simblrs use it in their stories and gameplays!💖

#sims 4 #ts4 #sims 4 info #sims 4 update #sims 4 for rent #sims 4 expansion pack #important #the sims #sims #sims 4 mods #simblr #the sims community

[xenodile]

I saw a twitter thread today of other FFXIV players complaining about SqEnix's refusal to commit to a timeline and how absurd it is that the twins still look like they did in ARR while John WoL has visibly aged like 15 years across the various opening cinematics and trailers for each expansion.

Down in the thread, some people chimed in saying that during a pre-EnW liveletter YoshiP outright stated that the reason for dancing around the timeline is because if they did, they could no longer justify the twins looking as young as they do, which in turn means they would have to update their models, which the team doesn't want to do because they're worried people won't like updated adult models for Alphinaud and Alisaie, and they can't roll it back if people don't like it.

And I'm just struck by how I recently played FFXVI, which has Clive and Joshua aging 18 years over the course of the story and everyone is absolutely feral for the two of them, and it has me questioning what actual braindead idiocy is saying that players don't want to see Alphinaud and Alisaie as tall and hot as they could potentially be.

#Abby plays FFXIV #Final Fantasy XIV #FFXVI #FFXVI spoilers

[themisfitshistorian]

ESSAY NUMBER ONE: SIMON BELLAMY AND THE EXPANSION OF THE MISFITS UNIVERSE; WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW

Misfits, created by Howard Overman, aired its first episode on November 12th, 2009; what followed was a wild and unpredictable ride of a series, unlike anything that TV had ever seen before. With a cast of unique characters who get even more unique superpowers just minutes into the first episode, this show’s thirty-seven episode run would be unforgettable for most audiences. However, there is MUCH more to this series which lies below the surface.

If you’ve watched Misfits in its entirety, you may think you know everything there is to know about the series, but there is much more to be discovered. Below the surface, deep into the Misfits waters, you’ll find online shorts, long-forgotten vlogs interrupted by superheroes from the future, sinister confessions, deleted scenes within forgotten scripts, abandoned Twitter accounts, Flickr photography, and even evidence of lost media. A huge reason why I enjoy this show so much is because of how insanely deep its lore actually goes once you look past the original series. There’s an entire world of Misfits to be discovered, and in my first essay, I hope to introduce you to some of that content, provided by our beloved Simon Bellamy.

The in-character shorts uploaded online during the run of seasons one and two, shot from the perspective of the reclusive Simon, are more on the relatively well-known side of things. On YouTube, a search for “Misfits online films” brings up multiple playlists containing DVD-exclusive shorts recorded by Simon and various security cameras throughout the community centre. These shorts provide a small insight into what the characters’ lives are like outside of the episodes we know and love, and they serve to exist as sweet little extras for curious fans who just can’t get enough of the show. This isn’t all that Simon contributes when it comes to giving us the extras, though; in fact, many of these entries are directly tied to him and videos he’s made. For example, his YouTube channel contains his full tribute video to Nathan, and his Flickr account provides insights into his mind, as well as some images that casual fans may not have seen before. He also had a Twitter, as did the rest of the main cast! I find these accounts to be fascinating, as they provide a beautiful insight into what life is like for the characters outside of what we all saw on screen.

Another video of Simon’s includes a cameo from Superhoodie, who briefly interrupts his tribute to Nathan, along with a separate video, which I have yet to find again, in which Simon confesses to killing Sally in a rather sinister manner. I’ll update this post with more resources later; for now, I just wanted to appreciate Simon’s contribution to extending the Misfits universe.

Edit #1: Simon's confession can be found here! Big thanks to @merrilark for replying with the link, I don't think I would have been able to find it on my own :)

#tmh.txt #tmh.essay #misfits series #misfits e4 #misfits tv #misfits uk #simon bellamy #iwan rheon

[deathbyautopilot]

We Control the Narrative - On Website Eugenics, Homestuck, and Your Problematic Favs

Written by Sophia 🌀

I entered the digital realm at about 10 years old, just barely witnessing the shift from the web to apps. I played Runescape on a dusty old desktop fitted with Windows XP and would browse open forums for games I would never play. But as much as I try to remember the endless dotcom online world, works like Kate Wagner’s 404 Page Not Found expose just how far gone that era truly is. For two decades now, the internet has been gradually appropriated by a powerful few, corralling an expansive and free userbase into an easily controlled market.

Kate Wagner effectively captures the fleeting memories of the open internet in a time before apps, and the "thrill of the hunt" that came from this open landscape. Any hyperlink you navigated through could have opened up into a new world; knowledge you could have never imagined, groundbreaking new media that nobody had seen before, or complete communities redefining what it meant to have a personal blog.

This quote pulled from internet historian Olia Lialina summarizes the landscape best:

“It was a web of sudden connections and personal links. Pages were built on the edge of tomorrow, full of hope for a faster connection and a more powerful computer.”

But in a post-iPhone world, the shift towards streamlined and prescribed apps neglected the web into obsolescence. Maximalism gave way to minimalism, UIs gradually deteriorated, urging you to download their new app or subtly manipulating the content that browsers would expose users to. As a 90s kid, Wagner watched this happen in the fall of MySpace, where personal archives were purged simply because it was not profitable to keep them around. For me, it was the fall of Adobe Flash, and the creative media that it took away.

Adobe Flash and I go way back, with my most memorable internet experience happening on April 6th 2016, when the multimedia webcomic Homestuck released the flash video  [S] Collide as the conclusion to Act 6. Since its debut in 2009, Homestuck has become a legend of the early web; a rich and expansive digital narrative that the Atlantic dubbed “a story that could only be told online”. By blending IM chatlogs as dialogue, GIFs as panels, flash media, fully animated videos with complete soundtracks, and a one-of-a-kind narrative, this interactive site would draw in millions of users with each update and bridge the divide between forums, personal blogs, and social networks like Twitter.

When Adobe Flash went down in 2020, Viz Media (having recently acquired publishing rights) made little effort to preserve this 8000+ page time capsule. This prompted fans of the series to come together to compile the Unofficial Homestuck Collection, an optimized, offline version of the original site, even offering language filters to correct its less tasteful writing choices. This was an invaluable act, but it also represents a process of corporate neglect, and this ongoing cleansing of any media online that is deemed unworthy of preservation. Wagner compared this to a series of minor Libraries of Alexandria being burned to the ground, and rich personal narratives being buried beneath a controlled legacy of human history. 

“The artifacts of internet life are personal—that is, not professionally or historically notable—and therefore worthless.”

Homestuck fans are split between those who recognize it as a postmodern masterpiece comparable to Ulysses, and those who would be happy to see it left in the rubble of the old web. I understand the desire to leave the unfavourable behind us, but accepting the latter narrative gives in to what Wagner called “Website Eugenics”; A process of devaluing the maximalist, often personalized and gaudy, or in some way flawed in favour of the minimalist, rigid professional class standards being set for the contemporary web. In the case of “dated” media, either cringey personal blogs from middle school or crass lowbrow humour, they will be posited as a damper on material history, when in fact it is deeply human.

The more that we accept a narrative of some remnants being of value, and others being a poor reflection of our popular culture, the more that we allow an oppressive power dynamic to play out. Internet historians, archivists, and cultural commentators like Kate Wagner are doing what they know combats this agenda; revel in the legacy of the early web, retain all that you can, and do it authentically.

#death by autopilot #kate wagner #404 page not found #homestuck #philosophy #lost media

[tau1tvec]

I’ve always been kinda aware it exists, but seeing it happening in something so seemingly anti-capitalist as The Sims cc and modding community, or any modding community is sooo… weird ??? Could be my age showing, I’ve been around since The Sims 2 LJ and Forum scene, where I very vividly remember everyone chastising a creator into exile for using ad-fly links, despite all they’d contributed to the community, which is wild considering how common they are now.

I remember ad-fly resurfacing some probably two or three years into The Sims 3, and although a lot of people were quite vocally against it, many of them being former The Sims 2 players, it didn’t quite have the same effect this time around. Some people would include non-ad-fly links and alternatives, and luckily ad-fly killers mostly worked, but it’d become pretty norm as the years went on, while in the background the way The Sims 3 itself was also rewriting how The Sims can be monetized, by introducing The Sims 3 Store.

Now I think The Sims 2 had one as well, but it was kinda meh… and so was The Sims 3 Store at the start, like the sets were cute, but people weren’t exactly rushing to buy cash cards to get them, esp since as, tale as old as time style, there were plenty of forums and pirate sites out there offering them for free. However as EA began, idk possibly seeing a decline in sales, they started pushing two expansions and one or two stuff packs out a year I think, and even more store sets. Big store sets, and it helped pick up steam, but it also began pushing The Sims further and further into this very, “content, content all the time, so much content, open you wallet now or you’ll miss out” mindset that I think we’ve only seen exacerbated with The Sims 4.

Yes we’re getting less big releases, with only one EP a year, but we’re getting plenty of others between gamepacks, kits, and constant updates, at least 2-3 of which are quite huge changes, that make them a bit difficult to ignore.

I think my point is, that gaming has obviously changed a lot over the years, the products we pay for aren’t quite as fulfilling as they used to be, but we get more of it more often ??? So yay, I guess ??? Still this doesn’t change the fact that we’re still paying for, if not paying more at times for less content ???

Either way I guess we shouldn’t be surprised it’s also affecting the cc/modding community, I think in the bigger picture as well, is we just live in truly different times economically than we did when The Sims 2 dropped, a lot of people trying to find other means or extra means to get money and pay for bills, rising food prices, and constantly bouncing gas prices has changed a lot of how monetization works as well, but at some point the bubble will burst. We can’t keep scamming each other like this, esp since all we’re doing is basically passing off our struggles to someone else when we do, and only for a little bit of relief… which will also likely be as brief and heavily monetized as the games we play to get that relief.

I’ve seen a lotta people become more and more comfortable sharing pirate links openly, even Twitter YouTube, and Instagram, former bastions of typically willing players and participants of paid content are openly sharing that paid content with others, and that behavioral change isn’t unfounded, we’re exhausted, exhausted with having too much and yet too little and still being expected to pay to get ahead of the line, exhausted with the cc community and the game itself, but we’re also exhausted with the world and society and it’s obvious decline in recent years, and so we’re just picking the slightly less exhausting route, lol.

tldr; The Sims cc/modding community will always be anti-capitalist, and complacency doesn’t equal willingness, pirate servers don’t exist without reason, and no, believe it or not, not everything should be monetized, if you’re wondering if everyone is judging you for posting a slightly longer version of an EA hair under early access, it’s bc we are… while we’re also looking to see if it’s on DHM.

#long post

[orbleglorb]

now that more ppl are offline (and probably won't see it): here's a full mourning of blaseball, i guess.

warnings for suicide and mental health treatment. pls don't reblog this lol i just need it off my chest

i, like many others, discovered blaseball during the pandemic. i discovered it in... august? maybe? i think i "joined" around season 7, and really joined around season 10.

2020 was a rough year for me. 2021 was, too. in january 2021, i went to a residential treatment center. i was there until august 2021 (which is actually an incredibly short stay). the expansion era (seasons 12-24) happened march 2021 thru july 2021. it ended july 30th. i got out august 6th. literally like 6 fucking days. i am still pissed about this btw

anyway! i was 15 when i joined blaseball. im 18 now. im an adult. my first team, back in summer o' 2020, was the boston flowers. then i fluted to the shoe thieves. then the lift. and i was with the data witches during the coffee cup. i had fun on all of those teams! i even roleplayed some characters on twitter (i ran one of the val hitherto accounts, a kit honey account and jason datablase). (if you remember me from the first rp server i am so sorry. i don't remember what i said/did but im 90% sure it sucked).

throughout treatment, i kept blaseball close to my heart. my friends were able to send me letters, and i asked them to keep me updated on blaseball. they didn't, and at first, i was pretty upset. but when i got back, i understood why. there's really no way to explain the expansion era. even the wiki struggled. there was just.... so much. all the time. (although, when i broke up with my then-gf via mail, she sent me back a long letter explaining everything that happened in blaseball between seasons 12 and... 16? maybe?). nevertheless, my love for the splort persisted. i wrote fanfic in treatment, despite not knowing whether or not these characters would be alive when i got to get on the internet again. in hindsight, i probably could have snuck on blaseball.com on the computers, but some of the staff were just cruel. i would have been banned from using the computers at all, or from being alone near devices, or maybe from going outside, if a TL was having a particularly bad day. all of that aside: i loved and i created within a space that, looking back, was hostile. more hostile than i realized. i drew so much art, none of which i will be posting because i couldn't use reference images and the anatomy is so bad. i also listened to the garages. god, i listened to so much garages. suicide warning for this last part of the paragraph -- the night i had decided to kill myself, i put on music while waiting for others to go to sleep, and in the feedback (night) came on. the "i don't know i'd get you back" really, really dug deep. obviously, i didn't commit, and i have blaseball to (partially) thank for that.

i wouldn't say blaseball, specifically, saved my life. i would have found other songs that made me feel okay. other communities, other interests. but blaseball offered all of that. and, above all: it offered a creative space.

blaseball is unique in that fans create player and team lore, but it still gives a foundation for these. it's easier than making your own story from scratch, and (sometimes) easier than making ocs for your favorite piece of media. allowing that much creativity in a place with the basic building blocks of plot and world building & not much else is what drove many ppl to enjoy blaseball, including me. especially in the pandemic, when everyone was low on energy and motivation. i haven't shared a sizeable fraction of the blaseball art and fics i have created. i created so much because of this game!

i am going to love these characters until the end of time. i am going to carry a piece of them with me forever. literally. i have so many blaseball headmates. and, truly, i do have them and other headmates to thank for helping me get out of that place. they've done more than blaseball itself has. but, blaseball was the right thing at the right time: a mixture of community, music, characters to project onto, and characters to photocopy into my brain forever (the last part wasn't intentional, of course, but it did help).

blaseball will always be important to me, as all of my special interests are, past and present. i am forever changed because of it, but like, i'm 98% sure it's for the better. like, homestuck changed me, but that was 70% for the worse, probably. so it didn't have as much of a negative impact on me as homestuck did! which, like, is a bar so low it's in the sixth circle stadium, but i'll count it as a win.

i don't know how to end this rant. really, it's been amazing. i love this community and will continue to. i will continue to create blaseball content for as long as my autistic heart latches onto it, which can be, like, another two months or another ten years. who knows? not me. and i have to be okay with not knowing.

im terrified this community is going to fall apart. i've made great friends here. i will love you all and follow you whether you go. just don't go where i can't follow (hockey rpf)

i love you, blaseblr mutuals. i love you, blaseball community. i have a love-hate relationship with you, blaseball sim. many teams, one league!

#blaseball (organizational)