East Beleriand Infrastructure Week @paradife-loft - Tumblr Blog

Posts

the reason it takes me as long as it does to do my transportation homework, is at least half of the time I spend it doing shit like this instead of the actual write-up....

#James liveblogs grad school #ODOT shaming tag #I think pelican mouth meme should be an acceptable format for documents submitted to city governments yes?#pelican mouth

•18+ Adults Only

Watch Anya Live on Cam

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.

✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions

Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming

bisonwares

Showing off the Arapaima I made! (Pattern also made by me)

This was the test of the new pattern and I love her. 🎏💕

#FISH!!!!!#super pretty op <3 #fiber crafts

more Hollow Knight stuff

friend miner NPC has lost her shit and become indistinguishable from a basic hostile :( like I could see this coming as her dialogue got less coherent & I realized she had the same model as one of the area's main enemies, but :(

the Crossroads are now covered in evil marmalade ;__; did I bring the evil marmalade with me up from the sub-murder basement?? will the other areas also acquire an evil marmalade infestation??? ngl even though they're literally dead already, seeing the giant smashy hammer fellow outside the first boss room completely inert on the ground covered in the stuff was ;_____; -- and for that matter made me concerned for the area NPCs too, but uhh, at least they seem to be... fine...? I have not yet been back to see the baby caterpie family. if they're sad and fucked up I might cry ;____;

(I will say I don't love that the main effect on the level geometry itself just seems to be "efficient route from the stag station to other areas is now blocked" -- I do really like the "revist a level and now it's different" concept, but I think part of that has to be drastically changing the overall flow to create a really different traversal experience from the first round, not just making things less convenient. the Ashina Castle invasions in Sekiro worked really well with this, forex.)

oh and I've gotten to some of the "nail art" skills now! the painter guy was <333 (but also sir. why tf do you have the most intense thorn barrier in front of your house this side of Sleeping Beauty? seems quite unnecessary.)

(tangentially related but I think the thorn masses have to be one of the more unsettling design features the game's had to offer so far. the marmalade is also very unsettling, but it seems like it's at least starting to be explained in the lore; the thorns taking over an area are like....... what's the deal here. they also visually create a "spreading corruption from some source" vibe, appearing deeper into hard-to-reach parts of levels as big attention-grabbing hostile setpieces, but I don't think anything has actually referenced them in-universe thusfar. so. what's the deal :| -- that said, at this point I probably wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to just be an innocuous enviro hazard without lore significance, but if that is the case, imo the visual communication of it could be improved.)

the secret/forbidden cemetery full of npc ghosts is really cuuuute <3 just a bunch'a goofy personalities and some more hints at the social structure of Hallownest Of Yore <3 (was it.... forbidden just bc they don't want people dream-nail stabbing the ghosts? is there something else going on that won't be revealed until later? hmmmm.)

Hunter's Journal entry on the Broken Vessel sure is... interesting...... :| which is to say, I'm taking it as more corroboration that the PC is Something Weird TBD.

relatedly. the inscription plates in the early levels addressed to "higher beings" are starting to look REAL FUCKIN DUBIOUS y'all.

I still haven't found the way to unlock the tram stations >:/ stoooop teasing me with public transit I can't use, game!!!

I have managed to super-dash above the entire Dirtmouth town area from the Crystal Peak entrance back to the King's Pass section, because if you give me a nyoooom!!! button I will do stupid silly things with it. anyway worth it, very silly, do recommend.

I think the thing I'm enjoying least about the game so far honestly has to be the boss encounters? the combat style/difficulty seems largely based around reaction time, with relatively few individual attacks to learn, which isn't as much my bag. and then combined with the lack of visible health bars, feels kind of.... "man idk if I'm getting better at this relative to the actual level of challenge or not. guess I'm supposed to just keep smacking it until it explodes into money with minimal feedback on the process as it's actually occurring." -- which also.... if I can't predict when the boss is going to explode into money, it kind of... lessens the emotional satisfaction/accomplishment/catharsis of knowing you're almost there!!! and then finally pulling it off by the skin of your teeth!!!. I'm just one moment immersed in Endless Frantic Smacking Time, and then the next moment "oh. it's over. okay." (the most egregious example of this that I've seen has been the one warrior ghost boss in the Resting Grounds? literally just hovers back and forth with one (1) single attack "throw projectile at you" for who knows how long, while you chase it and play "short person at the supermarket" and just like. this is tedious and boring and idk how long it's going to go on for.) but yeah, tbh I'm contemplating seeing if I can pick up a mod to add health bars. modding a game for a first playthrough feels kind of gross so I'm reticent to actually do it, but depending on how much this continues to impact my experience... idk. I know a lot of the bosses have special attacks they use at such-and-such % of health, which helps a little with the feedback issue, but considering that information would be a lot of guesswork going purely by in-game cues (instead of looking it up on the wiki as I started doing).... eh.

#James liveblogs video games

reallyreallyreallytrying

no fucking way

#BEAUTIFUL.#spiders georg

mortuary9

wip:]

#he's so pretty <33 #Critical Role #Essek Thelyss #artwork

•18+ Adults Only

Watch Anya Live on Cam

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.

✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions

Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming

started playing Hollow Knight recently and have been doing a bunch of that the last couple weeks. and well, so far:

I've opened up some public transit stations <3

I accepted a quest from a sad lady to deliver a flower to an area I don't have the abilities necessary to access yet. the flower is apparently so delicate it will shatter if you take it on the public transit. (this one I've put aside for later for obvious reasons.)

I went wandering around through a large and fancy transit station with some absolutely jacked security all over the place trying to stop fare jumpers even in undeath I guess???

went wandering past the large and fancy station, started following a sign with what I think is like, the royal crest? and it led me into some kind of abandoned murder basement ;_____; I don't like this why do you have this under your city (and it looks like attached to yet more [defunct] public transit??) ;_____;

also. do you know where is a place I frankly find it disturbing and unsettling to find our cheery-as-always cartographer friend in? THE CREEPY FUCKING TUNNELS CONNECTED TO THE MURDER BASEMENT.

in other news people keep calling me a "ghost" and possibly other similar things, and well. you can't fool me, game. I am well-primed to hear things like that and jot them down as potentially Very Very Literal and also a key part of the emerging lore! ....which is, once again shall we say, Concerning.

oh, and I almost forgot: RUDE and UNNECESSARY af for this setting's mimics to try and look like FRIEND BABY CATERPIES IN JARS. the baby caterpies are adorable and pure of heart and do not deserve to be sullied by instruments of mistrust and suspicion ;___;

FURTHER EDIT: I can't believe I almost forgot about the utter silly joy of "cheese the patrolling city guards and anything else I can find by jumping and stabbing them through the floor"! 10/10 game mechanics, absolutely no notes XD

#James liveblogs video games #fwiw I actually know almost nothing in terms of spoilers for this game and I prefer to keep it that way #so that I can have experiences like. y'know. wandering down unaware into the creepy murder basement.#(unfortunately I was prevented from following that sign all the way to its destination yet :( I think by an area that needs a double jump?)#(so. just you wait creepy murder basement palace. I'll be back.)#Hollow Knight

yutaan

A papercraft memorial portrait of Cinder, a wonderfully sweet cat. Her most beloved pose was loafing with her legs tucked up underneath her, so that was the requested pose for the piece. I hope I did her cuteness justice!

#oh my goodness. baby. sweet baby.#may her memory be a blessing <3 #pet death cw #cats #papercraft #artwork

force-walker

jedi knight simultaneously the sacrificial lamb and the scapegoat of the Jedi order 😔🙏 playing a slightly DS jedi knight after chapter 2 onwards is insane because everyone is talking about destiny and the will of the force and how you have to be the one to face the emperor and ever since you arrived on Tython people have been molding you into a weapon and Satele really gambles it all on you. if you defeat the emperor and hold to the light side then she was right all along and everything you went through was worth it and if you do it but you fall then she was still right and you were the one who wasn’t strong enough despite the fact you got 0 guidance and support about how much fighting and killing you were asked to do despite the fact she was the one who told you that the living force affects the one who does the killing . like she couldn’t get too involved because she had to trust the will of the force but even if the jedi knight freaks and insists they need help or they can’t do this they’re only given platitudes and not teaching. not at all helped by the Sith who joins their crew and reinforces the same lessons but in a different way . me when I do everything asked of me and more up to and including the Sith emperor and an publicly humiliated on live holotv and denied the rank of master and given the pity title of commander/general by the REPUBLIC SENATE and not the jedi order because I couldn’t keep my head above water the way they wanted me to

#SWTOR #Jedi Knight class story you are such a wonderful deconstruction of hero narratives when read in the right light <333

berryinnit

t-shirt with the words “high-functioning corpse” printed on it

#t'would be an excellent addition to my reduce/reuse/reanimate one!#necromancy

another thing I was thinking about the other day is how, with Kahadi/Orcish taking the functional place of ~Common~ in the campaign context, the implication does appear to be that the Sundered Houses (and anyone else moving to the nice new barrowdell) all ended up having to learn and speak Kahadi in any regular context outside their own inherently limited social circle.

and then we also have houses like Einfasen and presumably Royce regularly speaking heritage-specific languages amongst themselves - Helvarian which we've clearly seen, and Sylvan - which has me also quite curious about whether the younger generations especially would know/speak any Obridimian at all at this point.

(tbqh I think it could've been really cool to have the Sundered Houses meeting narrated as being conducted in Obridimian. but then on the gameplay logistics side, that would essentially mandate Wick and probably Tyranny have that language on their character sheets, which would have other ongoing implications in the campaign.)

#it would've be a funny-to-me-personally (if unreasonable as a DM) choice to have multiple PCs rock up to the meeting #and then not understand anything anyone's saying/getting minimal intel from the whole thing bc like #“welp we had Occtis doing something else and not available to translate! :(”#obvious reasons why that would be a no-go for gameplay and story but like.#“love what you're doing here with the standard D&D languages!! now what about if we extended the realism more until it became a Problem >:)#Critical Role #CR campaign 4

•18+ Adults Only

Watch Anya Live on Cam

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.

✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions

Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming

corrya

It's not lost on me that Dol-makjar is a historically orcish city and yet has a governing body consisting entirely of humans. How the hallowed round, the very site of so much orcish suffering, is mearly on a lease to Hal from the sundered houses, trying to corrupt and shape the stories they share there.

#the Hallowed Round being on lease from House Halovar is one of those things that's truly bonkers and outrageous if you think about it at all #and also speaks - whether intentionally or not - to the US history & present of property rights construction as a tool of colonialism #(Aabria & Brennan you want to tell me about historical & evolving orcish understandings of property Sooooo badly <3)#Critical Role #CR4 #meta

deoxoid

his wife has filled THEIR house with ANTIQUES. to AVOID DAMAGING HER VALUABLES i fuck him on the floor

#fascinated by the evolution of this - meme I guess?#(meme in the same sense as like. the entire Goncharov thing)#anyway. porn as a site of rich social commentary and analysis etc. etc.#(tbc I think there are Many lenses of meaning and critique in all of these and it's not that One Alone is Correct. if that needs said)

scribefindegil

like it's genuinely absurd how every post by an aro person going "Hey, it's kind of fucked up that marriage is the only way to access certain rights and privileges" gets people coming out of the woodwork to say "You idiot! Don't you know that marriage is important?! It's the only way to access certain rights and privileges!"

like . . . yeah. they do know that. that is in fact the problem.

#I just don't think 'if these legal protections are Actually important to you then you should be Purely 100% Uncaring And Pragmatic -#- about the substantial current & historical baggage surrounding the legal and sociocultural institutions of marriage and just Do It Anyway #is a particularly charming or empathetic or compassionate stance to have.#so yes. perhaps it is a frivolous luxury to be in a position where the pragmatic concerns don't outweigh your personal ick factor.#and/but society should fucking ALLOW people frivolous luxuries like good gotdamn.#and also. the point is that MAYBE IT SHOULDN'T BE ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE.#society providing space for people to have emotional reasons for not/wanting to do something is Kind Of Important Y'know.#amatonormativity #marriage #aromantic #(-adjacent at least)

kerosene-in-a-blender

In light of the most recent episode showing us exactly what it looks like when Primus loses his shit, and Alex very deliberately and on purpose having Occtis react very viscerally to that (as a victim of Primus' abuse, as Alex has been pretty clearly playing him since day one), I've been thinking about the fact that Brennan has also made it very clear that the abuse wasn't limited to Occtis, despite his very limited screentime it's incredibly apparent that Ethrand was also abused. Brennan was most clear about this in the most recent episode, having Primus screaming at Ethrand while jabbing a finger in his face, but the signs were there as early as episode 4. Ethrand was gleefully asserting himself in the Palazzo, reveling in the murder of his brother and the soon-to-be-murder of the Lady Royce, until Primus showed up, at which point Ethrand was immediately cowed and diminished himself. The way Brennan portrayed that moment made it clear Ethrand is afraid of Primus, which is not the reaction of a man whose father treated him well.

What's also interesting is the contrasting ways this abuse effected Occtis and Ethrand's behaviour. One of the very first phrases Alex uses to describe Occtis is that he is "small in presence", and that's be been borne out by how he plays him. Occtis is constantly trying to be as unobtrusively and inoffensive as possible in order to stay out of any potential lines of fire from other people, and indeed growing frustrated with doing this is part of why he blew up at Julien the way he did. One notable example of Occtis avoiding potential conflict with others is when Amadah and Ingrid arrive at Castle Torch and Occtis declines going out to meet them despite Thaisha insisting that druids are cool with him now; he's unsure and avoids a potential confrontation by avoiding the interaction entirely. While Ethrand also displays this behaviour when around Primus, see again the aforementioned scene in episode 4 as well as his quiet guilt in the Sundered Houses meeting where he did not say a single word, when around people he has some power over he completely turns this around, and revels in making people feel as small as his father makes him. We've only seen this directly in interactions he's had with Occtis (throwing rocks at his head when they were children; taunting him while murdering him), but I wouldn't doubt he's also like this around the peasantry and anyone else deemed "lesser", taking the hurt that has been inflicted on him and turning it on others.

Not that any of this absolves Ethrand of the choices he has made. He still murdered his brother and told him there had always been something wrong with him as he did so. Him being made into what he is by his father's abuse explains this, it does not excuse it (and I strongly suspect that this will be a generational pattern with House Tachonis, once we come to learn more about Nullus and his relationship with his own children). But it does tap into one of the overarching themes of the campaign: becoming something more than what you were shaped to be by those that made you. While I suspect we won't see Ethrand become anything other than what he is, by virtue of being a PC, Occtis has a chance to.

#Critical Role #cr spoilers #yeah to the point about it being a generational thing - that's absolutely my read too #Nullus's very first introduction before we know literally anything else about him is ''Primus you fool; what have you done?!''#more speculatively - I suspect some of the fear Brennan narrates for Primus at the meeting is about more than *just* the Sundered Houses #anticipating consequences of failing a larger-than-life authority figure in this vein would make a lot of sense of that reaction #(and for that matter would be another iteration of what's discussed here with Ethrand)#...ah and now I'm also thinking about this wrt Occtis's wish to find someone else among his siblings 'on his team' as it were #any subtle disagreement as a potential indicator they didn't want him dead #shared mistreatment as reason for alliance #CR campaign 4 #meta #Occtis Tachonis

trochaic-mutant-ninja-tetrameter

🎶Happy Ides of March, y'all! Et tu, Brute?🎵

#nice #ides of march

•18+ Adults Only

Watch Anya Live on Cam

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.

✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality✓ Free Actions

Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming

jethroq

#ides of march

rainyydoves

i beat myself up for not knowing enough about my special interests a lot but then i remember the average person off the street has no idea what the carboniferous is and i feel better

rainyydoves

are you really bad at it or are you in "good at it" spaces

bigbigtruck

"are you really bad at it or are you in 'good at it' spaces" has derailed so much self-hate since I read it

this is a load bearing sentence in my psyche and I can't believe it's only 2 months old

#1. the average person doesn't know WHAT?? D: [insert xkcd comic]#2. 'are you really bad at fromsoft games or is your frame of reference semi-professional youtube challenge- & speed-runners'#'are you really bad at critical thinking & research or are you in grad school'#......anyway

Trending Blogs

Last Seen Blogs

East Beleriand Infrastructure Week