The Cracked Mug v 2.0

[knightofcups]

(I resent that SOME PEOPLE made me hate something I genuinely used to like, and make it so I can't even really defend it because people ARE awful.)

[erikavonkaiser]

if I were to make a list of "things that I actively find more off-putting each time a person tries to talk it up or recommend it" idk what all would be on it aside from definitely Gideon the Ninth, but add Final Fantasy 16 to the list

I already wasn't going to play it for [uncertain period of time but a long one] because right now it's a Playstation and PC exclusive, but all I'm hearing and seeing is "it's like if Final Fantasy and Game of Thrones combined!" and boy is it hard for me to think of a concept I like less than that

[erikavonkaiser]

I don't care if people treat me like an uwu baby for it, if your best descriptions of a fantasy environment involve the words "gritty" or "realism" then I am not interested

[erikavonkaiser]

I don't care if people treat me like an uwu baby for it, if your best descriptions of a fantasy environment involve the words "gritty" or "realism" then I am not interested

Weirdly Elden Ring escapes this because it is a genuinely beautiful world that just has The Horrors, which is a different vibe that I do enjoy

[erikavonkaiser]

Gideon the Ninth

It occurs to me this is a perfect example of something myself and fellow Internet Olds have been complaining about lately, which is people describing books by vague tropes and sort of hashtag-style descriptors; literally all I know about this series despite encountering many people who are huge fans of it is there are lesbians (?) who wear skull face paint, and the style of humor is "very tumblr" ()

I just looked it up and here's the actual blurb:

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.

It sounds fine or whatever but not my jam, but anyways I had to look up the book to even find out its genre (fantasy/sci fi, apparently) and the basic premise (weirdly still kind of vague though, or maybe I just find it uninteresting) but "lesbians in skull face paint, tumblr humor" it turns out is Not Helpful to Me

[erikavonkaiser]

I've discovered that while I can play Switch in-between cases on a slow day (don't @ me, capitalism sucks and I'll be a degenerate the rare times we're slow), it needs to be a kind of handheld-friendly game that doesn't require too many brain wrinkles. Ni No Kuni has been good for this because it pauses easily and has a very straightforward RPG set-up, but yesterday I found a game called Cat Cafe Manager and decided to give it a spin!

a) love it, super fun and makes brain go brrr
b) I would describe it as a deluxe version of those old Facebook cafe games; it plays way better than that, naturally, but it has kind of that spirit
c) the nature of the game called for branching out of my usual Rex/Silas/Phi trifecta of player characters and I immediately made Leon:

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and I don't know what Snowtown Leon's happily-ever-after will be, except that I think he'll probably get one both due to it seeming narratively correct (imho Leon is a character who, if just written as a tragedy from beginning to end, becomes very "what is the point of this story") and, like, I won't lie, he's my accidental Dark Times/closeted self-insert OC and I want to tuck him in goodnight.

That being said, AU where he, Sor, and Abraham open a cat cafe together let's gooooo

[knightofcups]

AU where he, Sor, and Abraham open a cat cafe together let's gooooo

I am living for this.

Also, I want you to know his thoughts about the woman who has rainbow shoelaces, and the shoelaces, and stuff just kind of exists in my head and makes me happy at odd moments.

[erikavonkaiser]

This is some powerful Abraham behavior

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[Fetian]

Please have Abraham call Leon "friendo" in SBB

[erikavonkaiser]

Please have Abraham call Leon "friendo" in SBB

Honestly I could see this happening given how much Leon messes up Abraham's normal social groove, I feel like Abraham has a system and it Works and people like him and think he's funny (or at least, Abraham thinks they do) and then there's Leon who is just,,,,

so he's trying to get him to relax and says "Hey, friendo!" and then looks horrified at what he has just said with his own mouth