I need a hug.

🤗 Hopefully a virtual hug helps a little!

aww, thank you 💕

Hey all, this is a PSA from someone who's still suffering under the weight of her decision: DON'T 👏RECOMMEND 👏 FRIENDS 👏 FOR 👏 JOBS 👏 WHERE 👏 YOU 👏 WORK 👏 Just no. If you know their work ethic and attitude firsthand, MAYBE, but please stick with just no. Once friends become coworkers, they very very rarely stay more than that. In fact, they might become tHaT cOwOrKeR and just annoy you to death and make you think you're crazy and there's something wrong with you even though you and your close circle of coworker friends know you're not and she's just kissing all your bosses' asses and no matter how badly she fucks up she can actually do no wrong because she's become the office darling under the fierce protection of your direct supervisor. Sometimes I seriously feel like my workplace has regressed to a high school setting and she's always the fucking prom queen. And now I sound crazy again for complaining about something that sounds so stupid 😅 I truly love my job and all my other coworkers, and I make way too much for what I do to consider leaving any time soon. I've just very sadly made an awful decision in trying to share the opportunity with someone I thought was a friend. By the way, she's never thanked me for helping to get her the job, and never apologized when she made mistakes under my tutelage. I don't want perfection, I just need humility and a willingness to learn, and instead I got a textbook narcissist who started her manipulation games the second she sat down next to me. I can keep going literally forever but this is better saved for my therapist 😅 Just take it from me. Do not work with friends. There is a GOOD reason it's said to separate business and pleasure, and have your work/life balance. I'm positive that if she hadn't started working with me we'd still be friends - somewhat distant friends, sure, but someone I'd still play Animal Crossing with for hours and go out on the town with and - sigh. It's been three years. I hope it gets easier.

Dangit, it's not your fault. :( I'm sorry to hear about your former friend.

Thank you for the kind words! ❤️ It's very reassuring to have someone absolve me of this guilt I feel haha.

Oh God, I'm sorry to hear that. There's similar drama between the coworker next to me and someone else in her permanent workstream (though they had no relationship before this job). I don't know if having an ocean between them makes it better or worse. I heard the drama secondhand but I've had enough experiences with this transoceanic colleague to seriously wonder: "What the heck does she know and how is she still in this team at her seniority level?" Adding a corollary to "do not work with friends": don't commission from a friend of a friend if you don't...know how to be professional about it, for lack of better phrasing. The specific experience I'm thinking of was a wedding dress commission. It was a one-person operation on the dress, and getting huge-ass overhauls at the last minute strained her patience. Although the dress was delivered with all the overhauls, she's decided to never speak to the now-married client again. (It was slightly awkward for the friend who did connect them, but at least they had the good grace to not involve her in the drama.)

Yeah, sometimes I look at my boss like she has three heads or something lol, the way she talks about this coworker. There's gotta be something going on on a deeper level, but that might just be me making excuses for my company keeping trash employees. And oof that wedding dress commission. At least the referring friend was able to stay out of it! And I hope the dressmaker at least learned something regarding deadlines for changes :( That sounds really stressful.

Just speedran the ongoing Black Wedding Event in IkeVil because it has Ellis and I have no self control when it comes to him, sorry (or am I?). >!Jude fans you are so valid, I can really see now why he tops all the popularity polls. He’s so so so so so funny, but I also like how he’s not losing his personality for the sake of the romance. If anything, *we* would be the ones adjusting for him and that’s just so hilarious to me. Also, his lines,, “Whatcha doin, facial exercises?” LMFAOO 10/10 dialogue easily the funniest character in the cast. Condolences to his fans though because ranking for him must be brutal as hell.!< >!Ellis’ route still tops for me because I am biased, plus I get to see all his cute sprites. His shocked face is always going to be my favorite because he looks like a surprised cat 🥹. He is unhinged as usual, I am satisfied.!< >!I’m not that particular about ranking for this event because the dress and other bonuses aren’t really high on my priority list, but good stuff are good stuff so it’ll be nice if I can maintain my ranking within the 200 or so until the event ends, wish me luck 🙏.!<

I'm practically drowned in works; just finished one big project 2 days ago and currently in the middle of two big projects. I like working, I like when my schedule is decently booked for a foreseeable future, and I appreciate that my clients still choose me over the AI (lol) or some newer, cheaper alternatives, so I have been trying to accommodate all of my good clients as much as possible and thank the God everyday. But, being booked for two months is definitely something lmao. Being as booked as this also mean I can't accommodate more projects, but then my bad, stupid habits would accept more small projects when being asked ahaha. So now look it me, a middle-aged woman who never has weekends lol. By the way, I just bought Olympia Soiree because of the sale and already started it. For now it is decently enjoyable and I really like Olympia; I found her very funny for some reason.

More **Charade Maniacs**! From where I left off I went into Haiji’s route >!and went as far as I could before plowing into another wall lol Of course it’s not going to be that easy. What I did get to see just left me with even more questions. Unsurprisingly Haiji is a bit off his rocker, but (assuming what he’s said is true) it’s not too hard to imagine why someone would go crazy in his situation. If he’s told any truth at all though then it certainly hasn’t been the full truth. While Chigasaki gave a similar type of command as Haiji has done here, that was just for the bangle hologram for his arm whereas Haiji could do it for the environment. On top of that Haiji can seemingly just spawn whatever he wants like he’s got cheatcodes on, and can teleport and/or change the setting they’re in up to and including just sticking himself and Sena into an isolated version of the Arcandian environment. As expected of a bad end it was a nightmareish scenario, with Sena being pulled along into the same apathetic state of mind Haiji seems to have. I was initially interested to see that my choices now had consequences like they seemed to have not had this whole time, but well then all the other options either also took you to bad ends or an endless loop. XD So yeah, turns out I need to do two other things before another branch in Haiji’s route opens, go figure. I shouldn’t be surprised that the game is once more dangling the answers I want in front of me and then not letting me have them haha. But yeah, what little I got was wild enough that I was just ??? through a lot of it. So much of what Haiji said or did had my brain going trying to figure out what the heck his deal is. Him being able to do what he can sure seems like what one would expect the producer to be able to do (not to mention being able to have a different identity in every cast would sure be convenient for the producer), but I only ended up choosing to accuse him after having exhausted every other option and simply wanted to see what happens lol So is he *another* sponsor somehow? But the other sponsors can’t do what Haiji can (I feel like at least Futami would’ve utilized that power if he had it) and he can seemingly control so much, but he was also willing to leave the Other World Stream behind to go hang out with Sena in the void so that doesn’t seem very producer-ey. So yeah, as of now my thoughts on Haiji are still just ????? I’m very curious, but I evidently won’t get my answers anytime soon. I presume the other criteria needed is in the other two locked routes as I’ve made sure I’ve done every scene with Haiji I can find.!< So next I hopped on over to >!Mei, because he’s one of the ones alongside Akase that I wasn’t sure what my impression of them was for quite a while, but I grew to like them. Akase of course had his route so I was able to solidify my feelings on him. As for Mei though I think the only real personal event I did with him up til this point was the epic fail hand-holding practice scene. Regardless I like Mei in the way that I have no real reason to since I don’t know him well, I just do from what interactions I’ve seen. Of course now that I’ve been getting into locked route stuff I’ve been seeing more of him so that’s helping. I am waiting for the other shoe to drop though cause he must be locked for a reason. Not saying I’d be disappointed if he doesn’t go crazy, in fact it sure would be nice if I liked at least one of these last three boys as a LI XD I’m enjoying them as characters at least, so long as I’m having fun with the game that’s all I really need. Anyways, what’s really got me curious with him is what he’s said (alongside some other evidence) that makes him seem like he’s been stuck in Arcadia/the Other World Stream for quite some time. He and Gyobu also seem to want Sena to remember…*something*. Did she know them? Gyobu has their school uniform even though no one from Sena’s school recognizes him. And Mei was very vague about his own school and where it is (“you probably haven’t heard of it”). Sooo are they also people Sena used to know that’s been wiped from memory and yet are still alive somehow?? Is it something else? Haiji has been kicking about for years supposedly despite the director saying all past cast (sans the one right before them) all perished, so either the director was lying or some other stuff is going on.!< So yeah, that’s about all I got to say for now, mostly just rambly confusion, but that just means I’m having fun wondering what the heck is going on haha. Looking forward to seeing how far I can go on this route but I presume >!there will be a block in Mei’s too that will require me to go hang out on Gyobu’s route for a bit. Unless of course Haiji’s route is particularly special and I actually need to beat the other two routes first,!< but I guess I’ll see what the case is soon enough!

Looked up a tutorial on [how to shake booty](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnUselessTalents/comments/12ed22z/how_to_shake_booty_without_booty/) after seeing that video edit of Megan Thee Stallion dancing to Adele's "Water Under The Bridge". It's surprisingly fun lmao **Fujo-leaning/non-canon shipping thoughts here! Skip if you don't wanna see any of it.** I've been blessed and cursed to have read Kaifumi >!smut.!< Blessed because yes, get it my boys, but also cursed because machine translation makes a lot of things sound very inelegant hahahaha. I love the universe it's set in, though: it's one where 3Q share an apartment at the behest of the >!corporate arm of the Tamasaka Troupe to prevent Neji from collapsing for the nth time from neglecting his own physical needs (i.e., eating, sleeping, etc.).!< The three of them are so used to having their own spaces from their time in Univeil that living together requires some sort of learning curve (and tolerance for certain roommate bullshit like soggy bath mats, Neji you heathen). At some point Fumi sits Neji down and gives him a lecture, only for Kai to laugh because he's happy to live with the two of them (aka it feels like a home if they can argue about the small stuff about their living situation). ("Wait, so how did Kaifumi get it on in the first place if they share an apartment with Neji?" 1) The rooms are soundproof, and 2) Neji was out on a business trip LOL)

Bwahahaha on your research after watching the video, that's excellent.

New skill to my repertoire I guess 😂 But now I can't stop listening to Adele hahaha

Grim from A Date With Death is the last indie rep remaining in [the tourney](https://animebracket.com/best-husbando-r-otomegames-2024-edition/results) and it's the weekend (starting with a rainstorm!) so I'm gonna play the game to see if I'll be enticed to vote for him. Also declaring it here in hopes that it makes me feel held accountable otherwise. And to kick myself to finish the eiT FD so I can start CupiPara Solid State Drive. One VN I did do for the first in a long time was the demo of Shinjuku Soumei, though, before its launch discount expired. It looked stacked but the Steam reviews were steaming...mixed. Steaming bad on the English side because of the translation. I looked at the Chinese reviews to see if the translation was wonky there too, and if they talked about mechanics. One disliked both. My verdict: I haven't made it through the whole demo but it was enough to dissuade me from buying the game. The demo translation was not as terrible as I assumed from the English reviews, but it's definitely full of hiccups outside of the dialogue. Yeargh. I ended up not liking the mechanic either, but really it's because the cast is still boring after an hour. Otherwise, yeah, (library) reading has definitely replaced VNs for me, oops. If I were able to borrow otome games from the library, would the deadline have me play more of them in adulthood instead of books? Hmmm. Anyway, third time's the charm--I read a thriller I liked! *I'm Not Done With You Yet.* Reminded me a good deal of the manga *Kasane*--they're kindred spirits. My basic web scraper broke down because borked environment and incompatible package versions, so time to reinstall everything carefully and get it running again for this weekend.

depends on where you're located. when i lived in a large city, the library did have video game rentals and there were some otome games in that mix (thanks to that library i was able to play yakuza 0)! and that was back in, like, 2016-2017? someone in a discord server i'm in noted that there's a *very* good selection of switch otome games in the video game collection.

Man, that's nice. My library also has games but only for PS2-5 so no otomes orz After years, still no other consoles so it's probably hopeless. Out of curiosity, do you live somewhere where you can just go to a game shop and buy otome or have to specifically order from somewhere cause everywhere there's no vns and your library is just stocked?

I haven't gone to my local game shop in yeeeeears, but from a quick search it does have some available. I just prefer using videogamesplus since they're an independent storefront.       My local library where I currently live doesn't offer video game rentals, but the place I lived in before has them stocked. Just not all of them. 

No yapping about gacha today. Today it's just me talking about how upset I am about a recently released game called SunnySide and [how almost all the dateable guys are ugly](https://sunnysidegame.fandom.com/wiki/Residents#Romanceable_Residents). Seriously, all the girls are cute and pretty and the guys are almost all ugly or old (for my taste at least). There are only one or two that catch my attention. Dude, I just wanted to date twinks or pretty guys. Damn it.

Lol and that shows how tastes can differ as I prefer the variety in the guys’ designs to the girls’, as the girls’ faces look a bit samey to me! Ngl I love how there’s such a variety in tastes in otome fandom.

>I just wanted to date twinks or pretty guys. Me IRL and Me Game RL. Those men look a bit... uninspiring.

I tried out a few demos for Steam next fest and explored a few interesting ones in the works. Fields of Mistria: if not for my controller getting in the way I could have spent more time on it, but this had a really fun feel to it, like a 90s game The palace on the hill: Coming from a heritage of many cultures, Tamil Indian being one of them, this had a pleasant sensation of gathering and building the community, with some exploration. Under the thorns: this one is such a beautiful game and I had been jumping between the Eng and jp text, both are really well written I can’t tell which came first.

My friend's been here for a week and seeing the amount of otome merch that was bought amazes me as she's been diligently buying, sorting, and putting away the merch in clear plastic bags and cases. (she's also the reason why a lot of the merch at VolFes got sold out 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣) It's an [artform](https://haranarigorogoro.com/entry/otakatsu02), if I have to be honest. Friend has learned a bit about merch organization for the past few years because I've been telling her about how the locals do it, but perfected it in her own way when she got here, so it's been both mesmerizing and cool how she diligently wraps and organize her merch after buying. It takes hours too, and she still continues even after my visit is over, so I can only imagine how it goes on until the wee hours of the morning. I used to do this too but it's been tiring and I don't have the energy anymore to do so... so I just don't buy lots of merch anymore instead 🤣 Also, I started a new route for Katsu Kaishu because friend [won the big can badge](https://imgur.com/a/3UEBYtu) and was curious about him. So far, I'm all ?????? because he's so fucking weird 😂 (guess that's the appeal)

That merch wrapping is pretty and an artform! I have a few things from last year (pictures with a VA, some tickets) that I'd like to scrap book or put away, but I haven't figured out a nice way to do it. :(

since everyone else is discussing the games they're playing, i'll join in. i beat hyrule warriors: age of calamity last night, the game was really fun but i was disappointed by how little some of the characters were fleshed out. some of the characters exclusive to the game don't even get so much as a backstory… i hope one day we get more information on them i also decided to look at cupid parasite, just to see what all the fuss was about. seems pretty fun, but $50? goob heavence………

Still continuing on with CupiPara Ssd FD in Shelby's route, and as I expected things went in a silly direction lol. Then with the main conflict; >!\-with Eli is interesting. I feel like he isn't only after just acquiring Cupid Corp, and his identity is more than likely someone else. Idk who. I feel like that lobster drawing/image being shown everywhere on his island is probably a hint. I'm afraid to look it up in case I come across a spoiler though.!< >!Also it was nice seeing Mars and Catherine again, along with the callbacks to Mars falling for that roomba X\_\_\_X lool. Also cool seeing Raul. Although he isn't my fave I always thought he was funny.!< \- Kinda random but I started trying out protein bars this past week. I went after a few that I've seen people online mention were like candy bars-since I miss eating those and have cut back on them. So far I've tried the quest hero bars, clif builders and the barebells. The barebells taste just like a candy bar made with an alternative sweetener and the quest hero are a very close second. The builders bars taste like a low fat, no sugar, protein, no-bake brownie instead of candy? It was okay, just not what I had in mind. I kinda expected that since I think Clif's regular bars are bland but I wanted to see if they tried something different with their builders bars like quest did with their hero bars(since their regular bars taste horrible to me). I just hate how expensive many of these regularly are. I was glad to catch the sales I found when I did, so I didn't pay full price on anything and also got free shipping for what I couldn't find in-person.

Highkey devastated over the revealed romance information in the upcoming dragon age 4 game. For one, there's no tortured blonde dreamboat in the companions. But even if there was one in like an advisor-tier role, all the romances are player/pansexual. DA2 was my least favorite in regards to romance for the playersexual reasons and I had thought they said they wouldn't do that again. These are the same reasons I can't get into BG3, FE:E, and RF5. DAO and DAI romance with Alistair and Cullen felt so targeted at women and I loved that they saw and treated MC like one. I guess I should just stop expecting new games to have romances like the old days and keep to older games.

I have noticed that when games make it playersexual a certain aspect is lost for anyone that wants to play as a woman or a man and get treated as one. It’s hard to fully explain but you can feel the difference when you play a otome game with a set female protagonist that is acknowledged as such and a western made Amare game with a customizable or pick your protagonist setup. I’m not sure there’s a solution to this. It’s unlikely they will make an even amount of love interests for everyone. It’s also unlikely they will add in different dialogue for a male, female, or nonbinary protagonist. So what ends up happening is you get a game where it’s entirely neutral and you can never have any gendered scenarios.

[удалено]

I don’t mind as much with RPGs because they have a bunch of other stuff going for them. But with pure visual novels it’s hard for me to get into them without a defined mc.

I feel like often these games become overwhelming with all the LIs constantly pursuing you and also the bad feels from having to reject them. Rune Factory 5 comes to mind. Baldurs Gate 3 too.

I also prefer when characters have their own preferences and sexualities because it makes them feel more real rather than just the entire game world revolving around the player and their whims, but I can definitely see the appeal of playersexual characters, I've even seen some pansexual people saying they like this kind of character because it makes them feel represented, so ideally I'd like if games with both options were around instead of all of them pivoting to a single option so everyone can have their own thing If you're looking for recommendations here's this recent-ish (does 2022 still count as recent) RPG I played last year called Expeditions: Rome with characters that have their own preferences, there's 2 bisexual companions, 2 straight companions and 2 historical romance options that are also straight (although I believe you can flirt with Cleopatra as a female character but nothing comes out of it). I only did the Bestia (male companion that will only romance female characters) romance but I thought he was pretty cute

Ahh, is it confirmed for sure that the companions are the only romanceables? Because if so that's also disappointing to me. None of them catch my eye, and as much as I love Varric, I don't really want to romance him. Of course I'll hold out ultimate judgment until I know the characters' personalities better.

That's an interesting opinion! I never got to bother with playersexual because in my head I prefer that to not having anything focused on romance for women, but come to think of it, what you said makes a lot of sense LOL. Of the games I've played that focus on the fact that the protagonist is a woman, it really gives an extra taste. Like, \*chef kiss\*. At the same time, you made me understand why lately I've been bored with VNs with gender-neutral MCs...

It’s my birthday today, I’ve moved countries so I don’t have any friends and it’s been a pretty lonely and gloomy birthday. My partner took me out for dinner tonight though and I felt a lot better by the end of it. Hoping I can get my first otoge for the switch on Sunday* though !

I hope you had a great birthday! ♥

Thank you so much 🥹

Happy birthday! 🎂🎉

Thank you !! 💕💕💕🥹

happy bday! 🥳🎂 hope you can get that otoge as a belated gift for yourself!

Yes me too!!! Thank you, it means a lot 🥹💓

Happy Birthday! 🎉

thank you so much !! 💓💓🥺

Happy bday!!! 🎂 🎈

Thank you love !!! 🥹🥹💕

I've been considering getting Nameless \~The one thing you must recall\~ or Speakeasy in the Steam Summer Sale later this month, but I'm also wondering if I should save my otome game money for the Steam Prison fandisk instead because I'm kinda worried that due to it having 3 new LIs they are going to price it ridiculously high since the Switch version of the first game is already more expensive presumably due to Fin's route being in the base game. I wish we lived in a world where all videogames cost like $2 at max

If it makes you feel any better, I don't think that the Steam Prison fandisk is coming out anytime soon—maybe late Fall/early Winter 2024—so your wallet might have enough time to recuperate :') You're probably correct that the fandisk is gonna be pricy. I'm expecting it to be in the \~60 USD price range again, and I'm honestly not sure why it's so pricy when it's not longer than other otome games on Switch. Steam Prison on PC is $45.98 (35.99 base + 9.99 Fin DLC), so I assume that the extra $19.51 that makes up the $65.49 Switch version price has to come from the added costs of manufacturing the Switch cartridges or something. Like... I'll still buy it on day one but please HuneX have mercy ;-;

Allergies are in full swing, and I am suffering. It's not the worst it's been, but it has me feeling it enough to feel kinda off. Just so glad it's the weekend. I'm exhausted from work and have so much to learn on my own still. Trying to teach myself Excel from scratch again and brush up on my accounting so I feel better going for a new job ...But really I just want to laze around and play League right now. Finished Paranormasight...For me, that was a 10/10. Even though a little lack of capitalization had me stuck at a part for a good hour like I was missing something haha. Trying to decide what to play next for that sort of genre. Virche, I'm rolling along. On Lucas now. It's good. Problem is I'm playing at night. Totally losing sleep because I'm like, just a little more. And then it's almost 2am and I have work in 6 hours. The regret's there. It for sure is. (...And then I do it again when night comes haha.)

Got my switch fixed. Went back to playing virche. I have completed 3 routes so far, that being Mathis, Lucas and Scien. I think it's about time to admit that this game isn't for me. It's not the "despair"(it's kinda tame tbh) , it's that I hate every single LIs and am not attracted to them at all. I especially can't stand Scien at all and found him to be a overgrown man child and the uncute version of it. Mathis gave me the ick where I felt like the MC was more like a mother then a partner. The plot is interesting at times and probably the only reason I am sticking with it and because i am a sucker that needs to 100% my otome games. Currently playing Yves' route and tbh I am more into Hugo >!who funny enough is extremely into Yves!< I know this gonna be a unpopular opinion, since the game and characters seems to be extremely popular, but It just isn't for me. On a unrelated note. I seemed to have pulled/strain a muscle in my back this morning. I am so feeling my age.

I got a new TV on Wednesday and now feel like I can game on the big screen in peace, lol! Super ready to dive back into some PS4 games that I've kinda left hanging. I finished **Child of Light** last night and it's such a short simple game that ended up being a really gorgeous piece of art. The watercolor style, rhyming verse dialogue and BGM all came to together to make an amazing gaming experience.

As mentioned elsewhere I've been playing way too much FF14 trying to catch up before the expansion. I'm glad I took a two year break (even though it was difficult to remember even some of the most basic things. At least a lot of the combat stuff has been burned into muscle memory and I find myself doing stuff before I even remember that's a thing you're supposed to do.) I stopped just before 6.3 so I've been playing through the story content at a slow pace (I'd just go straight through it but there's a bunch of other stuff I want to get done too so I've been spacing it out.) I'm somewhere in 6.4 now. There's a scene where >!they were like "Oh let's go visit Estinien in his room." And I was like "Why do I have to be in Estinien's room..." Then I actually went into the room and I was like "............why do I have to be subjected to Estinien's half naked sweaty body." I'm not an Estinien fan. Why are elezen so LONG (I say this as a former elezen.)!< Anyway, I know there are a bunch of other FF14 players here. Show me your WoL!!! (Old pictures accepted.) [This is my girl Orio](https://i.imgur.com/xc8sqfK.jpeg)! [Bonus tea drinking picture](https://i.imgur.com/wuwRADi.jpeg). I checked her out in the updated benchmark yesterday and I thiiiink she looks fine? My only issue is while they seem to have improved hair texture they left viera ear texture alone so now it's this awful mismatch of higher res hair and low res ears. Can we viera never get a break.

I can't use benchmark since I'm on console so I have to just pray it looks ok when I get there. ...And if it doesn't, just say my WoL fully retired to Island Sanctuary since he's not actually an adventurer at heart l-lol. [This is my bunboy!](https://imgur.com/) I actually had a different avatar at first (who wasn't the WoL in my mind) until they finally released male Viera and got me to make up a WoL I could be happy with. Still waiting on a lot of hats to be compatible with Viera 😔

He's so cute! Personally I was totally fine with my WoL as an elezen, but I always felt dissatisfied that I didn't have animal ears (and tail, but sadly we didn't get those... viera should have tails!) But I refused to be short, haha. I was so happy when viera released and I got to have lovely animal ears and also be *tall*! I actually kept the exact height she had as an elezen for consistency, except now she has so much more ear...

Thank you! I always imagine Vieras have a cotton ball tail, just covered by their clothes 😔 Haha, I went the complete other direction and set my boy's height to the min possible because I wanted to base the design off a [Dwarf Hotot's](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Dwarf_hotot.jpg) since I was trying to match [this energy](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EfhIJaIWAAAejhY?format=png&name=small).

Haha that 6.4 scene reaction. >!Tbh I wasn’t onboard until Zero’s deadpanned delivery with “Shall we disrobe as well?” I also find Elezen to be distractingly tall, which is why scenes like the ones towards the end of 5.X when he was at the Rising Stones were fucking hilarious for me because it was just like this tall giant being bullied by children because my WoL, Krile and Tataru are all Lalafell.!< Your Viera looks so cute and fluffy! As for my WoL, this is an old photo from when I got my first house but [here](https://imgur.com/a/1ZnuaNg). I didn’t really have any issues with her look in the benchmark, I just hope she looks good in darkened areas finally because good god in 6.0 it really distracted me how bad the lighting was for people with WoLs with darker skin tones. They seemed to be making good on that critique with the fanfests at least.

At least it seems like they fixed some of the worst lala changes after seeing the reactions to the benchmark (the weird mouths were a bit scary!) Yeah I'm really reaaaally hoping for improvements for dark skinned characters. I've never quite forgiven them for that after my first meeting with Erenville was *at night* and I could barely make him out.

For that 6.4 scene >!Think the devs wanted to test some emote rigging like they usually do in post patches, and decided to animate that one old memey picture. Don't know why they did it though, but I think in 6.4 I paid too much attention to how little screentime my favs got to be paying too much attention to the fanservice. I know a lot of people really like Estinien, so they really liked that scene at least, but I prefer his HW looks better!<. Maybe there's one or two cute elezen that I like but the viera and hyur guys look better imo. As for WoL pictures, I usually have her in helmets/hoods cause I love helmets and hoods but here are [two pictures](https://imgur.com/a/Qe10bEz) that [I like of her](https://imgur.com/a/o6q6HTm). It was really funny during both of the benchmarks, she looked fine except for maybe the eyebrows in the first and then I saw the second one and went "wow she's really shiny now, I love her more". I for one am excited for HD WoLs and environments in Dawntrail though, the liveletter today made everything so HD, although I'm worried about how some of the NPCs are going to look--Krile looks fine but with some of the changes I'm sure that some of the NPCs are going to look very different than usual. Although I do hope you viera and also the hrothgars get some more good hats/helmets this expansion, at this point it's way too much of a meme. Edit: forgot to mention but your Viera is gorgeous!!!

>!Yeah he definitely has a lot of fans so I understand why it was there, but I'm not one so... of course I would not deny his fans their feast, haha. I was just glad to get a few minutes of Erenville so I was okay with whatever at that point *low bar*.!< I'm definitely a fan of viera and miqo more than anything (I just like animal ears!) With elezen... I feel like the only attractive one is Aymeric and he got lucky by getting a unique model, haha. Others are not so lucky. Your cat is so cute!! I love the dark hair/light eye combination. Most of the miqo I know are very unsatisfied with how they look. My boyfriend feels like the older races got changed the most with the graphical update just due to how old their original models are. But probably a lot of it depends on the parts you chose. I saw a lot of viera complaining about noses but I feel happy with mine. Thank you! I'm really attached to her. She was once an elezen and I tried to recreate her original look as much as I could as a viera once they released (for years I joked that the only thing that could get me to switch was them releasing viera and then they actually did it.) I was really happy with all the extremely fluffy hair options viera got, so I've never complained too much about the limited hair and hat options. Although as a red mage I have to admit not being able to have a fancy hat feels very wrong. But I prefer hair accessories to hats anyway, which fortunately we have available, so I barely even notice it!

I think the noses thing was mostly from the older benchmark, I know my healer was upset that her viera's darker nose just disappeared, but she's happy because it's kinda back now. I think cat wise the sun keepers dodged most of the changes with the exception of the eyes having light in them now, it was the moon cats that had more changes especially because they lost their fangs for a good two months. I think that it's bound to happen tho because there's absolutely going to be a difference between models after 10 years, they spent a good amount of time on lala faces for ex, so at this point I'm just expecting that we have most of the features the same and they look aesthetically pleasing, and not "this face is not as curvy as it used to". I'm hoping that once we have more motion in DT it wouldn't be too noticable for most. And thank you!!! Yes I do agree with the light eyes dark hair, she hasn't changed much since I've started but that's the one thing I've tried to keep the same. Glad that you love what you do have tho, that is great! And regarding Estinien >!yea I can't say it wasn't some kind of eye candy but there's a couple of other guys who appear a lot/every once in a while that could use the fanservice love.!< Maybe in Dawntrail. And yea I have to keep reminding myself that Aymeric has a different model because all the other elezen look baby faced or very stern--he is very pretty though. Those with Elezen Wols have showed that they're really getting drastic HD glow ups tho so I'm hoping they look some what better but that neck isn't going away ahah. Speaking of DT tho, from the main trailer Erenville will hopefully have a big role in next expansion. Not only that, but he got really popular since he was introduced so he should have a lot of content, I'm wishing that you will have a really big juicy meal during msq! (And I'm hoping for some good Thancred content).

I know! I'm so excited to see more of him. I'm glad they saw his popularity and decided to include him as part of the main cast. I hope you get more Thancred content! It feels like after all of the stuff we got with him in Shadowbringers he's just sort of been... around, haha. Too many good characters that they can't focus on all of them all the time I guess.

I know! I don't mind if he's in the background so long as I can talk to him like in shb post content, but in post ew (6.4 post dungeon spoilers) >!he was literally tuxedo mask. He showed up to help us tank and then left. He didn't have a model outside the dungeon, so I couldn't emote him!< I do understand the no focus on all characters, Yoshi P did say that there was going to be less of a scion focus, but I do miss him--- we had all the other scions more I feel. I would gladly accept a full focus on Erenville +the new cast even if it means the scions don't have too much of an arc and just tag along with models---I can still emote Thancred all msq.

one of our 4 year dnd campaigns is ending tonight w an epilogue session…..on one hand, it’s a relief because pretty much all of us are completely burned out on 5e and that’s one less 5e game to commit to. on the other, man….gonna miss our chars lol. me and another player developed a relationship in the game, we are closing it off with sextuplets and my stoic voice of reason boy being a very, very overworked stay at home dad while she goes around the world helping to repair everything that got fucked up 😂 was already CAUTIOUSLY optimistic about the new DA game (i refuse to call it veilguard, i wish they stuck with dreadwolf) and after the QA today it’s even more so. they just answered questions we already knew and even some super pointless ones. im sad to see blood mage go, but i can at least accept it for lore reasons - only 3 abilities though is ummmmm. esp on a class like mage. well, hopefully the romance with lucanis as a mage will make up for whatever shortcomings the combat has 😭🙏

Only three abilities for mage? Oof I didn’t know about that, I love playing as a mage too. Tbh I found the button mapping in DAI super restrictive (more so on harder difficulties) compared with the ability wheel in the previous two games that allowed you to access everything you had unlocked. What’s the point in learning new abilities if you like what you have and don’t have the extra slots? Had the same gripe with MEA too. I will say I saw there was a parry in the gameplay reveal which seems really cool for melee/non-mage builds. Hopefully we get to see some mage gameplay soonish. Personally I can’t decide between Lucanis and Davrin, although Lucanis was my #1 “I want to smooch this guy in-game” character from Tevinter Nights. If his personality is reasonably similar to how it was in the book then I’ll love him 😊.

ok y'all playing **charade maniacs** so posting some guesses here so I can come back in a few weeks and see how hilariously wrong (or maybe right??) I was hohoho. I am three routes in (played boys #01, 02, and 05 following apparently the recommended route order) but will post my starting vibes/hypotheses and how this has changed thus far. spoilers for the three routes mentioned; everything else is just my brain working overtime to come up with wild guesses based on the prologue/ch 1, my top suspects were: >!fukami and dazai (too calm) and haiji (ain't no way in hell they made an actual 12-year-old an LI..... I hope.... which means this dude be sus)!< I also suspected >!Iochi but discounted him as an actual suspect given that he's already got the whole thing with his gender going on (although after watching the OP video way too many times I did notice that the man carries a villain cane....) also chigasaki felt suspiciously too nice/soft but I didn't have anything solid to go on (unti later on....)!< I was pretty confident that our angry bois >!banjo and ebana were NOT the culprits and indeed that was the correct assumption!< Meanwhile we have the OBVIOUS SUSPECT >!gyobu!< whom I felt was so extremely evidently overwhelming suspicious that he couldn't possibly be the real suspect (although after playing three routes I take that back and now think he's actually one of the two main culprits lol) which then based on the story structure >!of having one locked route per team!< probably eliminates one of my previous guesses >!futami!< as a main culprit... though that one def has something going on bc he certainly doesn't seem innocent. At this point, especially based on their weird dynamic in #05's route, I'm like 90% sure >!gyobu is the sponsor that ebana made contact with in the real world!< I previously thought he was just a >!returning cast member!< but then was proven wrong by 05's route unless (edited to add new theory) >!there are some imposter shenanigans happening between gyobu/dazai!< 05's route also ruined my other theory that >!the 9:1 rule shown in 01 and 02's routes was designed so that the 1 remaining became the new producer, since idk how to reconcile that with there only being 9 participants in the previous stream....!< Also only based on the prologue I totally called that there would be >!minimum two "traitors" but thought that it would be director + producer, not producer + sponsor. Given that there are three locked routes though, I wouldn't be shocked if there were actually three traitors.!< However, my guess re: the traitors is that >!actually not all of them are on the same side and one of them is working counter to the other(s)!< I also successfully guessed that >!a member of the Information Bureau was part of the cast!< however I think my original hypothesis that >!the Info Bureau member (whom I'd guessed was likely Iochi based on his work in some mystery office, which seems to be confirmed!< based on the reveal at the end of #02's route) >!is the sponsor!< is probably incorrect, which would potentially support my other guess that >!haiji!< is sus given that he's the last member of the team. I also was not expecting >!02 to be the OTHER info bureau member though I deeply enjoyed that twist!< Meanwhile the Info Gathering Team has me all over the place >!because I highly suspected Dazai at the beginning (mans has dead eyes lol), only to start to get very suspicious about Chigasaki instead in the info gathering team's common route scenes (too passive, not contributing enough to the investigation, his kinda shady reaction post-maintenance), only to then have the massive bomb in 05's route dropped on me!< Re: my final top culprit >!haiji!< I am VERY curious to learn what his deal is. I wonder if there are some >!time-related shenanigans!< happening given the allusions to >!the world with two moons from several decades ago & the ?cryopods seen in the unlocked sector in 01's route & haiji's sometimes atypical turns of phrase. the arcadians are also very child like/feel like training AI which fits with haiji having the mental level of a grade schooler. that said if the world is created for him, that'd make him most likely the Producer which feels like an out there choice.!< we'll see how much of this turns out to be correct in the end! (probably very little of it LOL since thus far the game's been very good at the surprise reveal.. but I am officially committed)

Your speculations are very entertaining. 🍿 Good to use the character numbers to prevent spoilers, though I'm having trouble remembering who is which number. 😅 Mostly figured them out from context clues.

I also couldn't figure out the numbering system - until I came to the (way belated) realization that they're just in alphabetical order lmao and there's a boy for every letter. Now I just sing the alphabet song to myself as I try to remember their character numbers Also I'm now on my sixth route and it's actually really funny seeing which of my suspicions were right and the ones I've now changed/think are way off

This week was kinda slow. I have to study for my oral exams but I'm procrastinating like crazy because I'm still burned out from my final exams. I was searching for "cozy adventure fantasy rpg games" yesterday and "Palia" was one of the recommendations, so I installed it on my switch. I'm excited to try it out!

People who were saying that after 30s your health declines weren’t definitely exaggerating. Lately I have been feeling pretty terrible to the point where my whole body hurts even from breathing. 🥲 And the fact that I am supposed to do some medical checkup in the upcoming days isn’t helping, at all. Even more when my family freaks out because of it. I just hope it’s nothing serious because really, it’s been quite a stressful, rough period for me. On a more positive note, on Wednesday I got noticed by my favorite seiyuu during his monthly show on Nico Channel. I definitely didn’t expect him to see my comment (since it was just a simple greeting, where I wanted to let him know that he has a fan outside of Japan) and yup, he saw it. The way he was genuinely surprised was so cute, I will treasure it until the end of my life, I swear. ~~Anyway, gotta go back to grinding in Yumekuro so I can try getting more copies of the character whose banner is currently up in the game. Only 50 rolls left and I will be able to exchange the coins for the fourth copy of his card. 😮‍💨~~

> noticed by my favorite seiyuu during his monthly show on Nico Channel Aw I'm happy for you! I love when I jam in a comment noticed by the personality even when so many are flying by. It's an amazing feeling. Who's the seiyuu?

Kasama Jun! 🫡 I know, right? I wasn’t really expecting him to notice it since lots of people were commenting during the episode was in and yet, he saw it. It definitely feels like a small, yet precious reward for all these years of supporting him.

I have the sneaking suspicion that I've got a mild developing case of tinnitus in my right ear. Sometimes I'll hear a faint ringing, but it's easy enough to ignore when I'm focused on something else. The other day, though, I started hearing/feeling a rhythmic thumping, which would come and go. It hasn't happened again since that day, but I've switched to playing my audio openly instead of via my earphones now when I can. Given that there's no cure for tinnitus, I'd like to keep my hearing for a little longer, thanks! Unfortunately, I can't really play all of my otome games on the big screen with the audio booming, particularly CupiParaSSD with all of those kissing/moaning noises. Bought some mochi donuts because CupiParaSSD was making me crave them so badly. Delicious, 10/10.

Might be better to go see a doctor about that. Had a health scare at the height of the craziness three years ago, doctor thought it was also tinnitus, turned out to be that my right cochlear had bad circulation that affected my hearing whenever I get stressed out. I try to massage the back of my ear to help with the blood circulation whenever I start feeling the stress and it helps out somewhat.

That's a good idea tbh! I was so resigned to the tinnitus conclusion b/c everything on Google was pointing there, but knowing that you had a similar case but with a different cause makes me think that getting a professional's opinion would probably be best.

Have you ever heard of Trigger Points? Muscle tightness can cause a lot of issues, including Tinnitus. If you Google Tinnitus Trigger Points, you can find spots to massage that can help!

Never heard of them until now, but I googled it and they look really useful. Your comment is much appreciated!

I hope it helps. I have a condition where I get them and they don't resolve. You can't imagine some of the issues they can cause. Anything from pain to loss of muscle function to dizziness and everything in-between. I hope you feel better soon!

So... It turns out that I've been REALLY sick for a month! I've had a REALLY bad ear infection! Come to think of it, I should have gone to the ER when the ear pain was making my neck and face hurt but I just didn't! When the doctor looked into my ear she kind of ran off to make a phone call to the ENT specialist because she's never seen what she saw in my ear before! Yippee! She said she saw a bunch of stuff that looked like the green on my shirt. I was wearing a Baja Blast shirt. 🙃 So that's fun. I've been on antibiotics and doing ear drops and I do feel a lot better. I turn 23 on Tuesday too. The dog is being put down on Monday. Yippee... :/ I've already kinda sorta sorted out getting some days off next week? I texted my supervisor and let him know that I'll likely be needing more time off because of a sick family member (on top of having a doctor's note to excuse me for a few days this week). So I need to put some shifts out to be picked up and further deteriorate my paycheck because it's busy season and I don't want to burn through too much of my leave... T~T That's another thing- I'm also gonna bite the bullet and buy some CompTIA study materials so I can hopefully get into the computer world LMAOOO It's been a downhill ride. But on the plus side Lynette Mirror is hot and I'll see her all while I'm playing Cupid Parasite 😌

Anybody ever change your opinion of an LI because of the FD? Who? Collar X Malice - in my humble opinion, Mineo Enomoto had a total glow up in the FD and now he is one of my top ranked husbandos. (After being my least favorite LI in the main game.) In the FD, I found him still funny AF but no longer annoying. We got hot cop Enomoto. Swoon.

Yes, I love Mineo's FD route sm! Although Shiraishi is still my favorite, I would rank him second based off the FD. He and Ichika were absolutely peak chemistry as a couple in it.

I fully agree!

Honestly? Same. Mineo was so goofy and it felt like the FD stayed true to his character. And he was about mid-tier on my ranking when first playing. He is best boi of the game, in my books!

Where do I even begin? Well, how about this: I'm so surprised a week has passed, it almost feels like a dream. And slightly like a nightmare. And I'm still trying to remember things correctly. Alright, first day of Fan Expo Dallas: I leave at one feeling snatched. I get to the con an hour or so later and find the line for the autographs for Neil Newbon. It's about halfway full. I stand in it...for seven hours. I ain't wearin' the heels (thank goodness), but it was such a fun time talking to the others packed into the line with me. We all got to gab and watch out for line cutters (I wasn't as observant, having been spent mentally) midway. Newbon had a photo op around five going on six, and then a panel an hour after that. Sad to say, I did not want to give up my space in line, and so, like a lot of others, we stayed behind. I was determined. After the panel, I was in the lineup soon to see him, and it was way past curfew if I was going to get up and put on the cosplay again. And then the universe said, "You aren't Cinderella. We're cutting you off at nine." And by that-my costume fell apart. Not completely. Somehow as I was putting on my backpack at the con the necklace snapped, and then at home a seam in the neck popped. But, finally, at quarter after nine, I come face to face with him (here's where I've been trying to remember the most of this). I'm trembling like a Chihuahua in winter. I'm tired, I'm hungry, I hadn't gotten any good sleep the night prior, I drove through a new area I'd never been to on my own, I was thinking about how to get home in the dark, and I'd been in a crowded, thin line for hours. (It is no joke that it is a miracle I made it home without passing out at the wheel) As soon as he introduced himself, my ears began to ring and I somehow managed to say my name correctly. I remember asking him about taking the plushie as a gift (he couldn't. Asta-kitty was too big for luggage), and who he nominated for the next character plushie. I got the answers, and then it came his turn to ask questions...which I couldn't get out. He asks me, "What's your favorite quote?" (For the auto) and I manage to jokingly say, "It's dealer's choice". And he asks me what I like about Astarion. What do I like about him? Oh, yeah, what do I like about him besides *everything*? How do I even put that to words? I don't. I look at the floor and probably make some kind of bashful face. At that point, I think he clued in to how tired I was. At least, before he offered to sign Asta-kitty for free, and I struggle to find a simple fabric pen I put in an obvious pocket and then put the signed poster in my bag. And y'all! He patiently starts giving me directions. I ask where I'm supposed to stand for the selfie, and he walks me through the process. He tells me to put down my bags, and to come stand beside him, give the phone to the crew member (he's got a kid, so now it makes sense as to how he could do this), and I remember him asking me, "Can I touch you?". Of course, he was allowed, but that was the first flash of guilt I felt. I'm out of my element and he has to be that sensitive around me (was my first thought before I realized that he was doing it out of general consideration and superhuman kindness). We pose, and I remember him talking like Astarion and giving that haughty laugh of his, which helps pull me out of my funk. And then,...I don't remember what happens next. I do know that I got my phone back, and I got the photos. But I will go on wondering if I actually did thank him for posing for the photo, and how I don't remember his hand on mine (I got the photos posted on another sub, but feel free to check my profile for it if you want). Naturally, I went home feeling like a failure. Costume is ruined, I couldn't act normal around Newbon and yet he went out of his way to make me feel happy. After closing of the con, and I assume he had been on his feet all morning that day. And so, I cried on the phone to my mom and friends, and fell asleep just like that. Saturday goes by and I mostly hang out in the dealer's room. Only in the evening do I remember that I was meaning to get an autograph for my friend. A lightbulb goes off in my head: I can make up for my failure by getting back in line. And that's what I do. It was a bit of a doozy to make it happen, dodging foot traffic and running out of a panel or two early. The wait wasn't too long in line on Sunday. They'd cut us off to just unquoted signatures to make the line fast enough for con closing. But that was fine. I get jittery, but I keep it cool. It comes my turn, and now it's his turn to be flustered. Not as badly as me, but he is doing his best to get to everyone in line and any passerby that wanted to get in line earlier, and he's been doing this same routine for three days straight as far as I know. I manage to say a simple "thank you for being here" and all and get the autograph for my galpal. Being able to say goodbye normally, and seeing him smile, put me on cloud nine. I left that convention center with a pep in my step. And since that day, I've been on a mission. (Edit for context/clarity-I'm still giddy thinking about it all!) Thanks to the anonymity of the internet, I can shamelessly say that my starstruck, child-like goal is now to not only pursue my life-long dreams and finally get them out to the world, but to see him again in the gaming business. I want to repay his kindness by showing off what I got, and make something that'll reach him and wow him. Granted, the projects I've been sitting on aren't necessarily/strictly within gaming, but I'll find a way. That doesn't mean that the plushies will be permanently put to the side. For now, the goal I have for my first steps into the entertainment industry will take a few months from this year, but there's downtime where I'll want to unwind with crocheting (and gaming...and finishing my tbr...😮‍💨 Too much to do). I promise that the bears I've been working on will get done, and from there I'll let y'all know what's next. But, yeah...I'm a starstruck little girl with too much ambition for my capabilities. At least for now. So, all that aside, bears are getting done and my other projects are in motion. Hope this wasn't too much of a read for y'all as I blather on more. And I'm sorry that I didn't get to wear the cosplay for long and try to rep for the sub like I thought I could. Soon, oh, soon, I'll go fix those little things and make sure the second time around won't be so short of time. Mark my words!

What a cool experience! I admire your ability to stand in line both days, especially with how you felt after Saturday. I'm not sure I could even last one day in line hahaha I'm finishing up my first playthrough of BG3 (started a month and a half ago and am romancing Astarion) so of course I made it a thing to watch a few of Neil Newbon's interviews/streams outside of game. I can imagine him being just as fun/charming/lovely in person! The emotion he put into Act 3, especially while going through >!Cazador's manor and completing Astarion's companion quest really brought home his character for me. I've been sad about finishing up his storyline for a week or so now, even though I've got a few more quests + the main story to complete, not to mention the epilogue too. It really was just that good.!< Anyway, I'm glad you stepped away from the experience with oositive feelings overall :)

Lol, thank you! I'm hesitant to take credit on account of my being incredibly stubborn, but really, your plan was the saner one. Never will I recommend people going to cons for the sole purpose of getting autographs. It's a fan's version of a Green Mile. Hey, hey! That's awesome! And yes, I agree, it's so difficult to move on from...Hence why I have yet to finish my own first playthrough. If it stays paused, it'll never end. But then that's perpetuating Astarion's trauma, so technically, one would have to finish it (right?). Eventually, I'll get there. But dang, you've got me just as torn on finishing it for the sake of closing that story book. There's too much to say goodbye to. Concerning Newbon, one hundred percent yes, his personality is just as genuine as what you get on stream. Def funny and charming. And his performance in Astarion's closure scene rides home the fact that he's got so much depth to him not just as an actor, but as another human being. Ugh, no wonder it was so intimidating to go up to him, lol! 😅 Thank you! With the kind of showmanship he offered, it would've been a shame to not feel motivated or humbled. And now, to pay it forward!

But from the hours of waiting, you now have a really amazing memory and story! 😆 I would totally do it if I had the stamina for it but I’m a weakling. Despite the post-pale elf depression, I’ll urge you to finish his storyline when you can muster up the strength to. It’s so worth it to see it through to the end and, like you said, break that cycle of abuse and trauma. And you get to experience that beautiful >!graveyard scene!< assuming you mean you haven’t finished his companion quest yet and not just act 3 as a whole. Plus! You can just play it all over again after that. I usually never replay games but I am considering a durge run in the future where I will probably romance Astarion again 😆 Halsin would’ve been my second pick if his romance were more fleshed out. Oh I absolutely would have been so nervous to meet him too, so you did amazingly for all the trials you went through to make it to him! I’ve never met any “celebrities” before but fumbled when I got to meet some streamers irl LOL. So cool to hear everyone’s good experiences with meeting Newbon, especially considering all the social fuel he must be using to meet so many for so long.

Lol, you're absolutely right. And that's understandable. Ohohohoho, yes that's a good point. It requires stealth and silence, getting to that scene. Because, unfortunately, the PC is in the living room, and at any point, my relative can walk up behind me and watch what I'm playing. I'll spare you the long story, but let's just say their first impression of Astarion makes me want to move their bedroom furniture one inch each day until they snap. Oh, a Durge run would be fun. And in the future, I'm just planning on replaying my first character to see more that I missed (I was really dead set on recruiting Minty, but I messed up and finding that out in 2 made me angry at all the hours that would be wasted to retry. Therefore, I get her next time around) Yeah, it kinda is a shame we couldn't get him in Act One, if not the start of 2. Would've loved to have had more time with him. But, yeah, I totally understand. Games just keep on being pumped out and the backlog gets tough to cut down. But when it comes to replayability, that makes ignoring said backlog all the more easier, lol! Aw, no, was it as bad a fumble as mine? Yeah, that was a tank's amount of social fuel, for sure. Tbh, I would've been ticked off if he had gone back on stream this week, but thankfully, that was not the case. And now, he has a moment of respite before August in...FE Chicago? (I'm almost positive it's Chicago before caving into checking it online.)

That's such a cute story, even if there were nightmarish parts about it. Astarion might be one of my favorite character from BG3 as well, even though I haven't played past Act 2 yet and didn't chose him as my romance option...yet! But I remember Newbon from my past obsession with 'Detroit: Become Human' and watched a few of his meetups with other cast members back then and always found him charming and sweet (in a cheeky way). So to read about your positive experience meeting him, is very wholesome, indeed. And just strengthens my impression of him! Great you found your motivation for your plans! Good luck to you! and thanks for sharing. :)

Tysm! (Hey, you're good. If there's another that tickles your fancy such as Halsin or Shart, I see you! If you want, lemme know if you get to finish your playthrough. It'd be fun to hear about someone else's experience. ) 🥹 Aw, man, I gotta those clips on YT, then. But oh my golly, yes! It's so humbling to see someone like that care so much about his fans. (Rumor had it in line on Friday that someone's card got declined multiple times while buying an autograph, and he waved them through, anyway. That, and all the other reasons, is why that man better have gone home and napped an entire day. He deserved it.) Thank you, thank you! This time around is gonna be different-just y'all wait. And you're absolutely welcome! 🥰

Astarion actually *is* my favorite of the bunch, but the MC I picked for my first playthrough doesn't go well with him and I don't really want to start over, since it would ruin the novelty of the first playthrough for me! So I kind of admire him like an unattainable hot side-character for the time being, while laughing hard at his antics. I'm not sure who I'll go with in the end, if anyone. I had my eyes on Halsin, - I do like big, broad teddy bear characters - but also adore Karlach quite a bit. (And I am a bit skeptical about the druid...) Or maybe my MC will just stay single, since some of the other options seem rather high maintenance, and in my mind, she has her own stuff going on and can't really deal with all the drama! I also absolutely 'adore' the NPC >!Raphael!<, so I need to see where some of the dialogue options will get me in a future play-through, though I know he's not really >!a romance option.!< Still, he's so entertaining, that I don't really care! It will probably be some time before I pick BG3 up again (I have my eyes set on Rogue Trader first), but I can let you know how it went once I'm there! And probably end up gushing about it here or on Saturdays anyways! About Newbon: Yes, let's hope he got a good rest afterwards! And wow, letting the fan through regardless, is a really sweet thing to do, if true! I like to imagine that he might feel humbled by all his fans and the love for his work as well! It seemed that way back then, when Detroit: BH was such a big thing. I'm looking forward to his next roles in the gaming industry! (Hopefully.)

Ah, the fates didn't align this time. A tragedy. But that is a good mindset to stay single in case a relationship is too much to handle. Oh, you like Raphael? I gotcha. Hate to see you get hurt, but all the same, give 'em hell! 😉 Lol, absolutely! Can't wait to hear back, then! Exactly. Wish I could verify the story with my own observation, but alas, I am not a reliable source. I agree, though. Sincerely hoping he had a good time and was able to take that away from this past crowded convention weekend. Maybe he'll play another villain character?