Hi all,
basically: title.
Been a Diamond/ Master support main back then, mostly have been playing Moira, Ana, Lucio. I quit in 2019 I believe after the vast majority of the people I've played with no longer logged in and had moved over to other games, back to CS or to Valorant. I joined them.
Now I play on console.
Since I deleted my old Blizzard account not thinking I ever would come back (and not having played other Blizzard games either) I had to start from scratch...
Generally, I certainly do enjoy that the game seems to be way faster and less "static" now.
...but holy hell, I cannot handle the game anymore.
I'm kind of used to people "reacting" to my calls, e.g. when I'm under attack or even realizing themselves I need help e.g. enemy Dva running straight past them towards me.
The amount of situations I had with people just completely ignoring this kind of stuff is absolutely mindblowing and honestly, I've been getting focused down harder than what I'm used to when I played in Diamond/ Masters back then.
...and honestly, I had more balanced games in quickplay before I've unlocked ranked. Most of my ranked matches basically has been super lopsided and mostly ended with one team spawncamping the other.
Granted, a lot of this is due to 5v5 and the game being way more faster and believe me, I absolutely LOVE the game being faster...it feels so much better overall than slowly "snaling" your way through the map behind big shields and with too many heals being thrown around.
Also, using a controller now certainly does have some effect as well, it's the main reason I've stopped playing Ana because I cannot aim for jackshit in this game (while not having any issues in other FPS I play on console and I don't know why that is.
How do you effectively heal when you basically get insta-jumped every single teamfight no matter where you are?
Like how am I supposed to keep my team alive when there is Widows and Sombras with a 20+ KDR in the enemy team while most of my teammates just constantly ignore everything going on around and them and just trying to hit the biggest target in their FOV?
On the positive side: I've seen A LOT less toxicity compared to when I played last time and it's quite a nice change. People also seem to switch heroes a lot more often, which I also find a very positive change.
I'm just not sure how to progress.
I don't even care about "rank" or anything, all I want is somewhat "meaningful" and balanced matches, where do I find those?
Some more questions:

1. I seem to have gotten, white, yellow and pink currency, I saw white is for skins and stuff, but what is the pink currency for?
   
2. does console share playerpool with PC? I swear, lots of the DPS I've encountered do NOT use a gamepad since the kind of stuff they do with their crosshair is simply not possible with a controller...I would not bother if I'd see that on PC, but I not play on PC anymore.
   
3. is the PVE mode you can buy for 15 bucks "worth it"?
   
4. What are "hero mastery" missions? I've tried to queue up for them once but matchmaking did fail me.
   
5. skins etc you only can get from the shop now?
   

I had surgery Friday. One of my upper arms is a lot bigger than the other one right now. The ace bandages and compression vest are both cutting into my skin really hard on that side, so much so that it looks like it may have been bleeding a bit earlier. It doesn’t hurt and looks like pictures of lymphoedema though. Was this a problem for anyone else? Did it last a long time? They told me it was normal and that it would clear up and asked me to come in so they can fix the vest, but my arm is so big I’m actually having trouble putting it in a resting position at my side without experiencing pain.

This is a long read sorry!
Hi, I (22F) literally just joined, I have been on reddit for a while now, I post here or there but I really need the grace that only reddit seems to have, kisses but you know it's true. So, I guess, I am screaming into the void, because the truth is I am so gutturally confused.
Like the title says- I have always fantasized of being a flower child, a changeling, of turning towards the corner of the yard, the woods beckoning me to run away, the gentleness of which the coyotes would pick my bones clean. My childhood felt like a house fire only I could see.
My father's nightcap of whiskey got less and less watered down as nights were uncomfortable to spend on the family room couch. The one that he fiercely protects, once threatening my friend who mistakenly lounged in his spot. My mother's love felt scarce, a luxury only my younger sister could afford. Between that and her ambition to become the first nurse and college graduate of both families, I was more of my father's daughter. My younger sister and I were doll-like children, meek and polite to the price of our own dignity and self. To give a brief snapshot of what it was like being raised by them \~ even though "I'm remembering it all wrong, or not at all" I will try to go in chronological order, but you can quickly see most of these were not isolated incidents and I jump around:
-daily spankings because of crying during daycare drop off (fair technique)
-tricking us out of the "broken" car, in the rain on a dirt road "get gas" and proceeded to speed past us laughing as we ran after his taillights in the mud, we were in another country, on a solo trip with just our dad, we were both elementary school age.
-In elementary school and 6th grade I lived in a sweatshirt because when I hit puberty. I pleaded to my mother how hard it was to hear my father's constant comments about my womanhood and new body. He started to compare me to a hooker around this time, calling me a slut for trying to wear what my friends wore to school- leggings, shorts shorter than the knee but not offensively short I promise, though I strongly feel as clothing does not mean consent.
-For as long as I can remember, he would take pictures of us when we looked embarrassed then show it to family, friends, whoever in conversation in front of us then scold us when we inevitably felt bad or asked him to stop. He would also promise to delete the photo but would continue the previously mentioned above.
-So far, I have just been harping on my father, but the truth is they are a match made in hell, and though I feel like my mother is a victim in her own way. It was very hard to exist without their constant horrible comments about my appearance and character. They both shamed skinny children to be thinner, critiqued my body through puberty, and felt entitled to touch my body when and how they wanted. Examples include my father's frequent ass grabbing, and then allowing his adult male friend to do the same.
-They both would ridicule me for working minimum wage jobs in high school, while my father funnels out of my sister and I's joint accounts, only when we confront him does he fess that he required the money we earned for ourselves for the "mortgage". He continues as well as set monetary account goals, right before trips or plans, he would always be surprised that we had managed to scrape together enough money. He expects me to find a place that will fire and schedule me on a winter vacation, or to amount 5k in less than 3 months, while paying for my own necessities, thank you for teaching me to live on frugality as a means of survival.
-The name calling I touched on, but I would be the first to come home from school, my father would take his lunch to come home and berate me verbally of how much of a loser I am and will continue to be. The verbal arguments were daily, I fully admit to yelling back but in truth I couldn't leave his spewing red face hurling threats, I had to stay glued in place until he had his fill.
-Another solo trip with my father and sister, my mother had cleaned my room while we were away and had found my treasures- vapes, two beers. I got pulled out of the running shower to be beaten on and off through the night whenever my father took a break from tv, my sister sob in the room with my father to stop and I sat on the couch until morning. We had a tourist excursion the next day and I got it again before we left because I was not to "ruining the rest of his vacation with my bad attitude"
-They locked away my childhood cat, sick with cancer, to die alone in the basement so she would ruin their floors with her incontinence. When she passed, they did not tell me, they buried her in the woods behind our house, I wish I could lay beside her, I'm sorry little one.
-My father would come home and yell at me for not having dinner ready for him, because when my mother worked late or was not home, the next one responsible for dinner was my younger sister or me.
-He physically corners us or refuses to let us leave. Threatened my life when I tried to leave the house during an argument.
-Put his hand through the door a couple of times because I “gave attitude” by responding with ok. Readers, please note I am capable of attitude, but this was not the case, I was scared, and I just wanted to give him whatever answer he wanted
-I'm a summer birthday, so for my big 21st I had my cousin, bf and sister have a pool party in my parents' pool. No one told me the plan all day. I was told to just relax by everyone, because normally I would be running around serving people or helping my parents. No one told me anything, so we played some games in the yard, had some wine coolers and then swam. My father flies outside and starts yelling at me from the side of the pool to get my ass out and blow out my candles because he needs to drive my cousin 20 minutes home each way. So, I blew out my candles, soaking wet staring daggers because my father has always managed to underplay or make me feel bad on my birthday too? Another grievance from my 21st birthday is that my father grilled frozen steaks, and I truly do not want to seem like a stuck-up princess, but he proceeded to buy 300$ of food from my favorite restaurant and his favorite food is steak not mine. Note his birthday is the next day following mine.
I may post in regard to the tribulation that was my childhood in this thread again, but it takes a lot out of me, and I have already had myself a day sorry. Now you're all caught up and I just want you to know-
I have long ruminated over my own words and actions; though I have many regrets I do not feel ashamed of my choices or who I am because I try to treat everyone with kindness and most importantly respectability. I know the lengths my immigrant parents have gone through to build themselves a life. I know the struggles my father had with his father, the alcoholic who raised him with cruelty reserved for not even a barn animal. I know that my mother lived in the shadows as a neglected middle child hoping to find someone who realized all her good in the way her parents did not. I can see and understand that I carry the same wounds, and now it is within my responsibility to be better.
So, my relationship with my parents is strained right now. I have been in low contact with my mother and father for nearly four years, with periods of better contact. We have tried therapy, though it's difficult as my mother uses this as an opportunity to explore her wounds rather than our history or relationship. Though the therapist was helpful in directing the conversation back, I believe that the work can only happen with the person wanting to actually work on themselves, so I feel like I am at a frustrating impasse.
Every time I feel like I can take out a brick between the wall I keep between us, my mother will say something that makes me build another layer. I try not to be sensitive, yet I know my mother likes to cut with her words, though she claims otherwise. In a recent conversation my mother admitted that my father and she spent a great effort in making sure my beauty did not go to my head and did this in order to keep me humble.
For context, my mother’s side of the family does not like my father, and this along with other childhood issues festering into adulthood drove a wedge between my mother and her younger brother. His recent divorce and my mother’s empty nest have given them much time and space to rekindle their sibling relationship. So on our already strained phone calls she hits me with these metaphors of her brother and her relationship to ours. Am I off for thinking that those are two very different relationships, yet both have.. Jealousy? Furthermore, I feel a looney because I am fighting to keep them in my life, and they are fighting to be right.? To be absolved of the guilt and shame that maybe they did do the wrong thing.?
What gives them the right? When we all have to lay away at night with our guilt you want me to hold yours? I want a mother and they want a guiltless soul
Truthfully, I do not know what kind of future lies ahead for us. I think I grieve having bullies instead of parents, of what I missed out on and who I could have been. Like I said I am low contact right now, but after a normal phone call talking about the weather and our pets today, I had an anxiety attack to the point I fought to stay conscious. This has not been the first time I have fainted due to anxiety, mostly surrounding situations that remind me of them or things they punished or did to me in the past. The day after I wished my father a happy birthday after a year of no contact, I got two pills of ativan to the face after a ER visit in which they thought my poor bf was trafficking me. Though this is maybe too much, I am always sweating, my sides literally pour, my hands shake, and I can string together a sentence if I try. I feel like a different person, a moist, meek person.. which is not me, I self tattoo and pierce, I can and have tackled an attacking dog and I have punched touchy men square in the nose. I’m tough because I fought tooth and nail to be kind and gentle, we rescued cats and recently a possum, and we let out spiders and bugs, so our cats don’t terrorize them.
Here’s the thing… we’re getting married!
We’re tying the knot in the woods at the end of May, but I feel like an asshole because I have not told my parents. They know we’re engaged.
My mother, in a recent phone call, told me of this travel nurse that she had gotten close to, that was getting married soon, and invited my mother to go dress shopping with her. My mother told me how sad this girl felt that her family was all the way across the country, coincidently much like we are. This felt like she was guilting me, but she went so far as to send me a picture of a couple, I didn’t verify who it actually was.
Another issue is I am dealing with the guilt of getting a ring and bands elsewhere. My father is a high-end jeweler whose work has been showcased by celebs, my whole life I heard that my father was going to design and make my engagement ring. After long consideration, we picked out a ring from Madrid that felt more like me. When I look at my wedding rings I want to think of my husband not my father. I am more than happy with anything else, rings for other occasions, but it makes my skin crawl and my stomach curling because part of me feels as if it's more of a collar than a ring then.
My mother wants to meet over memorial weekend, she wants me to fly out a day to visit before I’m getting married.
I do not know if I should facetime them and break the news before, after or invite them. It’s already last minute so airfare will be expensive, but I know they are going to be so heartbroken. Part of me does not want them there either because I have felt alone my whole life, I figured I would do my wedding the same way, though it's hard because my fiancé's family will be there, and I will have no one. I wish I could hire a friend... lol typed that with a tear in my eye that's ironic.
Suggestions please

I’ll start this prefacing me and my brother are both minors (he’s younger I’m mid teens) and our parents mom (43) dad (41) ended in 2020 after my parents fell out of love and thought it was better coparenting separate. About 6 months with my dad was a struggle and although I know most of the blame was on him for simply not communicating well and being kind of standoff-ish at times he’s a great friend and dad.
After struggling with depression and living with his coworker for a month or two he found a small apartment for a while when he met her girlfriend. She’s nice, and I can tell she loves me, my brother, and my dad but she REALLY struggles with boundaries and jealousy against my mom especially. She had history of her ex husband impregnating her mistress who was her friend, and I know she probably wants the best for us but she always seems to be wanting to pick fights, and my dad usually agrees with her because he’s non confrontational unless it’s super bad.
I don’t want to get too into it but a lot of it has to do with parenting around my struggling younger brother.
My mom is a total saint. The type of woman who is naturally beautiful, understanding, and puts all people above herself, including my dad and his girlfriend. Anytime they want a day with me and my brother on a day with my mom she willingly does so, especially on unique occasions like vacations.
Before I get into this i want to specify my mom grew up where I live now but moved to Maui Hawaii when she was young to get away from her abusive family. She moved back when her best friend (my dad) lost his mother and had nobody (his dad passed around 19) they loved each other got married and had two babies who as they grew up toke between Disneyland and Maui on vacations. As my mother expected me and my brother fell in love with it and it feels more like returning home.
Back to the present my mom booked a trip to Maui for this summer because we’re all worn out and miss it since we haven’t seen it since the big fire in Lahaina town one of our favorite places, burnt down and killed many. It just recently got to the point where they are allowing tourists and is cost manageable. She booked it for in the summer like I asked because I admitted vacations and high school do not mix. Anyways my mom let my dad know by texting the dates and he responded in a way that didn’t sound at all like him and all like her. “He” didn’t give a reason and it used punctuation. Both me and my mother know he’d probably rather burn his hand on a stove than use a period in a sentence. We assume she’s jealous because it’s too sentimental of a place to go back to and my parents even got their vows renewed there, so he refuses to take her.
My mom broke down sobbing because she always does the right thing and the one time she asks for something she got in our way. I’m pissed and tried to just stay calm until my mom left the room and I just need to vent. I asked my mom if I could ask him and she was adamant I don’t. I eventually agreed because I realized she probably reads his text. I thought about it and kind of plan to on Saturday when I watch my dad play our favorite game, mention how happy I am to potentially be going on the trip as if I don’t know what they said. I’m not sure it’s strong enough but I know my dad.
My dad has always had a soft spot for me and I have always had an even softer spot. I think if I put my foot down and go against my mom who doesn’t want to create more drama, then he’ll likely take it seriously. I don’t want them to know but I want them to feel just bad enough to realize that not only the petty stuff she does doesn’t fly, and show my dad he really needs to step in. Is this a bad idea? I don’t know what to do I love her but I’m sick of this petty crap. Especially when it impacts me and my brother like this. Any advice?

I've been a torb one trick for half of ow2 now. As the game has been going on he slowly has felt less and less impact full to me. As the game continues to speed up and require more consistent damage torb kind of stayed the same and at this moment in season 10 he feels almost useless even if they have a dive comp. Like when is he actually viable? Cassidy is just way stronger against dive characters due to his way more consistent damage and hinder. Junk or literally any other spam character I would consider way better at choke holding due to the mobility most of those heroes offer. Bastion or reaper are way better at tank melting which is another torb thing. Hell even sym seems to have stronger turrets as I just tickle people half the time. But don't get me wrong his turret is decent when u use it properly but tbh it literally dies in 2 shots and doesn't move so it's usually a miracle if it gets any uptime. It just feels like in every scenario other characters are better. I guess he can do it all in a way but not good enough to where it matters it feels like. Don't get me wrong in lower ranks I feel fine with him as the games are a lot more random but when my team mates are top 500's almost every game is Cassidy, souljurn, and tracer and the other team is a lot more coordinated. I can't go and flank torb since if they see my slow big hitbox ass I'm just feeding and even when I sit in the backline I'm not doing anything as I can't apply any aggression for my Frontline but put my self in deaths range against Cassidy or souljurn by just saying hi. Even dive comps destroy him as they're coordinated and they just destroy my turret and focus me first so I can't bully the tank. It feels like I'm just feeding every game by playing him at this point. When am I supposed to play torb then? I've played multiple games with other characters mainly cas and genji or pharah are the ones I think of rn but they just feel light years easier to get value with and I literally don't have to think as much. Characters like genji and pharaoh require a little bit of positioning but when I play people like souljurn Cassidy or soldier I might as well have been drooling out of my mouth. felt like a point and click adventure game with a bunch of pretty colors. I didn't think of positioning as anyone who challenged me was sorry because I can just kill them so quick. No thought about bullets needing to be somewhere as they go where u aim. Ults took a little bit of brain power but that's it.I climbed to almost top 500 recently and was steadily playing masters 4 games for a little but just recently got into a losing streak and am diamond 1. I just can't win anymore and idk if it's me or the character at this point. I'm determined to stay with my little torb but anytime I play literally any hitscan or almost any other character. I feel like I'm just doing "more". My main question here is am I wrong for wanting torb to be stronger along with the other characters? Am I weird for thinking he's one of the weakest characters and when is he actually a better pick compared to everyone else. Please answer my questions and maybe tell me again what to do to bring the most out of torb. I swear I've read all the reddits and watched all the guides on what to do with this character for every map and every character and every scenario but it doesn't feel to even matter. But BINGO!

So I really like the idea of an Archer build but they have never worked properly in Fromsoft games so I think I'd prefer to play a character who opens combat with a big single shot with a sniping bow to deal maximum damage and then use my melee weapons to finish them off.
What kind of bow and build would you recommend for this type of character?
Thanks!

Hello, was in fandom like 4 or 3 years ago. Wondering how would you describe things go now? Any big things ahead? Like games, crossovers, other big official projects?

Lia Marie Johnson Lilbabysasha Lilchiipmunk Lilmochidoll lilsummerhoe Liquidpyro Lisa ASMR Livstixs Lizzy Wurst Liz Katz Lucifersexdoll Luxury Girl Mackenzie Jones mackzjoness Madison Beer Main Categories Maitland Ward Makoshake Malu Trevejo Mangomay Maria Bella Mari Grace matildem Mati Marroni Mayana Katherine Megan Guthrie Megan McCarthy Megan Rain Megan Samperi meggyeggo Megnutt02 Meg Turney Mekkk Melina Goransson MeowVicka Meowycake Meryl Sama Mia Khalifa Mia Malkova Micaela Schafer Michelle Rabbit Mikaela Pascal Mikaela Testa Miley Cyrus MissBuscemi MissSykeology MissyPwns Miss Alice Miss Bo MizzyCyn Molly Eskam Momokun Momotama Monica Corgan Moon Maison Morgan Vera Morgpie Moriah Mills MsFiiire Mspuiyi mutanastasia Nadia Jay Nadya Tolokonnikova Nagisake Naked Bakers Nala Ray Narduchita Natalie Gibson Natalie Roush Neiva Mara Neonpuddles Nicki Minaj Nicole Lawson Nicolle Off Grid Nikki Eliot Nipple Slips Noel Leon Novaruu Nylalueeth Thorne Hot4Lexi Katiana Kay Christina Khalil Mackenzie Jones victoryaxo mati marroni megnut corinnakopf sarii sariixo matildem belledelphine Amanda Cerny Sommer Ray Amouranth Belle Delphine Mikaelatesta Megnutt Breckie Hill Riley Reid Melimtx Katiana Kay Realskybri Corinna Kopf Jadebabii Noelle Leyva Blahgigi Liliana Hearts Sonya Blaze Caroline Zalog Jenni Neidhart Trippie Bri Pamibaby Belle nude kkvsh sextape japanese adult video first time anal videos free ass this will make you cum big dick bitch full naked sex best porn squirting pussy girls sucking teen xxx hd leaks corinna kopf addison erin andrews ver pornos hot ball sexy de belle delphine emma watson homemade games sexo shaking gay eating black older how to eat cock en español zendaya nelly store near me worship spring twerk shaved suck blowjob paris hilton on huge wife Mei Sierra Skye Siew Pui Yi Silkyvinyl Skye Blue skylarmaexo Skylar Mae Skylar Rae Sky Bri Slim Whispers Snapchat Sommer Ray Sophie Mudd rittfit Tia Judd TikTok Tinslee Reagan Touki00 Trisha Paytas Tropicgun Tru Kait Twitch Tyga Youtube Yuuie Zoella Zoe Heiler Zoe Maguire Zoie Burgher Savannah Bond Indigo White Riley Reid Sofia Gomez Abigaiil Morris TEEN LEAK PACK teen young Abigail Mandler Abigail Ratchford Abigale Mandler Acidblue Adison Briana Adriana Chechik aestheticallyhannah Alena Witch Alexandra emilina astridwett nickiibaby victoryaxo leak vids leaks photos School girl naked Belle Delphine nude Snapchat MEGA Young Snapchat leaks Celeb leaks sextape Snapchat Boobs Hannahowo real Slut twitch streamer Erica Jasmin Omegle leak Telegram twerking ebony pyt pics hardcore porn link Snapchat MEGA Telegram Leaks hannahowo belle delphine corinna kopf amouranth of free leaks nikacadoavocado wettmelons realskybri kendrakarter fwtina tina_042 emilina astridwett nickiibaby victoryaxo leak vids leaks photos School girl naked Belle Delphine nude Snapchat MEGA Young Snapchat leaks Celeb leaks sextape Snapchat Boobs Hannahowo real Slut twitch streamer Erica Jasmin Omegle leak Telegram twerking ebony pyt pics hardcore porn link Snapchat MEGA Telegram Leaks hannahowo belle delphine corinna kopf amouranth of free leaks nikacadoavocado wettmelons realskybri smoneyordie veronica perasso toni storm sweetie fox cecilia rose skylar blue rae lil black hannah jo jenni neidhart kristen hancher misswarmj mikafans jessica nigri lauren alexi Addison Ivy Belinda Nohemy Amanda Cerny Realskybri Missbo Bella Rayee Trippie Bri Breckie Hill Katiana Kay Caroline Zalog Daisykeech Sonya Blaze Waifumia Megnutt Urfavbellabby Utahjazz Hannahowo Jadebabii Mackenzie Jones Elle Brooke Belle Delphine Riley Reid Melimtx Katie Sigmond Morgan Jadebabiihttps://www.redgifs.com/watch/calmroughterrier

Speculation and thought experiment time:

1. Brokers' liquidation of costumer GME IOUs in their custody to cash. ToS would give them the "right" to do so. I would expect customer class action lawsuits that could invalidate forced arbitration, but DRS is only guarantee for real payout.
   
2. MM/brokers/clearing houses reducing or waving margin calls to shorts. Would need to justify such decisions, but also could invite more regulatory action or losing SRO rights. Also exposes extreme settlement risk to them and losses (unacceptable to many of them, would prefer shorts to eat those losses instead.)
   
3. Same parties in scenario 2, but loaners "forgive" the loan to shorts. Unlikely as again, have shorts eaten. Likewise will cause issues with beneficial entitlements like votes and dividends for long accounts in brokers (class action that forced Arbys cannot be applied to.) Self-inflicted bail-in?
   
4. Lobbyists convince Congress/SEC to force a settlement onto GameStop (similar but dif to UBS forced buying CS deal and Swiss gov). Big risk to U.S. investment reputation to any business, politically unviable, and GameStop corporate will likely pursue legal action.
   
5. Shorts/MM go directly to GameStop for direct share offering or settlement to close out shorts. If GameStop is serious on representing shareholders, would need to ask shareholders to approve (I would vote against this.) Also gtfo from GameStop to shorts since not GameStop's problem.
   
6. PCO or halts like 2021. If repeated, Congressional nothing hearings (unless apes demand action). Optimistically more regulation, but unlikely to resolve settlement problems.
   

Any other scenarios could one see here to dig out for sake of "one more day?"

Guys, what would you like to receive in gift? Emotionally, materialistic, physically, whatever comes to your mind or you have liked. All opinions and suggestions welcomed. He has recently existed incel and redpill mindset if that helps. He is big into gaming and a nerd.

Guys, what would you like to receive in gift? Emotionally, materialistic, physically, whatever comes to your mind or you have liked. All opinions and suggestions welcomed. He has recently existed incel mindset if that helps. He is big into gaming and a nerd.

TL;DR - I wanted to give my players a fun comedown session after lots of Plot where they got to beat up mercenary thugs way below their level and save a town, while also hinting at the broader lore of the setting by teasing a lore-relevant (but not plot-relevant) character. However, I don't know how to do this without a deadly boss battle against a master assassin.
Full Version
My players, having left the fae moon where a lot of Big Plot Shit happened, are in a small mountain village in fantasy not!Japan.
It is the little village where the world's greatest swordsmith has retired to, having grown tired of making weapons (but will be available to help reforge the ancient shattered blade the PCs have).
The village has been taken over by a gang of mercenaries who work as hired muscle in the underworld all across the continent, because their leader is an infamous assassin who wanted this swordsmith to make her a weapon, spent years tracking him down, and has her men harassing the townsfolk to twist the swordsmith's arm and force him to work for her.
This is meant to be a kind of "come down" session after all the plot. The players, level 9 (level 10 after this), dealing with a threat that a party of level 2-3s would be dealing with. They can smoke the mercenaries, no trouble.
....but the problem is the assassin. I've hinted at her existence before, when they teamed up with a retired assassin who mentioned that the reason he got out of the game was that he took on an apprentice and "created a monster." She's also secretly the elder sister of the once-a-century legendary heroine knight (the "hero of another story" NPC). She's a ruthless killer.
In another campaign, she'd be either a finale boss or another endgame antagonist. I wanted to just include her here to kind of hint at stuff beyond the scope of the campaign.
Also, the party tank is MIA becuase the player is taking a break from D&D, so a fight would be a bloodbath.
How do I resolve this story, meant to be light and low-stress, without a murderous boss battle against the most fearsome assassin on the continent? Is this even possible? Should I just have the assassin not there when the PCs beat up her men - but then she might swear revenge?

As disheartening as it feels, and I know it’ll probably take a while to swallow it, City are winning the league for the 4th time in a row, and we are going to finish 2nd again. The reality is, City start the season as favorites, and end the season justifying that tag. But the f***ed up part is, other teams can’t be arsed about it, and are more than happy to stop us from winning at the expense of them winning 4, 5, 6 in a row. That is the league we are playing in, and we as a club have to adapt. We simply cannot and should not rely on other teams doing us a favor, same way we can’t expect refs to do us a favor (or just be decent at their jobs). We can point towards decisions going in favor of City i.e., pen not given in Liverpool v City game, and I’m sure there are other crucial decisions gone their way. We can point towards 115 charges that haven’t been brought forward, while smaller clubs have been charged left, right and center. Again, my point is, these are all the elements aka favors we cannot and should not rely on. We’ve lost points in 10 games this season, and we can point towards any of those results, as to why we lost the league by 2 points. But, we are also on course to winning 28 games, that is more than the Invincibles (Jens Lehmann’s 😂) managed. That shows how difficult it is to pip City to the title.
“A journey of a 1000 miles begins with a single step”. Every step is a progress. and we’re on the right path to complete that journey. Lastly, Mikel is the next big thing, after Pep and Klopp, and he is constantly evolving. And it’s only a matter of time before he wins us the league, and probably even Champions League. But for him to bring us the success, we need to do him a favor and back him. Give him the players he wants, and back him even if things seem difficult. Look at Kai, as majority of the fan base dismissed the signing, Mikel saw something in him, and he started to deliver when it mattered. Anyways, as the conclusion comes on this long drawn sentence, and the season, there is only one favor left. Show this amazing players, the manager, and the staff, the love they deserve, on the final day. Show them we’re with them the entire journey, and have our unconditional and unwavering support. #COYG

Okay, not made a lengthy but useless post in a while to chill off, and nows the perfect time since I am very exhausted.
So, title basically. I am going to try and see how manh cases Phoenix actually got paid for in the trilogy, and if it's a toss between pro bono and paid, I'll go with the latter since... It makes more sense I think.
Anyways, the First Turnabout. It's pro bono, do I have to explain?
Second, Turnabout Sisters. Again, pro bono, at first I thought it was because Maya is broke and a literal child but then again she probably tried to pay him with Mia's money given that she's probably the heir to Mia, but yeah, even still Phoenix would no doubt decline because the case is regarding his mentor's death and the client is her sister he practically adopts post this case so yeah.
Turnabout Samurai is fucking bank for Phoenix. I don't think he'd really feel guilty taking money from my main man Powers and I am pretty sure Powers being the sweetheart he is probably gave him a crazy amount as fee (way more than the average sum for an already high profile case) seeing that he's so rich. It might just be the highest paying case Phoenix worked on in the series actually, even after the trilogy, and the case that made him a public legend figure as displayed in DD (it still doesn't make sense, but.. that's the best we can make of it)
After thinking about it, Turnabout Goodbyes is probably bank too, in fact I am pretty sure Phoenix got payed a lot by Miles, not to say Phoenix wouldn't decline, but I doubt Miles would have that and likely paid him a generous amount, which again, is probably higher than the standard fee.
Rise from the Ashes is kind of a coin toss, but I am genuinely leaning on bank. Again, Phoenix obviously wouldn't accept payment from Ema since again, she's a fucking child, but Lana like Miles likely insisted and paid him nonetheless for saying her sister, not to mention a somewhat cheap government reward maybe for bringing down a high ranking government official.
Reunion and Turnabout is pro bono. Maya and Phoenix are close enough now that they don't Maya doesn't have to even try to pay him because she knows he wouldn't accept it.
Lost Turnabout is pro bono at worst and a very cheap voluntarily fee at worst. Phoenix likely didn't expect nor wanted any actual money from it, seeing as the detectives are so underpaid, yes, that includes Maggey, and since Phoenix is doing a favour for Gumshoe.
Turnabout Big Top is the second third case and it's again, by far the highest paying case in the game. It's not very hard to see why, Max like Will is also a celebrity even if to a lesser extent, and Max is probably thankful to Phoenix for resolving the shitstorm that is the circus, but then again who knows what that loser thinks. Still, bank.
Farewell, My Turnabout, by far my favourite case in the series and nothing even comes close, but for Phoenix? One would assume it was "pro bono" given the whole blackmail thing and the fact that Matt got convicted by the end of it, but then I remembered that's now how lawyers work, you pay them in advance and live with it even if they fuck up. So I am guessing Matt's manager probably transferred Phoenix a large sum when he took on the case, comparable to Turnabout Samurai even. I know what you are saying, Matt is too evil to do that, but I am pretty sure he doesn't mind paying the lawyer man, he's rich enough that it likely doesn't matter, and the blackmail only really started when Phoenix figured everything out.
Stolen Turnabout is the first case where Phoenix probably got payed the average fee lol. Mind you the average fee is also quite expensive but it's not an extreme, and I doubt Phoenix even felt any need to decline payment since he's clients are literal criminals, and they probably have a lot of money in the trunk considering they don't get convicted due to double jeopardy (which is fucking idiotic, being 'mask demasque' isn't a charge).
Recipe for Turnabout is a low voluntary fee, given it's Maggey again.
Bridge to the Turnabout is back to the basics, going full pro bono, which is funny since this case is likely the single most strenuous one Phoenix has to handle until now lol.
So yeah, surprisingly, when I looked at it, Phoenix got paid a lot 6 cases, one of which was the average fee (which is still quite high for a murder trial in which Pheonix literally overturns the entire findings of the cops), and 7 cases where he went either pro bono or received a very low fee for the effort. It actually makes somewhat sense to me, at first I thought it was stupid how Phoenix could sustain himself and Maya but when you look at it he likely got paid a lot when he did, now of course he takes massive gaps between cases, but they show him being stingy so I don't think it's a stretch to think he survives if he lives like an upper lower class man.

I launched my Steam page 5 months ago and since then it has done fairly well so I thought other people might get something out of me writing about it.
I approached things as I took a slightly different approach to most people in that I 'soft' launched with no trailer and no promotion. My reasoning behind this was that I had no following online, no experience marketing, and I wanted to get an idea of these things as well as really nail my game hook before I started promoting.
I'll start by saying that I know my wishlists aren't as high as some peoples crazy numbers but I think it has done ok for a first time launch by someone with zero experience.
This is my game on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2752020/Lair_Of_The_Leviathan/
Heres my wishlist graph. I'm currently just under 12k wishlists.
https://imgur.com/a/7zsxd3m
Warning, this might be a long post but I tried to break it down into sections.
The first spike is from the steam traffic at launch. The little bumps throughout were just posting either pixelart, on dev forums, Twitter etc. Just basic posts or art. Then the big spike at the end is the proper promotion with the trailer.
I thought I'd go through a few areas and methods I used to slowly build up an audience. When I first started posting it was more about practicing. Identifying a core message and seeing what works and getting comfortable with things.
At first I started with mainly reddit, Facebook groups and Twitter. I thought since no one knows about my game and I'm really uncomfortable posting about jt I just want to put it out there a bit and see what people think. I figured that these are easy platforms to post on and I could slowly build up my twitter following. After I started to promote a bit and had a trailer I started targetting specific subreddits related to my genre.
Reddit -
Reddit is great for getting quick steam visits. But it's a one and done type of thing. Traffic drops off in less than a day usually and it's difficult to find places to post promotional stuff.
If your art is pixel art, pixelart is ok but people there generally aren't interested in games, or at least my type of RPG. A post with around 1000 upvotes would get me about 50-100 wishlists.
Dev subreddits can get you some traffic but I found it much more useful to get people's reaction and to see what worked, what doesn't work. Subs like indiedev are great for just posting things and not worrying about a negative reaction as generally people are great!
If you have a specific type of game, I found that targetting that specific audience! For me the most effective was rpggamers. You might thinking smaller subreddits aren't worth it but you will get a higher percentage of people interested. I had way more views and upvotes on my pixelart posts but my rpggamers post gave me a much higher ratio of visits and wishlists.
Also one thing I didn't know and a kind soul pointed out was games. They have over 3 million subscribers. They don't allow promotion but they have an indie Sunday where you can post once a month. Use that once your page looks good.
The biggest take away I had from reddit in general was don't just go in dumping your 'ad' on people. No one wants to read that. Just be genuine, say here, this is my game, this is my hook, this is why I'm making it and why you might like it. I see a lot of developers not identifying why people should be interested in their game, what makes it different, people would want to play it?
Twitter -
What is often said about Twitter is true. It's a lot of devs following devs. Even if you get a viral post it won't give you mega traffic for your page. I had one post with almost a million views and it contributed maybe 5000 visits with a much lower conversion rate too.
However, I think people are looking at Twitter wrong. It's good for posting quick updates, seeing what interests people, testing out your game 'hook' and messaging and seeing what people respond to. It's also just great for practicing how to post and getting desensitised if you are worried about posting in public. I'm an introvert so I loved posting on Twitter to my 0 followers and not having to worry!
It can also lead to publications picking up and posting about your game. These do result in actual steam visits. I had a couple of sites write about my game which resulted in a few 1000 visits each time.
The more followers you get the more things are amplified when you post too. You can have quite a far reach with ‘normal’ people but again, so far I haven't found it leads to as much traffic as reddit although I only have a couple of thousand followers
Facebook groups-
This is one that I think people underestimate, especially at the beginner level. Facebook posts I found have a way longer tail too. Reddit traffic just disappears in a day but on Facebook it's a steady stream over a week.
It's also a good place to get feedback, practice your messaging and identify your hook that sets your game apart. There are very specific groups for certain genres. I had a lot of success with the indie games dev group (IGD) and when you are first starting out, even a few hundred visits is a huge deal. A lot of the groups are small but they appreciate you posting and you will get high visit rates. Plus I found people there are really friendly..
At a certain point it's not worth it but when you're starting out it's great to practice and also get visits coming in. A few people in the industry also read the posts on Facebook so you can make some connections really easily.
TikTok -
I don't think my game is TikTok friendly (or I suck at it) I have a grand total of 7 views on all my videos combined.
If anyone has success on TikTok with a pixelart game I’d love to hear it.
Other take aways - -
I think the big take away for me was that when you first launch your page, you will suck, at least as a first time developer (at least I did). My page was worse, my art wasn’t very good, even just the set up and descriptions. I think trying to market with that would have been a disaster.
I think taking that extra few months to build up confidence, adjust my page, get my messaging right, these were really key. I get Steam gives you a little push the first day but a push with a shitty looking page and no idea of your hook or how to promote your game will get you nothing anyway.
I think. 'soft' launching like I did really helped me learn how things work and most importantly than anything get down 'ok, this is my hook, this is how it's different to others'. I had no idea about that at launch. Some people say once your game is out it’s out but realistically, no one cares or knows about your game until you start telling them about it. That's really liberating in a way. You can play around, changes things do what you want and literally no one cares
Sorry for that huge wall of text. Waiting for the 'im not reading that' comments but I hope at least some people find it helpful.
Again I'm no expert, I'm sure I could do things better but I think it worked out pretty well. I just wanted to give some tips in case people are either at a loss about whether they should launch their page or not or even why they can’t get traction.
I’m happy answering any questions or you can message me on TwitteX @nostalgicrealms

Whistleblowing - information regarding GameStop Playr.
A close friend of mine runs a small start up game studio who was tapped by GameStop for a partnership related to GameStop Playr 8 months ago. They wanted their web3 title to be one of the launch partners for Playr. My friend’s company spent almost 6 months, many overhead hours, rebuilding their game to Playr’s spec, GameStop’s legal requirements, and refactoring their backend to accommodate the 50M user base GameStop said they’d be bringing into the launch partner games.
They signed the agreement with them and the day they were supposed to go to press to announce, they couldn’t get in touch with their point person for a PR quote.. they ended up emailing his manager and were told he was let go. Manager said he would do the quote so they waited, but didn’t hear back from him. They then followed up with someone above him - that manager was let go. Person above him was then let go. Entire web3 division was fired. Every email they sent bounced, they were completely ghosted… to date, my friend doesn’t talk publicly about what happened because they have no idea if their agreement is still active. Never told a word beyond “we will get back to you for the quote”.
At the time, they hyped up their web3 community for a big announcement and subsequently dropped the ball when GameStop left them holding the bag. Most of their community turned on them believing they lied about it all - they couldn’t even tell them what happened because of the mnda. It destroyed their project & momentum for their game..
It’s really sad because it was really supposed to be their big break - GameStop had promised them a dedicated page on their website, onboarding their 50M user base, a huge marketing campaign… they were one of a handful of titles that a GameStop exec handpicked. All they had to do was a massive refactor to make it work with GameStop Playr and they’d have it all.
So they burned six figures in overhead they didn’t have, lost months of development time, lost the trust of the community they built for years. Gamestop couldn’t even tell them they cancelled or apologize for that matter.
Hard to watch gme stock price make rich the executives while my friend’s small gaming start up goes under. Had GameStop never approached them at all, that probably wouldn’t be the case, but with any pre-rev indie game studio, a blunder that large is hard to recover from.
Pouring one out for the real little guys - all the start up titles who were part of the defunct Playr launch.

Episodic horror where all episodes are within the same launcher and unconnected to each other. Similar to how Fears to Fathom or Unsorted Horror's episodes work.
I'm pretty sure there were four episodes. I don't remember the other two.
In one of them you control a little ball shaped camera that's navigating through a space station, I think you're trying to get someone out alive?
Another one has you sitting in front of a computer terminal in a cabin playing an old text-based game and the story slowly starts to come to life around you. The terminal describes what is in a room and you type back a response, such as "look at the painting". At one point you open a d/oor in the terminal and the one behind you opens.
At the time it was played by most of the big gaming youtubers, think Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, etc.

Hello and welcome to my post. I would like to make a friend.
Here are my interests:
History. I have had an interest in history for almost a decade now, it started back in school and developed from there. Well, now that I think about it one could argue that it started even earlier in my life as I liked watching the odd historic documentary or film aired on television but it wasn't regular back then, I never actively sought it out. I am mostly interested in European history in the period between the 18th-20th century but I sometimes branch out to other time periods and other parts of the world. I watch various channels related to history and read articles and sometimes books. I have recently got a few books on the German revolution of 1848/1849 and a historical magazine on the Thirty Years' War. Besides that I try to visit museums sometimes.
Literature. Especially old novels. I like to immerse myself in the Worlds of these books, I tend to read them while listening to thematically fitting music and take my time with them. One time you are following a troubled Youth in his quest for spiritual understanding of the world, another you see the aged and decrepit Doctor gambling his very Soul on the promises of abtaining satisfaction in earthy pleasures, then again your olfaction notices the most pleasant scent known to man even as the one eminating it has the appearance of a revolting Frog. These and many other stories open up to you once you decide to set foot into the literary World.
Languages. I know three, with one being a bit rusty. I am currently working intently on strengthening it. I believe that if I continue to apply myself in this regard then I should be able to finally conquer it. What language am I working on? Well, if you were to stack all the major works in it they would be as tall as a house... It is fun to go through different works in multiple languages, the same goes for film, games and such.
Games. I recently played Cyberpunk 2077. Well as recently as I played any major story centric game. Now that the dust has settled and the bugs mostly removed...It's not that bad. The main questline at least. Besides that I tried Fallout 76 (Very average, I'm dissapointed with what they made the "RPG" system) and I might give Deus Ex Manking Divided another spin (since it's somewhat similar to Cyberpunk when it comes to its aesthetics). Dark Souls is one of my favorite series, I still haven't beaten Elden Ring though. When it came out I wasn't in the right mindset to invest a hundred hours into it, with all those bosses and difficult locations. I think I'll only consider playing it if I am streaming it to someone. I am generally interested in either streaming games or having the person I am talking to stream them to me. To be specific I mean streaming to a single person while being on call. Besides that I'm a big fan of Paradox strategy games, especially Europa Universalis IV and Heats of Iron IV, I tend to only play single player since I find multiplayer with many people to be rather stressful but on the other hand I have nothing against a co-op game. I'm not the best player though, despite the ammount of hours I have in them. Another great game I would mention would be Dragon's Dogma. A very underrated RPG. I recently beat it again and it was an atmospheric and interesting experience. It is one of those games that feel like they have an endless ammount of depth and constant new secrets to discover.
Anime and Manga. In recent times my interest in them has waned but I still watch the occasional series here and there. Like Cyberpunk Edgerunners (Which I found to be rather mediocre) and the very good first season from the new arc of Bleach. Some of my favourite series include: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Death Note, Fate;Zero, Psycho Pass, Code Geass and Attack on Titan. I wouldn't mind if you were to introduce me to some new series, maybe based on the ones I mentioned. My favourite Manga is Berserk which I still follow, althought I am still not certain on the direction that the new author is taking. I suppose it really is a matter of contention whether a somewhat (or considerably warped) vision is better than an unfinished work. One could argue that a few novels remain unfinished and possess a macabre appeal to them as such.
Music. Classical music has a very special place in my heart. A few of my favourite pieces would be: Clair de Lune, Nocturne Op. 9 No.2, Devil's Trill Sonata, Danse Macabre, Valse Sentimentale, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Alegreto (by Beethoven) and Suite from Swan Lake, Op. 20a: I. Scene. Moderato. There are more but these ones always invoke something in me when I listen to them. Besides Classical I also enjoy listening to Synthwave, old Western pop and J-pop, both modern and from the 20th century.
Well that about wraps it up for my interests. I would like to add a few things before I finish. I am neurodivergent (autism spectrum) and struggle with mental health. I respect the struggles others have but due to certain negative experiences I would prefer to find another Aspie. I am rather introverted and I do not have a large social circle. If I like someone I want to spend as much time with them as possible. I have been hurt in the past by caring about someone much more than they about me so I would like to avoid such things now.
If you decide to message me I ask that you send a DM instead of a chat and tell me about yourself. Take care.

Hello and welcome to my post. I would like to make a friend.
Here are my interests:
History. I have had an interest in history for almost a decade now, it started back in school and developed from there. Well, now that I think about it one could argue that it started even earlier in my life as I liked watching the odd historic documentary or film aired on television but it wasn't regular back then, I never actively sought it out. I am mostly interested in European history in the period between the 18th-20th century but I sometimes branch out to other time periods and other parts of the world. I watch various channels related to history and read articles and sometimes books. I have recently got a few books on the German revolution of 1848/1849 and a historical magazine on the Thirty Years' War. Besides that I try to visit museums sometimes.
Literature. Especially old novels. I like to immerse myself in the Worlds of these books, I tend to read them while listening to thematically fitting music and take my time with them. One time you are following a troubled Youth in his quest for spiritual understanding of the world, another you see the aged and decrepit Doctor gambling his very Soul on the promises of abtaining satisfaction in earthy pleasures, then again your olfaction notices the most pleasant scent known to man even as the one eminating it has the appearance of a revolting Frog. These and many other stories open up to you once you decide to set foot into the literary World.
Languages. I know three, with one being a bit rusty. I am currently working intently on strengthening it. I believe that if I continue to apply myself in this regard then I should be able to finally conquer it. What language am I working on? Well, if you were to stack all the major works in it they would be as tall as a house... It is fun to go through different works in multiple languages, the same goes for film, games and such.
Games. I recently played Cyberpunk 2077. Well as recently as I played any major story centric game. Now that the dust has settled and the bugs mostly removed...It's not that bad. The main questline at least. Besides that I tried Fallout 76 (Very average, I'm dissapointed with what they made the "RPG" system) and I might give Deus Ex Manking Divided another spin (since it's somewhat similar to Cyberpunk when it comes to its aesthetics). Dark Souls is one of my favorite series, I still haven't beaten Elden Ring though. When it came out I wasn't in the right mindset to invest a hundred hours into it, with all those bosses and difficult locations. I think I'll only consider playing it if I am streaming it to someone. I am generally interested in either streaming games or having the person I am talking to stream them to me. To be specific I mean streaming to a single person while being on call. Besides that I'm a big fan of Paradox strategy games, especially Europa Universalis IV and Heats of Iron IV, I tend to only play single player since I find multiplayer with many people to be rather stressful but on the other hand I have nothing against a co-op game. I'm not the best player though, despite the ammount of hours I have in them. Another great game I would mention would be Dragon's Dogma. A very underrated RPG. I recently beat it again and it was an atmospheric and interesting experience. It is one of those games that feel like they have an endless ammount of depth and constant new secrets to discover.
Anime and Manga. In recent times my interest in them has waned but I still watch the occasional series here and there. Like Cyberpunk Edgerunners (Which I found to be rather mediocre) and the very good first season from the new arc of Bleach. Some of my favourite series include: Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, Death Note, Fate;Zero, Psycho Pass, Code Geass and Attack on Titan. I wouldn't mind if you were to introduce me to some new series, maybe based on the ones I mentioned. My favourite Manga is Berserk which I still follow, althought I am still not certain on the direction that the new author is taking. I suppose it really is a matter of contention whether a somewhat (or considerably warped) vision is better than an unfinished work. One could argue that a few novels remain unfinished and possess a macabre appeal to them as such.
Music. Classical music has a very special place in my heart. A few of my favourite pieces would be: Clair de Lune, Nocturne Op. 9 No.2, Devil's Trill Sonata, Danse Macabre, Valse Sentimentale, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92: II. Alegreto (by Beethoven) and Suite from Swan Lake, Op. 20a: I. Scene. Moderato. There are more but these ones always invoke something in me when I listen to them. Besides Classical I also enjoy listening to Synthwave, old Western pop and J-pop, both modern and from the 20th century.
Well that about wraps it up for my interests. I would like to add a few things before I finish. I am neurodivergent (autism spectrum) and struggle with mental health. I respect the struggles others have but due to certain negative experiences I would prefer to find another Aspie. I am rather introverted and I do not have a large social circle. If I like someone I want to spend as much time with them as possible. I have been hurt in the past by caring about someone much more than they about me so I would like to avoid such things now.
If you decide to message me I ask that you send a DM instead of a chat and tell me about yourself. Take care.

I've been meaning to make this post for a while but life kept getting in the way.
There is a bunch of new (well, new to me) stuff I've discovered over the last few weeks, and wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Let's start with the "prequel" (although never canonically confirmed) to the Marathon series was a game called Pathways to Darkness. The backstory for this game is:

Sixty-four million years ago, a large extra-terrestrial object struck the Earth in what would later be called the Yucatan Peninsula, in south eastern Mexico. The dust and rock thrown up by the resulting explosion caused enormous climactic changes in the ensuing years, and many of the Earth's species became extinct during the long winter that followed.
The object itself was buried thousands of feet below ground, its nearly two kilometer length remarkably intact. It remained there, motionless, for thousands of years before it finally began to stir-- and to dream.

Hmm. Buried below ground. Finally beginning to stir and dream. Who does that sound like?
Let's keep going.

The heat of impact liquefied the rock around it, which later cooled and encased the dead god's huge body far below ground. As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality. Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment.. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality.
Like Fingerrats? Or like Spider-wolves?

Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

Caverns and landscapes. I want to expand this point here for a bit because it's also mirrored across Alagaesia.
Let's start with Helgrind.
For any FV enjoyers, I've previously speculated that Helgrind is a reliquary, or a previously living being that was transformed (a la Ctein).
But the curious thing here is the timeline of Helgrind and it's tunnel system, taken with the above context.

Q: Assuming it wasn't built by the Ra'zac themselves, was the lair inside Helgrind purpose-built for the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka, or did they appropriate it some time after it was built? If it wasn't built for them, what was its original purpose?
A: Partially natural formations (linked to tunnels elsewhere in Alagaësia), partly expanded by the priests of Helgrind and Galbatorix himself.

But... The Ra'Zac didn't inhabit Helgrind until at least after the Humans came over. So these tunnels underneath Helgrind existed before the Ra'Zac, or Galbatorix ever set foot on Alagaesia. Which, I don't know about you, but a massive network of tunnels does not smell entirely natural to me.
So.. where else are there "natural" formations that link to other tunnels elsewhere in Alagaesia?
We've seen these "natural" formations in Vroengard:

Q: The deeps under Vroengard, were they created by the riders or was it a previous system of caverns that they repurposed?
A: Previous system. I mean, there's been work done on them, but... 'It looks similar, parts of it feel similar to the caverns that we encountered in this book. They both have that hole in the cave which goes deeper, with something in the hole that's not clearly defined.' Yeah.

And we've seen similar depictions in the Beors, and Nal Gorgoth. So from the Beors to Vroengard, "natural" tunnels exist underground. I don't buy that they are entirely natural.
Given the context of the Marathon game above:

Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

I think these tunnels came from Azlagur.
Let's switch gears here, I want to talk about another archaeological mystery in the world of Eragon - El-Harim.
I believe El-Harim was heavily influenced by the (not canon confirmed, but implied) prequel to the Marathon games, the Pathways into Darkness

Pathways casts the player as a member of a US Army Special Forces team sent on a mission to the Yucatán Peninsula. On May 5, 1994, a diplomat from the alien race known as the Jjaro appeared to the President of the United States and informed him that on May 13, an ancient godlike being sleeping beneath a pyramid would awaken and destroy the Earth. The only way to prevent this catastrophe is to prevent the god from awakening. The eight-man Special Forces team carries a nuclear weapon, with the goal of entering the ancient pyramid, descending to the bottom level where the god sleeps, and activating the bomb to stun the god and bury it under tons of rock.

Getting into a bit more of the backstory:

Only during the last few centuries has the god begun to effect changes on the surface of the Earth. Grotesque creatures have been sighted deep in the trackless forest of the Yucatan, and strange rumors of an ancient pyramid-- which is neither Aztec nor Mayan-- in the same area have been circulating in the archaeological community since the early 1930's.

Pyramid, eh? There are two different options here I can think of that equate.
The extended FWW Map
First, in the extended map from FWW, we can see a Pyramid-esque shape - Different color, different slope, etc.
Or, second (and probably more likely), it could be El-Harim:

It is a very bad place. It’s a place where some bad things happened at one point and it’s not a good place to go walking around. I don’t want to get into it too much more because again, it’s a good possibility for another story and I want to keep thinking about it a bit more. It is in Alagaesia and we’ve actually been close to the location.

Many speculate that the below vision from Eragon in Brisingr, which was never explained in the main cycle, is of El-Harim:

And he rested, and visions beset him of a circular stone city that stood in the center of an endless plain and of a small girl who wandered among the narrow, winding alleys within and who sang a haunting melody (A Feast with Friends, Brisingr).

If this vision IS El-Harim , it's super significant because of these two descriptors:

circular stone city
narrow, winding alleys

Fractals. The city itself is a fractal, like Nidus for any FV enjoyers.
The narrow winding alleys are significant because of the descriptors of the Vanished/Grey folk:

The spaces between the structures were narrower than the humans preferred; the proportions were taller, thinner, which matched the images she had seed of the Vanished...
The ancient outline of the city was - as she suspected - a fractal, and the shape of it contained meaning.... At the nexus of the apttern, where it coiled in on itslef like a nautilus shell" (Shards, TSIASOS).

Narrow. Circular (Nautilus shell). Winding. Fractal.
Whatever this city is, El-Harim or otherwise, it is/was a grey folk/vanished city.
And given the quotes from above - "Its a place where some bad things happened at one point", and "dangerous, creeping, ancient, evil thing" - My guess is that the event that caused the Grey Folk to bind the AL to magic happened here, in El-Harim.
Alright, moving along.
Let's talk about the Az and the God. There are a few parallels I've talked around, but the BIG link between the two are Dreams. This is especially important because of the release of the world map recently.

We are the devotees of Azlagur, the Devourer. Azlagur the Firstborn. Azlagur the Dreamer. He who sleeps and whose sleeping mind weaves the warp and weft of the waking world. But the sleep grows restless" (Obliteration, Murtagh).

Versus

As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality. Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

I could write a whole post about the parallels between the two and their linkage to dreams, but I'll cut it short here for now to save room to dig in to other areas. Specifically, the Dreams connection is especially important because of the relase of the world map recently - I have another post here that gets into more detail, but the translations from the World Map in the middle translate to:

where dreams and dragons dwell

Dreams (!) and Dragons.
Combine that with the Etymology of the words:

Alagaësia ala = land gaësia = rich/fertile
Alalëa ala = land lëa = a beautiful dream
Elëa = the dream itself

So the planet, named Elea, translates to "The Dream Itself". Very interesting.
This is even more significant when you take into account this tweet chain from Chris, a bit earlier in March

Darn it. Just invented a name in the ancient language. Googled it to make sure no one else had used it ... only to discover that I had used it in an earlier book. Lol.
Can we ask what name?
Edurna

I believe the name was a potential candidate for the name of the planet of Alagaesia, which is important because of the etymology of THAT name (All credit to Zora for digging this one up).

Edurna sounds awfully like Adurna and Edur
Adurna meaning water and Edur being a prominence

Prominence. And Water. You know what that sounds like to me? Plaintive Verge. Just food for thought.
Second-to-last Az connection I want to cover: Hunger.

Whirling darkness swallowed him, and at the center of it... lay a formless horror - ancient and evil and from which emanated a constant merciless hunger (Dreams and Portents).

Versus a quote about the cosmic entity in Marathon:

Now I fear what that weapon has unleashed will destroy us. I once boasted to be able to count the atoms in a cloud, to understand them all, predict them, and so did I predict you, but this new chaos is entirely terrible, mindless, obeying rules that I don't comprehend. And it is hungry.

Now, the last piece of Azlagur-related lore I want to cover here is the "Black Sun".
In all of the visions, a Black Sun precipitates Azlagur's rise.

"A black sun rimmed by black flame hung against a darkling sky... The beast rose rampant against the black sun - A wingless dragon, apocalyptic in size, terrifying in presence. Destroyer of hope, eater of light"

Before getting into the Black Sun a bit more, there's an additional connection here I want to touch on - usage of the word rampant in connection with Azlagur.

In Marathon, Rampancy is the enhanced self-awareness of a computer AI, causing a progression towards greater mental abilities and destructive impulses. The destructive impulses, however, are primarily caused by being threatened or harassed. There are three main stages, as well as a fourth and final stage that is rarely achieved, to rampancy, named by the primary attitude of the AI during those times: Melancholia, Anger, Jealousy, and Meta-Stability.

There are some overlaps with what we see from the Maw.
And Melancholia.. that's an interesting word. Especially when taken into context the meaning of the name:

A melancholy dream of great beauty.

Melancholy.. Dream... The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. And Rampant...
Chris also uses that exact same verbiage when discussing a deleted scene from TSIASOS:

Q: I just finished reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I have to know: it sounds like the Wranaui fought the corrupted during the Sundering but if that's true and it happened almost 300 years prior.... Who created the old corrupted? I've been questioning this for days!
A: That was actually in material cut by editors (some of the dream memories). Another Seed/Idealis was damaged and, when the Old Ones tried to separate it from its host, the xeno went rampant.

The xeno went rampant. Very interesting.
Alrighty, I keep getting distracted, back to the black sun.
The reason the Black Sun is important is because it always precipitates Azlagur's rise, throughout several of Murtahgh's visions. In each of them, there is a Black sun.
So, by this, we can extrapolate that the sun needs to be Black in order for Azlagur to rise (which is hinted at at the "Day of Black Sun" celebrations near the end of the book).
But... what does it actually mean?
There is a parallel in Marathon, their weapon:

The trih xeem (also "tri xeem") is an extremely powerful weapon that can be used to force a star into early nova... it was originally conceived and built by the Jjaro [The Old Ones/Vanished equivalent]. Much of the Marathon Infinity story revolves around preventing the Pfhor from using the tri xeem and inadvertently releasing a W'rkncacnter that is supposedly trapped within the Lh'owon sun.

So, the story of the last Marathon games revolves around preventing the usage of the weapon to release the cosmic-level baddie trapped in the sun. So, effectively, the antagonist is imprisoned by the sun.
But.. how does that translate to Azlagur and Murtagh?
The Black Sun requirement for Azlagur's rise could be construed as "imprisonment" by the sun; Azlagur cannot escape until the sun is turned Black. But it only really starts to come together when you piece together these pictures.
First, early concept art for the Fractalverse
You see the black orb, heading directly for the glowing star? Sounds pretty similar.
But that's not the smoking gun; look at the depiction of the black orb in the concept art, and compare it to the trih xeem, the weapon in Marathon.
A black orb with a trail heading directly for the sun. Almost an exact match.
OK.. so I get that it has some relevence in fractalverse, but how does it translate to Eragon?
Well, because of the Beors. Specifically, a picture CHRIS HIMSELF posted about the Beors.
Here
I propose that THIS black orb, at the top of the Beors (which, suspiciously, no one has traveled to) houses the black weapon. After all, the depiction is quite similar - A large, circular, black orb. Looks pretty similar to the other pictures.
And given the above context that Azlagur can only rise with a "Black Sun", the pieces all start to fit together. It's not perfect, but there are definitely a lot of overlaps.
Alright. I've been waiting for this one. The last piece. Let's talk about Angela.
Q: Will we get Angela lore? I feel like she could have killed Galbatorix and just didn't feel like it.
A: For those who don't know Angela is based on my sister Angela, because she breaks the fourth wall to a degree she has. Not only does she have plot armor, she knows she's in a story and can break the story itself. So, yes, she could have killed Galbatorix, but that would have made for a very bad story. That said, I do have an entire book planned around Angela, and it's very high on my list of books to write because it takes place before some of these other big stories I want to write. And that's also the difficult thing. I have my big storylines, and then I have a couple of one off side books I want to write, and it's just a question of time, energy and effort.
She knows she's in a story, and she can break the story.
Based on that, and several other descriptions I will get into in a bit, I think her story is directly related to the Marathon Infinity game.

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a Jjaro-derived doomsday weapon known as the Trih Xeem or "early nova". Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being: The W’rkncacnter, which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the W’rkncacnter's chaos or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the player is transported back and forward in time, finding himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release.

and

In Marathon Infinity, a W'rkncacnter is imprisoned in the sun of planet Lh'owon. It is theorized by some that the W'rkncacnter's powerfully chaotic nature may be responsible for the jumps between realities seen in the game. When the Pfhor use a trih xeem device to send the star into early nova, the creature is released, to the horror and destruction of the Pfhor.

Angela is the Eragon-equivalent of the player.
She can transport back and forward in time, jumping between timelines, and fighting to prevent the chaotic being's (Azlagur's) release. Let's dive in.
First:

Q: Is it canon that Angela the Herbalist is a Time Lord and did she make a cameo in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars?
A: Is Angela the Herbalist is a Time Lord? That would be copyright infringement, so I'm going to say "no comment", but she is in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. And there is a canon reason for this. And you should have no problem spotting who she is in that book.

So there's a canon reason she's in the book. Interesting. When you take that into context with the next bit

Q: On your last AMA on reddit, someone asked if any fan had guessed the identity and history of Angela correctly. You said nobody has guessed correctly and there's not enough information in the books to do so. That puts every fan theory out there on her wrong, correct? She's not the soothsayer, a time lord, grey folk, etc, correct?
A: Angela: Some of the fan theories have gotten parts of her history and identity correct. However, there's a HUGE aspect to her nature that no one has guessed (or least, not in a non-joking way). And no, I don't mean her being a Time Lord.

So there's a huge aspect to her nature that no one has guessed (at least at the time of writing). She's self-aware, knows she's in a story, and can jump around in time. And, similar to the Marathon games, it appears like only she knows that she's in a story.
So, based on the Marathon inspiration, we can guess that she is trying to accomplish the same thing - To prevent the release of the cosmic-level villain. We know that she has some kind of relationship with the Draumar:

In Murtagh, it’s revealed that Bachel and “Uluthrek” (Mooneater, Angela’s given Urgal name) met with Bachel explicitly going out to confront her (a courtesy not even offered to a Rider like Murtagh)

So, by extension, she has some kind of connection to Azlagur. This is supported by other circumstantial evidence in FWW as well:

Since we know that the Dream Well in Mani's Caves is similar to the Well in Nal Gorgoth I can assume that Angela is revealing the existence of the Draumar to Elva there? I feel certainly feel as if you're setting up her for something in the future series.
Heh. Good Catch.

So, she is clearly working with Elva to do something related to the Dream Wells, and she also previously confronted Bachel, many years ago. So throughout multiple years across the WoE, she is connected to Azlagur and the Draumar; her story clearly revolves around them/Azlagur, somehow.
Putting the above pieces together, my guess is that she is jumping around in different timelines, trying to manipulate actions of the past to prevent the rise of Azlagur. Just like the player character in Marathon. There's another piece of circumstantial evidence to support this assertion as well.
In Marathon Infinity:

After multiple "jumps," the player (seemingly the only one who realizes he is being transported between possible realities)

Versus Angela:

As hours passed, the stars turned above, night chill drew the heat from my body, and I fell into a curious trance, not asleep but not fully awake... The world altered" (On the Nature of Stars, FWW).

I believe this world "Altering" was the first time she experienced an alternate timeline, without knowing what it was at the time.
We've also seen her create "Doorways" as well - Although it's not clear if this is fast traveling (a la a Torque Gate), or truly opening a path to another timeline.
In Eldest:

"As they landed, he noticed a patch of white on a small hill nearby. The patch wavered strangely in the dark, like a floating candle, then resolved into Angela, who was wearing a pale wool tunic" (A Sorceress, a Snake, and a Scroll).

and then later, more concretely:

"I traced a line on the wall, reached out, and opened a door that wasn't there. ON the other side - nighttime, a beach by a black ocean lit only by stars, so many, many stars, more than there should be. Of course, I would not take Elva to my home, not yet. But this was a waypoint, a place to build and learn and grow... She stared into the gap, the impossible portal" (On the Nature of Stars, FWW).

Still, as always with Angela, so many questions.
Alright, we've reached an ungodly wordcount, so I'll call it here. There are still more connections I'm uncovering between the two series (such as the potential connection between the Gedway Ignasia and the "warning" sensation from Marathon), so I might make a follow-up post in the future with everything else I uncover.
As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or if you've found any other connections between the two.

The sun stuff is annoying I get it, but the issues are minor and waiting is free, the illusion buffs are cool too, never really realised how strong the magic tree is until I gave it a fair shot, also roleplay purposes, I just wish vampiric drain wasn’t so useless. Big question, should I install better vampires now? Have heard mods can mess up your save, if you enable them mid game.