#prompt: list the most creative use of ability

[corvidmagicae]

9. What was the most creative application of your ability?

Asks for Superpowered Muses || accepting

　 　 “Hmm... what I might consider creative and what you might consider creative... may not be the same. For instance, I once turned a hunter into a Deerling, so he could get hunted down in turn by the pack of Mightyena that he was decimating. I would consider that creative. But since that's normal living matter transformation, and that's what I normally do in front of others... it probably isn't seen as 'creative' to them.

　 　 “So... probably the more 'creative' applications of my ability would be the ways, by others standards, that i don't particularly care to utilize. Since they're quite... mundane, to me. Transforming standard pebbles into gold nuggets, for instance. Or dirt into sharp jagged rocks, as an environmental deterrent. I can turn a glass window into sand, if i'm stuck in a building and need a quick escape. Hmm... oh! It's tricky for me to pull off, especially since the last time I did it, it was against someone armored - but if i can get a hold of loose thread in their clothing, then i can unravel enough to turn the thread's composition into something sharp enough to cut skin. Makes them stop in their tracks if they don't want to get cut to ribbons.

　 　 “Basically, if I can imagine what i want to occur and have well enough comprehension of how it's structured and should operate, then i can feasibly transform something into it once i get my hands on it. It's not limited to living matter or creatures. I just... don't, because it's not fun for me, nor interesting. But I think by your standards, anything of that nature would be 'creative'."

[jelloapocalypse]

Hey Jello, a few nights ago I actually ran the Cinnamon Josh one-shot for my friends and had a great time. I really enjoyed the flexibility and imagination that the mini-game system encourages for character creation. Had an absolute ball during the design process with most of my players-had some truly knockout gimmicks arise from it. Unfortunately for one of my players they had a hard time clicking with the openness of the system and kept trying to push power first without a hint of flavor, got any advice for working with a “power-gamer” in a system where the design space is so improv based and cooperative while not throwing balance out the window?

Hey, sorry for the super long wait.

I actually forwarded this question to @eternal-savvy-blog because she has a lot more experience playing AC-based tabletop systems than I do. Here's her answer:

There's a couple of different approaches to this kind of a problem! I've had plenty of times that I have run games for "power gamers" and it kind of depends on the person as to what the best solution is

Don't

The easiest, but also harshest, being "This game isn't for power gamers". With any TTRPG there is a measure of tailoring the choice of players to who you think fits. This works both ways! There are games that reward power gaming and trying to do too much flavour gets in the way. And for AC, to a large extent, if you aren't down with flavour-first combat, it's not easy. I generally only reserve this option for if you've already tried everything, or the person in question is stubborn/not receptive and you know it!

2. Specific Questions/Prompts

If you reckon they just need some guidance, try altering how you talk/ask questions while running AC. Instead of "It's your turn, what do you do?" which will prompt them to lean on their instincts of "pick thing on sheet" or "what's the best damage", try making your questions have more context and specifics.

"Cinnamon Josh caught the cactus and is on his way out! how do you wanna fuck with him to stop this? He's running past the sandtraps."

Something like that is subtle but COULD be enough to stop someone from going "big number" and instead go "Maybe I can trip him into the sand?" This approach is not always gonna work. A lot of the time Power-Gamers are not open to thinking that way and are pretty dead-set on doing "the optimal thing". But for that same reason, if you suggest certain actions to be "optimal" it can nudge some people into the right mindset 3. Tailor the Character

Sometimes it's a matter of making their character in such a way that it feels more familiar and easy to run for that player in particular. But then injecting stuff into the kit that encourages some creativity. A LOT of people will get intimidated and paralyzed by an ability that says "make an item". Giving specific limitations can help most people get MORE creative like "make an item that is related to cats" Suddenly they'll be throwing explanations at you for why something "is TOTALLY a cat item"

Power-gamers are a little different. Instead, give an itemized list of options WITH EFFECTS and make ONE of the options WAY more open ended. That way they'll always be able to just pick something but over time they'll see that "hmm…. yaknow i can usually just think of something better using the last option" Something like: "Magic cat bell. Summon a magic collar that gives you a cat-like ability! (Claws for +2 damage, perfect balance, Enhanced scent, etc.)"

Notice it still has options to choose, but leaves it open to what "cat-like" means. It gives attractive "numbers" options, but is clearly showing it can be ANYTHING they can think of! 4. JUST TALK TO EM!

This one is pretty spicy! Just talk to them plainly!

Don't accuse them of being a power gamer or whatever. The idea isn't to say "you're playing wrong", just "Hey I noticed there was a mismatch!". Just establish that you noticed they play different and may be used to more number heavy games. Then just clearly explain "Hey, Anime Campaign is an open and flavour-first system. it's less about the numbers and what's 'Best' and more about being silly on purpose! Try taking a different approach next time we play!" Most people just don't realize that different TTRPG's operate differently and just need it CLEARLY said to them how the game expects people to play

If they're receptive, they'll try it out! Maybe they'll come around! But they may also try it and go "ehh, not really for me!" and that's fine too! Either way it's a win.

And if they aren't receptive. Welp. Option 1 is there for a reason!

[rutherfest]

Let's be real: many of you know some of us already, but our team is excited to bring this event to you and can't wait to see what you come up with!

First up, the admin: Tay

What Admin Tay is most excited about when it comes to Rutherfest: I'm looking forward to seeing people come together and create something incredible for a character they're passionate about. I'm a newer fan by Dragon Age standards, always dancing around the franchise but never fully diving in until last year. As such, I had an unconventional introduction and journey towards loving Cullen's character, and I wouldn't have it any other way. This is a talented fanbase, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

Our team is committed to making this a fun, festive, and positive experience for all fans of Cullen. I'm really looking forward to seeing where all participants' efforts lead!

Tay's favorite thing about Cullen: I deeply appreciate seeing someone who has a good soul and heart pull themselves out of the abyss. He fully owns up to his mistakes. He owns up to his flaws, and he never uses them as an excuse. Instead, he perseveres, putting in reflective, authentic work to be a become a better version of himself. I love and value his sweetness, that hint of shyness when he's flustered, and his ability to make hard decisions. It's not a responsibility he takes lightly. Self-awareness is talked about often, but rarely put into reflective, deliberate practice. He's a healing character to me, and as an added bonus, he's a dog dad now. What's not to love?

Next up, Mod Julie!

Find her @sweetjulieapples !

What Mod Julie is most excited about when it comes to Rutherfest: I’m excited to see all the talented artwork! I’d would be amazing to see some new artists join the fandom as well as see what our beloved friends come up with.

Julie's favorite thing about Cullen: My favourite thing about Cullen is that he is gentle, caring and devoted to his love **❤️**

Three makes a Rutherfest team with Mod Jayla!

Find her @p0lkadotdotdot !

What Mod Jayla is most excited about when it comes to Rutherfest: I’m so looking forward to celebrating our boy and seeing all the different interpretations of the prompts from such a creative fandom!

Jayla's favorite thing about Cullen: My favourite thing about Cullen is not only his journey of self-growth, it takes so much strength and self-awareness to admit when you were wrong like that, but I love his dry wit and humour, it’s so cutting! His personality is a brilliant mixture of kind, dorky, strong and stubborn. He’s just so well written!

(Admin note: Jayla can also be credited for our beautiful icon).

Last but far from least is Mod D!

What Mod D is most excited about when it comes to Rutherfest: I’m very excited to just see some Cullen positivity and works dedicated to him by those who love his character! Plus maybe having some fics to add to my “to read” list :)

D's favorite thing about Cullen: It is almost impossible to pick a single favorite thing, honestly. But if I had to summarize what I love so much about him, I’d phrase it this way: It’s his humanity. From his running away from his crush and nasal laugh to nearly losing his way and wrestling with his faith as well as everything in between. Of all the characters in Dragon Age, I find him the most relatable because of how human he is. To use his own words: I find him compelling. His amber eyes and crooked smile don’t hurt either.

Let's give our mods a warm welcome!

Can you guess what post comes next? Give @rutherfest a follow to find out! :)

[ennn]

En's (probably overambitious) AAA Week plan

I should totally be working on my two WIPs now but instead I'm using @agathaallalongweek as an excuse to drown in WIPs indulge in fun concepts—including Agathario AUs I haven't seen yet / don't see enough of.

My probably overambitious goal is to post a new fic chapter for 7 days of the week to hit every prompt. I'm most likely not going to finish the fics in time in that week but as they are mostly plotted out they should be finished eventually.

Soooo here's what I've got brewing so far... none of these are written yet, just the shape of them sketched out...

🚧 Day 1 - "Jealousy" – Sequel to my assassin AU 'verse. They're on the run and entering a new phase of their married life. When an old handler of Rio's reaches out with an offer of help—now a fixer who currently goes by the alias "Thanos"—some jealousy may not be a bad thing. Meanwhile Rio's dealing with some jealousy discovering Agatha's "coven" support network.

🚧 Day 2 - "Fake Dating/Marriage" – Leverage AU To help a kid and get back at her former employer, former top insurance investigator Agatha takes on the role of Mastermind assembling a team for a heist. Things would be less complicated if she didn't have to pose as a married couple with her ex-wife. At least Rio also makes an excellent Hitter.

🚧 Day 3 - "Vampires" – Vampire: The Masquerade AU So many vampire fics but no VTM love? Consider this an intro! When several Kindred (vampires) are found killed in an unusual manner, suspicion falls on Agatha, a prominent Tremere blood witch with unique blood siphoning abilities. Gangrel wanderer and ex Rio comes to town to help find the true culprit. With hunters using the murders to step up extermination efforts, the pressure is on.

🚧 Day 4 - "Teachers/Professors" – Canon-Divergent Inspired by @a-couple-of-notes's the path ahead fic that diverges after ep 7. Agatha and Rio teach at Jen's magic school for witches with Billy and it's... working out better than expected? Until Jen introduces anonymous teacher evaluations, parent-teacher conference day and the past comes back with a vengeance. Should be fun!

🚧 Day 5 - "Rio gets injured" – Superpower AU Rio's a mercenary with death-themed powers, Agatha's an information broker who can siphon powers. When Rio gets hit by a temporal weapon that messes up her regeneration abilities, she goes to Agatha for help. Probably the 2nd shortest fic of the bunch? Hey Rio's getting injured in most of my fics anyway - this one just gets ~creative~ with injury.

🚧 Day 6 - "Soulmates/Soulmarks" – Canon-Compliant/Divergent Agatha's ghost form starts fading unexpectedly. Turns out she and Rio are literal soulmates, which still comes as something of a surprise to these two ex-wives and idiots, and the two of them in weird life/death states is destabilising their soulbond. The challenge? To stabilise the bond, Rio needs to become mortal temporarily. Probably the shortest fic of the bunch?

🚧 Day 7 - "Breeding" – Botany meets Hannibal AU Agatha's a brilliant botanist who pushes the boundaries of science breeding new hybrid plants. FBI Special Agent Vidal is known as the "green witch" among colleagues for her unique, almost supernatural connection to plants. When murder victims turn up adorned with rare and unique plants, the suspect list is awfully short.

[razorblade180]

Not really in the mood for writing a prompt so I’m just gonna ramble about how cool Weiss is in TSF AU

I basically made her the closest thing to a witch I could without stepping into magic territory. It always bugged me how her semblance and Dust was so compatible but it was never tested to its limits, so I imagine Weiss learned to basically be a pro in the field of dust manipulation. Has a real intuitive sense for it, which is why her kids are so good for their age. A lot of it stems from always getting unarmed in battle.

She learns that she can grab a dust cartridge and put a glyph at the end of it to pull it out and construct things like a saber of pure Dust. Eventually she gets creative enough to throw vials and catch them with glyphs to trigger timed explosions.

In crystal form, Weiss gets the hang of making glyphs and simply pushing the crystal into it to create a flame thrower affect. The most reckless and dangerous trick is using the refined powder state. Even with gloves on, the margin for error when throwing or outlining a pattern with it is small cause a chain reaction could lead the effect back to her hands.

Dust for water isn’t actually a thing, but through countless trail and error, Weiss knows how combine fire and ice Dust to create the desire effects. She even helped researcher and companies create vials with ratios already mixed so other huntsman and individuals could have access to the element.

Is the one who helped teach her brother how to use their semblance. Also started the idea along with Ruby to plan “hunting trips” where Weiss or any of her relatives would go off to kill a powerful a Grimm to add to their summon abilities.

Weiss has in fact killed a dragon. Took her an entire month and she did it for free. She learned create magma during this time and gained a fondness for more practical uses of rock Dust. Eventually she learned to make constructs out of most materials. Even lightning.

Is the manger and agent for both of her children when it comes to their professional lives. Most collaborative works don’t make it past her before she even thinks about bringing them up to her kids.

Regularly considered Penny’s science partner in the study of Dust and its utility. One of them is also pitching ideas to the other and showing rough blueprint ideas. Their most popular hit and meaningful success is modern dust weaving into clothes. Suddenly, winters in Mantle weren’t as harsh and Weiss’s daughter could live an easier life with her condition.

Helped fund Oscar’s therapy practice. Was also his first patient. Some might conflict of interest. Those people don’t know Oscar “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it” Pine. Was a super big help in her darker moments after adjusting to parenthood and old family trauma.

Occasionally surprises her friends and family with appearing in a modeling catalog or runway. It helped her gain some confidence back after having twins. She also likes to make a point that Jaune’s wife is incredibly hot so there’s no point in random women thinking he’s going anywhere, and to make any guy that looked down on him feel shame. Jaune matches the energy by also looking gorgeous when the opportunity arises.

Weiss also makes no effort to hide any scars. That includes wearing a half shirt or bikini that shows where Cinder stabs her or the two scars on her face. That way her daughter and even her brother, feel more comfortable about their scars.

If you ask her what her biggest sacrifice is, it’s making sure she never matches hairstyle or clothes with her daughter. Weiss kinda misses the ponytail but Summer will look at her a little funny despite them not being the same kind. Eventually Summer will stop caring and rationalize they look alike regardless of anything they do. They’re both just two pretty ladies other people get jealous of. She doesn’t have this attitude with Winter!!!

The top of everyone’s emergency contact list. Also the only adult aside from Ruby that every child (except her own daughter) feels immensely comfortable with emotionally. Even Yang’s kid is pretty soft around Weiss. Practically karma for how much Weiss’s son adored Yang when he was little.

[liondrakes]

Autocosm: Finding Plurality Through Me, Myself, and My Other Selves

by Sivaan of Candlekeep

Blurb: A personal essay that discusses my discoveries on my plurality, particularly through my headmates who’re alternate versions of me from parallel lives.

I’ve considered writing about this during my run of the Alterhuman Writing Challenge, but I forgot to do so after going off the beaten path. The beaten path being my own list of prompts, funny enough. Since we’re growing more accustomed to each other, I’ve decided that it’s time to re-introduce myself… and my other selves.

While looking into communal resources, I’ve been easing into the reality that I am plural. I’m specifically a part of an autocosm, which is a network of selves who share the same soul or self-awareness across various realms and worlds. With me are three aliens, two people who should be dead but aren't, a sharpshooting demigod, a flying horse, and an anti-capitalist spacefarer. Each took root within my fictionhood. They are also my headmates.

So far, there’s nine of us:

Ade, a zonai

Solai, a Roman half-blood

Quinn, an undead plush amalgam

Ink, a monster without a canon who took up being a wandering, interdimensional creative

Calvin or “Cap”, a human mutant who pilots The Unreliable

“Bea” or The Beyonder, a reality-warping cosmic entity

Makame, a dream traveler from Phantomile

The Grassland Hunter, a yautja who also goes by their cultural name Sa’ya’la

And of course— yours truly, who is a whole lot of things, including everyone listed above.

Most of my headmates are versions of me from parallel lives. The only cases where this isn’t applicable are Quinn and Sa’ya’la. Rather than be one of my parallel lives, Quinn is a sentient copinglink. Sa’ya’la, on the other hand, is a sentient fictionflicker. Yet, since I still identify as them (or at least the concept of them), they are counted among us.

Not every fictomere is a part of our autocosm, though. I may harbor the memories and thoughts of other versions of me, but not all of them connect with the autocosm. I suspect some don’t even know that we exist.

Furthermore, I know for certain that none of my core identities are potential headmates. Those identities exclusively belong to me, as in the me who is writing this and goes by Sivaan. While we agreed on “autocosmic” as a descriptor, the terminology surrounding autocosm (the noun) tripped me up since I would technically fall in between being a metasoul and a lunan.

For autocosms, a metasoul is the central self that connects us all. In simpler terms, it is our point of origin. A lunan is an individual whose existence stems from the metasoul and shares a sense of selfhood with both the metasoul and others connected to it.

In our case, the metasoul is one of my core species: the gold dragonne. Since we’re parallel lives of the gold dragonne, or me, *dragonsight informs us of each other. Even so, I feel like I’m neither the “center” of our group nor a fragment of myself in the way that my headmates are. The metasoul is one of my core species, but I’m not always that species. It’s an awkward spot that makes me feel a little alienated from the proposed framework of an autocosm. Because of this, we also agreed to avoid using those terms when describing our connection to each other.

*In Dungeons & Dragons, dragonsight is a dragon’s ability to perceive alternate versions of itself from different realities.

Besides autocosmic identity, our experience is closest to a gateway system. I’d say it’s the main label for our plurality, whereas autocosm specifically refers to those of us are, well, me. My selves can depart to and fro from their realms. I’ve had soulbonds who’ve done the same. Early into my personal explorations, I recall referring to the body as a vessel of sorts. Around then, it was in regards to the fact that much of our memories and noemata seemed to pour into this body. However, that was solely from my perspective. In retrospect, it’s possible that this body is a vessel in the literal sense in which it serves as a waypoint between my headmates’ world(s) and our headspace.

There are members who don’t leave, though. Ade and Quinn stick around since they theoretically should be dead in their worlds. On the flip side, the only member who doesn’t leave their realm is Cap. He’s the leader of a whole space crew, so he rarely stops by in our inner world. Instead, he talks to me and whoever else is present through his radio. For a connection so far away, his alternative is surprisingly efficient.

It’s not just us here, either. We’re accompanied by habitans, which is the only autocosm-based term we use. A habitan simply means someone who isn’t one of us. They aren’t someone or something I identify as nor are they a parallel life that I have. Nonetheless, they still live alongside the autocosm.

How habitans exist in our headspace can differ. For example: there’s my dæmon, Maxwell. As a dæ, Max is a thoughtform segmented from my subconscious. He takes the form of a raggiana bird-of-paradise; previously, he was a rainbow boa. His position as a habitan isn’t the same as say, Rina and Hachi, who both entered our headspace as accidental soulbonds. Since many of our daytrippers have left permanently to attend to their own matters, we have a total of four habitans. Our Scrivener Construct is the fourth and final habitan of our collective thus far.

Regarding those of us within the autocosm, we don’t have roles. Although Quinn, Ade, and Bea motioned in favor of having roles and offered to take up roles of their own, we came to the conclusion that collectively establishing roles would be inconsiderate of our selves who’re more active within their own realms. Ultimately, if someone wanted to perform a specific duty within our headspace, then they’re free to do so on their own accord. However, no one is required to do the same.

Recently, Quinn took up the role of being our protector. Although he has a rough history with guarding, he decided to take up this role anyway because he was actually given a choice unlike his past experiences.

Despite being such a wild card, Bea took up the role of a protector as well. While Quinn protects the interior of our headspace, Bea oversees travel to and fro from the headspace, making sure folks reach their destinations safely. They also keep an eye out for any beings from outside of our collective, allowing or denying access to the headspace if need be. No one gets in and out without Bea knowing. Makes sense since The Beyonder, in-source or otherwise, is as far-reaching as it gets, metaphysically speaking. I guess that’d also make them a gatekeeper, but they’re admittedly not fond of that title.

In Ade’s case, he took up the role of being our internal self helper. He helps me keep in touch with everyone and support the structure of our inner world. He and I often share this role by comparing notes and conversing extensively on what we know so far. Scrivener assists us from time to time too. Based on my suspicions last year, there were already signs of them doing that before I came to terms with being plural.

As for me, you could kind of say I’m the “host” since I’m the main one operating the body. To be fair, it’s not exactly a job anyone else wants. Last year, I once thought I stress-shifted into a zonai at my job. However, according to Ade, that “stress shift” was actually him fronting for the first time. It at least explained why “I” suddenly didn’t know how to work the machinery at my job. That’s because Ade’s never worked with earthen technology before! He’s loathed the idea of fronting ever since.

Rina, Hachi, Quinn and Ink are the ones who’re the most interested in joining me while I front. They're like passengers while I drive the car. However, only Quinn and Solai have expressed interest in co-fronting with me. In Quinn's case, he wants to know what it feels like to have a human body again. In Solai's case, it's because it just wants to see the world again without being bothered by quests or otherworldly interruptions.

Occasionally, Cap will ask me to describe things on my end out of curiosity. Although he’s made peace with his Earth going dark, and the fact that our Earth is different from his Earth, he still misses what he once knew. He likes to hear about the mountains I grew up around and the places I’d visit while in college.

Otherwise, everyone else couldn’t care less. Bea has allegedly seen better and is content with the role they currently have. They don’t care to operate the body, despite matching its appearance internally. Makame and Sa'ya'la are disinterested since they’re already familiar with this world as interdimensional travelers, similar to Beyonder.

That then leaves me. Not much of a role when I hold the position that no one else cares to have. I do appreciate Quinn and Solai’s interest, though. I'll take them up on that in the future.

That’s all we have noted for now. Although I’ve had experiences related to plurality since last year, particularly through dæmonism and soulbonding, the reality of being plural is still new to me. We’re not even bothering with -genic labels since it adds nothing of substance to any of us. Our origin is entirely metaphysical. That’s what matters.

All in all, we’re an autocosmic gateway system. Although we technically could label our experience as median, we stick to autocosmic since its terminology acknowledges headmates who aren’t one of us (i.e. alternate versions of me).

[tixdixl]

Imma need 4, 5,and Curveball 58 for all the OCs you listed!

Oooh- thank you for these!!

🍺 - Thoughts on alcohol?

Oisín: Idk if they've ever had an alcohol before... all I can say though is that they aren't a fan of being around people who are more than a little tipsy. Makes them uncomfy.

Emil: Wine is often used in religious practices, and that's largely his association with it. He doesn't mind the taste though.

René: ...is a bartender. Alcohol is largely a tool to get people to spill information- consensually of course.

Kingsley: It sure exists. It sure is a thing. And like... when he's older, he'll drink when its considered in good practice to do so- like events and whathaveyou. But otherwise, he doesn't really care for it.

Xiáng: He's not allowed to have any until his curse is broken. Thems the rules.

Sefu: They seem indifferent to it. Either that or they are being tight lipped about their opinions.

Vex: Their feelings are complicated. Alcohol is often used in social situations and can be largely harmless. But people also do dangerous things when too intoxicated. People also can be incredibly hostile when intoxicated. So... it makes for a complicated matter.

✏️ - Favorite creative endeavors?

Oisín: Their writing! That's where they put all their thoughts and feelings.

Emil: Besides cooking, definitely embroidery and darning. He really loves using textile mediums to create beautiful things. (He also loves singing and dancing but thats a hush hush secret.)

René: Dance. It's the one place where they truly feel free to be their authentic self.

Kingsley: Whittling. He likes to carve little statues out of wood he hinds on his walks.

Xiáng: Music. He loves playing his erhu. He feels connected with himself, with others, and with the spirits of nature when he plays his erhu. It's his entire heart and soul.

Sefu: No, Sefu... kick boxing and murder aren't answers. You have to come up with something else.

Vex: Roleplaying games and narrative creation (specifically oral story-telling). They love to come up with and explore little make believe scenarios with their friends.

🔨 - Handy skills?

Oisín: I feel like this is a difficult question to answer. The reason being is that you have to consider that Oisín starts their journey as a soldier and assassin, capable of surviving in the forest for a long period of time. This implies they have the ability to handle their nightmares (the fae steeds), are able to start fires and cook (even if just barely), are able to navigate the woods--- the list goes on. But then you also consider that during their time at NRC, they learn about technological creation and electrical engineering. They learn about coding. They make their own monitors and they make their own neck corset. Over the course of their long life, they learn to do a lot of things. To what extent they are "good" at them varies from situation to situation.

Emil: If you don't count cooking, then darning, mending, and weaving. He is able to patch up any sort of hole in fabric pretty darn well (pun intended) and he will make it look good while he's doing it. He also is excellent at herbalism and alchemy, which translates into gardening and plant cultivation.

René: I'm actually not sure if they have any handy skills! Most of their skills are in athletics, studying, and social situations.

Kingsley: So we've got hunting/fishing, minor amounts of blacksmithing, whittling/carving, knotting, blade sharpening... i think that covers it? I think that covers it.

Xiáng: He's really great at following instructions when he feels like it. Does that count????

Sefu: Tracking, hunting, blade sharpening... you're making me wonder if their family has a specific trade now, given what we know of the Sunset Savanna? And now you are forcing me to comsider giving them more depth.

Vex: Again, I'm not certain they have any. They unfortunately spent a good portion of their life sheltered and having people do things for them. She wants to learn though!!

Prompt

Tag list: @ramshacklerumble @the-trinket-witch @elenauaurs @thehollowwriter @winterweary

@cyanide-latte @rainesol @inmateofthemind @boopshoops @theleechyskrunkly

@lumdays @twstinginthewind @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @starry-night-rose

Lmk if you want added/removed

[novantinuum]

Ohhhh gosh... okay, so it's very, very hard to limit this to just one thing because I engage in so many different artforms. So I'm gonna select one (or maybe even a few, idk ahahah we'll see what I find) piece of work from each of my lil hobbies.

Writing

If I was pressed to make a list of the writing work I'm most proud of for any variety of reasons, then... in no particular order, here are my four picks:

Contact

This is one of the largest plotty multi-chapter fics I've actually finished- usually, if I finish a multi-chapter, it's like a series of vignettes or short one-shot like scenes. But with THIS one, I had a very specific story I set out to tell, re: Steven getting cracked and his family coming down to the wire when it comes to getting him healed, and I finished said story!

I still stand by the character work in this one to this day, and quite like what I did with the dialogue.

A Memoir of the Marks Unseen

I've already mentioned this fic recently, and that's for a damn good reason- it's intensely personal to me, and I spent the good part of a year intensively pouring over it.

I believe this fic contains some of my best descriptive prose to date.

Advocate (CW: Fic deals very frankly with the topic of attempted suicide.)

This fic isn't perfect in my mind, but I will always be super glad that I finished it up years later, because I've had it in my drafts since 2020. It was just... always the sort of story that was almost too close to home for me, ahah. I overtly had to switch the POV from Steven to Lars between outlining and actually writing this to make working on it possible. In the end, I think that was absolutely the right choice.

Also, I'm always a sucker for writing Lars POV anyways, it's actually really fun.

knowing, loving, being (CW: Fic is rated Explicit. Mind the tags.)

Specifically, I'm thinking about One scene in chapter 2 of this story. (The snippit shared here is Not explicit, no worries.)

There's one scene that was SUCH a bitch to write, and let me tell you why...

It's because I had Steven split in two during it, but made the executive decision that I did not want to give names to either component, because I don't think they'd canonically want to name themselves. I still stand by that headcanon when it comes to canon adjacent stuff. But holy SHIT is that hard to execute, especially when the scene in question involves a lot of physical blocking later on, and you have no ability to signal who is Who without constantly using epithets.

Well, I eventually came to the genius idea that I could simply lean in to this confusion and write from "both" of their POVs at once in one weird mixed up smoothie, to sort of... give that impression of the two of them seeing from each other's eyes, but in a written form. And I genuinely think I nailed it in a really creative way. I don't think I'll ever write something this technically intricate ever again, tbh.

Artwork

Objectively, I believe these are my best executed pieces. I selected one from each fandom I've been an active part of over the years.

The Gravity Falls one was for the annual Stanuary event, with the prompt "Con." The piece is titled "The Thirty Year Con" to represent Stan's journey living under his brother's name all that time.

I enjoyed playing with textures and light for that Trollhunters piece- if I were to do this piece now I think I would try to entirely paint it instead of just stopping short at colored line art, but it still looks quite vivid and striking when compared to my art today, and I still quite like the way I rendered the crystals in the back.

The Doctor Who piece is one of the few times I've genuinely taken a stab at realism, and while it's not perfect I still think it did a pretty good job at capturing Capaldi's likeness.

If I could redo a part of this piece for Steven Universe I would change how I shaded/lined the falling rose petals, but beyond that this is still my thematic magnum opus for this fandom when it comes to art. I had the concept blast into my mind like a freight train one day, and I'm so glad I managed to bring it into full fruition. I love how much metaphor I managed to pack into this one, ahah.

And then finally, I still really, really love this Legend of Zelda piece I did- I'm SO happy how the split down the center between present and past came out, and also the fire detailing.

Video Editing

So, my top four favorite edits have to be (links go to their tumblr posts):

Oh, No!

So, this is that SUF edit I did that blew up in the fandom a bit.

There's very few times where I am capable of banging out a video so goddamn fast, and this was One of those times. I envisioned the broad bones of this edit in my head while listening to the song in the car over and over, and slammed the bulk of it out over a 24 hour period. I really like how I managed to make so many clips so thoroughly relevant to the lyrics of this song, and also think I pushed iMovie to its absolute LIMITS on making this video work, LOL. iMovie really doesn't like letting you do fast slam cuts, but I formulated a fairly reliable method for doing just that while editing this, and it's one I've put to great use elsewhere in the years since.

Strawberry Swing

This is one of my first big SU edits, and probably my best stylistically, since I was still using Adobe Premiere for this and could edit out audio background noise a lot better than I can now, ahah. I think this edit sums up all of my feelings on what keeps bringing me back to this show.

I love that I got time to give pretty much every major character a moment to shine in this one, a moment to showcase their growth over the course of the show.

(love you 'till the) end of the earth

I still ADORE the beginning of this edit, and how I framed things there... If you'll notice, for every single couple I start with a very specific location shot and then a key early moment in that couple's relationship- well, those locations correspond with WHERE those early moments took place. It's their "meet-cute," of sorts.

And then also, the video begins and ends with a shot of Earth. I think that's a fun parallel too.

Dear lord, you don't want to know how hard it was to edit a relationship video like this with so few shots of Rose and Greg, though. I had to budget their shots out to make it work.

in all the universe, there’s no one else who can know what you’re going through…

This was a very interesting edit to make because it was one of the rare times that I had no lyrics to lead me- it's just an instrumental! With that in mind, I had to formulate my own "story" for the video to follow, which is harder said than done, very often.

I love what I ultimately came up with here, re: this edit basically being a chronological summary of the major sources of trauma Steven lived through over the course of his childhood. The audio voice lines are kinda rough at parts because I no longer have the tech to splice out the background noise, but I did my best, ahahah.

Cosplay

My favorite two pieces I've made myself for cosplay are these:

My 3D printed royal bow, which I literally had to set down for a good year or so because I got so frustrated while painting the details on it, LOL-

And then this cape, which is entirely hand made, with all the details machine embroidered on. All of those edges you see? I had to run every single edge through my sewing machine with a silk stitch. It took fucking forever, but god did it turn out really nice. I did this as a beginning sewer and I still am quite proud of it.

_

Think of my StrawPage kinda like a tumblr anon askbox- feel free to send me comments, questions, silly doodles, song recs, whatever! This is a replacement for the tumblr askbox because I was getting too much spam on here.

[kob131]

Out of nowhere I bet but I wanna try listing off why AI Art isn't good-

The common argument against the accusation of AI Art is that human beings themselves take ideas from their surroundings and mix them together to make 'original' ideas (like a horse with a horn to make a unicorn). However, the difference between an AI and a human being comes not only from how the human brain is infinitely more powerful than any computer ever made by humanity (meaning it can consider ideas and alter them at a far greater rate than any algorithm) but also that the human brain is affected by things like 'preference' and 'bias' for certain ideas or expressions.

For example, a person who prefers anime style drawings will almost always interpret the idea of 'badass horse' will interpret that to mean 'badass horse in an anime style'. While this seems simplistic and easy to replicate with AI (keyword being replicate)- there are INNUMERABLE preferences and biases that come into play when making art. To the point that an ultra specific prompt could still result in innumerable different interpretations because of people's individual tastes. This can then satisfy numerous peoples' different desires or perhaps even create a new demand. AI can't really do this- It will give you exactly what you asked for. ... Exactly. No differing interpretations or unique ideas mixed in. You ask for 'horse with a water mane' and you get a horse with a water mane. That's it.

Another reason why AI Art isn't good is that AI art...is just a dead end. The way it works is that the algorithm is taught to look at certain images in association with certain keywords and then, based off the data given, it will spit out an image to match. ... Notice how, in this process- the AI is reliant on outside information to make the image. As in, the AI NEEDS to be able to look at certain artstyles in order to properly fulfill its request. Unlike a human artist, who can use the data gained from other experiences (like touch, taste and hearing) along with how those would be associated with certain imagery to create new styles or interpretations. Humans can independently create ideas, AI can only regurgitate.

There's also how the human brain has this...uncanny ability to detect when something looks wrong or doesn't look real. You see this most often in movies or shows with heavy use of CGI- the images might be more technically impressive but without the grounding in real life that practical effects have they can easily look off because computers...just can't generate anything on par with reality. Same with AI- it can generate images resembling real works of art. ... But there's always something in them, some variable the AI can never account for, that will tip off the human brain to the fact that a human didn't make this.

In short- AI cannot take creative liberties, is basically parasitic with human artists and is too simplistic to match a real artist.

That's why AI art is a bad idea from my point of view.

[nephriteknight]

Thoughts on Daggerheart!!

I'll admit I haven't really been following it until today, but after watching the videos released today I got very excited and ended up building a character and reading a lot of the book, as I am wont to do (might post about them later lol).

Now, full disclosure, I wouldn't say I'm all that familiar with the TTRPG space outside of D&D, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. That said, I've played D&D, Wanderhome, Alice is Missing, and the fan-made Hollow Knight TTRPG, and I've watched some AP of Kids on Bikes, Call of Cthulhu, Monsterhearts, and Candela Obscura, which is a longer list than I was expecting. Huh. Anyways, my thoughts!

I really like the duality dice! It's such an interesting way to do mixed success that incorporates story/character into mechanics, which is great.

Related to that, I also like Hope as a fluid resource, and I think that Fear is a nice way to both prompt GM action and to just create a fun sense of dread as the GM takes more tokens

The lack of turn order/action economy is... cool, and a really interesting idea, but my thoughts on this are complicated. As we're seeing in the oneshot right now, it really helps to keep combat as part of the story and give the players and GM room for creativity. (For example, Bunnie describing a counterstrike as part of her dodge, and being able to take it as soon as the GM's turn is over, as well as the tag team feature, which is very cool.) That said, I think this mechanic might not work so well with less experienced or less confident players, who might have trouble taking the initiative (heh) to act in combat (I know I certainly would if I wasn't playing with close friends). That's not really a criticism though -- this is a collaborative storytelling game, and part of playing it is making big moves and taking turns guiding the story. If that's not for you, then you might prefer a different system, which is fine! I think this mechanic has the potential to be really, really dope, but I also think it's the bit that has the most potential to go poorly in my eyes.

The art, design, and general aesthetic feel of this game are so unbelievably up my alley. I love it. That's all.

I'm excited to see that they're working on mechanics for playing disabled characters, but since they aren't out yet I can't really comment. (I did notice that the character in the bard art is in a wheelchair, which is dope.) Also, as others have noted, Daggerheart uses "heritage" and "ancestry" rather than "race", which is a small but good choice.

Personally, I also really like the choice to move away from precise measurements of distance and gold. This one is very much a personal preference, and I know some people will rightfully disagree, but I like it! As a DM, trying to determine the appropriate costs and rewards for things has always been a headache, and this seems much easier to manage; measuring distances with convenient and tangible measurements like the short side of a playing card or the length of a piece of paper also feels much easier to use.

The downtime mechanics are great! Each of the activities you can take prompts you to describe how you heal yourself or another, destress, repair armor, or prepare yourself for what's ahead, which really encourages quieter character moments both introspectively and with others. I'm a big fan of this. This combining of role play and mechanics is also present in other features, such as one of the major level 1 healing abilities, which is more effective if you spend the time it takes to cast learning something new about the person you're healing or sharing something about yourself.

I didn't look at this too closely because I was just making a character for fun and don't have a party to play with, but as part of character creation you're given questions about your relationships to your party members to answer. Wanderhome also has these, and they were MASSIVELY successful in creating depth and meaningful connections between players -- after our table's session zero I was already so invested in all our characters, and when we actually played them they really came to life. I haven't looked to closely at Daggerhearts version of this, but I'm very excited to see them.

The experience mechanic seems really fun and creative, and I especially like the idea of using a phrase rather than something specific. That said, when I played the Hollow Knight TTRPG, which also lets players create their own skills, the open endedness of it was more confusing than inspiring, and there was a lot of potential for a usefulness disparity between players. I do think Daggerheart explains it better, though, and limiting the use of experience with a Hope cost helps to counteract any choices that might be too broad, so hopefully it will work better

I probably have more thoughts, but it getting late and I have a headache, so that's all I'm saying for now :D

Overall, Daggerheart has combined a lot of things I've liked in other games with promising mechanics I haven't seen before, and I'm very excited to try it out. I'm now realizing that I just made a list of things I like without any negative feedback, which isn't what I wanted to do, but I'm not really sure what to criticize without having played it myself.

I'm most curious to see how the non-initiative mechanic works; it has the potential to be a really excellent solve for a major problem in D&D (plenty of people have talked about how initiative limits teamwork, can be boring when its not your turn, etc, so I won't get into it here), but I don't think it's a solution that will work for everyone. Of course, games can't work for everyone, and shouldn't try to. It's working really well on CR's oneshot as I write this, but making choices and sharing spotlight in TTRPGs is literally their job, so I'm not surprised this works for them. I could see this going really well with some tables I've played with, and really poorly with others. I'm still really optimistic, though; it seems like the kind of thing that with the right table could be really excellent.

[relicsongmel]

1 3 4 8 11 13 16 21 23 25? :O

Wowie that's a lot of questions!!! I will answer for the Ace Attorney fandom and a dash of some other stuff <3

1.) list 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)

We've got some damn talented writers and artists

We're very good at character discussion and analysis here which I really like

Being here has helped me meet many cool people!

3.) a character that fandom has helped you appreciate

Answered here!

4.) say something nice about a ship you don't ship

I don't consider myself a Narumayo shipper, but I 100% believe Maya to have a crush on Phoenix based on certain in-game lines, and I think it's adorable. Just a very cute ship in general.

8.) you hope more people will come to appreciate ______

*screams into the night* IRIS AND MILES' RELATIONSHIP (you know this) but I wanna see discussion that ISN'T limited to the whole love triangle with Phoenix. I NEED to see fanworks that explore them bonding over being mutually fucked over by DL-6. Their shared disdain for spirit channeling and how it does more harm than good. How Miles saw Iris in the detention center blaming herself for a murder she didn't commit and was reminded of when he went through the same thing, and wanted to help her. She is literally the PERFECT candidate for Miles' first client as a defense attorney because of how she mirrors him in this way! And by defending her he's acknowledging that he WAS worthy of being saved!! but NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT AND IT MAKES ME DERANGED. I could go on but then I'd be preemptively spoiling the metas I have in the works on the subject so. More to come I guess

11.) if you're a writer or artist, what fic or piece of art are you proud of making?

Well as of now I only have one (1) fanfic that I've made public and it's The Whisperers of Vertress Village (A Pokemon fic that serves as the origin story for N's powers in my OCverse). I'm very proud of it—not so much for the writing (though I am happy with how it turned out and writing a folktale was a fun change of pace from my usual style) but mostly for how it made OTHER aspects of my story fall into place and how it tied so much together thematically. The primary conflict of Sylvia's initial journey through Unova is her conflict with N and Team Plasma but it always felt disjointed from the actual reason she left on a journey: to find the singing Pokemon that saved her ten years prior. But once I started brainstorming ideas for where N's powers came from and realized it was a PERFECT opportunity to expand on Meloetta's role in the story, her abilities, and how I could use them to expand on the themes of Black and White? Everything clicked, and I was elated. She's the reason all this happened. She's the Voice of Nature who brings everything and everyone together! And I'll always love this fic for helping me discover that <3

13.) your favorite type of fandom event

Ship weeks are always fun! I love seeing everyone's creativity and different takes on prompts.

16.) a tiny detail in canon that you want more people to appreciate

This Phoenix line:

First of all: Phoenix. Bestie. "Do," "re," and "me" aren't keys/notes on a piano, they're solfege syllables. Second of all: those aren't even the right solfege syllables for what you're probably looking for???? I know this is in all likelihood an oversight by the translation team but in the interest of The Bit, let me provide a little music theory lesson for y'all.

Solfege is a system of syllables corresponding to scale degrees in music, and is a very common teaching tool in music education (notably, it is mostly used for singing and NOT piano). The first (and often only) set of solfege most people learn is the major scale: do re mi fa sol la ti do. "do re mi" are the first three scale degrees. "Me" (pronounced "may") is a different syllable altogether: it's the third scale degree but flattened, making the scale of a minor variety. So Phoenix Wright has been searching for INCORRECT solfege on an instrument that doesn't even use it and even if it did, he'd still be lost because Movable Do Is A Thing and literally ANY three consecutive whole steps on a keyboard could be "do re mi."

All I'm saying is if Klavier had known what shitty musicianship he was responsible for unleashing into the world on April 19th 2019, he'd probably have questioned the circumstances around Phoenix's disbarment a lot quicker.

21.) a fandom you're not in anymore but you still really like

I wouldn't really say I have many fandoms I'm no longer "in" per se—it's more like I drift in and out based on where the hyperfixations lead me. So with that in mind, I'll say the Love Nikki fandom. I'm not playing daily like I used to and I'm suuuuuper behind on the lore (though you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who's an expert on it because it's just way too expansive and confusing) but I've always enjoyed being there! It's a smaller fandom so things are generally pretty chill—we just share our pretty outfits and experience sinister delight at watching new players get to Chapter 15 and have their "I thought this was just a dress-up game what the FUCK is happening" moment. It's great.

23.) the fandom you're curious about because of a mutual

.............you and Saint Seiya.

But if that doesn't count, I'll say Steven Universe. Several of my mutuals are into it and I've absorbed a lot of the show's plot through fandom osmosis and a tiny bit I remember from when my little brother would watch it occasionally, but I've never actually seen the whole thing. Something tells me I'd really like Pearl, though.

25.) a piece of advice for taking care of yourself in fandom spaces

Fandom participation is infinitely more enjoyable if you base it around the aspects of the media you love rather than those you hate—there's plenty enough hatred in the real world. Find your niche with the blorbos you love, and freak it up with like-minded folks. And if it's no longer fun, remember that logging off is always an option too.

Thank you so much for the ask bestie ily <333

[sloanewashingtonappreciationweek]

We received some beautiful "star-studded" entries today. Tomorrow is a new day with new themes, and we're also almost midway through our appreciation week!

We have three themes you can choose from today, and you can choose either just one or a combination. Our first theme is Throwback! Send us any pieces you may have made of Sloane in the past, and if you feel like it, definitely do take us through your process of creating that piece!!

Our second theme is Character Appreciation. You're free to interpret this any way you like... just think of what you love most about Sloane's character, and anything that perfectly depicts/illustrates that!

Our final theme for today is Friendship! We all know that Sloane starts out in this series a little under confident about her ability to make friends. And yet, her charm, kindness and unique ways of showing affection win over even the people who started out mistrusting her. This day will also be dedicated to exploring Sloane's friendships!!

As always, any form of appreciation is welcome! Fanfic, fanart, meta, edits, moodboards, playlists, headcanons, interactive media, even screenshots of favourite scenes or simple posts about your love for her!! Our only requirement is that you center Sloane in your work, and that the depiction is positive!

We also accept WIPs - we know irl can be hard and you may not always get the time to finish off stuff, so do show us a WIP of what you're working on if you're comfortable! We keep our event open even after the deadline (the deadline is mostly for our thank you video!) so you can send in your work anytime as well.

A friendly reminder that these are merely themes for you to use. It isn't completely necessary for your content for a particular day to be posted on that day only. You can post something you intended for Day 2 when Day 5 is on, as long as you tag the post for the day you meant it for.

Be sure to follow these rules when you make your posts:

1. Use the tags #sloanewashingtonappreciationweek and #SWAW so we can find your posts on the tags, along with the day you intend the post for (#SWAW Day 1, #SWAW Day 2).

2. Tag @sloanewashingtonappreciationweek, as well as hosts @sazanes and @lizzybeth1986 in your work!

Fan content blogs have been a great resource in terms of showcasing fan content, so we'd definitely like to explore some of them and see if you'd like to send your content to any of them. A number of them are also running some amazing Valentine's Day events, which I urge you to take a look at:

@choicesficwriterscreations - Both fic and art welcome! Check out their rules and weekly roster here!

@choicesmonthlychallenge and @choicesfebruary2024 - All types of creative stuff welcome. This month, they're doing an awesome event with the Seven Types of Love in Greek mythology as prompts!

@choicespride - All content related to LGBTQ+ characters and/or themes welcome! Check out their awesome Valentine's Day event here!

@choicesflashfics - Fics under 2500 words welcome! Find this week's prompt list here!!

@choicesholidays - Both fic and art welcome!! Check out their Valentine's Day event!!

@choicesprompts - Mostly fic-centric!! Currently they're running a round robin, for which the deadline to enter is Feb 15th!

Can't wait to see what you all have in store for us! 😁

Happy Sloane Washington Appreciation Week, everyone!!

[percahliaweek]

FAQ

What tag should I use?

#percahliaweek should work nicely - you can @ us @percahliaweek so we can reblog your contribution on the corresponding day.

Will you be doing anything on Twitter/other social media?

We considered it! However, as other social media sites have proven unreliable (especially lately), we'll be hosting the event only on Tumblr. However, you're welcome to post your work wherever you like!

Can I do _ for the event?

Yes. Yep. Seriously, so long as it focuses on Perc'ahlia (and is appropriately tagged to avoid spoiling people), you can do it. Cosplay, inspired recipes, beadwork, podfic, go wild! Well, with the caveat that no hateful content will be permitted - don't use a joyous event to rain on someone else's parade or promote hatespeech, alright?

Is NSFW content allowed?

Given the ship in question and just how canonically horny they are for eachother - yes! However, we request that you tag this content as #nsfw and use the appropriate content filter on it. If posting in the Discord server, keep it to the 18+ chat. Be mindful of potential minors in fandom space + people browsing content in public.

I want to participate but haven't watched Campaign 1!

We welcome fans of The Legend of Vox Machina with open arms. As a result, it's requested that campaign fans do their best to avoid spoiling show fans for anything beyond what Season 2 has shown (Umbrasyl's defeat). That means late Campaign 1, the oneshots and any mention of them in other campaigns should be tagged as #cr1 spoilers (using just this tag for simplicity). Show fans, if you want to remain unspoiled, I recommend you block this on Tumblr and mute spoilery channels in the server.

Is there an AO3 collection for the fanfics?

One can definitely be set up closer to the start date!

Does my submission have to fit one of the prompts?

That would be ideal, yes! Anything freeform should be posted on Day 7 for Free/Random prompts. But fitting the prompt can be very loose - maybe you just use the word as a motif, or you take it in an entirely unexpected direction. We want to encourage creativity and fun more than anything else.

I don't know what to do for the Free/Random day!

We have a few recommendations (we are unaffiliated with the websites linked): Random page of the Encyclopedia Exandria Random word generator OTP prompt generator AU generator 

Ghost’s Spell prompts [roll 2d20?]

Wild Magic Surge table

Life events table

If you've made prompt lists and would not mind them being featured here, reach out!

How did you choose the prompts?

Prompts were chosen over a day or two while talking with friends - they were intended to be open-ended enough to allow flexibility while also touching on key elements of the ship! Some obvious ones (ex: courage, heart, that sort of thing) were left out so that, hopefully, they could be included next year. If there's enough interest, future prompts could be chosen via fan poll.

Will this be an annual event?

We sure hope so! Hence optimistically keeping back some prompt ideas for the future. Let's see how this goes ;3

Why late September?

On September 29th, 2016, the Critical Role episode 'Passed Through Fire' aired, which features an iconic Perc'ahlia moment (no spoilers for show fans!). Following Burr's poll on which scene is most iconic for the pairing, we decided to have the week celebrate the anniversary of that episode.

So why did you announce this so early?

Because Maggie has been a gremlin about the idea since April. Also, most fans in this space are adults with jobs and responsibilities - allowing more time to create without a rush benefits everyone.

A Discord server?

We have set up a little server for this event on Discord, mostly to hang out with other Perc'ahlia fans and motivate eachother to work on our respective projects. The current link is HERE - let us know if it's not working!

Who is hosting this?

At the moment the users running this blog are @burr-ell and @blorbologist! If the event expands beyond our abilities, we will look into taking on other users to help out - you'll know if we need a hand <333

Any more questions? Feel free to send in an ask and we'll do our best to answer in a timely manner!

[utaicon]

100 Followers Event!

Hi everyone! This is a little bit late- I thought I might notice that I hit 100 followers, but I guess I didn't!

Since I happen to be making this in October, I thought I'd make it a Halloween themed editing contest! If the creepy themes of Halloween aren't your thing, though, you're welcome to go with general autumn themes. I want everyone to be able to participate in this if they so desire :3

More details under cut!

The prompts are more or less made with idol-rhythm games in mind, but if you want to use something else, that's 100% allowed! I believe in your creative abilities!

To make up for my lateness, this event will extend for exactly a month, so the submission period is October 5th - November 5th! You are welcome to complete as many or as few prompts as you want, in any order you want, and be as technical and creative about them as you want! The most important part is to have fun with it!

There will be 5 winners, selected semi-randomly with a wheel. Your name will be entered once per edit you make, and if you edit something on my whitelist, I will enter your name twice! In a similar vein, if you enter anything on my blacklist, you will be disqualified.

Prizes:

5th place: 1 edit of choice

4th place: 2 edits of choice

3rd place: 3 edits of choice

2nd place: 4 edits of choice

1st place: 5 edits of choice + I'll reblog a boatload of your other edits :3

rules: same as my regular rules, respect dni, do not submit anything from the blacklist, as stated above you are welcome to complete however many prompts you want in whatever order you want but please do not repeat prompts, have fun!

please tag me in your edits for this event so I can see them! You are welcome to use the tag #utaicon 100 followers contest, but I am more likely to see if when you tag me!

Prompt List:

note: some of these are vague on purpose! take as much creative liberty as you want!

#1 - edit a character with orange!

#2 - edit 2 characters that you think would swap Halloween candy!

#3 - edit 2 characters you think are angel/devil coded!

#4 - make an edit based on your favorite Halloween/autumn song! It can be a song specifically about Halloween or autumn or it can just be a song that gives you vibes!

#5 - edit a character with a skeleton theme!

#6 - edit a character with purple!

#7 - edit a character with a werewolf theme!

#8 - edit a card/scene from a Halloween event/episode!

#9 - edit two characters from the same Halloween card set!

#10 - edit a character with a ghost theme!

#11 - edit enough characters to create a Halloween themed unit!

#12 - edit a character with green!

#13 - edit a character with red eyes! You can pick a character that already has red eyes or give them red eyes with editing magic instead!

#14 - edit 2 characters that you think would have fun trick-or-treating or playing in leaves together!

#15 - incorporate pride into a Halloween/autumn themed edit!

#16 - edit a character with a bat theme!

#17 - edit a character with a night theme! (stars, moon, etc)

#18 - edit a character with blue!

#19 - edit a character that you think would find a horror movie entirely too scary!

#20 - edit a character you feel is vampire coded!

#21 - edit a card/scene from a non-halloween event/episode!

#22 - edit a character with fire/candles!

#23 - edit a character with leaves!

#24 - edit a character in monochrome/grayscale/B&W!

#25 - edit a character with a candy theme!

#26 - edit two characters from different Halloween card sets!

#27 - edit a character with a pumpkin theme!

#28 - edit a character that you think would find a horror movie entirely too humorous!

#29 - edit a character in red!

#30 - edit a character with a theme of a monster of your choosing!

#31 - free prompt! Do whatever you like!

Happy editing!

[lifefindsaj]

AI has no place in the creative space!

For class, I had to create AI images. This is the piece of shit I created.

It's a new era! Computers have graduated from manual document creations and calculators, into havens for computer generated slop. With the right combination of words, any image can be generated. That image can then be processed into video. All using what is considered today as Artificial Intelligence.

In class, we used CoPilot to create an image out of text. Then, we used Runway to make the image into a video. Presenters talked about how novel the concept still is, how generating images is "art," and how creating AI "art" can cost money to generate. There were other points, but I had zero fucking interest. It boiled down to this: AI is a great way to create "art."

Art is a human expression through creativity derived from experience and emotion. This AI "art" is total bullshit.

To elaborate, art is an expression of self through skill, training, and technique. It's a dialogue between artist and consumer, not just a product. It requires trial and error to understand oneself. AI generation is a complete lack of all that. Yes, prompts require repetition to get right, but I highly doubt it's a complete expression of self. Sure, you created a list of commands to reflect the image you want, but this is not an artist's technique. It's an instruction manual for computers to compute. You have removed the human element from the "art" and made nothing. The computer did it all, not you! You created the prompt, and it probably took 20 minutes to get it right, but playing a video game is essentially the same concept. You press buttons through trial and error, to get the command you want. Is playing video games an artform? Is it creative expression by the player? I love playing video games, but I have to say the act of playing not artful. The developers did the art, much like the artists AI rips off.

Now, my title explained: I strongly feel AI generation has no place in the creative space. That includes still, motion, or audio art, and literature. I feel that AI prompt generation is talentless slop of word diarrhea and the execution of an ability to see something you didn't exactly desire, but accepting it because it's "close enough." Even the most advanced AI experts can not customize every stroke with AI, pressure, intention of motion, and honest personal flairs are also absent.

Using AI for inspiration is also ridiculous. We live in a rich and vibrant world with endless cultures, histories, communities, and beliefs. We have created centuries of honest art and literature to draw from. To confine oneself into a box that strictly generates AI "art," I see it as a lack of imagination. Why do you need to falsify and corrupt your perspective with lies where reality offers so much more substance? And I'm talking in creating, not consuming. Why not flex that creative muscle and do the work, even if it doesn't turn out the way you want? You'll develop skills, patience, and abilities via trial and error, a skill that requires few tools and no computer. Should society collapse, you won't lose that skill and ability.

I have yet to encounter AI in art which is honest and product of the artist's talents. All I see are a jumble of words used to derive samples from established real artists, to create a falsehood in seconds, which has no communication between artist and consumer, nor does it express the heart of the artist.

Now, am I against all AI? Hell, no! I understand AI in the technical and business space. It can translate, it can automate, it can streamline services. I still think there are better methods which involves people instead of machines, but I won't deny that AI can make some services simpler for consumers.

My point is to AI in the creative space. To generate a screenplay with AI should not bear your name as credit, but the credit belongs to your AI tool. You didn't write it, despite how many prompts or images you fed a machine. It's not your writing, it's technological nonsense. There may be a plot, dialogue, characters, and such, but without the human intention, the screenplay is devoid of meaning and conversation, even if you wanted to give it meaning. What are you going to say when someone asks your process? "I typed so and so prompts and generated it?"

Again, AI helps in some fields. The medical field comes to mind in developing medicine and processing data. And I'm sure there are many other applications which benefit humanity. But this AI in art? It's a bastardization of humanity.

[callioclops]

A short while ago I was prompted to explain why I didn't particularly enjoy Baldur's Gate 3, and it led me down an interesting rabbit hole of thought about RPG progression. Stepping away as much as I can from my personal preference, I want to take a moment to talk about the pros and cons of what I've started referring to as 'Buffet' or 'Menu' progression systems.

So a quick explanation of what I mean by this, say you're eating out and you go to a restaurant that's hosting a buffet. As long as you have room on your plate, you can take anything you want from the buffet in any combination you want. The things you choose may not compliment each other very well, but it's your choice to make.

Now take another restaurant, this one without a buffet, instead you are given a menu. You have a selection of curated dishes, already picked out for you because the ingredients are believed to compliment each other. You may have some customisation, extra bacon on a burger, a choice of condiment, but there are limits to how much you can do.

I'm going to relate these metaphors back using the two games I've played from Larian Studios: Divinity Original Sin 2, and Baldur's Gate 3. Divinity is very much a buffet system. There are presets in character creation, but these can be completely ignored if you wish. Every skill can be upgraded at every level, there is never a moment where you're locked out of improving your rank in Necromancy or Dual-Wielding, etc. The only limitations on your character building are the limited points you have to allocate.

Baldur's Gate 3 on the other hand is (primarily) a menu progression system. You pick a class, and are given a curated list of things you are allowed to do based on this. You can pick your choice of spells, stances, and some other parts, but the overall strategy stays largely similar for most of these changes, you're just changing the seasoning.

Now I say primarily for BG3 because like most things, this is a spectrum and not a dichotomy. I think that BG3 leans towards a menu system, but it doesn't embody it. That prize I think goes to a lot of early JRPGs, where you don't get any customisation at all, you are just given party members that gain the same stats and learn the same abilities at the same levels on every playthrough.

Acknowledging my biases at this point, I think my wording has made menu progression sound entirely negative, so let's go over some of the benefits: It creates a more streamlined play experience, less fussing over the intricacies of a build allows people to experience the story and gameplay at a much more rapid rate. From experience, I have spent 15 minutes deciding on what to do for a level up in Divinity, which can definitely detract from the pacing if the need to allocate points arises at a crucial story beat. Reduced options also makes the game more approachable and enjoyable for casual players, who may not necessarily have the desire to understand the minutia of the mechanics (To be clear, I'm not using casual in a derogatory sense here, play games how you want to play them I'm not here to gatekeep). Finally, reduced choices in a build path is easier to balance from a game design perspective, and can make the utilisation of these mechanics more interesting in combat. If focus is taken away from what you use, much more emphasis is placed on how you use it, which for some people is much more satisfying when done well.

And with that out of the way, my personal list of pros for why I love buffet progression systems: Firstly, it encourages creativity. This is an obvious one, but I feel it deserves to be elaborated on. In Divinity, while I said you could ignore the presets entirely I don't think that's a good idea. Because the presets are very good starting points for a better, more whole build that you could create yourself. Taking Enchanter as an example, it primarily uses air and water skills to dish out AoE damage and stun opponents out of their turns. You could stay entirely in these two skills, but there are other things that could improve this game plan. Polymorph has access to Spider Legs which you can use to web opponents and stop them from moving, maybe allowing for more enemies to group up. Necromancer can give you access to Vacuum Touch or Vacuum Aura when combined with Aerothurge, letting you shred through magic armour so you can apply your status effects earlier. Divinity in particular I think is very good at leading you down a path without forcing you to stay on the trail, but of course any open ended system would encourage experimentation to find an optimisation.

I think buffet systems also allow for a lot of replayability. BG3 obviously has this for all of the different story paths you can go down, but in terms of mechanics, a more open system tends to give me the feeling of "oh what if I did this" or "I could maybe combine these together" which I just didn't feel at all in my time with BG3. Finally, and most importantly to me, buffet progression rewards knowledge of the systems far more than menu progression does. By understanding the interactions that occur in the game, you're able to put together these incredibly powerful combinations that don't necessarily trivialise the game, but feel like a significant boost from using the preset paths prepared for you. A great example of this is my favourite build I've ever made for Divinity that I nicknamed the Firebomb. Feel free to skip the next paragraph if you don't want a brief rundown of the build.

The essence of this build is that I would use Aero skills such as Teleport and Nether Swap to gather up a lot of enemies in one place, then use skills like Supernova, hitting everyone around me and myself. I was mitigating the damage however as I have points in Necromancer which give you lifesteal, and the talent Living Armour which converts a portion of healing into magic armour regeneration. I could then use Fireball on myself after casting Deflective Barrier. DB is a skill that after being hit with a projectile will launch it back at the source. Since I cast Fireball on myself, it gets deflected back at me, effectively doubling the damage as it triggers twice. Once again, hitting everyone around me. This resulted in a huge amount of fire damage in a single turn, and could often solve a minor fight all on its own. There are more details like the fact that I have to compensate for low physical armour and what I do when those abilities are on cooldown, but I don't want to bore you with the minutia.

So am I saying one method is better than the other? No, not at all. I may prefer buffet, but menu has its merits and its audience. The correct method depends on the game that the developers want to make. I think both of these examples with Larian made excellent choices in regards to the game they built for their respective systems, it just happened that one of them wasn't for me.