sarahcarapace

[sarahcarapace]

a mix of older and newer Violet Core art >:3

sum pilot and mecha art for Violet ▼ Core, the sapphic focused ttrpg I’m makin’ (the mecha in the last image was painted by @cryskir the rest is by me :3)

[sarahcarapace]

some work in progress on this one henpit pov set roughly a minute before making out

[sarahcarapace]

Big Violet Core Update!

Heya, if you've been following along with Violet Core's development I just posted a big ass update over on kickstarter! I've made a buncha progress and have been really inspired which has been very energizing and helpin' get some real good work done :'3 You can check out the update post >>> here

[sarahcarapace]

blatant self promotion!~

Hello everyone! I've got great news; this Friday and Saturday, I'm going to be participating in @rollplusbond's annual charity stream. We're going to be raising money for Medical Aid for Palestinians, so come on by and hang out. Friday at 4pm est, I'm going to be a player in a game of Into the Odd, and on Saturday at the same time, I will be playing in a game of Violet Core. If you're interested, it'll be streamed at https://www.twitch.tv/rollplusbond.

[sarahcarapace]

!!!! Hey that's super cool! I hope you have a good time!

Just five minutes until out 72-hour stream, benefiting Medical Aid for Palestinians! You can find us at https://www.twitch.tv/rollplusbond

[sarahcarapace]

I'm happy to confrim that the Handler playbooks can easily facilitate playing a character who is an absolute c*** and that they currently have a move called 'Narc'.

not to get anyone too excited

...but Violet Core has 4 and a half new playable X-10s incoming and I've started sketching out the much desired Handler playbook from the stretch goals.

[sarahcarapace]

robofetishist i mean Dressmakers are also sketched out >:3 I'm really feelin' it at the moment! it's helpin me, yanno, keep it together.

not to get anyone too excited

...but Violet Core has 4 and a half new playable X-10s incoming and I've started sketching out the much desired Handler playbook from the stretch goals.

[sarahcarapace]

not to get anyone too excited

...but Violet Core has 4 and a half new playable X-10s incoming and I've started sketching out the much desired Handler playbook from the stretch goals.

[sarahcarapace]

[sarahcarapace]

Hi, I was reading the Violet Core Backer Preview and was kind of curious about something that stood out to me. Throughout the text you talk about the importance of gender expression in play and in the setting of the game as written. These two paragraphs from the "Gender Expression and Sexuality in the Reach" section caught my attention:

In The Reach more than any other faction there can still be problems with generational gaps. Currently they are largely patriarchal and authority figures and the older generation may not necessarily fully understand or support of what they perceive as newer or uncommon gender expressions and may have more rigid expectations of the Pilots. These expressions are not seen as a problem as long as these individuals are not being 'disruptive'.

...

The Cosmic Embrace is the most clearly diverse faction and have a higher number of non-binary people and trans men compared to the other factions. They have a culture that mixes an ethos of kindness with 'I have this brick I painted pride colours' rebellion.

When the text states that the Reach is "largely patriarchal" and allow "uncommon gender expressions" as long as they are not "disruptive" who is meant to be considered disruptive in this system? Why is the presence of trans men and nonbinary people specifically the marker of the the Embrace being the "most clearly diverse?"

I understand that the game is a work in progress, but what is the absence of trans women from this section, and the lack of mention of trans women or transfemininty anywhere in the 63 pages of text, meant to imply about the world of the Violet Core and the place of transfemininty in it? Is this intentional or oversight?

Thanks.

Heya, thanks for the questions!

Trans women are women and trans lesbians are lesbians. I guess the game doesn't state it super directly, which is kinda a surprise to myself, but the assumption of myself and the game is that over half the players and characters of the game are gunna be lesbian trans women. It's the first options listed on all the character sheets and the game talks about different transition options and their availability in that same section you described :3 I'll copy and paste it here for convenience: “When it comes to gender identity and expression it's not uncommon for children to not be assigned a gender at birth, allowing that individual to discover and express themselves in their own time. They/Them pronouns are very commonly used by the most recent couple of generations. On occasion there can be problems with medicine shortages including HRT treatments, especially within the HomeBound. However most trans folk living in the reach have access to life-saving genetherapy treatment, a one-off medical procedure that has permanent ongoing benefits and is generally regarded as much safer and more effective than older style HRT.

Transitional Genetherapy is the most widely used method of what you could call 'stage 1' medical transition. There are also advanced methods of full medical transition available especially in The Reach and Cosmic Embrace factions. Additionally a ReBuilt individual has the option to customize her body in a way that suits her gender identity with a wide variety of ways and styles.” Having said that, it would be pretty easy for me to make that a touch clearer in the book if that didn't come through implicitly.

The three factions in Violet Core are messy. None of them are exactly 'in the right' and they all have different problems, with some being more obvious than others.

The Reach is clearly the faction with the most obvious problems.

Unless they adapt, they usually default to serve the antagonistic role of 'the System' or 'Status Quo' in a given game. They have a very rigid way of doing things, with a horrible familiar mix of hierarchy and bureaucracy. They like their boxes to be ticked nice and clean and aren't a fan of making new boxes on their reports. A trans girl who has transitioned within the Reach will probably have the sort of awful 'jumping through endless hoops' experience that a lot of girls do now, and a non-binary Pilot with pronouns other than 'they/them' are likely going to have a trickier time getting by than other Pilots might. As a player, Pilots of the Reach often rebel against them, steal their stuff and jet off with a big middle finger. I've seen it happen a bunch of times and it's always been cathartic.

Cosmic Embrace on the other hand is much more supportive and easily takes in all kinds. They are much more free spirited in general. Their imperfection comes from a combination of lack of resources and being cult-like in their devotion to the Deva (their appointed authority figure) and their mission. They are like the punk-squat of the setting that has a core that could turn benevolent or rotten just as easily depending on what stresses are put upon them in a given game.

In contrast, the Homebound are more militant and direct but are often short sighted. While the younger generations of Homebound are more intersectional, I tend to play their older authority figures as inclusive but in the way an aunt might say something like 'I don't care if you are a boy or a girl or purple, I love you all the same' ...which, I mean they are trying but they don't really get it. Think of them as a little bit like late second-wave feminism or the Riot Grrrl movement, they attempted to make a cool space for women, but it's flawed and needs to adapt and change.

Each of the factions are designed to give different types of hurdles for players to struggle against and overcome.

[sarahcarapace]

If you are a backer of the Violet Core kickstarter but don't check your emails or the KS updates...ya should cuz the preview version of the game is out and ready to played >:D (art by @portentous-offerings)

[sarahcarapace]

WHHHHHAAAAAAT! Omg she's so good! 1st ever butch lesbian lego robot

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

(also! I appreciate that V//C has been picked up on as the stylised shortening of the title :3 i've been doing that in my dms for years X'D)

I made a Lego version of @carapacewreckage Ogress mech from Violet Core!

I'm so excited for this game and the mech designs I just had to build one of my own.

Not 100% happy with how mine came out, but that's usually what happens with the first drafts of my builds. Then they'll sit around and I'll poke and adjust them over time. It's also been a while since I've built some mechs out of Lego. I'm a bit rusty, but V//C has got me kicking off that rust!

[sarahcarapace]

Nooooo, I missed the deadline for supporting Violet Core on Kickstarter😭 had to wait until today for my paycheck and then I forgot it was ending during my day and not at night😭 do you already know if there's gonna be a way to buy the pdf afterwards or something? I really wanted to get my hands on it because VC sounds right up my alley

no need to fret >:3 the main Violet Core book, its companion pdf and the soundtrack will become available for everyone to purchase (on dtrpg, itch.io and bandcamp respectively) shortly after they have been completed!

[sarahcarapace]

awright. things have chilled out on the V/C ks for a bit i reckon. with 4 hours left, i'm gunna head to bed and get some rest, see how things shook out in the morning :'3 ...the Gestalt Drive is gunna be kinda hard to design but very fun to write >:3

[sarahcarapace]

I gotta be honest here, I did not expect Violet Core to hit 16k let alone 25k :'D

As a virtually unknown artist and this being my first bigger independent project, the only real coverage the game has gotten has been by enthusiastic word of mouth, and I'm incredibly grateful for all of it. As in 'very probably won't end up homeless for at least another year' grateful.

It's a good sign that as I've been falling asleep each night for the last week or so, extra murky game design thoughts start to swim about my mind, forming a soft shape that I'll be able to work on later >:3

The small group of people who will be contributing to the project are so damn talented that the book (and its now-pretty-fleshed-out, mini-sourcebook companion) will turn what I believe is already good game into an amazing game. There are still two stretch goals left, the Gestalt Drive for combining X-10s and the body horror Deep and Maw moves. We might hit them? It feels possible! But either way at the moment I'm ecstatic, elated, relieved and exhausted.

Anyhow, I'll be around for any 11th hour questions and such either on the ks or here and I'll probably be awake for the next 8 hrs and put some kinda post together for when the clock finally ticks over :D

Thank you all again!

~ Sarah

[sarahcarapace]

:'D

A selection of promotional art for Violet Core, a forthcoming self-described "Romantic High Speed Sapphic Mecha TTRPG" by artist and writer @sarahcarapace, author of Death Spiral and visual designer for @cavegirlpoems' Dungeon Bitches. Violet Core takes its cues from Heaven Will Be Mine, Zone of the Enders and Knights of Sidonia, and plays like a tabletop dating sim with giant robot fights.

The game is currently entering the final 24 hours of its crowdfunding campaign, fully funded and having knocked down two substantial stretch goals in the last days: one for extra art (i.e., more of the above), and one to add an asymmetric play mode in which some but not all players pilot giant robots, explicitly including provisions for, in the author's own words, "handler and pilot toxic yuri" – a particular interest for many of this blog's followers, I'm given to understand!

With just under a day left to go, there are several additional stretch goals within striking distance; I've seen a lot of noise about the one for rules for combining robots (presumably also for yuri purposes), though the one I'm most keen on – a big stack of random encounter and event tables by the aforementioned @cavegirlpoems – is presently just $1700 AUD away. (Yes, I know I'm predictable; my love for Big Stupid Tables is well established.)

I'd love to see this one go the distance, so whether or not you're interested in supporting its campaign, if you happen to know anyone who might be in the market, please pass the word along!

[sarahcarapace]

lunch time boop fer these gals who are about to kiss

some Violet Core art ~ 💜