#LARP responsibly

[angie-j-kay]

I am in Illinois, at Fort Masaac's "Seven Years War" reenactment this weekend. I have counted no less than four women wandering around dressed in period-accurate 1940s costumes, trying to pick up members of the Highland Regiment.

[incorrectempirelarpquotes]

Empire Players: *Saturday Morning Battle* This next cup of coffee will fix me.

Players:

Players: This has made me worse.

[dearestblood]

i would not fucking say that.

[evermoreparkbadger]

The scenes on Jenny's video regarding a character called Wen Weaver seemed pretty dark and adult thematically. Can you talk a little bit more on that? I thought the actress who played Wen was amazing at improv but I'm not sure how I would've reacted if I'd saw that one 'DO YOU WANT ME TO SLEEP WITH HIM?' scene take place in real life. It seems... I don't know. I'm not even really sure what it is I'm asking. Just if you could clarify if there was any guidelines around how adult the scenes were allowed to be, and What's The Deal With Wen Weaver in general and why she always seems to be having a bad time

See the linked reddit comment that was a response to a similar question, but also there weren’t really any specific boundaries or guidelines with content beyond “generally family-friendly” or “mostly ‘PG’ with some ‘PG-13’”

And actors just love to capitalize on moments of drama when they happen. If it’s in front of guests we recognized and the circumstances of the scene justified it, we would often test those boundaries on those rare occasions. Jenny’s quick compilation made it seem much more common than they were.

[blujayonthewing]

I only imported this bit from the really old height lineup to get corker's size accurate but I'm really pleased with how consistent I've been able to keep her overall sizing proportions over time :D

[tainbocuailnge]

something ive noticed after being a hobby cosplayer for years is that in a lot of places the general consensus seems to be that wearing costumes in public is weird and/or socially unacceptable, but whenever I'm in costume in public while on the train to the con venue or having a photoshoot on location or something, people by and large fucking love my costume. they think it's so cool. kids think my costume rocks. their parents are impressed that I made it myself. random grandmas tell me my armor kicks ass. I was at a japanese garden once and barely got around to doing the photoshoot me and my homies came there to do because swathes of visitors who had never heard the word cosplay before were lining up to take a picture with me.

it's the same thing with adjacent hobbies like larp or reenactment or fursuiting, the general image of the hobby is that you're weird nerds (and probably also sex perverts) for playing dressup despite not being a child but when you're actually in costume the response from random normies is categorically positive. I inevitably get weird looks from the kind of people who think having a tattoo is an affront to god but they give me that look for just existing with blue hair and pronouns too and the people who actually talk to me always do because they wanted to tell me they love my costume. and the response that always gets me the most is when they say it looks fun but they would never dare to do the same. it's such a shame. why did wearing a silly little costume have to become an act of bravery.

[sodajerking]

NOTE: Dr Pepper is not a cola. Root beer is not a cola. Craft colas do not count. This doesn't consider regional mass produced colas for simplicities sake. If you have a nuanced response I don't care about it, just pretend you're at a restaurant and being offered both, just larp with me and stop being so complicated.

[undeadorion]

Falling into Ghost has done wonders for my confidence. Especially in creative things.

Tobias Forge is out there LARPing as an entire cast of his own original characters. He took a silly concept of a satanic cult taking over the world through music and made it an endearing and interesting story about family and responsibility. He distilled the millennial experience into a pathetic old man. He puts on epic concerts that have a fucking story to them. He makes little movies to further the story. He dances around doing terrible impressions then busts out fucking ballet moves. He bounces around to whatever genres he wants. He plays the kazoo. There’s an epic saxophone solo. He’s older than I am and I’m considered too old for most things.

Tobias Forge didn’t just say “you can do whatever you want forever.” He went out and did it. And he keeps doing it.

Do your thing. Put it out in the world. Even if it’s weird. ESPECIALLY if it’s weird. Don’t wait for other people’s approval. Just put it out there and in time you will find an audience.

[lakesbian]

underrated funniest part of worm is brian being a 17yo with every problem furiously trying to LARP as, like, a normal 45yo with a job. he's Seven Teen and he owns a fucking Apartment and he straightfacedly goes up to foster care workers and goes "yeah this is my apartment. my very serious adult man apartment that i bought and paid for with my very legitimate money which was earned through a regular corporate job (where my supervisor will provide me a glowing recommendation) and not through any sort of crime. yeah i even bought generic abstract art to decorate with. i even assembled ikea furniture. it's great right. please let me adopt my sister i'm so fucking normal i'm basically 50" and then he goes off to do his actual job (crime) (robbing banks) (17yo) (punching 12yos in the face) (nearly getting ran over by jeeps driven by bomb-wielding maniacs) and he's so fucking serious about that too. he says "she's wanted for serial murder. it's inconvenient :/" in the same tone as a guy complaining about their coworker using up all the printer paper without replacing it. brian laborn world's first 17yo boomer. every day he wakes up, grips the sink, looks at himself in the mirror, and goes "brian laborn you are a professional businessman adult man guy and you can do this" and then he steps outside and alec immediately makes him trip and land with his face in a banana cream pie while aisha starts blowing airhorns and cackling at him and there's nothing he can do about it because this happens to him every day and it will continue until he dies. his grave will say "responsible taxpayer" on it.

[destiny-in-the-universe]

Pines Headcanons [Happy Birthday, Grunkles]

I cannot believe I just now got reminded of this- holy shit. Unfortunately, I'm not an artist so have these headcanons instead about Stan and Ford

Stanley ‘Lee’ Pines

He’s bisexual. This is not up for debate (/lh). It just made sense for him 

Stanley is ambidextrous. He can write and utilize both his left and right hands. This was something he self-taught himself in after the portal accident 

On the power of ‘I said so’, Stan does have some level of book smarts but instead of math or science- it’s creative writing. He’s got the talent for it; however, he rarely - if ever - shares these stories with anyone

Stan has some form of neurodivergency. Young Stan definitely gives the impression of ADHD but also I feel he’s got dyslexia- don’t ask me why. This is canon now

He does have scars from the time he spent on the run and doing his sales. I’m not sure what they are exactly, but just know he has them 

Stan knows martial arts. Other than boxing, I feel he would’ve taught himself in other forms of fighting- like the ones done on the streets and it’s a weird mix of martial arts and free-style fighting

He can be a bit of a poet, but for the most part- Stan prefers show-and-tell as his love language. He will present his partner with gifts, and makes sure they understand he’s there for them 

He’s kind of protective over his partners, and definitely has gotten into fights in an attempt to protect their honor. It’s ill-placed sometimes but he’s not about to let some bozo mess with them

Stan always sought his father’s approval. He attempted multiple times to perfect his studying skills before the science fair accident, but apparently Old Pa Pines didn’t seem to notice and the rest, well, it was already history

He fantasized of being a pirate when he was a kid. This is where the whole thing of going on a seafaring adventure with Ford came from! Unfortunately due to canon events, this soured out but he held onto a photograph he and Ford took in front of the beach as a memoir

He’s very much not a big fan of vegetables

Stanford ‘Ford’ Pines

He’s arospec and ace!

Ford absolutely loves puzzles. Why? It just weirdly fitting for his character

He definitely has C-PTSD following the events of Weirdmaggedon

Autistic Ford? Autistic Ford. There is no way he doesn’t have it- I said what I said

Before he got involved in the strange and paranormal, one of Ford’s main interests was actually crystals and rocks! It felt weirdly fitting for his character, and here we are

Ford is more of a cat person. At one point, he rescued a cat-adjacent creature from an auction and named her ‘Nova’. Of course, it’s far from a cat but well, we’ll get to that later

He would be into LARP if it exists in the Gravity Falls canon. Like, that man is a nerd and already enjoys the show’s version of Dungeons and Dragons, there’s just no way he wouldn’t participate in LARP

He does have scars from his time in other dimensions for thirty years. He’s very secretive about them and doesn’t let anyone see- not even Stanley

Ford deals with the aftermath of a burnt-out gifted kid- like, he was the prodigal son and got all the right honors, scores, all of it but as he got older- the more he struggled, the more he felt like something was missing. As the golden child, he was brought up with the notion he would be important but then got smacked in the face when he realized none of it truly mattered

He had a lot of issues adjusting to his new life in Gravity Falls, Oregon after he was brought back from the portal. Ford’s triggered fight-or-flight response would kick in with unexpected situations- like, he’s definitely pulled a blaster/space gun

He likes hot chocolate

Ford enjoys cuddle piles, let’s be honest here. Once he gets more comfortable, he begins making nests with the rest of the Pines family

He’s protective of his family!

I’ll try and come up with new headcanons soon, but since I took too long releasing this- given I got sick unfortunately, I decided to post a smaller version 

[twisted-wonderland-but-gayer]

Hi!! Really like your writing could we possibly get a drabble or something like that of Middle Schooler Yuu?

Hell-Raising Gremlin: A Middle Schooler

Synopsis: Yuu is a cringy middle schooler that curses a lot and insults people

Cw: Cringe writing. Yuu is 12 and Gn. Cursing. They call Riddle stupid and tell Azul he's gay. No romance ofc. Not proofread

“What the fuck?” Was one of the first things that came out of your mouth when you kicked off the door to your coffin. A crowd of eerily robed people turned to stare at you as if you were the weird one for wearing normal clothes. Each person had matching eyeliner and wait, does that person have horns… and a tail? What sort of fucked up LARP furry cult were you kidnapped into?

“Honestly…” Another voice rang out “Coming through the door of your own accord is virtually unheard of, why are you in such a rush?” A bird masked individual said as he approached you, two glowing yellow orbs peaking through the mask, each part of his person accessorized to fit a perfect aesthetic. Okay, thats a pretty cool costume you’ll admit, but it still doesn't change that you are obviously in the wrong place.

"Um… probably because some strange carriage literally kidnapped me and forced me into a coffin and then I woke up here? I don't think I'm in the right place."

"Hmm I don't think you are entirely lucid yet… a side effect of the teleportation magic perhaps…" the man wondered out loud.

"Can you break character for a second and tell me where the hell I am, dude?" You glared at him and a few of the weird adults around you laugh. You keep a brave face despite the fear building up.

"You are at Night Raven College, a prestigious magician training school in Twisted Wonderland." The masked man states bluntly and confidently like that explains everything.

"Didn't I just say to break character? I'm not playing DND here or anything, I need to get home, I'm not supposed to be here in this weird cult thing… I need to get home!" a few more laughs reverberated in the crowd.

"I'm being serious, this is a school for magicians"

"Right well… I don't have magic. How's that?" You give a smug smirk. "So please send me home?"

The man just gives an infuriating blank expression. "Why, you are here because the black carriage recognized you as a powerful mage! You should be quite proud of that given how young to appear to be! Please stand by and the mirror will sort you into your dorm shortly!"

"I was kidnapped first of all, and I don't even have that weird robe thing! Look dude, you got the wrong person! I'll go up to that mirror right now and show you!" You assume this "magic' mirror was just some computer check in thing. Hopefully when you give your name it'll prove you aren't on the list of whatever the fuck this is.

"My, so hasty… such is the youth I suppose. Fine then, go up to the mirror."

You must give props to this actor for staying in character the full time, but now wasn't the time. As you approach the mirror you hear whispers, and you see 5 individuals and a floating tablet standing by it, looking as superior as they could. Some glared at you, others looked intrigued.

The mirror spoke, "State thy name."

"Yuu…"

"You're soul is… invalid… I cannot read it. Therefore I sort you in no dorm."

The crowd murmurs amongst themselves as the masked person looks genuinely surprised. "Well then. I must apologize, there must be some mistake." You exhale in relief. Finally he gets it. "Mirror, send this person home!" No response. Why was he asking the mirror?

"Ahem… Mirror take this person—"

"I cannot."

"... huh…" You frown

"This child's home is nowhere. They do not exist here. They are from another dimension. Therefore, they cannot be sent home."

The crowd's murmurs get louder. You still don't believe in this whole weird magic school act thing. "Are you fucking kidding me, did I seriously get isekaied by a horse drawn carriage?" 

At that you see the floating tablet mute themselves. Before you could even turn around and ask for the masked man to get a real person to send you home, a strange creature runs in front of you. You stared at it in complete shock.

"Mrahaha! If they can't join this school, then there's room for me!" The weird cat thing talks. Flames came out its ears and its tail was forked. What the fuck, what the fuck. How is this cat on fire and talking?

The crowd laughed at the cat's words. "Oh yeah?! I'll show you!" The creature yells out. You didn't think much of it until you saw blue plumes of flames come from its mouth and aim directly into the crowd. The crowd yells and pushes each other around. You could feel the heat.

This couldn't be some high tech animatronic could it? You gawk as banners catch flames and you see some of the mages in the crowd casting water spells to put themselves out. Is this really another world…? No way… no way. You have to get hit by a truck for that! This just has to be a very weird fever dream...

Another blast of flames is fired across from you, growing bigger and bigger, threatening to engulf everything in the room. One person from before lets out an annoyed sigh and you see him turn to approach the flame. 

Without thinking you immediately run over to pull him back catching him by surprise and making him stumble. "Dude, what are you doing?!" The doll faced young man looks over at you in shock, before his race reddens.

"How DARE YOU try to—"

"Riddle enough! They were just trying to help!" Another taller green haired mad says with a clover on his face. "Come with me…" the man says before pulling you back protectively.

You watch as the strange ruby-haired man, Riddle– what a stupid name–, approaches the weird cat. He raises his arm before lowering it. "OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!" He yelled, and a strange collar appeared around the cat. The flames around the room suddenly die.

"Hey what gives?! What I'll just… huh?! My magic! Its…"

"Sealed away. That collar around your neck does not allow you to use magic." Riddle states. "No cats are allowed are celebrations, your very existence here is a violation." A few robed figures go to grab their cat and toss him out.

"Damn…" you mumbles as you step put from behind the stranger that protected you.

"You there, child." Riddle states, still looking upset. "What you did was dangerous, you should have never stepped in to try to help."

Oh this dudes attitude pissed you off with how condescending he sounded. "Well sorry for trying to fucking make sure you didn't burn yourself. God forbid I didn't know you could do that weird collar thing."

The green haired man paled and the face of Riddle got red. "Excuse me?! You need to learn how to treat your superiors with respect–"

"I respect whoever respects me regardless of age! And you're not superior at all! You throw tantrums like a kid!" You spat back and the crowd seemed to laugh. The green haired man tries to pull you back. "Come on now, Yuu try to be nice…"

"Why would I? He's the one that started it! He can start yelling at people for no good reason but I can't? Hell who the fuck even names their kid Riddle its such a stupid name!"

Riddle was fuming at this point and everyone just seemed to either cringe or watch in rapt excitement. "IT IS NOT! You have not followed a single rule of the entrance ceremony! Those who don't follow the rules should be punished! Especially rude ones like you!"

"Did you not hear the mirror? I'm not from this world! I literally don't know any rules at all! How are you gonna get mad at me for that?! You're the one that keeps yelling for no reason and then getting mad at me for giving back the same energy? And now you're trying to threaten me!"

"Enough!" The red head yells. "Apologize now or it's off with your head!"

"Oh no my magic that I totally have! I'm so scared! Go ahead and do it! You're only punishing me because I'm right! You can't ever comprehend being wrong so you need to make yourself look stronger in every other way because you're a coward and a control freak! I may not have been in this world long, but something tells me in the real world you can't collar everyone that upsets you! You're a coward and a god damn fucking tyrant that feels the need to prove himself superior to a fucking TWELVE year old just because I had the audacity to try and help you! I am twelve and everyone here appears to be an adult yet none of you are actually helping me! I wanna go home!"

"Enough!" The masked man's voice yells out and you huff and look away. "That is enough for both of you." You look over at another man with blueish hair and glasses along with a mole struggling to hold in a laugh. You narrow your eyes. "Oh I just KNOW your bitch ass isn't laughing with your birthing hips and gay little face!" The man's eyes widen and he stares in shock for moment before looking down at himself. The crowd erupts in laughter.

"Yuu!" The masked man reprimands before sighing. "Dorm leaders! Take your students to their new homes! I will deal with this… situation" As everyone left, you glared at Crowley.

"It's about time you fucking listened me, hot topic wannabe ass." Crowley could tell that this child would fit in perfectly here.

[pollsnatural]

I know there aren't many moments from earlier seasons on this list, but that's only because I'm a late seasons girlie and remember them better. So don't judge me and just write your favorite moment in the tags.

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

@smoozie okay!!!!! i just finished figuring out every hermits godly origin so.

the basic premise of the AU is that every single hermit is a god, or a being of similar power (except for Xisuma, who didn't intend to be admin of a server of mostly gods and DOESNT UNDERSTAND HOW THIS HAPPENED TO HIM GODDAMNIT.) together, they make up a pantheon thats occasionally worshiped by members of other servers, which some of them lean into and others find very, very uncomfortable. It's also a "being worshiped makes you more powerful" setting so there's that.

specifics as to their origins:

BDubs - A living saint of the sun and its light. Inherits some small amount of divine power from this, and says that this makes him a god. The other gods, especially Gem (who helped to grant him this power) think this is very cute of him.

Beef - A semi-omniscient demigod who mostly acts in service of other, greater gods. His latest patron is Big Salmon, a "higher power" that he claims controls the concepts of the water, consequences, and commerce.

Cleo - All Cleos across the multiverse have been left in mental contact with each other after the Time Witch's ritual. They form a powerful network between them, altogether controlling the flow of time and space across the servers they intersect with.

Cub - Through blood sacrifice, poorly understood magic, and worship of Vex gods, rendered himself functionally immortal. This was a science experiment for him, but he'll take immortality if it's what the end result comes to.

Doc - Achieved code-warping levels of power after the successful slaying of a Developer in single combat. Xisuma frequently enlists his help in keeping the server stable, because surprise surprise, 26 gods in the same place of vastly different origins makes the code a bit unstable.

Etho - Shapeshifting trickster god. Old, though not the oldest member of the server. Sometimes claims that he's following a script handed down by beings above him, though most other members of the server think he's saying that to dodge responsibility for his mischief.

False - False and her sister Symmetra were natural-born deities, worshiped as counterparts. False is worshiped as goddess of victory, art, and the water, while Symmetra is worshiped as goddess of defeat, industry, and the earth. False hasn't seen her sister in hundreds of years, and over time their worshipers combined their iconography into a single god.

Gem - Gem is a dimension-hopping, shapeshifting celestial being with domain over nature and sunlight. She pretends not to know what other members of the server are talking about when they bring this up, and mostly uses her powers for LARP purposes.

Grian - Watcher. Has claimed the server as his own, and thus sustains himself on high-intensity emotions of its occupants. To sate this hunger, he regularly starts wars, games, and other server events.

Hypno - A mage who ascended to demigod status through feats of arcane prowess. Longstanding enemies, dating back to their mortal days, with Wels. Their feud has become more amicable recently, thank god.

Impulse - He and Tango have the same origin, having ascended as part of the Rule Our World challenge they were placed into. After the forces of the universe were done subjecting them to whatever whims crossed their minds, Impulse became the embodiment of achievement and industriousness, while Tango became the embodiment of chaos and games.

Iskall - Part of the first group of players that Developers ever made. Escaped the purge of the first players, and has been dimension-hopping and stealing power from different servers ever since. Technically still mortal, but has been alive longer than any of the other server members.

Jevin - A demigod, and champion of the demigod Wels. Jevin was granted some of Wels's power under the condition that he helped Wels bother Hypno, which Jevin is more than okay to do. When he's not using divine power to prank Hypno, he's using it to prank everyone else.

Joe - Has, on separate occasions, claimed to be both "the most powerful of the Hermits" and "just an average guy." When pressed on what made him more powerful than the gods and eldritch beings he kept as company, Joe just smiled and said "I'm Joe Hills, recording as I always do in Nashville, Tennessee." Nobody knows what this means.

Joel - Joel Thundercheeks of Stratos, an 11-foot tall deity of lightning, lore, and the skies. His abrasive personality and tendency to throw power around made some question whether he should be invited, but Gem and Pearl advocated for him hard. He's used to being the only god around, so he's a bit surprised that throwing his power around doesn't always work now.

Keralis - Fragment of an eldritch being, and the conduit through which most of its power expresses itself. Bridges dimensions, and travels through time as easily as it does space. Unclear whether he is aware of any of this.

Mumbo - Was a mortal, though he has rendered himself immortal through animancy. His own soul is bound inside of a golden heart inside of his S7 base, and he has supplemented it with a fragment of Grian's, making him part-Watcher.

Pearl - Santa Perla, goddess of flowers, the harvest, the summer solstice, and the noonday sun. Thought she was mortal until the Empires crossover, when she remembered her past queendom. Her life force is tied to the lands she cultivates, so she has taken careful effort to ensure all her bases are verdant and flourishing.

Ren - One day declared himself "the king of all gods" despite not having been a god before this. None of the other Hermits were particularly willing to challenge him on this since it seemed harmless. Somehow, though, news of it spread, and he has established a fairly thorough following across other servers as a god of leadership, trade, travel, and theater.

Scar - Ate God. Which one? He never elaborates. Oh, sure, he'll go into detail about, say, the recipe he used to cook God, but ask him which God he ate, or how he killed it first, and he just brushes right past it. His power can't be denied, though, so he must be telling the truth.

Skizz - Suffused with Withering Energy, and acts as a bringer of doom and despair because of it. Oh, sure, he's a really nice and supportive guy, and everybody loves him, but also things tend to collapse around him in dramatic and spectacular fashion. Hermitcraft has only survived because of the power of 25 other gods crushing any disaster before it happens.

Stress - Goddess of hope, beauty, and love. Unfortunately, she was cursed a long time ago by Iskall when they first met, adopting a monstrous form, which is worshiped as a deity of doom, evil, and hate. He's been very apologetic about it since and offered to help her reverse the curse, but she's overall very happy with the state of things. They've become very close friends.

Tango - See Impulse. Unlike most gods, who become more powerful the more they're worshiped, Tango draws power directly from the souls of those who perish inside his games, which has made him somewhat giddy about the concept of death in general.

Wels - A knight and folk hero who ascended to demigod status from the pure gratitude of those who he saved. Considered a patron of justice and protection. Over the years, he's become bored with this, and gotten into quite a bit of mischief. See also Jevin and Hypno.

XB - A mortal godkiller. He ruthlessly hunts gods outside the server in order to make them answer for their crimes against mortals. Within the server, he also occasionally kills the others, just for funsies.

Zed - Avatar of Death. Controls the process of respawning, though he often gets so distracted that he forgets to actually pay attention to it, leaving some players in limbo for quite a while before he remembers he has to pay attention to their souls.

[eightyonekilograms]

Even though Threads is very specifically about nuclear war, I think watching it might cure at least some of our contemporary LARPing radicals of their "man, I can't wait for society to collapse so my preferred ideology can rise from the ashes" tendency. The whole genre of post-apocalyptic literature has a bad habit of portraying it as sexy and exciting, and I do wonder if that's at least partially responsible for how cavalier people can be about the prospect. Threads is one of a very small number of works to convey that no, it would really, really suck actually; your modernist ennui doesn't even come close to comparing.

[sprintingowl]

Tales Of Crystals

Hey in the early 90s Hasbro put out a tabletop roleplaying larp for tween girls called Tales Of The Crystals, and there's a lot going on here, so I want to talk about it.

First, I want to give credit to @riseupcomus on twitter for doing a thread on it first. Riseup's thread is linked at the bottom, right after hasbro's pdf of Tales Of Crystals.

Now, what is Tales Of Crystals? Well, it's a journaling game. And it's an indie TTRPG. And it's a larp kit. And it's an audio game. And it's a cryptography kit.

It comes with its own map, rulebook, a cassette tape with multiple scenarios, a non-dice-based resolution system, four player roles, and a ruleset that's split up so that each of the four players is in charge of a different part.

If feels like a high concept, big swing indie title from 2024, but it's got thirty years worth of jump on the modern scene.

The basic premise is that the players are crystal bearers in the court of a fantasy kingdom, and there's an evil nation in the goblin swamp next door, and they have to guard the nation against treachery and ensorcellment and whatnot. It's not super duper fresh, but with how many things the game is juggling it's extremely reasonable that the plot's a little plain.

Each player's crystal comes with a power, and the powers are asymmetrical. The Leader gets the Crystal Of Shimmering Ice, which lets you oneshot enemies (nonlethally, by freezing them for a minute.) The Protector gets the Crystal Of True Sight, and can see through all lies and enchantments and mind control enemies for a minute (tbh this one is just better). There's a healing crystal and an invisibility crystal as well---and interestingly the invisibility crystal is given to the role responsible for journaling everybody's adventures. The game recognizes that at least one player of a fantasy larp for tween girls in the 90s is probably going to be a wallflower writer, and deliberately enshrines that role.

Tales Of Crystals has a solid core loop, with a deck of cards for prompts and a cassette tape for scenarios and a little circle with YES and NO marked on it that you can scatter your gems onto to get oracle answers to questions during play. It also has a LOT of gimmicks.

There's a tube of powder you can sprinkle on things to disenchant them. There's a mirror you need to read script that's been written backwards. There's three cryptographic cyphers at the back of the book. There's a box specifically for confining the evil Spider Crystal (after you've sprinkled it with powder to neutralize it.) This is a game of dozens of components, and it's a miracle the design is so tight that they all loop together so well.

Now, I don't have sales data (riseup might,) but I suspect maybe this thing didn't sell amazingly. It requires you to set up six or so distinct locations around your yard, pretty much needs a group of exactly four friends to play it, requires you to give clue elements to your parents---you'd have to be cool with it, your friends would have to be cool with it, your parents would have to be cool with it, and you'd have to have a big suburban yard in order to get a proper intended game experience. That said, its larp design is really stable, its gameplay is carefully thought out, and it includes a section at the start to encourage you to play safely and a section at the end to talk about your game together, journal your experiences, and to clean up the game components as a group when you're done.

This is good tech! And it even specifically recommends having a snack and relaxing afterward.

Tales Of Crystals doesn't use terms like bleed and session zero, but it's a good ways ahead of the curve on larp and ttrpg safety.

I didn't find the designer's name (they're listed as uncredit on BoardGameGeek, not mentioned in the PDF, and missing from the wiki page,) but they knocked this one out of the park. There's stuff in here that modern indie ttrpg designers could learn from---myself very much included.

So if you like ttrpgs, 90s magic, and stuff like Tamora Pierce and Sailor Moon, give riseup's original thread a look, and definitely check out the PDF link.

I'm thrilled this thing exists, and I hope more designers get to look at it.

[limpfisted]

Wyll has this extreme sense of romance, yes

But I think its also very important to him he has a sense of "play" with u. Like he is performing for u, but he also wants to meow at you in public, he wants to say all hail makoomplah, ur first time is rolling around in the grass

I think he needs someone he can be self-indulgent with, who supports both the pretension and larping and thr fact that he's a whimsical silly guy who loves clowns

He LOVES that you kissed away every scar, but he also loves that u save the world together and ur fierce in battle

This is all to say I think in addition to larping bard affection, I also think the other half of wylls sexuality/romance is being able to say strange and silly things with u back and forth that make no sense (if wyll goes "its like I always sometimes always say" then the correct response is the discord message where u change a single letter of a word bc ur bored but u still want to talk to someone. So go "but what would your father always sometimes always most certainly say?")

And I also think he gets cuteness aggression towards his s.o's and is sometimes just like. I must bite you. Gently. With my mouth.

But he can't say that....... u have to let him know his weirdness is charming and u love being with him

Like if u said ALL hail the blade with him!!!! He would get. The biggest cutest smile

If you started saying bad dribbles-esque puns with him. He would probably start giggling and pretend he wasnt

Hes a silly goofy guy!!!!