#The Master of Tutorial Tower

[theauthorandtheartist]

I had a dream the other night that i can't stop thinking about, where a new LOZ game was released in a similar vein to TOTK, except instead of collecting sages like in that game, there was a series of dungeons/temples that were directly tied to other LOZ games, and at the end, you gained the ability to summon the avatar/ghost of the hero from said game -like the TOTK sages- to help on your quest (and get a fun power up). All of the links would have stilted dialogue with you at first, but as the game goes on they get more friendly and at the end of the game theres a cutscene where they all "move on" and it's super emotional cuz by this point they're all brothers (player-link actually emotes during this cutscene, the only time he does so, for an extra punch in the gut). I don't remember all of the details, but what I do remember was:

A Palace of the Four Sword dungeon where you gained the Link(s) from FSA. FSA Link was the simplest in terms of abilities, the avatar would split into 4 and distract enemies/fight alongside you. Pretty sure this was the first one/tutorial temple. Later on this link gives you a sidequest after which you gain the Four Sword as a weapon (its the second strongest in the game behind the master sword).

A Tower of Winds dungeon where you got Minish Cap Link to tag along. He allows you to shrink for short periods of time to get through locked doors/escape danger. Don't remember much about this dungeon except that there's a timer to get through it before yiu have to start over.

Forest temple/great deku tree/kokiri forest type place where Oot/MM link joins up with you. He allows you to rewind time for a little bit (basically the recall ability but on everything including you). Later on He gives a sidequest that results in obtaining the Fierce Deity Mask (best armor in the game).

Arbiter grounds dungeon where you get TP link. He's basically a glorified horse; you ride him around.

Tower of the Gods dungeon where you get WW/PH Link to tag along. He's like Revali's Gale and Tulin's gust in one.

The dungeon to get the Master Sword is like the Skyview Temple, and to be allowed to draw it you must beat SS Link as the final boss of the temple, After which he joins you on your quest. He allows you to do skyward strikes with any one handed weapon.

A secret, optional dungeon that you only unlock by falling asleep on this random island. It's kohohlit. The only avatars/ghosts that you can access here are OoT/MM Link and WW/PH Link (because PH was a dream and MM was an alternate reality). By the end, You get Alttp/albw/LA link who can put enemies to sleep for a time. Later he gives you a sidequest to get ravio's bracelet, which opens up a few easter eggs and secret loot.

Other links/games were included as easter eggs but they don't stick around. BOTW/TOTK Link is a recurring ghostly NPC who you can find in all the weirdest places, offering seemingly nonsensical trades that change every time you see him (10 frogs for 13 bombs, a ruby for an apple pie, 35 monster parts for a single ancient arrow, etc). There's a few places around hyrule where you see two-bit LOZ1/LOZ2 Link just vibing. ST Link takes the place of Purah or Robbie as the eccentric scientist/engineer who will upgrade your stuff if you bring him materials, and he can also upgrade your ghost-Link-friend's abilities as well since he's -y'know- Hero of Spirits.

There's murals in the castle from Cadence of Hyrule, and there's "ancient history books" about HW and AoC. Throughout Hyrule you'll meet various NPCs claiming to be from different countries here to see "the birthplace of the hero of Holodrum/Labrynnia/Calatia."

Various Zelda's would show up too. You get a sidequest where you have to sneak aboard a ghost pirate ship. It's Tetra's. There's a mysterious sheikah warrior who repeatedly accosts you on your travels to loredump and test if you're ready to fight the big bad. She only ever brings you down to half heart, at which point she makes a disappponted comment and leaves. you aren't able to beat her until near endgame, at which point she reveals herself as sheik, has a brief conversation with Oot/MM Link, gives you some cryptic foreshadowing advice and a few fairies, and dips. BOTW/TOTK zelda is similar to her link since she can be found all over the place, but she deals exclusively in ancient materials and dragon parts. TP Zelda gives lore/exposition when you finally make it to the castle, right before the big bad fight.

Big bad is an amalgamation of all ganons/ganondorfs/big bads across the timelines. He telegraphs attacks via shifting forms to look like various bad guys (forms tentacles like bellum and Majora (at the same time) before slam attack, gets blue pig face before charge attack, long purple vaati hair and bat wings before AOE gust attack, scales up his arm and X on face before big AOE lightning blast, and big fuck-all sword and gerudo features before slashing. 2nd phase has it split into like 5 separate beings to fight you and all your friends at once (each one has different features: one is similar to bellum/majora, one is more beast-ganon, one more demise, one Vaati-esque one, and one Ganondorf-like one). The music is harsh and disjointed, cobbled together from many other games, and the noises that the beast makes are screeching and painful.

By the end of the game, there's a big deal made by SS link that you are the final Link in the cycle, that it's over, that you finished what he couldn't. There's a sense of hope, but also of sorrow, since all your new friends are leaving now. They're ghosts, they're dead, they've done their duty and it's time for them to rest. Before they go, though, each one gives you one last gift (the ability they've been helping you with this whole time) and one last sidequest (one for each of them) for you to accomplish: find their treasures, keep them safe.

Post game is you running around without the ghosts (FSA Link's ability duplicates you now, giving you 3 buddies to fight with, but they can't give dialogue and they last like 30 seconds so it's not the samel), doing mini-dungeons and fetch-quests in order to obtain major key items (all old and unusable anymore) from the Links' adventures, (the Beetle, goddess harp, spinner, shards of the fused shadow, deku/goron/Zora masks, gnat hat, various kinstones, pictobox, deku leaf, LA instruments, Ocarina of Time, wind waker, etc) and some from games not mentioned previously or not from your gaggle of links, (Harp of ages, rod of seasons, silver arrows, a doppel, ST panpipes, a revival doll, Cadence of Hyrule Lute, HW blue Scarf, old and broken Terrako, champion's tunic, BOTW champion's picture, trirod, etc). In post-game, there are new NPCs to replace the links/zeldas that used to fill those niches, but it's not the same. They're gone. It's a bittersweet feeling.

After you finish all the post game and get all the treasures (basically 100%ing the game), you get an achievement called "archive of the ages" and a special cutscene where Player Link sets the Master sword down on the side of his bed, looks out the window of his house at the brilliantly setting sun, smiles, and falls asleep. You may no longer play on that save file anymore. The adventure is over.

Basically I dreamt up a game that was a love letter to the entire series, and I'm sad it was just a dream. Logically i know this will never happen because that would mean tying up LOZ and it's too much of a cash cow for Nintendo to ever stop making, but it was a wonderful dream to have for a little while.

[muyru-iru]

Commander Fox over comms: so recently have i found myself a method of falling asleep.

Sergeant Hound: oh you did?

Commander Thorn: which involves what? you sure you know what sleep means right?

Commander Fox: of course, I'm a master at it.

Commander Thorn: but you never sleep, Citrat is the one to drag your ass into the coma

Commander Fox: the master to avoid it. But it contains the very aspect of falling

Commander Thire: I don't like this

Video recording shows Commander Fox standing in Palpatines office, with a dead rat on the table. Turning to the camera, looking utterly exhausted but showing a tutorial of 101 how to fall asleep:

Commander Fox: first kill your nightmare

Commander Fox: then check if the coast is clear...hehehe...no coast here

Commander Fox: falling asleep is this...

Commander Fox running and crashing through the glass and falling down the tower: and if you reach the ground or whatever roof, you will feel the 100% truths of my words of sleep.

Commander Thire: WHAT THE ??!!! FOOOX!!!

Sergeant Hound on the ground: OH GOD HE DID IT.

Commander THorn: he did not....he...motherfucker...that genius.

Commander Fox on the ground still alive groans: somehow this is still not foolproof... let me try it another time

Seventeen stepping on his back: we have a word to talk.

Commander Fox: oh fuck

Commander Thorn: now it's foolproof. He dead.

[i-love-zelda-16]

just beat spirit tracks. and oh my goddess, i love this game.

listen to this song while you read this.

my honest thoughts. will be writing Spirit meets the chain. it is obligatory.

holy hylia this game is absolutely incredible. i played this game at one of the most difficult periods of my real life and it brought so much joy to me. who knew that a “silly” little zelda train simulator game could’ve made me so happy.

each area of the world was developed and none of it felt empty whatsoever. i literally never used fast travel/portals because 1. the overworld theme is such a bop, 2. i just love traversing the overworld because it is fun. there are always places to stop, bunnies to catch, and things to do along the way!!

speaking of the overworld theme, the music is my favorite music in the entire series, maybeee tied with skyward sword. nintendo, i am begging you, give my train simulator a full remake with an orchestral soundtrack, this game is incredible and it deserves it.

okay spoilers ahead!! read at your own risk!!

some part of me broke and will forever stay broken when Zelda mentioned Tetra. that’s really when the tears started (although they started much earlier too) and never stopped.

the character development of all the characters is absolutely incredible. Link isn’t just a silent Hero, he’s an engineer and full of funny actions and facial expressions. as much as i like botw Link, these kinds of Links will always have the #1 spot in my heart. Zelda is silly and fun and by no means useless or a damsel in distress whatsoever. in the final battle, she is the one stunning Malladus (with Link’s help). Link would be 100% dead without her. NOT TO MENTION BYRNE, HOLY HYLIA. what the character development; this man is incredible. so is his theme. he literally saved Zelda’s life. he may have saved Hyrule. Anjean, my beloved. Linebeck III, my sweet little bratty guy.

and can we talk about zelink?? they are the cutest. i like them 1000x better in this game than any other i’ve played (i’ve played about 16 games). absolutely adorable relationship, nintendo really got to flesh them out since Zelda is literally link’s companion for the entire game.

the mechanics are also incredible. train maneuvering is easy, but not too easy that i can just sit back and relax while i listen to the bop of an overworld theme, i still have to pay attention. blowing the whistle is so fun. train design and even lore is so peak. during that first segment where you have to sneak Zelda out of the castle, i didn’t even realize until after that it was a tutorial for the Tower of Spirits. think about it. patrolling guards (phantoms), winding corridors, distracting guards, drawing a path for Zelda to follow on the floor, the guards can see Link but not Zelda (reversed in Tower of Spirits, they can see phantom Zelda, but not Link). what an incredible tutorial, didn’t even realize it was one in the first place.

Tower of Spirits was probably the only part of the entire game that i have to criticize, amazing idea, and it was executed fine, but it could’ve been so much better. first of all, each segment was like a dungeon within itself, and i think they could’ve made each one a lot smaller. i was in Tower of Spirits 4 for like 4 hours 😭. probably something similar with Tower of Spirits 6, although i played that over the course of multiple days so it wasn’t as bad. the staircase leading up to each level was absolutely genius, made so much sense lore-wise and it was also just fire as hell.

the connections to Wind Waker absolutely broke me in the best way. Zelda mentioning Tetra as i said before, the stained glass window of Tetra in the castle, Hyrule encyclopedia states that the guards in the castle wear green after Link from Wind Waker, the ancient gold coins having the Triforce on them; the Triforce and Master Sword are irrelevant in this story because they were lost at sea at the end of Wind Waker. this game is not in Hyrule but New Hyrule, a landmass which Wind and Tetra found after the events of Wind Waker and more specifically Phantom Hourglass (which i haven’t played, let me know in the comments if i should!!). so because of these differences, you would think it would be very disconnected from the rest of the timeline. yet somehow, it feels so unbelievably connected in such wonderful ways that make my Zelda lore brain go absolutely insane. i want to scream of joy when i think of what the devs gave us with this game. these connections are exactly what i wanted and what i try to make with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, but the devs just refuse to give them to us and it’s annoying as hell. the royal crest of their kingdom does not have the Triforce, but has the symbol of the Spirits of Good because that makes so much sense. everything makes sense in this game and i love it.

the boss fights are fire, especially the final ones. the final sacred duet is so epic and beautiful, seeing everything you’ve worked for, all the Lokomos, it’s unbelievable.

and finally, the post-credit scene. this scene will change based upon what answer you choose to Zelda’s question before you head off for the final fights. she’ll ask, “what do you want to be when all this is over?” or something like that. Link has 3 options: engineer, warrior, or “dunno”. each one of these options will change the final cutscene that plays after the credits. personally, i chose “dunno” because, 1. realistically, how is Link supposed to know what he wants to be yet? he is just a kid, and although he has studied to become an engineer, he has learned of his (debatable? sure, Wind made his own destiny… hmmm…) destiny intertwined with Zelda’s, so he’s a warrior too. which leads me to my second point, 2. he’s an engineer and a warrior. (ARGHH I KEEP TYPING WARRIORS, IT’S ENGRAINED IN MY MUSCLES XD). he doesn’t have to decide, he can be both. but… that’s not an option soooo “dunno” it is.

this game is beautiful beyond words. i’m debating to say whether this game is my favorite or not, but for now, let’s just say it’s tied with Skyward Sword for my favorite. i cannot understand why someone couldn’t see the joy and hilariousness of this game, not mention the absolutely way-too-epic-than-they-have-to-be-but-the-devs-gave-us-this-amazingness-so-i’m-not-gonna-refute cutscenes. like, seriously, the camera angles, facial expressions, everything, it seems like something out of a movie rather than a DS kids train simulator game. this game is one a kind, so freaking special to me, and i will never forget it ever.

may you rest in peace Anjean, Byrne, and the rest of the Lokomos. can’t say the same about you Cole and Malladus.

Spirit will be meeting the Chain soon. stay tuned folks <3

[gingerdusk]

Assorted Post-TotK Spirit Tracks AU thoughts:

The main technology you use is the Robbie Rucksack—mirroring the Purah Pad, Purah did most of the designing, but Robbie got to name it. Turnabout is fair play.

It gets upgraded as you go with more and more features, like a grappling hook, paraglider wings, a dowsing rod, etc.

Its most important feature, though, is the ability to switch tracks (hence locking Link into a specific rail until Zelda joins his side).

Link is piloting the first ever engine in the modern day, the Sheikah Engine. The tutorial segment is him driving it to Lookout Landing Station, so Zelda can name him Hyrule’s first official engineer.

The cannon you get later is actually a guardian laser.

The Railway Tower is the central hub for the rails that spread across Hyrule initially. Purah runs it.

Beneath it, in the Depths, Josha (now 16, eagerly talks about taking a trip to Mt. Lanayru on her birthday) has excavated what looks to be some kind of seal. Onlooker in the ZST crowd seems unusually interested and lavishes Link with an absurd amount of praise.

Shortly after the ceremony, Josha rushes in and says there’s an emergency. Right then, something BURSTS out of the ground beneath the tower, shattering it to smithereens—Purah barely escapes. The stone tower dwarfs the other rail towers around Hyrule in size, reaching from the Depths all the way up to the Sky. Link has to use it to switch his train between map layers.

Calling it the Spirit Spire. It’s full of Phantoms and poes.

Zelda gets her body stolen (expected)

Link gets the Master Sword stolen (NOT expected; snuck up on by Byrne a la Ganondorf vs Sonia). After all, a king revived deserves a fitting weapon.

At the bottom of the Spirit Spire, in the Depths, Link gets the Phantom Flute. Various functions of the tower are enabled by flute song.

Zelda’s spirit can be seen by the Sages, Impa, and Link—nobody else. But she accompanies you and comments on a LOT

Phantom Zel is scared of Keese (same way ST Phantom Zel is scared of rats, reference TotK first battle)

Phantom Zel can go anywhere in the Depths, but she loses her armor in the light.

Spirit form Zel can also take control of certain mechanisms, unlock things for you, phase through walls, etc.

Bringing Zelda to a bargainer statue has the statue reject her soul. It would disrupt the balance of the afterlife to take a soul while the body still breathes.

Tracks in the sky due to Spirit Spire

Remlit sanctuary > Rabbit sanctuary

References to other Zelda games like DLC outfits/items are accessed by playing those games’ songs. Stone walls have the song notes, you’re not taught them outright.

Opening scene is Link in his Tarrey Town house, getting woken up by Zelda who’s excited to see him drive.

Working title: Rails of the Realm

[constarlations]

I wanted to ramble a bit about Ethan and Dawn as well as their whereabouts in the future but I get too scared to do it on Twitter due to the size of my account (It’s why I made my side sketch account but that account as well gets too traction for my liking so I decided to ramble my heart out here in a private space where my two friends can’t judge me for my trash) 

A bit of a warning: I’m very much a fanatic when it comes to the intricacies of Pokemon game lore as well as a stickler for the Pokemon timeline BUT I also like to interpret the games in my own way to interpret stuff with my own logic

((for example I see Hilbert and Hilda as 15 in BW rather than 14 (how they are referenced to be in Bulbapedia) or 16 (how they were originally designed to be) solely due to my own experiences of growing up latina and how turning 15 is a huge part of our culture plus the Unovan protags are all Latinos to me))  

I consider my own protag interpretation to be just that, an interpretation. A personal take on the canon like how the Pokemon anime and Pokemon manga are their own takes of the games. It might be wrong to something that happens in canon but that’s ok I’m just a dumbass who’s likes wasting time from studying to ramble about things.

Anyways with that out the way:

In my fictional canon Ethan and Dawn are both the main player character of their respective games. 

In the case of Ethan, however, I decided to give him some traits similar from his NPC appearance in HGSS such as having the Pokémon daycare grandparents.

My Ethan and my Lyra interpretation are actually a mix of their main character and npc counterparts  

Ethan’s mom is specifically the GSC mom as his mom while Lyra’s mom is the HGSS mom

Ethan has a Pichu and Lyra has a Marill. 

Ethan takes on the Lake Of Rage while Lyra does the rocket tower takeover quest. 

I basically divided it so both have main character AND NPC roles in the story but the true npc (catching tutorial npc) would be Kris who went on her journey 2 years prior (yes Kris exists in this story too as Lyra’s older sister and as Elm’s assistant) 

For Dawn however I solely see her as the protagonist of DPPt (sometimes I see her as the protagonist of PLA as well btw but decided early on to hand that role off to Lucas (his NPC version) because collecting Pokémon fit well with his theme of becoming a professor and researching Pokémon in the future) 

I usually draw all the protags loosely as teenagers but in the context of this specific story pre-timeskip hbhk are 15〜17 in my eyes.

15 is the age they meet in my interpretation in the PWT (around the time that the events of XY and BW2 are happening). It is also 4 years after their base adventure in DPPt occurred and when PLA takes place.

17 is the age where Ethan and Dawn start officially dating, is also the era when SM-USUM is happening.

The way I have them specifically meet is through the PWT in BW2 (under the champion bracket) when they are 15 and become rivals through that experience and later confess around age 17 so that’s the specific time period I usually draw them in (BW2-SM era).

The best way I could describe my version of HibiHika in terms of their dynamic is that I see them differently from their Pokémon masters counterparts so please allow me to explain.

The way I see Dawn in my interpretation is as a very refined, polite and mature young woman who’s very strict and hardworking. Despite her refined/strict aura, she can be sometimes brash or melodramatic at times but mostly keeps a level head. She often times comes out of her shell when a matter about something she’s passionate about comes up. She’s sorta a tsundere? But I’m unsure if that’s the most accurate term for it. Regardless she sometimes has difficulty getting along with others due to her intimidating nature but deep down she’s a sweetheart who wants to make friends. She’s extremely close with Barry cause he’s one of the only kids in her preschool class who kept dragging her places and reaching out to her as well as Lucas, her cousin.

When making my version of her when I was a teenager I sorta drew inspiration from characters like Dia Kurosawa from Love Live Sunshine as well as her Pokespe counterpart, Platina. I also drew some inspo from early Komi San as well (the aspect that everyone is intimidated by her at first glance).

In the hibihika story after the PWT arc, Lyra becomes one of Dawn’s first female friends outside of the gym leaders and Caitlin (who moved to Unova) and Lyra drags her out of her shell to places and the whole exchange is sweet.

The way she interacts with Ethan was first due to a small admiration due to seeing him on TV in the Lake of Rage report as the boy who calmed down Gyarados before her journey starts in Pt, then next it was due to hatred of meeting her idol meaning he was not what she thought he seemed (I’ll get to that in a second) but then afterwards they became proper rivals in the PWT and then kept in contact, eventually dating some time after.

(I actually have a AU of my stupid hc where they are pen pals as well during the whole PWT exchange so it’s like they know each other but don’t it’s really silly lol I’ll talk about it later or edit this later lol but in that au teen Ethan isn’t as toxic as I’ll describe now so ye)

For the Ethan side of things, Ethan is very laid back and amiable. He gets along easily with other people and is loyal to the people on his side. He is very selfless often putting others even his region before himself and has a slightly narcissistic side to him that feeds into the praise he gets lmfao. He’s flirty sometimes and very quick witted but overall. He loves Pokémon battling for the fun of it rather than chasing any fame or fortune.

but he wasn’t always this way (extremely bad fanfic territory incoming you can skip this if you want)

Ethan, upon defeating Red, begins to develop a massive ego as a teenager and gets mixed up with the wrong crowd who only likes him for his title and being the people pleaser he is he fed into that negativity and overall ruined his self esteem in the process cause he tied his self worth into his champion ranking rather than having fun in battles like he used to. He was lost in that spiral for the longest time that it made his closest friends like Lyra and Silver separate from him.

This is where the PWT would take place 4 years after their original adventure where Ethan, in the height of his toxicity, doesn’t put effort in training anymore cause he “always wins” and Dawn, disgusted with what her idol became sorta swept the floor and coldly admitted how unfun that battle was.

It’s sorta with this PWT battle, hundreds of miles away from home, that Ethan wakes up and goes what the hell am I doing with myself after seeing a news interview he did prebattle like after the battle. He calls his mom for the first time in ages and Silver and Lyra as well and goes back home and sorta detaches himself from the fame and fortune of being a champion and goes back to the basics. Keep in mind he does this change in his own will not for Dawn and doesn’t expect her to meet her again until a few months later they do meet again whoops but Ethan sorta apologizes for the way he acted and asks for another battle and Dawn accepts and even tho in this battle he lost again they both admit it was a lot funner than the last one and after a few more encounters sorta keep in touch bringing in a sorta friendly rivalry between the two. Despite Ethan completely changing his whole outlook there are some things that don’t change (Himmelism) but he is overall a sweetheart he just lost his way during his teenage years and needed someone to smack it into him before the damage was too done.

Once again this dumb ass fanfic isn’t necessary for hbhk stuff since I draw them as a couple anyways after Ethan’s asshole phase but I like exploring flirty characters with more to them in media so I accidentally made Ethan that lol.

Anyways would you believe me if I told you I based off his personality off of Sylvain. Lmfao. I love Sylvain he’s such a complex character sorry not sorry BUT mostly based him off of Himmel in terms of personality and how I draw him. I also based his asshole teenage phase from Gold Pokespe cause I thought that was the coolest shit as a kid but it has sorta changed over the years and I wanna separate Ethan from Gold Pokespe and Gold Pokespe fans as much as possible, especially after really liking his NPC self when playing HGSS myself as a teenager and feel not a lot of people sorta portray that and I wanna portray that.

So my Ethan is essentially both a mix of his npc self and some elements from Gold like his flirty outgoing loud personality so like my art style he’s sometimes inconsistent as hell but that’s ok that’s the hell I signed up for when I made up personalities but don’t write them down cause I’m too scared for being judged that my characters are inconsistent as hell 💔

maybe like when I wake up later I cringe reading myself this lol

I have more to write in regards to their dynamic with one another but I’m sleepy as hell

ANYWAYS TIMESKIP LITTLE RAMBLE AAAAA:

The Timeskip series, however, occurs 5+ years after the events of Alola so I have them as 22 (though I keep aging them up every year as I get older due to self indulgence so I draw them as 25 (cause in my head they were born in 1999) but they are specifically 22 for the sake of my story in Sinnoh 11 years later). 

In the timeskip series, Dawn is the champion of Sinnoh and a famous Pokémon Coordinator. She follows in Cynthia’s footsteps to become a champion that makes her region proud but due to her strict demeanor she comes off as scary to those not familiar with her.

Ethan is the Champion of Johto as well as the promotional face of the Pokeathlon! Lyra and Silver help out in the indigo league as well but I’m uncertain if to make Silver an elite four member or make him champion. Lyra is definitely the champion tho along side Ethan but handles more of the Kanto side of the region while Ethan handles Johto.  i have more to write so I’ll edit this later with all the lore but I’m worried there’s a tumblr word limit lol so ye

[fereldanwench]

Hi! I'm not sure if you've answered this question or not or if I missed it in your pinned post. I've been dying to mod Cyberpunk for forever, and have finally decided to give it a try. I am very intimidated by the whole ordeal because I know cyberpunk has so many spec requirements (I play on console) and was wondering if you had recommendations? I'm looking to buy a PC to start my modding and visual photography journey but don't know where to start. I've scoured reddit for recommendations but keep getting mixed signals.

I've watched you slowly create your digital portfolio for Valerie over the last couple years and have just been in utter awe of your work. I've looked up to you for a while and want to follow in your footsteps.

Thank you for your time! ☺️💖

Hey there! Thank you so much for the sweet words!

You didn't miss anything, so no worries! I don't think I've ever shared my PC specs in one place. Currently I have:

Motherboard: MSI MAG Z790 Tomahawk MAX

Processor: i7-14700K (with a Cooler Master liquid cooler, I forget the exact model)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 64GB

GPU: Geforce RTX 3070 Ti

SSD: Samsung 860 EVO 2TB

NZXT H710i ATX tower case (I think this exact model is discontinued, but I'm a fan of NZXT cases in general--They're very roomy, have good airflow, and have good cable management features)

I've built and maintained my own PCs for about a decade now, and I remember when I first made the switch from console to PC, a lot of the conventional advice I got from more seasoned PC gamers was "Build your own rig, it's cheaper, and it's not that hard." I wasn't fully convinced, though, and I did just get a pre-built gaming PC from some random company on Amazon. If you have the money and you're really intimidated at the idea of building your own, there's nothing wrong with going this route.

Once I had my pre-built, I started with upgrading individual components one at a time. Installing a new GPU, for instance, is pretty easy and fool-proof. Installing a new CPU is a little trickier, especially with all the conflicting advice on how much thermal paste to use (I've always done the grain of rice/pea-sized method and my temperatures on multiple CPUs have always been fine). Installing a new power supply unit can be overwhelming when it comes to making sure you've plugged everything in correctly. Installing a new motherboard is not too far off from building a whole new thing.

And building/maintaining a PC is pretty easy once you get past the initial intimidation. There are so many video tutorials on YouTube to explain the basics--I think I referred to Linus Tech Tip videos back in the day (which might be cringe to suggest now, idk), but you search "how to build a gaming PC" and you'll get a ton of good results back. Also, PCPartPicker is a very helpful website in crosschecking all your desired components to make sure they'll play nicely with each other.

The other big piece of advice I'd offer on building a PC is not to drive yourself crazy reading too many reviews on components. Don't go in totally blind--Still look at Reddit, Amazon reviews, NewEgg, etc. to get an idea of the product and potential issues, but be discerning. Like if you check Amazon reviews and see a common issue mentioned in multiple reviews, take note of that, but if you see one or two complaints about something random, it's probably a fluke. Either a one-off manufacturing error or (more likely, honestly) user error.

You'll probably also see a lot of debates about Intel/NVIDIA vs AMD when it comes to processors and graphics cards--I started with Intel and NVIDIA so I've really just stuck with them out of familiarity, but I think the conventional wisdom these days is that AMD processors will give you more bang for your buck when it comes to gaming.

If you do go the NVIDIA route, I've personally always found it worth the extra money to go with a Ti model of their cards--I feel like it gives me at least another year or two without starting to really feel the GPU bottleneck. I was able to play Mass Effect Andromeda on mostly high settings with my 780 Ti in 2017, and I actually started playing Cyberpunk on my 1080 Ti in 2021--I think most of my settings were on high without any notable performance issues.

Now you probably couldn't get away with that post-Phantom Liberty/update 2.0 since the game did get a lot more demanding with those updates. However, my biggest piece of advice to anyone who wants to get into PC gaming with a heavy emphasis on virtual photography is that you do not need the absolute top-of-the-line hardware to take good shots. For Cyberpunk, I think shooting for a build that lands somewhere along the lines of the minimum-to-recommended ray-tracing requirements will do you just fine.

I don't remember all my current game settings off the top of my head, but I can tell you that I have never bothered with path-tracing, my ray-tracing settings range from medium to high, and I don't natively run the game at 4K. I do hotsample to 4K when I do VP, and I do notice a difference between a 1080 and a 4K shot, but I personally don't feel like being able to constantly run it at 4K is necessary for me right now since I still only have a 1080p monitor. If I'm going to be shooting in Dogtown, which is very demanding, I'll also cap my FPS to 30 for a little extra stability.

(Also, and hopefully this doesn't muddy the waters too much, but I feel like it's worth pointing out that you could have the absolute best of the best hardware and still run into crashes and glitches for random shit that might require advanced troubleshooting--My husband had a better build than I did when he started playing CP77, but he kept running into crashes because of some weird audio driver issue that had to do with his sound system. I just recently upgraded my CPU, RAM, and motherboard, and I was going nuts over the winter because my game somehow became less stable. It turned out the main culprit was Windows 11 has shitty Bluetooth settings.)

But in my opinion, I think getting good shots is less about hardware and more about 1) learning to use the tools available to you (e.g. in-game lighting tools, Reshade, and post-editing in programs like Lightroom or even free apps like Snapsneed) and 2) learning the basics of real-life photography (or visual art in general), particularly when it comes to lighting, color, and composition.

I don't rely on Reshade too much because I try to minimize the amount of menus I have to futz with in-game, but I do think DOF and/or long exposure shaders are excellent for getting cleaner shots. I also like ambient fog shaders to help create more cohesive color in a shot. However, I put most of my focus on lighting and post-editing. I did talk a little bit about my methods for both in this post--It is from 2023 and my style has evolved some since then (like I mention desaturating greens in Lightroom, but I've actually been loving bold green lately and I've been cranking that shit up), but I think it still has some useful advice for anyone starting out.

For a more recent comparison of how much my Lightroom and Photoshop work affects the final product, here is a recent shot I took of Goro.

The left image is the raw shot out of the game--It has some Reshade effects (most notably the IGCS DOF), and I manually set the lighting for this scene. To do this, I set the time in-game to give me a golden hour affect (usually early morning or early evening depending on your location) so the base was very warm and orange, then I dropped the exposure and essentially "rebuilt" the lighting with AMM and CharLi lights to make Goro pop and add some more color, notably green and blue, into the scene.

And the right image is that same shot but after I did some color correcting/enhancement, sharpening, etc. in Lightroom and clip-editing and texture work in Photoshop.

Okay, this was long as hell so I'm gonna end it here, haha. If you have any more questions about anything specific here, feel free to ask! I know it can be really overwhelming and I threw a lot at ya. <333

[bone-paste]

I'm literally an apprentice wizard (freshman college student) studying ancient tomes (youtube trig tutorials) in my master's magic tower (dorm room) rn you guys wouldn't even get it

[onesentencemusings]

Disney Mirrorverse Sequel Concept/Story

Opening/Tutorial:

Jafar, in search of the Fractured Mirror, finds himself in a new 'Inbetween-verse' : a small "shallow" alternative universe which Jafar likens to a dimensional dumping ground rather than a whole functioning world. This verse features an endless sea of sand where dunes rise and fall like waves in slow motion and land masses like cliffs and plateaus float about freely like driftwood.

As Jafar crosses the Sand Sea, he is delighted to find Fractured minions, proving he is on the right path. He beats common low-level Fractured easily (introducing the fighting mechanics) and even manages to defeat an Elite minion, although he starts reconsidering journeying alone as he's beginning to tire.

At the top of the floating plateau he fought his way up, Jafar finds a new character Fractured, one carrying a staff quite similar to his own but otherwise not resembling him. More interestingly this Fractures' cracks seem 'patched up' with gold energy. Someone, most likely the person this Fractured is a reflection of, enhanced this creature personally.

Despite his own exceptional power, Jafar can't beat the creation. Enemy reinforcements gather and the new Fractured commands the minions to seize Jafar to be brought to their master. Realizing the Fractured's master must have the Mirror, Jafar pretends to be knocked out and lets himself be carried off by the Fractured's flying ship.

Post-Tutorial/Unlocking Modes:

Back at the Stellar Mirror, Aladdin and Jasmine alert Mickey that no one's been able to find Jafar all day and "knowing him, that can only mean he's up to something". Mickey is reluctant to assume the worst, "Everyone deserves time to themselves" but admits he believes he's started sensing fractured energy from a newly opened portal in the Mirrorforge Crater.

Aladdin volunteers to investigate and Mickey promises to send more Guardians to help when they report for duty. As Aladdin follows the small, wandering Fractured forces seemingly lost in the mostly empty desert world, he is joined by Sulley and Maleficent (as team slots are unlocked).

The team finds a watch tower on a massive stone pillar that's teeming with Fractured (unlocking the Tower challenges). On the way up, they find a supply room, which Maleficent points out is odd because Fractured don't need food or water. Aladdin realizes the supplies mean the Fractured are working for real people or, Maleficent counters, people are working for the Fractured. Sulley states no one would be dumb enough to try to be on the side of something so obviously evil, and Maleficent says he'd be surprised how low people go just to stay on the winning side.

The team eventually gets to the top to find a farm of sorts, more evidence some group is working closely with the Fractured, as well as a dock with a flying ship. They fight their way onboard and find a magic map in the captain's quarters that displays nearby drifting islands in real time, some of which are labeled. Aladdin believes there could be Fractured strongholds all over this verse and Maleficent believes the strongholds should be the guardian's priority in order to weaken enemy supply chains. (This opens up the supply for the gold/motes for grinding)

The enemy ship with Jafar docks in a massive canyon flourishing with plants, food and water in an otherwise almost completely barren universe. While still pretending to be knocked out, Jafar spies on the locals: other powerful people from various alternative worlds that got lost on the way to protect the Stellar Mirror and wound up in the Sand Sea instead; the Lost Heroes. (Gameplay showing this is angled by the new character's training to fight against allied Fractured commanded to hold back)

Main Game:

Jafar is dragged to a cave in the highest ridge of the canyon and finds an alternate of Iago and Yzma loudly arguing over what to do: Iago demanding that the locals be taxed so he can get money (to "Start/stimulate the economy") and Yzma saying the people need to respect authority and thus the canyon walls should be carved to look like her face.

There, in the back of the room is the Fractured Mirror, held in place by some great stand/machinery that seems to be dispersing or stabilizing it's dark energy. The commanding Fractured uses the machine to create a portal, through which comes the Original that the commanding Fractured reflects.

Yzma and Iago quickly stop fighting and pretend they were having a calm discussion about supply chains. The Original tells Jafar to stop pretending he's unconscious and when she gets no response, she takes Jafar's magic snake talismans which makes Jafar react angrily.

The Original introduces herself as the leader of Crossroad Canyon, the only true safe haven of the Sand Sea. When Jafar questions the woman's familiarity with him, she answers that she has endured "his sweetest nothings and cruelest venoms, his gentlest touches and his harshest blows" but states it was a lifetime ago and she doesn't expect some 'second-rate alternate' to care for her. The Original then commands the Fractured to lock Jafar up but not destroy his magic equipment "just to see how he compares to the Jafar I know".

More and more guardians join up on the stolen flying ship with the magic map, traveling to different landmasses that seem like small chunks of other worlds just dropped into the middle of nowhere now swarmed with Fractured (making the excuse for reusing areas for new events and chapters). Every so often they run into Lost Heroes that sees the guardians as trying to destroy their livelihood and fight them as Bosses. Some run after being beaten and some join after learning the Guardian's true intentions.

The Guardians learn from the defectors about the leader of the canyon, Nomad, that commands the Fractured Mirror and even how she's started empowering the Fractured into becoming 'Kintsugi', hardier and more intelligent versions of Fractured 'repaired' by Nomad's own magic.

Different defectors paint different pictures of Nomad. Some say she's a wonderful person that hopes to use the Kintsugi technique she's honing to eventually repair the Fractured Mirror and ease the tide of darkness it creates. Others state reservations about how dearly she clings to such a dark power and note she seems obsessed with finding new sources of magic despite being the most powerful magic user in the verse.

In the end, only the player can decide if she's good or bad.

End Game:

The Guardians reach Crossroad Canyon and find Jafar in disguise as a common civilian. He escaped his cell but didn't return to the Guardians because he refused to abandon the Fractured Mirror. Jasmine says Jafar's hunger for power is why he lost the first time and he'll lose the next time if he doesn't care about anything else. Jafar rejects the idea but asks the Guardians to get his magic items so he can join the fight again.

Going into Nomad's private areas sets off Fractured groups that eventually get the attention of Nomad herself. She isn't surprised Jafar sent others to do his dirty work but is outraged that outsiders are invading her land and calls on the Mirror for more Fractured.

More fighting. Guardians try to convince Nomad the Mirror is too dangerous but Nomad refuses to believe it. She states she'd been able to control the Mirror just fine before the Guardians showed up.

Jafar is finally re-powered and joins to fight Nomad personally to repay her for the humiliation of imprisoning him. Nomad laughs Jafar off, saying she's not surprised he's 'hiding' behind people since 'the last Jafar couldn't beat me on his own either'. This angers Jafar and he chases after Nomad, leaving the others to fight a rising tide of Fractured alone.

Eventually the fighting leads to the Mirror Chamber, where Jafar and the Guardians find Nomad draining the power of the Mirror into her staff. Nomad claims the Guardians aren't heroes for attacking her and she worked too hard for too long to give up her self-made paradise just because people that don't live there don't like how she did it.

The Guardians try to de-escalate, saying the Mirror is dangerous and evil but Nomad refuses to give it up, claiming she needs its power to feed 'him'. Jafar refuses to be ignored by Nomad anymore just because she managed to beat some lesser version of himself. The Nomad's staff surges with power and the woman declares if Jafar thinks so lowly of his predecessor, he should tell "him" himself.

Nomad slams her staff down and passes out in a wave of energy. From the snake staff's mouth comes out a massive hulking red genie, Nomad's version of Jafar. In an blind rage, Genie Jafar screams that he will devour everyone for the Stellar Magic within them.

There's multiple rounds of fighting Genie Jafar with different restrictions but eventually all the Guardians working together wear Genie Jafar down enough that he retreats back to the Mirror Chamber to try and drain more magic. One more high difficulty fight and Genie Jafar collapses. The Mirror shakes and glitches about before vanishing, taking the mechanical stand it was bolted into, and all the Fractured it made, with it.

Nomad wakes up as Genie Jafar pathetically begs the Guardians for magic energy, saying he's starving. She mocks him, saying his hungry for power is why neither of them get to have nice things before pulling the genie back into her staff.

Nomad tells the Guardians she hopes they can forgive her for what just happened because she's joining them in hunting down the mirror. Without being able to drain power from the Mirror itself anymore, fighting endless Fractured will be the only way to keep 'her pet' satisfied.

--

End

---------------

Author Note: I never cared much for the gameplay of Mirrorverse but I adored its world, characters and concepts. Famous characters in remixed or remade versions of themselves is something I've always adored. New takes and interpretations just make my mind flood with possibilities and inspiration.

In addition to this, I have a handful of ideas for characters as well that I intend to jot out and post while I truck along on other projects I got going on.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!

[deramin2]

Are you looking for an escape from The Horrors that also engages with the the root problems of society like capitalism and environmental destruction while giving you a chance to make your own better society? Do you like adorable animals in a solarpunk or cyberpunk dystopia society? Then you should try Timberborn!

It's a survival/resource management city builder set in a future where humans have wiped ourselves out in a climate catastrophe and intelligent beavers are spreading out to build new cities. Help them grow and prosper while surviving cycles of drought and toxic Bad Water.

It uses increasingly advanced water physics to let you build dams, manage irrigation, and safety divert the Bad Water. It uses a 3-dimentional block grid map and allows many building to be stacked on top of each other to manage space.

Mechanically it's one of the best city builders I've ever played. Lots of stats if you really want to dig into things (although no graphs yet), but mostly you can operate on basic numbers and vibes. It's easy to learn and hard to master, but any need to master anything really only applies to late game. (Lots of influence from Banished, but not nearly as hard to survive, especially in the beginning.) The crops/tree growing planting areas are so flexible and feel more organic.

The tutorial does a descent job of getting you going and setting up a stable colony, through I felt a tad lot at first figuring out the production chain for advanced buildings (mostly because I was overthinking it). But it also gives you all that information very clearly from the build menu if you actually read it.

Don't let it being an early access game deter you. The regular release branch is very stable, the new mechanics are being carefully expanded, and Experimental Release branch players are testing out all those new features (even those releases have relatively few bugs). It has more of the feeling of Stardew Valley where the work is never finished, but each iteration is also very solid.

Behold my Tower of Babel apartment and warehouse tower spanning two different districts. And my giant Bad Water diversion channel precariously traveling over my crop lands and full of hydroelectric waterwheels, windmills, and gravity batteries. It's not visible from here, but that dam is also partially suspended over my crops and directly threatening my main city if anything fails. I love videogame hubris.

[readingtoinfinity]

Spark the Electric Jester 3 (Project Noba24)

I guess third time's the charm. And what a charm it is!

I don't mean to talk about yakkocmn twice in 24 hours, but I feel I should mention him again here because he's the one who first told me about this game, in a video he made devoted solely to this game. I, a fool, played the first two games, having learned nothing from Baldur's Gate 3.

This game is Very Good at what it wants to be. Playing the first two games and watching this developer flex his creative muscles better with every installment was an unexpected treat, considering where he started and ending. This game almost* renders Spark the Electric Jester 2 obsolete, and for reasons I'll get into below it kinda actually does. But that's light gameplay spoilers, so it'll be in its own section. Regardless, this game pulled a trick on me, as well: it made me re-evaluate the vision of Spark 2.

I wasn't quite on-board with the combat system. I thought it was fine in the previous game and tedious in the first game, but with the tweaks put in place (and the little extra tutorials to get you on-boarded with what this game's going to be) it turned out to be an engaging system built into the platformer. In fact, while the two controls don't have a great deal of overlap, it turns out there's a lot more use for the platforming controls during combat than I would have expected: the dash and jump surprisingly kept me alive through to the (very fun!) final boss.

The story is also about what you'd expect from these games, but with some unexpected twists. In particular, the final level is a grueling marathon; most levels take 2-5 minutes to beat but this level takes about 30 minutes to get through, but the reward is a story reveal that made my jaw drop. I won't spoil exactly what happens but it's like settling in for a Punch and Judy show only to have your chair spun around and a therapist starts asking you uncomfortably-knowledgeable questions.

This game made me see the developer's vision. There's a clear understanding of both sets of mechanics that makes this game a delight to play and a challenge to master. Any Sonic fans would find themselves seeing what Sonic Adventure 2 is in our memories, and at times it feels like it's pulled from an alternate universe where Sega won the 3D game wars and this is the result. I cannot recommend this game less highly; it's a truly wonderful achievement, and deserves to be experienced.

Time played: 6.6 hours (beat the main game, not going for 100% completion)

Next game: Pizza Tower

Spoilers below.

*There is a post-game mode you can play, which I dabbled with but didn't get into, including a 100-floor arena (charmingly played in an endless fall, so the floors are negative numbers) and all the levels from Spark the Electric Jester 2, so if you like you can take this game's more-polished state and replay the original levels. At the game's price I consider it worth it.

[a-squirrel-wizard]

I love earth aligned spellcasters. Geomancers, earth druids, mole people who have mastered sorcery.

It is such a wholesome and helpful field of magic. A friendly geomancer just helped me do some landscaping around my tower and tutorial dungeon and it looks great!

[fic--writer]

Instinctive Charm

If Instinctive Charm were a spell, and Rolan had asked Tav to teach him the art. But the only way to achieve focus remains primal passion.

Chapter 1 ⬇️ Chapter 2

Light streamed in through the patterned windows of the ancient tower, flooding the room with a soft golden glow. Master of the Ramazith tower - a Tiefling with an unspeakable passion for books and scrolls, spent his daily routine in his vast library. While leafing through yet another volume, he came across a scroll that immediately caught his eye.

— Curious... — Rolan murmured, his eyes, yellow oases, sparkling with curiosity.

The scroll promised to teach the reader a spell of Instinctive Charm. But the text was illegible, and despite his many attempts, Rolan could not master the magic. All his efforts failed against the cryptic instructions.

The Archmage sighed and put the scroll aside, remembering his old friend, a wizard named Tav. She had come to his aid more than once, saving his red butt, and he in turn had helped her in an epic battle with a Netherbrain Now they both lived in Baldur's Gate and were good comrades.

Rolan decided that there was no better teacher than Tav, who knew the ins and outs of the charm school. He wrote her an invitation letter, hoping that she would take her mind off her own business and help him. A few days later, she was sitting in his tower, drinking a fruit tea he had prepared especially for her.

— Let me see —  Tav took a sip from her drink, swayed her foot in a leisurely rhythm and unrolled the scroll:

The open sheet of paper smells seductively of antiquity and ink. However, much of the text is vague and illegible, and the rest is a blatant lie, completely irrelevant to the preparation of the spell. The whole thing feels more like an insult to Mystra herself than a tutorial.

— No wonder it didn't work out for you, Rolan. The writing here is utter nonsense and heresy. - Tav whistled, putting down her empty cup.

Rolan frowned, his face distorted with disappointment. Any hope that the manuscript would prove useful had left him. The Typhling's hand clenched involuntarily, and the scroll was crumpled and discarded, as if it were not even good enough for wiping paper.

— It's all right — Tav smiled — I'll teach you. But we'll need something else besides concentration and patience.

— Of course I'm ready. Just tell what we need.

— The thing is, to use instinctive charms, you first have to focus on your primal, instinctive feelings. They need to be strong, all-consuming. When you tap into them and allow your body to respond and recreate them, then you can redirect the energy of the spell. Of course, it will take time to learn. It will be slow at first, but with practice and training you'll learn to do it faster.

Tav led the tower master outside, where the air was saturated with the scents of the city: the salty freshness of the breeze from the harbour mixed with the smell of freshly caught fish and exotic spices and herbs brought by merchants from all over the world.

She straightened her back, her face taking on a thoughtful expression, her eyes slowly closing. She concentrated and suddenly a violet glow appeared around her. It was soft, like twilight enveloping the earth.

Tav made graceful movements with her fingers and hands, as if intertwining them with the wind. She selected a target for the spell.

Her magic affects those around her, mesmerising them, bending their will and changing their beliefs.

Rolan watched, holding his breath. Tav focused her energy on the two cats hanging around the fish counter, a red tabby and a fluffy black and white. The red cat, as if obeying an invisible command, playfully bit his kin. The latter mewed unhappily and ran after the offender. Soon they were rolling around on the floor in a cat fight.

— Great, and what am I supposed to feel and remember? - asked the tiefling, impressed by the demonstration. The passers-by in the city centre were clearly perplexed.

— It is logical and follows from the name itself. - Tav smiled, and with the grace of an aristocrat, she slipped her hands into the pockets of her robe and walked past the stalls, taking Rolan with her. - Think quietly about your strongest emotions and feelings. The things that drive you on the most basic level. I know we've had a hard life, maybe for you it's fear? Fear of death, at some point in the past, or perhaps hatred. Think back, who did you hate? But most importantly! Don't dwell on negative emotions, don't live them over and over again without a purpose - it's dangerous. Remember, it's only necessary for a spell, otherwise you'll go mad. They don't have to be negative feelings, but they are easier to call. Get ready, we'll start tomorrow.

— Ready? Focus your thoughts on the instinct, gather the energy, say the words clearly and direct the flow. Use your hands like this... — Tav explained the theory, the verbal and somatic components of the spell in detail. She carefully demonstrated the necessary gestures, her fingers dancing in the air like the slender branches of a willow tree.

They rehearsed the movements several times: practising over and over again until the gestures became automatic.

Rolan practised hard, trying to master the spell. He concentrated, doing exactly as instructed, but nothing happened. Not a spark, not a breath of wind. Each time he tried to summon the instinct needed for the spell, the concentration slipped away like sand through his fingers.

After another failed attempt, the Archmage lowered his arms and sighed heavily, feeling helpless. Tav, seeing his condition, stepped closer. She analysed his movements, gently adjusting his technique - gently guiding his hands, trying not to break his concentration, but that didn't help either. After another failure, Rolan gave up trying, feeling defeated.

— It's impossible, Tav. I just can't do it. Gods damn it all. I can do nothing right - not a damn thing! — he said with bitterness.

— Rolan, you're doing everything right, but maybe you should try a different approach. There's no way you can't succeed. - She remembered the words of his late teacher, who had recognized his student's power after his own death. She realised that Rolan had the potential to become a very powerful, just needed to find the right key.

— All right, tell me exactly what you wanted to focus on? - Tav said quietly, trying to reassure him with her voice.

— Well, I was remembering how much I hated that sick bastard Lorroakan. What he'd done to me. How I wanted to finish him off... But..- Rolan fell silent, shaking with tension.

— Hmm, I don't think that's exactly what we're looking for. Maybe there was something that triggered a stronger emotion in you. Perhaps you could try focusing on a different memory. - Tav paused, her gaze becoming thoughtful. - Remember, the power of instinct isn't necessarily contained in hate. Sometimes it feeds on something else, something deeper and more powerful. Don't get frustrated, think this through and we'll come back to it later. Magic requires intense focus and mental discipline. Try meditation to tune into the magical energy and prepare your mind.

Rolan listened intently and nodded his head.

But it didn't work out the next time either.

— So what are you concentrating on now? - Tav frowned.

— On how, back in the Shadowlands, I was afraid I'd die before I could save my family…

— Hmm. You know, if it was exactly like you say, it would definitely work. Maybe you didn't really want to kill Lorroakan. Or maybe the fear of death in the Shadowlands wasn't so all-consuming, at least not the fear of your own death? You can be honest with me, for as your mentor I am sworn to keep all your secrets. So perhaps you are deluding yourself?

Rolan hesitated, his thoughts wavering, a shadow of doubt flashing across his mind. He realised that Tav was right: there was something bigger lurking inside him, something that prevented him from truly concentrating. And he admitted it to her, and to himself, for the first time:

— Come to think of it, I didn't really want to kill Lorroakan. Deep down I felt sorry for the bastard. How blind he was because of his arrogance and how ridiculous he died. To be honest, I've never wanted to kill anyone. I can't feel hatred for anyone but myself. I just don't feel it the way I need to. And in the Shadowlands I didn't care about my own fate, I was more concerned about Cal and Lia. Then I don't really know what good things have happened in my life, and the bad things don't seem to be working. I don't even have any vivid images. Like I said, I'm hopeless...

After a moment of silence and reflection, Rolan found the strength to continue:

— Maybe it's because I've never allowed myself to feel hate fully. Maybe I'm too afraid of its power, afraid of losing myself in it. But I don't know what to do if I can't feel it. How can I master magic if I can't even concentrate properly?

Tav, grateful for the frankness, spoke in a soft and enveloping tone, like the rustling of leaves:

— Rolan, magic is not just the power of dark emotions. It is the power of your soul, your heart. Perhaps you should seek another path, another source of energy. We have other, uh, instincts besides fear, hatred. - Tav faltered and stuttered at this point.

— And what do you do in such a case? - Rolan asked, showing interest and readiness to act.

— There is a method... But for it to work, you'll have to relax and trust me and answer the questions honestly. If that's what you really want... We'll try. There is a ritual..." Tav had a great idea how to make the session enjoyable for both of them and a mischievous light flashed in her.

As a graduate of Charm School, she practised the spell carefully with her classmates. Those whose emotions and instincts had been dulled for various reasons went through the ritual of unlocking their baser instincts. Although she had managed to avoid it herself, she had heard many juicy rumours from other students. And after graduation, she was given instructions on how to perform the ritual herself. Tav had been so impressed by what she had read that she had spent several days locked in a room with the manual. Now she had the opportunity to put it into practice.

— Tav, we've been through this. If there is a way to take this further, I am willing to learn and do whatever it takes. You're my mentor and I trust you completely. If I'm not the only one with a problem, I'd like to find out — Rolan said firmly.

— All right, but we'll need a more private setting for this. - I'll prepare everything for the ritual and we'll come back to this later.

On that day, it was ordered to clear the top floor of the Ramazit Tower of unauthorised visitors. Tav rose gently from the couch to complete the preparations for the ritual. She closed the shutters and the last rays of light disappeared. Inviting Rolan in, she walked to the doors and quietly locked them, ensuring the privacy of the room.

Stepping over the threshold, the Archmage found himself in a room shrouded in mysterious aura and magic. His nostrils were immediately assaulted by the aromas wafting from the many vials of oils and diffusers, neatly arranged on carved shelves adorned with rare magical symbols. Lazy, translucent wisps of smoke rose from these containers towards the ceiling. The sweet scents of citrus and the warm breath of sandalwood mingled in the air, creating an invisible blanket of peace.

Rolan stepped forward and saw a massive dark oak table in the centre of the room, covered with a velvet tablecloth. There were cups of herbal and fruit teas on the table, from which a steam of warming spices rose. Ancient scrolls with diagrams and magical formulae, telling of spells and rituals, also lay here.

The floor of the room was covered with soft carpets, delicately embroidered with intricate designs. Cushions were scattered here and there, inviting you to lean back and enjoy moments of peace and quiet.

— Ignis. - Tav said, folding his hands in a simple spell. Tiny sparks leapt into the air and turned into living lights, instantly illuminating the lamps around the room. The candles around the perimeter of the room glowed with an even, calm flame, casting soft reflections on the walls. Their light enveloped the room, creating the illusion of a perpetual sunset.

The light became a soft, enveloping cocoon, blotting out unnecessary detail. There was an atmosphere of intimate comfort in the shaded surroundings, as if the room itself wanted to protect secrets and hide from prying eyes. Here, away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world, one could do anything without fear of being overheard. Every corner of the room is imbued with magic and care. Here, time loses its power and you can forget everything.

[hoenn-hakase]

Okay, I need to- I NEED TO EXPLAIN. Because my gosh twitch plays chat determination.

Normally for this glitch you have to first talk to the Old Man and watch the catch tutorial, then fly to Cinnabar somehow and surf the coast. If I understand this correctly. We did not have anyone who could Fly. Teleport can work too. ....We tossed that during Pokemon Tower. We could warp with blackout???? Apparently!! But to do so required a ludicrous plan to activate it since we needed to fly from Viridian specifically.

So! The plan:

We're mid levels because we've made it Cinnabar and no way are we risking PC for little ones. Have most of the team blackout in Pokemon Mansion except preferably one member.

Said member must get Poisoned so we can purposefully faint after the tutorial. Note we own two Poison types so knock them out for sure since they can't be poisoned later.

Make it back to the Old Man before fainting. Can't checkpoint anywhere because we need to get back to Cinnabar.

Part 3 turned out to be harder than we thought. Because we tried using the Weedle in Viridian Forest to poison us, but the only party member low enough for Gen I mechanics was our Hypno. (We tried with Onix, but apparently in Gen I if they don't do any damage they always miss? Well Onix defense was too high). We tried Onix anyway with the Wild Tentacool south of Pallet but for similar reasons needed a wild encounter of at least Level 20. So change of plans, went into the grass area to find Tangela with the hope it would randomly choose Poisonpowder. Once we got that done, we still had to Surf, bypass Pallet, walk the winding route to Viridian City to reach the man aaand

So close (⁠ﾉ⁠´⁠･⁠ω⁠･⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠ ⁠ﾐ⁠ ⁠┻⁠━⁠┻

While we COULD have tried that again, we fell back on Hypno and the Weedle and a third attempt was made with success! Team dead! Poison get! Cinnabar warp! Manage the menu to get in the water since you can't just click it in Gen I! Found Missingno!!! Killed it. Found another though!!! Where we caught it with a Master Ball which took some effort being in the middle of the menu. And apparently named it Bucket. ＼⁠(ﾟ⁠ｰﾟ⁠＼⁠)

They've been at this for hours and I am so proud of Chat right now.

And for those unable to watch the vid, our streamer celebrated this feat by "giving us" a plushie. <3

Anyway I may have some concerns about a broken OP mon on the team before we finish the gyms, but I'm just so happy to have watched this. ;w;

[chokrihizem]

Because of their magnificent, towering blooms, hollyhocks are adored for lending a touch of cottage garden charm to any scene. It is imperative that you learn how to collect and store hollyhock seeds if you have planted them and want to maintain their beauty in your garden. To ensure you can enjoy these vivid flowers every year, I will lead you through the best techniques for harvesting and storing hollyhock seeds in this tutorial!

[vitaliskravtsov]

37 for Spotify Wrapped!

37) At St Patrick's Purgatory - Samuel Barber

O King of the churches and the bells

Bewailing your sores and your wounds

But not a tear can I squeeze from my eyes!

Jack lounges in the chair in lessons. He's not inattentive, that's the thing, he's never been. He's simply... checked out. Anxious. Thinking about something else.

Probably the invading front. Probably his horse needing to be saddled. Probably his father's war planning meetings.

Definitely not Kent, and where Kent was going to be when the battle finally made it to them.

Kent takes notes, follows the Latin tutorial. This won't continue after the war. This won't continue if Jack dies. This won't continue if Kent has to survive on the graces of King Zimmermann and his master. He knows he's lucky as it is, being left to patch up Jack's heart and prop up Jack's Latin and train at night.

Jack doesn't notice that Kent has other things to do, either, just offers up his scrapes to Kent to fix.

It takes three months, but too soon the battle is at their doorstep, no longer a series of letters from the King, but the reality of Jack's new tower room and Kent's new home in a tent that's more mud than cloth.

The bells of the church still toll every hour, but it's more of a fucked-up reminder that there's more time left to nightfall than you fucking thought was possible.

The worst part, maybe, is that Kent still crawls back to Jack's room every night, tends to his scrapes from shaving and knives and clumsiness.

He still sleeps in the tent.

He watches his friends die.

He soothes Jack's bruises.

Two and a half weeks later, the King lets Jack lead a charge because he's lying in bed, disabled from cholera.

Two and a half weeks later, Kent watches Jack become unhorsed. He turns away, more horrified than anything else.

Still, he can't cry. It's the aggregate of the years of scrapes, Kent supposes, given all at once.

He leaves before he can see the rest.

[jaffre]

Do Tsini have anything to do with the arena tower? I remember you had some Tsini lost in a dungeon (the game you made in godot), and I didn't know if that was the same as the arena tower.

i considered the game masters of arena tower to be tsini for a while (you can still see those designs in my arena tower tag) before deciding on making them vops and the tsini lost in a dungeon is unrelated to that

funny youd send this ask now, ive been thinking of arena tower recently, unsure if i wanna continue the comic or maybe do an attempt at a visual novel (to try and flex my writing muscles)

on the tsini side, the lost in a dungeon was a test of making a 3d tileset for godot following this tutorial, and was before i did my little point n click game test. i know i want to make some game that takes place underground related to the tsini, exploring the past and their culture, probably learning conlang along the way