#Then I realized I could combine another game with the characters :]

[yourubersawcrit]

My mind is this close of making an AU.

[evilminji]

Okay, But, >.> Listen...

So MAYBE, just MAYBE, I am an incureable RoFan Isekai nerd. Shut up about it, maybe. What're you a cop? Mind your business. BUT! And hear me out...

W...What would actually? HAPPEN if Danny went into a Visual Novel? Some Otome game? You know, aside from being vague flustered by and then DEEPLY ALARMED by these walking Red Flag Fruitloops that girls are supposed to find "dreamy" or something?

Like we know how MMOs work for him. And probably OTHER open world games? But a visual novel? Would it be like the Christmas Episode? Would he hear narration? Be stuck in static "scenes"? Or would it be like a cut together "only the interesting parts" movie that he's somehow IN?

Like?? At SOME point his curiosity is gonna get the best of him. He's gonna want to know what different video games are LIKE on the inside? What's Pong like? Tetris? Mario? One of those Mama's cooking games? Etc etc.

He probably hits up a game sale. Buys a box or two. Figures he can always resell um or just give them away for free. Might even use them for parts. Who knows. And?

It's kinda cool!

It's even SCIENCE! See? Tucker's in charge of notes. Sam's in charge of hilarious commentary and pizza. Jazz is keeping them from drinking and doing ghost shit (terrible combination, we never speak of What Happened(tm) again). And the Dr's. Fenton got distracted by making fudge and debating what games should be counted towards which categories.

They've made an afternoon of it.

And NOW? They've reached the bottom of box one. It was "Survive The Villainess! My Rose for You!" Or... judging by Sam's climbing eyebrows and growing scowl? A DEEPLY unpleasant porn game about school girls.

You could not PAY him enough.

Yeah, he DOES realistically kinda want to know what happens.. if.. like? You know... sexy games... like would he? Or does he just WATCH or...? *awkward cough* But! That's NOT for Family Science Night! And DEFINITELY not THAT game, THANKS.

He'll find himself an ETHICALLY SOURCED smutty game full of consensual boning. For PRIVATE TIME. Those test results are gonna show up like MAGIC and we WILL NOT be talking about them! Got it? Good.

Now what the fuck is he look at here?

Jazz is surprisingly knowledgeable. They are not allowed to ask. They respect it. The main character "wakes up" inside the body of a "villainess" and must survive. Turn her terrible reputation around. Avoid "death flags". Preferably romance one of the hot guys?

Uuuuuuuh... you realize Danny's in a committed relationship, right?

Sam and Turker allow it. But they reserve the right to blast his taste in Fantasy Guy's. Chose carefully, for their roasting shall be BRUTAL. Luuuuuv yoooou~♡

He wants a divorce. They're not even MARRIED and he wants a divorce. You see how they mock him, Jazz? The cruelty he suffers? He's taking the Blobs and moving to Frightknight's. They always warned him about you living folks and your fast ways, but he didn't listen! *continued dramatics* *is smacked with a pillow*

But actually going IN? The weirdly, vaguely European over the top EVERYTHING? Giant jewels and ridiculous, fancy dresses? The walking red flag Romantic Archtype Leads? He wants to PUNCH half these guys! This is ABUSE! Are people OKAY!?

Like? I feel like he'd stay way, WAY longer then he needed too? Just out of morbid curiosity? W-where is this plot GOING? It's so dramatic. Why is my dress MORE dramatic now? Why is everything so... Sparkly.

It would be? AMAZING and baffling and I would pay real money to hear their live commentary. "Why not simply judo flip the crown prince off the balcony, then take over the country, sweetie?" "Solid plan, honey! He deserves it!" Beautiful. Flawless. Sage advice really. Too bad Danny can barely walk in his five million bows dress.

It's the BEST Au and I might be a genius. Or deeply sleep deprived. Meh. We'll 50/50 it, six of one, half a dozen of another.

@hdgnj @ailithnight @nerdpoe @the-witchhunter

[dailyadventureprompts]

Homebrew Mechanic: Bumpercar Combat

I'm going to keep most of my reasoning behind developing this system below the cut but I think we can all agree that D&D's combat can be painfully static. I love fight scenes but after going down a combined stage combat/ videogame boss design rabbit hole I've realized that one of the primary elements is missing from D&D's combat system, namely: Movement

From a mechanical perspective, D&D combat needs movement to break up the monotony of non-spellcater characters throwing punches at eachother until one of them drops, to introduce increased risk and randomness without damage-spike abilities.

From a narrative perspective, D&D combat needs movement to introduce tension and to help put character into day to day fighting beyond just flavor text. Likewise, fights that give different opportunities for movement will feel different from one another, making them stand out in the party's mind.

So without further ado I present my fun new system, which will have your party and their enemies bouncing around the battlefield like a demolition derby:

Press the attack: If you attack a creature and your initial attack roll is higher than their constitution score, you can force them to shift 5 ft into any of the tree squares opposite from your position. You then move to occupy the space they did.  

Back to a Wall:  Walls and other substantial barriers grant attackers the benefits of flanking as if they were a threatening creature. 

Give Ground: If you are attacked in melee and the initial roll is lower than your dexterity score you may shift into any adjacent square, forcing the opponent to move into the space you previously occupied. If you are attacked at a range, you may still shift, but the attacker loses any cover bonuses they might have till the start of their next turn rather than moving. 

Tripping Hazard: If you force an opponent into a square that could be considered rough terrain ( such as if it was occupied by a chair, or down a slippery slope) the target drops prone. 

First things first I want to say that this system is largely inspired by the dynamic combat movement rules by raventear productions, which I found over on reddit. It's a great system but the more I thought about it the more I realized that introducing extra rolls into combat was adding extra bloat to combat, and so I needed to retool the system to ensure that the party weren't having to roll any more dice than they normally would. My goal with homebrew is always to add more options, not bloat.

Also, go check out@jillbearup over on youtube, her series breaking down cinematic fights was one of the main drivers behind wanting to find a homebrew system like this in the first place.

Finally, long hours spent watching @ohnoitstbskyen 's in depth bloodborne playthough got me thinking about the design of fights, and the right combination of enemies and environment can truly elevate the player(s) experience. I'm also working on my own bloodborne game which gave me a reason to finalize this system.

Now lets get on to why I wanted to build this system in the first place: D&D combat is at risk of being painfully slow and boring, as it's aged the depths to which it can be slow and/or boring have only increased. While part of that is up to the skill of players at the table, I largely chalk it up to the fact that the base system of combat isn't much changed from the days of old tabletop wargaming....characters and monsters control like army units, clashing up against one another till one side drops or some spellcaster drops an AoE ( artillery). That rigidity is fine when one person is controling a whole army of units, but I think every melee character has been in a position where they're slugging away with the same old attack while the wizards get to do cool shit.

The system sort of worked back In the early days when characters and monsters could only take a couple of hits before dropping, but as the editions progressed and everything got more complex what might have first been a quick life or death clash turned into a slugfest. Attacks of opportunity and rigid flanking rules specifically encouraged this slowdown, and 4th edition, the only attempt outside of the battemaster to really play with positioning crashed and burned mainly due to WotC's incompetence.

So how do I use this?

If you're having trouble thinking of why this system might be fun to implement, here's a few ideas:

It makes groupfights more dangerous, encouraging tactical thinking. Getting advantage reliably is the deciding factor in most d&d combats, with the tide turning in favour of whichever side has the most bodies. If combatants are shifting around with every missed hit then that advantage is more up for grabs

It puts increased focus on hazards and terrain features. Ledges, pits, pillars, walls, furniture, dungeon-clutter. Make no mistake that if you use this system and then design your combat arenas with some kind of terrain feature, it's GOING to be used. Where previously players and enemies alike had to chose between engaging with the arena for a potential benefit or doing raw damage reliably, here they'll be able to do both.

It gives non burst-damage melee characters a new way to play. Rolling a barbarian or fighter is supposed to come with a scene of empowerment which can be undercut one folks realize their super-strong orc berserker is being outclassed for damage by the shifty guy with the knife. Telling that player "Yeah, that person gets to roll more dice, but you get to bounce badguys off the walls like pinballs" is more than a consolation, it's what they signed up to do in the first place.

It adds drama to the fight. There's only so many ways a dm can describe enemies taking non-lethal sword hits that only take up a portion of their hp, and they're liable to run out of those long before the campaign is through. Part of what sells the importance of those hits and keeps players engaged between the first and the last is the feeling that they've had SOME kind of effect. Moving folks around is a middle ground between doing nothing and dropping a foe, changing the battlefield in a myriad of small ways that can build up to something meaningful.

Art

[toomanyideasandfandoms]

I knew you'd like the idea >:3

Just imagine the characters having an intervention meeting without the creator and they bring THAT up and the notebook along with it and the entire room just goes to silence and no one know how to bring the fact that close to half of the deaths later on were of their own creator's hands.

You're right though, I def think that Sumeru would actually make the problem worse and potentially cause a relapse in which case another nation takes over and Sumeru is seen as worse or inferior for causing more pain to the creator (like the little hypocrites they are smh)

Imagine there's some pages on the old notebook of just describing how they felt and the reader can see the slow descent to madness as each death happens and it's like forbidden knowledge for them to the point that it actually like becomes risk of being lethal, so they kinda stop looking into it and just try their best to heal their creator and just leave the skeleton in the closet, per say.

I forgot to put my little thing on the last post but here it is again! I have way more ideas for sagau that i will probably never get to write so i'm happy to share them!

🍌anon

🍌 anon I want you to know that I am eating everything up cause MY GOD THE WAVELENGTHS WE'RE HAVING AAAAA

And ohhhhh ohhhhhh forbidden knowledge, your brain rn omg. CHRIST ALMIGHTLY

Some of the notes would actually be forbidden knowledge, especially if we're talking the early ones and if the creator was isekaied before Sumeru's archon quests. Omg- NO ONE CAN READ THE FIRST COUPLE OF EDITIONS, besides for Traveler-

Wait....this just made me realize something. I FORGOT TO EVER THINK ABOUT THE TRAVELER, WHAT ROLE WOULD THEY EVEN HAVE??? OH GOD HOW COULD I OVERLOOK THIS WAIT

Putting a pin in that for later (slamming my head against the wall over this)

But yeah Traveler is probably the one that creator would be closest too, because they have to be the first ones (besides Nahida or Neuvillette) to know the truth. So when the notebooks are found they're the only ones allowed to read it. So they would be at the meeting and conveying what is necessary but also keep the important parts our for the sake of the creator's privacy and to keep the forbidden knowledge from infesting again.

What probably keeps them at an advantage is the language creator uses can only be read by Traveler since Teyvat's language is usually translated for us in game in our own languages.

And also yes Sumeru would be worst, glad we agree. BUT THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE OF THE AKADEMIYA, Azar fucking sucks and would never understand. BUT- if we're talking with Alhaitham being the acting leader then there's a higher chance for them. Especially with the other Sumeru characters being there, and Nahida!! Nahida would be a godsend since she obviously would have the most knowledge, both known and unknown, and also would be able to peer review others ideas based on when she's read the memories of the creator (poor baby got traumatized tho-)

PLUS! Kuni (Wanderer name I use, making sure that's known) being our body guard, ain't no way creator is dying even if it is their wish. Combine that with Cyno also on guard duty and you got a chance of healing way better then whenever Azar (fuck that guy seriously) was in charge.

[chocmoon-latte]

"Hancock has no regrets about becoming a ghoul"??

It baffles me when some people think Hancock has zero regrets about becoming a ghoul. Absolutely none at all apparently. Like yeah, he plays it up when you first meet him before he's a companion, but let's be real he plays up pretty much everything in regards to the whole "sexy king of the zombies" image he projects.

It takes travelling with you away from Goodneighbor to give him some time to be introspective for him to finally realize that him becoming a ghoul was just another escape route from himself again. He's got several lines of dialogue that literally reiterate this. It's a key point of his character:

Hell, running from myself is what made me into… into a damn Ghoul.

Well, I mean, I didn't always look this good. The drug that did this to me, that made me a Ghoul, I knew what it was going to do.

I just couldn't stand looking at the bastard I saw in the mirror anymore.

The coward who'd let all those Ghouls from Diamond City die. Who was too scared to protect his fellow drifters from Vic and his boys.

If I took it, I'd never have to look at him again. I could put that all behind me. I'd be free. Didn't seem like a choice at all. Turns out it was just me running from somethin' else in my life.

I mean, after reaching max affinity with you, he realizes that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all (because he's finally got an honest friend he can be open with now). He now feels comfortable where he is - but to imply that he doesn't have at least the tiniest amount of regret? Heck, if you go onto romance him (or attempt to), he stops referring to himself as handsome and literally starts calling himself ugly, which naturally goes entirely against the image he projects:

Why don't we just agree to keep it friendly for now or till they find a cure for ugly? Heh.

You don't want to wake up to this mug every morning. Never wish that on anyone I cared for.

You sure you want to be stuck with this ugly mug?

(You could even say he implies it beforehand with another line of dialogue elsewhere in-game when he says "I'd be mad too if I was that ugly." But that's a stretch I guess.)

Combine that with the fact that 99% of ghouls don’t choose to become ghouls. Hancock did. But he didn't do it for a fun experience. He was already in a bad place when he became a ghoul. He didn't turn to be cool and edgy like he pretended he did when first getting to know him.

He lost his appearance, any connections to his old identity and old friends/people he might’ve been associated with (for better or worse), and in return gained hostility from bigots towards him for merely existing, from an overwhelming majority of the Commonwealth population that hates ghouls. There's the Institute and Brotherhood who want to kill anyone like him on top of that. Plenty of people out there who think he and other ghouls are monsters for just being alive.

Not only that, but something which adds onto this is the fact that he's a client of the Memory Den, and they're very selective with their customers. And what's the whole point of the Memory Den? Reliving past memories. Irma's terminal entry about Hancock, as well as the other two ghoul clients Kent and Daisy, all imply the memories they go back to relive are primarily from their human days. (The one on Hancock straight up says "if you thought he was handsome and dangerous now, you should've seen him before he turned ghoul.")

I genuinely refuse to believe that Hancock has never had any regret whatsoever about becoming a ghoul. The man who's spent a decent chunk of his life running from his own problems instead of confronting them, has NO regrets about taking a drug that alters his entire being and functionality on a biological level and will force him to outlive everyone he knows? This man is FULL of regrets!

[kurogane2512]

Hi, Hello, How are you, I hope you are doing great.

Can I request a oneshot for Lisa? Set during Dodoco's Bombtastic Adventure..

I wanted more interaction time with Lisa but.. you know hoyo.. So I've been wanting to ask this for quite some time..

It can be anything your wish fluff/smu

If it's f, u can add some interactions with klee..

But if it's s, it can just be y/n & Lisa.. uk

Anyways.. If you can't that's alright, I already enjoy your other works and I'm sure the other requests which you plan on doing will also be great.

Thank you :)

I relate so much anon, you already know how disappointed I feel almost every time with events regarding my faves cause they are almost never done justice. Lisa's Sumeru outfit event was also really lackluster and just felt like something they wanted to get out of the way, she has so much character potential but it feels they abandoned all initial plots established with her and just keep her for fanservice.

This Klee event was unexpected and I actually somehow had hopes that maybe this would be better but I thought too soon.... sigh, anyways I very much wanted to write this too and you know I love combining smut and fluff most so here it is~

18+ CONTENT

Game: Genshin Impact

Characters: Lisa x fem! reader (Traveler)

Type: Smut and Fluff (oral sex, slightly dom reader, Lisa on receiving end)

Weary from your travels, you decided to make a stop at Mondstadt and relax a little by meeting your old friends and spending time with them. Mondstadt always felt like home to you as it was the first nation you came to, and the people treated you like their own family that you could never forget them. You went to the KoF HQ and decided to spend some time in the library by reading a book and chatting with the librarian.

"Okay, I'll look for big sister Y/n now!" a familiar child's voice filled your ears as soon as you entered the library.

"Oh! Big sister Y/n!! You already came! Klee was just thinking about you!" Klee ran up to you and playfully hugged you, you smiled at her and patted her head then Lisa also came up to you and smiled.

"What happened? Do you need some help?" you asked both of them and Lisa simply chuckled before telling you about an ongoing problem with Mondstadt's Cider Lake due to which Klee had to be confined in the city for some time and Lisa was made to take care of her.

"So.... do you have something in mind, Lisa?"

"My, of course. I already prepared it as well. Come along~"

You and Klee followed Lisa outside the HQ and found yourself in front of a board game that Lisa had developed for Klee.

"Please enjoy yourselves! It's not every day that you get to play games with Klee, surrounded by the scent of flowers on the breeze, with delicious food delivered right to you~"

"You won't play, Lisa?"

"Hehe, won't it be a little unfair if the game's creator joined in? Besides, I still have my librarian duties to take care of~"

"I see.... I would have liked for you to join in." you looked down with a disappointed expression, a soft chuckle leaving Lisa's mouth at your reaction.

"You should have thought of that when we met in Sumeru, cutie~"

Your eyes widened in shock realizing her implication but Lisa didn't bother elaborating and bid farewell to you two. You weren't sure if she really meant what you were thinking. You spent a few hours playing with Klee then decided to check up on Lisa since Klee was well used to the game and could play by herself. You told her you'll be back soon then went to the library again, only to find Lisa wasn't at her table.

"I'm downstairs. If you require assistance then please wait a moment." Lisa's voice beamed from the ground floor and you quickly walked downstairs and found her in front of a shelf, arranging some books.

"Ah, how may I hel— Oh, it's you, cutie." Lisa turned around and was a little surprised to see you. She gave a small smile then picked up the other books and leisurely walked to another shelf to arrange it.

"How's it going with Klee? Did you face some issues with the game?"

"No, everything is fine. It's really fun to play, she's enjoying a lot."

"Aww, that's good to hear. It's thanks to Klee that we were able to detect the problem in Cider Lake so early, she deserves this reward~"

"Y-Yeah...." you trailed off and wondered what to speak, Lisa wasn't acting her usual self around you. By now, she would have already asked you about your wellbeing and stories from your journey but she was strangely avoiding you.

"Did you have something to discuss, cutie? I don't think it's a good idea to leave Klee all alone out there."

"I....I just wanted to talk with you, Lisa. How have you been?"

"My, I'm the same old me. Not much time has passed since we met in Sumeru, remember? Or perhaps you were too occupied back then to remember I was there, hehe~"

You were surprised once again but now your suspicions were confirmed. She was upset about how you didn't accompany her when she came to Sumeru for a vacation, despite inviting you so dearly.

"Lisa, I....I'm sorry about back then. I was just—"

"Too busy being the hero of another nation? I know, you don't have to worry about it, cutie. I'm happy to see you doing such marvelous deeds everywhere you go, you don't have time for a mere librarian like me~"

She wasn't looking at you at all as she spoke and continued arranging the books. Her tone was dull and not cheery like always. She was trying so hard to show she didn't care but you knew she was upset. You regretted not accepting her invitation so much, you desperately tried to make time but some work always came and you didn't realize when a week already passed and she was ready to leave.

You hated making Lisa upset, she was the one person you never wanted to do this to. You walked up to her and suddenly hugged her from behind, catching her by surprise as a book fell from her hand from the force of the hug. You buried your face in her shoulder and tightly wrapped your arms around her waist, she squinted her eyes and stayed still.

"....You are wrong, I don't think that way at all. I really tried to make time, I really wanted to be with you but it was so hard. I know you don't want to listen to any excuses but.... please know I wasn't ignoring you or finding you worthless. You mean a lot to me, Lisa- so much more than you can imagine. Please, don't hate me."

Lisa silently listened to you then let out a sigh and turned around to face you, gently cupping your face and gazing at you with a small smile.

"....I can never hate you, cutie. You are too precious for me to hate you for something like that. I was just.... slightly upset that we didn't get to spend time together despite being in the same place. I wasn't expecting to run into you at Sumeru, but I was so happy that I did that perhaps I got carried away with my expectations."

You smiled back then leaned in and snuggled into her neck to embrace her, she wrapped her arms around you and lovingly stroked your head.

"Oh, that reminds me. What did you come here for initially? I'm so sorry that I made you accompany Klee as soon as you came, cutie."

"Oh, it's okay. I only came to meet everyone, especially you. I'll be going to Fontaine next so I just wanted to make a stop back here first."

Lisa smiled and kissed your forehead, "Hehe, that means you'll be here for some days, right?~"

You nodded, "Yes. I hope to learn more from you, Lisa-sensei~"

You chuckled together before leaning back then grabbing her wrist, "Come play with us now, Lisa."

"I told you I have to—"

"Ugh, nothing will happen if you close the library for a day! Come now, I want to be with you!"

You practically dragged her out and Lisa only chuckled as she let herself be pulled by you. She locked the library and both of you went back to find Klee seated on the bench eating some snacks that had been delivered earlier, she beamed a smile looking at you two and jumped in excitement as you three played together. Some days later, one of the knights came to inform Lisa that the crisis at Cider Lake had been resolved and that Klee could resume her playtime there.

"Well, Klee can continue her little adventures. I hope you two enjoyed this little game~" Lisa informed you about the crisis being resolved and was happy to hear how much Klee enjoyed the game.

"Oh, and I have also bought some gifts for you cuties!~" Lisa exclaimed and Klee became excited then held your arm.

"Me too! Klee also has a gift for big sister! Can Klee go first please!!?"

Lisa nodded happily then Klee took out a Dodoco toy from her backpack and handed it to you. You hugged Klee and thanked her for the lovely gift then next was Lisa's turn and she took out a cutely illustrated storybook about 'Dodoco's Bomb-Tastic Adventures'.

"The little cutie returned to Mondstadt and joined Klee on an adventure with Dodoco! Together they defeated the bad Spikey Fish Warriors and then enjoyed an afternoon tea.... A most fitting way to end Dodoco's Bomb-Tastic Adventure. I left a space for illustrations but I thought of a better idea- how about taking a picture together?"

Lisa suggested and Klee was already jumping in excitement and you had no reason to deny either. She set up the Kamera while you and Klee took your positions then waited for the photo to click.

"Lisa, you also come. You are the creator of this game and story, it's incomplete without you." you pleaded to Lisa who was a little shocked at your request, she tried to deny saying she didn't do much and that you and Klee were more important but you weren't liking it.

"Yes, big sister Y/n is right! Big sister Lisa, you should come too!" Klee also joined in your request and Lisa finally gave in.

"Fine fine, let me take one photo of you two then I'll join for the next one~"

You posed with Klee as the photo clicked then Lisa quickly walked up and stood beside you, she wrapped her arms around your neck and held you close before sneakily kissing your cheek right at the moment the second photo clicked. Everything happened so quickly that you barely registered her action, she moved away before you could react and proceeded to wrap up the game but you didn't miss the little wink she gave you as she went....

Later at night, you came to the library to help Lisa pack up and escort her home. But truthfully, you were hoping for something else to happen. You found Lisa standing in front of a shelf in the faraway corner and silently tiptoed behind her then embraced her, catching her off guard but she was aware of your presence as soon as you had come in.

"Aww, can't stay away from me, cutie?~"

"Mmm, I missed you~"

You mumbled against her skin before planting a kiss on her shoulder, shivers running down her spine at your action.

"Hehe, wait a little more, cutie. I'm almost done with these~"

"Hmm... no, I want you now~"

You kissed behind her ear which made her arch into you with a soft moan, "Mhm, how needy. Where was this side of you in Sumeru, hm?~"

"You have no idea how much I wanted you back then as well, especially since you wore that outfit. You looked so beautiful...."

Lisa chuckled as you planted more kisses on her neck and shoulder before suddenly turning her around and pinning her on the shelf. She gasped as you held up her leg and pressed your body against her then dived in to kiss and suck on her neck. She moaned and wrapped her arms around you as she arched up, giving you more access to her neck for you to mark.

"Mhm, c-cutie.... Hnng~ You want to do it here?~"

"Anywhere, I don't care. I just want you, Lisa~"

Lisa chuckled and laced her fingers in your hair and guided you to kiss her neck more, she moved her dress down with her other hand and freed her breasts which you wasted no time to cup. Soft sighs left Lisa's mouth as you kneaded her breasts before moving down to suck her hard nipples, simultaneously pinching the other one. She held you close as you sucked like a baby then suddenly carried her over to a nearby table and laid her on it while kneeling in front of her.

"I want to make up for what happened in Sumeru. Will you let me, Lisa?"

Lisa chuckled, "You just want to make up for that, cutie?~"

"No.... I want to do this because I love you. I want to please you and make you happy."

Lisa's heart skipped a beat at your unexpected confession but she couldn't be happier. She pulled you up by your collar and connected your lips in a passionate kiss, her tongue hungrily dancing with your own. You then kneeled once again and slipped off her panties then rested her legs on your shoulders and dived in to ear her out. She leaned back on the table as her body arched, low moans and whines resounded in the library as your tongue swiped her folds and lips sucked on her clit.

"Mhm, cutie...Aaahn~ Y-Yes, right there.....oh, you are doing so good!~"

Her fingers gripped your hair messily and she grinded into your mouth, her hips rutting forward as you plunged your tongue inside her and scissored her walls. Angelic whimpers left her mouth, your thumb playing with her clit as you sucked on her hot and wet folds and she came with a loud breathy moan. You sucked every drop of her juices and cleaned her before you stood up to face her, her cum still coating your lips.

She smirked and wiped her cum off your lips then stepped down and pushed you across to another table, pinning you down this time. She gazed at you with a lustful glaze in her eyes, a pool of arousal already dripping down your thighs as you anticipated the events of the remaining night.

[prince-kallisto]

I never noticed this line from Masquerade Sebek before, but it surprised me how he mentions that his cape resembles bird feathers. His cape is only on his right, and Silver’s cape mirrors his by being on his left.

In Sebek’s groovy, we get a better shot of the cape from the back, and it certainly does resemble a bird’s feathers. It’s specifically mentioned that Sebek and Silver’s outfits were made to compliment Malleus as “his knights.” The paralleled dragon wings definitely got a lot of attention, but I never realized this part about both of their capes!

I am a firm believer that the Halloween events in particular are special cases of foreshadowing the late game. There’s a reason why it’s such a huge event every year, with even unique, animated trailers (a treatment only the opening and dorm trailers have gotten). So I wonder if this was a reference to not only the live action Maleficent, but to Levan (Malleus’ father). In the live action, Maleficent turns Diaval from a crow into a human, telling him she “needs him to be her wings.” Levan was similarly compared to this, by being Meleanor’s “eyes, limbs, and husband.” (Translation credits to GasMask on YouTube🐦‍⬛)

Edit: Also a potential parallel to Meleanor specifically, with Silver and Sebek forming the “left and right generals” to Malleus, who heavily resembles her

Silver and Sebek’s wings put together make a fully winged cape, not only the dragon wings on their shoulders, but the feathered wings as well. This seems like yet another homage to both Meleanor and Levan, with the combination of dragon and bird (it has not yet been confirmed what type of Fae Levan is, but his overall character seems to be inspired by Diablo and Diaval, Maleficent’s ravens). I believe the closest other example of a winged cape would be Crowley.

And as I was watching more of Glorious Masquerade today, these lines stuck out to me. In-universe, these masquerade outfits were patterned from designs from over 500 YEARS ago. The people of the City of Flowers would emulate nobles, royalty, merchants, and knights for festival periods. Now, I’m sure Noble Bell College were able to design such fitting designs for the NRC boys because it’s revealed that Crowley gave Rollo A LOT of documents relating to the students. So I’m sure the patterns were adjusted and decorated to fit each individual student with the information they got regarding their background and dorm.

But over 500 years ago is an interesting number, don’t you think? Sebek remarks that he’s amazed that an attire outside of Briar Valley could elevate Malleus’s elegance and beauty. But…what if that’s not the case? What if Malleus’ outfit was patterned after a Briar Valley outfit from over 500 years ago? Or rather, specifically inspired by Levan’s outfit?

Levan was in charge of foreign affairs and was a diplomat. He was an reputable and excellent envoy (a messenger or representative for diplomatic missions). Shockingly in Book 7, when General Lilia was traveling the world to try and find ways to hatch Eggleus, he went to the City of Flowers. I’m sure the story of Meleanor and the Human-Fae war was twisted by the Silver Owls, so the City of Flowers turned on the Fae during that time period. So what if there was a time before the war that Levan visited the City of Flowers? (Translation credits to OtomeAyui🐦‍⬛)

I am running woefully low on mobile photo post limits lmao, but if you look at the masquerade outfit designs, Malleus’ is the most distinct. His overall outfit definitely has the City of Flowers flair, but look at the others- where there are themes of shoulder pads, and ruffles and thicker cloth at the sleeves. Yet Malleus’ is the only one with transparent sleeves that expose his arms, and a square neckline. Why is only one outfit patterned so far from the traditional norm? (Playful Land Lilia was also said to have this distinctive and old style of neckline compared to the rest of his classmates, so it’s been theorized that this is/was potentially a fashion trend in Briar Valley).

In the above photo, I’m also surprised at how Malleus’ mask curves a little to resemble a beak. With Malleus’ shoulder feathers that have infamously been noted amongst the fandom to resemble Crowley’s, Malleus seems to have a raven theme with the mask and black feathers.

And bringing back what Rollo said about 500 years, in Book 7 we visit Lilia’s dream that first begins 400 years ago. 500 years ago is when Lilia received an admissions letter from NRC. I can’t say for sure when the Human-Fae war started, but Levan went missing around 100 years after. The point is- he was around during that 500 year time period that Rollo mentioned

So…all in all, I suppose this isn’t some lore-shattering theory/headcanon haha, but I wonder if Levan, in one of his previous diplomatic missions, visited the City of Flowers pre Human-Fae war. The way I envision it, Levan established a relationship with the City. After all, Lilia and Meleanor describe him as a kind man who sought to reunite all kinds of human and Fae together. So while he was there, some locals took note of his attire- perhaps even sketching him as well. Remember what Rollo said of the city taking inspiration for festival clothes from royalty and nobles, which Levan fits perfectly under that description. This was before the war, so the locals were kind and not afraid of him, unlike how they were with Lilia post-war

And through some twisted hand of fate, Malleus was best suited for the pattern inspired by his own father from 500 years ago. Perhaps Silver and Sebek’s cape resembling bird feathers were patterned after Levan’s wings as well? Because even though NBC definitely made unique outfits for the NRC students, why does Diasomnia of all dorms have this feather and raven theme? 👀

…

I like the implications that Crowley has been to the City of Flowers before haha. It’s a very nice and safe place, he says 🌸🐦‍⬛

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hear me out on this please

TADC crew x itward like reader

If you want to ignore this request you can I totally understand lol

TADC cast x itward type! Reader

Imma be so real with you anon originally I was gonna save this request for later since I have ZERO ideas (funny since fran bow as a game has had a choke hold on me since it released) but then I realized I can be evil and introduce people to the game

Anyways guys go play fran bow! Or better yet theres a full fandub, as well as several lets plays on YouTube!! I also recommend little misfortune as it's made by the same creators and takes place in the same universe!

Kind of wrote this as their general thoughts and dynamic with you since I struggled a lot with thinking of romantic stuff with them, especially with characters that I dont think would like. Be interested in characters like itward

CAINE:

You guys. Can talk up a storm, I think. Literally it's just you two "interrogating" one another and learning more about each other. As scared as you are of the current situation at hand, you can't help but be intrigued by everything, including the self proclaimed ring master!

Curiosity is damned, damn you curiosity/ref

Your curiosity ends up with you learning as nearly as much caine is willing to let on about the digital world...

Thinks

Two well dressed fellows, as well.. bonus if you have a red suit like itward so you kinda match with Caine

Caine loves watching you build your little machines, too, usually hovers over your shoulder

POMNI:

Sure you might not be able to fly away in a flying ship and return to the real world, but who's to say you cant make your own exit..? Possibly manipulate the code or something...! Sure you're main thing is machinery and technology, but theres usually some level of coding in there... so you and pomni team up to try to come up with a plan... honestly you probably lightly scold her when you find out she tried to leave, knowing ragatha needed help. On one hand you cant bring yourself to fully blame her, but on the other you would rather try to escape with everyone, you know? Pomni is sometimes put off by your odd nature, though... not enough to push her away from working with you though!!

RAGATHA:

You guys bond over your shared interested in sewing! You both make plushes! For you it's more so for gift giving, and for ragatha she does it to pass time! I like to think you guys both have nights where you just hang out, either in her room or yours, and just. Chat and sew! Probably finds your weirdness a little endearing in it's own way; afterall never once were you malicious, in fact you're quite kind to everyone around you and are more than willing to offer second chances even to those who dont deserve it. You and ragatha would be really good friends, I think!

JAX:

Finds your weirdness a little annoying and he probably asks you a ton of stupid questions on purpose. Probably asks a stream of dumb ones before asking one he knows will peak your interest, but insist he needs to go do something when you start answering. That aside he has probably asked if you could build him a funky little gadget (that he totally wont use for mischief).. probably tries to get all buddybuddy with you because he knows you wont give it to him for the...actual reason he wants

You personally dont hate him, but theres no real solid friendship there I think

KINGER:

Ah, the two strange father figures! Both with funky interests; kingers is bugs and yours is forks! ....okay well it's hard to combine those two interest so I guess we can use a different one, mechanics! You've definitely made kinger wind up robotic bugs before, and the fact it made him happy makes you happy! You guys both have a habit of spacing out, though on different levels and for different reasons...you both mutually keep an eye on one another, though!

You've probably dreamed of building a flying machine and escaping this place at least once, leaving with kinger. Too bad the reality isnt going to be that simple.. besides you'd bring everyone with you anyways

ZOOBLE:

honestly they get annoyed how sometimes you dont give direct answers and be vague when you're asked for a solution. It's not that you're trying to be malicious or incompetent, youre just trying to push for everyone to get creative and explore the world around them themselves, you know? Finds it a little off how you sometimes zone out, as if youre thinking about a dozen things at once... but nonetheless, zooble cant bring themselves to hate you. In fact you have this weird comforting aura around you.

GANGLE:

Youre so so nice with her and always trying to build her up. And honestly I think that's so sweet. Hugs. Give hugs! Side note I bet itward gives the most comforting hugs so by extension the reader gives the most comforting hugs!! You're always there to stand up for her, too, when people *cough cough jax* are mean to her. You probably also try to helo her make a new mask... not like "oh you help her fix her masks" no I mean like you try to make her a mask that's made of a stronger material so it's harder to break

Honestly I cant see a romantic relationship between a reader like this and gangle, I personally see it more as close friends or even found family

[alovember]

The m4's God Tier if they were in a SBURB session in Homestuck!!

I actually thought about this wayyy more than I should have so here's my reasoning BCS I know too much abt this godforsaken webcomic

I’m classpecting based on values/growth not existing strong character traits

Ex/ Someone might classpect Kyle as Mage of Mind because he is typically logical, knowledgeable, and curious but going off of growth he could be a Mage of Time which would require patience, cooperation, and handling sudden change.

Stan Marsh - Knight of Space

In Homestuck, the knight class is one that provides protection through their sword, their body, and their mind. It’s centers around providing assistance and protecting the other players, from harm or even themselves. Stan knows who and what he cares about, and sticks up for it. This combined with the space aspect makes a character that protects others through physical manifestations or manipulations of space. In Homestuck, the space aspect is taken literally so he could travel through space riffs by cutting through with a sword, combat involving teleportation, etc. He’s the only kid who is physically separated from the rest of the cast due to his family, as being moved out to the farm which mirrors Jade a character homestuck removed from her friends on an island. The space character is the one that breeds the Genesis frog. This would provide Stan with some growth as it requires him to look outside of his own emotional needs, and desires to provide that for another creature. We’ve seen, he can sometimes get to preoccupied with his own emotional reactions which leads him to not put others' feelings first as we see with Kenny’s death in the hospital.

Kyle Brovloski- Mage of Time

I made Kyle a mage due to his desire to actively seek truth and insight, which is what the entire mage class is about. We’ve seen time and time again that Kyle is a character who will take meaning from the mistakes that he and others make. That combined with the time aspect would make a character who knows and utilizes the timeline of the session to further their game. This would require patience and intense cooperation, which I think is something that Kyle would benefit from, and while his role is essential for the success of the session, being the time player is a tedious role. His abilities as a god-tiered character might involve some form of time manipulation whether it is speeding up or slowing down time and intimate knowledge of future and past events of the session as they make choices. Time players are ones that learn to harness the urge to change the environment around them, and often face many hardships that shape them throughout it all. 

ALSO time and space are the two players required to complete a session. This would make these two a formidable duo as Kyle can provide insight into any events or timeline altercations while stan executes those changes in the space area and provide protection and attacks from denizens and opponents. This makes sense from a narrative level as Stan and Kyle are often the two driving forces behind how things get fixed/accelerated in South Park. It’s essentially the planner and executor.

Eric Cartman- Prince of Life

The Prince of Hope fits Cartman extremely well since it is the most active (self seeking) class out of the majority of them and is the most destructive one as well. A prince is an extremely powerful player with a game that can make or break whether a session will succeed or become an offshoot. A prince uses their aspect to destroy and create chaos within a session. A prince of hope would be someone who uses hope to destroy their enemies or in the worst case their teammates. A prince of hope’s power could revolve around the manipulation of a person's innate hope and use it to his own advantage. In the end, a lot of Eric's growth would come from realizing how to use his manipulative skills to aid his friends and provide protection, although this could prove difficult as he is often self-serving throughout the show. This aspect and class fits him because he could either be the greatest obstacle to winning the game or inversely provide the greatest support to win. In the show, he acts as an oppositional force towards other characters for self-gain or provides clever insight and aid to whoever he’s trying to help or assist in any way.

Kenny McCormick- Thief of Doom

I feel like Kenny’s is the most accurate to the show. The thief class is someone who uses their class to steal their aspect for themselves. And like in the show I’m going to keep the Kenny dying and coming back concept as a glitch in the session. A thief of doom would be someone who steals doom or narrative peril from other characters for themselves. This could happen with any tasking or opportunity where he could take the fall and die for other characters over and over again. For example, if Stan was at risk of dying due to the actions of another character, he could steal the doom that surrounds Stan and direct it towards himself, therefore making him the target and allowing Stan to continue to fight or do whatever is happening in combat. Then due to the glitch, he would be revived the next day. So kind of like in the show, Kenny would be the stand-in person for others' injuries and potential downfalls. The growth would come from him realizing you cannot take on everyone’s issues, whether physical or mental, and come to realize that he and others can handle their own issues and don’t require intervention all the time, a hard lesson to learn for someone who is used to the role of sacrifice.

Anyways if you read all that ty!! and if you don't know HS hopefully it still made sense somewhat lmaooo

[thatpodcastkid]

Magnus Archives Relisten 10, MAG 10

Do we think Jonny Sims has read Twilight?

Spoilers ahead

Facts: Statement of Trevor Herbert regarding his life as a self-proclaimed vampire hunter. Statement given July 10, 2010.

Statement Notes: I just love that Trevor's episode is right after Julia's. It really lets you see the wheels turning in Jonny's head as he planned out the series.

On my first listen, this was one of the statements I truly did not believe was true. The combination of Trevor's traumatic childhood, cancer, and admission that he killed a "non-vampire" made the whole thing seem like a complex fantasy. But on the second listen, I realized that is exactly how the horrors work. They specifically target vulnerable people so that their experiences will be dismissed or explained away by more "rational" people. You don't believe Trevor because you aren't supposed to.

Jon says he can't find the "vampire teeth" in the Archives or in the "Secure Containment Room" (Btw both "Archives" and "Secure Containment Room" are proper nouns in the transcript). Is this an early name for Artifact Storage or a subsection of it? It would make sense for the Institute to have a separate facility for the dangerous artifacts, but this raises questions regarding how "secure" this facility is. Assuming this is where the real artifacts like Leitners and the table are held, Jon can access it fairly easily at the end of season 2, but he's relatively high-ranking at the institute. Would Elias ever allow an outsider into the facility like he allows them into the library? Or would that violate his desire to hoard knowledge?

Character Notes: This statement is a "photocopy of a photocopy," which speaks to Gertrude's organization. Something had to have happened to the original, whether she destroyed it or Elias took it, but she had a backup. Knowing that Trevor Herbert is still active in monster hunting, she made another copy to preserve the information. Presumably, she was hoping Sasha would find it and be able to access Herbert when she became the Archivist, but instead it was found and dismissed by Jon.

This episode also establishes that Martin was there when the statement was taken. Many fans assume Martin was hired to work in the archives, but this statement was given SIX YEARS before Gertrude's death, meaning that he would have had to work in research or another facility before the archives. Also, he's worked at the institute for at least 8 years by the time he reveals he lied on his resume, meaning he was TWENTY-TWO when this statement was given and was told that Trevor Herbert died.

The rumor of Herbert's death raises other questions. Why would that story spread? It seems to be another part of Elias' long game. If Martin--who he specifically selected to eventually be on the archival staff--believed Herbert was dead and told Jon so, then Jon would not seek him out and put himself in danger too early. Additionally, he would not be able to find the skin book and speak with Gerry before the time was right. Elias needed everything to run on his schedule.

Entity Alignment: With Trevor, there is a definite Hunt alignment. His whole life is driven by the desire to seek out and kill vampires. It's become the core tenant of his identity and drives him to forsake all personal relationships and attachments, centering his life around the fear of vampires and the need to kill them. The need to eliminate his own fear is what leads to him becoming an avatar of fear itself.

But I struggle to find a clear connection to what fear the vampires are connected to. They could be Hunt avatars or aligned creatures themselves. They have a desire to find and destroy living things, mindlessly hunting. It would also make sense for a Hunt creature to draw in Herbert and turn him into a Hunt avatar, turning him into what he fears most. This tactic is seen throughout the series with multiple fears, but I am specifically reminded of the Hunt in MAG 112 as the book club turns against itself.

There is an element of the Flesh within the vampires, however. They turn humans into food, removing their identities and degrading them into their physical existence. A large portion of the Flesh is dedicated to removing any idea of a consciousness or soul and reminding us that we are meat, which the vampires seem to do effectively.

I also noticed connections to the Stranger in the vampires. While their ultimate actions don't match with the Stranger's modus operandi, their mannerisms are similar. The primary similarity is the fact that vampires don't speak, as if they "don't have a voicebox," yet they still manage to be understood. The Stranger draws people in with its apparently human attributes, and only when it's too late do victims realize something is off. So long as the vampires are understandable, victims don't realize the not talking is odd until it's too late. Furthermore, the first vampire Herbert meets offers him rotten fruit, and many Stranger-aligned creatures and avatars give strange gits as an attempt to form a human connection while still unsettling people (tooth apple, metal heart, etc.). The fruit made Trevor uncomfortable and afraid, but he didn't leave the old woman because he reasoned she was trying to be kind in a twisted way.

But I also wonder if the vampires are aligned at all. Trevor describes them as being driven only by the vague desire to feed. While this could signal a Hunt or Flesh alignment, they don't have a connection to the rituals of these entities nor their other avatars. In Mag 111, Gerry explains "What's out there doesn't care about blood," before correcting "Yeah, obviously except for the vampires." Again, the need to consume blood could align the vampires with the Hunt or Flesh, but they don't seem to be driven by the desire to cause fear. If the vampires are fueled by an actual, physical need to consume blood for survival, could they accurately be associated with a fear-driven entity? Or are they just another monstrous thing that exists in this universe?

[sciencetechnologyandsoteriology]

The degree to which Lae'Zels story Fucking Got Me is insane. I truly was not prepared.

I really appreciate how they keep her fierce. She's fierce in her vulnerability - pulling your ass out of bed because she realizes that there's something important changing in her. The growth in realizing you cannot demand devotion. How her growing closer to someone has nothing to do with her becoming less deadly or passionate, but seeing how her old attitude weakened her. How intimacy can straighten your back and grant certitude into the strokes of your sword.

The other beats of her story where she copes, with struggle and grace, with her entire belief system slowly being shattered. There are real limits to the video game genre here - one can imagine what a role this could be for a live action actor in a traditional movie - but it is also a testament to the unique power of including the viewer as a true active agent. Her story is truly more interesting and powerful because you can shape it and share it. She can arrive at many destinations and it's much more powerful that you direct the storylines of characters within your playthrough. I genuinely think that, among everything else, Baldur's Gate 3 testifies to the power and validity of this kind of branching story. The scale of the work is obviously hugely challenging. It's one thing to be a single author, it's another to manage a team of hundreds of creative professionals who have the skill to collaboratively combine the synthesis of so many performances. Too often "taking video games seriously" as places to tell stories means putting up with weaknesses because of the enormous difficulty of producing any product - I hope we're entering an age where strong work like this is rewarded and thrives.

Meme Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/BaldursGate3/comments/15sfov2/if_you_all_havent_realized_she_is_a_tsundere_and/

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Game Night: Cassette Beasts

Pokémon fans threatening to find a new monster taming series is like Americans threatening to move to Canada: we’ve all said it at some point, and for completely valid reasons, but the reality is that it just isn’t that easy to pick up and go.  For me at least, it’s hard to pin down exactly what it is about Pokémon that’s central to my interest in it, so I’m not quite sure what to look for in other monster tamers.  At the very least, when something like Palworld rolls around I can easily tell that it’s not that.  The last several Pokémon games have been some of my favorites, but I’ve remained curious about the genre at large; unfortunately these games are innately a rather large commitment, which doesn’t pair well with my indecisive uncertainty.  All this to say, while I was definitely intrigued by Cassette Beasts when I first heard about it years ago, that intrigue never actually went anywhere…until now.

I believe I recently heard someone toss it out as a recommendation on a stream I was watching, which is why it stuck out when I was browsing the Games Done Quick channel on YouTube.  Out of curiosity, I wound up watching the speedrun.  I then poked around the official wiki a bit and came to realize this game could be very appealing to me specifically.  And BOY was I right about that!

Before we get into it, spoiler-free tl;dr: Cassette Beasts both wears its inspiration proudly on its sleeve and iterates upon it in many truly fascinating ways, with an atmosphere that switches effortlessly between delightfully cozy and creepy cool.  I have some gripes, but I have been thoroughly entertained and downright mesmerized playing this game.  If you have any interest in monster tamers, pixel art indie RPGs, and/or cosmic horror, I highly recommend checking Cassette Beasts out.

>PLAY

The game first asks you to customize your character, sans outfit—that comes later so you’re not entirely overwhelmed right away.  There’s also an option for pronouns, including he/him, she/her, and they/them, which is lovely to see.  You are then dropped onto the shore of a mysterious island, and are found by a girl who tells you that you’ve landed in a different dimension.  So, yes, technically an isekai.  But this is a limbo-esque world that only has humans because they keep falling into it from time to time—every single character is either from another world, or was born to parents who are stuck here.  That, combined with making your character’s explicit goal “find a way home”, excellently avoids the most common pitfalls of the genre and lets you assess it without preconceived notions.  What’s really interesting about this is that people are pulled from many different worlds, and from various points in the timeline: you have characters talking about the Mars landing of 1969 and the 20th century peace treaty with the elves, and also famous Greek philosophers and Karl Marx.  I love how eclectic it is, and it’s frequently used in really funny ways. (You all remember Diogenes, right?  Guess what traits are shared by all the monsters he uses.) The people brought here have all banded together in a mutually supportive community, with everyone contributing what they can and materials like wood and metal being traded for goods as opposed to using money.  Why do we want to go home again?  This sounds like a nice place to live!

But anyway, we’re here for the monsters.  And in-game they are just called “monsters”, never “Cassette Beasts”.  Which strikes me as odd.  But the monsters have been in this world way longer than the cassette tapes, which are actually a relatively recent arrival courtesy of an isekai’d shopping mall.  Rather than catching a monster, you record them on a blank tape, meaning that even if you are successful you’ll still need to defeat the monster or flee to end the battle.  You then use your tape and cassette player to take on the form and powers of the recorded monster, and fight your battles first-hand!  Pokémon briefly flirted with this idea in a spin-off manga (Pokémon ReBURST), but here it’s fully embraced; this sort of approach can be seen in other aspects too, as we’ll see later.  After learning the basics, you’re given a few major questlines and then set free into the open world of New Wirral, tackling whatever catches your attention as you romp around.  There is some level-scaling, though I’m not sure of the specifics.  Regardless, both it and enemy AI can be adjusted via Settings, and you can also turn off the glitch effects that show up if those are impacting your experience.  In battle you control both your avatar and one of several recruitable partners, and can carry up to six tapes at a time—essentially Doubles format, with all the complexity and chaos that entails.  One very interesting wrinkle in the formula is that in addition to the tapes/monsters having health bars, the humans also have their own health bar, hidden under that of their tape as if the tape’s HP was a shield meter.  If attacks overkill your tape, the excess damage is dealt to your own HP, and if you lose all of your HP then you’re done regardless of how many tapes you have left.  It’s an important extra resource to keep in mind, and the same is true for (most) NPC cassette-users: if you deal enough damage to their own health bar you can defeat them without having to get through all of their tapes.  Until the late/post-game, that is, where your human foes are invulnerable beneath their tapes while you very much are not, and that feels very unfair.  I also find it strange that there’s no item for restoring your human HP—campfires to rest at are fairly plentiful, but it’s still somewhat odd.

Each monster has one type, and rather than limited uses for each of its moves, both characters generate AP every turn they can then spend on certain attacks.  Moves also each have a type, but while there is a same type attack bonus (STAB), it’s not as significant as it is in Pokémon.  Naturally, each type has advantages and disadvantages over other types, but!  Weakness and resistance is also toned way down, and is not your primary goal when using type advantage. Type interaction is far, far more nuanced in this game, involving the entire spectrum of ailments and buffs and debuffs, and even changing the target’s type.  For example: Water extinguishes Fire, temporarily reducing its attack power.  Using Fire on Water creates steam, which heals Water over the next few turns.  Fire also melts Ice, changing it to a Water type for a few turns.  And this is all just barely scratching the surface!  A chart showing these interactions is given to you in-game, which is nice; more than that, whenever you discover a new interaction for the first time, a tutorial box pops up and elaborates on the effects, as well as providing an explanation of why (extinguish, steam, melt, etc) that goes a long way in keeping track of them all.  While a fantastic feature, it can get repetitive at times: the mystical Astral type has identical interactions with all four classical elements, and despite all 4 being mentioned the first time, you’ll still get that same text box explaining that interaction 4 times.  Types range from the usual suspects (Fire, Water, Air) to some very…surprising choices (Glass, Plastic, Glitter), plus Typeless moves that take on the type of the monster using them.  Moves are treated as stickers applied to your tapes, and can be peeled and moved at your discretion; you obtain them either from leveling up a tape, or from shops and chests and drops.  Leveling up monsters (from 0 to 5 stars) also increases their max AP and how many move slots they have, and I think slightly increases their stats?  Your human characters, though, have their own stats which increase as you level them up from 1 to…well I’m not sure exactly but it exceeds 100 at least.  I couldn’t tell you the exact mathematical way the two sets of stats interact, but it’s a neat idea, strengthening yourself as well as the tapes you collect.  Your partners gain experience even if they’re not with you, and thank God they do, otherwise it’d be a pain to spend proper time with each and every one of them.

There’s one other major battle mechanic unlocked at the end of the tutorial segment: Fusion.  After filling up a meter, your avatar and partner can fuse their monster forms together to unleash hell upon your enemies.  Monster sprites were made modular so that the game could automatically generate fusions on its own, meaning that there are in fact over 16000 different fusions you can make, and your bestiary will keep a list of them all. (Thank God there are absolutely no incentives for filling that list!) Fusing will also cause whatever music track is playing to gain vocals, which is a fun way to up the presentation factor.  Your relationship with your partner is key to Fusion: its measured from 0 to 5 hearts, and you need at least 1 to be able to perform Fusion at all.  At 2 hearts, you gain a super move.  Every level gained increases the stats of your fusion as well.  It’s a fun mechanic to mess around with, even if a lot of the fusions can look a bit derpy—small price for the sheer flexibility of the system.  I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Pokémon fans have been enamored with fusion since at least B2W2; I doubt it’s coincidence that Cassette Beasts chose to implement it as a Mega Evolution-esque gimmick.  Once you get to the late/post-game, the NPC fights also gain access to Fusion, giving you a chance to figure out ways to play around the feature from the other side.

Like I said before, this game greatly expands upon a number of fan-favorite concepts from Pokémon, and I’m pleased to say that extends all the way to Shinies.  Every monster has a small chance to be a “bootleg”, with not only a different color scheme, but a different type.  There are a total of 14 types in the game.  Do you see where this is going?  Every single monster has 14 variants with different types and color palettes (even their original type, weirdly enough?).  And every single one has a page in their bestiary dedicated solely to tracking how many of these variants you’ve found.  Probably nightmarish for a completionist, but holy shit is that insanely cool!  Multiple palettes to choose from instead of being stuck with just one that might suck!  And they have mechanical differences to incentivize recording them beyond simply collector’s value!  Fantastic!  There are also various ways to increase your odds, all the way up to 20% in specific cases, which I imagine will entice quite a few players into the hobby of bootleg hunting.

Let’s see, what other mechanical topics can I cover before moving onto more story-related stuff?  Field moves are a thing—you obtain them by recording a specific monster, and in the case of some like the glide you’ll partially transform when it’s activated.  I think it strikes a nice balance: it’s dependent on what you yourself have actually recorded, but doesn’t ask you to dedicate move or party slots to it.  Their approach to evolution feels simplified: when you rest after getting a tape to 5 stars, you’ll be prompted to “remaster” it if applicable, rather than having to guess which level you should be aiming for.  There are a few wrinkles when it comes to branching evolutions, but only a few, and mostly come down to either having a certain move on the monster to change its remaster, or, after choosing to remaster, being given two options right there.  Those options can be a bit vague, though; I looked into it ahead of time, and if I had gone with the option my gut opted for when remastering my starter, I would have gotten the less cool-looking monster.  I also want to mention the loading screens; you know how The Sims lists random stuff on its loading screens?  They do something similar here, except they’re all related to one of the monsters: “Directing Traffikrab”, “Tuning Kittelly”, “Sharpening Ripterra’s knifeclaws”.  It’s a little thing but I find it charming, and perhaps a bit devious in making players curious to track down these various monsters being teased.  Oh, and selecting the Flee option will tell you your percent chance to flee, and even if you fail you can still choose to blackout if you really just want to get out of there.  There’s also a Mystery Gift analogue that’s been used to distribute various bootlegs, and things I haven’t even tried like the “Gym Pass” to customize your player character's stats.  Beating the game also unlocks customization options for future playthroughs like randomizers and permadeath.  There’s a LOT.  It’s a very packed game.

Right then, story.  There are two BIG big questlines, one of which being a setup similar to collecting Gym Badges: there are 12 special NPCs all over the map who give you a stamp when you defeat them, but rather than specializing in a certain type, they tend to have a favorite tactic they employ in battle.  One of the easiest to find specializes in moves that create defensive walls; one particularly annoying one prioritizes controlling accuracy and evasion; there’s even one who specializes in just one particular monster with an elaborate signature move.  It’s perhaps not an enormous difference, but again, it’s nuanced.  There is also a “Champion” fight at the end, but I won’t get into that.  More importantly, the questline that the game is largely centered around and leads to the end credits, is the hunt for hidden subway stations that house powerful, eldritch boss monsters known as Archangels.  Apparently, when humans first wound up in New Wirral, they didn’t know what to make of the monsters and tended to refer to them as angels or demons.  That fell out of fashion as the community came to understand monsters better.  The Archangels, however, cannot be understood by human minds.  Each one is drawn/animated in its own style that clashes with the world around them—your partners all say that it hurts just to look at them, and just being in the stations makes them feel uneasy.  A personal favorite is the claymation skeleton with a vertical mouth, to give you some idea of what to expect.  These fights have their own unique mechanics, and the Archangels tend to hit very, very hard; if you do survive, some floating guy in a red coat with a 3D rendered reflective triangle for a head shows up and absorbs the boss (concerning), and you’re given part of a riddle that will eventually lead you to the final dungeon.  The vibes are incredibly at odds with the typical overworld gameplay, and I mean that in THE best possible way.  The Archangels were a real highlight for me.

In addition to those, every partner you can recruit has their own questline, which can range from a single fight all the way to finding 6 hidden locations around the map with their own substantial battles to win.  The girl who finds you at the start of the game, Kayleigh, is your first partner, first having a quest that’s essentially “finish the tutorial” before switching to a more personal quest that involves dealing with an actual cult.  You’re also very early on pushed in the direction of Eugene, who has that long, long quest finding hidden locations all over the map.  Slow-going as it is, though, it’s about fighting off a horde of capitalist vampires who are trying to establish a housing market, so.  That’s fucking hilarious.  But it has stiff competition in Felix’s quest, where you follow his middle school OC brought to life as she journeys to four sacred altars to slay their guardians.  That’s right, Felix’s edgy anime OC, an angel demon catgirl ninja named Kuneko, is also up and about in New Wirral and he is mortified by this discovery.  Excellent questline, no notes.  Another partner you’ll run into fairly early is Meredith; her quest involves navigating a dungeon you probably won’t get to for a good while, though it’s a solid dungeon when you do get to it.  There’s also Viola, the character from Twelfth Night by William fucking Shakespeare, whose search for her brother takes her into a haunted shipwreck to face a villain from a different Shakespeare story.  New Wirral is very eclectic.  But perhaps least expected of all is Barkley the dog.  One of your playable partners is a dog.  His quest is the shortest and an utterly fucking brutal punch to the emotional gut.  Anyway I like all these folks, they’ve got personality and endearing character development that touches on some personally relevant topics.  Aside from Barkley, you can romance any partner after maxing out your relationship level, and that was a tough choice to make.  The Gym Leader analogues are sufficiently quirky for their role, and you meet a handful of other perfectly fine recurring characters—including a few who are only encountered in post-game quests.  If I’m really being strict here, I don’t think I’d say any of this game’s characters have jumped the ranks to new blorbo status, but take that as you will.

The post-game has an interesting structure to it.  You don’t unlock any new areas, not really, but after engaging with the newly-unlocked sidequest board for a bit, you gain access to a few longer questlines.  There are two that eventually come together which each feature their own new characters, one following the direct consequences of actions you took earlier in the story, and one that’s about someone new being dropped onto New Wirral, showing that the world keeps turning even if your particular story is over.  There’s also another questline which delves even deeper into the background lore of the game, and that’s something I’ll never get enough of.  The repeating sidequests are brief and rewarding enough to from a satisfying gameplay loop to disguise the grind, and I’m only just now considering an extended break after nearly 70 hours total gameplay (which I would guess is around half post-game).

Oh, I should also talk more about the bestiary and completing it!  Each monster has the standard flavor text and habitat listing, plus that page that tracks bootlegs, and a list of how many you’ve encountered/defeated.  However, when you raise a tape to 5 star level, you also unlock an additional page of flavor text, usually something related to the inspiration for the monster’s design.  While heavily scaled back, having this sort of progression in the bestiary reminds me of doing research in Pokémon Legends Arceus, and I very much appreciate that.  Going that far is optional, of course—really, doing anything involving the bestiary is optional.  But the game does nudge you in that direction and reward you several times along the way.  When you first encounter the “professor” character, he gives you a series of quests that just ask you to record one of the monsters found in the central region of the map.  Easy!  From there, he gives you a handful of resources and tapes every time you hit a new milestone of 10 monsters recorded.  In the post-game you can also randomly get quests asking you to get a certain monster to 5 star, or perform a specific fusion, or use a specific monster to fight the professor’s assistant, all slowly, slowly nudging you in the direction of completion.  But what’s really interesting is that you don’t necessarily have to fully complete the bestiary to get the grand prize (this game’s equivalent to the Master Ball).  Cassette Beasts originally had 120 monsters.  A later update raised that to 128, and some time after that, they released a DLC that added a handful of unnumbered monsters.  You get the Master Tape by recording 128 monster species.  So, if you record a bunch of the DLC monsters, you can “complete” the bestiary without tracking down every last monster in the base game.  If you do go beyond that, the completion percentage will actually go over 100%, which is so weird to see, but in a cool way.  It seems the intention was specifically to not make completion increasingly difficult as new updates are added, which is honestly pretty rad!  And, again, though I appreciate the bestiary remembering all of your fusions, I’m so glad there’s nothing incentivizing you to from every last one of them.  Same goes for bootlegs.  So, does this mean future updates/DLC with even more monsters are on the way?  No clue.  But they are working on a multiplayer update expected to release soon! (I don’t have Switch Online so I won’t be able to do much with that lol.)

I did purchase the DLC right away; I was confident I would enjoy the game enough I would want it eventually, and buying them both together was slightly cheaper than buying them separately. (The bundle also comes with a cosmetics pack but it’s nothing that interests me personally.) After progressing through the main quest enough that you become able to access the final dungeon, a small boat washes ashore, and you’re able to ride it to a dock in the middle of the ocean housing some sort of carnival.  The ringmistress asks you to explore the three major attractions and beat their power sources, the “Infernal Engines”, into submission.  Despite being a small area it’s still just as open-ended as New Wirral, an effort I appreciate.  You can tackle the attractions in any order you want, even leave in the middle of one to go do another if you prefer.  The place is also populated by several new monsters to record, including one of my personal favorites, a ghostly book monster named Hauntome.  It’s a few mini-dungeons, some solid bosses capping them off, and then one last boss, with a loose story in the background that has some connections to the main story but isn’t anything essential.  I don’t know if I’d go as far as to call it a must-buy, but it is fun, and inexpensive, and more Cassette Beasts.  Up to you.

There are two major themes I picked up on during my playthrough: community and art.  The people who’ve ended up in New Wirral, in spite of coming from countless different dimensions, have all banded together to support each other and however many newcomers show up; they don’t even ask for anything in return, they just value life and want to be sure people are cared for.  The theme that plays in Harbourtown is transparent about this: “we’re all in the same ship […] but at least we’re together […] I don’t know you but we’ll make the most of / wherever we are now”.  Fusion is about literally joining with someone to create something stronger than either of you could do on your own.  There are even some genuinely scary twisted manifestations of this idea, like the Mournington cult and the truth behind the Landkeepers—people crave community, and there are some who will use that to their own advantage.  It’s baked into the motivations of all your partners, and, switching gears, most of them are heavily connected to art too!  Felix is an artist learning he doesn’t need to be ashamed of his past, less “polished” work.  Kayleigh, after addressing her regrets with Mournington, reconnects with her old hobby of playing guitar.  Meredith actually takes things in a different direction: she used to spend all of her time consuming vast quantities of art to the point that it cut her off from her community, showing that you still need to exercise moderation when it comes to art.  Viola is a character from another, pre-existing work of art!  The Archangels play into this as well: one of the biggest things setting them apart is the way they clash with the rest of the game’s art style, and their nature as incarnations of humankind’s ideas is a delightfully malevolent spin on the whole thing.

Taking these two themes together, Cassette Beasts presents a thesis on our responsibility to our fellow people and how we can all find our own way to fulfill it, with a particular focus on art and how it broadly conveys our ideas and inspires change.  The final boss fight punctuates this beautifully when, after Aleph destroys your cassette player, Morgante awakens and tells you that you don’t truly need the cassettes.  “THE ABILITY TO MANIFEST YOUR WILL TO ALTER REALITY…TO CHANGE YOUR WORLD, AND YOURSELVES...THAT LIES WITHIN YOU.”  Then she and ALL of your partners fuse with your avatar, and through your combined might, you strike down the malevolent forces in your way, secure a path home, and bring a huge, fundamental change to New Wirral as its inhabitants now have the option to decide if they should stay or go.  It’s an extremely satisfying ending, even if it does see you and your partners going their separate ways.  But, who knows?  Given a few tidbits from the post-game, it sounds like we just might get to meet them again someday.

Again, I had a really, really great time with Cassette Beasts and highly recommend it.  It’s charming, its fun, and it’s only $20!  Maybe don’t get it on Switch, though, not if you can’t stand frequent load times.

And, just to brag about my bootlegs a little:

-The random free bootleg from Harbourtown was a Glass-type Dandylion for me

-The freebie Ritual Candle netted me a Water-type Glaistain!

-The post-game bootleg starter, I got a Poison-type Candevil

-Was able to use the mailbox to get a Fire-type Undyin

-And obviously there’s Barkley’s Ice-type Pombomb

-The first one I encountered purely by chance was an Astral-type Jellyton

-Air-type Jellyton

-Ice-type Carniviper

-Astral-type Carniviper

-Fire-type Traffikrab

-Plant-type Squirey

-Ice-type Boltam

-Lightning-type Snoopin

-Poison-type Kirikuri

-Glass-type Scubalrus

-Glass-type Spooki-onna

-Lightning-type Dominoth

-A Fire-type Piksie

-A Glitter-type Picksie

[the-au-collector]

Ok so I've decided to do some digging to try to figure out who the other Mystery Link is. I couldn't find a full version of the LU banner but I did find screenshots from this ask that Jojo answered all the way back in 2018. Idk if she cropped the picture after that, but the banner is still the same picture, just cropped.

I decided to start with the first unconfirmed(?) Link, First, since we already know that's who it is. Idk if anyone's done this before but here is my breakdown:

Mystery Link 1 (First) pretty closely matches with the depiction of him from the Manga. The hair matches, you can see the scarf, his pauldron, his belt, his double-crossing straps. It all matches pretty perfectly, so obviously this is First. We already know that this is First.

The question is who is this guy:

He's very confusing.

So we know he has short hair, wears a strap across his chest, has this weird item on his belt, and wears a split tunic. His boots also come up to about his knees. He looks pretty tall, too. His collar is what I would describe as Legend-esque. It's very similar to Legend's collar. He shirt almost reminds me of Wild? IDK why

I'm going to immediately cross out Spirit and Age as candidates since Jojo has already confirmed they're part of Wind and Wild respectively. I also want to cross off Shadow here too. Mr. Mystery is too tall to be Shadow. I'm also quasi-crossing out Cadence of Hyrule Link since I don't think that game was released when jojo was plotting Linked Universe, but I'm not 100% sure about that so it's open I'm just not considering it for this.

So my thoughts immediately go to four other characters. My immediate thought was CDI Link. I also remembered that cartoon Link exists. And upon closer inspection, I'm not unconvinced Mr. Mystery isn't Time.

So let's go through all 3:

CDI Link

Okay he doesn't really match... at all. At the same time, I want to take this moment to take another look at Legend's design since that deviates quite a lot from his canon designs in the series (so does Four's design) so I'm not going to completely dismiss CDI Link's potential. The item on the hip especially seems to match the compasses from Zelda's adventure. But CDI Link himself...

No. His hair is long. His boots kind of match, but he isn't wearing any outward straps and those compasses are also from a game where the protagonist is Zelda not him. Mostly his hair and simplistic design is the main thing throwing me off. Especially the hair.

Likelihood: ehhh we'll go 6/10.

Cartoon Link

I'm going to be honest I forgot he existed.

Anyways he does have the low-cut neck and the short hair and the thing on his belt. But, like every Link, he has the Default Link Outfit which doesn't really say much since (like we see with Legend and Four especially) jojo will change designs to make the Links more distinct. Someone could theoretically argue she wouldn't change Cartoon much since his hair is already brown instead of blonde...

Honestly for being a Link not included in LU, I'd say he matches pretty close to Mr. Mystery. Closer than CDI anyways.

Likelihood: 7/10. Depends on how different Jojo would be willing to make his design for the comic (he could also be combined with CDI Link too, which would up it to 8/10)

But I noticed something else. Mr. Mystery's outfit and face look a little familiar...

Young Time perhaps?

They have the strap, the belt, the low-cut shirt, the short hair. Mr. Mystery's face literally lines up to Time's chin. I feel like that's significant since jojo made all the Links' face and eye shapes distinct.

The only thing I can't think of is why we would have an alternate version of Time. Maybe we'll see Downfall Time? Maybe Time is Sir Raven after all?

Idk, the more I looked at Mr. Mystery the more I realized he looked a lot like Time.

Likelihood: 4/10. It would be cool, but idk why Jojo would make 2 Times join the party.

Also something very interesting from the banner image:

Ravio's included!

[fang-and-feather]

Ikemen Vampire - Charles x Reader

Visions of Temptation, Day 4 Prompt: Jealousy/Possessiveness

Challenge hosted by @xxsycamore

Definitely, writing smut for the first time, for a character I'm writing for the second time takes a lot of effort. Can't believe this one took so long...

This can be considered of the same universe and collection of More Time With You

I have to thank @yanderepuck, who helped me find prompts for a couple of characters, this combination being one of them.

Kinktober Masterlist / IkeVamp Masterlist / General Masterlist / AO3 Link

You shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as you did. This teasing game you played with your boyfriend, by chance rather than your own design - you weren’t cruel to do that to him on purpose, even if you enjoyed the results - that was unlikely to do any emotional good to either of you.

But it wasn’t like you could stop something you weren’t doing on purpose. You had been a little extra busy with work these days. And although him being more clingy than usual or jealous made you worried, you understood him feeling lonely or insecure.

Besides, you knew you shouldn’t, but you definitely enjoyed sex when he was possessive of you in a whole different way than usual.

Charles was usually so eager to please, very gentle with you, and focused mostly on your pleasure. You weren’t complaining, but sometimes you wanted a little more, but asking was embarrassing, and made you feel like he was going along just to please you.

Sometimes you just wanted Charles to think more of what he wanted - besides you, that was a given - or to lose control.

He definitely got a lot more urgent and demanding when he was feeling lonely. Not that you ever made him feel so on purpose. Life just got on the way sometimes, especially before you started living together.

But it was the way he got when he was jealous that you enjoyed the most, and felt guiltier about.

Again, you didn’t make him jealous on purpose. You saw the other guys as a kind of family, and were used to platonic contact. That rarely happened to begin with, especially in public. Charles just happened on such occasions, more times than you would believe to be a coincidence, before you realized he was trying to meet you by showing up when and where you usually went shopping whenever he had time. A sweet gesture, if it hadn’t caused so much confusion.

This last time it happened, you found yourself in a carriage on the way back to the castle, sitting on Charles’ lap, underwear missing and his cock buried deep inside you. A hand around your waist kept you from moving, except for the movement of the carriage, that occasionally had you bouncing on him, and fighting to hold back from moaning, afraid you would be heard.

Despite that, you hadn’t complained about the way he handled you when you entered the carriage, or at being put on his lap like this in a semi-public space. You loved being connected to him like this after having so little tie for each other. You enjoyed when he was possessive like this, or when he came after you with such urgency.

You only complained and tried to squirm away when Charles started unbuttoning your shirt.

“Charles… not here.” You pleaded in a low tone.

“I just want to be closer to you.” He replied, in a tone that made you certain he was pouting. “Don’t you want me too? Your body says it does.”

He only opened the first three buttons, and pulled the top of your shirt down, exposing your shoulders and kissing and licking the revealed skin, as if trying to erase another person’s touch from you.

That made you tighten around him, and a low moan escaped both of you at the same time, his own muffled against your skin.

“We are already close enough. Can’t we continue this at home?”

You were in a dilemma. You would rather not stop, but you would rather not be heard either, and Charles did seem to realize it. His hand caressed your cheek, thumb running over your lower lip, your mouth opening almost on instinct.

“If you’re only worried about being heard, maybe I should find something to gag you with instead.” He whispered in your ear, thumb slipping inside your mouth. “This way we can play as much as we want.”

You gulped, sucking and almost bitting on his finger to keep another moan down when you found yourself tightening around him. His own moan was muffled against your skin.

“You like the idea, don’t you?” The finger was pulled from your mouth with an audible sound. “I will keep that in mind. Although” he kissed the back of your neck, “I love to listen to you.” Another kiss was placed on your back. “Love to hear how much I please you.” He traced a path back up with his tongue, making you shiver and tighten around him again. You had to cover your mouth not to moan. “Love the way you cry my name.” A soft bite on the back of your neck and you bit your hand to keep quiet. “But I don’t want anyone to hear you like this either.”

Charles buttoned your shirt back up again and quieted for the rest of the ride, the two of you quite impatient to reach your destination.

As soon as that happened, Charles carried you while kissing you, only to put you down as soon as you were inside, pushing you against the wall, kissing you roughly, one hand unbuttoning your shirt again, the other hiking your skirt up and teasing your entrance.

“Still so wet. I’m the only one who can touch you like this. The only one who can make you feel like this, right?” You only nodded, moaning openly now, as he teased you. Charles pulled away. “Then turn around.”

You promptly did as requested, turning around and leaning a little forward, hands against the wall, legs apart, while you heard the rustling of his clothes. You knew Charles wouldn’t do something like this if he wasn’t sure no one would be home for a while, not with how possessive he was being, but there was an added thrill at the possibility.

Charles hummed in approval, a hand groping one of your breasts, the other holding your hips, before he thrust all the way into you in one quick motion, but didn’t move.

“That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? I’m the only one who can satisfy you like this, right?” he ran the tip of a nail lightly down your spine, making you shiver again.

“Charles… please!” You pleaded, desperate for more stimulation.

Charles chuckled.

“I’ll give you my love until you’re satisfied. Until you’ll think of nothing but me.”

You already did, but all that came out of you were moans, as he finally started thrusting into you, setting a slow but deep pace, with one hand teasing your nipples and the other exploring your skin, stimulating other sensitive spots.

After all the teasing in the carriage, neither of you lasted long. Pleasure overwhelmed you and your legs almost gave out, but Carles scooped you up again.

“Tired already?” He kissed your forehead as you nodded. “Rest a little now, but I’m not nearly done with you. You’re not fully satisfied already, are you? Just need a break?”

You nodded again, knowing you were in for a long day, and you couldn’t wait.

Tag List: @tele86

If you want to be tagged on future writings, you can reply to this post or send me a message

Kinktober Masterlist / IkeVamp Masterlist / General Masterlist

[sonkitty]

Crowley S2 Hair Post #1 Redone v2

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

This post was last updated 04/02/2024.

Take it all in.

Treasure it for all that it is.

Because you will never see this hairstyle this clearly on Crowley ever again, not even from different angles...unless there's a treat waiting for us in season 3. But otherwise, no, that's all we get of this gorgeous, gorgeous shot.

...

Sideburn Check

Before we see Crowley pull that newspaper down, we are given a profile view of his right side of his face and can see his right sideburn. This sideburn looks short but is a little longer than the shortness we'll eventually see is the intended shortness after driving the car for a long enough time.

Let's take a look:

Wow, that is really hard to tell, but I'm still going to go with thinking it is little longer.

So, why is it a little longer in this human space that is the park?

Theoretically, it's a combination of factors that add up to Crowley making that newspaper his own personal door to manage his own personal space. I'll cover that more in the Earthly Objects section. It might also help that this human space is a more familiar one to him.

Two characters are going to show up, at different times, and there will be no interaction from him to them until he has deliberately pulled the newspaper down from his face. That is to say, he passes through his designated threshold to talk to them.

Once the newspaper goes down, we'll see the sideburns some more. They will look similar in length. It's hard to be sure due to the angles and expressions on his face.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

In our initial view of Crowley, we can't see the streak. Once the newspaper goes down, it will become evident. That means we have to be suspicious of the fact that we didn't get to see it at the start of the scene because this story lies. Repeatedly. Something is amiss with its chronology. There is possibly a book somewhere in here and a lot of games messing with our heads.

There is a weird blocking and blurring thing happening all the time in GO2, and it's really overt in this scene. Basically, Crowley's right profile view from the side of the bench is going to just keep being blurry, so that we still can't really see the streak in those particular shots.

Otherwise, on the more clear front or other angled shots, it's more clear the brighter red streak is there.

Hairstyle Changes

Crowley's hairstyle changes frequently during GO2. It will even change in really subtle ways during scenes, such that I simply cannot catch every style. The style when Crowley pulls down the newspaper for the first time is actually something like in between the first shot we see with the profile view and then another shot after it when Shax arrives. You probably won't catch that if you aren't trying. I missed it when I was first studying this stuff some months ago.

Far more subtle, and admittedly iffy—I could just be seeing what I want to see—but to me, it looks like the initial right profile shot has a more obvious gradient. The hair towards the bottom matches his season 1 color better and gets brighter up until the top. The after-pushing-newspaper-down style has a gradient, but there is even less of the season 1 color on the bottom area, as if the hair itself is transforming into its new season 2 state. Here's a comparison view if you wish to decide for yourself:

Here's the original collection I made from this scene before realizing the first style at least is different:

Now with streaks indicators too:

So with all of the above in mind, I reached the following conclusions back when first trying to figure out the hair generally...

(1) Crowley's hair is now a brighter red than season 1, including season 1 present day and season 1 flashbacks.

(2) There is yet an even brighter, more saturated, streak of red hair above his left eye.

(3) His sideburns are longer than they were in season 1. At this point, we have no comparison to season 2 present day, but they are going to get both longer and shorter than what is seen here in this same episode.

(4) In this scene, the hair is lighter and more saturated on his left side; it is darker on his right side. For episode 1 at least, in my past notes, that was standard for most of it.

(5) I can't tell you what the top style is telling us about Crowley's mood, but it does seem to do that, at least sometimes. I'll point out if I think I notice it at times later.

(6) The left sideburn does not have as much hair as the right sideburn. Just as the color of the hair is lighter on the left, it seems the left sideburn is supposed to be "lighter" than the right through that way. That seems to be the more frequent way these things work, but it does sometimes switch.

...

Earthly Objects

For Earthly Objects, one of the reasons "earthly" is specified in the name of the game is touches can depend on how an object is used on Earth, instead of just limiting things to tangible objects and physical touches. For example, looking through a window is an earthly object touch because people look through windows to see things on Earth.

Next, I am going to talk about pockets, so this part is going to get ridiculous. You might want to skip down to the next "..." if my saying the newspaper is like a personal little door for Crowley was enough. My understanding of pockets is limited, but I'll share that limited understanding nonetheless.

Before we get to a lovely right profile view of Crowley, there's lens flare rainbow stuff!

Pockets love rainbows combined with Crowley. We can blame Elvis Presley and his song, "A Pocketful of Rainbows". The most noticeable and seemingly official rainbow, in my opinion, is the one right before Crowley himself appears in the cut. I have indeed, checked frame by frame, to see that technically it has not fully disappeared once Crowley himself is visible. It's really close though!

Okay, back to when we get a closer view of Crowley on his initial profile view.

Crowley has his back to the bench. He has his elbow on the arm rest. He has his line of sight directed at the newspaper as if reading it. Those are 3 possible earthly object touches right there. Crowley is holding the back of the newspaper with only two visible fingers. They are the index finger and the middle finger. Only the index finger is showing its tip. That's not enough to receive credit for touching the newspaper physically as an earthly object yet. He'll get that later, when he wants it done. The other two partly visible fingers on the front are probably significant as well.

For the record, I do not like talking about the pockets as frequently or to the extent that I do. I talk about them because I've noticed they are important. They irk me because they are the hardest part of these games for me, at the present moment. I am downright incapable of solving The Pocket Trick to my own satisfaction. A key mechanic in that Trick is the use of word play. Another is to use one's imagination.

One of the first things to know here about Crowley's super advanced play in Earthly Objects and pockets is that his tie strands are connected to his hands because they are his Tied Hands. It's actually really funny when it sinks in, but it does make the game so, so hard. These silly cute Tied Hands have thumbs. The thumbs are the tassels, so the tips of those tassels are the thumb tips.

Thumb tips matter for Door Mode.

Due to Crowley's posture, there is a pocket between his right arm and the bench itself. His right jacket sleeve is open enough that there is yet another evident pocket existing between his shirt sleeve and his jacket sleeve. This pocket is the key one of interest to me because the newspaper touches it. Even so, there is still another pocket formed between the newspaper, Crowley's right hand, and his clothing that the newspaper touches so long as a breeze isn't messing with it.

Those tassel tips I mentioned earlier...are on his pants. That's why I'm spending so much time on this part by the way. There's some metal thing sticking out that only ever sticks out here touching the vest. The belt is his Belt Head, which the vest does like to touch at other times. So, if this metal is somehow the buckle from the belt—since I can't see it being the tie or anything else, that's probably supposed to be its "tongue" while the other visible part of the snake on the belt is pocketed between the vest tips. Based on how the game plays itself, the Belt Head is helping the Tied Hands in ways beyond my comprehension, so Crowley can take advantage of pockets. What? Do they need belt assistance to be tied because he's sitting down and the watch is not on screen? Somewhere in here is Door Mode on the clothing, channeling its way through pocket imagination powers, so that all of the apparel can work together and give Crowley his newspaper door.

Apparently, this method requires the watch to not be visibly on screen for now. I really want to know what the watch's job is for silly pocket mechanics.

Oh, and I almost forgot. Check out the self-made pocket of hair since we have an active Belt Head messing with things:

Yeah, sure, could be nothing, but The Pocket Trick is really, really intentional about these types of things, and even though this scene is not one of the touches in The Pocket Trick, pockets are still relevant. I mainly suspect such things because of those tassel tips.

Even some of his hair is pocketing the collar of his jacket. The profile shot is so precise, none of the left part of his sunglasses can be seen.

While we're at it, Crowley's sitting really still. He'll be standing really still later in episode 6 with a more obvious pocket touch for The Door Trick. Said Trick is another big part of why I'm noting so much about the pockets by the way. It also has a self-made pocket of hair visible in the first cut.

Okay, that's enough about pockets. Finally! They'll be mentioned later but not to this extent.

...

During the scene after Shax shows up, Crowley's going to touch some mail. We'll see his shoes on the ground at one point. A notable earthly object touch is the first one he gets when Shax shows up after he pulls the newspaper down. He's going to see himself in the mirror. Crowley does not see the way humans see most of the time. He senses with his eyes. But a mirror's actual literal function on Earth is generally to look at yourself, or something of interest.

One of the ways Crowley can and does see is if someone—or something, is deliberately showing him an earthly object. So, by Shax holding the mirror and Crowley intentionally looking at it, with its general actual function, he theoretically sees himself.

That's helpful to him because based on his actions during the story, he doesn't sense that the sideburns themselves have changed length when they do, even if he's using them to manage his space. He checks by looking in the mirror if possible and necessary, notably in his car. Catching when he might be looking at all is harder than this one part of this one scene. He is quite subtle about it. This game wants people to look closely to catch these types of things as they play and interpret the story.

The cut between Crowley holding the newspaper in profile view and pushing it down has him holding the newspaper differently with his fingers. That could be a suspicious chronology edit or it could be Crowley testing/managing the bounds of his created space or both.

...

You can see some of the sky and dark parts of trees reflected in Crowley's sunglasses. I consider that significant because it's a clue among several others that great care is taken to what is and is not reflected in his sunglasses during this story. You can find out more about why I think that's important here: The Window Trick Visual Representation.

...

Story Commentary

I don't know what the stillness does, but I suspect it is relevant because of how still Crowley is near the end of episode 6 when standing by the door to the car. My overall guess has been that it helps Crowley be sensed or seen since humans often don't actually approach him with the exception of Nina later. However, one human approaches him here before Shax will later arrive.

Due to how I play these games, Crowley's seeming listlessness here actually strikes me as more of a strategic move than what it looks like on the surface. He has his saturated streak. He has his sideburns. He had his newspaper door. He's messing with pockets without even putting actual hands in pants pockets yet. There was a rainbow. This sneaky snake is up to a lot, and he's hiding the extent of what that is from Shax and whoever else is reading him in the story.

When Crowley leaves, he will pass by Shax with him in the background. He is blurred, and there's something gold around where he's holding the newspaper, that is presumably his bills. After he passes Shax, you can't see the presumed bills anymore. Due to the angle? In this story, I'm skeptical, but yeah, could be. Crowley's going to be conveniently obscured many times throughout the season.

Based on this timeline rundown post, this scene could easily be out of order from the presented story. The sunlight and rainbow stuff is too confusing for me to understand in trying to figure out the time, but I think the idea this scene takes place out of order is a good, valid one. The basis from that post is the chimes I didn't notice on my own and wouldn't even know what they mean if I had noticed.

Not only that, in my watching the scene repeatedly to try and figure out what pocket mischief Crowley's up to next, I noticed the tie strands keep just swapping what side of the vest they are on in different cuts with no indication he moved to make them do that. It's not every cut, but it happens. He's a demon, so he could just do that because he wants to, of course.

The scene has ducks and some other birds. While some birds do appear when Crowley makes it rain in episode 3, animals are otherwise rather lacking in appearance once closer to Whickber Street and wherever Crowley parks his car when it's isolated.

The scene is nicely lit, thanks to the sunlight. We actually aren't going to see Crowley's hair this well lit for quite a bit of the story due to the other settings, especially the dimly lit bookshop.

That's it for this post. Way back when I started to track these things, I did have a tendency to update even these posts, so that could happen again, just FYI.

...

Past versions of this post:

Post #1 (meeting with Shax in St. James' Park)

Post #1 with mistake

...

Project inspired by these posts:

Crowley’s Sideburns & what do they mean?

Ok, I love this theory that it could be some sort ...

[cassimothwin]

I'm Cassi Mothwin, a game designer, writer, illustrator!

I realized I never really introduced myself, so here I am officially. I got my start casually designing for 5e in 2021, and my first project, What Crooked Roots, is an electrum best seller on DriveThruRPG! I've moved away from 5e, but here are some of my other items...

Tangled Blessings is my GM-less dark-academia inspired gothic-horror magical school game that uses tarot cards. It's based on the wonderful Anamnesis game by @goblinmixtape.

It's a 1-2 player roleplaying game featuring an academic rival, ghosts, curses, and much more of what'd you expect at a magical school swimming in horrors.

If you have a growing pile of stickers, check out The Sticker Game! The Sticker Game is a solo-ish game that's completely audio! You play by listening to audio tracks and completing tasks in your journal with your stickers. But be careful! Your stickers impact another universe. You never know what could go wrong!

I say it's "solo-ish" because it's easy to have the audio playing over a single speaker while playing with friends.

Wish you weren't the forever GM? Step into an NPC's shoes for an entire session with Clean Spirit. This RPG combines with your current campaign, can start a campaign, or can wrap up a campaign. It requires minimal prep and facilitates learning about your dwelling, your characters, your relationships, and what’s important to them.

You can also play Clean Spirit as a stand-alone RPG with your group, but be warned, players get very attached to their characters!

And here's my first release: What Crooked Roots! It contains 15 folk-horror scenarios for 5e focused on unsettling RP. You won't find a ton of opportunities for combat within these pages, but you will find a lot of inspiration and art for some very weird stories inspired by your favorite folk-horror media!

Finally, I'm about to Kickstart my next folk horror project! Carved by the Garden is a solo tabletop RPG where players take on the role of someone who can't stay away from the woods, despite the dangers that lurk there.

Please consider following the project!