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vivalas-vega · 3 months

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new perspectives // part ten // jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

howdy !! I think this is the shortest chapter in this series yet, but kind of a heavy one nonetheless. I'm getting back into the swing of writing and am hoping to bring this series to it's close within the next 3-5 parts! as always, please let me know what you think!

new perspectives // part ten // jake 'hangman' seresin x reader

prologue - one - two - three - four - five - six - seven - eight - nine

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word count: 2.5k

warnings: we are diving into jupiter's deployment so mentions of warzones and guns but nothing too graphic or in depth

The Hard Deck was thrumming just as it always was on a Friday night but lately Jake had lost the desire for after-work hangouts at the bar… darts and pool didn’t feel the same anymore, and he was having a hard time enjoying anything because he knew wherever you were you weren’t having fun. He tried to tell himself that maybe in the quiet moments, when the sky wasn’t falling and people weren’t relying on you to save their life, you and your team were able to unwind. Maybe kick around a soccer ball or play card games to pass the time and provide some sense of normalcy but he knew even if that was the case it didn’t change anything. You were in a warzone, and he was here at the bar.

But, that didn’t stop him from trying. Your deployment was hard on everyone, not just him, and he knew that if he pulled away it would only make your friends feel it more deeply, he was the only tether to you and he also knew he needed to be here. If he wasn’t he’d be at home staring off into space and making himself sick with worry. It was better for him to be preoccupied, which was why he had taken on more responsibility at Top Gun, and why he was currently engaged in a game of darts with Coyote, trying to distract himself from the fact that he hadn’t heard from you in a month.

You two had discussed this going into it, and he knew communication would be infrequent. You had real life or death problems on your hands day in and day out, in a foreign country in the middle of an active warzone. Just because you didn’t call, or didn’t answer any of his, didn’t mean that something had happened to you, or that you didn’t want to. It just meant you were doing your job, and trying to stay safe in the process… but knowing that didn’t make it any easier of a pill to swallow.

He also knew there was an order, and it wasn’t his turn. You two were no strangers to infrequent communication and you were adamant that your marriage could handle it. His turn had been first, and then your parents, and the next time you had the opportunity to call home it would be Rooster’s. He wasn’t angry about that, not at all… Rooster had quickly become your closest friend and confidant outside of him and he knew that you missed him just as much as everyone else, that in your darkest moments he would be one of the people you needed to see. He was grateful for it, to know that you had multiple people in your life you loved so deeply, trusted so implicitly… but that didn’t make it fun to know that the next time someone heard from you it would be the goofy guy across the bar laughing loudly with his arm slung around his new girlfriend’s waist and not him, that the next time he got an update on you it would come from him.

He was endlessly proud of you, for how strong you had been and how devoted you were to your life’s calling. Putting yourself into such imminent danger to help others was just about the most you think he could think of, and he knew you could handle yourself. When you left you were off to a very condensed boot camp where you learned basic survival skills outside of medicine, you received a crash course in all the things you would need to know, and received training if god forbid you ever found yourself in the position of needing to defend yourself. He knew you were well equipped to take care of yourself, but he also knew that you likely had seen things and done things that would leave a lasting mark… but that was all he knew.

That was the hardest part for him… not knowing what you were going through. Even in your spottiest bouts of communication over the course of school and deployments he always knew what was going on with you, and his worst case scenarios he’d concoct when he worried were you stressing yourself into exhaustion. Now, his worst case scenarios were something he couldn’t even dare to verbalize, something if he thought about even a second too long would send him careening towards a ledge.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” he heard from beside him suddenly, jumping slightly as he turned to see Coyote and he gave him a soft smile.

“I know,” he replied and Coyote just nodded.

“She’s tough. Like, scary tough, my shoulder still makes a weird creaking sound from when she tackled me during dogfight football,” he said and this made Jake laugh, something that was pretty infrequent now.

“I still can’t believe she took you down like that,” he replied.

“Yeah, that one fights dirty, man… so I’m sure she’s holding her own just fine.” This provided Jake just enough reassurance in the moment that he was able to shift his focus somewhere else entirely, so much so that he didn’t notice the way Rooster pulled out his phone and quickly ran out of the bar.

“J?” he asked, the video on his phone taking its sweet time connecting and he heard his second-favorite laugh on the other end.

“Hey Roo, sorry, the video is super spotty here,” you said just as it fully connected and he finally got to see you for the first time since your wedding night. His first thought was that you looked different, almost unrecognizable if it weren’t for those few characteristics that were so completely you. You were thinner, primarily in your face and he couldn’t ignore the way your eyes lacked their usual warmth, it sent an ache through his chest to see you look so… hollow.

“How are you? Are you okay? What’s going on over there?” he fired off in rapid succession and this pulled another soft laugh from your lips. You hadn’t realized how much you needed to see that stupid porn stache until it was staring back at you through the screen of a tablet.

“Don’t worry about me, I don’t have long so tell me everything… what have I missed?” you asked and briefly he wanted to press, try to get you to open up about what you were going through over there but he realized that probably wasn’t what you needed right now. You needed a distraction, reminders of home, and you didn’t have much time to get it.

“Well, Eliza and I made things official a few days ago,” he said and you smiled, a real one that almost fully reached your eyes.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you, Roo. Where did you take her for your first date?”

“Well, our unofficial first date was your wedding, but the real first date was mini golf… where she completely smoked me by the way,” he said and you chuckled. “She’s… incredible, JJ, I’ve never met a woman like her before.”

“Well I’ll be damned, Bradley Bradshaw is serious about someone? I leave for two months and suddenly the world turns upside down.”

“Shut up, I’ll have you know I’ve been serious about people before,” he protested before adding, “but not like this. I think this is it, J.”

“You keep that to yourself for a while longer, don’t spook her too soon,” you teased. “How is he?” you asked suddenly, getting serious and he knew what you meant without further clarification.

“He’s… good,” he replied and you furrowed your brows. “He’s just worried, is all. Just wants to know if you’re okay, we all do.”

You nodded, “I don’t know if I am, Roo… and you can’t tell that to him, okay? I just… I don’t want him worrying anymore than he already is.”

“I won’t, but… talk to me? What’s going on over there?”

You sighed, “I don’t have enough hands, or supplies, or time… I’m picking and choosing who lives and who dies based on a twenty second evaluation and I just… never know if I’m making the right choices, never know if I’m actually making a damn difference out here.”

“Hey, you are. If I know you like I think I do, I know you are.”

You nodded but it didn’t really do anything to make you feel better. “I know this is our turn, but-”

“I texted him a few minutes ago, he should be out any second,” Rooster cut you off and you just smiled softly.

“Thank you. I miss you way more than I thought I would, Roo,” you said and he let out a shocked laugh.

“What the hell does that mean?” he asked but he was interrupted by the door to the patio opening.

“Come outside in two minutes, alone? What kind of cryptic bullshit is that, Chicken?” you heard distantly and couldn’t help but laugh, warmth filling your chest at hearing your husband's voice after so long. “Is that- give me that,” he said, snatching the phone from Rooster’s hand and confirming for himself it was really you.

“Hey you,” you said and you thought his face might split open from how wide he was grinning. “Might want to not be so hard on Rooster, seeing as he gave up some of his phone time for you.”

“God, I miss you, are you okay?”

You nodded, forcing yourself to smile and Jake saw right through it, saw the way it didn’t fully reach your eyes. “I’m okay.”

“I’ll give you guys space,” Rooster said from beside Jake, “I love you, JJ, stay safe, okay?”

“Love you too, Roo,” you replied and suddenly there was a commotion from outside your tent that made him stop in his tracks as Jake’s eyes widened in concern.

“Jupiter, what’s going on?” he asked, trying to pinpoint the sounds he was hearing. The visual was blocked by you pressing the tablet against your chest as you poked your head outside the tent and the sound became clear as day on their end. Gunfire.

“I have to go.”

“Jupiter, talk to me,” Jake tried but you’d barely heard it, barely registered.

“I can’t- I’m sorry, I love you,” was all you said before the call disconnected and Jake stood there frozen, staring at a black screen as he tried to process what had just happened.

“Was that…?” Rooster started, not entirely sure of what to say. He knew whatever he was feeling was magnified in Jake tenfold, but that didn’t make it any easier to push through to try and be there for him.

“I think so,” Jake said after clearing his throat. Logically he knew you’d face situations like this, it was the biggest thing he was struggling to come to terms with, but actually hearing it was a completely different beast. Right now he was standing here with your best friend on the patio overlooking the ocean at sunset… it was peaceful, yet somewhere halfway across the world you were under fire, undoubtedly under stress as you were probably assessing wounded soldiers and civilians, trying to do your job the best you could.

Rooster noticed the slight tremble in Jake’s hands, noticed the way he was currently retreating into himself and trying to not spin out and he gently pulled the phone away and put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey man, come on, let’s go sit for a minute,” he said, and Jake followed him almost mindlessly out onto the beach where they both sat down. “I know this might not sound helpful, but she’s been out there two months already, I’m sure this isn’t the first time… she knows how to handle herself.”

Jake let out a humorless laugh, “you’re right, it’s not.” He knew what Rooster’s intentions were behind the sentiment, you’d gone through this before and made it out the other side, and you’d do it again now, but all it served as was a reminder that this was your life right now. He was focused on the fact that you didn’t sound worried at all, you’d said you had to go and that you loved him as simply as you used to when you’d call him in between patients. He was sitting here, mind spinning with the possibilities of what could be happening and you’d sounded as calm as ever. That should have proved reassuring, in some small way, you weren’t fazed… you weren’t scared, but it wasn’t. If anything, it made his chest ache more.

“She’s gonna be okay, man. It’s Jupiter, she can handle anything,” Rooster said, even though he might not have fully meant it. He saw you, heard the unsure tone as you spoke to him and saw those hollow eyes, you were different. You weren’t the Jupiter you left as, weren’t the Jupiter they knew like the back of their hands… and Rooster knew it would happen, had told you as much sitting right here in this same spot just a few months ago.

“I don’t know… I should have told her no, told her not to do it, anything to get her to stay put,” Jake sighed and Rooster chuckled.

“We are talking about Jupiter right?” he asked and Jake couldn’t help but laugh too. “She knew what she was signing up for. We talked about it, you know... what she'd see, what she'd do, briefly, but she knew. She never bites off more than she can chew.”

“Yeah, I think this time is different,” Jake said and Rooster nodded.

“Maybe… but she’s got you, and she’s got the rest of us. We’ve all got her, no matter how she is when she comes home.”

“If she comes home,” Jake nearly whispered and this took Rooster aback. It felt like a weight off his back to finally say his biggest fear out loud, but only seconds later that weight came crashing down as he fully realized it was a genuine possibility. It wasn’t some hypothetical worst case scenario he’d concocted, hearing that gunfire proved that, it was simply how things were. If you came home.

“You can’t think like that right now. Her tour is over in just a few weeks, she’ll pull through.”

Jake sighed again, “I just need to know that she’s safe.”

“She’ll call when she can. That much I know for certain, I’m sure she didn’t want to leave things like that. She’ll call, or she’ll email just as soon as she’s able.”

“I think I get it now,” Jake said and Rooster gave him a confused look, “why she likes you so much,” he practically mumbled and Rooster laughed.

“Come on, man. There’s nothing either of us can do except wait, and she wouldn’t want you spinning out over this. Let’s go back inside,” he said as he stood and dusted the sand from his pants, and Jake followed reluctantly. He was right after all, he couldn’t do anything right now except go back inside, nurse his beer and hope you were okay.

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theresattrpgforthat · 3 months

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Hi! Do you know any one session ttrpgs? Preferably space/sci-fi themed but that’s not strictly necessary.

What’s important to me is that it’s creative, that it has fun mechanics and that you really have to work together (it’s for a birthday party). Also I should probably mention all participants are beginners but I’d definitely set aside some time to get into understanding the mechanics beforehand.

Thank you for running this blog and thanks in advance for answering! :D

THEME: Collaborative Space One-Shots

Hello friend, I think I have a really neat mix of games here for you to check out. I think most of these will naturally lead to creative, collaborative solutions from your players!

This Ship Is No Mother, by New Madras.

This Ship Is No Mother is a game about people in space, working jobs that are probably going to get them killed. It's 50+ pages, fully illustrated with art by Justin Nichol.

Inspired by movies like Alien and games like Mothership and Dread, this is for fans of tension, creepy-crawlies, and general horror. Mechanically, it's a card-based Forged in the Dark game, first in the series of games currently called the Cardsharp Sonata.

In this game, players start with a full deck of cards and as you play, that deck will run down. When the deck ends, there is a climactic moment of panic as one of the characters is going to do something stupid and get themselves (and maybe everyone else) killed.

A space horror game, this is a great game option for folks who love Alien. It’s designed to play within a very specific time frame, because the game ends when you use the last cards from a 52-card deck. It’s a game meant for horror and suspense, and was designed to run with Mothership game modules, so I’d recommend looking up some Mothership modules on Itch!

24XX Unlikely Heroes - Space Questing, by FutureFriend.

All you wanted was a steady paycheck, a quiet life among the stars, and maybe a comfy closet to nap in. Action and adventure? "Mmm, no thanks. I’m good." The universe, however, isn’t taking "no" for an answer…

Time to grab some tools, buddies, and your brown space pants. Out here heroism may be less “epic deeds and grand destinies” and more “frantically pressing the right button before it all explodes!”

24XX Unlikely Heroes - Space Questing is a rules-lite sci-fi RPG that is distilled into just 4 pages that fit snugly on two sides of a sheet of paper. It is a hack of the awesome 2400 system, by Jason Tocci.

24XX is a pretty light system and is great for dungeon crawls. As with most games in this family, the rules and GM advice fit on one page, so they should be pretty easy to teach. This game is pretty goofy, as you are regular space-folk who find themselves pushed into a dramatic scenario. If you are running a game for the first time, I’d definitely recommend running this game with the help of a dungeon, such as Space Frogdom, a light dungeon with space frogs and a countdown towards the hatching of a dragon egg.

Holdfast Station, by Lampblack & Brimstone.

The rim of the known universe. A place so god-forsaken, so hostile and alien to life itself that only the mad go there—and only the desperate stay.

That’s you.

Holdfast Station is about asteroid miners surviving and holding their community together in the grim desolation of space. Regular folks in a rough spot, who hold to each other and their own. A place where survival means you trust each other, you fight like hell, and you hope for the best. A place where food and water and even air is scarce. Where the crushing emptiness and massive force of the void are only feet away. Where you live so close you know everyone by smell. Where one accident could spell everyone’s destruction.

It’s about the people who step up when disaster strikes. They aren’t heroes, just regular people—people with no choice but to risk it all for their home and those they love.

Holdfast Station is a "pick up and play" RPG—After you gather players, some dice, and the provided record sheets (physical or online), the book guides you through play, one step at a time. One player, called the Navigator, takes on the role of storyteller, narrating events, encouraging players to contribute, and moving the story along. Each of the other players takes on the role of a worker on the station, striving to survive at the edge of known space.

This game advertises itself as a “no prep” game, although if you are a first-time GM, it might still be good to read through the entire thing first, just to familiarize yourself with all of the pieces of the game. Holdfast Station is all about a terrible event threatening the station, so it naturally encourages the players to work together to try and solve the problem before time runs out. The game might run a bit long if the players need a bit of help putting characters together, but I enjoy the guidance and tools present in the game that help you stay on task.

Survivors, by Alexander Schneider.

Survivors is a science-fiction role-playing game designed as a one-shot cosmic horror scenario where players are faced with survival questions while also encountering an unknown alien force which threatens their very lives. Together they may find ways to survive (or at least hope to) but they will hardly escape the psychic horror they pose themselves. Is it the desperate situation or something else which drives them mad to a point of no return to their former selves?

If you want a horror one-shot, you might be interested in Survivors. It has a very specific opening premise, and each event that the players encounter gives them roleplaying prompts that encourage them to replicate paranoia, fear, and a deterioration of emotional stability.

This is definitely a game you have to clear with the group beforehand, as the way the game has a lot of representations of different forms of mental illness, most of them inflicted upon the players the further they delve into the adventure.

Koboldly Go!, by CoffeeSnake Studios.

Calling all Kobolds!

Gather your crew, assemble your ship, and take to the depths of space on a mission to discover strange new worlds. To seek out life and new civilizations.

To Koboldly Go where no lizard has gone before!

This game is exceptionally humorous and lighthearted, and works really well for groups who have some appreciation for the inherent goofiness of early Star Trek. You create your kobolds by rolling for your job, colour, and your stats. You also spend time designing your ship by drawing from a regular pack of playing cards. The biggest downside for this game is that it doesn’t come with an adventure - you’ll have to create one yourself. I’d recommend drawing from Star Trek to create a planet or star system that has an anomaly that directly affects the ship, since you spend a lot of time creating it.

Greenhorns Quickstart, by Spicy Tuna RPG.

In Greenhorns your crew will create planets and fill the cosmos with new incredible life. Survive anomalies that spawn from these worlds and stabilize the planets for long term life. Define the planets’ histories and futures through the loot you retrieve and return home to a heroes welcome. You are Kruxian. You are chosen.

The full game of Greenhorns is good for a multi-session experience, but the Quickstart is suited to one-shots and is also free! Player abilities are mostly focused on combat, with each character class contains skills that guarantee success - but can only be used so many times. This is a game that depends on players coming up with creative solutions to problems, so I think collaboration will come pretty naturally.

The setting is kind of gonzo, with a mix of space fiction and fantasy tropes. If you want a unique setting that might inspire more games in the future, I recommend Greenhorns.

ATMA, by Meromorph Games.

Welcome to a world near our own. The volcanic mineral atma empowers the living and entwines the dying, while artificial intelligence and alien titans join humanity in this daunting new century. Yet in the Restless Zones, beyond society and law, trouble lurks. Gather your fellow adventurers and prepare to test yourself against the world’s most dangerous frontiers. The sky’s getting darker…

ATMA is a complete roleplaying game system in a tiny package. It's portable, quick to set up and teach, and plays in just 2 hours — perfect for game nights or pop-up sessions! A Game Master and 1-4 players use illustrated tarot cards to fuel RPG gameplay focused on creativity and quick thinking. ATMA excels as a tutorial for first-time GMs who've always wanted to run an RPG, while allowing limitless creativity for roleplaying pros.

This is probably the closest to what you’re looking for, I heavily recommend that you check ATMA out. It’s self-contained and super-fun to pull out and show off the the group. I don’t know if you have enough time to order the physical version, but there is an online version of the game and free print-and-play downloads if you just want a quick test of the game! I love the art and abilities presented in ATMA, and I think it’s definitely very beginner-friendly. It feels part-way between a boardgame and a roleplaying game, so if your friends are familiar with board games, this is a good bridge.

I’d also recommend…

Mothership has really quick and easy-to-understand character creation, and the game is designed to run small adventures that work as space dungeon crawls. This content is great for GMs because it gives them a location with a bunch of information to present to your players, which means that you have a lot to work with if you haven’t done something like this before. I’d recommend checking out There is A Goblin on Icarus Station if you want a Mothership adventure that has something for horror fans and comedy lovers.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #game recommendations #dnd #asks #space #space games #one shot

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docgold13 · 7 months

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Batman: The Animated Series - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

The Joker

Mad, menacing and merciless, The Joker was the self-proclaimed ‘Clown Prince of Crime’ and far and away Batman’s most persistent and deadliest of foes. The Joker had formerly been a mob enforcer named Jack Napier. In a botched robbery attempt at the Ace Chemical Plant, Napier fell into a vat of a strange and acidic chemicals. He managed to survive yet the ordeal left him forever changed. His hair was turned green and his skin was bleached a deathly shade of white. It also detached him from the last strains of his sanity.

His ghastly new visage looked like a joker from a deck of cards and he took it as his new name. The Joker would go on to become a super villain who plagued Gotham for years. Although he often stole money, weapons or jewels, his ultimate goal was always to sew chaos, to break the world around him and make everyone as mad and unhinged as he.

The Joker developed a special aerosol toxin. This ‘Joker Venom’ caused the infected to laugh uncontrollably and for the muscles in their face to become paralyzed in a painful grin. This effect could be fatal or ultimately remit depending on the dosage.

Actor/Jedi Mark Hamill provided the voice for The Joker with the villain first appearing in the seventh episode of the first season of Batman: The Animated Series, ‘Joker’s Favor.’

#batman the animated series #Batman #The Joker #Mark Hamill #cut-out #paper art #DC Comics

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hephaestuscrew · 7 months

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The role of Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual in the characterisation, symbolism, and themes of Wolf 359

TL;DR: The DSSPPM is used as a tool to help establish and develop Minkowski and Eiffel as characters: Minkowski as a strict Commander who clings to the certainty provided by a rigid source of authority like the DSSPPM, and Eiffel as the anti-authority slacker who strongly objects to the idea that he ought to read the manual. The way their contrasting attitudes towards the DSSPPM manifest through the show reflect their character development and changing dynamic. The DSSPPM can be directly used against the protagonists by those with power over them, and the reveal of its authorship gives a particularly sinister edge to its regular presence in the show. But it can be also be repurposed and seen through an individual interpersonal lens.

Note: There’s plenty that you could say about the DSSPPM through the lens of what it says about Goddard Futuristics as an organisation, or about Pryce and Cutter as people. Or you could talk about Lambert quoting the DSSPPM an absurd number of times in Change of Mind, and Lovelace’s reactions to this. But in this essay, I’ll be analysing on mentions of the DSSPPM with a focus on Minkowski, Eiffel, and their dynamic.

“One of those mandatory mission training things”: the DSSPPM as a tool to establish characterisation

The first mention of Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual (the DSSPPM) in Wolf 359 is also the very first interaction we hear Eiffel and Minkowski have. In fact, the first time we hear Minkowski's voice at all is her telling Eiffel off for not having read the manual:

[Ep1 Succulent Rat-Killing Tar] MINKOWSKI Eiffel, did you read your copy of Pryce and Carter? EIFFEL My copy of what? MINKOWSKI Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual. EIFFEL Was that one of those mandatory mission training things? MINKOWSKI Yes. EIFFEL In that case, yes, I definitely did. MINKOWSKI Did you now? Because I happened to find your copy of the D.S.S.P.P.M. floating in the observation deck. EIFFEL Oh? MINKOWSKI Still in its plastic wrapping.

This is an effective way to establish their conflicting personalities right out of the gate. Minkowski's determination to "do things by the book - this book in fact" contrasts clearly with Eiffel's professed ignorance about and clear disregard for "this... Jimmy Carter thing”. Purely through their attitudes to this one book, they slot easily into clear archetypes which inevitably clash. Everything about Eiffel in that opening episode sets him up as a slacker who doesn't care about authority, but the image of his mandatory mission training manual floating in the observation deck "still in its plastic wrapping" provides a particularly striking illustration.

By contrast, we immediately encounter Minkowski as a strict leader who cares deeply about making sure everything is done according to protocol; the intense importance she places on the DSSPPM is one of the very first things we know about her. Her insistence on the importance of the survival manual might seem somewhat understandable at first, if perhaps unhelpfully aggressive, but it starts to feel less sensible as soon as we start to hear some of the tips from this manual:

Deep Space Survival Tip Number Five: Remain positive at all times. Maintain a cheerful attitude even in the face of adversity. Remember: when you are smiling the whole world smiles with you, but when you're crying you're in violation of fleet-wide morale codes and should report to your superior officer for disciplinary action.

The strange, controlling, vaguely sinister tone of some of the tips we hear in the first episode is largely played for laughs, emphasised by the exaggeratedly upbeat manner in which Hera reads them. But even these first few tips give us some initial suggestions that the powers behind this mission might not care all that much about the wellbeing of their crew members.

It says something about Minkowski that she places such faith and importance in a book which says things like "Failing to remain calm, could result in your grisly, gruesome death" and "when you're crying you're in violation of fleet-wide morale codes and should report to your superior officer for disciplinary action." (Foreshadowing the Hephaestus Station as the home of immense emotional repression and compartmentalising...) Having those kind of pressures and demands placed on her (and those around her) by people above her in the military hierarchy doesn’t unsettle Minkowski.

Eiffel groans and sighs as he listens to the tips, but Minkowski seems to see this manual as an essential source of wisdom. The main role the manual plays in this episode is to establish Minkowski and Eiffel as contrasting characters with very different approaches to authority and therefore a potential to clash.

When Minkowski demands that Eiffel reads the DSSPPM, he decides to get Hera to read it to him, asking her to keep this as “a 'just the two of us, totally secret, never tell Commander Minkowski' thing”. Eiffel seems convinced that Minkowski won't be happy with him listening to Hera read the DSSPPM rather than reading it himself. This suggests that (at least in Eiffel's interpretation) Minkowski’s orders are not just about her wanting him to know the contents of the manual, since this could theoretically be accomplished just as well by him listening to it. But she wants him to do things in what she’s deemed to be the correct way, to put in the right amount of effort, and not to take what she might see as a shortcut. It’s not just about the contents of the manual; it’s about the commitment to protocol that reading it represents.

“When in doubt: whip it out”: Hilbert’s use of the DSSPPM

In Season 1, the DSSPPM isn't purely associated with Minkowski. Hilbert actually quotes it more than she does in the first few episodes. In Ep2 Little Revolución, Hilbert's response to Eiffel's toothpaste protest is inspired by "Pryce and Carter six fourteen: “When in doubt, whip it out - ‘it’ being hydrochloric acid.”" This tip is absurd in a more direct obvious way than those we heard in Ep1. While this absurdity is partly for humour, it also casts further doubt on the usefulness of this supposedly authoritative survival manual, and therefore on the wisdom of trusting Command.

In Ep4 Cataracts and Hurricanoes, Hilbert starts to quote Tip #4 at Eiffel, who protests "I'm not gonna have one of the last things I hear be some crap from the survival manual". These moments again place Eiffel in clear opposition to the DSSPPM, but also suggest that Hilbert's attitude towards the DSSPPM - and therefore towards Command - is closer to Minkowski's than to Eiffel's.

When Hilbert turns on the Hephaestus crew in his Christmas mutiny, his allegiance to Command is revealed as dangerous. And here the DSSPPM comes up again. As Minkowski dissolves the door between her and Hilbert, she triumphantly echoes his own words back to him: "Pryce and Carter six fourteen: “When in doubt, whip it out - ‘it’ being hydrochloric acid.” Never. Fails." This provides a callback to a previous, more comedic conflict on the Hephaestus, and reminds the listener of a time when Minkowski and Hilbert were working together against Eiffel, in contrast to the current situation of Minkowski and Eiffel versus Hilbert. But it also shows that Minkowski, like Hilbert, is capable of using some of the more absurd DSSPPM tips to defeat an adversary. And it shows Minkowski leaning on those tips in a real moment of crisis.

Once Hilbert has betrayed the crew in order to follow orders from Command, we might look back on his quoting of the DSSPPM as casting the manual in a more sinister light, and again calling into question the wisdom of Minkowski placing such trust in it.

“It's not that I don't believe it, I'm just disgusted by it”: the DSSPPM as an indicator of a changing dynamic

The next mention of the DSSPPM is in Ep17 Bach to the Future:

MINKOWSKI Eiffel's been spot-testing me, Hera. He doesn't believe that I've memorized all of the survival tips in Pryce and Carter. EIFFEL It's not that I don't believe it, I'm just disgusted by it. I keep hoping to discover it's not true. MINKOWSKI Well, believe as little as you want, doesn't change the fact that I do know them. And so should you!

I think this provides an interesting illustration of the way in which Minkowski and Eiffel’s dynamic has developed since Ep1. They still have deeply contrasting attitudes to the DSSPPM, but this contrast is now a source of entertainment between them, rather than merely of conflict.

Given that Hera wasn’t aware of Eiffel testing Minkowski on the tips, we can guess that it’s a game they came up with while Hera was offline. In the midst of all the exhaustion and uncertainty and fear they were dealing with after Hilbert’s mutiny, this was a way they found to pass the time. It must have been Eiffel who suggested it; Minkowski cites his disbelief as the reason for the spot-testing. And yet she plays along, responding each time, even though this activity has no real productive value.

Minkowski is keen to demonstrate that she does know the tips and she emphasises that Eiffel ought to know them too, but their interactions about the DSSPPM in this episode have none of the genuine irritation and frustration that they displayed in Ep1. It feels almost playful and teasing. Eiffel still thinks Minkowski is "completely insane" for learning all the tips and is "disgusted" by her commitment to memorising them, but these comments feel much closer to joking about a friend's weird traits than to insulting a hated coworker's personality. It feels like something has shifted since Eiffel responded to Minkowski’s passion for the DSSPPM by saying “I'm so glad that your shrivelled husk of a dictator's heart is as warm as a decompression chamber”.

Another thing to note here is that Minkowski's respect for the DSSPPM has clearly survived Hilbert's Christmas mutiny and Minkowski's resulting distrust of Command. From Hilbert's behaviour at Christmas, it's clear that the crew's survival is not at the top of Command's priority list. But Minkowski still trusts the book that Command told her to read. She still thinks Eiffel should read it too. The main figures of authority above her are dangerous and untrustworthy, but she still clings to the source of guidance they provided her with.

It's also worth noting that Minkowski has not just learnt the advice in each of the 1001 tips, but she has memorised (nearly) all of them by number. If it was just about the information that the manual provides to inform responses to potentially life-or-death situations, then knowing the numbers wouldn't be necessary. Nor would it be particularly useful to know them all exactly word-for-word. Minkowski's reliance on the DSSPPM is again suggested to be about more than the potential practical use of its content. It's about showing that she is committed and disciplined and up to the task of leading. She does have some awareness of the strangeness of many of the tips, but this doesn't diminish the value of her adherence to the manual for her:

EIFFEL You're insane. MINKOWSKI I'm disciplined. Although I will admit they do get more... esoteric as you go higher up the list.

There's only one tip Minkowski doesn't seem to remember, and that's revealing too:

EIFFEL 555? Minkowski DRAWS BREATH - and STOPS SHORT. [...] MINKOWSKI Hold on a second, I know this. (beat) Dammit. EIFFEL Hey, look at that! Looks like there may be hope for you yet. MINKOWSKI Quiet, Eiffel. Hera, what's D.S.S.P.P.M. 555? HERA "Good communication habits are key to continued subsistence. Be in touch with other crew members about shipboard activities. Interfacing about possible problems or dangers is the best way to anticipate and prevent them." This hangs in the air for a second. Then – EIFFEL So you forget the one tip in the entire manual that's actually helpful? MINKOWSKI Shut up.

Communication is a key theme of this show, so it’s interesting that this is the one tip Minkowski can’t remember, perhaps indicating an aspect of leadership and teamwork that she doesn’t always prioritise or find easy.

Eiffel saying “Looks like there may be hope for you yet” seems like just a throwaway teasing line, but it’s got a profound edge to it. A lot of Minkowski’s arc is about learning how to provide her own direction and support her crew outside of the systems of authority and hierarchy that she’s grown so attached to. So perhaps Eiffel is right to see a kind of hope in her failure to remember every single DSSPPM tip – she has the potential to break free of her reliance on external authority.

“Which one was 897, what was the exact phrasing of that Deep Space Survival Tip?”: the DSSPPM in interactions with Cutter

The Wolf 359 liveshow, Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol, is literally named after the manual. This suggests, before we’ve even heard/watched the episode, that the DSSPPM will be a key symbol here. Which is interesting because I'd say the liveshow has two main plot points: (a) Eiffel's failure to read the DSSPPM or follow orders in general, the resulting disruption to the mission, and his crewmates' frustration with this; and (b) the looming threat of Cutter, the necessity of keeping information from Command, and the risk of fatal mission termination.

Even without the knowledge that Cutter is one of the co-authors of the DSSPPM (which neither the Hephaestus crew nor a first-time listener knows at this point), there's a kind of irony in the contrast between these two plotlines. On the one hand, Minkowski repeatedly berates Eiffel for not having read Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol Manual, which was made mandatory by Command. On the other hand, she is aware that Command in general - and Cutter specifically - represents the biggest threat to the safety and survival of her crew.

Cutter uses the DSSPPM against each of the Hephaestus crew in their one-on-one conversations with him. For Minkowski, he uses it as a way of emphasising the expectations and responsibility placed on her:

MINKOWSKI There are always gaps between expectation and reality, but-- CUTTER But it's our job as leaders to close that gap, isn't it? Pryce and Carter...? MINKOWSKI 414, yes. Yes, sir, I know.

Cutter knows that Minkowski will know those tips and he knows abiding by them is important to her. She's quick to demonstrate her knowledge of the DSSPPM and agree with the tip. There's something deeply sinister to me about Cutter's use of the word 'our' here. His phrasing includes them both as leaders who should be ensuring that things are exactly as expected. It’s almost a kind of flattery at her authority, but it comes with impossibly high expectations. This way of emphasising the importance and responsibilities of her role as Commander is a targeted strategy by Cutter at manipulating Minkowski, designed to appeal to her values.

In Hera's one-on-one, Cutter uses a DSSPPM tip to interpret her behaviour and claim that he can read her motives:

CUTTER This thing you're doing. Asking questions while you get your bearings. HERA Sir, I'm just curious about-- CUTTER Pryce and Carter 588: Shows of courtesy and polite queries are an efficient way to gain time necessary to strategize.

Unlike with Minkowski (or Eiffel), Cutter doesn't prompt Hera to demonstrate her knowledge of the manual. That wouldn't work as a power play against Hera, who would be able to recall the manual (or, rather, retrieve the file, however that distinction works within her memory) but who doesn't care about the DSSPPM like Minkowski does. Instead, Cutter implies that Hera’s behaviour can be predicted - or at the very least seen through - by the DSSPPM, which seems like a cruel attempt by Cutter at belittling her.

For Eiffel, Cutter uses the manual as a weapon in a different way again. He asks Eiffel, "which one was 897, what was the exact phrasing of that Deep Space Survival Tip?", something which Eiffel clearly doesn't know, but Cutter of course does. This puts Eiffel on the back foot, trying to defend and justify himself, allowing Cutter to emphasise his position of power yet again.

The DSSPPM plays a double role in the liveshow. On the one hand, as Minkowski reminds Eiffel, proper knowledge of the manual "would've saved [the crew] from these problems with the nav computer" – some of the tips can potentially save the crew a great deal of hassle, stress, and risk. On the other hand, the same manual is used by Cutter to manipulate, unsettle, and intimidate the crew. There are these two sides to the information given to the crew by Command - two sides to the manual which Minkowski still values.

In another duality for the DSSPM, the manual is sometimes used as a symbol of the relationship between the crew members and Command, and sometimes used to indicate the dynamics between the individual crew members, usually Minkowski and Eiffel. Before Cutter’s appearance in the liveshow, Minkowski and Eiffel’s discussions of the DSSPPM reflect interpersonal disagreements between two people with fundamentally different attitudes:

MINKOWSKI Oh come on, why do you think I keep trying to get you to go over these things? Do you think I enjoy going through them? EIFFEL Yes. MINKOWSKI Well, alright, I do. But this knowledge could save your life.

Minkowski enjoys rules, regulations, and certainty, for their own sake as much as for any practical usefulness. Eiffel very much does not. This is a simple clash of individuals, in which the link between the DSSPPM and Command is implicit. Minkowski doesn't seem to question the idea that the information in the DSSPPM is potentially life-saving, even though she knows Command don't care about their lives. But Cutter’s repeated references to the DSSPPM remind us who made that book a mandatory part of mission training – it certainly wasn’t Minkowski, even if she’s often the one attempting to enforce this rule.

At the end of the liveshow, in a desperate attempt to prevent mission termination, Eiffel promises Cutter that he will read the DSSPPM (the liveshow transcript notes that him saying this is "like pulling teeth"), an instance of the manual being used in negotiations between the Hephaestus crew and Command. All Minkowski’s orders weren’t enough to get Eiffel to read that book, but a genuine life-or-death threat might just about be enough. Perhaps it's ironic that Eiffel reads the survival manual out of a desire for survival, not because he thinks the contents of the book will help him survive, but because he’s grasping anything he can offer to buy the crew’s survival from those who created that same book.

In the final scene of the liveshow, Minkowski catches Eiffel reading the DSSPPM, and he fumbles to hide that he's been reading it, a humorous reversal of all the times that he's lied to her that he has read it. Perhaps admitting that he's reading it would be like letting Minkowski win. Minkowski seems to find both surprise and amusement in seeing Eiffel finally reading the manual, but she doesn't push him to admit it. There's some slightly smug but still friendly teasing in the way Minkowski says "were you now?" when Eiffel says that he was just reading something useful. In that final scene, the manual is viewed again through the lens of Minkowski and Eiffel’s dynamic – Command’s relation to the DSSPPM becomes secondary.

“The first thing I'd make damn sure was hard wired into anything that might end up in a situation like this one”: the DSSPPM as a tool of survival

In Ep30 Mayday, when Eiffel is stranded alone on Lovelace’s shuttle, he hallucinates Minkowski to bring him out of his helpless panic and force him into action. And this hallucination also brings with it one of Minkowski’s interests:

MINKOWSKI Eiffel... I worked on this shuttle. Reprogramming that console. EIFFEL So? How does that help – MINKOWSKI Think about it. BEAT. And then he gets it. EIFFEL Oh goddammit. MINKOWSKI What's the first thing that I would do when programming a flight computer? The first thing I'd make damn sure was hard wired into anything that might end up in a situation like this one? EIFFEL Pyrce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol Manual.

Again, a conversation about the DSSPPM gives us an indication of the development of Minkowski and Eiffel’s relationship. Not only does Eiffel imagine Minkowski as a figure of (fairly aggressive) support when he’s stranded and alone, he thinks about what advice she’d give him and he follows it. Rather than dismissing the manual entirely, he looks for tips that are relevant to his situation. He’s not pleased about his hallucinated-Minkowski trying to get him to read the DSSPPM, but that was what his mind gave him in an almost hopeless situation. Some part of him now empathises with Minkowski’s priorities in a way that he definitely wasn’t doing in Ep1. He thinks that the DSSPPM might be on the shuttle because he knows the manual is important to Minkowski. It’s by imagining Minkowski that he gets himself to read the manual in order to see if it can help him survive – he certainly doesn’t think about what Cutter or anyone else from Command would tell him to do.

In the end, the tips Eiffel picks out aren’t all that helpful or informative: “Confront reality head-on”; “In an emergency, take stock of the tools at your disposal. Then take stock again. Restock. Repurpose. Reuse. Recycle."; and “"In times of trouble, an idle mind is your worst enemy”. But Eiffel does use these tips to structure his initial thinking about how to survive on Lovelace’s shuttle. In an almost entirely hopeless situation, Eiffel finds some value in the DSSPPM. But since the tips he picks out are mostly platitudes, the actual wisdom that allows him to survive all comes from his own mind; the tips, like his hallucinations, are just a tool he uses to externalise his process of figuring out what to do.

“Wasn't there something about this in the survival manual?”: Minkowski potentially moving away from the DSSPPM

Given the significance of the DSSPPM in Season 1 and 2 to Minkowski in particular, it feels notable when the manual isn’t referenced. Unless I've missed something (and please let me know if I have), Minkowski – the real one, not Eiffel’s hallucination - doesn't bring up the manual of her own accord at all in Seasons 3 or 4. This might make us wonder if she’s moved away from her trust in and reliance on that book provided by Command.

Perhaps the arrival of the SI-5, which highlights to Minkowski that the chain of command is not a good indicator of trustworthy authority, was the final straw. Or perhaps the apparent loss of Eiffel - and any subsequent questioning of her leadership approach, or realisations about the valuable perspective Eiffel provided - were what finally broke down her faith in that book.

Alternatively, perhaps Minkowski still trusts the DSSPPM as much as ever, but trying to get Eiffel or any of the other crew members to listen to it is a losing battle that she no longer sees as a priority. Either way, Minkowski’s apparent reluctance to bring up the DSSPPM feels like a shift in her approach.

The associations between Minkowski and the DSSPPM are still there in Season 3, but they are raised by other characters, not by Minkowski herself. The manual is used to emphasise Eiffel’s difficulties when he’s put in charge of trying to get Maxwell and Hera to fill out a survey in Ep32 Controlled Demolition. Trying to force other people to be productive pushes Eiffel into some very uncharacteristic behaviour:

EIFFEL Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you? It's like you've never even read Pryce and Carter! Tip #490 very clearly states that – He trails off. After a BEAT – HERA Officer Eiffel? MAXWELL You, uh, all right there? EIFFEL (the horror) What have I become? [...] Eiffel, now wrapped up in a blanket, is next to Lovelace. He is still very clearly shaken. EIFFEL ... and... it was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. I was slowly transforming into Commander Minkowski. [...] It was a nightmare! A terrifying, bureaucratic nightmare!

This is a funny role reversal, but it shows us the strength of Eiffel’s association between Minkowski and the DSSPPM, as well his extreme aversion to finding himself in a strict bureaucratic leadership position. It also suggests that becoming extremely frustrated when trying to get other people to do what you want might make anyone resort to relying on an external source of authority, such as the manual. I don’t know whether this experience helps Eiffel empathise with Minkowski, but perhaps it might give us some insight into how her need for authority and control in the leadership role she occupied might have reinforced her deference to the DSSPPM.

In Ep34, we get a suggestion of another character having a strong association between the DSSPPM and Minkowski. After the discovery of Funzo, Hera asks Minkowski what the manual says about it:

HERA Umm... I don't know if this is a good idea. Lieutenant, wasn't there something about this in the survival manual? MINKOWSKI Pryce and Carter 792: Of all the dangers that you will face in the void of space, nothing compares to the existential terror that is Funzo.

It’s interesting to me that Hera asks Minkowski here. We know from Ep1 that “Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual is among the files [Hera has] access to”. Two possible reasons occur to me for why Hera might ask Minkowski about the DSSPPM tip here. One possibility is that Hera thinks that retrieving the manual from her databanks and finding the correct tip would take her more time than it would take for Minkowski to just remember the tip. Which suggests interesting things about the nature of Hera’s memory, but also implies that - at least in Hera's view -Minkowski’s knowledge of the DSSPPM is more reliable than that of a supercomputer.

The other possibility is that Hera could have recalled the relevant DSSPPM tip incredibly quickly but she doesn’t want to, maybe because she resents having that manual in her head in the first place, or maybe because she wants to show respect for Minkowski’s knowledge as a Commander. Either way, we can see that Hera – like Eiffel – strongly associates Minkowski with the DSSPPM.

And Minkowski, even if she wasn’t the one to bring up the manual here, recalls the relevant tip immediately. Perhaps she is moving away from her trust in that manual, but everything that she learned as part of her old deference to the authority of Command is still there in her head. She might want to forget it by the end of the mission, but that’s not easily achieved. The way Minkowski’s friends/crewmates associate the manual with her emphasises the difficulty she’ll face if she tries to move away from it.

“One thousand and one pains in my ass”: The authorship of the DSSPPM

In Ep55 A Place for Everything, Eiffel effectively expresses his long-held dislike of the DSSPPM when he comes face-to-face with both of its authors:

EIFFEL What? What the hell are - wait a minute - Pryce? As in one thousand and one pains in my ass, Pryce? (sudden realization) Which... makes you...? MR. CUTTER (holding out his hand) W.S. Carter, pleased to meet you.

It’s significant that the two ‘big bads’ of the whole series are the authors of the manual which Minkowski and Eiffel were bickering about all the way back in Ep1. It’s not the only way in which the message of this show positions itself firmly against just accepting externally imposed authority and hierarchy without question or evidence, but it does reinforce this ethos.

By being the authors of the manual, Cutter and Pryce have had a sinister hidden presence throughout the show. Long before we know who Pryce is and even before we hear Cutter’s name, their manual is there, occupying a prominent place in Minkowski’s motivations and priorities, and in her arguments with Eiffel. It’s not at all comparable to what Pryce put in Hera’s mind, but it is another way in which these antagonists have wormed their way into the heads of our protagonists.

Minkowski will have to come to terms with the fact that the 1001 tips she spent hours memorising and reciting were written by two people who would have killed her, her crew, and even the whole human race without hesitation if it served their purposes. We never get to hear Minkowski’s reaction to learning the identities of Pryce and Carter, but I think processing the role of their manual in her life will be a long and difficult road that’ll tie into a lot of other emotional processing she needs to do. Her assertion to Cutter that, without him, she is “Renée Minkowski... and that is more than enough to kick your ass!” feels like part of that journey. She doesn’t mention the DSSPPM at all in Season 4. She’s growing beyond it.

"Doug Eiffel's Deep Space Survival Guide": The DSSPPM as a weapon against those who wrote it

Last but not least, I couldn’t write about Eiffel and the DSSPPM without mentioning this scene from Ep58 Quiet, Please:

EIFFEL As someone once told me: "Pryce and Carter 754: In an emergency, take stock of the tools at your disposal, then take stock again. Repurpose, reuse, recycle." And right now? You know what I got? I got this lighter from when Cutter was using me as his personal cabana boy. [...] and I've got myself this big, fat copy of the Deep Space Survival Manual, and you know what I'm gonna do with it? [...] Eiffel STRIKES THE LIGHTER. And LIGHTS THE BOOK ON FIRE, revealing Pryce just a few feet away from him! EIFFEL I am going to repurpose it... and reuse it... and recycle it into a GIANT FIREBALL OF DEATH! And he swings the flaming book forward, HITTING PRYCE ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD. [...] EIFFEL That's right! Doug Eiffel's Deep Space Survival Guide, B-

No one other than Doug Eiffel could pull off the chaotic energy of this moment. It doesn’t get much more anti-authority than lighting the mandatory mission manual on fire and using it as a weapon against one of its malevolent authors. It might not be the wisest move safety-wise, and it certainly doesn’t improve the situation when the node gets jettisoned into space. But there is still a powerful symbolism in taking a symbol of the hierarchical forces that have tried to constrain you for years and setting it alight to fight back against those forces. Eiffel takes his own approach to survival and puts his own name into the title, an assertion of his agency and rejection of Command's authority.

The DSSPPM tip that he uses here is one of those he considers when stranded on Lovelace’s shuttle. It’s understandable that after that experience it might have stuck in his memory.

I can’t help feeling that the line “as someone once told me” has a double meaning here. The immediate implication is to interpret “someone” as being Pryce and Cutter – it’s their manual after all – which makes this line a fairly effective ‘fuck you’ gesture, emphasising how Eiffel is using Pryce’s manual against her in both an abstract and a physical sense.

But I think “someone” could also mean Minkowski. Eiffel uses a singular rather than plural term, there’s already an association established between Minkowski and the DSSPPM, and, in Mayday, it’s his hallucination of Minkowski that gets him to read this tip. She's probably also recited this tip to him at other points as well. Under this interpretation, this line is as much a gesture of solidarity with Minkowski as it is a taunt to Pryce. I like the idea that these two interpretations can run alongside each other, reflecting the duality of the use of the DSSPPM that I talked about in relation to the liveshow.

Conclusion

The DSSPPM is a symbol of external rules imposed on people by those with power over them. These rules can be strange, arbitrary, and even sinister, but for those with a desire for certainty and control, like Minkowski, they can be tempting. And they can have their uses, as well as the potential to be repurposed. Attitudes towards these rules provide an effective shorthand as part of Minkowski and Eiffel’s characterisation. And the clash between these attitudes, and how that clash manifests, can tell us something about how the dynamic between those characters develops and changes.

#Wolf 359 #w359 #Renee Minkowski #Doug Eiffel #Renée Minkowski #I guess I lied when I said I was halfway through at 1000 words #I hope that those who liked my preview post were up for a long read #This is over 5000 words and I still haven't said everything!#You could write a PhD thesis on this #Honestly I feel like this is full of typos and mistakes cos I was kinda tired as I proofread it but I just want to get it posted today #Otherwise I could spend even more time on it and make it even longer... (and also I want it to be out in the world)#But please do lmk if you spot a typo/mistake. I won't be offended #I'd also be interested to hear people's thoughts on any of this #Unimportant point but I'm shaking my head at Minkowski if she wouldn't let Eiffel listen to the DSSPPM instead of reading it #Audiobooks are a valid method of reading. Don't deny a man with ADHD his own approach to absorbing info!#Then again. it might have been an unfounded assumption of Eiffel's that Minkowski wouldn't have accepted him listening to it #I think in school he definitely got in trouble for boasting that he's actually read the book this time when he just watched the film #the empty man posteth

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crazyforbarbatos · 6 months

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Decorating for the Holidays with the Demon Brothers

A/N: Day 2 of 12 days to Christmas!

Warning: Christmas & Chaos

you know that decorating with them will be complete chaos

they were all excited to be celebrating Christmas with you

but the topic alone was causing squabbles

Satan suggested getting a real tree while Asmo argued that there could be bugs or animals in the trees

eventually Lucifer stepped in and said that they'd simply buy a tree

it was easier and less mess

however, this tree better not end up in a pile of ash by new years

honestly how the tree survived so long is beyond comprehension

while lit candles were once put on Christmas trees long ago, it's a fire hazard

As Satan said, "Lucifer should have known that this was a bad idea."

Beel and Mammon were in charge of carrying down the heavy boxes of ornaments collected over the last few years

they would also be the ones to assemble the artificial tree

Leviathan put on holiday music from his favorite idols as well as other artists you'd typically hear on the radio 'round this time of year

he also provided little festive headbands for everyone

that you managed to convince them to wear without too much fuss

Lucifer had volunteered himself to use the ladder to hang things up on the wall and along the top of the entryways

and he requested you to help him

it annoyed the others but he wasn't hearing any of it

honestly you had no problem handing him things that needed to be put up (and tacks)

Belphie was tasked with changing the cushions to the festive ones that you and Asmo had picked out

but he ended up taking a nap once he was done

Satan was helping decorate the tree with the best ornaments

lots of kitty in Santa hats ornaments

which Mammon protested

"If you want a say on what goes on the tree, you should help."

and thus Mammon was decking the tree with other ornaments

and you had to admit, he was doing a damn good job

but all of you got to put on a few of your own favorite ornaments

Asmo was in his own little world as he was making the perfect Christmas display

when he was done, it looked like a beautiful city scene complete with figurines and artificial snow

you also managed to put up mistletoe above the doorway and kissed whoever came closest to you

that person being Levi who turned as red as a tomato

and it set the others into a frenzy thus you had to kiss the others as well

#obey me x reader #obey me headcanons

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godasfarasyoureconcerned · 8 months

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in s2e1 izzy and the whole crew are dressed in their blackbeard getup to crash the wedding of course, and then the crew goes to go chill out below deck while izzy goes up to talk with blackbeard. the crew discuss their troubles and coping mechanisms, while izzy gets called a lightweight and dismissed, and then the next time we see all of them again, the only person who has clearly put effort into cleaning off the blackbeard getup is izzy. the rest of the crew look like they’ve just been sitting in it and haven’t bothered to wash it off, while izzy’s hair is grey again and it looks like the kohl around his eyes is intentionally lessened. compare the amount of black still in fang’s beard— izzy clearly put more effort into washing it out

to me, this speaks to the kind of comfort a community provides. the crew sit and talk with each other, eat and discuss the ethics of their cake, discuss ways to cope with their trauma and just unwind in general. it’s not an incredibly safe space, as they’re on blackbeard’s ship, but he’s not there and they have the solace of each other. with this time together, they can tolerate a few more moments of their blackbeard outfits, can tolerate a few more minutes of blackbeard discussion without further breaking down

izzy also didn’t take off the kohl immediately, but rather than go below deck and chill out with the crew, he went up to talk with blackbeard. he didn’t get to sit back in their relative refuge, but rather subjected himself to potential pain for all of their sakes, to tell him that they’re looking a tad worse for wear, and was ultimately dismissed for his inability to keep up with ed. i commend him for his effort, even if it didn’t accomplish what he was aiming for. but the next time we see him, he’s cleaned off the blackbeard makeup. even if he were expressionless, the toll of the conversation is obvious on him. it made him uncomfortable enough he had to wipe his skin of it before trying to get back to his duties, before he had the chance to have a seat below deck with the rest of the crew

izzy likely doesn’t spend much time “chilling” with the crew, but likely much more time now than he does with ed. it’s clear to me that the crew had a reprieve from the onslaught of blackbeard, enough to make them comfy enough to sit with it a little bit more, while izzy was so physically uncomfortable with it he had to take it off. maybe that’s a personal thing, maybe the crew doesn’t have the access to water at that moment, whatever, but i choose to believe that if izzy had gone below deck to hang out with the crew, he wouldn’t have broken down crying in such a jarring way after he returned.

can see him going below deck and further listening to the crew’s gripes while they all eat cake and then discussing how he’s been pushing through all this time “we do what we must, it’s about surviving when you can’t thrive” type shit and then talking with him about how maybe he needs to step back. really think it would’ve emboldened him to act against ed sooner. not that it wasn’t much sooner, but i think if he had some community time in his safe space, he wouldn’t have had to wipe off all his blackbeard attire as soon as he did. he likely took it off because he was already subconsciously distancing himself from blackbeard after he didn’t have the same break that the crew got. clearly got a break long enough to take it off, but instead of talking with the crew, he sits and thinks in silence before trying to get them all back to work and breaking down. his lack of community, as it were, contributes to his inability to moderate his emotions

#this is reason 758368259391104 of why i love him btw #i love him so fucking much #ofmd s2 spoilers #crew of the revenge #izzy hands #edward teach #blackhands #ofmd #mine #our flag means death #izzy canyon

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pistolenprinz · 4 months

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RDR2 CHARACTERS AS THE MAJOR ARCANA (PT. 1 OF MANY)

I've been really digging tarot lately, and finding a lot of comfort/joy indulging in the universe's energies, so I figured I would try my hand at assigning each of the main gang (with some exceptions) to one of the major arcana, as well as giving my personal interpretations of how it fits. Note: For this post, I've dipped into my own deck (Raven Rogue's Tarotorial), and will be pulling the imagery-specific elements from them. I will cite things as such "Insert text here [Source Name]." Regardless, the actual applications to the plotlines and characters is my own and is my opinion. To cut down on the length of these posts, I've privately paired up gang members that I either think provide a good foil for one another, or those that I just think pair well in terms of discussion. This section will be copy-pasted across all the posts in this series for sake of clarity.

ARTHUR MORGAN - THE HANGED MAN

The Hanged Man suggests ultimate surrender or suspension in time. Depicting a person hanging upside-down by their foot from the living world tree, the person is hanging by their own free will [Tarotorial; Card Imagery].

There are two choices that Arthur can make in the grand scheme of things: Try to right his wrongs, or lean into them and make them the problems of those around him. His loyalty to the Van der Linde gang is unquestionable, but it is what he chooses to do with that loyalty, and his power as one of the longest-standing members, that is important to his narrative. He can be a force for good, call out the harm his compatriots cause to themselves and those around him. He can also turn an eye to it all, and do solely what he needs to survive. To let his own greed fester and overcome him. Regardless of what ending is chosen, or what route Arthur takes (as that is something up to the player, at the end of the day), he undergoes a metamorphosis of undeniable measure. What it is he sacrifices, be it his morality or himself, it is something that others will not understand (the who seemingly shifting with the path chosen), and it is ultimately a path that he walks alone. A path that, at times, he expresses feels like he is either walking backward, or simply standing on as the world passes him by. He is the only one responsible for his actions, as we all are at the end of the day.

CHARLES SMITH - JUSTICE

The Justice card represents the cause and effects of action. Justice sits in a chair holding scales in their left hand, which implies intuition balancing logic. In their right hand is a double-edged sword, which is a symbol of impartiality [Tarotorial; Card Imagery].

Charles, to me, is such a push and pull character. One that is always seeking to do the right thing, all the while trying to balance the needs of the gang versus what he considers to be moral. He's newer to the gang, which only adds to the internal conflict and propels him toward someone like Arthur, as not only is Arthur a founding member, but he shares a similar moral scale to him usually (certain player actions aside). He, like Arthur, does try to be impartial. Likewise, he tries to see the best in the circumstances at hand, but like all scales, there are times when his morality outweighs that impartiality. The buffalo poachers, interactions with the Wapiti, choosing to side with Arthur in the end as he sees how selfishly motivated Dutch and Micah are, etc. He, like Justice, does sit in the background (at least in comparison to some of the others, on account of him being newer to the group's dynamic), but it is ultimately him who helps set the conclusion in motion. He makes a decision, weighing the pros and cons and trying to minimize the harm done to those he feels close with, and he sees it through.

#rdr2 #red dead redemption 2 #arthur morgan #charles smith #headcanon #characters as major arcana

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imeanwhynotbruv · 1 year

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If Paz Socorro Lived.

What if Paz Socorro had had a chance to raise her son?

<<idk if I’m gonna do anything with this, but if I do then this is like a first draft / basic idea>>

What if when the war broke out Paz decided to go awol. Not wanting to fight and die leaving her son alone, but not wanting to go against the people she’s come to know as her friends? As her family?

So she loaded her ship, made sure it was ready and decked out, but what if she’d added supplies? Human safe foods and a few research books, bio scanners,basic survival supplies, blankets and batteries but most importantly…her precious little stowaway. Hidden in one of the boxes used to transport plants from earth that needed oxygen to survive.

She loaded up like everyone else, flew toward to the floating mountains like everyone else. Only she hung back, further from the front lines than she’d ever been before.

When the fighting was in full swing she saw her chance. Using the cover of fire and banshee attacks she pulled back, away from the battle, manoeuvring between everything as quickly as she could. No one noticed. Too much was going on to focus on every single little ship.

No one but Quaritch that is.

Quaritch had seen her pull back. Part of him had been relived to see her making her break. He knew he should have been pissed, knew he should’ve have shot her down for deserting.

But that there was one of the best people he’d ever had the pleasure of knowing. That was mother of his little boy.

So he’d let her leave, hell he provided cover until he lost sight of her behind the floating mountains.

Later, as the Pandora air choked his lungs, as Neytiri’s arrows burned in his chest and his life was nearing its end. He couldn’t help but be relived that he’d at least see Paz escape, at least someone would be there to watch little Miles grow up.

Paz flew her ship towards where Trudy had told her one of the old bunkers were (like the ones they’d used in the first movie) that had been left by some of the scientists, hidden away by the trees.

As she was drawing closer, she was attacked. One of the Na’vi spotted her, attacking the ship until it fell from the sky. The only thing that saved them was the thick vines hanging between the trees, catching them before they could hit the ground.

The glass had been cracked by an arrow that landed and inch away from Paz, sparing her life until enough of the poisonous air could filter through.

Once the fog cleared from her mind Paz jumped into action. Barely remembering to secure and Exopack to her face as she rushed to check on her little boy.

The container had held steady, not a single crack, her little boy still sleeping soundly inside.

“Oh thank god” Paz sighed as she draped her body over the box, catching her breath and allowing her mind to realise she was in fact still alive. That miles was still alive.

Paz eventually managed to force the door open. The distance between the ground and her ship would be a deadly drop. She’d have to figure out how to get both her and her littler boy down safely. Then they’d have to try their luck on the forest floor……trying not to get eaten…….while they look for a bunker……..that may or may not still be intact…great.

Basic idea:

Paz survives and escapes with spider

Her ship crashes after being attacked

She raises her son hiding from the Na’vi and humans a like

Spider gets a parent that really loves him and helps he develop as well as she can while keeping him safe

Spider also can’t go outside since the scientists never would have needed to make him a mask

Spider eventually meets one of the sully kids while Paz is away

A friendship forms but the parents all just assume it’s imaginary friends for a while

The parents meet

Lil spider gets and mask and Paz is really happy for him

Movie stuff happened just with a really protective Paz and a mama’s boy Spider

Not my best writing but you get the point.

idk if anyone is interested in this idea but here it is 😅 let me know if it’s worth taking this anywhere or if anyone would like more✨❤️

My asks at open if you want to ask me anything❤️

I hope you enjoyed reading ❤️

#avatar 2 #spider socorro #paz socorro #miles spider socorro #miles quaritch #avatar twow #avatar the way of water #jake sully #avatar wow #avatar trudy #paz loves her son more than anything #paz will fight you #Kiri and Spider are besties #Spider gets a parent that always loved him #MamaPazSocorroLives

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stolaz-the-artist · 5 months

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Switched Career AU

I’m aware the name sounds like a sims expansion pack I’ll fix it later

AU info below!

So i got this idea when i was thinking about how younger me misunderstood Alice in the first episode.

I thought that when she said “country boy” she meant he was a cowboy. And i thought this for like a whole year.

And then i thought “What if he was a cowboy?” But thats too easy and boring + They already kinda did that in s4. Not really but close enough (i have enough memes of Cowboy Clay locked an loaded anyway so i think I’ll survive) So i continued thinking and remembered from the Knights code how Clay said a certain sword was easy enough a child could make it. And i just started assuming he must have some knowledge in weapon making. Cuz why not? and also! I didnt neglect the other knights for this project! THATS A FIRST!

I gave them minor redesigns, nothing too mayor but still something. (also all of this is pre-knights academy. So they’re like 15 or sum)

Yet again, just playing with the idea that he works as a blacksmith, providing for him an his brother.

I somehow thought out more for Aaron than Clay??? Big things are happening in Detroit ngl

I have a skit planned with Ruina involved, but more on that later

And for Merlok: guess he just never found him. Or he died. Idk I’ll figure something out later.

Oh and since Merlok couldn’t find him he just kinda grew into his powers, and so did Fletch. They dont know much tho about it and just use it as some sort of minor day to day tool. But they haven’t trained it so its just still kinda uncontrollable at times, remaining heavily linked to emotions. (All of this still in very early development dont come for me)

I have no clue what Aaron’s dad works as but i just made him a fisherman.

Aaron still craves danger, but the danger of fishing (cuz that shit can be real fucking dangerous let me tell ya that-)

He’s still too younge tho, but he can’t stop talking about it, and how much he wish he could join his dad on his boat (He has snuck on on several occasions but turns out hiding under deck during a storm isn’t a good idea. The only reason he stopped was cuz he’d miss out on the fun part regardless) Him and Clay are friends, meeting every now and again when Clay and Fletch come and buy fish from his family.

He’s been very excited about taking over the restaurant, already having a plethora of dishes he wants to make (and eat ofc).

He’s friends with Aaron, given they also buy fish from his family. He’s not very familiar with Clay tho. They’ve been at the fish market at the same time once or twice but barely talked. But they still see each other as friends, just not very close

Macy is still, Macy ig? I’m not sure what to do with her. So i just made King Halbert more chill. She takes several combat classes and planning on becoming a fighting queen if anything.

Her and her family are going on a trip through out the kingdom with the Richmonds. On her end its more of a meet and greet thing, but it’s different for Lance.

OG Lance must be quite jealous. He was sent into the acting industry at a very young age. He thrives in it, taking role after role back to back.

However this next one requieres some sort of reference with the commoners. He joins Macy’s family (Bringing his agent and Dennis with him obv.) as they travel through the country sides of the kingdom. He honestly can’t wait to go home and take a dip in the gold pool.

Idk why this thing kinda makes me sad but oh well, it’s the truth after all.

I am planning on writing this. Like fanfic wise.

But whenever that’ll be out is a mystery.

I haven’t written a fanfic since my wattpad days and AO3 still lowkey scares me.

Also other than Fletch so am i not sure what to do with Ava, Robin or Izzy. So if ya have any ideas, please share, i have no clue.

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kaiowut99 · 3 months

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Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX Episodes 108-109 Subbed (Finalized)

(Previously: Episodes 106-107 Subbed [Finalized])

(Check out my Subbed!GX Stream Masterpost!)

TURN-108: Professor Cobra's Assassin

Professor Cobra announces the "Disclosure Duels," a system of publicizing one's skill and performing duels openly. He also provides all of the students with their own Dis-Belts to gauge their fighting spirit through their passion, focus, and decisiveness in those duels. Cobra then orders O'Brien to duel Judai--and to do so in a way that brings forth all of Judai's latent abilities. Putting his strategy into action, O'Brien takes Shou hostage and duels Judai.

TURN-109: Judai and the Fiery O'Brien

O'Brien aims to bring out all of Judai's latent abilities by using Shou as a hostage. As expected, Judai causes a serious battle to unfold, which he responds to using his Fire deck, activating his Firewall Permanent Trap against Judai's direct attacks to negate his attempts to attack him directly. For his part, Judai Contact-Fuses Neos with Flare Scarab, summoning Flare Neos for a counterattack, but...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry, didn't mean to leave these two episodes hanging for just over a month~ sorry Shou

Episodes 108 and 109 are now finalized! Professor Cobra comes in and starts up the Dis-Duels, which will play a big role in this early part of the season, and we get more time with O'Brien as he duels with Judai on Cobra's orders and ends up having a little fun with it towards the end. It's a fun duel, O'Brien makes a fiery entrance with his Blaze Cannon/Blaze Cannon Trident cards, and I love the sequence in 109 as Judai uses Flare Neos with probably my favorite use of the "Fervent Duel" OST track. Also, 109 in general is a fun episode because of all the top-notch artwork going on, with some interesting angles or some really good motion frames from the animation team (Judai ordering Featherman to swoop in against O'Brien [which gets reused once or twice] is so good). Also nice character moments with Shou about reconciling his ideal from Ryou about respecting opponents with the need to have all-out heated duels to survive, a nuance that gets lost in the dub for the most part. Though speaking of the dub, I did like Axel's (O'Brien's) dub voice for the most part, though it has a rough spot or two later on when he's cowering from the Supreme King.

Animation error-wise, we mostly have some quality-of-watching touch-ups, as there weren't any card errors I picked up on; 108 had one minor touch-up near the end, while 109 had just over a handful of mostly split-screen touch-ups. Details below the cut for the interested, as always~

Quick housekeeping: in case you missed it, I reuploaded 105-107 after noticing I didn't catch an update to one of the names under the In-Between Animation credits, along with some minor consistency fixes in the rest of the credits; these were reposted over on NAC and updated in the Masterpost linked above, and 108-109'll join them on NAC in the next day or two.

Anywho, enjoy! With these done, I'll probably go back to some fixes I've been working on for episode 1 that I missed, then I'll get a bit more looked over on Tag Force Special stuff (in case you missed that news~) before working on 110 as a quick two-parter break; stay tuned!

Fixes/Edits! (108)

Near the end of the episode, as O'Brien draws for his turn, there's a coloring error with some shading along the bottom of his left shoulder where the shading is lighter like with the lighter spots higher up; it's fixed for a few frames but then goes back to lighter. Fixed this by recoloring that shading spot in the frames during the quick zoom-out that happens using Photoshop, then masked out and held the shading in the last fixed frame for the rest of the shot.

Fixes/Edits! (109)

After the 108 recap but before the OP, we get this quick scene with Cobra watching on and saying that, even if he loses, O'Brien has to bring out all of Judai's Duel Energy (a scene cut from the dub [I wonder if this error is why]), but there's an odd animation error that happens where the line on the upper left of his mouth (his left) and the jaw shading are pixels away from where they should be--this only happens for the frames where he has this fully open lip-flap and his semi-open lip-flap going. Fixed this in Photoshop by redrawing the mouth line and filling in the jaw shading along the shading that was there.

Later, after O'Brien activates his Firewall and asks Judai if he thought weak attacks would work on him, Judai notes that O'Brien didn't summon any Monsters so it wouldn't be any fun not diving right in; a semi-surprised O'Brien slides in on a split-screen acknowledging this, but there's a quick frame as the split-screen is completed where the border flickers into its final position--fixed this in Sony Vegas by just replacing the earlier frame with the latter. Then, as they split off the screen to show Shou behind them, Judai's side takes a frame longer than O'Brien's to fully get offscreen; fixed in Vegas by using the frame after in that frame's place.

Later, Judai grunts after O'Brien uses Burial from a Different Dimension to return three Fire-Type Monsters to his Cemetery, and O'Brien slides in on a split-screen to say that he's removing one from it to activate Firewall against Flare Neos's attack--but Judai starts moving for it a couple of frames before O'Brien actually starts sliding in, and along with that, the border on their split-screen ends up being off-center. Fixed these in Vegas, first by redoing the split so it's timed with Judai moving, then ending the slide-in with the border centered, moving O'Brien's side into place so that his mouth and hand move properly for the rest of the split-screen. Then, a frame before they start splitting apart as Firewall activates, O'Brien's side moves but Judai's stays still; fixed by holding the split-screen still over that frame.

A bit after, once Judai uses Contact Out to de-fuse Flare Neos and attack to make O'Brien run out of Monsters to remove from play, O'Brien grunts as Judai slides in on a split-screen to remind him about Flare Scarab's power-up effect--but like with Judai in #3 above, O'Brien starts moving for the split-screen a couple frames before Judai starts sliding in. Then, as their split ends, there's a quick frame where they start to split apart to show Flare Scarab behind them but don't actually split; this is likely why their splits then end up sliding out unevenly. with Judai's taking an extra frame to fully slide out. Fixed these all in Vegas by first redoing it so that Judai's slide-in is timed with O'Brien moving; then, I masked in part of Flare Scarab from the next frames over them as they start to split, adding a new border to O'Brien and Judai's splits; and then finally, I redid their split-outs so that they were timed evenly.

After the eyecatch, we see more of Cobra watching the duel, and Judai and O'Brien come up on a split-screen with their current LP counts--they start to split apart a frame before their LP counts disappear to show Cobra, with this quick frame having just white behind them, along with O'Brien's split missing its border. Fixed this in Vegas by just holding the previous frame over it so that the split-out starts in the next frame, once the LP counts are gone.

[continued below because of dumb characters-per-"block" limits]

(6) A bit later, after O'Brien lets Shou go, Cobra looks on in surprise, but there are a few quick frames where the shading along his jaw is incomplete; fixed in Photoshop for the lip-flap frames where it happens, then placed them in the footage in Vegas and moved it into place as needed for the panning shot here.

(7) After O'Brien loads his Volcanic Buckshot into his Blaze Cannon Trident and deals 2000 damage to Judai, he starts to explain Trident's role in that, but Judai's betting that there was more to it; O'Brien slides in on a split-screen to say as much as he explains Buckshot's role, but his split-screen's already halfway into the screen in its first before sliding the rest of the way in, and like with #3 above, the border on the split-screen somehow ends up off-center. Fixed these in Vegas by redoing his slide-in so it slides in more fluidly. Then, because of how off-center the split-screen is, as they split apart, O'Brien's side takes longer to slide out; fixed this, after re-centering the split-screen, by redoing their slide-outs to be timed evenly.

#GX #yugioh gx #yugioh #ygo #ygo gx #yu-gi-oh gx #yu-gi-oh! gx #my subs #Judai Yuki #Austin O'Brien #feelin' the heat yet #[now to go feel some heat from a jog lol]

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da-birb-writes-sometimes · 1 year

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Driving Habits -Diasomnia Edition

Can they drive? If so, what kind of drivers are they? What are their car habits?

Characters; Malleus Draconia, Lilia Vanrouge, Silver & Sebek Zigvolt

Content; road rage mention, car crash mention, Sebek, the joys of public transit

Word Count; 700+

Find the Rest of the Series; Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle, Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde

Author’s Note; As a reminder, do not put my work — or others for that matter — into AI as it steals. Link to Masterlist

Malleus Draconia

Can’t drive. It’s a mix of not being tech-savvy, and not having the need. He’s the future king, he logistically has no need to drive. Also it never turns out well when he tries.

Will stare out the window in silence, pondering; be it gargoyle design and history, what Lilia, Silver and Sebek are doing, to a future invitation. In short, he daydreams.

He also does not see the appeal of modern vehicles. Horse-drawn carriages have worked stupendously for ages. And then there’s also magic. Humans are odd creatures for inventing such things.

Only so many people who work for him are able to drive, so his options are rather limited… but he knows better than to have Lilia be his driver; his only real safe option is Sebek.

Did take public transit once, out of curiosity. It becomes a ritual of his to take it once a week for the full route just to people-watch. He saw Azul one time, Kalim the other time chatting to a man with a saxophone, and he could have sworn he saw Idia sulking in the corner.

Lilia Vanrouge

He doesn’t have a license, and he really shouldn’t drive, but he does. He is THE speed demon, putting Epel to shame [I am speed]. Do not get in the car with Lilia under any circumstance.

He blasts a deafening mix of screamo, bagpipes, tavern music, and ‘Throw Back Thursdays’. You can hear him coming before you even see him. An absolute madman, but a great racer.

Takes phone calls all the time and has almost crashed on several occasions; don’t be like Lilia.

Before his car somehow disappeared during the night, he had it decked out to the nines; bumper stickers, a small army of bobble heads on the dash and back, fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror. His car also had a few dents from some scrapes he went through.

He has to stick to horse drawn carriages and teleportation now since there seems to be a ban on him at every dealership. But they are no where near as fun as taking good old Mim out for a spin, yes he named his car. Again, I question how Silver survived his childhood.

Silver

He decides against driving due to his sleeping condition, and doesn’t want to put others in danger due to it.

He sticks mainly to his horse, brooms, and joins Malleus along his weekly public transit adventures. He enjoys the bonding time he and his horse have, and provides as an outlet to reflect. Whereas he joins Malleus on transit due to safety reasons, and also as added bonding time without Sebek.

Speaking of the bus, he has noticed a few others every now and then; Azul looking flustered next to a screaming toddler. Kalim with some saxophone person. And Idia sulking and trying to disappear in on himself. Wait, where did Malleus go?

He NEVER gets in the car with Lilia, EVER; thank Sevens he only acquired the car when he started attending NRC and he only had it for about a year before it “disappeared”.

He encourages Sebek with his driving lessons, and also acts as a moderator since the only people willing to teach him are humans. Overall, he isn’t bothered that he doesn’t drive, and is confident in his decision.

Sebek Zigvolt

Defensive driver, heavy on the breaks and goes below the speed limit. Looks at Lilia as a clear bad example, so he has to resort to taking lessons from Trey, who was kind enough to offer, and his dad. He’s the only hope for Diasomnia.

He refuses to listen to anything while driving, as it is a distraction and he can’t tolerate distractions. Probably would have the radio removed from the car if he were able to.

His phone is on silent, the only notifications he gets are from his emergency contacts; Malleus, Lilia, and his mother. Each one has a different ringtone so he knows who is calling.

Insists that there be no decorations. The only thing that is remotely personal is a novelty gargoyle air freshener Malleus had gifted him from one of his outings. Otherwise it looks like it came straight from the dealership.

Has road irritation and will shout about how people shouldn’t be on the road. He only gets proper road rage when Malleus is in the car. Do you know who you endangered with your tactless driving, human?! DO YOU?!

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blackwolfstabs · 7 months

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30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 23

SECRET

Sam has a secret that she won't share... until she's forced to.

WARNING: contains teasing and vomiting (small paragraph - like 2 sentences.)

credits to @silliestgoosever for naming Gale's boyfriend (tysm! ♡)

The temperatures had peaked beyond the average for a summer in New York. It was approaching the beginning of August, and the highs were pushing 90℉ and soon to pass it. It was also close to the preparation for the college fall semester, which had Chad, Mindy, and Tara all experiencing mixed emotions about it. So, in favor of the rare, yet inescapable heat and a last hurrah for the summer, Kirby invited all survivors of the New York Ghostface terrors of 2023 over to her house. Since they had all become quote-unquote, “part of the same fucked-up family,” the FBI agent had moved up to New York to keep in close proximity to the others, in case anything happened. She had gotten a house in the suburbs that had a pool in the backyard, and during her recovery time off of work, she had spent her time fixing up the decking surrounding it to provide a nice place to entertain.

It was perfect for today.

Under the afternoon sun, Mindy, Chad, Tara, and Gale’s recently acquired boyfriend, Joseph Zehrn, spent their time in the water. Joseph was also a journalist that was very good at his job, taking an interest in the Woodsboro murders as well as Gale’s work. He worked in Springville, Utah, working behind the scenes when the real-life Stab situations were active. He was liked by everyone, really, someone always talking of how loyal and family-oriented he was. And he surely blended himself into the survival family quickly, when he and Gale started dating. Most of the time, he acted like he was one of them, joking and interacting like he knew everything about them, and from a journalist standpoint, it was safe to say he did. However, he was heavy on teasing and didn’t know when to stop, which held him liable for crossing boundaries he shouldn’t.

One of the main things he and Gale had in common… crossing boundaries.

He was very playful with the twins and younger Carpenter, already spending hours talking and engaging in various pool activities with them. Gale was in and out of the pool as was Kirby, but Sam had been sitting on the swings off to the far left of the pool the entire time. No swimsuit, no intention of getting near the water, just in a white t-shirt and shorts, spending time by herself unless someone took a break from the water to sit out or dry off. She was waiting for Danny, who was still at work and said he would get there later. No one asked, because they figured she was waiting on him or just wasn’t interested in swimming because of other reasons. At least that’s what the females of the pack insinuated. All except Tara. Tara knew why her sister refused to swim.

But where there was someone who knew the exact reason, there was always someone who didn’t and would push to find it out. And that was Joseph.

“You doing alright, Sam?” Kirby’s voice made Sam open her eyes from the relentless heat. She sat down next to her on the swing. “The heat getting to you?” she asked, on account of the younger’s face flushing red.

But Sam just shook her head. “I’m fine.” She let the other resituate her towel around her shoulders before continuing the gentle rock of the swing.

“Have you heard from Danny yet?”

Once again, she shook her head, then pulled out the water bottle that she kept beside her. “No, not yet,” she replied, before taking a sip. “He said he’d get off around 2 though.”

Kirby overlooked the 3 youngest attendees still swimming and diving beneath the pool’s surface, “Ah, so he should be on his way any minute now.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Before another conversation could start, Joseph’s dripping figure approached them. “What’s going on, Sam? You’re the only one that hasn’t been in the pool yet.” He gave her a friendly smile that didn’t coordinate very well with the notoriously gleam of mischief in his eye as he looked her up and down. “Don’t tell me you’re insecure. I don’t know how you could be with the kind of toned body I know you’ve got,” he teased.

Sam blinked at him, only able to give a subtle shake of her head, before Kirby jumped in.

“She’s waiting for her boyfriend.”

“Oh, is that it?” He was still looking at the younger one.

But this just made her grow hotter than she already was. It’s a good thing her face was already flushed, because if it wasn’t, it would’ve gotten that way no matter how much she wouldn’t want it to. And then that would just become another thing he could point out.

“Why not go swim with your sister?” Joseph pointed out Tara, who was sliding a pair of goggles over her eyes then disappeared beneath the water. “I thought she was the one you were glued to 24/7.”

“No, it’s not that,” she tried to defend herself.

“Is it that time of the month?”

Kirby could see how she grew flustered at that invasive question and stepped in again. “Okay, asshole, that’s a little too personal.” She said this in a lighthearted way though, so it wasn’t very insulting.

However, the man couldn’t take it any other way but playfully as he shrugged. “What? I’m just asking,” he chuckled.

Sam cut back in, fully capable of fighting her own fights, if that was what this was… “No, I’m not,” she nearly snapped. Then, she let her hackles fall, merely shifting with a small shrug as she went on, “I just… don’t want to.” And that was the truth.

The short one, at least…

Luckily, he nodded, seeming to finally take that as an answer. “Okay, okay…”

As he turned around to make his way inside, Sam looked over at Kirby. “Is he always like that?”

She nodded, “Pretty much.” She had been around Gale a lot more recently than the rest had been, so she had a good idea on who Joseph was by now. “I told Gale not to bring him, because he’ll likely just start trouble, but clearly…” she gestured her hand out to where the man disappeared, “she brought him anyway.”

A buzzing and vibration from her phone had the younger female glancing over to retrieve it. She observed the message lighting up her screen that made her divert the topic with:

“Danny’s on his way.”

“Good,” Reed nodded, observing the 3 in the pool again, before she invited her own dismissal. “I’m gonna go grab a bite. Do you want anything or wanna come with?”

Sam shook her head, “No, I’m good.” And she was left alone again as the other walked away.

However, 20 minutes later, she was called from her place on the shaded swing, when annoyed shouts from Mindy and Tara snapped her attention away from her phone.

“Way to go, dingus!”

“Come on, Chad, keep it in the pool! Go get it!”

Then Chad argued back, “No, that’s your ball, babe! It touched your fingertips. Remember the rule?”

Tara groaned and turned around to see the foam football sitting across the travertine. She judged retrieving it for a moment, before glancing over towards the swing. “Hey, Sam! Can you get the ball for me?” She pointed to it.

“Yeah,” her sister answered and set her phone down to carry out the task. The water swished, telling her that Tara swam away from the side and towards the waterfall coming over the backing rock wall on the other side. She circled the pillar to the covered decking and found the neon orange ball sitting next to a stack of towels. But the water must’ve outdone the sound of the back door opening and closing, because she didn’t know Joseph had come back out, until his voice was loud in her ears.

“Well, look who finally got off the swing!”

“I’m not chained to it,” she casually retorted as she leaned down to pick the football up. Then, she turned around to toss it back to Tara, who had to jump for it.

Joseph chuckled, “You sure act like it.” Now that he was right next to her, he could really see just how heat-stricken she was, especially with the white shirt she had on that complemented her red face. “Well, since you’re up, why not jump in real quick?” he further suggested with a nod towards the pool.

“I said I didn’t want to,” she answered, immediately getting defensive with him prying again.

He shrugged, “You look really hot—”

“Why are you so insistent on me going in the pool?” She finally challenged him. He wasn’t around any of them enough to act like he was, especially with how invasive he had been and was continuing to be. And if he pushed his luck anymore, she would make sure he didn’t get to be around them at all. “If I’m that hot, I’ll go inside. I don’t need to be in the water.”

At this sudden tension, the journalist pulled off a sarcastically offended look, “Alright, alright, take it easy, Sam. No need to get all worked-up, I just think it wouldn’t hurt for you to have some fun.” He gazed at her as if he knew her inside and out. He had studied all of them, after all, just like Gale had.

She just sighed and looked away, crossing her arms like she was biting her tongue from saying anything more. Damn, did she have a temper. Just like her father. But she didn’t bite as much as Billy did, especially when she was caught off guard. She needed to lighten up and cool off, so what was the harm in messing with her a little bit? Plus, if she wouldn’t say why she was being so resistant, the description of his job told him to find out. So, he went for it. He moved forward swiftly to pick her up bridal-style, which worked well for him.

Samantha’s heart skipped a beat as it jumped into her throat, her instinct having her arms come uncrossed to hold onto him. “What are you doing?” was the first thing her mind made her spit out.

Zehrn just seemed to take delight in his teasing antics as he started carrying her towards the pool’s edge. “Just gonna cool you and that temper off a bit,” he answered.

She didn’t know how she could become hotter than she already was, but somehow, she did. Her fight-or-flight cut deep, but the awkward position he had her in kept her from moving around too much. So, all that was left was to try and talk him out of it. “No, Joseph, put me down,” her growing fear kept her voice from projecting. She wanted to sound more assertive, like she had only seconds ago, but that was gone.

“I will! Right in the water.” If he were honest, he expected her to be heavier, considering her muscle, but he was able to carry her easily.

Sam whimpered, her dark eyes churning color with the blue liquid promising her demise. And as he took her closer to it, she found her voice. “No! Joseph, please! Let me go!” As much as she hated it, her chest started to burn, and it spread into her eyes, threatening to blind her with tears of fear.

Her raised and pitched vocals were enough to draw the attention of the trio in the pool, all not used to hearing her that way but immediately knowing it was the member that completed the Core Four.

“Dude, she doesn’t want to! Put her down,” Mindy called out, while Chad added on.

“Yeah, just leave her alone, man!”

Both of them were aware that Sam appeared to be scared, but it didn’t click that it was due to something other than being caught off guard or embarrassed. But Tara knew. And that’s why her voice came off the strongest and harshest as she barked.

“She told you no! Put her down!” It was like she spat fire, and both twins looked at her because of it.

However, Joseph still didn’t get it, not taking any of them seriously as he just laughed it off. “Oh, come on, Billy Loomis’ daughter isn’t scared of a little water, is she?” And then he let her go, her last attempt at objection completely void as she was released.

“No—!”

“Fuck you!” Tara hollered simultaneously with the joke he’d made, making Mindy finally speak up.

“Easy, T, it’s not that—”

But the sound of her older sister’s body hitting the water and the sight of it disappearing had the youngest there completely deaf to all else, though she knew where those words were headed, and it was up to her to explain her quick judgment. “Sam can’t swim.” She lunged forward to dive beneath the surface.

“Shit!” Was the last thing she heard from Chad as the rushing of water flooded her hearing. She blinked through the chlorine, finding her sibling’s figure stirring up bubbles in her struggle to find air. Above, she could hear Mindy’s muffled shouts, probably directed at Joseph now that she knew what the real problem was.

Tara grabbed hold of Sam and pulled her up, wrapping her arm around her waist to push her to the surface first.

And when her head broke into fresh air, the older Carpenter gasped, immediately thrown into a coughing fit.

“I got you, I got you. It’s okay.” The owner of the arms that held her spoke firmly but softly at the same time.

She didn’t even know who was helping her at the moment—out of the three that had witnessed it all—but whoever they were, she was grateful for them. She could feel the chlorine water she’d gulped down slosh like angry waves inside her. Her eyes, lungs, and muscles burned with the fight to survive. She could hear many people raising their voices, like they were fighting, but it was indistinct amongst the water clogging her ears.

“Joseph!”

That one was clear as day. It was Gale’s voice. Served him right, she hoped Gale tore into him. She wanted to, herself, but she was completely overwhelmed, exposed, and she was sure if she didn’t stop coughing, she was going to throw up.

“Sam, are you okay?” Tara’s worried voice called out to her, but she couldn’t respond. Her instincts were screaming at her to run, get out of sight, to protect herself. So, that’s what she did.

Around her choking, the drowned victim clawed at the travertine and pushed herself up out of the water. By now, she was not only fighting for breath but was fighting back sobs. A thousand thoughts and no time to process or recall any of them had corrupted her into tears all at once, and with the amount of noise around her, she couldn’t seem to control anything.

A secret had just been exposed, but it was never meant to be revealed like that.

“I was only messing with her!” Joseph objected to whatever Gale was saying to him. But then Tara answered.

“She can’t swim, you fucking asshole!”

“Tara! That’s enough, I’ve got it!” Gale warned.

“Calm down, babe,” Chad then tried to soothe.

But Sam didn’t spare anything or anyone a passing glance as she hurried to get to her feet and bolted inside. No towel, no caution, nothing. She ran past Gale and past Kirby as the FBI agent made her way outside to see what was going on, ducking into the now-ice-cold air conditioning and rushing into the bathroom in the hall to lock herself inside.

It was about 10 minutes of her sitting by herself on the rug on the bathroom floor, before she heard a knock at the door.

“Sam?”

Tara.

“Are you okay?”

Sam sniffled, swallowing back the drainage that remained in her throat. “I’m fine,” she croaked, still a little hoarse from her choking that eventually turned into a small vomiting episode. All the water she accidentally took in came back up, and she was still thanking her lucky stars that she made it to the toilet just in time to let it go.

“Can I come in?”

She hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see anyone right now. Even Tara… Tara was the only one who knew about her not being able to swim. Neither of them had learned as kids, because they didn’t have a pool, nor did they ever go anywhere that required swimming. The younger of the two had been taught by Judy, Wes, and Amber—sometime after Sam had already left for good—when she had been invited to their house during the summer. Lack of that skill led Sam to be deathly afraid of drowning, which was why she never let herself be taught, even after all this time. “I…” She tugged the towel she had gotten for herself tighter around her shoulders and pulled her knees up closer to her chest, having removed her soaking shirt, shorts, shoes, and socks to leave her in nothing but her bra and underwear. “I’m sorry, Tara… I’d just rather be alone right now…” She wasn’t shivering anymore, but she was still cold, nonetheless.

“Danny’s here…”

Sam then bit her lip. Maybe she didn’t want to be alone after all…

She got up from the floor and unlocked the door, opening it to find Tara raising her eyes to meet her own. Then, she glanced to her left, where she found Danny’s gaze.

“Gale laid heavy into Joseph, so you don’t have to worry about him,” Tara informed. “He didn’t know you didn’t know how to swim.”

Of course, he didn’t. Nobody but Tara knew. However, the older Carpenter couldn’t take her eyes off of her boyfriend. Had he been there, none of that would’ve happened.

But she could tell that he wanted to have strong words with Joseph himself.

She must have been making a face that told him something, because he stepped forward as she did and met her with one arm around her back and the other guarding her head to hug her. It was only one-sided, for she was still holding the towel around her, but he knew she just needed that security from him right now.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he spoke softly, while his hand caressed her wet hair. “Are you okay?”

Sam nodded without lifting her head from leaning against his shoulder. “Yeah…” Again, she started to fight back tears, the fear and humiliation still prominent in her emotions. “It was just a lot…” She felt him nod.

“I know.”

After another moment, she pulled away and glanced over to Tara, who held her phone out.

“I got your phone off the swing. I don’t know if you wanna go back out or…” She lowered her hand, when it was taken, then stood quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t do more to stop him…”

Her big sister shook her head, “You did fine. It’s not your fault. Thank you for helping me.”

She nodded, but she wasn’t convinced. “He’s waiting to apologize to you,” she moved on, knowing that dwelling on what she could’ve done wouldn’t fix anything. “So, whenever you’re ready, he’s outside.”

Sam sighed. She didn’t care about getting an apology. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to talk to him for the rest of the day, but she guessed that would be rather immature and petty of her. It just wasn’t her style to show weakness like she had. It felt out-of-character, even though there weren't any guidelines when it came to being human. “Okay…” she eventually nodded.

Danny brushed a thick strand of hair over her shoulder and tugged the hem of the towel a little farther over her chest. “I think we should get you in some dry clothes first,” he suggested.

“Kirby probably has some that you can borrow,” Tara then mentioned. She didn’t wait for a response before she already started to leave. “I’ll go ask.”

Once she disappeared out of the shadowed hallway, Danny pulled Samantha in to place a kiss on her forehead, which was still cool from the water. “Why didn’t you tell him you couldn’t swim?” he whispered.

“Because… it wasn’t his business,” she replied.

“He might’ve not done it, if you told him.”

“It’s not easy for me to let go of a secret.”

Sam seemed to be the queen of secrets. Hell, she even kept their relationship a secret for months. And that made him pull a small smile.

“Yeah, that’s not a secret.”

i'm not really happy with this one tbh. it would've been better to have this for a personal story i think. I had a different way of this scenario being handled that i could've done but oh well… i hope y'all still like it and if not then i know what NOT to do next time lolol

p.s if you're reading my story "The Wolves of Woodsboro", there will be a part in an upcoming chapter about how Sam overcomes not being able to swim. it's a little similar but not in the same way it's done and how it ends. idk how to say it but the point is that if u read that chapter when i post it and u think "uhh wtf why are u writing something like this again", i speak my peace here ;)

All my best! ♡ - parker

#scream #scream v #scream vi #sam carpenter #tara carpenter #carpenter sisters #chad meeks martin #mindy meeks martin #gale weathers #kirby reed #danny brackett #original character #ao3 #ao3 writer #ao3 fanfic #ao3 author #30 day writing challenge #secret #AU: All My Heart

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gumnut-logic · 3 months

Text

Virgil in Tights

Virgil refused to put on the Robin outfit for Scotty Batman, but there have been several instances of wardrobe malfunction for our heavy lifting boi.

-o-o-o-

Virgil hated the IR spacesuits. They were far too tight and left nothing to the imagination.

Also, the red baldrics clashed horribly with his green stripe enough to rip his eyeballs out.

But although his standard uniform was satisfactory for short forays into space, it was not enough for a space mission of this magnitude as it did not have the survival and safety mechanisms needed in an emergency. So, here he was dressed like some kind of spandex wearing superhero, his heavy lifting muscles providing a great anatomy lesson to any within eyesight.

“Looking good, Virg.” Gordon’s eyes were laughing.

“Shut up, Fish.” The aquanaut was used appearing all but naked in front of thousands. Hell, Virgil had nothing to be ashamed of, it was just difficult to keep a straight face in a professional capacity.

How the hell John lived in one of these things was a mystery Virgil had no interest in exploring.

The alternative was wearing something like Alan’s spacesuit, but that had its own issues regarding his exosuit and despite the...exposure, this was the best option.

At least he had a little security with the addition of his exosuit support padding and his harness – never leave home without it. That and his baldric covered a little of his modesty.

Didn’t stop his brothers’ comments though.

Alan actually snorted in laughter.

Scott raised an eyebrow, but then their commander was dressed the same and, much like John, was giving the Greek gods a run for their money in the process.

Virgil felt like a dwarf from The Lord of the Rings. What was his name? Gami? Gimi? Gimli? Standing next to that bleached elf.

Virgil grunted. “Let’s do this, already.”

-o-o-o-

Virgil walked out onto the deck dressed head to toe in IR wetsuit. Like Scott, his usual baldric had been replaced with a yellow aquanautical version, a pair of green stripes either side of it declaring him as Thunderbird Two, along with the patch on his shoulder. His left arm sported a wrist control, but this was much larger and covered his entire forearm.

The expression on his face was one of tolerance and it had Gordon smirking.

“Looking buff there, bro.”

Virgil glared at him. Their heavy lifting brother was well built and the wetsuit did absolutely nothing to hide it.

-o-o-o-

More to be found in:

Tracy Elves

Tracy is an Irish Surname

Though I have to say that it is Scott who is having the most trouble in that last one :D

Anyway, I hope these are smile worthy.

Nutty

(Sorry he wouldn’t put on the Robin outfit @janetm74 but he can wear some tight clothing in other situations 😁)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #virgil tracy #nuttyfic reblog

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theresattrpgforthat · 1 year

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hi there! do you have any recommendations for what to check out in the TTRPGS for trans rights Florida bundle? there's so many of them I don't know where to start

THEME: Mint’s Faves from the Florida Trans Rights Bundle

Damn, you beat me to the punch! I’m very excited to talk about these recommendations, hold onto your hats!

Disclaimer: Yes, I am aware that both Wanderhome and Thirsty Sword Lesbians are good games. I agree with you, they are good games and you should play them. I figured I’d shed a light on some games that are not the two games that are consistently brought up every single time someone mentions this bundle. If you haven't yet bought the Florida Trans Rights bundle, you can buy it here!

Eco-Mofos, by David Blandy.

ECO-MOFOS!! is a mid-future ecopunk ruin-delving survival game, as player characters (PCs or Punks) seek a safe homestead to start a new community, Weirdhope not Grimdark.

Around two hundred years ago, everything went to shit. The wealthy, who created this mess, fucked off to Mars while the lucky ones hid in vast underground bunkers. We were left to fend for ourselves on the surface, eeking out an existence in the broken world they left behind, searching for remnants of a past world to help us survive, searching for a place to call home.

Play a group of misfits who have found each other in the wastes and ruins of the fallen world. The past is just a hazy legend, the story scattered over thousands of usb sticks and servers, but the future is there to be written.

Blandy has niche ideas that slap, including Lost Eons, Lunar Echos and this game. Eco Mofos is designed to run off of the same rules as games like Into the Odd and Cairn, two rules-light OSR systems that get you to the table fast and force players to think creatively. There’s an Adventure Template also available for folks who want to make their own adventures, and a game jam that’s going on right now as well, so you’re really primed for a maelstrom of content if you get into this game!

18XX Dreams, by Deep Light Games.

THE DREAM REALM WELCOMES YOU: This land has always been here, visited by some, forgotten by many. Something changed. An increasing number of people have been waking with fantastical ideas and feelings. Now, dreams are becoming more solid: books, paintings, scores…

The barrier is thinner. Some are trapped here, some search for what they can’t reach elsewhere, some just roam, exploring and helping others. What meaning is hidden in your dreams?

DREAMS is a 24XX microgame. See more at jasontocci.itch.io/2400 or make your own using the SRD.

This is a quick game, only 4 pages long, and is deeply surreal. Each 24XX game uses the same basic rules - roll a d6 for most things, with bigger and smaller dice for skills and hindrances - but the creators of these games usually find one or two special rules to make the game unique. This one includes Emotions that can feed into player Traumas, changing the worlds the characters travel through and affecting a character’s arc. There’s also steps for creating maps, which are common in OSR games, although less common in 24XX (which is odd, considering it was birthed from OSR).

My favourite thing about these 24XX games is the roll tables provided for the GMs, giving quick ideas for plots and encounters, making this game runnable with little to no prep.

A Diner at the End, by Bammax Games.

You find yourself seated at a table among a group of people you have never met before, in a place that feels…familiar. You have never been here, and yet the atmosphere is comforting, disarming. It feels a bit like home.

A Diner at the End is a collaborative, improvisational storytelling game that invites at least two players to share the experiences, dreams, and regrets of characters whose time has been spent. Players take on the personas of people across space and time, using a standard deck of playing cards as a means to guide their characters' conversations and reflections.

This game celebrates the lives we lead—in all of their joys and sorrows—and challenges players to find contentment in the limited time afforded to us all.

Getting this game as part of the bundle doesn’t just get you the game, it also gets you the Menu Print version, which can be really handy as it provides you with character ideas. The game itself uses a deck of cards to prompt players to recall their memories prior to their death, holding onto a card that may be the last memory they carry with them onwards. This game has the potential to be deeply emotional, and yet the entire game fits on one page.

To Care is to Cairn, by Kai Medina.

Our town is changing.

We are left with artifacts that hold us to the past. They seem to betray history by breaking, altering, and growing beyond a generation. This is not a betrayal. We do not expect the past to hold such power over the present, and we forget that the present accounts for history just the same. Rubbish will always forge itself into a monument, and we will always be a part of that.

To Care is to Cairn is a world-building tabletop roleplaying game that carries players through a civilization of their making, from a bird's eye view of once everyday objects. Artifacts will become part of a tapestry to a community's developing history, using real world archaeological influence. This 40 page game can be played as its own one-off session, or as a tool to add complexity to approaching established campaigns.

This game is inspired by The Quiet Year, which I also adore. It is perfect for combining with a longer campaign - if you want to create your own world for Thirsty Sword Lesbians, this would be an excellent way to do it! You’ll track a number of events and brainstorm how they affect artifacts over the course of time using a deck of cards.

Also… you can play this game as a precursor to my game Mischief by Moonlight, a game about artifacts trapped in museums, and the small gods that inhabit them.

Bump in the Dark, by jexjthomas.

It's 1994 in the region of the fictional Ontonagon Peninsula known as "Iron Country," a belt of mining towns barely clinging to life. These towns are surrounded on all sides by the Sylvan Wilds, a forest known for old-growth pines and strange happenings. All of Iron Country seems to be teeming with the supernatural, a fact those in power would like to conceal.

You are a hunter, and you’ve promised to keep regular people safe from the horrors in the darkness. Will you stand strong with your found family and community or will you sacrifice yourself to spare the ones you love? Will you be lost trying to find solace wherever you can?

Thrilling, gritty, and utterly human, Bump in the Dark is a tabletop roleplaying game about a group of people who’ve dedicated their lives to hunting and dealing with monsters. There are gruesome attacks, tense investigations, nasty cryptids, nefarious factions, powerful demons, action-packed showdowns, and regular folk caught in the middle.

I’m a little bit feral about Forged in the Dark games, I love how focused they are and how they can cycle between moments of intense action and downtime periods where characters can explore more personal storylines. What makes this even better is the inspiration it takes from the Redacted Materials system of External Containment Bureau, in that the players will use clues to help figure out what exactly they’re up against.

I also fucking love monster games.

Games in this bundle that I’ve recommended in the past

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths, by Lucian Khan.

Europa Base, by a grumpy little critter.

No Sacrifice Without Blood, by hyphenartist.

Gubat Banwa by makapatag.

#dnd #game recommendations #asks #indie ttrpgs #tabletop games #mint recommends

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