#anyway. went looking at the character spreadsheet

[seagullcharmer]

i knooow rar said they never really had plans for the xc1 cast in ywkon but..... i love rotating them around in my head.... many ideas head full

[thisisnotthenerd]

detailed level progressions

it's been a while since i did one of these; welcome back to thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats. this time, we're taking a deeper dive into level progressions.

i went into this a bit back in october, but the chart has been updated to reflect fantasy high junior year's level progression, as seen below.

we're going to focus on the seasons with level changes primarily, but a note on the non progression seasons--they tend to reflect a short timetable: events occurring over the course of a day/week. the non leveled seasons are not run in dnd and don't really have stat changes in that way, though they sometimes reflect changes in attributes, e.g. the wand evolution in misfits & magic or dan fucks getting the wealthy attribute in mentopolis.

before we get into the level progression, let's talk adventure level. this just describes the scale of adventure; tier 1 is levels 1-4, tier 2 is levels 5-10, tier 3 is levels 11-16, and tier 4 is levels 17-20.

the majority of d20 seasons fall into tier 1 or 2, with more in the latter category. this makes sense--it's easy to create interesting/potentially deadly encounters without risking character death every time. you may notice repetition of the major progression seasons (fantasy high, the unsleeping city, a crown of candy, a starstruck odyssey, neverafter)—this is because of their general progression, with leveling after battle episodes. they cannot be fully classified as one or the other, and are thus counted in both. the scale of combat significantly changes.

with the lower levels, they run the risk of pc death, as we saw in both fantasy high and neverafter, where the parties started at level 1. in starstruck the characters go down in combat often; with the exception of the ship combats and the finale, someone goes down in every starstruck battle; sometimes multiple characters. acoc was intentionally deadly, but once the party got a primary caster they were pretty much set. the point of all of this is to say that at a certain point dnd characters get hard to kill and you have to get creative to get them to feel the stakes.

as of now, dimension 20 does not have any tier 4 adventures. it's easy to understand why; the scale of adventure, once the party gets to that point, becomes difficult to balance and make interesting over time. the high levels can be fun for oneshots and potentially a mini campaign, but without previous emotional investment, they can be difficult to make interesting--if the party is level with gods, how can you effectively challenge them? the nature of the medium is that the storytelling arcs are tied to mechanical growth; the short-form structure of dimension 20 means that they don't have the time to get characters from 1 to 20, except in the case of sequel seasons.

fantasy high senior year might potentially be a tier 4 adventure because we've had time to see the bad kids grow and change and progress through the previous levels; any tier 4 adventure would be a simple escalation of the threats the party already faced.

anyway. let's take a look at some specifics of level progressions.

check them out in spreadsheet form here

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major level progressions

the organization will be slightly different here, to account for continual progressions in sequel seasons, so keep that in mind. this will also include individual commentary in some cases. fair warning: if you're looking for a specific character/season it's better to ctrl+F.

the intrepid heroes seasons are major progression of varying degrees. initially this meant the characters went up one level after each combat encounter. as the formats for seasons varied, this changed. for example, there is only one level jump in fantasy high sophomore year, and only two in chapter 2 of the unsleeping city. these season are included as part of their greater series such that we can track the characters' growth.

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fantasy high

the bad kids have had some major growth from their first appearance until now--they began with milestone growth, briefly switched to xp leveling (shh!) and then returned to milestone growth with their return to battlemaps.

in freshman year, they all went through linear milestone leveling, taking subclasses at third level. in sophomore year, some of them leaned into multiclassing and chose to switch subclasses for the sake of narrative growth. in junior year, we saw a continuation of the multiclassing and subclass switches.

fig faeth

freshman year: fig leveled exclusively in bard from levels 1 to 8, taking whispers bard as her subclass at level 3.

sophomore year: fig altered her build partially, to begin the season with 6 levels of whispers bard and 2 levels of hexblade warlock. at the mid-season level up, fig swapped to the bard college of lore and dropped one level of hexblade warlock in order to end the season with 8 levels of lore bard and 1 level of hexblade warlock.

junior year: fig started the season with 8 levels of lore bard and 2 levels of hexblade warlock that she affirmed with an ancestral pact in the first battle. after taking an additional level of bard, she made the decision to take on paladin levels, exchanging one of her hexblade warlock levels to take two levels of paladin at once. for the rest of the season she alternated between leveling in lore bard and devotion paladin, thus ending with 10 levels of lore bard, 3 levels of devotion paladin, and 1 level hexblade warlock.

overall level change:

initial level: bard 1

final level: lore bard 10 | devotion paladin 3 | hexblade warlock 1

gorgug thistlespring

freshman year: gorgug leveled exclusively in barbarian from levels 1 to 8, taking berserker barbarian as his subclass at level 3.

sophomore year: gorgug started the season as a level 8 berserker barbarian. at the mid-season level up, gorgug took his first level of artificer to end the season with 8 levels of berserker barbarian and 1 level of artificer.

junior year: gorgug started the season having redistributed his levels somewhat: 7 levels of berserker barbarian and 3 levels of artificer (subclass unconfirmed but expected to be alchemist). with each subsequent level up, he removed barbarian levels to replace them with higher artificer levels; he went from 7 | 3 -> 6 | 5 -> 6 | 6 -> 6 | 7 -> 5 | 9. furthermore, he swapped from the battlesmith subclass (declared at first level up) to the barbificer subclass (homebrew) to reflect his narrative growth. he ended the season with 5 levels of berserker barbarian and 9 levels of barbificer artificer.

overall level change:

initial level: barbarian 1

final level: berserker barbarian 5 | barbificer artificer 9

adaine abernant

freshman year: adaine leveled exclusively in wizard from levels 1 to 8, taking divination wizard as her subclass at level 3.

sophomore year: adaine started the season as a level 8 divination wizard. at the mid-season level up, she took another level of divination wizard.

junior year: adaine started the season with 10 levels of divination wizard; she continued leveling in it throughout the season to end with 14 levels of divination wizard. she was the only one of the bad kids to not change her subclass or multiclass in any season.

overall level change:

initial level: wizard 1

final level: divination wizard 14

fabian aramais seacaster

freshman year: fabian leveled exclusively in fighter from levels 1 to 8, taking champion fighter as his subclass at level 3.

sophomore year: fabian started the season as a level 8 champion fighter. after his catastrophic fall in leviathan, fabian lost the use of his class/subclass features. at the mid-season level up, he redistributed his build: he took 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 3 levels of swords bard.

junior year: fabian started the season with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 4 levels of swords bard; he exclusively leveled in swords bard for the rest of the season to end with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 8 levels of swords bard.

overall level change:

initial level: fighter 1

final level: battlemaster fighter 6 | swords bard 8

kristen applebees

freshman year: kristen leveled exclusively in life cleric from levels 1 to 8.

sophomore year: kristen started the season as a level 8 life cleric. at the mid-season level up, she took another level of life cleric. after her death and council of the gods, she swapped her subclass to twilight cleric to reflect her new deity.

junior year: kristen started the season with 10 levels of twilight cleric; she continued leveling in it throughout the season to end with 14 levels of twlight cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: life cleric 1

final level: twilight cleric 14

riz gukgak

freshman year: riz leveled exclusively in rogue from levels 1 to 8, taking inquisitive rogue as his subclass at level 3.

sophomore year: riz started the season as a level 8 inquisitive rogue. at the mid-season level up, he took another level of inquisitive rogue.

junior year: riz started the season with 10 levels of arcane trickster rogue, having switched his subclass to improve efficiency and reflect his work as an angelic agent; he continued leveling in it throughout the season to end with 14 levels of arcane trickster rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1

final level: arcane trickster rogue 14

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the unsleeping city

the dream team also experienced major growth, though they swapped from single battle-milestone to a more spread out approach from chapter i to chapter ii. there were notably fewer multiclasses and subclass swaps, though they were still present. given that the setting required engagement with the magical side of new york, all of the party members had some kind of magic and the party overall had a higher than average number of full casters (chapter i: 4, chapter 2: 4)

this is our first sequel season where new characters come in to play; the descriptions will reflect this change.

ricky matsui

chapter i: ricky leveled exclusively in devotion paladin from level 3 to level 10.

chapter ii: ricky started the season with a subclass change to redemption paladin, then continually leveled in it to finish the season at level 12.

overall level change:

initial level: devotion paladin 3

final level: redemption paladin 12

sofia lee

chapter i: sofia started the season as a level 3 drunken master monk--she leveled in it until mid-way through the season, when she made a pact with la gran gata and picked up two levels of hexblade warlock. she finished the season with 8 levels of drunken master monk and 2 levels of hexblade warlock.

chapter ii: sofia started the season with a subclass change to shadow monk, to symbolize her journey away from alcoholism, and then exclusively leveled in it to end the season with 10 levels of shadow monk and 2 levels of hexblade warlock. she utilized downtime addiction mechanics (progressive rolls on each die in the suite to symbolize her state; the highest roll on each given die would trigger a move to the next, e.g. a 4 on the d4 means she'd move to the d6, so on and so forth).

overall level change:

initial level: drunken master monk 3

final level: shadow monk 10 | hexblade warlock 2

kingston brown

chapter i: kingston leveled exclusively in city cleric from level 3 to level 10.

chapter ii: kingston leveled exclusively in city cleric from level 10 to level 12.

overall level change:

initial level: city cleric 3

final level: city cleric 12

misty moore/rowan berry

chapter i: misty leveled exclusively in lore bard from level 3 to level 10.

chapter ii: rowan presumably leveled up off-screen; we meet her with 12 levels of lore bard in chapter ii.

overall level change:

initial level: lore bard 3

final level: lore bard 12

iga lisowski

chapter i: iga was not present in chapter i; presumably she progressively leveled up throughout her lifetime.

chapter ii: iga started the season with 10 levels of genie warlock; after unlocking the secret of her ancestral chest, she took 2 levels of draconic sorcerer to finish the season.

overall level change:

initial level: genie warlock 10

final level: genie warlock 10 | draconic sorcerer 2

kugrash

chapter i: kugrash leveled exclusively in shepherd druid from level 3 to level 10.

chapter ii: kugrash was not present as a PC in chapter ii, but as an omnipotent spirit of the city of new york.

overall level change:

initial level: shepherd druid 3

final level: shepherd druid 10

cody walsh

chapter i: cody was not present in chapter i; presumably he leveled up throughout his lifetime.

chapter ii: cody leveled exclusively in oathbreaker paladin from level 10 to level 12.

overall level change:

initial level: oathbreaker paladin 10

final level: oathbreaker paladin 12

pete conlan

chapter i: pete leveled exclusively in wild magic sorcerer from level 3 to level 10. pete utilized a modified build to reflect his role as the vox phantasma and his background as an addict; instead of triggering wild magic surges solely on nat 1s, his magic increased the dc with each spell he used, thus increasing the probability of surges. he also received the 14th level subclass feature controlled chaos (advantage on d100 roll for wild magic) midway through the season.

chapter ii: pete leveled exclusively in wild magic sorcerer from level 10 to level 12. he retained his altered build features and utilized the addiction mechanics that he shared with sofia.

overall level change:

initial level: wild magic sorcerer 3

final level: wild magic sorcerer 12

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a crown of candy

the taste buds also saw major growth, though some saw different progressions; the pcs started the season at staggered levels. multiclassing and subclass switches were common in this season perhaps more than any other. maximization of the builds was a focus due to the deadly nature of the season.

liam wilhelmina

liam started the season with 2 levels of ranger and selected the beastmaster subclass after the ambush on sucrosi road. he continued to level in ranger, but after the death of his companion, he 'became a war guy' and took on the gloomstalker subclass. after the death of his cousin, liam restructured his build to include 5 levels of gloomstalker ranger and 2 levels of rogue. from there, he alternated between adding levels of rogue and levels of ranger. he finished the season with 6 levels of gloomstalker ranger and 4 levels of assassin rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: ranger 2

final level: gloomstalker ranger 6 | assassin rogue 4

theobald gumbar

theo leveled exclusively in eldritch knight fighter from level 3 to level 10.

overall level change:

initial level: eldritch knight fighter 3

final level: eldritch knight fighter 10

jet rocks

jet started the season with 1 level of rogue; she took 3 levels of battlemaster fighter in preparation for the grand tournament. jet continued to increase her fighter levels--she dropped her rogue level to prioritize her fighter levels just before her death, ending with 7 levels of battlemaster fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1

final level: battlemaster fighter 7

saccharina frostwhip

saccharina joined the party with 6 levels of storm sorcerer and 2 levels of tempest cleric; she prioritized her sorcerer levels and ended the season with 8 levels of storm sorcerer and 2 levels of tempest cleric. she was the party's only full caster and her build was optimized to reflect that.

overall level change:

initial level: storm sorcerer 6 | tempest cleric 2

final level: storm sorcerer 8 | tempest cleric 2

ruby rocks

ruby started the season with 1 level of rogue; she continued to level it, taking arcane trickster as her subclass in preparation for the grand tournament. she took 1 level of shadow sorcerer after communing with her aunt lazuli and the sugar plum fairy, but continued to level in rogue for the rest of the season, ending with 9 levels of arcane trickster rogue and 1 level of shadow sorcerer

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1

final level: arcane trickster rogue 9 | shadow sorcerer 1

amethar rocks

amethar started the season with 3 levels of storm herald barbarian; he tok two further levels in it until the ambush at st. arugula's, when he started to level in fighter, selecting battlemaster as his subclass to match his daughter. he ended the season with 5 levels of storm herald barbarian and 5 levels of battlemaster fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: storm herald barbarian 3

final level: storm herald barbarian 5 | battlemaster fighter 5

lapin cadbury

lapin leveled exclusively in celestial warlock from level 3 to level 5. he passed away early in the campaign, thus precluding further level changes.

overall level change:

initial level: celestial warlock 3

final level: celestial warlock 5

cumulous rocks

cumulous leveled exclusively in long death monk from level 6 to level 10. he joined the party midway through the campaign as they returned to candia.

overall level change:

initial level: long death monk 6

final level: long death monk 10

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a starstruck odyssey

starstruck runs a little differently than previous seasons of dimension 20 by virtue of using sw5e--a dnd-influenced game system that utilizes aspects of the world of star wars to bring a sci-fi galaxy to life. you can check out sw5e here; i highly recommend it.

the major change is the inclusion of ship deployments as additional customization; this allows the characters to level up their proficiencies on the ship and provides additional abilities for use on space craft. ship deployment levels do not necessarily correlate to character class levels; characters technically start at level 0 and level up as they prove their mastery in ship combat. the gunner channel is technically a little overleveled in their ship deployment levels with respect to their character classes, if we assume the 5 levels of ship deployment are evenly spaced among the 20 character class levels.

this serves to balance the season, because the gunner channel ends the season at level 6 after fighting some enemies that were seriously above their weight class, though they had fewer battles in general. we saw some staggered starts again, though no subclass swaps or multiclassing. they leveled up after combats with battle boards; there were a few encounters that did not qualify (e.g. flee from fantanimalland).

gunnie miggles-rashbax

character class: gunnie leveled exclusively in engineer from level 1 to level 6, taking 3 levels and the gadgeteer subclass at the party's first level up. this class is comparable to artificer, with the full casting progression and inspiration from bard.

ship deployment: gunnie leveled exclusively in mechanic from level 1 to level 3.

overall level change:

initial level: engineer 1 [mechanic 1]

final level: gadgeteer engineer 6 [mechanic 3]

riva

character class: riva leveled exclusively in suggestion consular from level 3 to level 6. this class combines features of the cleric, wizard, and sorcerer, and utilizes metamagic as an additional feature.

ship deployment: riva leveled exclusively in coordinator from level 1 to level 3.

overall level change:

initial level: suggestion consular 3 [coordinator 1]

final level: suggestion consular 6 [coordinator 3]

norman 'skip' takamori

character class: skip leveled exclusively in operative from level 2 to level 6, taking 2 levels and the lethality subclass at the party's first level up. this class is primarily based on the rogue, but provides different uses of sneak attack and additional maneuvers.

ship deployment: skip leveled exclusively in pilot from level 1 to level 3

overall level change:

initial level: operative 2 [pilot 1]

final level: lethality operative 6 [pilot 3]

margaret encino

character class: margaret leveled exclusively in scholar from level 2 to level 6, taking 2 levels and the politician subclass at the party's first level up. this is a brand new class which incorporates maneuvers from the battlemaster fighter and new features knows as discoveries that serve to support the party in battle and provide expertise out of combat.

ship deployment: margaret leveled exclusively in operator from level 1 to level 3.

overall level change:

initial level: scholar 2 [operator 1]

final level: politician scholar 6 [operator 3]

sundry sidney

character class: sidney leveled exclusively in corsair sentinel from level 3 to level 6. this class uses a 2/3rds progression that supports combat support casting from the bard and an additional level of customization known as ideals

ship deployment: sidney leveled exclusively in gunner from level 1 to level 3

overall level change:

initial level: corsair sentinel 3 [gunner 1]

final level: corsair sentinel 6 [gunner 3]

big barry syx

character class: barry leveled exclusively in ballistic berserker from level 3 to level 6. this class is based on the barbarian, with the addition of instincts that provide unique abilities aside from subclass.

ship deployment: barry leveled exclusively in gunner from level 1 to level 3

overall level change:

initial level: ballistic berserker 3 [gunner 1]

final level: ballistic berserker 6 [gunner 3]

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neverafter

neverafter has the most traditional high fantasy dnd setting--the leveling of the party is relatively normal, with a couple of subclass swaps and multiclasses, but generally standard progression.

we saw a couple of narrative moments that signaled different level shifts: destiny's children had a notable level jump after their first battle because they committed to a darker universe after death. the party had symbolic changes after their encounter with the baba yaga as well, with a second level jump going into the finale.

rosamund du prix

rosamund started the season as a level 1 ranger. at the first major jump, she continued on the ranger track and took the swarmkeeper subclass. she maintained this progression until the second major jump, when she restructured her build to incorporate 5 levels of swarmkeeper ranger, 2 levels of stars druid, and 1 level of fighter, where she ended the season.

overall level change:

initial level: ranger 1

final level: swarmkeeper ranger 5 | stars druid 2 | fighter 1

mother timothy goose

timothy started the season as a level 1 bard. at the first major jump, he continued on the bard track and took the lore subclass. he maintained this progression through the second major jump, and ended the season with 8 levels of lore bard.

overall level change:

initial level: bard 1

final level: lore bard 8

pinocchio

pinocchio started the season as a level 1 archfey warlock. at the first major jump, he continued on this track. after breaking his ties with the stepmother, he changed his subclass to destiny, a homebrew that allowed him to affect elements of fate relating to his own story. he maintained this progression through the second major jump, and ended the season with 8 levels of destiny warlock.

overall level change:

initial level: archfey warlock 1

final level: destiny warlock 8

puss in boots | pib

pib started the season as a level 1 rogue. at the first major jump, he continued on the rogue track and took the mastermind subclass. he maintained this progression through the second major jump, and ended the season with 8 levels of mastermind rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: rogue 1

final level: mastermind rogue 8

gerard of greenleigh

gerard started the season as a level 1 fighter. at the first major jump, he continued on the fighter track and took the battlemaster subclass. he maintained this progression through the second major jump, and ended the season with 8 levels of battlemaster fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: fighter 1

final level: battlemaster fighter 8

ylfa snorgelsson

ylfa started the season as a level 1 barbarian. at the first major jump, she paused her barbarian progression for 2 levels of moon druid. she then returned to the barbarian progression, taking the bear totem subclass, and ended the season with 6 levels of bear totem barbarian and 2 levels of moon druid.

overall level change:

initial level: barbarian 1

final level: bear totem barbarian 6 | moon druid 2

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the ravening war

unlike the other seasons we've discussed so far, the ravening war has a time skip over wartime that constitutes a major level jump--almost doubling the previous builds. much like a crown of candy, this season involved lots of multiclasses and subclass swaps, with min-maxing for political intrigue as opposed to pure combat.

delissandro katzon

delissandro started the season with 5 levels of champion fighter. at the time skip he swapped his fighter subclass out and took a level of barbarian, to end the season with 8 levels of battlemaster fighter and 1 level of barbarian.

overall level change:

initial level: champion fighter 5

final level: battlemaster fighter 8 | barbarian 1

raphaniel charlock

raphaniel started the season with 4 levels of eloquence bard and 1 level of rogue. at the time skip he took two levels of each and the inquisitive rogue subclass, to end the season with 6 levels of eloquence bard and 3 levels of inquisitive rogue. his build included feats that allowed him the use of metamagic and telepathy, which heightened his use of magic and secretive nature.

overall level change:

initial level: eloquence bard 4 | rogue 1

final level: eloquence bard 6 | inquisitive rogue 3

karna solara

karna started the season with 3 levels of whispers bard and 2 levels of great old one warlock. at the time skip she took 4 levels of phantom rogue, to end the season with 4 levels of phantom rogue, 3 levels of whispers bard, and 2 levels of great old one warlock.

overall level change:

initial level: whispers bard 3 | great old one warlock 2

final level: phantom rogue 4 | whispers bard 3 | great old one warlock 2

colin provolone

colin started the season with 3 levels of battlemaster fighter and 2 levels of rogue. at the time skip he took 3 fighter levels and 1 rogue level, to end the season with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter and 3 levels of swashbuckler rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 3 | rogue 2

final level: battlemaster fighter 6 | swashbuckler rogue 3

lady amangeaux epiceé du peche

amangeaux started the season with 4 levels of arcane trickster rogue, comparatively lower level than the rest of the party. at the time skip, she continued in the progression to end the season with 9 levels of arcane trickster rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 4

final level: arcane trickster rogue 9

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burrow's end

burrow's end is the first true major progression sidequest, despite occurring on a compressed timespan. each level up is a double jump, signifying the party's exposure to the blue and the society of last bast. multiclassing, subclass swaps, and restructured builds were common in this season; all of the characters multiclass at least once.

tula

tula started the season with 4 levels of redemption paladin. at the first level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the final level jump she restructured her build to finish the season with 7 levels of redemption paladin and 3 levels of life cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: redemption paladin 4

final level: redemption paladin 7 | life cleric 3

jaysohn

jaysohn started the season with 4 levels of astral self monk. at the first level jump he took 1 additional level as well as 1 level of rogue. at the second level jump he continued the rogue progression with two additional levels, taking the swashbuckler subclass. at the final level jump he took two additional levels of rogue to finish the season with 5 levels of astral self monk and 5 levels of swashbuckler rogue.

overall level change:

initial level: astral self monk 4

final level: astral self monk 5 | swashbuckler rogue 5

viola

viola started the season with 4 levels of devotion paladin. at the first level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump she continued the progression with two additional levels. at the final level jump she restructured her build to finish the season with 7 levels of devotion paladin and 3 levels of champion fighter.

overall level change:

initial level: devotion paladin 4

final level: devotion paladin 7 | champion fighter 3

thorn vale

thorn started the season with 4 levels of fey wanderer ranger. at the first level jump he continued the progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump he took 1 additional level as well as 1 level of tempest cleric. at the final level jump he restructured his build to finish the season with 5 levels of fey wanderer ranger and 5 levels of tempest cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: fey wanderer ranger 4

final level: fey wanderer ranger 5 | tempest cleric 5

ava

ava started the season with 3 levels of ancestral guardians barbarian and 1 level of fighter. at the first level jump she continued the barbarian progression with two additional levels. at the second level jump she continued the fighter progression with two additional levels, taking the battlemaster subclass. at the final level jump she added two grave cleric levels to finish the season with 5 levels of ancestral guardians barbarian, 3 levels of battlemaster fighter, and 2 levels of grave cleric.

overall level change:

initial level: ancestral guardians barbarian 3 | fighter 1

final level: ancestral guardians barbarian 5 | battlemaster fighter 3 | life cleric 2

lila

lila started the season with 4 levels of inquisitive rogue. at the first level jump she continued the rogue progression with two additional levels, and swapped her subclass to arcane trickster. at the second level jump she took two levels of wizard. at the final level jump she restructured her build to finish the season with 4 levels of arcane trickster rogue and 6 levels of bladesinger wizard.

overall level change:

initial level: inquisitive rogue 4

final level: arcane trickster rogue 4 | bladesinger wizard 6

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minor level progressions

these are the seasons with only one level jump--this reflects having narrative growth on a compressed timeline. if we include fhsy for the sake of argument, all of these seasons fall into tier 2--it makes sense that there's only a minor level change because the characters don't need to be significantly scaled up to face more powerful foes. it's also notable that these are 10 episode seasons, and the other 10-eps either have no level change or major level changes--the length has room for variance.

this section kind of restates the obvious, but it's interesting to see the difference in how much each season prioritizes optimization; for example, brennan gets got by a feat (alert) that antiope takes with her level up.

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the seven

not too many crazy changes, though we do see a few multiclasses/multiclass extensions. the notable changes really fall into the nitty-gritty, with class features, subclass features, and feats.

antiope jones

antiope started the season with 6 levels of arcane archer fighter and 3 levels of monster slayer ranger. at the mid-season level up, she took another ranger level and the alert feat.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane archer fighter 6 | monster slayer ranger 3

final level: arcane archer fighter 6 | monster slayer ranger 4

katja cleaver

katja started the season with 9 levels of battlemaster fighter. at the mid-season level up, she took 1 level of barbarian.

overall level change:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 9

final level: battlemaster fighter 9 | barbarian 1

penny luckstone

penny started the season with 9 levels of arcane trickster rogue. at the mid-season level up, she took another rogue level.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 9

final level: arcane trickster rogue 10

danielle barkstock

danielle started the season with 9 levels of shepherd druid. at the mid-season level up, she took another druid level.

overall level change:

initial level: shepherd druid 9

final level: shepherd druid 10

ostentatia wallace

ostentatia started the season with 9 levels of forge cleric. at the mid-season level up, she took another cleric level.

overall level change:

initial level: forge cleric 9

final level: forge cleric 10

sam nightingale

sam started the season with 6 levels of storm sorcerer and 3 levels of glamour bard. at the mid-season level up, she took another bard level, as well as a magic initiate: warlock to reflect her pact with talura.

overall level change:

initial level: storm sorcerer 6 | glamour bard 3

final level: storm sorcerer 6 | glamour bard 4

zelda donovan

zelda started the season with 8 levels of eagle totem barbarian and 1 level of fighter. at the mid-season level up, she took another fighter level.

overall level change:

initial level: eagle totem barbarian 8 | fighter 1

final level: eagle totem barbarian 8 | fighter 2

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a court of fey and flowers

another season without crazy changes--all of the characters continue their standard progression, no subclass changes or multiclasses, though hob continues a multiclass progression.

andhera

andhera started the season with 8 levels of devotion paladin. at the mid-season level up, he took another paladin level.

overall level change:

initial level: devotion paladin 8

final level: devotion paladin 9

k.p. hob

hob started the season with 6 levels of battlemaster fighter, 1 level of rogue, and 1 level of barbarian. at the mid-season level up, he took another rogue level to get cunning action.

overall level change:

initial level: battlemaster fighter 6 | rogue 1 | barbarian 1

final level: battlemaster fighter 6 | rogue 2 | barbarian 1

chirp featherfowl

chirp started the season with 8 levels of bladesinger wizard. at the mid-season level up, she took another wizard level.

overall level change:

initial level: bladesinger wizard 8

final level: bladesinger wizard 9

squak airavis

squak started the season with 8 levels of lore bard. at the mid-season level up, he took another bard level.

overall level change:

initial level: lore bard 8

final level: lore bard 9

delloso de la rue

rue started the season with 8 levels of bard, subclass unknown. at the mid-season level up, they took another bard level.

overall level change:

initial level: bard 8

final level: bard 9

binx choppley

binx started the season with 8 levels of arcane trickster rogue. at the mid-season level up, they took another rogue level.

overall level change:

initial level: arcane trickster rogue 8

final level: arcane trickster rogue 9

--------

nonprogression seasons

i really don't feel like writing all of these out individually, so reference the images for specifics of leveling. i do have some commentary on the tiering of these seasons and what it means for the scale of the adventure.

--------

escape from the bloodkeep

the vile villains are still tied for highest level party at level 14, though they have fewer multiclasses--thus the characters are running around with roughly the same amount in each of their toolkits. they're sturdy enough that battles can be in precarious environments and include multiple objectives, while leaving room for shenanigans. honestly, given the lava shenanigans in bloodkeep, you'd think brennan would have learned for fhjy.

--------

tiny heist

given the genre, it makes sense that the tiny thieves would be capped at level 4. getting them up into tier 2 would lead to shenanigans that would stretch the bounds of a heist movie. they tend to run low magic, and the few spells in use are explained by the presence of fairies, technology, or monastic tradition. that doesn't stop them from doing things like rolling on a roll of quarters like a circus bear, crushing a man in a transforming car, or blowing up a bomb with a flamethrower.

--------

pirates of leviathan

at level 5, the buccaneer buddies are securely beyond the abilities of the average person, and that's clear in their roles on leviathan. it means that the threats feel real and present and that the characters inhabit the world as protectors of their home. the entire party has some degree of magic/supernatural aid, which tracks for the people that end up facing a magical threat to leviathan.

--------

mice & murder

much like the tiny thieves, if the sylvan sleuths got too high level it would stretch the bounds of credulity for the mystery genre. the party is low magic; the vicar's magic is explained by blessings from the lord, though he is actually pretty bad at it. to even out the need for high rolls with the need for low leveling, all of the characters have a feat granting them skill expertise in one of the key skills of the mystery: history, insight, investigation, perception, and athletics for lars. this lets them work with the 15-20-25-nat 20 system for ability checks; all of them could theoretically find clues, but realistically they have different skillsets and would look for different things, which balances the info they find.

--------

coffin run

the fang gang has a mix of levels that reflects the amount of time each character has spent with dracula--may at level 6, aleksandr and wetzel at level 7, and squing at level 8. it affects their strategy in unusual ways: squing is the tank, wetzel and aleksandr fight on the front/midlines while running support, and may does crowd control. the party is fairly magic by nature, but leans more toward partial than full progressions.

--------

dungeons and drag queens

the questing queens are in much the same situation as the buccaneer buddies; powerful enough to start venturing out, but still low enough that the threats feel real and present. tier 2 is the bread and butter of 5e--fun abilities for the characters, enough that you have to think about what you're doing, but not too much for new players. this party leans a little bit harder to the martial side of things--with two long-ranged specialists they tend to space their fights out and take people out from afar, while staging princess as a shield and gertrude present for dps.

--------

and that's all for this time! i hope you enjoyed this installment--it's a long one (6.3k words!). kudos to you for making it this far.

obligatory spreadsheet link: thisisnotthenerd's d20 stats

[steamberrystudio]

27/08/2023

So now that Gilded Shadows is wrapping up, I am promoting When Stars Collide from "Spare time project" to "Part time project"

What is the difference? Well, when I work on something in my spare time, that means it is late at night or the weekend. Literally when I am not doing anything else and just feel like tinkering with it. 

As a part time project, this means that I will be spending an hour or two each day during the work week to do things for this project. It will start making more steady progress even if I'm not focusing on it full time.

This is basically taking it from me spending 0 - 4 hours on it a week to 8-10 hours on it a week. 

My goal is to have the draft complete before the end of the year (by 'draft', I mean 'rough draft'). But more on that below.

Summary

Finished all scenes for the new chapter three

Finished Yren chapter 6 scenes

Started catching Kav's route up to the others

Edited Asher's CG to account for the new conference room BG

Small adjustments to Wil's first CG

Ramble

This week my big focus for WSC has been on writing. As I mentioned, I really want to get the rough draft completed by the end of the year. Currently the draft is nearly 70% complete (for those following updates in multiple places, when you see different percentages....it's because I've written more since then. Rofl).

Now, the draft was nearly 70% in the past as well but I added another route since then, so I lost some progress due to the increase in target word count. I'm also calculating things more precisely now as I created a newer and fancier writing spreadsheet to track my progress and keep myself on track.

I went back and wrote in the new chapter 3, reorganising all the existing chapters and scenes to accommodate it. 

I finished Yren chapter 6 (which catches him up to Noel and Raif). 

And now I'm working on catching Kav, the new character, up to Yren, Noel, and Raif. (Remember, Daaz and Asher's routes are already fully drafted).

I have written about 15000 words since my last update here. I don't expect to write that much every week and my goal is actually a fair bit more modest than that. Gilded Shadows is not 100% complete yet. I still have multiple KS related things to finish and, of course, I will be making corrections and focusing on its beta testing once testers have had a bit more time with it. 

WSC is still a part time project. This was just a particularly good week for it.

I have also worked on a few other things for WSC - mostly UI related and some art related things.

I received a new BG since my last update, and realised that...I have to revamp all the existing CGs. Or at least update them to change the background elements. I've only edited one so far but I don't think it'll be too much effort to fix the others.

And I continue to streamline and adjust the UI to make it look nicer and be more efficient.

So...

Kav. The new character. Kav'isari Tiaine, a Ka'mérian crew member who works in the space labs most of the time and specialises in identifying alien technology (what species it belongs to and what it does).

To explain where Kav came from, he actually popped into my head months ago. And every so often, I would contemplate whether or not I wanted to add him. I would say I first had the idea in January or February of this year. I would repeatedly think about it and dismiss it.

I then mentioned it to a friend sort of off-handedly back at the very beginning of June. A month and a half later, I mentioned him on a voice call on my server knowing full well that if I really talked about him and had a conversation about him, I would probably end up doing enough character brainstorming that he would become "real." And I talked about him anyway.

And that's exactly how he became an actual character. I think I had his sprite sketched out by the end of that day.

But he had existed as a concept long before that. The main reason I was willing to add him instead of ruthlessly telling myself no is just that I felt there was a gap in the cast for a gadfly style character who has a little mystery to him. And I just knew I could manage another route based on the length of Asher and Daaz's routes.

So...yeah. That is how Kav came into being. His introduction into the story has caused a few minor changes to standing lore or things in the prologue (just mentions of him, etc). But the changes to the currently public content of the game are pretty minor.

Kav won't actually appear in the game until Chapter 3. He gets mentioned a few times up to that point. There are some logistical considerations to his route but I have talked about those more on Patreon.

Speaking of Patreon, now that WSC is moved into "part time" status, I will be starting to slowly release some Patreon-exclusive lore posts for this game there. Like most games monetised through Patreon content, the lore posts will not be critical to having a full and complete game experience. Rather, it is going to be comprised of additional and extra lore content.

Some of the lore content released on Patreon will be in the game (such as character back stories) but Patrons will get to see it early and will get it presented in a different format.

Much of the content can be considered "extras" rather than necessary.

I will also be updating on the development progress weekly there (available to all patrons) rather than bi-weekly, and my updates there (going forward) will tend to be more detailed than the ones here.

Once episode releases start, Patrons will be able to access them before they the public releases. But backing on Patreon is not necessary to be able to play the game and get a full and complete game experience. It's just how this particular game will be monetised as I'm looking for more sustainable release styles so I can continue to make games.

That is all for this update. I will see you in a couple of weeks to talk about WSC again!

[silverwhittlingknife]

hi anon <333 okay so uhhhh listen when i got this ask which i think was... a month ago? a couple months ago? i did not have a dick & tim reading guide

BUT i read this ask and i thought WOW WHAT A GOOD IDEA, a dick & tim reading guide, i wish i'd had one of those when i started reading!! and also i had a lot of work that i didn't want to do so i needed a project to procrastinate on dsfdsfs

so i have been working on a reading guide spreadsheet and it is ALMOST DONE so i will post it soon-ish. <3 if anyone wants to check out the unfinished version and tell me if it's readable dm me <3

also below i have rambled a lot about the makings of the spreadsheet if you also like spreadsheets a lot

this is only sort of tangentially related to the reading guide but it is the SECRET ORIGIN of the reading guide. i think many comic fans eventually end up with a spreadsheet story because comics are bonkers and difficult to keep track of, so either you sensibly engage with your hobby in a reasonable fashion or you slowly go bonkers yourself and end up with a spreadsheet story. this one is mine.

so a year or two ago, when i got first got deeply deeply obsessed with dick & tim, i was desperate for content and i wasn't able to find much on tumblr

so out of a combination of deep affection for the boys and also an extremely strong desire to procrastinate the things i was supposed to be doing, i went through dc.fandom's list of dick's appearances and of tim's appearances.

and i cross-referenced them all to find the comics they both appeared in, and then i started kinda randomly reading through those comics looking for good art/panels that they both appeared in and taking notes on whether they appeared in the same panel or not:

and then as i became even more obsessive i started adding in a bunch of their solo appearances so i'd know the context of their team-ups, and i started color-coding blue-for-nightwing, red-for-robin, purple-for-both-of-them:

and then i started trying to make lists of Significant Events so that i'd know e.g. when characters died or got married or broke up:

and then i got tired of having to search for dc.fandom pages every time i wanted to check something in a comic, so i started adding links to dc.fandom and to dc universe:

and then i thought, you know, it'd be nice to have comic titles and to know if it's part of an ongoing story:

and sometimes when i was reading, i started taking notes on quotes or whatever was going on:

and that's about when i got this ask, and i thought, you know, i really should make a reading guide.

and i started thinking, okay, is there any way to take my spreadsheet and make it slightly less convoluted and a bit more like a reading guide?

and the answer was, probably not!!! but that did not stop me from trying sdfdsfds

so right now i have a spreadsheet called "Dick & Tim Reading List" and it's got a section that looks like this which has about 200 recommended-read comics:

but ALSO there's a tab that's really really long that has all of dick's solo comics and also all of tim's solo comics (from 1987-2011, not of all time, but still):

and also you can just get a list of all (post-crisis) comics dick&tim have appeared in together:

and also as i was working on this i discovered FILTER VIEWS and simultaneously got curious about all the quotes in grayson 12, which taunted me with the possibility of getting post-crisis continuity back before not giving it to me >:(((((( but anyway they're still good quotes so i made a list of all of them

anyway then i looked at all of that and thought ehhhhh okay but that's very complicated!! maybe i need some shorter reading recommendations. so then i started making a list of those:

basically you should picture the spreadsheet journey like this puppy:

anyway i'm still kinda distracted but i do intend to clean it up a bit more and then post a link, so that will happen soon-ish hopefully <3

[wannab-urs]

Gin's 2023 sappy post

It's hard for me to believe that at the beginning of this year, I didn't know a single one of my best friends in the world existed. But it's true!

How we got here

I'm not quite sure exactly when I started looking up Pedro Pascal on Tumblr, but it was sometime after February. I'd watched Game of Thrones and Oberyn was my favorite character, but I was in one of my periods of not being on Tumblr (I've had this account for about 10 years, but it's seen many fandoms and I haven't always been active).

I watched the first few episodes of The Last of Us that had come out - I was 3 episodes behind I think - and immediately looked up Joel Miller on Tumblr. How could I not? Anyway, give me ten minutes on this hellsite and a middle aged man with a huge imdb and watch me develop a hyperfixation.

So then I looked up interviews. I watched basically every interview this man ever did, but I remember that the Lie Detector interview and his appearance on the Talk Easy podcast are really what did me in. I went from admiring this man as an actor and thinking he's pretty to basically being in love with him.

Anyways....

I didn't mean to start reading fanfic? I come from the world of Destiel on AO3. I never wrote it, I just read copious amounts of it. I'd never read reader insert, much less straight reader insert, and I'd never written a word of anything even resembling a fanfiction.

But I found @prolix-yuy, @frannyzooey, @joelscruff, @fuckyeahdindjarin, and @ezrasbirdie (check the spreadsheet, y'all are at the very top!) and I was hooked.

Then I read Psychomanteum by @whatsnewalycat and Celestial Navigation by @write-and-buried and was inspired to parade my trauma around in a Dieter shaped trench coat: AGOY was born.

@beskarandblasters is the first person I really talked to on here. In fact, Kel is the one who introduced me to most of my friends on here. And we've been harassing each other on the daily since. I hope to 🦵 her in real life someday soon ❤️. I love you, bitch. You mean the world to me.

I could never ever ever list all of my dear friends I've made on here. Seriously, there are so many of you that mean the world to me. But I'm gonna list a few.

My cannibal crew @pr0ximamidnight and @atinylittlepain, without whom Love as Violence Dave (starving season), Head up his Ass Javi (in the a.m.), and the later editions of loser druggie Dieter (AGOY) would not exist - or at least they wouldn't be as good as they are.

My darling soup snake, the loml, my spider twin, my forever partner in making bitches cry (it's us, we're bitches, making each other cry in an endless loop) @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin. #1 AGOY stan forever, you may love my own magnum opus more than I love it. Thanks for listening to me scream about every pedro boy on the planet and thanks for screaming right back at me. I love you.

The random college student I found by accident, decided to take under my wing, and then was subsequently taken under their wing bc it turns out they have more fandom experience and life advice than I can ever hope to have @idolatrybarbie. Bea, my darling, thanks for always letting me bitch, for showing me fics I never thought I'd be into (The Santa Claus AU Frankie Morales Free Use Kink, anyone) but that I often was into, for encouraging my writing, and for being fucking real with me.

The pedrostories crew, but especially @pedrorascal - I love screaming about Pedro with you at... 2:30 in the morning my time (we love time zones!). Thanks for letting me be a terrible mod for your fic archive blog and never getting mad at me for not doing my job. And for being a wonderful, kind, amazing person all the fucking time.

I'm being so serious when I say I could list at least 20 more people. People who brightened my day with a reblog or a message. Or who wrote a fic I still think about at least once a week. Or who made a gifset that is permanently etched into my brain. People I talked to in discords and most likely trauma dumped on and they listened and they cared and they let me hold their trauma in return. I love you guys so fucking much.

Conclusion

I never could have imagined I'd be a writer and run a fic rec blog at 24. Especially not for Pedro Pascal Characters. But here we are -- and I can honestly say it has been the highlight of my year. And I bought a house this year.

I have so many new friends and a new hobby (I never wrote at all before this) just because I wanted to Fuck That Old Man. Incredible.

[dilfchart-deathbattle]

Has there been a character whose age shocked you the most? Like, a dilf looking character is actually. A young guy. Or something

Not really shicking but the most confusing was surprisingly Miles Edgeworth. I saw a submission that said he was an older man and went "that can't be true, surely they meant adult adult and misclicked"

So I go through the submissions and there's 2 other people who submitted him as an older man and I go "ok maybe he's 40 ig??"

I search for Phoenix submissions and they all say he's over 25

And then I think

"Ok so maybe they meant different versions of each? Like the Phoenix submissions are from another game"

So I search Phoenix's age and he goes from 24 as his youngest age and 34 as his oldest

I go back to the spreadsheet and most submissions specify Apollo Justice Phoenix or, ahem, "Hobo Phoenix"

Then I go

"Well they're the same age right? So if Phoenix doesn't go over 40 on any game, Edgeworth also shouldn't right??"

I search his age

He's not even in Apollo Justice??? His oldest age shown is 26

Why are 3 out of his 7 submissions calling him old?? Is it because his hair is grey????

Most importantly, why is his husband a hobo at 36 in a game where he's not even in?? Did he die and send him into depression????

Anyways, 18 people are very passionate about hobo Phoenix and I thank them for specifying the game he's on

[maddogofshimano]

600 Follower Give Away

woah! I looked away for a minute and we went right past it!

as per usual it will run for a week (I’ll end it on Friday 4/28 at midnight), and likes and reblogs both count for one entry, so doing both gets you two entries!

unlike usual though instead of the winner having to blindly guess at what character stories or events there might be, I compiled a master list of ALL of them. it took forever. if you win and want a summary of one before committing to them I’m perfectly happy to provide that

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iAh0TGIWLgonLgsMwYpMX3siDc-htyzZh0yW23EKRhM/edit?usp=sharing

anyways anything in green I have already translated and posted, anything in yellow I have at least read or have partially translated, and everything else is probably untouched

all of the event names for things I haven’t posted were fairly quick translations, so I might revist them if they get picked lol. I’m still committed to finishing the Sugiuchi character story before I get to this one I have just been distracted by other things! it’s in progress though!!

and as a thank you for 600 followers please enjoy the art of the new Majima KSR card for the second(!) Tokyo Revengers crossover

[bipirate]

favourite things: 2023 edition

last year i made one of these and i thought it'd be fun to make another one. i have a notion spreadsheet with all the media i watch/read/play throughout the year (not just things that came out this year!) and i give them ratings. these are the highs (and some of the lows) of 2023 (not in order).

Games

Tunic - such a great and beautiful game that i do not want to spoil. seriously, play it. if you like zelda, exploration, solving puzzles, and cute little foxes, then it's a must

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - what can i say, i love a zelda

Portal 2 - just an even more excellent sequel to an excellent game

TV

Alice in Borderland - i didn't know what to expect at first but it was excellent and highly addictive

Not Me - my introduction to thai BL (for better and also definitely for worse lol). anyway this show changed my brain chemistry. it has everything: gays, a twin switch situation, leftism, arson, rooftop kiss... you know

Bad Buddy - speaking of rooftop kisses...... if you know you know. anyway this is also a thai BL and it's still rotating in my brain. i rewatched it almost immediately, that's how good it was

The King's Affection - cheesy historical kdrama about a crown prince who is secretly a woman, with a swoon-worthy romance and political intrigue. this one's for the bisexuals (after all, the male love interest falls in love with the prince before he finds out it's a woman)

Vinland Saga - this anime fucking wrecked me. season 2 had me crying every single episode. thorfinn is my new child and i WILL name my future cat after him

The Devil Judge - a kdrama about a dystopian south korea with a fucked up justice system. anyway kang yohan character of all time. oh and also toxic homosexuality (affectionate)

Books

The Poppy War trilogy by R. F. Kuang - what an excellent series to get me back into fantasy series. it was not without faults, but i was hooked anyway

Babel by R. F. Kuang - i read this brick in 5 days straight. it's beautifully written and has such interesting things to say about language and colonialism. again, it has flaws but i wasn't bothered, i was obsessed with this book

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - i didn't realise how much i missed high fantasy until i read this. it has lesbians, dragons, a bitter old homosexual, magic, and did i mention dragons and lesbians?

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker Chan - the sequel to She Who Became the Sun, my favourite book of last year. this sequel fucking DELIVERED. i went insane about it multiple times. it's a must read

Graphic novels/manga

Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama - i started this manga 2 years ago, but since it's still ongoing and I've read new chapters this year, it counts for this year as well

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run by Hirohiko Araki - not finished with it yet but it is truly as good as everyone says it is

The Adventure Zone: The Eleventh Hour by the McElroys and Carey Pietsch - i know not everyone likes the taz comics, but i do, i think theyre great adaptations, and this one looked incredible

Movies

Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse - not as good as the first one, but still really good. beautifully animated and extremely entertaining

Bonus: the lowest of the low, titles that earned my 'sucked shit' rating

Theory of Love - amazing that out of the 3 thai BLs ive watched, 2 managed to make it on my favourites list, and one of them was some of the worst television i've ever seen

Where the Crawdads Sing - read the book for book club last year, we all hated it, and now we decided to watch the movie for a laugh. it also sucked

[lethedwarddavidsonworld-blog]

Signalis Doom - 5

Not much today either, it was mostly a mix of overcoming issues with 3d models in doom and figuring out some workflows.

3d models are still considered sprites, so to get models to display properly, it involves a degree of pointing the engine to look at invisible dummy sprites and then swapping those with the model. Odd stuff. There's better formats than this one and i'm going to look into those. That being said, i'm unsure how much i'm gonna commit to 3d, right now it's just experimentation. what I'll prob end up doing is spending a day banging out a buncha mockup sprites to approximate some chars and start mapping. Just enough to get the idea. tbh i could be doing way more mapping to establish a level language than i am, i'm kinda putting it off to play with textures and i gotta diversify.

I'm considering commissioning some artists for some spritework, either on specific characters or UI elements or such. I know i'll want something done for the opening splash. Most of my time today, and the next few days, is going to be spent reacquainting myself with a host of tools. I've been doing gamedev for years, i went to school for 3d animation, and i've spent a great deal of time in alot of art tools. However, i tend to forget how they work very easily. I realized i'm not gonna get anything done unless i take the time to remember how the following tools work; 1. Maya for core animation(could be a problem, iqm is the newest doom format and the community pipeline is best setup for blender, but we'll see how it goes) 2,. Blender for import/export/better compability with some aspects of gzdoom 3. Photoshop for photo manipulation of the existing textures and as a means of either creating new textures, or givng more nuance to ones i create elsewhere. 4. Aesperite for core pixel art. Signalis is a mix of low rez painted works and pixel art, and knowing when to deploy each is a good idea. 5. I'll need to get a proper toolkit up for the model to 2d pipeline, i have options but they need to be tested. 6. FL studio for audio manipulation. 7. and imma be real i don't know how spreadsheets work and i'm gonna need a hell of a spritesheet to organize what assets i'll need to recreate. That sounds like a lot but i've used them all before, and i'd need to more or less do the same thing for any real production anyway.

On the plus side, i think i've figured out how to do the floors. i'll just take elements of the original textures, and build a larger one out of them with built-in variation for tiles and color variation. I'll add more variation as needed in-editor.

I'm realizing i'm spending alot of time in odd spots. To be honest, i've never done a fan project like this before, much less one working with OG textures. I'm having a tough time getting my head around not only the unique nature of doom modding (releasing contnet packs taht can slot into any game) with full game production (Og maps, mechanics, story with bespoke stuff) ontop of fanworks (fanfiction, recontexualization of original assets). part of me wonders if my focus on getting og textures working is a mistake, as it's putting me in a mindset that's not the most useful for my project. But we'll see, I'll get my priorities straightned out, this ain't getting done overnight either way.

[buthowboutno]

buthowboutno's Unsolicited Writing Advice

Howdy fam!!

This is a post that i’ve been wanting to make for a while so!!! Finally fucking sat down and did it lmao

Considering we’re past the halfway point of ATWLP and over 125k words written for the universe, I thought I would share some writing advice and tidbits I’ve picked up along the way!! (especially for you baby writers out there) (we’re ignoring the fact that I only broke my five year writing hiatus like seven months ago)

ANYWAYS, ramble under the cut <3

--

Don’t force yourself to write linearly

If you’re dragging your feet along writing sections just to get to a certain scene in your head and losing motivation, just… write the scene you wanna write. This might be specific adhd oriented advice, but you gotta use your juices when you have them. 

I’ve recently posted a chapter that I wrote all the way back in November. Did I have to edit some parts in light of changes I made to the outline and the way my blorbos have developed? Yes, but that’s way easier than starting it from scratch and losing all of my ideas when the scene was first bouncing around my head.

Outline outline outline… but don’t be a slave to it

Sometimes all I can manage the energy for is a long series of bullet points outlining a chapter, but it makes it SO much easier to sit down and type everything out properly later.

I also find that having a main outline for my entire story helps me from falling into plotlines that I don't know how to get out of or losing motivation for a fic because I haven't figured out the end goal for my characters. It's easy to sit down and work on a chapter because, for the most part, I already know how it's going to end up.

Having said that, sometimes your characters are stinkasses and decide to completely break away from what you had planned, and that’s okay! Understanding how you can and cannot shove your blorbos around for the sake of plot is a part of learning how to be a better writer.

Don’t delete your writing!

Chances are if you hate a section, it’ll read a million times better after you set it down for a few hours. Us writers can be so incredibly critical of ourselves, but resist the urge to select all and backspace!!! If anything, leaving a section you hate allows you to come back and edit it into something way better instead of starting from scratch again.

If you have to delete a section that just doesn’t fit in the story anymore, still save it!! I have a bits and pieces doc that houses all my deleted scenes that have been revived in later chapters. You never know how deleted scenes might help you pad out future parts of your story.

If you’re a literature snob (like me) and want to just flat out improve your craft… you gotta do your homework

You will always become a better writer the more you write and for those just looking to get out some emotions or have fun, that is perfectly fine! Ignore me! You’re already doing fantastic, look at you go!

But if you’re the type of person to read a fic and be like… “wow, that was better quality than most published books. how do i get to that level??” this is for you

When you’re reading, regardless of what it is, make a mental (or physical!) note of the things you like and dislike.

 Ex: How does the author portray a certain emotion? How do they lay out the scene? What different aspects of characterization stick out to you? What’s the word choice like?

Never gonna bash on anyone who just wants to read for enjoyment, but when you start to exercise that muscle I /promise/ you that your writing will improve that much faster. (It really is annoying how the fucking rhetorical analysis skills they teach you in highschool help, but they do.)

Ages ago I went to this conference for young writers and in one of the seminars I went to, this pair of authors talked about this spreadsheet they set up to better lay out the aspects of writing they really loved or wanted to avoid in their genre. I think this is vv important when you’re planning out longer pieces of writing; you don’t want to get stuck in a trope you hate!

Watch critiques of books!

Booktube is super fucking great for this. I’m personally a video essay bitch, so I’ll sit and watch a three hour long video of someone dissecting a novel and giving a review. That shit will help you with everything from learning how to construct longer and cohesive plots to avoiding certain pitfalls that may turn an audience away from your work. 

Rachel Oates is one of my forever faves and Alizee is a youtuber that I’ve just recently stumbled upon but love all the same.

 I WILL SING THE PRAISES OF OVERLYSARCASTICPRODUCTIONS ALL DAY EVERY DAY.

They have really excellent videos that go into the different tropes and all the ways they can present in stories, whether it be good or bad. This helps you get familiar with the building blocks of a narrative and decide things like wanting to subvert a trope, build upon the popular ones, or even reject them all together. Fic is basically built on fandom-wide tropes, so I think it’s good to be familiar with them.

Just like artists, we gotta do our studies, too

Back when I was a infant writer (i.e. in eighth grade) me and my friends would find different writing prompts on pinterest and spend a few hours working on them before sharing what we wrote. Even if it's not for a larger work, it is /really/ good practice to describe scenery in a picture or come up with a character on the fly and explore how they interact in a situation.

It’s is the literary equivalent of drawing a hand instead of putting it in a pocket so you didn’t have to deal with it

Write messy! Write fast! Write garbage that you’re going to delete in five minutes! You’ll be surprised about the gems that come out of doing this. Literally some of my favourite lines have come out of a frenzied 10 minute keyboard mashing session.

Don’t be afraid of critique but know the difference between that and simply being hard on yourself.

 I think this is probably the biggest thing I’ve struggled with as I’ve gotten back into writing. Before I started posting, I had about five chapters saved up ‘cause I was agonising over making everything perfect. Do I see, six months later, things I know I could have done better? Yes, but! I wouldn’t have been able to grow or develop as an author if I didn’t take that first step of posting and moving on to other parts of the story.

There is a time and place for critiquing and editing your own work and seeing where you can improve, but you also gotta meet yourself where you’re at. We’re not going to be Shakespeare overnight. Getting better is a process, baby! Embrace the fact that if you’re embarrassed about your work years or even months down the line, that means you’re growing as a writer.

And remember stinkies, any creation is good creation. Don’t go comparing hits or kudos or likes and being down on yourself, the act of creation is an important part of the human experience!!! Even if the only thing you ever put out is a 100 word drabble about lightning mcqueen making love to bowser, i’ll be proud of you. 

Happy writing and get yourself some water <3<3

[thegreenisles]

I've put together a spreadsheet that contains every line of dialogue in the game, written out.

This INCLUDES lines of cut dialogue that were left over in the files!

Additional information below the cut.

The cut dialogue is at the very bottom of each chapter's sheet. However, if you would like to mix them all together and see them in sequence, you can filter the leftmost column (with the file names) by A-Z

(I should note that in chapter 1, a lot of the files are named inconsistently, so a lot of lines should go together in-game are named separately. They get better at naming them in the other chapters, though there are still a few inconsistent ones)

You can also search for lines from a specific character by pressing Ctrl+F and typing their name with a - before it (ex. -Graham, like in the picture I'm using). That way, it won't include lines of dialogue or file names with their names in it, it'll just be their lines. Or just filter the character names column from A-Z, but searching will keep it all intact and highlight their name, so you can see the related lines of dialogue from other characters in context with theirs.

I basically just dug out all of the subtitles from the files, and put them with the audio file names that they go with. You want to know why the file names have .mp3 on them? Because I copy and pasted them in one big chunk straight from my audio files directory. No way am I going to do that individually, or edit each one to remove the .mp3. The cut files do not have .mp3 at the end. This is a good companion to the voice line audio files in the google drive.

There are also lines of dialogue that were not subtitled. I manually went in, listened to them, and transcribed what I heard. It's a lot of [grunts], [yells], [groans], and [goblin noises], but I did it! I also included the ice guards from chapter 4's reverse audio transcription, so it says what they're actually saying there.

The way to tell if a line is ripped straight from the game or transcribed by me is to look for quotation marks. If it has quotation marks around the dialogue, it's straight from the game. Anything I typed out myself lacks those.

There's also a few times where the 'cut' dialogue is just repeats of what made it into the game. I've included everything- with no exceptions, so they're all there anyway.

This was a huge project so I hope others find this useful! Even while it was unfinished, I liked to scroll through it or search for specific lines I remembered. The cut dialogue is really cool too, so check it out if you're interested!

[feuqueerfire]

Utsukushii Kare (S1, S2, Movie) Live Blogging

I can't believe I'm finally, finally, finally getting around to watching Season 2 and the movie (+ rewatching season 1).

I knew I liked this show well enough and the characters have stayed with me since watching it in 2022 but I didn't realize that Utsukushii Kare is pretty special because it's actually the very first live blogging post I did on this blog. It was February 2022 and now it's 2+ years later March 2024. Before then, I'd maybe tweet a thread of me watching but the tweets would be sparse because I didn't wanna spam people. I think I got the idea because I was writing so many Bad Buddy thoughts (also in Jan-Feb 2022) on my show tracking spreadsheet and that wasn't sustainable lol

Anyway, looking at these is making me remember that I'd been looking forward to season 2 from when I finished watching (from my live blogging ending thoughts) and had anticipated the release of it for months and months. Even more ridiculously, in my show tracking spreadsheet, the only thing I wrote for this show was a link to my live blogging and "If there was a sequel, I'd watch" bruh that's all I had to say and yet I'm finally watching the sequel 2 years later (while the sequel has been out for a year).

Anyway, enough chatter, I think I'm just delaying watching this show because I like season 1 and the characters so much and I'm just... nervous about my expectations.

Utsukushii Kare: Season 1

Probably won't be writing much because I already did the whole live blogging for this.

Also, it's weird that I haven't rewatched this? Why do I remember it so vividly if I haven't rewatched? I occasionally watch a bunch of tiktoks for the show and sometimes people mention it in podcasts, so maybe that's why? I was thinking maybe I'd watched reaction videos but nah, apparently I'd only watched that for 1 account back in April 2022. Once again, I continue to ramble instead of pressing play

Ep 1 (Mar 23)

Watched like 12 minutes before falling asleep

Ah, the fondness is coming back

Ep 2 (Mar 23)

Oh, the group going to Hira's house and the bike riding scene is here? in my head it was later

And the bike riding continues to be an incredible scene

Ep 3 (Apr 17)

Uhhh, I'm back after almost a month lol I think I wanted something much easier without complex dynamics at the time, so I'd watched Destiny Seeker instead

Oh, I'd forgotten about this tense scene after the contest

ahh the masturbation thing lolol

It bothers me that Kiyoi was nice again to those bully boys like why make good with them again? And when you're graduating no less?

that sudden kiss + pushing him hard enough that he falls to the ground + saying "see you again" before leaving really is just terrible and confusing lol

Ah, Hira really was always putting himself down and putting Kiyoi in a pedastal in these episodes + I remembered when somebody pointed out that in Hira's POV, there are many shots where Kiyoi is on elevated ground or taller/higher than Hira, so I noticed a lot of that in this ep

Ep 4 (Apr 17)

ack, the immediate 'stalker' to someone who ppl think is his fan is so T.T

"I want to kneel down at your feet right now" kills me every time

Koyoi's inability to communicate and Hira's idealized view of him are both so just . insane

ahh Kiyoi's POV from next ep

the episode starting with Hira saying "For several insipid years, all I did was grow up." while Kiyoi ends the episode with the same sentence

Ep 5 (Apr 17)

seeing Kiyoi lose his mind over Hira is so cathartic

ough, i forgot this hug that Kiyoi sees

I disliked the other guy more when I first watched it than I do now

Ep 6 (Apr 18)

Oops, went almost the whole day without watching anything

finger sucking scene

Ouch

the conversation at the school is just so good man, like ouch but hopeful

hehe cute biking

Overall:

Ahh, idek why I wasn't Gripped by this rewatch, like I like the characters and dynamics but it wasn't keeping my attention as much, maybe because it's a rewatch? Maybe my original rating of 6.5 was correct and I shouldn't have bumped it up to 7 but who knows, maybe I'll be reintroduced to the brainworms after watching Season 2 because I found ep 6 really engaging and was into it and S2 + movie will have new, unfamiliar stories for me.

Season 2

Ep 1 (Apr 18)

How soon after S1 is this season starting?

akkkk "Are you angry?" "Why?" "Last night I was too persistent" alkdjfasd;lkf

It's weird to realize that like... I'm older than them. I was several years older than them when they were in high school and now I'm probably 1-2 years older than them because Hira said graduation is approaching but it's weird still idk

not Mr. Suspicious lmfaoo

Hira kneeling and crawling around really is just a lot

it's so funny how Hira trembles in Kiyoi's presence because he's apparently standing too close, meanwhile we know for a fact that they canonically fuck

Hira's persistent fear that Kiyoi might die ?!

they're both so constipated in different ways, I'm dying like Hira's extreme lack of confidence about his looks and sense of self vs Kiyoi obviously being in love with him and wanting to reassure him but also not being able to compliment him truthfully and sincerely

Kiyoi's every sentence is a trap lmfao

omg I was so distracted by her, she's gorgeous and I love the outfit and jewelry

Kiyoi seething with jealousy ahh

lolol "today we're gonna do it"

oh my goddd what a good episode, I was giggling and dying and so engaged, I'm glad I love it so far because I was kinda nervous after not being as enamoured by S1

Ep 2 (Apr 19)

ah, i'm clutching my heart, flashback to the scene of when Hira taught Kiyoi about the tea olives or whatever and Kiyoi just desperately wanted Hira to say he likes him

return of Suspicious-kun plss

Is the other guy who's there for Anna gonna be significant? Either as an Anna s/o as well or as a Kiyoi hater maybe?

does Kiyoi want their love life to be more exciting?

aksldfj why are each of them so annoying like Koyoma's being like yeah Hira doesn't shut the fuck up about you and your drama at school while Kiyoi's like "Is Koyoma saying he sees a side of Hira I don't see? Is he trying to assert dominance?" like girl both hira and him are just dumbasses god bless

Koyoma on Kiyoi's ass for freeloading off of Hira and letting Hira do all the housework while he just pursues his acting or whatever ohh

pls Hira treating this shitty food as if it's from Olympus

Ah, Hira joining the photography competition at Kiyoi's encouragement (though the pressure would make me buckle)

Ep 3 (Apr 19)

Hira not making it to the next round of the competition but Kiyoi still being supportive, I needed to see this rn tbh

oh my god this is so sad man, they're literally always just on different lines of thinking because Kiyoi wants to be treated as an equal in the relationship while Hira thinks it would be an insult to think of himself as ever reaching Kiyoi's status

but it's so sad the way Kiyoi wants to obviously be known as Hira's bf (even though they can't) and the way he's hurting knowing that Hira wants Kiyoi and his parents to be completely separate owwww

omg? Hira saying I don't want to understand you? fucked up fr

Their relationship is often somewhat tragic because of their dynamic and how they see themselves and the fact that what they want from the relationship is different but this ep is so sad man

Ep 4 (Apr 19)

ah, good thing Kiyoi came back because they only have 1 episode of 23 mins left and i don't want the ending to be rushed lol

sorry accidentally got the ick when Kiyoi came and ordered Hira to get ginger ale in front of everybody even though ik it's like Dynamics but still why in front of dumbass bullies smhh

Hira not liking Kiyoi saying it's fine if he doesn't get a job after uni bc he can take care of them makes sense but then smiling happily when Kiyoi says "fine, then work like a workhorse and if you mess anything up for me I'll throw you away" is sooooo

huh? Why Hira didn't submit anything?

oh it's a different thing that Hira didn't submit for? Because he did indeed submit for the contest

woah, gasped at the fact that Hira is kneeling but at eye-level/slight higher than Kiyoi instead of lowering himself as much as possible

Hira being fed chocolate by Kiyoi, ah

great, delightful

Overall:

This season is about Hira and Kiyoi's relationship. They didn't become boring after getting together, they didn't magically end up being a perfect happy well-adjusted couple after getting together, nor were there random issues thrown just because; the struggles and hurdles are true to their characters and dynamics.

I was a bit afraid that I'd be meh about it because I was like fine but not Hooked on the S1 rewatch but the S2 was great, for real. I liked the themes and dynamics it explored and their character + relationship development and progression. I also smiled a lot and lost my mind a little at certain moments.

Strong writing, strong characters, strong acting, what a relief.

Rating: 7/10

Movie: Eternal

No clue what the movie is about actually, though there are a few gifsets/moments that I've seen that didn't appear in the series, so much be from here. + I saw one comment saying that Anna and Noguchi are supposed to be there more in the movie. oh also actually?? a kidnapping plot?? i heard it mentioned in a podcast i think

omg they're each recounting how they met the other to their own mentors

not the shrine ?!?! omg

I really don't know how to feel about Anna's fan like do we need to kill him or what?

what does Hira mean by him and Kiyoi drifting apart?

hah the divorce thing is here, I loved the gifset when I saw it and have had it in my likes for Months, gonna finally be able to reblog it

i think i saw a gifset or clip in this bathtub scene and I'm a great enjoyer of people discussing their desire for dubcon/cnc roleplay

Idk if I hate that I keep skipping all their makeouts/allusion to sex scenes like aghhh

I've also seen this part about hira apologizing for not having same free time as Kiyoi and Kiyoi grabbing his face in his hand to say stop apologizing, you've tried your best. i like it a lot

wait are Anna and Noguchi dating? I wanna know who the person Anna was talking about who has her heart but they can rarely meet because they're in the same industry. and it'd have the parallel of Hira wanting to photograph Kiyoi while Noguchi gets to photograph Anna

Noguchi used to be a scenario photographer?

ah, Hira didn't show up to the shoot with Noguchi and Kiyoi

pls why are they both obsessed with this award, he doesn't even have regular professional photography experience c'mon girls

oh, Anna's bf is some random actor from another company.

her fan is being... fine for now.

Aw, Anna

dang, they're bringing Anna to live with Hira's cousin

So does the aunt know that Hira and Kiyoi are like a thing or does she still think their fan/friend lol

Hira saying only Kiyoi is allowed to call him creepy and such because he's special + Kiyoi being like "he's creepy right?" Anna: "yeah" Kiyoi: Hey!

Ouch, yeah Hira saying he doesn't know what to shoot is crazy

Oof, Hira and Anna dating scandal

It must be so funny if you're watching this without knowing about EA celebrity dating culture (though even in SK, actors can date) and being like ? why is this a scandal ?

but i'm unexpectedly getting a celebrity-centric BL without seeking it out, which is great, esp bc when I seek it out I don't tend to find too many which actually give me what I want

random het sob story in the middle of my Utsukushii Kare but I like Anna so I'll allow it for like... 2 minutes

Ah, the kidnapping lol

oh it really is the Anna fan fuckhead aghhh how terrible, he's been off since the start

pls saviour Hira

Hira gets to photograph Kiyoi professionally yay

deciding to have one subject as your photo subject is crazy if you wanna be a professional but alright I'll buy into it

ah, conversation about beauty and age

gorgeous ending

Overall:

Great, fun, though not as emotionally invested as Season 2 because they're in a better place in their relationship in this movie (even if it's not necessarily Perfect). It was interesting to have new people in their lives like Anna and Noguchi and how their stories influenced them. I'm happy with where we're leaving off the characters after ~6h of show/movie.

Rating: 6.5/10

[choccy-zefirka]

Do you have any songs or albums you associate with your Tavs and Durges? It could be the lyrics of a song, the themes of an album, or just the general vibes of either, it doesn't matter why.

Bonus question: Do you have any OTP/ship songs for them and their LIs?

I actually stopped deliberately trying to fit songs to my characters in like early 2010s, when I was made fun of it online (I had a spreadsheet and everything!). I do sometimes Ponder how my character would look singing this or that song, but I don't take active notes of it like I used to.

For example, when I am sometimes overcome by nostalgia for my favorite musicals, I thinnnnk I Dreamed a Dream could be fitted to a repentant Durge (if you twist the "Then the tigers come at night" etc etc bit to be not about SA, but about the Urge awakening instead)

Wrt love songs, I am a basic binch so when I can shove in And At Last I See The Light from Disney's Tangled as an OTP theme, I will (my dear darling friend @sky-scribbles supports me in this, wrt Gale :D)

Also, because I went ahead and named one of my Durges Mariposa, my Disney trend continues with sometimes pondering how I can make Dos Oruguitas from Encanto fit her and Wyll, but I think the polite thing to do online these days is to hate that movie? (I am not sure, I am not hip with the youths in the Disney fandom; Encanto was actually the last Disney movie I saw in theaters before the company cut ties with my country and I got burned out by the remake/reboot/rehash era anyway)

[horizon-forbidden-sheesh]

Writing Process: Timelines & Trackers

Okayyy, so I've written about the drafting process in detail. But along the way, logistics problems tend to pop up that can't be solved in words alone.

Mostly, it has to do with knowing exactly where someone is or what someone is doing at the same time as another character I'm writing. For instance, when does Alva get back to the Base? How long is she there before Aloy shows up?

I didn't always take detailed notes on this during my first play-through. And after I abandoned my Scrivener file, (more about this here ⚙️) I decided to refine my timeline.

I already had a great foundation based on my first play-through and my New Game+ speed run. So, I started fresh, with a new game file and good old fashioned pen & paper. I'm still working through this as I write. (Just finished the Scorcher side quest!!)

*This is in a Master-size (A4) Leuchtturm notebook, in which I'm working back-to-front. I prefer purple pen and grid paper always.

Yes. I know. I am a psycho. As I mentioned in the Preamble, gaming timelines are a special interest. 💁🏼‍♀️ Plus, I build client-friendly Gantt charts for design projects IN MY SLEEP. So, taking my timeline from paper into Spreadsheet status felt like a v natural next step.

💡I started with a weekly at-a-glance, mostly because I needed to coordinate when various characters arrived back at Base:

Why yes, I am tracking Zo & Aloy's periods. Because there is no single, magical herb you can take to stop pregnancy. Don't get me wrong, I dig this trope! It's important to discuss family planning, and our genre is ✨fantasy✨ after all. But I can only suspend my disbelief so far, and there are other ways to get around this, which a Matriarchal society would probably be clued in on.

💡 This quickly evolved to a daily at-a-glance once Kotallo made it to the Base:

This spreadsheet helped me IMMENSELY as I was writing chapters 13, 14, 16, 17, & 19! Basically any time Aloy & Kotallo are not in the same location. Knowing what Kotallo is doing at the Base while Aloy is off mid-adventure has been super important to make sure their Focus calls work and feel natural.

Likewise, knowing exactly what day Erend returns, and how long they have before Aloy gets back all helps with continuity and flow.

Other Things I'm Tracking:

💡Datapoints. The whole point of the GAIA Gang is that they're sorting through the data Aloy collected during the events of HZD. And since that was an absolute whirlwind year for Aloy, I'm thinking her files are a fucking shit show—and almost none of the people sorting through them even know how to read. 😵

So, I started by accumulating all the files by location. I am assuming they're probably geo-tagged—if not, they're at least assembled in order of pick-up, which would mean they're ordered by Aloy's general location at time-of-discovery anyway.

*I crossed them out as I moved them to the next spreadsheet tab...

From this hot mess, I figure that Zo, in her infinite wisdom, took one look at Aloy's files and went, "Oh hell no."

💡Here's the way I imagine Zo organized her playlists, much to Varl, Erend, & Kotallo's relief (Meanwhile, Alva re-filtered everything, and discovered entirely new metadata categories, obviously):

The most important detail here was time!! Most of these are like 1 minute long... but 1 minute in the game is like, 20 minutes IRL. So you've gotta figure the GAIA Gang is back at Base binge-watching an entire docu-series, while simultaneously learning how to read (and procrastinating with hours and hours of bodycam battle footage).

No wonder they're always busy when Aloy shows up!

💡 And yes, these are all tabs on a single spreadsheet:

💡 "Population" is literally just a mess of numbers & formulas as I try to figure out how we went from ~20 E-9 Cradle inhabitants to multiple tribes in the span of ~700 years.

I mean in 3041 we're prolly sitting at like... maybe ~15k in the U.S.?

*On second thought, that Oseram number is probably higher.

Anywayyyy, as fun as a blank page is, my brain really does work best on a grid. The process is totally intuitive, and I create the necessary docs as I go, the same as I would for any client or project. Sometimes, you need to explain things in a way so everyone is on the same page, and I find spreadsheets invaluable in that regard. (Y'all should see my wedding planning spreadsheet, lol.)

This whole process has helped me to find what works for me, and writing fanfic is truly preparing me to write my own original works. What I've discovered is that spreadsheets are part of my flowstate. They bring me a deep sense of peace and they help me to stay on track and oriented while I'm in the weeds.

🖤 Really, I want to come back to something I said in my second 'Process' post: Do what feels natural. Everyone is different. If being 'organized' steals your joy, don't do it. Stay messy! Whatever! Who cares? The most important part is that you find your flowstate.

I found this old Hindu saying while I was copywriting for a Chinese Medicine client, and it really stuck with me: "There are a hundred paths up the mountain, so it doesn't matter which path you take. The only one wasting time is the one who runs around and around the mountain telling everyone else that their path is wrong."

I'm just here documenting my own path up my mountain. And part of me thinks that it's all incredibly self-indulgent and cringe, but hey—when has blogging ever not been?

If you've read this far, I'm grateful. It's all a bit shouting-into-the-void out here, especially when you're this deep into a niche that moved on a while ago. But I've always loved a slowburn. (And if you do too, you might consider reading The Marshal.)

xo, Sheesh.

[owenwillsons]

8.15: every episode of stranger things

i was obsessed with the idea that will byers disappeared at exactly 8.15 in episode one, season one… so i went to every episode and found what happened at 8.15. what i found out was a fascinating series of extremely important events that would occur at 8.15: and i don’t think it’s a coincidence.

let’s go season by season.

note: i’m not going to go episode by episode of what happens at 8.15, because sometimes it truly is somewhat unimportant. but i will address the interesting things that happen. i can make a google doc/spreadsheet/tumblr post with everything but it would probably be kind of boring.

season 1:

chapter one: the vanishing of will byers

this one is the most obvious:

but sets up the pattern of important things happening at 8.15.

chapter three: holly jolly

this one is not as important, but i find it relevant nevertheless.

lucas talking about his wrist rocket!! which is super cute but also i think somewhat relevant because he does use the wrist rocket later in season one, and also in season three. so the introduction of the wrist rocket at 8.15 may be more of a coincidence, but i find it cool anyway.

chapter seven: the bathtub

this one, i think, less of a coincidence.

an unimportant looking shot, but look who he’s answering:

granted: the doorbell doesn’t start ringing at 8.15, nor does papa and his team appear at 8.15. but it is still an event that occurs at 8.15 which i would say is pretty important.

i think this truly solidifies 8.15 as being a larger thing than “just” a byler theory, but something that extends to other characters and the whole universe (which will be further proven later).

chapter eight: the upside down

i just think it’s interesting.

joyce reacts to this saying “but my son’s in there,” and hopper says “put it on” (regarding the hazmat suits).

i think this could actually add to the will byers having powers theory, because although we know later characters can survive in the upside down without hazmat suits, it is initially thought that will survived despite the toxic atmosphere. this could also foreshadow the corrupting nature of the upside down, as it turned 001 into vecna and of course infected will for the next few seasons on as a result of his time there. 

season 2

this is the 8.15 season. rich with different shit happening at 8.15 which is definitely not a coincidence.

chapter one: madmax

oh, what is will looking at?

by the way, this pretty much happens at exactly 8.15. he disappeared into the upside down s1e1 at 8.15, and then he has an episode of the upside down s2e1 at 8.15. not a coincidence.

chapter three: pollywog

that’s dustin, checking out a few books on reptiles. the books that lead him to show dart to the group because it looks like creatures that come from other countries, which leads to will recognising it comes from the upside down. so i would classify it as a relatively important moment. 

chapter six: the spy

we got to it.. my favourite 8.15 moment.

happens exactly at 8.15, it’s insane.

if you are acquainted with the stranger things soundtrack at all, or even specifically byler stranger things songs, you would recognise this as the name of track 7 on the season 2 soundtrack, which is aptly called “the first lie”. it has only played once in the show, which is when jonathan and nancy first kiss. the soundtrack name is a homage to this moment.

here’s the clincher: on the ordered soundtrack (which is not in chronological order, because dixon and stein are menaces) the first lie is put right after eight fifteen. eight fifteen is track 6, and this moment is episode 6 of season 2. super interesting.

but let’s open it up more. the first lie has obvious musical connections to the other “love” songs of the show, including (but not limited to) the first i love you, a song on the stranger things 3 playlist. this song plays when el first says “i love you” to mike… but also when robin comes out to steve. and, of course, i have to mention the lowercase L in the first i love you’s official track name compared to the capital L in the first lie. 

expanding it: the direct musical motif isn’t in eight fifteen, but the vibes are definitely there. you can see the hints of the familiar melody - i would recommend humming alone if you really want to feel out. this kind of similar vibe is also in being different. they actually use the same, or a very similar synthesiser, in both songs. although eight fifteen is not originally a will song (it plays when el is introduced to be living with hopper), it is very similar to a very will song.

what does this mean? 8.15 is not just a will number, but it is also very much a will number. there are musical connections in an el song and a will song, which could suggest something to do with will with powers, or simply a very close connection between the siblings. 8.15 is also very much a deliberate number, and a deliberate time stamp, and it is not a coincidence.

if you want to see the similarities, i made a video here.

(the order i put it in is also deliberate. eight fifteen is a track 6, with the first lie, a track 7, right after it. the first i love you is a track 8 in the stranger things 3 soundtrack, and being different is track 9 in disc 2 of stranger things 4. it is literally 6, 7, 8, 9. not a coincidence)

chapter seven: the lost sister

what is she looking at?

kali and her friends. not everyone’s favourite episode, but definitely an important moment, especially in the context of the episode itself. it could also suggest kali coming back for season 5 (or the duffers’ initial plans to have her involved in the bigger picture)

chapter nine: the gate

firstly, quite an interesting shot. it definitely shows how that is an important part of the map and the puzzle.

secondly, it’s also joyce making the realisation that they need to heat will up to get the “virus” out of him. to clarify, at 8.15 itself, it’s just hopper saying “what?” but it’s in the context of joyce making that realisation, so i count it as an 8.15 moment.

season 3

there are actually quite a few season 3 moments, but not as much to pick apart as it was in season 2.

chapter two: the mall rats

nancy sees this note on the table, which leads her to investigating the diseased rats in mrs driscoll’s house, which of course leads to her finding the truth about what is happening and vecna’s (or the mind flayer’s) different hosts.

chapter four: the sauna test

max gets up to answer mike’s call, which leads to el and max joining the others as they try and defeat billy in the sauna.

to clarify: no, the phone doesn’t ring at exactly 8.15, neither does max get up at exactly 8.15. again, though: still an important 8.15 moment.

chapter five: the flayed

hopper, joyce and murray just manage to escape from grigori with one of their scientists, who we learn is called alexei. alexei becomes an important part of the season and helps them discover that the russians have a “key” to open a portal to the upside down.

other s3 8.15 moments that you can decide whether you consider them important:

chapter six: e pluribus unum - mayor larry provokes grigori, telling him to bring backup next time as hopper managed to defeat him last time. this leads to larry being attacked.

chapter seven: the bite - a drugged steve tells dustin that the russians took the car keys, meaning they have to find another way to get out of starcourt mall.

chapter eight: the battle of starcourt - joyce says goodbye to will. could be read as a way to solidify 8.15 as a will number/time stamp. 

season 4

sadly, season 4 has significantly less 8.15 moments. the moments that do happen only appear later in the season. in my opinion, this could hint at how 8.15 is directly connected to el’s powers - or specifically, el’s connection to the upside down. 8.15 moments only happen once el has regained her powers, thus the number/time stamp only holds significance when she has her connection to the upside down.

or the writers were lazy, and there was no way to shoehorn an important 8.15 moment earlier. who knows.

chapter six: the dive

this memory trip leads to el remembering how she was bullied in the lab - a particularly traumatising memory that eventually leads to el assisting 001, and present el thinking that she caused the massacre at hawkins lab.

also, it’s interesting what papa is saying at 8.15: “one memory at a time”. this could be hinting the importance of memories in season 5 and how it will be an important part of defeating vecna.

chapter seven: the massacre at hawkins lab

el makes the decision to go back in the memory pod, despite her fears and belief that she is a “monster” that caused the hawkins lab massacre. this decision leads to her discovering the truth, and the final piece of the puzzle that 001 = vecna = henry creel.

chapter nine: the piggyback

the context: steve is reminding dustin and steve that they are just decoys in the plan. dustin assures him steve can still be the hero, and eddie says that they are definitely not heroes.

plot-wise, not as important, but thematically it sets up something for eddie to subvert: because, of course, eddie does become “the hero” and ends up sacrificing himself in the process. 

if you are a kas!eddie believer, you can also read it as eddie eventually becoming a decoy for the group to handle before they deal with vecna.

season 5 predictions

the main thing that i would theorise is that at 8.15 episode 1, will gets a vecna episode - or some sort of vision of the upside down (the neck thing). i also want to say that track 10 will be a romantic song - let’s all collectively pray a byler kiss anthem. 

additionally, 8:15 (the time) will be shown to have some significance in the season. some of my theories:

when will goes to the upside down for the second time, in present day 

the time they choose to go back to/they happen to go back to in the upside down, assuming that time travel exists (i believe this) and they have that level of control over it (i believe this slightly less). going back to this time would be when karen stopped the dnd game (credit to @madwheelerz for figuring this out!)

the time the upside down is frozen 

some people have suggested that time freezes when will byers gets transformed. if this is the case, it would probably not be 8:15, as this is when karen stopped the game - unless she lied and stopped them earlier (the first lie?? /j . but seriously, they’re like, 12. it’s a school night. this is a possibility)

maybe will formed a memory of 8:15 on november 6 1983 when in the upside down to cope? looking at what the upside down looked like when vecna was transported, will could have created what the upside down looks like purely from his memories so he could survive

those are just my thoughts - let me know what you think! i might make more theories on here, but if you want to possibly hear more, check me out on @/owenwillsons on tiktok, where i also make edits :)

[envihellbender]

John and Martin inviting Tim into their relationship

Characters: John Sims, Martin Blackwood, Tim Stoker (The Magnus Archives)

Content: cute fluff, John/Martin/Tim

—

John and Martin were bickering the entire walk to the kitchen and hadn’t settled their debate even when the kettle clicked and Martin was pouring them both a cup of tea. Their little row wasn’t serious, not in that sense anyway. Simply put, they both rather liked Tim and wanted to be much, much more intimate with him. However, since it took them both being locked in John’s office and being terrorised by worms for them to admit their feelings for each other they weren’t particularly good at this. John was sipping at his mug and sighed, Martin felt they should do it today at work, John disagreed.

“I mean, maybe we could just wait for him to initiate it. He must suspect something, surely?” John said nervously, his voice cracking. “He must know we well… are fond of him.”

“Well, he might feel like he can’t because we’re in a relationship. And…” Martin smirked. “Fond? Like he’s a particularly nice cup of tea?”

“For you that is a very apt metaphor,” John pointed out.

“You know what I mean!”

“Well, he must know. I can’t he clearer about it.” John clearly didn’t see what was strange about what he said, but Martin stared at him baffled for a moment.

“I think he knows I like him, you’re hardly an open book,” he said slowly. John’s brow furrowed and Martin knew before he opened his mouth he was about to get petulant about it.

“We all went out for a drink the other day! We talked about mythology.”

“I loved hearing you both teach me about the Greeks and Celts respectively but that’s not the point. You haven’t- you’re not- you don’t exactly show how you feel.” Martin attempted to be fair so as not to spark another row.

“I do… sometimes,” John muttered.

“You first told me you loved me through an excel spreadsheet.” Martin sipped at his tea after he spoke and looked away, ignoring John’s hurt look.

“You said it was romantic!”

“That’s not the point. How are we going to tell him?”

“I don’t know. Can we do it at work? Isn’t that harassment?” John sounded genuinely worried and Martin repressed a chuckle. He didn’t think John even knew how to sexually harass someone. He shook his head.

“No. It’s not like we’ll hound him if he says no.”

“Do you think he’ll say no?”

“I- well- there’s always a chance but- look if we talk to Tim then-”

“Oh? And what are we talking to Tim about?” A cockney accent suddenly said, it was softer and brighter than most Londoners, one that made Martin smile on instinct. Both of their neck’s snapped up and stared at the doorway, stunned and nervous, feeling as if they’d been caught doing something obscene. Tim leaned against the doorway with his arms folded, he grinned his eyes half lidded and teasing.

“I- oh- hiya,” Martin stammered as if he was out of breath. “I didn’t think you were- I thought you went out for lunch?”

“I did. It’s five minutes until my break ends,” Tim answered. “So, what do you want to tell me?” He pressed further looking between them both. John looked embarrassed and wrapped his arms around his torso.

“I- I well, it’s… you know, I- the work place isn’t an appropriate place to-”

“We’re looking for a third,” Martin blurted out. Tim and John both stared at him in different forms of disbelief.

“I wouldn’t put it quite like that,” John mumbled.

“So how would you put it then?” Martin said, his bickering tone returning.

“I erm, we both… we have developed a mutual… we erm-” John began awkwardly.

“We fancy you,” Martin interrupted as he rolled his eyes. “Normally we’re closed and monogamous but we’d like to be closed and monogamous but with you. So. Like. A triad. A throuple. So I guess polyamorous. Just. Yeah. Do you want to…?”

“Martin!” John gasped after he’d gained the ability to speak again. “You can’t just- that’s- that’s extremely inappropriate-”

“Erm. So. Can I just say yes or should I want for John to finish reporting himself to HR?” Tim asked, a grin has spread across his entire face. His eyes and cheeks bright and filled with infectious joy.

“You- what?” John said, he blinked and stared. He opened his lips and closed them again.

“Yeah. I’m down.” Tim approached, and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Thought that was obvious. Just didn’t think you two were open to you know, sharing, I guess.”

“I- well, wow.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty happy that I’m your cup of tea,” Tim grinned pointedly. He licked his lips, unable to resist the joke.

“You- how long were you listening for?” John asked wide eyed.

“Oh, I saw you come in the kitchen, went to say hi but heard my name and decided to be nosy,” Tim shrugged.

“So why didn’t you just-”

“And miss your cute embarrassed face? Absolutely not.” Tim stood closer than he normally would, his teeth pressing into his bottom lip wondering if he should kiss the both of them.

“I am not cute-” John said, clearly oblivious to Tim’s advance.

“You’re adorable, and see? I’m not the only one who thinks it,” Martin interrupted, he wrapped one arm around John’s waist and his eyes were fixated on Tim’s soft lips.