#basically every change and addition made makes it even better

[belfrysol]

A golem without explosion is like an angel without its wings

been playing pokemon emerald seaglass recently. pretty darn good

[wendichester]

please please do a Sam x dumb reader. that man is a genius and I feel like he would have fun with a partner that has to pull out the calculator to make sure that 2+2 is really 4 and their mind isn't tricking on them (that could be me lol)

₊˚⊹♡ beauty and the braincell,

summary. math is not your forte. you know it. sam knows it. he doesn't love you any less because of it.

pairing. sam winchester x dumb!reader genre. fluff

wordcount. 451

notes / warnings. soft!dumb!reader (affectionately dumb, okay?), math confusion, teasing, gentle banter, sam being the patient, loving nerd king he is, cuddles, and mutual adoration despite drastically different brain wiring

You stare at the screen of your phone like it just told you your dog ran away. Then, slowly, you open the calculator app and punch in the numbers again.

2 + 2 = 4

You blink.

“…Are you sure though?” you mutter under your breath, chewing the tip of your pinky and staring like the answer might change if you blink fast enough.

Across the motel room, Sam glances up from his book—something thick and menacing with a Latin title you can’t even pronounce. He watches you suspiciously. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” you say quickly. Too quickly.

He raises an eyebrow. “You just asked your calculator if it was sure.”

You sigh dramatically and flop back onto the bed. “I thought the answer was four. But I didn’t trust myself. What if my brain was lying? What if it’s not four? What if we’ve all just been told it’s four our whole lives and it’s actually, like… five? Or three and a half?”

Sam closes his book, very gently, like he’s afraid he’ll break you if he’s too loud. “You think the government is gaslighting us about basic addition?”

“Not intentionally,” you mumble.

He walks over, towering over the bed, looking down at you like you’re both the cutest thing he’s ever seen and possibly a walking red flag. “Baby.”

You groan. “I know, I know! I’m stupid.”

“You’re not stupid.”

“I googled what a preposition was yesterday and the definition made me cry.”

He smiles. Not mocking, not smug. That soft little Sam smile he gets when he’s holding back a laugh but also deeply, irrevocably in love. “Okay, sure, maybe you’re not built for academia—”

“Rude—”

“—but you’re brilliant in other ways.”

You squint up at him, suspicious. “Like what? Say something hot.”

Sam leans down, presses a kiss to your temple, then lays beside you on the bed. “You can read people better than anyone I know. You pick up on moods and feelings like magic. You remember exactly how someone takes their coffee even if you only met them once. You’re hilarious. You’re kind. And when I forget to take care of myself, you do it for me.”

You blink, a little stunned. “…Okay, that was hot.”

He chuckles, brushing your hair back from your face. “You think I care that you need a calculator for basic math? I’d still choose you over every genius I’ve ever met.”

You pout. “Even over yourself?”

“Especially over myself.”

You nuzzle into his chest, warm and glowing now.

And somewhere, your calculator app is still open—confirming, once again, that 2 + 2 really is 4.

Sam doesn’t care. He already did the math.

You + him = everything.

ꔛ. navigation 𓂃˖ ࣪ all drabbles ; compatibility readings ; support my work .ᐟ

[thecoppercompendium]

So, you want to make a TTRPG…

Image from Pexels.

I made a post a long while back about what advice you would give to new designers. My opinions have changed somewhat on what I think beginners should start with (I originally talked about probability) but I thought it might be useful to provide some resources for designers, new and established, that I've come across or been told about. Any additions to these in reblogs are much appreciated!

This is going to be a long post, so I'll continue beneath the cut.

SRDs

So, you have an idea for a type of game you want to play, and you've decided you want to make it yourself. Fantastic! The problem is, you're not sure where to start. That's where System Reference Documents (SRDs) can come in handy. There are a lot of games out there, and a lot of mechanical systems designed for those games. Using one of these as a basis can massively accelerate and smooth the process of designing your game. I came across a database of a bunch of SRDs (including the licenses you should adhere to when using them) a while back, I think from someone mentioning it on Tumblr or Discord.

SRDs Database

Probability

So, you have a basic system but want to tweak it to work better with the vision you have for the game. If you're using dice, this is where you might want to consider probability. Not every game needs this step, but it's worth checking that the numbers tell the story you're trying to tell with your game. For this, I'll link the site I did in that first post, AnyDice. It allows you to do a lot of mathematical calculations using dice, and see the probability distribution that results for each. There's documentation that explains how to use it, though it does take practice.

AnyDice

Playtesting

So you've written the rules of your game and want to playtest it but can't convince any of your friends to give it a try. Enter Quest Check. Quest Check is a website created by Trekiros for connecting potential playtesters to designers. I can't speak to how effective it is (I've yet to use it myself) but it's great that a resource like it exists. There's a video he made about the site, and the site can be found here:

Quest Check

Graphic Design and Art

Game is written and tested? You can publish it as-is, or you can make it look cool with graphics and design. This is by no means an essential step, but is useful if you want to get eyes on it. I've got a few links for this. First off, design principles:

Design Cheatsheet

Secondly, art. I would encourage budding designers to avoid AI imagery. You'll be surprised how good you can make your game look with only shapes and lines, even if you aren't confident in your own artistic ability. As another option, public domain art is plentiful, and is fairly easy to find! I've compiled a few links to compilations of public domain art sources here (be sure to check the filters to ensure it's public domain):

Public Domain Sources 1

Public Domain Sources 2

You can also make use of free stock image sites like Pexels or Pixabay (Pixabay can filter by vector graphics, but has recently become much more clogged with AI imagery, though you can filter out most of it, providing it's tagged correctly).

Pexels

Pixabay

Fonts

Turns out I've collected a lot of resources. When publishing, it's important to bear in mind what you use has to be licensed for commercial use if you plan to sell your game. One place this can slip through is fonts. Enter, my saviour (and eternal time sink), Google Fonts. The Open Font License (OFL) has minimal restrictions for what you can do with it, and most fonts here are available under it:

Google Fonts

Publishing

So, game is designed, written, and formatted. Publishing time! There are two places that I go to to publish my work: itch.io and DriveThruRPG. For beginners I would recommend itch - there's less hoops to jump through and you take a much better cut of what you sell your games for, but DriveThruRPG has its own merits (@theresattrpgforthat made great posts here and here for discovering games on each). Itch in particular has regular game jams to take part in to inspire new games. I'll link both sites:

itch.io

DriveThruRPG

Finally, a bunch of other links I wasn't sure where to put, along with a very brief summary of what they are.

Affinity Suite, the programs I use for all my layout and designing. Has an up-front cost to buy but no subscriptions, and has a month-long free trial for each.

Affinity Suite

A database of designers to be inspired by or work with. Bear in mind that people should be paid for their work and their time should be respected.

Designer Directory

An absolute behemoth list of resources for TTRPG creators:

Massive Resources List

A site to make mockups of products, should you decide to go that route:

Mockup Selection

A guide to making published documents accessible to those with visual impairments:

Visual Impairment Guidelines

A post from @theresattrpgforthat about newsletters:

Newsletter Post

Rascal News, a great place to hear about what's going on in the wider TTRPG world:

Rascal News

Lastly, two UK-specific links for those based here, like me:

A list of conventions in the UK & Ireland:

Convention List

A link to the UK Tabletop Industry Network (@uktabletopindustrynetwork) Discord where you can chat with fellow UK-based designers:

TIN Discord

That's all I've got! Feel free to reblog if you have more stuff people might find useful (I almost certainly will be)!

[writer-ace]

Some ways that difficulty with change / attachment to routine impacts me, an autistic person, that aren't keeping a strict daily or weekly routine:

Difficulty with changes to established plans. This happened at work recently, where I was working on something following certain parameters, and someone came in and said that we should follow different parameters. My immediate reaction was that it wasn't what we had agreed to and it wasn't doable in the time we had, we couldn't make it good, etc. It felt like a betrayal of the plan and a bait and switch for me. But I processed it, I talked it through with my manager, we found a compromise, and ultimately that person had been right.

Difficulty with changes to expected processes. If I'm expecting a process to go a certain way, even if I haven't been told that it will go that way, a change to that process will throw me off and sometimes set me off. If I'm expecting that we're driving somewhere and it turns out we're walking, I will get agitated even if I don't mind walking there.

Difficulty with unexpected additional people being at something. A few years ago, I was heading to my parents' place for some holiday, and when my mom picked me up from the train station she told me that we were having a family friend over and she would be staying in the guest room that night. I found this very stressful, even though I like the person and her being there was a minimal disruption to anything else, simply because I hadn't planned for the change in dynamic involved in her being there.

Dislike of decisions made without me there. I think that this isn't an autistic thing necessarily, but I have a much harder time when someone shows up and says we're doing x than when I am involved in the conversation, even if x is the ultimate decision in the end. Knowing why we're doing something and feeling like I have some control over it helps me work through it.

Not every autistic person is the same, and what does or doesn't bother me has no real bearing on what does or doesn't bother other autistic people. One of the key things to note here, though, is that in basically all of these cases the issue is not that I dislike the change being made, it's that I struggle with the fact that a change is being made.

If these do bother you, one of the things that's helped me a lot is to force myself to go through the mental exercise of whether the issue is that I dislike/disagree with the change or whether my issue is just the fact that it's changing. Do I have a reason to want it to stay the same beyond the fact that I dislike change?

And sometimes the answer is yes. In the case of the first work example, there were suggestions that I fundamentally disagreed with and thought that our original plan was better, whether because of content or because of required level of effort in the time we had. But there were a lot of suggestions that I realized were right and doable. I could only distinguish those two because I forced myself to parse them out.

Sometimes you won't be able to work through this, whether because you don't have time or it's beyond your emotional regulation at that moment. That's okay! But figuring out why you're reacting can really help.

[drchucktingle]

POUNDED BY DR. GLOBUS

wanted to post today about recent health journey of chuck. ALL STARTED at texas show when i began to feel tightness in throat. i have learned this is called GLOBUS which is a tingler character name if ive ever heard one. got through appearance and had blast but felt terrible

plane journey home was even worse. first thought i strained my voice, then tested for covid (negative) and then figured it was just some kind of virus. had running nose and hoarse and extreme pain behind face and MOST of all this golf ball throat

figured i would get better as viruses tend to go but I DID NOT. after a few weeks went to way of urgent care and they took one look and said you have EXTREME FORM OF ACID REFLUX called laryngopharyngeal reflux (also great tingler character name)

basically this is when your stomach acid comes all the way back up into your throat and erodes it. they immediately put me on medications name of pepcid plus tums plus gaviscon and on and on. was inhaling a dang pharmacy every morning

problem is, NO CHANGE. in fact it started getting worse. in addition to previous symptoms i now couldnt keep any food down. upset stomach all the time. could barely sleep. plus it is scary to have a sickness that gets WORSE over time like this

more doctor talks. i up doses of medication to combat sickness but does not seem to work. one night wake up and think 'dang i need to go to er my stomach is going to just melt or something' (keep in mind because i cant keep food down i am always hungry too).

i go to hospital and they say 'WHOA we need to intervene right now we are doing some tests and putting you on SERIOUS LIFE CHANGING MEDICINE. but here is catch to do the tests we need you to stop all your medication for 48 hours and it will be HECK but you gotta do it bud'

so i stop all medication in preparation for new SICK LIFE and suddenly… i start feeling better. not just a little but after weeks of this awful way i wake up in ONE DAY and feel fully cured. now heres twist: at the same time this was happening I started taking allergy medicine

you may already know where i am going with so i will just hit you with it. my INITIAL SICKNESS was just extreme seasonal allergies that required nothing more than claritin and flonase. however i was misdiagnosed with ACID REFLUX and medication was making my stomach a wasteland

the second i stopped taking acid reflux meds and started on allergy trot i was better almost instantly. today i feel HECKIN GREAT. (SIDE NOTE: after 4 years of chronic pain i am so thankful to not have some OTHER long term health trot to deal with. DANG)

so what is lesson here? first of all please do not think this is in ANY WAY anti-doctor rant or anti-medicine. my doctors were trying their best and made a mistake, they are just people. ALSO while acid reflux medicine made me sick, allergy meds made me better. i am SO fortunate

but what is REALLY fortunate is that chuck is covered under SWEET BARBARAS HEALTH CARE (she gets very good coverage under the frozen lake). most artist buckaroos, even WILDLY successful ones, do not have health care which is huge issue that should be talked on more.

point is EVERYONE should have healthcare. this whole adventure was bad, but it also only cost me 50 dollars. hundreds of thousands of other buckaroos would have to deal with this PLUS it would completely upend their life to cover medical expenses because of a SIMPLE MISTAKE

so that is my story, usually there is more of a lesson to these rants but this one is really just ‘dang what a trip.’ so grateful for my health and my way and the fact i can get simple allergy medicine over the counter. most of all THANKFUL FOR MY BODY it is such a treat to exist

thank you for reading and remember to advocate for yourself and your feelings both BODY and MIND at the doctor. listen to your trot and do not forget that LOVING YOURSELF AND THE SYSTEMS OF YOUR BODY proves love just as much as loving others. trot on buckaroos

[akkpipitphattana]

alright, we're on the third and FINAL part of me picking the boat scene to bits. you can find part one here and part two here

where we last left off, kant was going towards jumping in the water but he stopped and then we get this question from bison.

and the thing that gives me chills about this moment, aside from the absolute terror and pain on kant's face, is how softly bison asks this. almost like it's a genuine question. like he's offering help because kant is in a tough spot. but it's not a genuine question because he's trying to help - it's a threat. he's telling kant if he doesn't jump, bison will push him.

however, it's also quite an interesting question when you think about it in the context of love and their relationship. i talked a little bit about the setting choice in comparison to the fadel and style confrontation scene already, but lauren @sunsetsover once again had some wonderful additions which you can find here. basically, the difference in locations represents a lot of things, like openness and their intentions, but it also has to do with wants. bison wants love, has always wanted love, and he wants kant to prove to him that it wasn't all fake - even if right now he believes it was. so the question of if you want to jump or fall, it can also go back to how this all started for kant. he fell for bison, against every one of his intentions and instincts, he fell for him anyways. no matter how much he fought it, no matter how much he tried to stop it, he couldn't stop himself from falling for bison. but now, in a way, he's getting a chance to actually choose it. he's getting a chance to jump into love, to let himself die and prove to bison he did love him.

and he's going to, god he wants to do this one final thing for him, but he looks at the water and all he sees is himself, drowning as a child, crying out for his parents. and you can SEE IT in the last screenshot, you can see that kant is not THERE, he's not looking at the water in front of him, he's seeing the water from when he was a child and was drowning and it's HEARTBREAKING. you have to watch the scene yourself again and look at the sheer terror and heartbreak on his face in those few seconds because got it's just. it's so painful.

but bison doesn't know, or he doesn't care, and he wants kant to jump, so he yells at him, he shouts at him to do it. he's so angry and hurt and he needs to see kant do this.

so kant goes again, but he hesitates again and he looks at bison, like he's begging for him to change his mind. but it only takes a second for him to know, to realize he won't. that he will have to do this. that doesn't have any other choice. that this is the only way to prove himself and to try and make it up to bison, if he even can.

there's a moment of silent communication where bison nods his head towards the water to once again force kant to jump in.

so kant braces himself, pulls every ounce of courage he has left in him, and he climbs up, bison still yelling at him, and he jumps.

i'm gonna link you to a giftset the last few moments of the scene here that jay @kantpattanawat made because i think everything with bison in it is MUCH BETTER seen in motion and i also don't wanna run out of image space again sdkjsfdf

but kant jumps. terrified out of his mind, he jumps. for bison, for himself, because he thinks he deserves it, because he doesn't think he can save himself anyways. because at least this way he can show bison he chooses him. that he does love him. because bison threw his heart into the ocean and kant is going to sink to the bottom with it.

but bison didn't actually think he would. you can even see it on his face, right before kant jumps, that he's questioning if he actually will. and when he does, you can see the panic in his body language because holy shit kant actually jumped. and he shouts after him, like he's an idiot for it, and maybe kant is! but he did it for bison didn't he? because bison asked? and isn't that what bison's always wanted? someone that loves him enough to choose him, to listen to him?

so bison will jump in and he'll still make kant prove himself again, but i think this is the moment bison really forgives him. this is the moment he realizes kant was serious back in the hospital. that maybe it wasn't all lies. this is the moment their love story can really start.

[doughguts-art]

What is your stance on the "Elsen is one guy who cloned himself a bajillion times" comment from the 15th anniversary livestream

My stance is that I respectfully disagree (for lack of a better term). Since “all elsens are clones of one person” wasn’t ever stated/explored in-game, I find it more fun to explore other Elsen origins for my projects instead. Mortis Ghost has also said in the past that people are welcome to play fast and loose with lore, and that’s what I was doing before I was ever introduced to the clone discussion. It’s easier for me to ignore that newer addition than to overhaul my original ideas, so that’s what I’m doing. I have no issue with people who decide to use that lore for their own works, but it doesn’t apply to mine.

With that being said, what’s MY lore for Elsen? For me, Elsens as we see them in-game are the result of 3 things:

Human’s evolution after the “apocalypse”. Elsens are what Humans are in the far future, as the lingering effects of the apocalypse (cough cough radiation) changed the very essence of what Humans are from the past.

Hugo’s influence as a “god” of this world. What we see is what Hugo specifically makes, so Elsens are the cartoony square-headed humanoids because that’s what we are made to perceive by Hugo.

The Batter’s/Protagonist’s perception. They all look the same because it is just easier for them to look the same. It is unnecessary for them to look any different than each other to the Batter, so we barely see any differences.

In my games, “Tiny Terror” and “Project GoldFinch”, the Elsen are more visually different than the original OFF’s because they are not filtered through the Batter’s practical lens. Non-important NPC Elsen are intended to have more variety, because they are supposed to be more individualized than what the Batter saw. Now I can’t say “everyone’s different” because I think I’d die if I had to make every NPC unique, but I’m trying to change up certain details so you’re not just talking to the same Elsen in a dress-shirt and tie.

“So, that’s how they look, but how are they made, if not cloning?” Glad you asked, I have a few explanations that usually (but not definitively) depend on which Zone they reside in!

The Zone’s Minimum Quota: Each Zone has an undefined number of Elsens that have to exist within it. There can always be more than the set number, and there usually is in any given Zone, but if a death of an Elsen would mean going under, then a fully adult Elsen will appear in another area once that death occurs. This new Elsen will have a basic knowledge of living, but will have to be taught to do specialized tasks. This is more common in Zone 3 than the other Zones, and it's the reason Enoch’s sugar industry has been sustained for so long.

Cloning (via the Big Elsen in the Room): YES OK I have a cloning piece of my lore too, but it’s not exactly what Mortis Ghost described, so I don’t count it as the same. This version of cloning is heavily inspired by tzalmavet’s idea of the Big Elsen. Sometimes normal-looking Elsens will grow and slough off of the Giant One (that I have dubbed Biggs for my story). Some of these Elsen are kept in the Room, but most are sent to the larger Zones. Unfortunately the ones that are sent away don’t survive for long outside of the Room because of genetic instability caused by leaving and the rapid mutations that results from it. All of the Elsen that come from Biggs are genetically the same despite any differing mutations, and consider themselves siblings. They can identify each other as such even if they are meeting for the first time.

Creations of the Guardians: Guardians can create Elsens if they choose to excerpt the massive amount of energy needed to make one. This was done mostly in the beginning of the Zones, before the Quota was established. It is very impractical to perform now that there are other easier ways Elsen can exist. The creation ritual requires “scaffolding” (usually made of plastic, metal, or meat), and a Guardian to infuse energy into it. The scaffolding + energy will create an Elsen with whatever features and knowledge the Guardian wishes to give them. Japhet was the Guardian who created Elsens using this method the most, which is why he considers the Elsen of Zone 2 his children (even if not all of the Elsen within the Zone are made by him anymore).

The Traditional Way: Elsens can just make other Elsens the same way Humans can make other Humans, though infertility rates are VERY high in most of the Zones. Zone 3 is pretty much completely infertile, it is very rare to see a child in Zone 1, and Zone 2 has the most children with enough to have a small school. Elsen babies grow and mature at the same rate as Humans do.

There are also miscellaneous "Special Cases". Some of my Elsens have unique origins separate from the ones I listed above, but I’d like to save the spoilers for my game to when it comes out, haha!

That's all for now, I hope you found my statement and lore explanation entertaining! I am excited to share more in the future.

[kaibutsushidousha]

The Hundred Line music team interview from Famitsu issue 1895

What was Takada's first impression when hearing about this project?

Masafumi Takada: "C'mon, that's never going to happen." (laughs) Then my second impression, after Uchikoshi plastered the flowchart on the wall was "No way! They weren't joking?"

Kazutaka Kodaka: Uchikoshi's intention with putting the flowchart on the office wall was showing off how massive of an endeavor we had ahead of us. It was his way of demanding resolve from us (laughs).

Takada: In summary, I thought they were out of their minds and that no other company would attempt a project as ridiculous as this. Being able to see such a Herculean labor released and being part of it is something I'll remember later as one of best parts of my life.

Tell us the step-by-step of the song requesting process for The Hundred Line.

Kodaka: I requested a song and Takada composed it.

Takada: Same as it has been for the past 10+ years (laughs).

Kodaka: Ok, for a more concrete explanation, first Media Vision's sound director created a track list based on songs from previous games. We sent the list to Takada and told him they'll also need battle versions. Then the songs are sent to me for approval. Also, I've been doing the screen composition for my stories since Rain Code and I can feel that this made me better at requesting music. Whenever I felt I didn't have the right song for a scene I'd immediately get Takada to make it and put it in-game as soon as it's ready. Due to that, there weren't many songs requested at the start.

Takada: The baseline for the composition is the normal days theme, titled HUNDRED LINE. That one that plays on the website. We required a theme song that fit the game's general image and changed its tune over time, so it had to be on the longer side. Later I composed variations of that. As Kodaka just mentioned, I would get additional requests during screen composition. We had agreed on that in advance, but when it happened, it felt like I was getting new requests every day.

Kodaka: You just described the entire development cycle.

Takada: As the work was mostly remote, I wouldn't stop getting chat messages about all the random things they wanted.

Sounds tiresome.

Takada: Not for me, I like the way we work. I read the general plot summaries, naturally, but I really love slowly discovering the nitty-gritty of the narrative through the track requests.

Makes sense (laughs).

Takada: The ultimate consequence of that was a routine where I had to deliver the new tracks they asked for before the next morning. With the songs being arranged while Kodaka was inputting the scripts by his own hands, it was easier to visualize what was being wanted, and I could feel extra joy and excitement of delivering the track even faster than he hoped (laughs). Embarrassing as it is to admit, being a long time Kodaka fan makes me want to do better, just to please him.

Kodaka: Having a scene's whole presentation locked on faster helps a lot. I'm the kind of guy who likes having everything sorted out without leaving any parts for later, and one of the best things about my company is that I can work with people who match my speed. Things wouldn't go so well with a third-party creator.

Takada: One track can take a month to compose, at worst. Although occasionally, I can have the framework done in just a few hours.

Kodaka: For something basic, like a fluffy ambient track, there was even one time you composed on the spot and it was approved immediately.

Takada: Yeah, real-time composition.

Sounds like something that wouldn't be possible without the bonds matured by your long-term partnership.

Takada: Good point. That's an important factor.

Kodaka: Besides, we now work on the same company, unlike how it used to be with Danganronpa (laughs). You have to remember that making a whole new IP involves inevitably making a bunch of new songs no matter how hard you wish to keep the track list small.

Takada: I don't even have a solid notion of how many there are in the game. There's over 90 of them in the Gallery, but adding up the noise music made for specific cutscenes, I might have composed around 400. I feel like The Hundred Line is a game that would take a working adult about 5 years to play, but I believe just playing like normal is enough to fill up the Gallery.

Still, you wouldn't say the work here was tough?

Takada: I can imagine the topic of the other interviews was about the excess of work in The Hundred Line's production, but I don't feel like that at all when it comes to the game's music. If anything, the sound effects side was the bigger problem.

Kodaka: Rain Code had a ton of sound effects, too.

Takada: Yup. I'd personally guess the most undesirable position for this game would be Schedule Manager (laughs). That's accounting for the lack of a break between Rain Code and The Hundred Line.

Is it true that when the production period for two games overlap, it's easy to get the mixed?

Takada: If I get multiple lines of work at the same time and they're very different in tone, I use one to take a break when I find myself stuck on the other. Considering that, you could say I'm better at multitasking. And I'm also Too Kyo's treasurer, so I can safely say I won't be out of productive breaks.

Does the game have an original genre associated with it, like Danganronpa had with "Psychopop"? 

Takada: I vividly remember Kodaka's first answer when I asked what the music should be like.

Kodaka: I don't (laughs).

Takada: I was just finishing Rain Code's soundtrack, so he pointed and said "Like that" (laughs). Later there was an additional request to bring Rain Code's flavor closer to Danganronpa's old taste, and that's what got the ideas flowing.

Tell us your main focus in composing the tracks.

Takada: One thing I always have in mind is that I want my music to feel like one more character participating in the conversation. One day I was drinking with one of the performers working with me at the time for Danganronpa 1's soundtrack and he said "The music itself is one of the performers". This phrase has been living rent-free in my head ever since. That made me go for more intrusive songs during character conversations. And to throw in some hints of nostalgia.

Right, nostalgia. Getting the players to feel like they returned home.

Takada: One of those words you see around online all the time but never in real life (laughs). More specifically, a technique I used for multiple tracks in this game was to create modern remakes of the tunes I created in the past, and go over the request prompts trying to find a place where I could fit them. To do so, I pulled my 10+ year old synthesizer out of its dusty box. The problem is that my synthesizer is a Virus TI, a somewhat weird model that only lets me check out my past tunes by connecting it to an old Mac… That's how far I went to put the old tunes in new melodies, so I hope that's appreciated.

Is that how you composed HUNDRED LINE, the track you mentioned before?

Takada: Yes. Its tunes are entirely new, but I arranged them with the revived inspiration of past games, as it's best suited for scenes where we have the whole crew chatting.

Kodaka: HUNDRED LINE is everything I asked for. Danganronpa V3 still has my favorite normal days track, and this one is made to be something fans of that song would enjoy. A cool-leaning flavor of normal.

Takada: Well said. "Cool-leaning" is right.

Kodaka: War is a major theme in The Hundred Line, so the song needed to match the bloodiness of it. It really came out just as I imagined.

What was the rest of the composition process like?

Takada: I was just trying to fill up the request list (laughs) As I mentioned earlier, in this game, the schedule was our archnemesis… There's one time I said "Hey, I need to work on this song, can I take the persuasion sequence theme off of the to-do list?". Thinking back now, I can't believe I tried to cut a track as important as the freaking persuasion song (laughs).

Kodaka: If I recall right, that was the exploration theme vs. the persuasion theme. We wanted the exploration music to be different for each area, but on further thought, there was no reason for that. But we obviously can't go without music for the persuasion sequences, so it was decided he had to do that one.

It's not often you see Takada that desperate.

Takada: Yeah… True… Looking back, I had my back against the wall the whole time (laughs).

The battle themes feel completely different from the normal days parts. Can you tell us any production secrets about it?

Takada: When composing for The Hundred Line, I considered including a live orchestra, but I thought it wouldn't fit well for the normal days of Komatsuzaki's far-from-photorealistic characters. The tactical RPG battle scenes, on the other hand, could be perfectly (on a meta level) introduced in live orchestra style.

Kodaka: What I wanted for battles was 90s digital rock. BOOM BOOM SATELLITES is the specific band I had in mind. Rather than the refined rock of today, something more in between Electronic and Chemical Brothers. And the music he delivered was exactly what I wanted. He granted my wish for hype on the level of Danganronpa's Class Trial music.

Takada: The first battle theme I made was WAVE 1. It's got a lot of variants, but not many whole separate tracks for the same purpose, so I don't remember having too much difficulty.

Kodaka: My personal favorite is the boss theme. The final version is very different from what I initially asked for. We drastically changed directions along the way to make the bosses feel more grandiose, and I'm glad for that decision.

Takada: I will always include choirs, no matter how overused they may be. Also, the track accounts for the flow of gameplay, namely that there is dialogue and a boss alarm inserted between waves. Cutscenes may interrupt the music, but the key shift for when they do is carefully planned. There's a pause between the first song and the next, which I paid no mind to because I assumed it was a loading screen, but no, that was Media Vision leaving space for the last song to trail. I could go a lot harder with the tempo thanks to this nice gesture.

Kodaka: I love the way that sounds.

Takada: Just having one or two seconds to trail already makes a huge difference, so I'm glad I got to adjust the tracks accordingly. I was so glad that I got all that to work the way envisioned that I stopped everything to report the good news at the company chat (laughs).

Quality comes from the finer details like that.

Takada: I don't know if that's how everyone does it, but I like to make the final tweaks on my tracks after listening to them play out in-game. Even at the moment of this interview, there's a part I'm planning to change as soon as anyone has a good idea (laughs). That aside, the OST is pretty much finished.

Tell us what the hardest song to make.

Takada & Kodaka: SIREI's theme.

Kodaka: I wanted that one to be one of the first tracks delivered, but it took forever (laughs).

Takada: SIREI's is this game's Monokuma. But Monokuma's theme was lightning in a bottle to me. I couldn't see myself making a second song like that after that miracle. Under intense pressure, I initially composed a much more comedic tune.

Kodaka: SIREI only clicked with you when you heard Ootsuka's voice work, was it?

Takada: Oh yeah. That mattered a lot, now that you mention it. Ultimately, I went with playful singing voices in the unique fashion of a funny foreigner working as a semiregular on a talk show.

Kodaka: Did you get Jun Fukuda (Rain Code's Sound Director) to sing there?

Takada: No, I asked him to, but his version sounded too normal. It didn't bring out the nuance I just mentioned. I had to use edited sound bytes. But it does feel like a track that will be better appreciated by the Western fans. 

Kodaka: What really felt new to me was the emergency track for when the enemies invade. Nothing in the past games sounded like that. Also, I love the piano for the sad scenes, something that shows a lot first in Rain Code and now here, so this time there were multiple versions.

Takada: Pianos are generally hard to fake, so I compose their parts while playing on a real one. The problem is that every 2-3 days I forget how to play the piano, so if I'm asked to replay it later, I need to take the crash course again (laughs). And the game has many other tracks like this, that I compose once and can't ever perform later. That's how it goes for me, instead of having something pre-formed in my head, I just test instruments I can't play and see what I get.

Thanks to the power of your music, I never feel like skipping the scene where they're putting on their Class Armor.

Takada: Thank you. Being honest with you, at first I didn't understand why they were stabbing themselves and getting all bloody (laughs). At the time, I still had Shinigami's transformation sequence from Rain Code vivid in my head, so I was imagining going from something like that straight to battle. So I came up with a rising sequence from a choir in the transformation, to digital rock in WAVE 1, pure rock in WAVE 2, then bring the choir back for the climactic boss battle. That was the only idea I had in my mind before I started looking at the screens and feeling my way around the instruments.

Were you trying to make the scene feel more continuous through the tunes of the choir?

Takada: Yes. You can notice the choir in parallel with the tunes of the synthesizer.

I was also caught completely off guard by the gimmick arrangement for one specific day number…

Takada: That was Kodaka's idea (laughs).

Kodaka: I won't spoil what this is about, but it's far from an original joke. I just thought that at some point, the game would need the kind of whimsy that changes the whole feel of the world.

Later in the game, there's a scene where music is used offensively. That attack was really rich in genre variety.

Kodaka: Also my idea, and for this one, I provided Takada with a playlist of study material.

Takada: I always loved high-effort shitposting, so that was a fun time. By the way, the singing voice in the folk-styled song is Jun Fukuda.

Kodaka: Contrary to the previous mentions here, this folkish music was Takada's idea. I only asked him to make a song that would feel out of place without explaining how.

Takada: And while this isn't about music, the sound effects team focused their efforts mainly only on the alarm sirens and the morning bell. Fukuda adjusted the pitch over and over again until it didn't conflict with any of the music playing during their scenes. Try noticing that when you hear them.

With how much care goes into every detail of this game, music or otherwise, I don't think it will be long before people start asking for sequels. 

Kodaka: I'd be glad to hear that any other time, but at this moment, I think I'm just tired of this idea… (pained laughs).

Takada: No sequels in sight until you get over that (laughs).

Kodaka: Also, making another game this big doesn't sound financially possible.

Adult problems…

Takada: I know all about it since I'm partially in charge of finances. Kodaka handles the incoming assets and I handle the outgoing assets. Honestly, we had a few moments that damaged my stomach (laughs). Worrying about money affects your creativity, so it's recommendable to get that out of your head, but you can't afford to forget about it either.

Kodaka: In my previous works, all I had to do was suggest things nonstop, but now that I represent my own company, I need to gauge which ideas to push and which to stop. That's not easy to me. In hindsight, it's because I never had the experience of needing to hit the brake on an idea before.

Takada: Well said! (laughs)

Kodaka: It's like I had the will to hit the brakes, but without knowing where that was, I hit the clutch pedal and started doing weird things with the gears (laughs).

Takada: The woes of a president and a vice-president. The efforts of our own staff, Media Vision, and Aniplex are naturally tangible, which creates a pressure for us to recompense them properly… That also made it impossible to pull any punches with the music. My mind was set in its desire for every track to be appreciated.

Kodaka: Besides, our production style is indie all the way. Our budget comes from our own pockets, and whatever looks impossible is solved with brute force instead of money. If we knew in advance how much this game would cost, a sane person would have shrunk the project. A game this niche coming out this large is a rarity.

Takada: I hope we're headed toward a future where it's easier to pump money into niche art. So many ideas die before they start.

Kodaka: That said, considering this game grew over twice its initial budget, if a normal company had told me to cut corners or, worst-case scenario, cancel the project, all I could say is "You know what, fair".

I agree… Everything you say about this production sounds very last-resort-ish.

Takada: My word as treasurer is that this game couldn't even begin to exist without Aniplex's support.

Kodaka: Well, true. We tried doing it without Aniplex at first, so we know for a fact that we couldn't finish it with our own money. Their inclusion might have been the most morale-improving part of the production.

Takada: Definitely Kodaka's biggest accomplishment as a CEO! One day he came out of nowhere and said "I think Aniplex wants a contract with us". I already praised him about it when he directly asked for the praise, but I did it without knowing that we were signing with a company that would let us have full ownership over our IP. Or even that any big company was willing to do that. That was the moment where I started believing in this game.

Kodaka: Before Aniplex, there was hell. We were confident in the quality of our work, but we were always wrestling with that tense fear that the thing we were investing into would end unfinished. We were ready to relinquish the creative rights to the franchise if that's what it took to conclude this, hoping that someone would adopt us if we were lax enough with our contractual demands, but thankfully, Aniplex was unbelievably eager to work with us.

Takada: Oh yeah, those guys were ride-or-die from beginning to end (laughs).

Kodaka: I have to admit no sane person would start making a game before they have the funds for it. But waiting for the right time would delay this project 2 or 3 years, plus Aniplex wouldn't have wanted to stick with us if we hadn't made a decent amount of progress before the first handshake. In this sense, I think luck wouldn't have smiled on us if it weren't for this questionable decision. It's not a trick we can pull off intentionally if we ever needed to do it a second time, but I believe just getting this game out there will do something to increase the number of quirky niche titles in the Japanese gaming industry.

Your closing messages, please!

Takada: Just play the game and you'll understand. You probably won't be able to do it in a Japanese home, but I think playing it on extra loud speakers would make for an amazing experience. I'd say the TRPG parts are especially exciting in this department, so give it a try if you have the chance.

Kodaka: You already know Takada did an astounding job on the music but so did Jun Fukuda on the sound effects, making the TRPG section a blast to listen to. Do pay attention to the details.

By the way, do you plan on releasing the soundtrack?

Takada: Yes… … …do we?

Kodaka: Probably! After we're a little less on the red (laughs).

Takada: Until then, enjoy the selection of 10 tracks available on the mini-soundtrack that comes as a preorder bonus. It contains unique remixes of the OST pieces, and should help you immerse yourself into the world of The Hundred Line on those moments when playing isn't an option.

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Links:

Writing team interview

Design team interview

Special guests interview

[bethanythebogwitch]

Beginner's guide to Vampire: the Masquerade lore

Vampire: the Masquerade is a tabletop roleplaying game that, since its debut in 1991, has gone on to become one of the most influential pieces of vampire media. It also launched the World of Darkness (nowadays called the Classic World of Darkness or Old World of Darkness) franchise, a series of TTRPGs that all share a setting but can be played independently of each other. This post is intended to be an introduction to the lore of the setting for someone who might want to get into the game and wants to know the basics. It's not a deep dive. For one, this post is long enough already and for two, you don't need to know about stuff like the Tal'Mahe'Ra, the Laibon, and what every bloodline is to get started. Also worth noting is that VtM lore is presented as things the characters believe rather than things the players know, so there's lots of ambiguity and contradiction and differing opinions. This is very much by design.

Also important to note is the nature of the Time of Judgement and 5th edition. All the Old WoD game were building up to an apocalypse and, in 2001, books were released for every game to let players roleplay the end of the world. The setting was then discontinued and replaced with the New World of Darkness. However, starting in 2011, the Old WoD was revived in a new 20th anniversary edition. The lore of this new edition just assumed the apocalypse never happened. Since then, a 5th edition has been released that changes a lot of the lore of some of the games. The 5th edition lore changes for Vampire were pretty well done and I do like most of them as they feel like an addition to the setting rather than blatant retcons the way Werewolf's 5th edition changes were. What I'm not fond of is some of the mechanics changes, especially with regards to the Disciplines, but we'll get to that later.

So what is a vampire? Well, WoD vampires like to call themselves Kindred or Cainites, and they are made rather than born. Every vampire must be Embraced by another vampire outside of weird magic stuff. A key component of the game is that being a vampire comes with a lot of benefits, but also a lot of downsides. First of all, vampires are dead. They are walking corpses who have to consume blood to force their bodies to pretend to be alive again. They do not age and they are very resistant to change. Blood is the only thing they can eat. Normal food and drink makes them throw up. Animal blood does work, but it tastes disgusting. On the other hand, the blood of other vampires (which they call Vitae) is even better than human blood, but drinking it is risky. If vampire A drinks the Vitae of vampire B three times, A will become B's slave for a period of time that can be extended by drinking more Vitae. In addition, if one vampire drains another completely dry, to the point of draining their heart's Vitae, they consume the soul, an act called Diablerie. Diablerie confers great power, but it comes with heavy consequences, both social and metaphysical. Vampires do not have to kill those they feed on and it is generally encouraged that they not. The bite of a Kindred, which they call the Kiss, feels highly pleasurable to both parties and the victim usually only have vague memories of what happened. The bite would heal extremely fast too, leaving no real evidence. Kindred can store blood inside their bodies and they expend some of this blood supply during their nightly lives and more to use their powers. The act of making a new Kindred, called the Embrace, requires the sire to drain the chosen target of their blood, then, before the target dies, feed them some Vitae. If done correctly, the corpse will rise again the next night and a new member of the undead. If a Kindred wants a servant but doesn't want to Embrace, they can instead make a Ghoul. Ghouls are humans fed a vampire's Vitae. This gives them some minor powers and stops their aging as long as they keep feeding, but it also warps the mind, making the ghoul enamored with and eager to serve the Kindred that created them. A vampire's power increases with age, but the most important determining factor is generation. A vampire's generation is how far removed they are from Caine, the first vampire. The higher your generation, the weaker you are.

In addition to sharing some abilities, all Kindred share weaknesses. For one, the sun and fire will kill you very fast. A stake to the heart won't kill, but it does paralyze the Kindred until removed. Other common fiction vampire weaknesses, like running water, garlic, and needing an invitation are not actual Kindred weaknesses. Most of them also cast reflections. A major weakness all Kindred share is the Beast. This is the animalistic monster part of a vampire, the id that is constantly within their minds, encouraging them to hunt, kill, feed, reproduce, and escape from danger. It is the part that encourages them to give up on the remnants of their humanity and become a monster. The Beast is constantly trying to take control and during times of danger, hunger, or passion, it can drive the Kindred into a state of mindless fight-or-flight instinct called a Frenzy. There are various ways to keep the Beast in check, but the most common one is by keeping in touch with one's former humanity. This means acting human, surrounding yourself with humans, refraining from violence and bloodshed, and generally resisting the Beast's influence. The more you give into the Beast, the more likely you are to Frenzy. A Kindred who completely gives up on their humanity will enter a state of permanent Frenzy. Kindred in this state are usually hunted down and killed.

Vampires are divided into Clans and Sects. Clans are lineages of vampires that go all the way back to the birth of the species. There are 13 of them and I will discuss them later. Sects are political organizations with shared laws and goals. There are three primary Sects as well as some smaller ones that I won't discuss. They are the Camarilla, the Sabbat, and the Anarchs.

The Camarilla are the most powerful Sect and the one most players will be in. It is a very feudal society based on the principle of rule by the elders. The specifics of international Camarilla politics are beyond the scope of a beginner's guide. What most players will interact with is the structure of the Camarilla within a city. Cities are ruled by a Prince, who delegates to various other official positions and to the Kindred who live in their city. The Camarilla is an organization marked with political intrigue and subterfuge, where everyone has a plan and see you as a puppet at best and an obstacle at worst. Unlife in a Camarilla city is defined by rules. Such rules include "respect each other's territory", "get permission before you Embrace someone", "your Childe (new vampire you Embraced) is your responsibility until the Prince decides they're fit to set out on their own", "don't go around killing each other without permission", and "no Diablerie", but the most important rule is the Masquerade. This is the rule that humans are not allowed to find out that vampires exist. The Masquerade is a matter of life and death. In the past, when Kindred ruled humanity openly, humans armed with torches and stakes were able to force the Kindred into hiding through sheer force of numbers. Now there are more humans than ever and they have nukes. There's a reason the number 1 rule of the Camarilla is "don't provoke the humans."

The Sabbat used to be the second most powerful Sect, but have recently dropped down to number 3. They are an organization dedicated to the Jyhad, the struggle of Kindred against their elders going all the way back to the original vampires. The Sabbat believe that Caine, the mythical first vampire instructed their founders to find and destroy the Antediluvians, founders of the Clans (more on them below) to prevent the end of the world, which they call Gehenna. By contrast, the Camarilla officially denied the existence of the Antediluvians and Gehenna until circumstances forced them to come clean. The Sabbat also dream of openly ruling over humanity and hate the idea of remaining hidden, but they still respect the Masquerade as they acknowledge they aren't yet in a position to seize power. The Sabbat is a very violent organization and members are often stereotyped as violent and stupid thugs, but the leadership is very cunning. The Sabbat equivalent to a Price is a Bishop.

The Anarchs are a loose organization of Kindred who don't want anything to do with the complex power structure and rule by elders that defines the Camarilla and Sabbat. They answer to nobody and just want to do their own things. Power structures in the Anarchs are very loose and driven by respect, not force or seniority. Anarchy will respect the opinions of those who earn it, but will never accept authority from force or any ideas of right to rule. There is a position called a Baron that is similar to a Prince or Bishop, but is much less formal and chosen almost democratically. The Anarchs have been a footnote for most of history, but as of recent events, their power has expanded considerably, allowing them to seize lots of territory and take the Sabbat's place as the 2nd most powerful Sect.

Before discussing the clans, we need to go over the origin of vampires. There are a lot of stories about how they came about, but the most common is that of Caine. According to vampire history, after Cain slew his brother Abel, he was cursed and banished from his family. Wandering the land, he found Lilith, said by many to be the first wife of Adam who was banished from Eden. Lilith was an immensely powerful mage and recognized in Cain the power to kill, something she thought was unique to God. Cain begged Lilith to teach him her powers ans she eventually agreed. She made a potion of her blood, which Cain drank, giving him a vision. In this vision, three angels came to Cain, each offering him a chance to repent of his sin of murder. Cain refused each angel and was cursed by each in turn: first with a fear of fire, a second with a fear of sunlight, and the third with the Beast. Cain then awoke from his vision as the first Kindred, a being of unfathomable power. Now calling himself Caine, he stayed with Lilith for a while and they became lovers. This lasted until Caine simply left her one night as she slept and returned to wandering.

Caine's wanderings eventually led him to the Land of Nod, where he found the First City. The people of the city feared Caine's power and worshiped him as a god, with the king, Enoch, granting Caine his throne. In time, Enoch requested that Caine share his immortality and so Caine Embraced Enoch as the first member of the 2nd generation. Eventually, he was joined by at least two more Kindred, A warrior named Irad and a beautiful woman named Zillah. They in turn Embraced the 3rd generation. Caine feared that the Kindred would overwhelm humanity and decreed that no more Kindred be sired. Eventually, the First City was destroyed by the biblical deluge and Caine returned to wandering the world (the order of these events is debatable). The 2nd and 3rd generation members that survived are known as Antediluvians and they tried to rebuild the First City as the Second City. In time, the 3rd generation raised up and destroyed the 2nd. Caine then returned long enough to curse the members of the 3rd Generation. These Antediluvians are said to be the founders of the 13 Clans and their curses were passed down to their descendants. The Antediluvians eventually turned on each other, leading to the destruction of the Second City. Many Kindred now believe that the Antediluvians now slumber in hidden places around the world and when Gehenna comes, they will rise and devour the world to slake their thirst before Caine returns to pass judgement on the survivors.

Your Clan is your vampire family. You are the same Clan your sire was barring very uncommon circumstances Each clan claims descent from one of the Antediluvians and inherited their founder's curse, known as a Bane. 5th edition also added compulsions that the Clans suffer from, which I think are cool and add more character to them. Vampires also have powers called Disciplines. Each Clan inherits three Disciplines that will grow in strength as the Kindred grows older and more powerful. It is possible to learn Disciplines not from your Clan, but it is harder and generally requires a teacher and that tutelage will not come cheap. Thematically, the Clans are based around common archetypes of vampires in fiction. Historically, the Clans were all aligned to different Sects or remained independent. As of recent events, those strict lines have started to break down more than they were in the past. There are also mini-clans called Bloodlines and Caitiff and Thin-Bloods who don't really have Clans, but you generally don't need to know about them as a beginner. I'll cover the clans in alphabetical order.

Clan Banu Haqim, commonly but incorrectly called Clan Assamite, fills the archetype of the eastern Vampire. They are the self-appointed judges of the Kindred world, secretly observing the activities of other vampires and assassinating those who proved unworthy. For most of history, they were a very tight-knit clan based out of a mountain fortress called Alamut hidden somewhere in the mountains of Arabia. They were divided into three castes. The Judges were the ones who went out to observe and pass judgement on other Kindred. Most outsiders only knew the Judges existed and they became the boogeymen of the Kindred world. The Viziers are scholars and advisers who seek out hidden lore and act as the leadership of the Clan. The Sorcerers are the smallest caste and are assigned to study secrets of ancient blood magic. They are kept on a tight leash by the rest of the Clan. Once Islam arose as a religion, it became adopted by the Clan, to the point the vast majority of members were Muslims. This changed in the 90's when Ur-Shulgi, one of the first members of the clan, arose from nearly 2,000 years of slumber and took over, demanding that the rest of the Clan renounce Islam and convert to worship of their Antediluvian. This led to a schism with about a third of the clan staying with Ur-Shulgi as an independent Clan, another third defecting to the Camarilla, and the rest being split up between the Anarchs, Sabbat, and independence. Those who left have to adapt to a new way of unlife as they are denied access to Alamut and must live amongst Kindred who have historically feared them. The Banu Haqim Antediluvian is Haqim. Legend says he was appointed to be a keeper of justice in a city ruled by two unnamed members of the 2nd Generation. When his rulers turned to evil, Haqim slew them in their sleep. He then cut himself to bleed out and drank their Vitae to embrace himself as a vampire. Haqim was appointed to enforce Caine's laws, but when the corruption of the Second City became too much for him to take, he took his Clan and left, eventually founding Alamut. He would come and go from the fortress and was last seen in the year 121 BCE. He is now believed to be slumbering somewhere, though some Banu Haqim claim he is secretly watching and judging them. The Banu Haquim used to have different Disciplines based on their caste, but the most common spread was Celerity (superhuman speed), Obfuscate (the ability to go undetected), and Quietus (blood control). In 5th edition, Quietus was replaced with Blood Sorcery, which is what is sounds like. Their compulsion is to pass judgment on others. Their Bane is an addiction to Diablerizing those they view as guilty.

Clan Brujah fills the archetype of the violent street punk vampire. Once, they were a clan of warrior-scholars who worked to restrain their naturally violent tempers and the temptations of the Beast. Since some major defeats in the past, these practices have been lost to time. Now, the Clan is one of violence and rebellion. While the clan was historically officially aligned with the Camarilla, there was little internal structure and defections to the Anarchs were so common that many considered them an Anarch clan instead. The Anarchs for the Brujah heavily as their natural rebellious tendencies give them a natural dislike for hierarchy. Brujah are often associated with various countercultural and minority movements. They tend heavily toward anarchy, but any minority political position appeals to them. You can just as easily find Brujah neo-nazis simply becuase that position is opposed to the majority. In 2012, a Brujah elder murdered two major political figures in a meeting of Camirilla elders. In the aftermath, the clan formally left the Camarilla and became the first official Anarch clan. They have since been instrumental in the rise of the Anarchs as a major Sect and have helped establish an Anarch Free State that now cover large portions of the west coast of North America. There are many conflicting stories about the Brujah Antediluvian, but the most common one says he was either named Ilyes or Troile the Elder. He was a very calm and dispassionate man who only Embraced one Childe, the passionate and rebellious Troile the Younger. Throile the Younger eventually Diablerized their (stories differ on their gender) Sire in what may have been the opening moves of the 3rd generation's rebellion. The Brujah Disciplines are Celerity (superhuman speed), Potence (superhuman strength), and Presence (incredible charisma). Their compulsion is to rebel. Their Bane is a closer connection to the Beast, which gives them their violent tempers and makes it harder for them to resist Frenzying.

Clan Cappadocian is one of the two extinct Clans who represented the archetype of the vampire as a creature of death. Their Antediluvian was Cappadocius, a scholar of death who only sired Childer because he realized he couldn't complete his research alone. The clan was small and kept tightly controlled by Cappadocius as they tried to uncover the secrets of death and the underworld. In the 1440s, Cappadocius Embraced a Venetian merchant and necromancer named Augustus Giovanni. This proved to be his undoing as Giovanni diablerized Cappadocius and proceeded to drive his clan to extinction, with only his Childer surviving as a new clan: Clan Giovanni. However, eventually a number of Bloodlines emerged, all claiming to be descended from Cappadocius, indicating Giovanni's genocide was not as complete as he thought. The Cappadocian Disciplines were Auspex (superhuman senses), Fortitude (incredible durability), and Mortis (a form of necromancy that could control ghosts). Their compulsion was to surround themselves with symbols of death. Their curse caused their bodies to continue to decay after their Embrace, leaving them looking mummified.

Clan Giovanni replaced Clan Cappadocian under Augustus Giovanni's leadership. They remained independent of the Sects, who were getting their feet under them at the time. The Giovanni acted as a crime family, growing to control criminal activities worldwide. They also only Embraced form a single family, which has grown enormous over the centuries and incorporates many sub-families. The mortal family members serve the family, often as Ghouls, in the hopes of receiving the Embrace and ascending up the ladder. Their practices were truly depraved, with rampant abuse being the least objectionable thing they did. Even the Camarilla and the Sabbat often found them unseemly. The Giovanni's criminal activities served to gather resources for their ultimate goal, the gathering of enough ghosts to rip apart the barriers between the world of the living and the underworld so Augustus can rule as an emperor of the dead. They almost succeeded before the events of the Week of Nightmares (described below) ruined that plan. Things went downhill for the Giovanni after that, especially with Second Inquisition attacks on their headquarters and Augustus Giovanni's mysterious disappearance. To survive, the Giovanni had a meeting with the various Bloodlines claiming descent from Cappadocius and performed a ritual called the Family Reunion to unite them all as the new Clan Hecata. Clan Hecata is still establishing itself as a power in the night, but is still heavily invested in necromancy and organized crime. According to the lore, the Family Reunion changed all the Bloodlines' traits to match the Giovanni's. I think that's dumb and would run thing with the Bloodlines keeping their Disciplines and Banes. The Giovanni compulsion is to investigate death. Their curse is that the Kiss is very painful to the victim instead of pleasurable. Their Disciplines are Dominate (mind control), Potence (superhuman strength), and Necromancy (what it sounds like). 5th edition changed Necromancy to Oblivion in a very dumb change. They took the signature Disciplines of two Clans and made them the same Discipline for obscure lore reasons, but it still acts like two Disciplines. I really don't get it.

Clan Gangrel fills the archetype of the vampire as an animalistic shapeshifter. They feel more at home with animals than with people and possess bestial instincts. Most vampires are creatures of the city, living where the prey is and where there's plenty of shelter from the sun. Gangrel prefer to live in the wilderness. Those who live in cities still prefer parks and the outskirts: places where nature thrives. The clan is very social Darwinist, believing only the strongest deserve to survive. They typically abandon their Childer after the Embrace and watch from afar. Only those who manage to adapt to their new condition and survive will be inducted to the Clan. There is very little organization amongst the Gangrel, though they do occasionally have meetings called Gathers. Many Kindred underestimate the Gangrel, seeing them as mere beasts. This would be a very foolish mistake. Possibly because they share a mix of human and animal instincts, the Gangrel are the only Kindred on anything resembling good terms with werewolves (by which I mean they might not immediately jump to ripping a Gangrel's head off and might be willing to talk). The Gangrel Antediluvian is Ennoia, who was said to be a wild woman, one of the daughters of Adam and Lilith who was sent beyond Eden to live amongst animals. Gangrel legend says she was raised by a pack of wolves and eventually mated with them, birthing the first werewolves (the werewolves themselves would disagree violently with this origin story). She was eventually defeated in a great battle and forced into slumber. She was then buried and the earth was salted to keep her from rising again. The Gangrel disciplines are Animalism (control of animals), Fortitude (incredible durability), and Potence (shapeshifting). Their compulsion is to abandon the trappings of civilization and settle things like beasts. Their curse causes them to get temporarily (permanently in older editions) stuck with animal features when they Frenzy.

Clan Lasombra represents the archetype of the vampire as a creature of darkness, as well as the archetype of the Catholic vampire. To the Lasombra, ambition is everything. They will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Having lines you won't cross is viewed as a weakness. This means all Lasombra are petty, power-hungry, would-be tyrants and they are proud of it. Accordingly, if a Lasombra is outsmarted or betrayed, they deserved it for not being smart enough to see it coming. Appearance is very important to the Lasombra. It isn't enough to outwit your enemies, you have to look good doing it. Any lapse in your public persona is a weakness that will be pounced in. Historically, they were pirates who dominated the Mediterranean sea, but they eventually transitioned into ruling indirectly. They are now heavily entrenched in religious institutions. Why take things by force when you can convince the masses that it's God's will for them to give it to you. They are especially entrenched in the Catholic Church, which is engaged in a shadow war between the Lasombra and those who want to force them out. The Lasombra look down on humans and only pick the best to Embrace. A common tactic when looking for a Childe is to systematically ruin their life. Only if the human can pull themselves back up will they be worthy of the Embrace. The Lasombra were historically a Sabbat Clan, but large numbers of them jumped ship to the Camarilla after the Week of Nightmares. They are distrusted, but fully intend to rise to power as usual. The Lasombra Antediluvian is known by many names, so most people just call him Lasombra. He was reportedly a pathetic failure of a man who only achieved greatness after his Embrace. He was a sailor by trade and studied the powers of the Abyss, the darkness that existed before creation. He was eventually Diablerized by his Childe, but many Lasombra believe that his soul merged with the Abyss and he now watches the world through his descendants, waiting to make his move. The Lasombra Disciplines are Dominate (mind control), Potence (superhuman strength) and Obteneration (mystical control of darkness). In 5th edition, Obteneration was changed to Oblivion. Their compulsion is to pursue their goals with utter ruthlessness. Their curse is that they cast no reflections and cannot be recorded by cameras. This means that the Clan who most values independence and self-image has to rely on others to develop that image.

Clan Malkavian represents the archetype of the vampire as a madman. Most clans can hide their curse, but not the Malkavians. From the moment of their Embrace, each Malkavian gains a unique and incurable form of insanity. With their madness comes a strange form of clarity that allows Malkavians to know things they shouldn't. While their often unusual behavior means Malkavians are rarely accepted in polite Kindred society, their ability to act as seers means they are too valuable to to reject entirely. Malkavians claim they are all connected by an invisible psychic web called the Madness Network. Everything one Malkavian knows is know on a subconscious level by every other Malkavian, though it is hidden by delusion and hallucination. Some Malkavians can even directly communicate with each other through the Network. Little is known of Malkavian history as their records tend to be unreliable. They also have little in the way of a unified culture or hierarchy, though they are officially a Camarilla clan. They often act as prophets or advisors, though untangling the truth from the delusion is difficult at the best of times. Their Antediluvian is Malkav, and little is known of him, though he is often said to have been a seer. Its not clear when he became insane. It could be the result of Caine's curse, a secret Lilith showed him, the result of Diablerizing his sire, or he may have always been mad. Non-Malkavian historians speculate that he lies in slumber beneath Jerusalem and his presence is responsible for all the religious mania present in the city. Malkavians tend to claim he became the Madness network and now manipulates all of his descendants like puppets. The Malkavian Disciplines are Auspex (superhuman senses), Obfuscate (the ability to become undetected), and Dementation (the ability to inflict madness on others). 5th edition switched Dementation out for Dominate and made the Dementation effects a combination of Dominate and Auspex. I really hate this change and would not run it that way.

Clan Ministry fills the archetype of the vampire as the creature of evil. They are formally known as the Ministry of Set or Mesu Bedshet and informally known as the Followers of Set or Setites. They reject the story of Caine and have their own creation myth. According to them, Set was the first mortal to discover that morality was a restriction placed on humanity by the gods to keep humans from obtaining godhood themselves. Set achieved apotheosis and taught his method to mortals, creating the vampires. However the other gods created their won vampires to interfere with Set's plan. The Ministry teaches that morals are a crutch that must be discarded and sin and corruption should be embraced. This is part of a long path toward godhood of which vampirism is just the first step. Faithful Setites encourage people to revel in vice and cruelty, often forming cults which they use as a power base and recruiting pool. Notably, they will accept Kindred of other Clans into the Ministry and treat them as siblings, though this does not actually change their Clan. While the cult is primarily based out of Egypt, they have spread across the world and are heavily invested in the international drug trade. The Ministry has historically been independent of the Sects, but they recently petitioned the Camarilla for membership. This was rejected as nobody in the Camarilla trusts them, so they largely joined the Anarchs, looking to corrupt them from within. According to non-Setites, their Antediluvian is Set and his family drama inspired Egyptian mythology. He was the elder son of the king Ra, but Ra chose the younger son Osiris as his heir. Set attempted a coup, but failed and he was exiled. This led him to the First City, where he received the Embrace. Returning to Egypt, he killed Osiris and took the throne. Osiris's sister-wives brought him back to life with a ritual and Osiris gathered an army of various supernatural beings to oppose Set, including the first mummies. This led to a shadow war between the two that went on and off through the millennia. Set is currently believed to slumber somewhere beneath Egypt and the Ministry are trying to find him. Set was also a worshiper of Apophis, a dark god that may be the same spirit of corruption and entropy that shapeshifters call the Wyrm. The Ministry Disciplines are Obfuscate (the ability to go undetected), Presence (incredible charisma), and Serpentis (shapeshifting and other powers associated with snakes). 5th edition changed Serpentis to Protean. Their compulsion is to indulge in vice. Their curse is an increased sensitivity to light, to the point that bright enough moonlight or artificial light can hurt them.

Clan Nosferatu fills the archetype of the vampire as an inhuman monster. No Clan's curse is more visible than that of the Nosferatu. Upon receiving the Embrace, each Childe is transformed ove the course of several agonizing days into a monstrous appearance. This new visage is unique to every Nosferatu but it is always obvious upon looking at them that they are not human. Because of their appearances, the Nosferatu have not historically been welcome in polite Kindred society, forced to live in the slums and sewers. This suits them just fine, because being beneath notice is the Nosferatu's greatest strength. They are the spymasters and information brokers of the Kindred. It is always a good rule of thumb to assume that no matter how hard you try to keep your secrets, there's a Nosferatu out there who already knows them. While the Nosferatu are a Camarilla Clan, the division between Sects is less important than Clan unity to them. Camarilla, Sabbat, and Anarch Nosferatu will work together for their united goals. The majority of Nosferatu in a city will live togeter in an underground tunnel network called the Warrens. Nosferatu prefer to Embrace from the ranks of outcasts and the forgotten, people who nobody will miss. They also Embrace from the ranks of beautiful people. This is usually targeted at the vain to teach them a lesson, but some Nosferatu view any beautiful person as deserving to become a monster. These people, known as Cleopatras, have a rough time adapting to their unlife. The Nosferatu Antediluvian is Absimiliard, who was a very beautiful and very vain man. When his Embrace left him with a tiny scar, Absimiliard became consumed by hate and killed his sire. Caine's curse on him was to make his face match the ugliness of his soul. The reason the Nosferatu are so tight-knit is becasue Absimiliard believes (falsely) that if he kills all of his descendants, Caine will forgive him and lift his curse. Thus he sends monsters called Nictuku after the Nosferatu. As Nictuku activity is on the rise recently, many Nosferatu believe Absimiliard is awake once again somewhere in the arctic circle. The Nosferatu Disciplines are Animalism (control of animals), Obfuscate (the ability to go undetected), and Potence (superhuman strength). Their compulsion is to seek out and horde secrets. Their Bane is their appearances.

Before discussing Clan Ravnos I need to throw up a content warning for racism and use of slurs. This is because Clan Ravnos represents the archetype of the vampire who is a Gypsy. And not an accurate representation of the Roma at all, but full stereotype. Listen, old White Wolf (the original publisher of WoD) was racist (though I think they were less malicious and more just stupid) and relied heavily on stereotypes. While they smartened up and revised some of the more stereotypical clans like the Banu Haqim and Giovanni, the Ravnos were so racist they didn't have an option to rehabilitate them other than to kill them. But I'll get to that. The Ravnos used to be divided between their western and eastern branches, with the two being almost completely different. The western Ravnos were nomads who worshiped chaos and brought disorder and crime wherever they went. They typically traveled with and Embraced from the Roma people. The eastern Ravnos where headquartered in India and engaged in a constant war for control if India with the Kuei-Jin. The Kuei-Jin are the vampires of Asia. They aren't descended from Caine, they're their own type of supernatural being. You don't really need to know about the Kuei-Jin for a beginner's guide so I'm not going to say much more about them. This war eventually led to the Ravnos Antediluvian, Zapathasura, rising from slumber and devouring his offspring and a big chunk of India before being slain. This was the Week of Nightmares, which I will discuss later. In the aftermath, the eastern Ravnos were utterly wiped out and the western Ravnos were driven into a Frenzy of violence. By the time it was all over, less than a hundred Ravnos were left standing, and none of them had any significant power. They are now a Clan on the brink of extinction, trying to find an identity in the face of their inevitable doom. The Ravnos Antediluvian is known by many names, including Zapathasurea, Ravana, and Dracian and there are way too many conflicting stories about him to go over here. The Ravnos Disciplines are Animalism (control of animals), Chimerstry (illusions), and Fortitude (incredible endurance). 5e changed to Chimerstry to Obfuscate and Fortitude to Presence. Their compulsion is to take risks. Their Bane used to be an addiction to crime, but after the Week of Nightmares it changed to an inability to rest in the same place twice in a row. They have to sleep at least a mile or so apart each night.

Clan Salubri is one of the extinct Clans who represented the archetype of the good guy vampire. They were healers dedicated to helping humans and Kindred alike overcome what ails them. There was also a warrior group focused on defending the defenseless. But because this is the World of Darkness, we can't have nice thing and the Salubri were wiped out. The new clan Tremere legitimized their position by slandering the Salubri as demon-worshipers and monsters and enacting a campaign of genocide against them. In modern nights, only a handful of Salubri survive in hiding, their resentment and desire for revenge driving them to become the very monsters they were slandered as. Their Antediluvian is Saulot, a philosopher and healer who sought to overcome the Beast. He would go on expeditions beyond the Second City doing unknown things. We know he spent time with the Kuei-Jin and that it probably ended poorly because Kuei-Jin refer to him as the betrayer. His search for enlightenment eventually led him to develop a third eye, which his clan inherited. He may also have been the only member of the 3rd generation that did not rebel against the 2nd. Eventually, he was attacked in his sleep and Diablerized by the founder of the Tremere. That's not quite the end of his story, though. The Salubri Disciplines are Auspex (superhuman senses), Fortitude (incredible durability), and Obeah (the ability to manipulate life and death). 5th edition changed Obeah to Dominate. Their compulsion was to empathize with others. Their Bane is a matter of debate. Some say they were the only clan to have no Bane, others say their Vitae was unnaturally delicious, and some say they could only feed on a willing person. The third eye ended up acting like a Bane because it made them very easy to identify.

Clan Tremere fills the archetype of the vampire as a wizard. They are usurpers to the title of Kindred, not descended from one of the Antediluvians. In the 1020s, the powerful mage Tremere set about finding a way to achieve immortality and opted to use a ritual to turn himself and his followers into Kindred. The plan was for them to retain their magic, but this failed and so they developed a practice of blood magic instead (though the Banu Haqim claim the Tremere stole their secrets instead). In order to gain the power needed to survive, he sought out the slumbering Saulot and Diablerized the Antediluvian, ascending to the power of a 3rd generation vampire. This made a lot of Kindred furious at him, so Tremere slandered the Salubri as demon worshipers and engaged in a "righteous" campaign to destroy this threat to all vampires. Most of the elders at the time probably realized the Tremere were lying, but they were just too useful not to make use of, so they played along. Clan Tremere joined the Camarilla and became one of their most important members, though nobody really trusts them. The Clan was easily the most well-organized due to the practice of members blood bonding their subordinates. This formed a massive hierarchy called the Pyramid, with Tremere at the top. The Clan is heavily focused on scholarship, delving into the secrets of the world and seeking to improve their blood magic, all focused around home bases called Chantries. This changed when the Second Inquisition bombed the head Chantry in Vienna, destroying most of the senior members of the Clan and shattering all the blood bonds. This led to the Clan fracturing into multiple competing factions, some of which defected to the Sabbat and Anarchs. Tremere was believed to have been killed in the bombing, but the truth is not so simple. Saulot's soul survived within Tremere's body and the two spent centuries fighting for control of the body. Saulot eventually won and disappeared to parts unknown; his current whereabouts and goals are a mystery. Tremere was forced to steal his lieutenant's body to survive. After the attack on the Chantry, Tremere faked his death and is now leading one of the factions of his Clan under a false identity. The Tremere Disciplines are Auspex (superhuman senses), Dominate (mind control), and Thaumaturgy (blood magic). In 5th edition, Thaumaturgy was renamed to Blood Sorcery. Their compulsion is perfectionism. Their Bane used to be an increased vulnerability to the blood bond, needing to drink another Kindred's Vitae only twice to be bonded. After the attack on the Vienna Chantry, the Bane changed to an inability to blood bind others.

Clan Toreador represents the archetype of the vampire as a beautiful and seductive predator. They are artists and innovates obsessed with beauty and art. While many dismiss them as vain fops, the Toreador are masters of the art of social manipulation. More than any other clan, they know that the right word whispered into the right ear at the right time can change the world. There's a reason they're one of the most politically powerful Clans in the Camarilla. While all Toreador seek beauty, that meas different things to different people. One Toreador might find beauty in refuse and garbage while another only appreciates the finest art of the Renaissance. Naturally, they love to spend time arguing over who is a true atriste and who is a mere poseur. Art to them also means more than just creative expression. Martial arts, investigation, and politics are all art forms to them. Because the vampiric condition tends toward stagnation, they often act more as patrons of the arts than as artists themselves. In modern nights, they hare heavily embedded in the entertainment industry. The Toreador are the Kindred most closely connected to humanity and spend much of their time amongst mortals. They often latch onto a human who catches their eye and dote on them, becoming an integral part of their life. However, the Toreador are fickle and once their attention shifts, they will drop their ward and move on like they never existed. The Toreador Antediluvian is usually called Arikel, though some sources call her Ishtar. She was said to be the most beautiful woman who ever live and a performer of a dance that involved leaping over the backs of bulls. She allegedly fled the Second City after stealing something called the Tablet of Destiny and was chased to Greece, where she vanished from history. Another story says she Embraced a pair of lover so their love would last forever. However once the two realized they could not have children, they walked into the sunlight. Arikel swore then to never Embrace again. The Toreador Disciplines are Auspex (superhuman senses), Celerity (superhuman speed), and Presence (incredible charisma). Their compulsion is to become transfixed on beautiful sights. This was their Bane prior to 5th edition. 5e changed their Bane to a penalty to their mental abilities when they are surrounded with less than beautiful scenery.

Clan Tzimisce fulfills the archetype of the vampire as the reclusive lord of a castle. They are easily the most inhuman of the Clans, moreso than the Nosferatu. While the Nosferatu were cursed into their inhuman appearances, the Tzmisce willingly give up on their humanity. If you were to call a Tzmisce inhuman and sadistic, they would likely agree, then demonstrate that you definitions of those words are woefully inadequate. To them, humanity is something to be discarded so they can surpass the weakness of their former mortality. To them, humans are an unfortunate component of making new Kindred at best. Thus, they tend to use forced eugenics programs to produce the best possible candidates. The Tzimisce also have the power to shape flesh and bone like clay and enjoy creating fleshwarped horrors and punishing humans for their humanity by doing things like turning them into furniture while leaving them alive, conscious, and in incredible pain. Most Tzimisce will turn their fleshcrafting on themselves, shaping themselves into monstrous forms to symbolize their rejection of their former mortality. Tradition and history are highly important to the Clan and they practice a form of sacred hospitality. A Tzimisce's domain is their most important asset and it is to be protected at all costs. Many of them are ancient lords ruling from castles in eastern Europe and have no interest in adapting to the times. While they are a Sabbat Clan, many young members are defecting to the Anarchs. Tzimisce are very rare in the Camarilla and those who do join pretend to be members of other clans as even other Kindred fear and hate the Tzimisce. The Tzimisce Antediluvian is only known as the Eldest. Legend says the 2nd generation vampire Irad sought to purge himself of evil by expelling expelling ti as a black mass. He them force fed the evil to a human and planned to kill him afterwards. However, when the man showed no change, Irad became curious and Embraced him. The Eldest quickly abandoned his humanity and soon left the Second City, having no interest in the political games of his siblings. He ended up in what would become Transylvania, where he made a pact with a bound demon named Kupala, binding him and his descendants to the land forevermore. During the founding of the Sabbat, the Eldest learned of a plan to kill him. He altered a follower into his likeness and left him behind to be Diablerized as the Eldest fled the land. The number of people who know he's still alive can likely be counted on one hand. The Tzimisce Disciplines are Animalism (control of animals), Auspex (superhuman senses) and Vicissitude. 5e swapped Vicissitude for Protean and Auspex for Dominate and made the Vicissitude abilities an amalgam of Protean and Dominate. I don't like this change. Their compulsion is to hoard things. Their Bane is that they can't sleep unless surrounded with reminders of their former human lives. Prior to 5e it was that they couldn't sleep unless surrounded with dirt from their grave. I think the 5e version is more thematically fitting, personally.

Clan Ventrue fills the archetype of the vampire as the aristocratic overlord. They are the blue bloods of the Kindred who believe they have the right to rule because they know better than everyone else. This naturally does not make them very popular, but they are extremely powerful and very wealthy. The Ventrue form a hierarchy based on their wealth, political influence, and dignitas, a measure of their responsibility and competence. Ascending the hierarchy is every Ventrue's goal and they will do anything to do so. Each city has its own hierarchy called the board that controls the politics and goals of that city's Ventrue. Each Ventrue in a city is expected to run their businesses without interfering with each other. In practice, this means you only get punished if you get caught. When a Ventrue Embraces a Childe, they are put in charge of a business and expected to make it prosper. They aren't allowed to interfere with other Ventrue's businesses during this time, so most local Ventrue will lend them a hand. This is the closest any Ventrue will ever get to altruism. Failure during this time will lead to a severe loss in dignitas for both Sire and Childe. In the past, they most embraced from noble families and knights. In modern nights, they are heavily involved with big business and politics. They were one of the founding clans of the Camarilla and claim that there are no Ventrue outside of the clan, though most people realize that's not the case. Still, questioning this claim tends to be bad for your long-term health. The Ventrue are very rich, very politically powerful, and they do not take insults lightly. The Ventrue Antediluvian was named Ventru, and he is often said to be the first member of the 3rd generation and Caine's chosen replacement when he left. Many Ventrue claim he took no part in the 3rd generations rebellion, while many others claim he was the instigator. Many sources say that when the 3rd generation began to fight, Ventru left to go find Caine and bring him back. He was then killed by an ambush of his siblings shortly after leaving. The Ventrue Disciplines are Dominate (mind control), Fortitude (incredible durability), and Presence (incredible charisma). Their compulsion is to rule over others. Their Bane is their refined tastes. Ventru can only feed on humans who have a certain trait, which is different to each Ventrue.

The Week of Nightmares was one of the most important events in the history of the World of Darkness and lasted from June 28th to July 4th, 1999. The war over control of India between the eastern Ravnos and the Kuei-Jin was ramping up. The Ravnos began to mass-Embrace fledglings to drown their enemy in sheer numbers. The psychic backlash of so many deaths happening so fast rippled through the clan, awakening slumbering elders and eventually the Antediluvian himself, Zapathasura. The starving blood god psychically called his descendants to him and devoured them before going on a rampage, devouring countless humans, Kuei-Jin, Kindred, and other supernatural creatures. Three immensely powerful Kuei-Jin sorcerers challenged Zapathasura, summing a hurricane over them to fight during the day. Meanwhile, the world-spanning technological mage organization known as the Technocratic Union or Technocracy took notice. They launched a spirit-charged nuke at the hurricane, dispelling it and killing the Kuei-Jin. They then used orbital satellites to direct concentrated sunlight onto Zapathasura, destroying him. The psychic backlash of Zapathasura's death sent the surviving Ravnos into a Frenzy of violence that left them on the verge of extinction. Shockwaves were sent through Kindred society. The Camarilla were forced to admit they were lying about the non-existence of the Antediluvians, leading to major defections to the Anarchs. The Sabbat, who had built their identity on being able to kill the Antediluvians, also lost major face when they were useless to stop Zapathasura, leading to mass defections to the Camarilla and Anarchs. The Sabbat dropped to the third largest Sect while the Anarchs moved up to the second. Kindred across the world saw the Week of Nightmares as proof that Gehenna was imminent.

In the wake of the Week of Nightmares, the Sabbat launched the Gahanna Crusade, a mission to track down the remaining Antediluvians and slay them in their sleep. The Camarilla opposed this, believing that the Sabbat would end up waking the Antediluvians instead. This led to a worldwide shadow conflict called the Gehenna War. At the same time, elders started experiencing visions of a black sarcophagus and feeling a compulsion to travel to the Middle East. Most interpret these visions as a sign that another Antediluvian has either risen or is about to rise. The mass exodus of Elders has destabilized the Camarilla and Sabbat, allowing the Anarchs to gain major ground. As the Gehenna war rages and elders consolidate power around the Middle East, the future is uncertain.

In the 2000s, a new threat appeared. The USA's National Security Agency discovered SCHRECKnet, a secret dark web operated by the Nosferatu. They spread the information to other secuurity agencies both in and out of the USA and collaborated with vampire hunting organizations in the Catholic Church and other religious institutions to fight back against the Kindred. This began with a missile strike on the Tremere Chantry in Vienna and coordinated ground work that managed to clear New York, London, Paris, and Marseilles of Kindred before the vampires were able to rally and put up a resistance. Kindred refer to this new generation of vampire hunters as the Second Inquisition. The Second Inquisition is not a unified organization but a loose collective of different organizations utilizing different tactics which can include military organizations using top-of-the-line hardware, scientists dragging Kindred to black sites for experimentation, gangbangers out to protect their neighborhoods from Kindred, and religious fanatics armed with swords and the power of true faith. Some of the more scientifically-minded organizations have even developed a chemical weapon that is harmless to humans but burns Kindred the way sunlight does. In response to the rise of the Second Inquisition, the Nosferatu disabled SCHRECKnet and the Camarilla banned electronic communication for fear of another hack, instead relying on couriers. This slower method of communication, combined with the exodus of the elders and the Gehenna War has destabilized all the Sects. The Second Inquisition has also noticed the increasing Kindred activity in the Middle East and has effectively become a third side in the Gehenna War. More than anything else, the Second Inquisition has reminded Kindred why the Masquerade is so important.

If you want to get into the setting but don't have a group to play with, the video game Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines is excellent, but you need to play it with the unofficial patch to avoid glitches.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

While I don’t think the senti-kid story necessarily works if the writers wanted to keep the show focused on kids, I think it would’ve gone over a bit better if it was just Felix who was the senti, rather than also Adrien and Kagami (especially Kagami, she was a complete retcon in that regard).

Picture this:

Gabriel, Emilie, and Natalie find the Miraculous (Butterfly and Peacock) because they have an expensive hobby (archeology/collecting rare items, as wealthy people like to do), not because they need the magic at all. They just heard a rumor of an old Tibetan monastery and wanted to check it out, got lucky in finding the two jewels. The Peacock doesn’t even have to be broken.

We can keep the basics of the backstory shown in Representation- minus the detail of Adrien being made with the Peacock. Gabriel and Emilie conceive Adrien normally, but Colt and Amelie aren’t able to like in canon, so Colt has that same jealous outburst at Gabriel. Because Emilie feels bad for her sister, and Gabriel sees an opportunity to make a deal, they lend, or maybe trade, the Peacock to them to create a child. As in canon, Colt uses it, and his jealousy makes Felix a physical copy of Adrien.

Emilie gets sick for non-magical reasons. (I wouldn’t mind having her use it for funsies and not realizing it was broken, but it’s very obviously cracked, and I can’t imagine at least one of their two kwamis not giving them a warning.) As for what happens to Colt, I’m on the fence about him being alive in present times because that kind of abuse is really heavy, so maybe he just dies for unsaid reasons (though I vote Amelie poisoned him or something).

This version would allow for a really cool contrast between Adrien and Felix’s stories and characters. You have Adrien, a normal human, capable of disobedience, but who bends easily under others and is a people-pleaser. Versus Felix, a senti being magically compelled to obey orders of whoever has his amok, but fights to be free every chance he gets. That contrast would also further Felix’s frustration and jealousy of Adrien, in addition to his own father’s hatred of him and being identical to his cousin, because Felix would kill for Adrien’s free will, but he squanders it. But then there’s also the issue that he’s essentially victim blaming Adrien, not realizing that magic isn’t the only way to force obedience- not to mention ignoring the times that Adrien did stand up for himself (like running away to school). I think that would be a really great discussion of free will, how jealousy can blind you, family conflict (and resolution), and how different kinds of abuse/trauma aren’t automatically better than each other just because they’re opposites (ex: someone with heatstroke shouldn’t be jealous of someone with frostbite. Both suck.) The intensity might be worse for each circumstance (since Felix has magical abuse and physical+verbal abuse), but he would be in the wrong for saying Adrien has it easy.

(I think at this point my ADHD is over-explaining, so I’ll leave it at that lol)

Do you think a route like that would’ve improved the show at all? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

The sentiplot has many issues and one of the big ones is that it's not a great fit for a show where Marinette is the one and only main character. They've given Kagami, Felix, and Adrien this massive weight that begs for them to take center stage for at least a few episodes, but probably a whole season or two. The show isn't going to do that, so it's near impossible to really fix the sentiplot without truly massive changes to canon.

That being said, I think that this idea would have vastly improved the sentiplot in its current form! Right now, the senti thing truly doesn't matter to Adrien's character. His mom could have gotten sick for any random reason and the only meaningful change would be that Gabriel couldn't use the rings to keep Adrienette from kissing that one time. Outside of that, Adrien's status has no meaningful effect on the story. It doesn't even keep him out of the final! He does that on his own! The senti thing is just there for cheap drama.

There's also the issue that the current storyline makes the Agreste's look awful which is clearly not the story's goal. Emilie is supposed to be an angel and Gabriel is supposed to be a grief-stricken man who loves his family. That doesn't fit with the kind of monsters who would make a magical designer slave to be their child and then wear his control rings around as daily accessories. Remember, they picked their freaking wedding rings for his slave collars! Most people wear those every day. The implications are nasty!

It makes way more sense for the Agreste's to have the peacock for more mundane reasons and for Colt to get it somehow. Maybe even have him steal it after he finds out about it to really remove the Ageste's from the perfect slave child issue. This allows for the contrast between Gabriel and Colt that canon so clearly wanted, but failed to write. It also makes Felix's actions towards Adrien make way more sense. It feels like canon Felix hates Adrien and we still don't know why that is.

As nebulous as Felix's character is, he still feels like the kind of character who needs to be tied to something like the sentiplot. It's part of the reason I don't think I can use him in my own stuff. The sentiplot is - or at least should be - such a major, defining thing for him that the only possible way to use him is to keep that plot or to give him a plot about freeing the Kwamis since they're also slaves and his abusive childhood could make him feel a bond with them.

Focusing the sentistruggle on Felix instead of spreading it out to include Adrien and Kagami would also keep the sentistuff from dominating the story. Making the male romantic lead an artificial being without true free will whose creation killed his mother is a massive thing that needs to be the focus of his character for the rest of the story. People are on the edge of their seats waiting for Adrien to learn the truth and want this to be a big plot. I do not think they're going to get that, but they should.

Having a side character be the artificial human allows this to be something that is dealt with and then Felix either leaves or fades into the background once his story is over because his story allowed to have an ending whenever they want it to. That's not true for Adrien. Adrien's ending is happily every after with Marinette and the sentiplot needlessly complicates that plan because it means that Adrien's character is always going to be center stage, making people want the sentiplot to mean something since it's apparently impossible for him to ever be a real boy who has true free will. That's such a massive thing that it begs for Adrien to be the main character, which is an asinine writing choice. I have no idea why they keep giving Adrien all this massive narrative weight. You don't do that if you want the female romantic lead to be the main focus! You do it if you want them to be true costars or if you want the male lead to get the majority of the focus. This is writing 101!

As you said at the top, I'm not sure how well this works for a show aimed at five-year-olds because it's still a pretty heavy stuff, but as a general idea, I'd be down to watch it! I didn't have a ton to add to this one because your pitch was already excellent!

[fae-cookie-run-madness]

Tied to fate/Children of Beasts. How are cookies made?

Figure I would ramble yet again in this au. Mainly with how are young cookies made if they're not baked by witches? I want to add my own spin/lore to go with the au.

Please note that a child can be made with only one parent, however it is typically advised against for reasons.

So, there are two things that are needed when a cookie decides it wants to have children, dough and life powder.

Dough:

Dough can be taken from one parent, two parents or even more. If more than one parent, the dough will be mixed, and cookies can start to shape their new babies. Most kingdoms will have cookie cutters for newborns that could be bought or maybe free to use to help out the struggling new parents.

Dough can be gathered by breaking the top layer of crust and gathering the softer dough underneath, this still needs to be done with caution as going too deep will cause you to hint jam. Too much Jam mixed into the dough will make it unusable as the imperfections later could be deadly, and will have to be thrown out. It’s why some kingdoms and cultures encourage for a child to have multiple parents so it will not be a strain on just one. It’s also very common for cookies to try and gain weight before they plan to make a child just so they have extra dough to work with and not risk possible hitting jam. Note that cookies need to be careful after this, as this is basically a wound and can/will scar if not treated probably.

The dough is often what determines appearance, as if one dough is used more than another they will typically favor that parent. There are still some things that could be changed, ingredients might change around eye color or scents but typically, if you want a child to like you, you use a lot of your dough. The only exception to this is when dough is mixed 50/50, then it could be an even split or any sort of mix. 

Life Powder:

Life Powder is the most important ingredient to making a cookie as it what eventually forms a cookie’s soul. It is not taboo in any culture to mix life powder from multiple parents, it’s often seen as the more the better.

Life Powder is the only ingredient that a cookie body cannot replace, once it’s gone it is gone (except for Beasts and Ancients but this isn’t really well known). Despite most baby cookies not needing a lot to start a soul, every little grain counts. Life Powder can be obtained by a cookie reaching through their chest and grabbing some of the powder that resides in their heart, this is extremely painful as you can imagine and is recommended to only do this when a healer is around. It’s also recommended you make sure the dough body is completely finished before adding the life powder, as the baby will wake up and start moving once it’s added making any additional changes very difficult. Because of the problem of Life Powder not healing like others, it’s not common for super big families unless they have multiple sets of parents. As eventually taking so much life powder will slowly start to warp the parents personality, feeling unnatural or like a shell of their former self. If this starts to happen it is recommended to get them to a healer, and try to get them some life powder from plants. While it won’t fully heal what was taken, it will stop the current powder in the body from being stretched too thin.

Life Powder is said to make up the soul, so it’s commonly believed that a child will take their personalities from whatever Life Powder is used the most. Now this isn’t really provided, especially since many believe that once a child comes to life, the life powder changes to one that is distinctly their own. However it is common enough that if a parent really wants a child to be like them, they will add a bit more of their life powder to the mix.

Baking verse no baked:

During the first 5 months a dough baby will be very soft and fragile as their dough has yet to harden. This can be dangerous as it’s much easier for imperfections, breaks or other facts to permanently hurt or end the young cookie's life. Most cookies will have one parent who holds the baby constantly, keeping them safe but warm from the parents helping slowly cooking and harding the dough. However this is a lengthy process, and can still go wrong.

On the other hand, they could use ovens. This is simple as placing the oven at a certain temple and allowing the young dough baby to cook, causing them to get their hardened crust and be protected more from the outside world. However, this also has downsides, as an oven too hot can burn and break a cookie while not hot enough will form a crust not thick enough to keep them safe. It truly depends on the culture and where they are from for which method is preferred.

---

Me just blabing about cookie lore.....

[ikroah]

A girl can get somewhere in spite of stringy hair or even just a bit bowed at the knees if she can show a faultless…personality! —“Personality,” Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers (1946)

It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’ #26 - Ring-a-Ding-Ding V

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Notes / Original Pencils / Transcript:

Notes:

ohhhhh my god why did i make this script so long my hand hurts this took forever aaaaagh

Welcome to the Lucky 38! This is a script that has remained basically the same for a long time but went through COUNTLESS extremely small rewrites over the course of production just to really nail Mr. House's dialogue. He's a long-winded guy, this whole issue is basically just him doing monologues, and I wanted to make sure it was all interesting and non-repetitive. I think I took out at least three uses of "merely" from the first draft.

One of the biggest production decisions of this issue was whether or not to cut the scene with Agnes and Cass and Victor, which immediately follows the end of the previous issue. The reason to include it was because it very necessarily established the change in location from the Vegas Strip to the Lucky 38 penthouse, which would have been jarring otherwise; the reason to exclude it was that it the issue was already extremely long and I thought opening right on Mr. House would have been more impactful. Ultimately, I did keep it, which was a good decision, but only because of the literally issue-saving idea to convey it as closed-circuit television footage instead of actual panels. Every single attempt at overlaying them with the lead-in to Mr. House was way too busy, but that idea really tied the page together like a nice rug.

And lastly, the framing device of the tarantula and the tarantula hawk was actually an extremely late addition to the comic. I had already finished the first three pages when I thought of it. My problem was that Mr. House's constant monologuing and Agnes' sad expressions got pretty repetitive. I needed something to break the action up while adding thematic heft and artistic variety. I've become a real enthusiast for wasps and tarantulas over the last couple months, so this one really was just a stroke of luck. It took only minimal revisions to make room for the framing device, with the most dramatic change being the complete replacement of the last page (which was originally just a splash page of the Lucky 38 in Vegas; bookending the first and last pages is so much better). So you see, the only reason for weaving a scene into this issue of a skittish desert-wanderer getting paralyzed and dragged toward a certain demise by a predator almost perfectly evolved to destroy it was just that I like bugs a lot. That's the only reason, yep.

Original Pencils:

Due to all of the photo-collage in the final version of the comic, there's a lot of panels and details that I (thankfully!) didn't have to draw myself. Sorry that the pencil isn't blue on the last three pages, I've been on the move for the holidays so they got scanned in grayscale by accident.

I did experiment with drawing the tarantula framing device myself, but ultimately went with the photo-collage method because the artistic juxtaposition actually made it much more readable when interspersed with the proceedings in the Lucky 38.

Transcript:

EXT. DESERT OUTSIDE OF NEW VEGAS. The city glitters in the distance, nestled between the shadows of mountains, with the spire of the LUCKY 38 towering above all else.

In the wilderness, a TARANTULA emerges from its burrow.

EXT. THE NEW VEGAS STRIP. On closed-circuit television monitors, a SECURITRON ROBOT approaches AGNES SANDS and ROSE OF SHARON CASSIDY, saying

VICTOR: Well howdy, partner! Fancy meetin' again here in Vegas!

CASS: What the fuck?

AGNES: Victor?

Unlike the usual police units, VICTOR's robotic "face" is that of a cowboy.

VICTOR: And heck, ya clean up nice! Sure lookin' a lot better now than when I rustled ya outta the bone orchard back in Goodsprings*--

CAP: *As was explained to Agnes way back in IKROAH #2. --Lou

VICTOR: --so how's about ol' Vic skips the rigamarole, huh? 'Fore all my yappin' makes ya want to go back, heh-heh-heh! I'm the welcome wagon, see. I'm to come and collect ya.

CASS: Agnes--

VICTOR: Boss wants t'see you, is what I'm sayin'.

AGNES: Boss?

VICTOR: Only of all of Vegas, friend!

CASS: Agnes.

MEANWHILE, the TARANTULA crawls beneath the starlight.

VICTOR: So why don't we mosey on over to the Lucky 38? And your good pal can come along, too!

CASS: I need to know what the fuck is going on, right now.

AGNES: I...I don't know.

VICTOR: And y'know, boss ain't ever let a soul inside before, least for not as long as I've been rollin' around on my spurs, so this ain't just an everyday social call, mind...

On the closed-circuit television monitors, VICTOR escorts AGNES and CASS to the entryway of the LUCKY 38.

VICTOR: ...but heck, I reckon ya'll oughta get along like franks on a fire! So come on! Lift's in the lobby here, and up to the top floor--and we can get the formalities out of the way before ya'll get [cut off]

INT. THE LUCKY 38 PENTHOUSE.

AGNES stands awestruck, looking upward, bathed in electronic green light. With horror, she ekes out a single question.

AGNES: ...what are you?

???: A "Hello" would have been preferable, but it'll take more than a crude faux pas to tarnish this moment. Who I am, Agnes--

What AGNES is looking at is a gigantic SUPERCOMPUTER and terminal, flanked by closed-circuit television monitors and guarded on both sides by SECURITRON police units. On the supercomputer's massive screen is the green-lit image of a face. The face

MR. HOUSE: --is ROBERT EDWIN HOUSE. The President, CEO, and sole proprietor of New Vegas--and more to the point, the intended recipient of a long delayed package.

AGNES: Oh, you...you mean the platinum chip?

MR. HOUSE: Correct. It's a...very precious artifact of the old world.

MR. HOUSE: My world, once.

In the back of the room, beyond AGNES, is an oil painting of MR. HOUSE, standing outside in front of what must have been a very large robot.

MR. HOUSE: In that world, I was the founder of RobCo Industries--a titan of innovation. We created a litany of robotic solutions for diverse markets, such as the Securitrons that you see here, and even a line of consumer-grade devices like the wrist-mounted Pip-Boy. But the platinum chip was, more than any other, my design. It was my vision.

MR. HOUSE: But it never left the factory in which it was originally made. Before it could even cool off from its assembly...we had the Great War. An international, thermonuclear bombardment of unimaginable power that annihilated the world in all of two hours.

MR. HOUSE: But not the entire world. Not Vegas. Not my Paradise. From my fortress of the Lucky 38, I saw to that. But as for the rest of the world, and my platinum chip--it took generations.

MR. HOUSE: First for the scarce remnants of humanity to crawl out from under their rocks, and for the world to at least resemble a functioning society again in which to do trade. And then for the work itself--of countless scavengers, treasure-seekers, and the like, all contracted to comb over the wreckage of Sunnyvale. It cost millions of caps, and later, New California dollars. And a not insignificant piece of my pre-war fortune as well. I, quite literally, moved mountains.

MR. HOUSE: I do not believe in providence, Agnes, but I do believe in destiny. How else to explain it? It was pristine when it was found. Neither the bombs nor the passage of time had so much as scuffed its sheen. But still...its value far transcended the mere market price of pure platinum.

MR. HOUSE: Amusingly, despite the discovery, I was still only as close to acquiring the chip as I had been originally in 2077. A final ordeal remained for me: how to ensure the safety of the platinum chip en route to its destination, from Sunnyvale to Vegas, without broadcasting its preciousness to thieves, armies, and raiders--or worse, to heavily armed fetishists for pre-war technology like the Brotherhood of Steel?

MR. HOUSE: Misdirection. Through a network of anonymous liaisons, I contracted the Mojave Express for a batch of deliveries, all superficially similar knick-knacks, to various intermediaries of myself. All but one of the orders were totally worthless decoys. But your identity as the carrier of the one genuine item was somehow compromised, leading to you getting attacked, and to the second disappearance of the chip.

MR. HOUSE: But look around you. Look where you are. You've made it, haven't you?

AGNES, still staring up at the visage of MR. HOUSE on-screen, doesn't respond. She frowns, nervous. The SECURITRONS guarding MR. HOUSE observe her stoically.

MR. HOUSE: Let me clarify: I had nothing to do with Benny's ambush. Heavens no! It goes completely against my interests. It would have been a perfectly quotidian day's work for you if not for his, and I stress, unexpected involvement. The platinum chip...belies its significance. For Benny to have not only discovered its delivery route but possibly enough of that significance to motivate such an act, this constituted a very troubling breach of my security. And I had been looking into it...but in a way, the issue seems to have resolved itself. Hm?

MR. HOUSE: A wild card. Now removed from the deck.

AGNES' gaze sinks to the floor.

MEANWHILE, a small shadow blots out the starlight in the desert outside of Vegas. It flies over the exploring TARANTULA.

AGNES looks back up at MR. HOUSE.

AGNES: I killed him.

HOUSE: So you did. I only wish that we could have spoken before you went rogue on my former protégé: if this story breaks, I can grant you amnesty, but not without controversy. And your infamy as an assassin could make our further arrangements quite difficult.

AGNES: Um...I didn't think there would be more to it than delivering the--

MR. HOUSE: Oh! Of course, of course! My apologies. Two hundred years of anticipation and yet I'm still getting ahead of myself. Well--would you mind? I've been waiting a long time for my mail.

The SECURITRON closest to AGNES wheels forward with its claw outstretched. AGNES reaches her fingers into a pocket beneath the belt of her dress to produce it: the PLATINUM CHIP. She holds it in her hand for a brief moment.

MEANWHILE, the shadow descends; the TARANTULA HAWK engages the TARANTULA.

AGNES relinquishes the PLATINUM CHIP to the SECURITRON.

MR. HOUSE: Thank you--it's a relief to pay for this chip for the final time.

The SECURITRON inserts the PLATINUM CHIP into a slot in MR. HOUSE'S supercomputer, feeding it into the drive with a CLIK.

MEANWHILE, the TARANTULA is fighting the TARANTULA HAWK.

From behind AGNES, another SECURITRON presents her with a stack of NEW CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC DOLLARS, which she gingerly takes in her hand and looks over.

MR. HOUSE: And I trust that you're satisfied with the agreed-upon compensation from the delivery contract, yes?

AGNES: Yeah, it's...it's fine...I'll be going now. Thanks.

MR. HOUSE: Oh? But you've only just arrived. I insist that you make yourself at home.

SFX: KZZSZZZTTT

The faces on the screens of the SECURITRONS in MR. HOUSE'S penthouse suddenly change from policemen to soldiers. AGNES recoils and tries to step away.

AGNES: H-hey, uh--

MEANWHILE, the TARANTULA HAWK pierces the underbelly of the TARANTULA with its stinger.

SECURITRONS surround AGNES.

MR. HOUSE: You are the first guest ever through the doors of the Lucky 38, you know. Nobody has so much as checked a coat inside since the war, so this meeting confers you a significant level of privilege...and inevitable celebrity. The people of Vegas have always gossiped, after all. Many have even clawed at the door desperately with dreams of being where you now stand. Surely you can comprehend how this compulsion to leave after such a deliberate and remarkable invitation risks considerable insult--to both myself and my citizenry? And very deliberate this invitation was. Don't you realize: if handing off my package was all for which you were needed, why wouldn't I have just had Victor relieve you of the chip outside? No, no, you see, as necessary as its acquisition was, the chip is ultimately just a key, for unlocking a new frontier...of possibilities.

MR. HOUSE: Possibilities for prosperity, peace, and technological advancement that haven't been seen in two hundred years. Possibilities greater than anything the New California Republic or Caesar's Legion could dream of, let alone achieve, by playing pretend in the clothes of their forebearers and convincing everyone else that it's statecraft. Possibilities--which if they key is turned by human hands--become certainties.

AGNES (a whisper): Are you not human?

MR. HOUSE: Don't let the video screens and computer terminals fool you: I am a living human. No less so than you. I just live with a particular set of, well...handicaps.

AGNES: You said you'd waited hundreds of years to--

MR. HOUSE: One could argue that the world has been waiting hundreds of years for this moment. Waiting for me. For the chip. For the long-dormant doors of the Lucky 38 to finally open, to a single and specially ordained individual: you, Agnes. And there are tremendous things waiting for us, waiting for us to accomplish them, together. I certainly couldn't do them with Benny. What do you say?

MEANWHILE, the TARANTULA has become completely paralyzed by the TARANTULA HAWK'S venom. The TARANTULA HAWK seizes its prey.

AGNES: ...no.

MR. HOUSE: I'm sorry--"No?"

AGNES: Yes--I mean, no. No! I don't want to help you! I...

Tears well in AGNES' eye.

AGNES: ...I just want to go back home.

MR. HOUSE: ...I see. Hmm.

MR. HOUSE: How do I put this in a way you'll understand?

MR. HOUSE: The die is cast.

AGNES, crying, looks up at MR. HOUSE again. Fear bulges on her face.

MR. HOUSE: Throughout the long delivery of this chip, several precise plans and fortuitous coincidences have aligned in just such a way as to make you, you specifically at this exact juncture, an irreplaceable asset in the ongoing endeavor of this wounded world's recovery from otherwise hopeless ruin.

MR. HOUSE: Your cooperation going forward is not merely crucial to this endeavor's success, but it's utterly non-negotiable. Should you entertain the moral issue of what's at stake, it's obligatory, even. It's why your refusal comes as such a...genuine surprise. Can't you see?

MR. HOUSE: I'm not a fascist, Agnes--I would never force you. But given the circumstances, I'm entitled, wouldn't you agree, to at least a brief demonstration of my vision? The vision that the platinum chip promises? Victor has surely seen your companion to the presidential suite by now--my other Securitrons can escort you to the basement, where I'm sure you can make a...properly informed decision.

The SECURITRONS close in on AGNES, who screams in protest.

AGNES: No! I said no! I already delivered your chip, I--I killed Benny! I-- I-- ...what do you want with me!?

MR. HOUSE: Haven't you been listening? I want what's best for you--for us. I know it's a lot, but bear with me for one moment longer, and I can assure you--that this is the beginning of something very incredible.

MEANWHILE, the TARANTULA HAWK has dragged the paralyzed TARANTULA back to the entrance of its own burrow.

The TARANTULA HAWK shoves its helpless prey into the hole, and then crawls in after it.

The TARANTULA is not seen again.

[npookie0]

If you haven’t yet, could you write a fic abt a chubby (could be fem if u want) character w/ robin??? I LOVE UR WORK BTW

Body is the true form of art.

A scenerio of the chubby reader being insecure and Ronin helping them in his own way

You are standing in front of your mirror, underwear being the only thing giving you coverage. Your expression was one of strong displeasure, hate even. You despise the image that you see in your reflection. Someone chubby, who can't fit in most of their clothes.

Normally you wouldn't be this bothered, you got used to this. Being the chubby kid growing up, it taught you a lot. But when you didn't fit in your favourite piece of clothing? It felt like your whole world was in pieces, maybe work related stress added up to this to make it this bad.

So now, instead of dressing up for your meeting with Ronin in purgatory, you're standing in front of your mirror, barely holding yourself together from breaking down.

You hugged your arms, taking a deep breath. "Why... why do I have to look like this?" You whispered to yourself, looking at your body with a stare that was anything but loving.

You wanted to take scissors and cut the additional fat from your body, cut yourself in a shape that would look more aesthetically pleasing.

You hated how people looked how you, how they judged you. You saw it in their eyes, you were a pig to them, a pig who stuffs their face every occasion they have.

It didn't matter to them that maybe you were chubbier because of some health issues, or that you could basically live at the gym now and nothing was changing your shape. People just fed into their own judgement and that's all that mattered to them.

Ring, ring, ring.

The noise of an incoming call startled you. You looked down at the phone on your desk and grimaced when you saw who was calling.

Ronin.

Your boyfriend, The Devil's Butcher, a total psycho who somehow swept you off your feet and claimed your aorta as his.

You took a deep breath and picked up the phone to answer his call.

With all power you tried to sound calm, like you were doing perfectly fine. "What is it Ro?" Your voice was a little shakier than you planned, but maybe he wouldn't notice it. At least that's what you were hoping for.

You heard him click his tongue. "Crying huh?" His words made your stomach twist and turn.

How?

How did he always know everything?

You couldn't comprehend it. Ronin made you feel like a completely open book to him, like he didn't need to look at you to know what you were going through.

"I... I'm not crying Ronin." You replied, your answer harsher than anticipated. You didn't want to show to anyone, him or even yourself, that you were going through something.

You were the funny friend, the one people gave backhanded compliments too, you couldn't just show anyone your weaknesses, even with Ronin.

"Yeah, yeah. Lie to someone else darlin'. Maybe Angel would gobble this bull up, but I know you too well now." His voice was hushed to a whisper, like he was quite literally a shoulder devil trying to prove to you that sin was the better choice. "I'll be there soon." With no chance for an answer you were left alone.

Exactly twenty minutes later you and Ronin were sitting on your kitchen's floor, your head leaning on his shoulder as you tried to looked anywhere but at your body reflected in the fridge.

"What is it writer darlin'?" Ronin's hand was rubbing your thigh as his other arm was lazily thrown around your waist.

"I'm fine Ronin." You lied, biting the inside of your cheek. You looked at Ronin who's gaze was unreadable.

In his eyes there was only darkness, and in the middle of that never ending abyss was your reflection. It's weird really, how you liked yourself only in Ronin's eyes. Maybe it was the comfort of him being as imperfect as you? Or maybe it was how he never truly cared about your body, only cared to keep it close in form of small and casual touches.

"Confess the sin, speak of the burden. We both know that you're trying to hide it, from the world and yourself." He spoke with a knowing smirk on his face. Ronin didn't need to ask anything, he didn't need to ask about all the things he could see in your eyes.

He saw the pain, saw the way you almost cried every time your eyes met your reflection, the pure disgust in your gaze was what caught his attention so much.

Your lower lip trembled. Maybe if you vented this frustration out, maybe if you shared this burden with Ronin... Maybe you could feel better.

"I hate this Ronin. I hate how my body looks okay?"You said and looked down at your hands. "There's nothing but fat. I am nothing but a chubby person." You felt so pathetic, so embarrassed of these words.

You would never look at another person this way, then why are you looking at yourself in this image? Why can't you shower yourself with this love?

Your mind was in chaos now, torn between your insecurities and the way you felt evil for hating your body while telling others to love theirs.

Ronin moved his hand from your thigh to hold you by your chin, so he could tilt your head back. "Darlin', baby, why do you hate a true piece of art?" He whispered, his face inches away from yours. "You can't see it now, but this." His hand that held you, squeezed on your side. "This is fuckin' beautiful, the most perfect piece of art."

His eyes were passionate. You were looking for a lie, looking for deception. But you found only fire, fire burning in affection, his own twisted affection.

"I want to paint all over this piece of art, make the base even more breathtaking, even more mesmerising." Ronin didn't show pity, he didn't want to let you drown in this self hate you were desperately trying to hide yourself in.

"Ronin you can drop the poetic comfort." Of course you, blinded by your misery, were unable to see just how genuine he was. Just how much honesty was in his words.

He chuckled, his breath warm against your ear. "Oh darlin', I'm unable to give comfort, or have you forgotten?" He kissed you on your temple. "You're art, art that is a true eye candy."

Headcanons ♥

Ronin lends you his clothes, he likes how you look in them admiring you or joking about them hanging off of your body. You were somewhat happy when wearing his clothes, they were big enough to hide your upper body and they had Ronin's scent on them.

When you feel especially insecure Ronin is kissing your body, like he's worshipping it. "Who wouldn't worship a body like this baby?" He's say with a smirk glued to his face.

Ronin likes to use your body as a pillow, be it your chest, stomach or thighs, they're all he needs to get a comfortable spot to keep his head on.

If in an intimate situation, Ronin will mar your body, compliments it even more than usual, he will make you feel oh so attractive. His gaze alone should be able to speak volumes.

[teagballs]

hello angel! I was wondering if you could write a Dennis Reynolds x fem!reader one shot where basically, reader is apart of the gang and has been for a while. Surprisingly, one time when Dennis was really angry, she calmed him down. Everyone was shocked the first, but slowly overtime got used to it. Dennis always ignored the warm feeling in his chest when she calmed him, but when he went on a date and got really mad and the girl tried to calm him down, he got even more angry than realised he liked reader??

sorry if it’s confusing 😭🫶

calmed | dennis reynolds x reader

read part 2 here!!

authors note: HEYOOO still alive. thank u sm for this prompt anon! tbh it was a bit of a challenge and i struggled 😭 i always struggle to write for dennis. i hope i did this idea justice cuz i love it. also this is my first iasip fic im publishing yayayay please send more requests for it im sooo deep into it rn. ive got a dee fic in the works rn.

cw: average dennis insanity ofc, swearing, mentions of D.E.N.N.I.S ing girls so yk, mentions of sex.

fic under the cut!

You can recall the first time you ever saw Dennis freak out.

"Idiots! Fucking idiots all of them!" Dennis ranted in his usual methodic tone. The gang wasn't phased, this sort of Dennis rant was something they'd become accustomed to. For you - the latest addition the gang - you had never witnessed one of Dennis' outbursts. It was probably that empathic nature or yours that made you want to act, to console him. And you did. Despite the gang's protests, once they noticed you about to leap into action. They knew it was better to just let Dennis ride out the anger and come down again. But you reached out and touched his arm. The gang collectively held their breath, expecting Dennis to bark out some obscenities in response, but it never came. The feeling of your hand on him made him turn to face you, to look at you.

"Dennis, it's okay, we'll fix this, I promise."

And he calmed. And took a deep breath.

"You know what? You're right. I can fix this." Dennis exhaled. Everyone was shocked,

"What the fuck just happened." Mac said blankly. In the whole time they had known him, Dennis had never been able to be pacified from one of these insane outbursts.

But then it became frequent, because Dennis's raging was frequent. Every time he would begin ranting and raving, you were able to calm him down. It was a voice of serene amidst the chaos. It went on for years like this, as you became part of the gang.

You were usually there hanging out with the gang when things would go wrong, and you'd be able to solve it and calm him down. But today, that wasn't the case. Today, Dennis was on a date.

Dennis was in the process of getting this woman to sleep with him, his stock procedure. But the date had been falling apart. It first started with his suit getting ruined. After dressing himself up in a nice blazer and shirt outfit, it was massacred by spaghetti after Mac spilt it on top of Dennis. Mac was haphazardly carrying it through their shared kitchen and failed to notice him.

"Christ Mac, what the hell are you doing!"

But that was okay. He could manage. He would just have to change. And although this did delay him, he could still D.E.N.N.I.S this girl. He could just say he was late because he was helping some old lady cross the street or looking after a stray kitten.

After successfully making it out of the door, he began to drive to the date. A cute restaurant not too far from his apartment, a picturesque rendezvous. But this was stalled even further by the lack of parking spaces available. Dennis groaned at threw his head back against the car headrest. After circling the block for what felt like the 100th time, Dennis decided to just park further away and book it to the restaurant. He settled for a tucked away corner of the city. Sure, it was far, but hey, at least it was a space.

Finally, after running to the entrance of the restaurant, he saw his date waiting, arms folded.

"Dennis! There you are! What took you so long?Are you.. okay? You look at a little out of sorts." Cadence spoke.

"Sorry. Sorry. Some old hags cat was- was trying to cross the road. I had to run from the other side of town." Dennis panted. He didn't expect the journey to have made him so debilitated. 'Not a perfect excuse, either. I might have messed up the wording..' he thought.

Dennis and his date, Cadence finally entered the restaurant. Dennis regained most of his breath and approached the host.

"Reynolds, table for two." He told the host.

The host scanned their notebook with a pen and searching eyes.

"Sorry, sir, I don't see anything for Reynolds here. Are you sure you booked for this restaurant?" The host replied. They lacked any kind of care for the situation, replying in a detached tone. Most likely years of working customer service had drained them.

"Am I sure I booked for- do you think I'm some kind of bumbling buffoon? Of course I fucking did!" Dennis snarled. Seemingly the frustrations from the evening were overflowing and spilling out.

"What do you take me for some kind of idiot!?" Dennis continued to bawl.

At this point, his date was getting embarrassed of his uncontrolled emotions. Cadence leaned in and touched his forearm. And maybe if it wasn't Dennis Reynolds she had performed this action on, it could have worked and soothed him.

"Dennis its okay, we can go eat somewhere else if you want?"

Immediately Dennis shook her grip off him.

"If I want? Why would I want to eat somewhere else when I made a fucking reservation here. What I want is to eat here!" He snapped, tapping his finger on the hosts notebook.

"Dennis, it's okay. We will do whatever you want." Cadence tried again.

"What I want? What I want is... well, what would you know about fixing shit! You're just..! Well, you're not.. not." Oh. And that's when it hit him.

What Dennis wanted now was not a reservation at this pseudo-rich restaurant. And he knew he certainly didn't want Cadence to try and comfort him. Her words didn't seem to hold any mindfulness or meaning... but yours did. She wasn't you. What he wanted was you. That's all he ever wanted. Everything else he had been doing for was a pathetic search to fill the void. The women he was trying to do, D.E.N.N.I.S, the dates he'd go on, the sex he would have, it all meant nothing.

All he wanted was you. A pure undivided love and something he had never felt before. Dennis had an unprofound realisation that he liked someone. Something most come to grips with in adolescents. But for him, that realisation was something he had never had. It made his heart ache and burn. He needed to act. He needed to call you and spill his heart out. Because no one was like you, and that's all he could think about as he turned on his heel and left the restaurant.

[dalekofchaos]

RE1 is getting remade for the 30th Anniversary and here's why I support it and what I'd love to see in the RE1RR.

Updated with the next gen graphics in the RE Engine

The plan is obviously to remake RE5, but we need to do Wesker's OTHER big appearances first. I believe we should get the following released in the specific order. 1, 0, then Code Veronica and finally RE5. Cause if you tease RE5 and have Wesker, you should have the three games that featured Wesker before his death in RE5.

The atmosphere and tension of the Spencer Mansion in the new age and basically RE1 meets Village. The visual aesthetic of Village’s Castle Dimitrescu for Spencer Mansion.

Better characterization. Flesh out all the characters. Improve the plot/story.

Chris and Jill’s campaigns to be separate and different, so by the time they meet at the end they’ve both had their own adventure, and you need to play through both to see both sides. Perhaps give Chris the mines and Jill the guard house. Expand the mansion, and when they separate at the start they pick up different keys and access different areas. That way they story would be canon regardless of what happens, and there would be some variety. Also have Rebecca and Richard as playable paths, similar to Sherry and Ada in RE2R.

A playable Wesker mode with him having to move about the mansion and into the lab under a certain amount of time.

Also would like them to keep the REmake music (especially the save room theme), though they could always release a Deluxe Edition like 2R with the OG music too?

Additions. I would be happy with an entire new floor in the Spencer Mansion. Or making the Residence 3x as long. Adding a forest section, either during the opening and/or later in the game. Extended playable sequences for Rebecca and Barry – different locations for each, like how the Orphanage was entirely new for Sherry in 2R. An abandoned greenhouse near the guardhouse with Plant-42 and similar experimentation , an extended cemetery with more tombs, a third floor in Spencer Mansion, more floors in guardhouse, etc.

Making S.T.A.R.S. matter. The game begins at the R.P.D. After picking between Chris and Jill, you make your way from the garage and up into the department proper, crossing paths with various characters referencing the recent cannibal killings and the fact that Alpha and Bravo have been assigned. The walk through the RPD could be intercut with news reports and police banter about what’s been happening. You can interact with the various characters as much or as little as you want en route to the briefing room. Chris and Forrest can talk some trash and reference their apparent contest for top shot. Enrico can be seen helping Rebecca organize her equipment and her nerve. Joseph can be given more personality than being puppy kibble. Marvin can be caught informing Rebecca that she won’t be the rookie in a couple more months. Chief Irons can greet the player with the mask of a competent professional because his mind was still intact. Hell, perhaps we can even catch a glimpse of whatever act Wesker put on for the two years that made these people trust him. Wesker and Enrico would then host the briefing that will send them into mountains, still treating this like they think the suspects are hill people or whatever, culminating in Bravo Team taking point while Alpha Team remains behind. There could be some more small talk or some kinda time lapse before Richard makes contact in a panic before communications break down. Alpha Team immediately preps and heads out, complete with changing clothes in the locker room and gearing up. The player will actually play the search through the woods, discover the crashed helicopter, and play through the mad chase to the mansion where the game as we know it begins.

Throw the players off by changing the keys and rooms

Zombies, Crimson Heads and every other BOW in the first game

Defense weapons and head stomping

Lisa Trevor(she could work like as a stalker enemy)

Same notes, but add in some new ones

All the puzzles, but mix it up

Just give us “One more second and you were ALMOST A JILL SANWICH” let Barry be the cheesy bastard that we know him to be

Stick with the REVIll face model for Chris, but younger and less steroids. Like how many faces can he wear?????

Stick with the RE3R face model for Jill, but don’t let it look like she just got out of being dipped in the sewer

Include Zero as DLC. My pitch of a RE0R. But the main requirement for RE1 is for Rebecca to NOT be cowering in the corner. Rebecca CANNOT be in the corner cowering from a Hunter when she is more than capable. A simple scream of surprise, but when we reach Rebecca, we see that she's perfectly fine

Bonus costumes For Chris:Made In Heaven outfit, BSAA outfit, CVX STARS outfit For Jill:RE3 original and Remake, BSAA, RE:Resistance, and RE5 Battle Suit.

And finally getting what we never got in the original or the 2002 remake. The ending that has Chris, Jill, Rebecca and Barry in the chopper. So my big idea to make this happen is this. If we play as Jill, Chris makes it to the mansion with us. Jill and Barry go and investigate, while Chris and Wesker are outside. They vanish. Richard will mention that Rebecca Chambers left the mansion after hearing Brad’s radio and went to get help. We will later see Rebecca in the cell with Chris in Jill’s story. For Chris’ story, Barry makes it to the Mansion. Chris investigates the gunshot while Wesker will say they will split up and investigate the Mansion and everyone vanishes. Later in the game before we get to the lab, there would be a dropped Barry’s photograph. Later when we get to the cell, Barry will be in the cell with Jill. Barry apologizes to Chris for what he’s done and Chris understands why he did what he did and he can help make things right. Ultimately in both playthroughs, all 4 S.T.A.R.S. members work together to fight the Tyrant until ultimately Chris or Jill destroys the Tyrant with the rocket launcher. It ends with all 4 members escaping in the chopper as the Mansion explodes.

[thatonelesbianfander]

Rating Every Single Remus Sanders Look

I'm bored, and I’m also at almost 300 posts, and for my 300th post, I wanted to make a big Remus Sanders related post, so here's me rating every single Remus Sanders look that's ever appeared in the series and outside the series since 2025

Little criteria for my rating, a Remus Sanders look is an outfit that Remus Sanders has worn that significantly changes the way he looks to a point where his outfit is different but he's still recognizable. This means that his editorial look and the green character from Trying Too Hard will be excluded from this rating as even though they're inspired by him, they're technically not him. I am also excluding the following looks because even though they do change his character, they don't change it too much to be considered actual looks, those include: naked Remus from ATHD, eyepatch Remus and dunce cap Remus from WTIT, and jester hat Remus from Incorrect Quotes Vol 2.

Also, disclaimer, this is all my opinion, feel free to disagree, also these ratings are going to be extremely biased because I love all Remus Sanders, they are all very nice, I just like some a little more than others

Ratings under cut

Regular Remus: 10/10- I love Remus's usual outfit. I love the fake eye on the one shoulder, I love the fake teeth on the little fabric strips, I love all the frilly designs, it's all great. Not much more to say.

Adam and Eve Remus: 7/10- Pretty funny. I love how Adam Remus has fake abs instead of him being actually shirtless, that's a hilarious way to get around YouTube demonetization.

Remus with Thomas's robe: 6/10- Is probably the most basic look since it's just Remus in Thomas's robe but it's not too bad. Please excuse the ass screenshot though, I'm too lazy to take another one

Wes Anderson Remus: 9/10- I love Remus in a suit. Suit outfits always look good. I also love how Remus isn't able to wear a bowtie correctly in this outfit and that just carries over into the Fearmus outfit

Fearmus: 10/10- The Fearmus outfit is probably my favorite of the video alternate outfits. I love the sweater and button up combination. Not a combo I thought Remus would wear, but it works really well for him

Oogy Boogy Remus: 7/10- Is kind of basic since it is just Remus's usual outfit with the addition of a Spirit Halloween apron and a burlap sack hood, but the makeup does go extremely hard.

Christmas sweater Remus: 8/10- The Remus christmas sweater is one of my favorite pieces of merch ever, and he wears it extremely well. I do like it a little better when he has the hat and scarf on too, but it also looks nice when he doesn't have them in What Makes the Perfect Gift?

Skirt look Remus: 10/10- This look goes so extremely hard. Probably my favorite photoshoot look. I love everything about this outfit. He absolutely slayed the skirt look

Pride Remus: 9/10- This is also a very cool look. I love the pants with the eyeballs on them, that is a very in character thing for him to wear.

Halloween Remus: 8/10- It is a little basic since the outfit mainly consists of a t-shirt and shorts, but the makeup is really good and the simplicity of the outfit is kinda nice. Also, this man is a monsterfucker, so his Halloween costume just being him with a bunch of scars and lipstick, insinuating that he fucked a monster is so funny

Pole dancer Remus: 8/10- It is a little basic since it is just a tanktop and shorts, but it still looks really nice. The short hair Thomas had at the time really works with this outfit. Also, I really like Remus with fingerless gloves, he should get fingerless gloves in more of his outfits

Little side note, but it was really difficult to find pictures of this outfit for some reason??? I could not for the life of me find the pictures on Google search or Thomas's Instagram even though I knew he had posted the pictures on his Instagram, and had to resort to finding photos of the outfit in an old Discord server that me and some online friends had made in 2020. I have no idea why it was so difficult to find

Remus with a cape: 10/10- I know this technically doesn't fit my criteria of the outfit having a significant change, but this look did get a whole photoshoot, so I kind of have to add it in. I kinda wish they had kept Remus's cape in his original outfit. Like, I know they probably couldn't since it would probably create too much hassle while filming, but it would have looked so good

And a little bonus because I wasn't sure if this one technically fit my criteria or not: Gavin Remus: 10/10- Perfection