#excellent writeup

[old-people-like-avatar]

Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender S1 - Overall Thoughts [SPOILERS]

I am a longtime fan of Avatar the Last Airbender. I did not watch it in its original 2005 run, but I discovered it in around 2010 after my good friend R.S. recommended it to me. It's been my #1 favorite TV show ever since and I have rewatched it more times than I can count. I was cautiously optimistic about NATLA.

Now, having watched the whole first season of NATLA, and looking at the season as a whole, I think the best word to describe it is uneven. I can't say that I loved it, and I can't say that I hated it. But there were things I really liked about it and things that really did not work for me. Overall, I enjoyed watching it -- if only to dissect what did and did not work about the adaptation -- and would want to watch more.

WHAT WORKED

Everything to do with Zuko and Iroh. I found myself going back through just to rewatch all of the Zuko and Iroh-related scenes. I thought Dallas Liu really nailed Zuko -- from tantrums about his journal being stolen to incredible action sequences to the boyish vulnerability of worrying about the laces on his gauntlets. He took an iconic character and made him his own. NATLA added some incredible scenes and lines to my favorite duo: Lu Ten's funeral (coupled with orchestral version of "Leaves from the Vine"); Zuko's first war council; Iroh choosing to go with Zuko on the boat; the 41st Division; Iroh putting a blanket on Zuko. And I liked that NATLA emphasized that Iroh needed Zuko in the wake of Lu Ten's death as much as Zuko needed Iroh after his mother left.

Daniel Dae Kim's interpretation of Ozai. Ozai in ATLA is kind of one-dimensional. Daniel Dae Kim's Ozai adds a deeper layer to him in that he genuinely seems to think he's doing legitimate parenting -- even going so far as to visit Zuko after burning his face and remarking, glibly, that he'll recover ("but he'll never heal," says Iroh). It adds an even more monstrous angle to his cruelty because Kim's Ozai seems to think he's doing it for his children's own good. This post perfectly encapsulates my feelings about why I thought the agni kai between Ozai and Zuko was an excellent addition to NATLA.

Zuko/Aang. These two bonding over goat hair brushes was the scene I never knew I needed. The way Aang managed to wrest a little smile out of Zuko in that scene before Zuko blew up at him for criticizing the Fire Lord? And the way that tied into the "Compassion is a sign of weakness" scene from the agni kai? Great character work.

WHAT DID NOT WORK

Dialogue. I already observed at length my dissatisfaction with the clunky, exposition-dumping dialogue in my episode-by-episode writeups. It certainly wasn't as bad as the Movie-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but . . . there was no art or subtlety to it, and no trust in the audience. A disappointment.

The GAang did not feel like family. The lack of breathing room in the 8-episode season meant that all of the "filler" episodes that fleshed out the relationships between Aang, Katara, and Sokka were sacrificed. I am not saying NATLA needed to recapture each of the filler episodes. But they needed to build the foundational bonds between the main trio with showing not telling and they really didn't. They separated them for big chunks of 2 episodes. And, really, they just felt like traveling companions. That took all of the emotional heft out of, well, everything related to Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I mean, frankly, the kid actors did a better job establishing the "family" dynamic just by being themselves in their press interviews than the show did with the characters.

Aang did not run away from responsibility. I am not one of those people that's just mad that the show wasn't exactly like the cartoon. No. What I mean is, even putting aside the cartoon, even if you just look at NATLA itself: their own themes were undercut by never showing Aang actually running away from responsibility. Each avatar seemed to be berating Aang for doing something he was never actually shown to be doing.

Katara. I really don't think this one is on the actress. Katara felt like a fundamentally different character from ATLA's Katara. It's not to say an adaption is not allowed to have their own interpretation of a character, but... I just did not understand NATLA Katara. There was no passion, no rage, no overbearing nurturing. She was... I don't know what she was. Traumatized, yes, but nothing grew out of that trauma? Meek, until the plot demanded that she suddenly become a waterbending master without any guidance other than a waterbending scroll? The "younger sister"? More than any of the main characters, I'm not sure what NATLA was trying to say about Katara at all. And, as a result, I'm afraid the word to describe it might be uninteresting. And given that she is the heart and soul of Team Avatar, this one was really tough.

Despite the fact that a lot of NATLA did not work for me, I still enjoyed it because the things that did work for me, well, really worked. So. I'm here for all of the Zuko/Iroh scenes!

[sexhaver]

people on here will reblog a post after reading half of it and never finish it afterwards, even if the second half of the post completely contradicts the first half. which would be bad enough, but then theyll add tags agreeing with the first half! this isn't even a joke! sorry to keep harping on the 4B feminism post but after i reblogged the version with @ruisa-faa 's excellent writeup/takedown/explanation of how it's explicitly transmisogynistic, i STILL had someone reblog it from me with tags along the lines of "#you go girls! #to read later". we are not making it out of [gesticulates vaguely in all directions] this, i fear

[chaifootsteps]

one thing that's bugged me for a long time is that Stolas' go-to answer for why he never left Stella earlier is that he wanted Octavia to have a 'normal life', which like, what?

they're in Hell. why is a nuclear family so important in Hell?? Not to mention Stolas has literal servants who can attend to Via's every need, he's hardly going to struggle by himself to raise her. And going by the show's logic that Stolas is a good father (he's not, but let's pretend the show is right that he is), wouldn't it be better with just the two of them? The show is desperate not to show what Via's relationship with Stella is actually like, so it comes off like they never had one at all; she'd be missing her mother in her life but on some level she already was. (not to mention all the fanfics where Blitzo and Stolas become co-parents; she'd have far more love and affection from Blitzo than she could ever want)

Stella went from distant from Stolas while also being a rich, classist jerk -> a full blown abusive monster

why would Stolas want Via anywhere near her? the show wants to have it both ways - Stolas is such a martyr he suffered Stella's abuse for her sake, but that would suggest Stella knows how to behave herself around Via. but the show won't ever show any of that because it would make her less of a 2D Saturday morning cartoon villain. so which is it? is Stolas deluding himself that he was trying to do right by Via while actually not, because he should be trying to protect her by getting her away from Stella? or does Via actually get something out of her relationship with her mother? not to mention that Via circa s1 said they didn't use to fight all the time - is she catatonically unaware of Stella snapping at Stolas or was Stella actually putting in enough effort that her own child didn't know they disliked one another til the cheating happened??

like, kids aren't dumb. Via should have noticed her parents had issues long before now with how the show in s2 is written. they had a 'still not divorced party' in her house and announced it in the newspaper. Stolas would have been doing everyone a favor if they just divorced sooner!

honestly I'd love the twist other users have mentioned where it turns out s2 is all Stolas' perspective and then when we get to see Via's & it explains how she's so willing to throw her relationship with her father away just because he takes antidepressants and is in love with Blitzo - and it turns out it's more than that! because she recognizes his neglect and she actually does have a functional relationship with Stella, it just never existed til now because Stolas wouldn't allow anything onscreen in s2 that contradicts his own narrative of Stella: Monster Since Birth Who Exists to Torment Me

Extremely good point, and excellent writeup. It doesn't make sense, and Vivzie's continually failing to make it make sense. By the time all's said and done, it will probably make less sense than ever.

[reconstructionlegacy]

[ID: A drawing of Harkun's office, flanked by Zash on the left and (Braigwen's version of) Vowrawn to the right. At the top is the Roman number for '1,' and below the desk is the chapter name in golden Aurebesh. End ID]

chapter art for chapter one of your last serving daughter ("an excellent devil, who comes highly recommended"), @sith-shenanigans's writeup of an AU we've spent a year tossing around!

[qsmpmiraheze]

An excerpt from an excellent writeup on Aypierre's character!

Would you like to write something like this for your favorite #QSMP character? Check out https://qsmpwiki.miraheze.org/wiki/Contributing_101!

[theresattrpgforthat]

I have ADHD and memory issues, but the _Patchwork World_ writeup seems to focus on learning the rules and chargen, which are the aspects I have the least trouble with (I can do them asynchronously, alone and between sessions) -- my main issue is with maintaining attention over the duration of a play session. Are there games designed to be played in short bursts -- maybe sessions of 10-30 minutes?

THEME: Quick / ADHD friendly games.

Hello friend! So I’m going to break down this ask a little bit to hopefully make it more helpful. I’m going to include games that can be played in short bursts, but I’m also going to highlight some games that might help in other ways.

I’m also going to include some advice I’ve picked up about gaming from ADHD - tips that I got specifically from creators who have ADHD themselves. I recognize that it works differently for everyone, so your mileage may vary, but hopefully one or two of these tips will be useful!

Disclaimer: I do not have ADHD myself. I am forwarding advice from other creators. The two creators that I took tips from are the following:

10 Tips to Make Your Tabletop RPG More ADHD Friendly, by How to ADHD.

DnD and ADHD, by Azrai.

Both of these videos are focused on D&D, but there is advice that is translatable across games.

One of the biggest helps to understanding the obstacles to gaming with ADHD is the re-contextualization of how an ADHD-brain works. As far as I understand, ADHD brains have an easier time focusing on something if it’s engaging. If it isn’t engaging, or if your brain can’t sort through the information to understand what’s going on, it just kind of… shuts off. So the biggest thing is to think about what makes playing games interesting.

Short Sessions and One-Shots.

I can definitely understand the effectiveness of short sessions and one-shots. You don’t have to retain information from a previous session, and short games are usually rules-lite so you don’t have to keep a lot of information in your working memory.

Oh No It’s Gay, by blake stone.

a quick, single-session dice-stacking RPG about flirting, falling in love, and being super queer. rules for both two-player and multiplayer games are included.

I’m recommending this game because of the dice-stacking mechanic that I think might be engaging. The game itself is pretty simple, and I don’t see a session lasting longer than a few minutes. This game seems to work best with two-to-three players, and the dice-stacking requires you to pay attention when it comes to making sure the dice stack stays up. At the same time, you don’t have to hold much information in your head, and most of your actions are determined based on how you’re feeling. If you’re feeling flirty, then you’ll probably be stacking lots of dice!

Subway Runners, by Gem Room Games.

Life is tough for the cash-strapped in Prociopolis. Ever since the secret to immortality was discovered, nobody retires anymore! With all the steady jobs taken and no sign of any new ones opening up, there’s only one sure way to make some quick cash: sign up as a Subway Runner and work for the Metro Authority to hunt monsters and repair subway lines below the city.

The minds behind Gem Room Games prioritize making games that can be run quickly, and Subway Runners is an excellent example of that. Characters are randomly generated, so you can cycle through the generator until you find one that you like. Then you can download the character sheet and print it off if that works easier for you! You roll a number of d6’s whenever you attempt to do something, with 1-3 being bad, 4/5 being a partial success, and a 6 (or more) being a full success. The staggered success is similar to the way Patchwork World works, but instead of trying to keep track of moves, you just need to find which skill of yours makes the most sense to use.

Subway Runners is a great game for one-shot play! If you hold sessions for longer than 30 minutes I would recommend having a break partway through and doing a re-cap when you come back from the break, to make sure everyone is on the same page and is able to focus on what is about to happen next. If you hold sessions for 30 minutes at a time then I can see the game as functioning as essentially a min-campaign, in which case a quick re-cap before each session is absolutely fundamental.

Finally, if you’re going to be playing shorter sessions, it might be more logical to play online so as to reduce transport costs and the amount of time you need to set aside for a game, and Subway Runners is designed to be run online!

Firebrands: Mobile Frame Zero, by Meguey & Vincent Baker.

Humanity has spread through the Milky way, using interstellar transit gate technology to colonize the galaxy. Mobile frames are the hard-working, hard-fighting combat- and labor mecha they’ve brought with them. You are romantic ace mobile frame pilots, caught up in an undeclared war for the future of the Bantral system.

I don’t know anything about how Firebrands-style games play, but I do know that they are effectively built to be a series of mini-games. You might be able to play one mini-game per session, in order to keep each session short. The biggest downside might be that each mini-game uses a different set of rules, but if you’re only doing one mini-game at a time, that might not be an issue for your group.

The Score, by Tin Star Games.

THE SCORE is an all-new kind of collaborative story game that lets you create the world's greatest heist movie with just 18 cards in under 18 minutes of game time. It's a revolutionary take on shared storytelling that needs no GM, no complex rules, no hefty rulebooks and gives you all the idea prompts you need to be the mastermind.

This game is still in funding but it's meant to be played in 18 minutes, which is probably the shortest tabletop roleplaying game on this list. You can check out the link above to find reviews, playthroughs, and a short guide on how to play!

Visual References and Tactile Player Pieces.

A game that has a visual reference can be stimulating and can help someone keep focus over an extended period of time. This visual reference might just be pictures that you share online to help you visualize what’s going on, or it might be something that is can be seen and interacted with in front of you, to help keep you engaged and interested. This is probably a mandatory thing in games that are long, with a lot of rules.

Lancer, by Massif Press.

Lancer imagines a future where a survivor humanity has spread to the stars after weathering terrible ecological collapse on Earth - the end of the Anthropocene as a consequence of unrestrained consumption and poor stewardship. Thousands of years later, humanity lives in the wake of a desperate revolution, one where the victorious radicals now manage the galaxy they've won.  

Lancer is a mech game, set in the far future, and it has a lot of moving pieces, but it also has an immeasurable wealth of player aids. The creators (and fans) of the game have provided the Comp-Con App, which acts as a Compendium, a Character Creation Tool, and a Character Keeper all in one. The App helps you track damage, plan out your mech build, and mark off deployables as you engage in combat.

I play Lancer in person with a small play group, and we use a hex-map and chess pieces to keep track of what’s going on in combat. This gives us pieces to pick up and move, and it also gives us a visual reference to track where we are and what we want to do next. While our game has chunks of narrative play to provide plot points, the bulk of our game sessions involve combat, and the nice thing about that is that you only really need to know what your objective is, and therefore you can focus on moving across the map and wiping out your enemies. If you want to make combat shorter, you can stop partway through or break it up into smaller skirmishes with a few enemies at a time.

I’m the GM for the game, but I personally cannot keep all of the rules straight in my head - luckily I have a player or two who love rules and will happily remind me how inflicting Burn works, whether I can shoot things in soft cover, and what exactly a Veil Rifle does.

Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast, by Possum Creek Games.

Welcome to Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast, a slice-of-life tabletop RPG about a heartless witch, a peaceful house, and all the folks who have made their home inside. 

Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast is a very special game. It uses pre-set characters, quick-play chapters, and an adaptable ruleset unlike anything else out there. It takes less than a half hour to learn how to play and get started, but with new chapters and secrets to unlock folks can stick with the game for years and years.

Jay Dragon, the Project Manager for Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast, places accessibility at the forefront of all of Possum Creek’s games. Each chapter of this game has slightly different rules, but you use the same characters for each one. Many of the games use tokens, which will be earned, spent, and placed on tracks to make things happen in the story. Each session looks as if it is meant to last 40-60 minutes, which is a bit longer than you might be looking for but is certainly shorter than a typical D&D session.

Because of the token usage in this game, I can see this game having a big tactile element. The character art is also colourful and engaging, and provides you with a really strong visual reference that can help you identify with whichever character you decide to play. Yazeba’s B&B chapters also mean that not every character has to be present for each game.

If you want to check out this game, there is an Ashcan Version on Itch.io, and if you want an Online play option, you can check out Yazeba’s Online by One More Multiverse! The Online game has a whole map of Yazeba’s that you can actually move your character through, and I think that really improves how easy it is to keep engaged with the game.

Light Rules and Communal Player Resources.

If there are not a lot of rules or math that has to be done, you don’t have to spend time thinking about how you do something and you can spend more time focusing on what you want to do. Communal player resources can also be a big boon because if the entire party has the ability to see what’s available, it’s not up to just one person to remember what kinds of tools you have at hand. I personally love online player-kits that are visible to everyone, because you’ll never lose your character sheet, and you fellow players can help you find the pieces of information that you need to figure out what it is you want your character to do next.

Camp Flying Moose for Girls of All Kinds, by Alicia Furness.

Camp Flying Moose for Girls of All Kinds is a PbtA game about teen girls at a summer camp filled with strange supernatural occurrences. Inspired by Lumberjanes, and my own experiences of summer camp, the game investigates mysteries, monsters, and teenage identity. 

You mentioned Patchwork World as a game that you felt worked for you. Patchwork World stands out to me as a PbtA game that lets you customize your character, but only really requires you to remember the moves that you specifically have to make. Camp Flying Moose is also a PbtA game and also lets you create a character by putting pieces together. You will choose a two special moves that define your character, assign numbers to five stats as you like, and answer two characters about your experience at camp.

I’ve also created a communal character keeper that you can use to track all of your character information as a group! You can check it out here.

Visigoths vs Mall Goths, by Lucian Kahn.

Visigoths vs. Mall Goths is a tabletop roleplaying game and dating sim about the conflicts and romances among the warriors who sacked ancient Rome and 20th century spooky teens, set in a suburban Los Angeles shopping mall during 1996. There are a lot of bisexuals.

I talk about this game a lot, and that’s because it’s good. The player aids are easy to understand and follow along. There is a map of the mall to help your characters figure out where they want to go next. There is a day tracker that the GM will move along as you play, which ensures that you finish the session within a reasonable time. And there are things that you as a character can do even when the spotlight isn’t on you to help keep you engaged even when it isn’t your turn - characters can embarrass themselves in order to give a bonus to a friend while they roll.

I also find that this is a game that encourages competition, so if you like games where the goal is to (humorously) one-up other characters, you might find this game to be up your alley! This game is also PbtA, often hailed as a hall-mark for being rules light.

I also made a character play-kit for this game, which you can find here! There’s also an Online Supplement made by Chloe Sutherland that makes it easier to play this game online.

Finally...

I recognize that a number of games on here don’t look like they run in very short sessions as designed. For a lot of games, I think having a game table that is on board can be the biggest help. You want a game group that understands your need for re-caps and short sessions, and is willing to work with you. Perhaps meeting online makes it easier to schedule a short game, or maybe taking a 5-minute break halfway through an hour-long game gives you a chance to get your focus back. I’d also recommend talking to your GM about what you find interesting in play. If you’re into romance and all the group is doing is fighting monsters, I can see it being very easy to lose focus.

Some final tips:

Keep the table small if possible (only 2 or 3 players), so there is a shorter wait time between each turn.

Our table lets people do things when it’s not their turn, such as get up to stretch their legs, munch on snacks, and doodle. Keeping our hands busy and letting our blood flow gives some of us the re-set we need to keep focused.

Ask your GM to give you one piece of information or one obstacle at a time. Then you don’t have to try and remember all of the things happening around you at once.

[the-ampersand]

Since I am still chewing on the DIE Stapling post, I am going to do another about effort mechanics in ttrpgs because I am trying to write that Blasphemous inspired Trophy Gold hack (placeholder name: Penance). And one of the coolest mechanics for Trophy is its Risk Roll, which is basically an effort mechanic.

"But, Ampersand, what is an effort mechanic?" I hear you ask, dear mutual I am making up in my head. An effort mechanic allows you to reroll an action you have already attempted but failed or to get a bonus to a roll at the expense of some resource. Usually, that resource being the character's health. But it can also be something else like clues in an investigative game or even a narrative consequence (but that's usually called a Devil's Bargain).

The important part is that it gives a benefit but requires a sacrifice. And that's when the whole fanfare of psychoeconomics start. Because you need the sacrifice to be big enough to give the player pause and not use it every roll. And also you need the benefit to be significant enough to make it worth the risk and the expense. If properly adjusted, an effort mechanic can become a slow but sure spiral into the characters downfall.

Let's look at some examples!

Numenera is the first system I learn that had such a mechanic (but certainly was not the first ever). It is pretty straightforward in its implementation, too. You spend a fixed amount of the appropriate life pool and you get to reduce the difficulty of a task. Easy enough. But Numenera, being a tradgame as it is, the power creep upends any weight of the sacrifice. Once you level up enough, your pools become deep enough as to make effort something to just add to whichever skill roll you thought it needed a bit more oomph. This is not something wrong per se, but it can easily make your characters overly competent!

On the other hand, there's Dungeon Crawl Classics. DCC is a peculiar OSR game in that it is a really spiced up retroclone, wriggling DnD B/X ruleset to a point where it is almost unrecognizable. I am sure there are plenty effort mechanics peppered in the text, but I want to point out its magic system because I absolutely adore it. To be a wizard in DCC requires active dedication. That is because almost every spell has a writeup of about an A4's length, filled with the various effects a spell may have once the dice is rolled. And the effect can be wildly different from a roll of 5-10 to a roll of as high as 30 or more. There are many ways in which you can tweak your narrative positioning to get bonuses to a spell roll (components, helpers, magic foci, whatever), but when the die is cast and the result is just not good enough you still have a last chance: to sacrifice your own atribute values to get one last push that might be the difference between a proper spell and a fiasco. This is the main cause of withering of elder wizards: they have sacrificed too much in order to achieve the power they sought.

And then, there's Trophy. Both Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold have excellent effort mechanics baked directly into their ADN thanks to the masterful procedure that is the Risk Roll. These are games in which you are tempted first and consumed later by an evil forest. You have a really small ruin pool and once it is filled, you are lost to injury or its dark influence. You are also a destitute adventurer that needs to get any gold or face almost certain death. So you need to get shit done, you need to amass enough successes as to bring bread home and you need to survive the process (or try to, at least). And that's when the Risk Roll comes and lures your with the most satisfying effort mechanic I've ever seen. You can always make a reroll, adding an extra die to your pool to boot. But if those extra dice, dark dice, ever become the highest ones, you automatically mark ruin. You get your success, yes. But you become closer to losing yourself. It exactly hits the spot between actually worth it and inescapably dooming the character.

Obviously not all games need to be about losing oneself to fate or circumstance, but I feel an effort mechanic very much pushes the narrative in that direction. You are sacrificing yourself, in order to achieve your goals.

And I think that's a quite powerful narrative device.

[cressida-jayoungr]

One Dress a Day Challenge

June: Weddings

The Duchess / Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and Ralph Fiennes as William, Duke of Devonshire

The wedding of William and Georgiana Cavendish took place on June 7, 1774, so this seems an appropriate costume for today. (Don't let the nice picture fool you, though--the movie's all about how terrible their marriage was.) Costumes for this movie are by Michael O'Connor.

Georgiana wears an ornate and beautifully decorated gown in gold or ecru, which apparently was closely modeled on a historical original. There's an excellent, detailed writeup of it at Frockflicks.com (from where I also borrowed some of these pictures). The most amazing detail about it, for me, is that she had to be sewed into the dress and then cut out of it! No wonder ladies of that time needed multiple servants to help them dress for important events.

William also looks dashing and dignified in a gold waistcoat that harmonized with Georgiana's dress, under a jacket of deep red or rusty brown--the color seems to be right on the borderline. His knee breeches and hair ribbon match the jacket, and it amuses me no end to realize that once upon a time, men had to worry about their hair ribbons coordinating with their outfits.

[bookshelfdreams]

“#can someone update me on recent happenings work is killing me rn & I can’t keep up :(” (https://www.tumblr.com/bookshelfdreams/739898589790208000?source=share) okay. SO.billboard: I think the big renewal donation campaign is to buy a billboard in LA or NY or something advertising for renewal, but that’s the least wild news of the last few days

insider trading: apparently zaslav sold a bunch of HBO/Max shares right before the cancellation announcement, which seems suss, as if he’d knew their value would tank after the news (it did drop by like 4 or 7% or something), but I don’t know enough about shares to judge how shady it actually is

GLAAD: OFMD got nominated for an Outstanding Comedy Series GLAAD award (queer rep awards), and the HBO/Max socials have been silent about itlube: Astroglide Lube’s twitter posted "Feeling like I need to go watch Our Flag Means Death?“ (https://x.com/ASTROGLIDE/status/1747321003397800155?s=20), possibly apropos of just hearing about renewal hype, possibly in relation to something, people HAVE taken to tweeting more and more random celebrities/companies to spread the petition; and whoever their social media manager is GLADLY embraced the attention, and the fandom embraced them, and there’s been silly fanart and memes, and the Astroglide twitter is planning a watchalong reaction thread, uh, possibly today

I think the "plushies” reference might be to plushy company Squishable basically doing the same thing - being tweeted at to share the petition, and embracing the attention - but I’m not certain how that one started

internet famous cat Jorts(’s social media manager) reiterated their love of the show (https://twitter.com/JortsTheCat/status/1747869887819845652)

HBO chairman/CEO Casey Bloys in a post-Emmys interview said “I need Gay Twitter to come out and support Gilded Age” (https://au.news.yahoo.com/hbo-casey-bloys-talks-emmy-112944119.html) which of course made gay twitter furious because this was right after the OFMD cancellation, and apparently Gilded Age has, like, one gay character who’s treated about as well as you’d expect, so like. wtf. read the room, mate

In another post-Emmys interview, Bloys said “the numbers weren’t there for a renewal” for OFMD (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-casey-bloys-emmys-dominance-1235790045/), which is, like. blatantly false by pretty much every metric, so rather shows their arse on just wanting to get rid of the show because it’s too inclusive or something.

OKAY I THINK THAT COVERS IT

-- @cuddlytogas

THANK YOU YOU’RE A LIFE SAVER

I knew about some of these - the billboard and “the numbers weren’t there” and the allegationg of insider trading (that’s my favourite part of this. I hope this reaches critical mass. I hope Zaslav gets prosecuted for this. I don’t even care if he’s found guilty, if he’s innocent, fine, but I want him to stand in front of a judge and explain himself. “The selling of stocks was unrelated, I personally cancelled our network’s most successful running show for different reasons.” “What reasons?” “I hate gay people.” XD)

Anyway, that’s an excellent writeup! I hope you have a spectacular weekend, again tysm!

[ninthfeather]

Some More Czerny Meta For Y’all

Okay, obviously Lingering Echoes is still eating my brain because it was just such a good story. And oh my gosh I’ve loved the Czerny appreciation going around on here. But I wanna point out something that I feel like some people might have missed.

Czerny, even before being exposed to Kreide and experiencing a false recovery, even before trying to fight the remnants of the Witch King one-on-one, was pretty sick.

Most AK fans will probably be familiar with this graph, from Lauli’s excellent Oripathy writeup on the Gamepress Arknights wiki. I’ve added Czerny to it (I estimated the placement, but his cell-originium assimilation is 11% and his blood originium crystal density is 0.25 u/L)

In terms of both blood density and assimilation, he’s in the later stages of the disease (albeit not as far along as, say, Flamebringer). 

That said, his operator file also specifies that his Oripathy has resulted in visible crystallization centered on his back and neck. Those of us paying attention are aware that in general, Oripathy is most dangerous when it’s in the bloodstream, but is also more likely to cause severe effects when it’s near the spine and the brain--for example, Lappland and Phantom. Czerny is probably aware of this, since he lives in what amounts to an Infected ghetto.

Basically, what I’m saying is that Czerny was aware that he was at high risk for severe Oripathy-related disability prior to the event, and that was probably why he was retiring. And in that state of health, he did all of the stuff he did during the event. 

In other words, Czerny is even more of a badass than the event explicitly gives him credit for being.

[strawberry-crocodile]

Slaad and Gender

Frequently, someone meeting a slaad for the first time will assume masculine gender; in our culture, most monsters are associated with masculinity and referred to as "he" as a baseline.

Further inquiry into slaad gender, however, meets with more complication than a simple male/female divide. Slaad reproduction is entirely parasitic, and does not require genetic exchange. Despite this, slaad "society" (I use the term here loosely) does show two morphs, blue and red, that dominate and are defined by separate roles in the reproduction of the species.

Some philosophers (foolishly, in my opinion) have attempted to map these morphs onto our own gender binary. By this definition, the red slaad, carrying the larger reproductive cells in their eggs, is defined as the "female", and the blue, carrying the smaller cells in their disease, is "male". Their reproduction is of course so different from the male-female paradigm as to make these definitions actively misleading, if not objectively erroneous.

That said, it does help to view the different colors of slaad as something akin to gender (as they are indeed social roles that are conflated with morphological trends and a role in reproduction), one must simply understand that it is a system of gender completely separate from our own, informed by the slaad's own reproductive system. In fact, the slaadi language does use different pronouns for each color of slaad, although it also has distinct pronouns for categories like "food", "humanoids viable for creating more slaads", and "beings of pure law".

As for how slaad identify within humanoid society, and what pronouns to use for them; few red, blue, or brown slaad have any interest in socially interacting with gendered beings, or at least, not enough to bother understanding our system of gender.

Green slaad, on the other hand, are "born" with a single humanoid form, one they typically continue to use as an identity; as such, most of them form some relationship to the gender of their previous body (informed either by the body's previous associates, or by typical morphological standards). In my experience, most green slaad do not truly "identify" with said humanoid gender; rather, they simply have much more interest in interacting with humanoid society, and thus find it useful to understand and "wear", in a sense, our gender system. I have met multiple exceptions, however, one of which identified in a way her humanoid morphology would not suggest.

Gray slaad, and the many forms derived from them, are themselves derived from green slaad. It may be tempting to continue the gender assigned by their green slaadi form, but few "advanced" slaadi bother to have any kind of consistency with their gender presentation when interacting with humanoids.

All this is to say, one can generally refer to slaads by whatever pronouns one uses as default, although it may be helpful to ease into the pronoun issue when attempting any diplomacy.

-Maria Ordova, Social Guide to the Outer Planes Volume XVII: Slaads

(this diatribe was inspired by @thecreaturecodex 's excellent interpretation of Slaads and their writeups and statblocks thereof, if you're curious about what the fuck I'm talking about or just like DnD monsters I cannot reccomend the blog enough.)

[robotnik-mun]

Robotnik Army Writeup

Boy, just when you thought it couldn’t get any geekier!

Yeah, I had this thought on my mind for a while, and finally decided to just get it over with. As it says, this is basically detailed writeup of Robotnik’s army for a Sonic setting that takes bits and pieces of everything... which basically means “SatAM/Archie With Extra Steps”. It really serves no higher purpose beyond amusement, and since I’m never going to do anything with any of this I figured I’d share.

Be forewarned this was all pretty spur of the moment and sloppy.

Anyway... on with the show. Hope ya’ll get something out of this.

Forces of the Robotnik Empire

From the time of its founding to the time of its present, the machine legions of the Robotnik Empire have terrorized and dominated the planet in the name of its founder Doctor Robotnik. The armies of Robotropolis come in a dizzying array of shapes and sizes, and it is the largest collective of military robots to have ever been assembled in all the history of Mobius. Only the drone divisions of GUN come close, and even that is paltry compared to the sheer number and variety of robotic killing machines created and deployed by the Robotnik Empire.

The armies of Robotnik are near numberless. Standard units are churned out on assembly lines by automated factories, ready to fight and kill in Robotnik’s name upon activation. No matter how many are destroyed, there will always be more in the waiting to take its place. Mindless, fearless and unquestioningly loyal, the greatest danger of Robotnik’s machines isn’t their armaments of strength- it is the fact that there is absolutely nothing that they will not do when ordered, and once they start nothing short of destruction will halt them. There is no room for empathy, pity or doubt. There is only Robotnik and his will.

Assembled here is a small dossier of the various lines that comprise Robotropolis’ war machine. Over the years the variety and scope of Robotnik’s armies have expanded and adapted to reflect the ever-changing face of war, from the conquest of the empire’s early years to the Freedom Fighter insurgencies that continue to plague it, as well as renewed aggression from the United Federation and GUN. Even as the fortunes and size of his empire waxes and wanes, one thing is certain- Robotnik’s imagination is as endless as it is depraved, and there will never be an end to the new and terrible machines he creates to blight the world he despises so thoroughly.

SWATbots

The SWATbot line is a venerable one that dates back to the Great War, when then-Warlord Julian Kintobor created the first SWATBots (then known as “Peace Bots”) to replenish the depleted ranks of the Kingdom of Acorn’s military and workforce. The first SWATbots were deployed purely in a support capacity, before eventually supplanting Mobian soldiers entirely to become the bulk of the Kingdom of Acorn’s military. These robotic soldiers would be crucial in turning the tide against the seemingly unstoppable military machine of Overland, delivering victory for the Kingdom and her allies in the Great War. That same army would then be used by Julian, now styling himself as Ivo Robotnik, to conquer the Kingdom of Acorn from within and then enable Robotnik’s first wave of conquest afterward.

The SWATBot is the workhorse of the Robotnik Empire. In all corners of the empire they can be found, in every facility and factory. The Mark-1 SWATBot model forms the backbone of Robotnik’s military, serving as the standard rank-and-file infantry. Standard SWATBots are designed as something of a jack of all trades, having moderate strength in multiple areas while not truly excelling at any of them. SWATbots are at their most dangerous when in groups, but even a lone SWATbot can be a lethal adversary, for while they represent the most standard of Robotnik’s soldiers they are still stronger and more durable than most organics and come equipped with built-in lasers and armor. There’s a reason that SWATbots were able to bring the once unstoppable armies of the Overland to its knees, and fighting SWATBots without weapons or special abilities is often a death sentence.

Since the time of its initial development the SWATbot line has expanded considerably. There now exist multiple, specialized variations of the original SWATbot chassis, and the Mark-1 model shows no signs of going anywhere anytime soon. They are a constant within the empire, and whatever challenges arise? There is no doubt there will be a new, improved SWATbot model to meet it. 

Troopers

The skull-faced Troopers were developed in the early years of the Robotnik Empire, being created specifically for the various “Pacification Campaigns” that arose after the empire had secured its grip over the former Kingdom of Acorn and Overland. With these territories now firmly in Robotnik’s iron grasp, the nascent tyrant turned his attention outward to the other nations of Mobius, seeking to expand the scope of the “Pax Robotnika”. It swiftly became apparrent to Robotnik that waging a war of conquest and expansion was going to be a different matter entirely from the relatively defensive position fought in the Great War. A pressing need for specialized first strike units arose, and thus was born the Trooper line.

Troopers are the specialized assault force of the Robotnik Empire, designed to hit hard and fast in the first wave of attacks, shattering enemy formations and fortifications with overwhelming firepower before allowing the SWATBots to swarm in and deliver the killing blow. In addition to serving as the empire’s shock troops, Troopers also see capacity as occupiers of newly conquered territories and as overseers in labor camps and prisons. While SWATBots are programmed to be emotionless and mindless soldiers, Troopers by contrast are programmed to exhibit personalities... and those personalities are uniformly that of a gleefully sadistic bully.

Whether it is out in the field of battle or patrolling the streets of a conquered city, Troopers will heap endless amounts of abuse and cruelty on anyone they can find. This is done as a form of psychological warfare in conjunction with their skull-like visages... a SWATBot will simply kill you, but a Trooper may very well shoot off a limb and then laugh about it.

Troopers are usually found in the outer territories of the Robotnik Empire, either working as enforcers in the cities where organics are permitted to live or patrolling the borders of the empire making sure nobody can escape. Ruthless taskmasters and programmed for cruelty, all who deal with the Troopers quickly learn to despise them. 

Combots

Combots are among the elite units of the Robotnik Empire, designed to be bigger, stronger and most importantly smarter than SWATBot or Trooper units. Combots, as their names would indicate, are designed as the Robotnik Empire’s own elite commandos. The Combots were developed in the later years of the Robotnik Empire, in response to the rising successes of the various Freedom Fighter groups that formed in opposition to Robotnik. The Combot chassis was derived from both the SWATbot and Trooper chassis, combining the best traits of both before being further modified to suit Robotnik’s need for elite soldiers.

Combots possess advanced “Dummy” AI that gives them considerable tactical insight and adaptability without granting them the capacity for ‘true’ free will. Designed for deep deployment in enemy territory, Combots typically operate as specialized units and usually only see mass deployment as security for the empire’s most important installations. Physically imposing and with a versatile number of built-in weapons, the Combots most dangerous tool is a built invisibility cloak that obscures them from view. While their heavy metallic frames don’t do much for their stealth, being able to turn invisible still grants them a tremendous, deadly advantage, especially when their tactical AI gives them the insight to compensate for said heavy metal frames.

The Combot stealth cloak is an upgraded version of the stealth cloaks used by the Newtralizer Badnik models, which was first utilized in a prototype stealth assault robot deployed in the Jungle Zone. While the prototype was destroyed by Sonic and Tails, its performance was deemed acceptable enough that it would go on to be utilized for the future Combot line.

The Combots do possess one notable flaw- while they are not truly sentient, they none the less have developed superior view of themselves compared to ‘inferior, outdated’ SWATbot and Trooper units. This arrogance often leads Combots to treat other units as being more disposable, and while dissention in the ranks is impossible, it does lead to unacceptable losses and wastefulness.

P.A.W.N.s

The P.A.W.N. (Power Assault Warfare and Nullification) line was created to serve as Robotnik’s super-heavy units, comparable to bipedal tanks. These towering monstrosities are among the toughest and most dangerous machines to be fielded within the Robotnik Empire’s armies. PAWNS are subdivided into three specialized models- the Gun Pawn, the Shield Pawn, and the Bomb Pawn, with a fourth model known as the Guardian Pawn being an upgrade of the Gun Pawn. Where PAWNS go the earth shakes, quite literally.

Gun Pawns are the most commonly encountered pawns, serving as mobile heavy artillery units. They are armed with a staggering three heavy plasma cannons in addition to missile launchers. Very few things can stand up to them or their weapons, and they attack with overwhelming force until nothing is left standing.

Shield Pawns by contrast exist as living barriers, absorbing heavy fire against their reinforced frames before getting close and demolishing targets with their heavy fists. Few sights are more terrifying than that of a Shield Pawn lumbering forward impassively, refusing to fall even under sustained heavy fire. Disturbingly, they are the most likely to be encountered within Robotropolis itself, often camouflaged as literal walls within the city.

Finally, there are the Bomb Pawns. Bomb Pawns are anti-fortification specialists, enormous grenade launchers on legs designed to waltz across the battlefield, blowing apart armored vehicles and heavy fortifications alike. Even worse they contain a high powered thermal explosive payload in their bodies, and with their thick armor they are more than capable of shrugging off enemy fire long enough to deliver said payload.

Guardian Pawns are the rarest of the PAWN series. They are improved, elite variants of the Gun Pawns, with upgraded weaponry and built in force shields. As their name would indicate, Guardian Pawns are used almost exlusively in a defensive capacity, guarding the most important facilities in the Robotnik Empire, even defending Citadel Robotnik itself. Rarely they are sent out to attack due to the difficulty in making them, but their success rate is nothing to sneeze at. Rumor has it that entire armies have been destroyed by Guardian Pawns.

Stealthbots

The terror of the skies. Stealthbots are the ultimate air combat drones, and the undisputed masters of the Robotnik Empire’s airspace. Much like the groundbound Combots, Stealthbots are not only armed to the teeth but also in possession of similarly advanced Dummy AI that grants them tactical supremacy in the air. And that’s without getting into the stealth systems that grant them their name. Stealthbots are infamous for seemingly appearing out of thin air before diving in, destroying targets and then vanishing away from sight. Even more horrifyingly, Stealthbots have been known to engage in a degree of psychological warfare- one favorite tactic is to periodically strafe the same target at a specific time again and again, letting stress slowly build-up before going in for the kill.

Besides the standard Stealthbot units, there are also the aptly name “Death Pods”. Death Pods are upgraded Stealthbots, designed to be smaller, more maneuverable and equipped with even more firepower. While Stealthbots proper are designed for air-to-air combat and to act as bombers, Death Pods are an attempt to bridge the gap and create the ultimate air-to-ground combat drone, a machine that is just as capable of eliminating ground based targets as it is the air. So far the Death Pods have seen limited deployment, but thier successes paint a grim picture for the enemies of the Robotnik Empire.

Badniks

Badniks rank along with Swatbots as the most numerous and widespread of Robotnik’s forces, and a potent symbol of his need to subjugate and twist all aspects of life on Mobius towards his own demented ends. Officially known as B.A.D.s (Biologically Augmented Drones), Badniks are as much an assault against the environment as they are against Mobius’ people. Badniks unlike other machines within the empire are powered by Mobinis who serve as both organic batteries and as a kind of wetware CPU all in once. Whereas SWATBots represent standardized military machines, Badniks are far more specialized by comparison, and are designed to operate for long periods of time without supervision in the many wilderness areas of Mobius.

Technically speaking the Badniks are the oldest line of Robotnik’s military machines, predating even the SWATbots. The Badniks were first devised before the Great War, back when Robotnik was still known as Dr. Julian Kintobor. Using misappropriated funds and resources, Julian labored in secret researching the potential of organic lifeforms to serve as a power source of machines. His way of making endangered species ‘worth protecting’, in his own words. Once that barrier was broken, Julian swiftly realized the military applications and with the aid of his assistant (and future chief scientist) Dr. Grimer he swiftly built the first Badnik prototypes. When Julian later became the Kingdom of Acorn’s Warlord, he built his Badnik army in secret even as he was built his SWATBot army in public, and when the day of the Coup arrived great swarms of Badniks surged forth to assist their SWATbot brethern in conquering the Kingdom of Acorn.

Usually modeled after Mobius’ wildlife, Badniks serve as a reflection of Robotnik’s disdain of the natural world and his need to declare that there is nothing in it that he can’t ‘improve’ upon. Fittingly, Badniks tend to act like an invasive species, deployed into the wild areas of Mobius to capture more Mobinis to be utilized as battery fodder before raiding settlements and attacking military installations. Badniks require comparatively little upkeep and can be stationed for many months without need of repairs. They are created to strip the world of respite from Robotnik’s tyranny and to choke the life out of the wilderness, making sure nobody can escape his grasp. Worse than that, Badniks are also used to attack enemy crops and farmlands, despoiling lands to deny them use by Robotnik’s enemies. They form an integral part of the artifical ‘eco system’ of the empire’s cities, hiding and lurking in shadows like ambush predators waiting for prey driven to them by SWATbots and troopers.

The sheer variety of Badniks is nothing short of astounding. Even more powerful Badnik models known as Prime Badniks (AKA “Super Badniks”) act as field commanders for the regular models, which are collecively known as the Badnik Horde.

Eggrobos

Modeled after the Eggman himself, Eggrobos are a special class of machine that serve as the administrators and officer corps of the Robotnik Empire. The Eggrobo line first emerged during the Angel Island Assault. In the aftermath of the infamous Death Egg crash landing upon Angel Island, Robotnik swiftly realized he would need more than mere techbots if he was going to get the mighty Death Egg up and running fast enough for his needs. The Eggrobos were conceived of as machines that would serve the duel purpose of security for the Death Egg as well as high intelligence technicians needed to conduct repairs at the rate Robotnik needed.

While the Death Egg’s final destruction would occur despite the best efforts of the Eggrobos and Robotnik himself, Robotnik none the less saw the potential of the series. Eggrobos are designed more for intelligence than they are pure combat, though they are far from defenseless. Armed with heavy plasma cannons and high powered jet backs, they are surprisingly dangerous for “brain bots”. The Eggrobos have since gone on to become an all purpose command class of machine, ranking behind Prime Badniks but otherwise serving as Robotnik’s proxies within the empire. Eggrobos are subsequently subdivided by programming- warfare, research, intelligence and even medically inclined models exist.

Their bulky bodies designed to house high processing powered AI and powerful communication tools, the robotic soldiers of the empire become notably more dangerous when Eggrobos are present, especially ones programmed for military operations.

E-Series

Building upon the technologies that went into the Eggrobos, the E (”Eliminator”) series were created to serve as the elite assassins and infiltrators. The E-Series was first devised when the Robotnik Empire, weakened by repeated Freedom Fighter insurgencies, found it beset from the outside by the re-invigorated forces of GUN. Building upon Great War era information provided by surviving remnants of its sister nation of Overland, the United Federation re-structured GUN’s tactics and technologies with an eye towards taking the fight to Robotnik after a decade slow retreat in the face of Robotropolis’ encroachment into the Federation. Devising a new war doctrine built upon picemeal tactics and a robot army of their own to challenge Robotnik’s, the United Federation took advantage of Robotnik’s weakness to chip away at his borders and liberate captured territories.

Faced with an existential threat now capable of fighting on par with him in addition to the domestic troubles brought on by the Freedom Fighters, Robotnik swiftly realized he would need machines capable of getting into the heart of enemy operations and then cutting that heart out. Thus was born the E-Series, lethally intelligent and relentless assassins building on the best of the Badnik technology. First deployed in the Station Square Front, Robotnik has repeatedly upgraded the initial E-100 series and even created variant models. While the original E-100s were powerful, there was a disturbing trend towards rampancy in their AI- units Gamma, Sigma and Omega all eventually turned against their core programming. Since then Robotnik has tried to find a proper balance in the AI to retain the lethal potential of the E-100s while ensuring zero chance of future betrayal. While not quite the stuff of their predecessors, the current E-Series remain among the most ruthlessly efficient and lethal machines within the empire, elite assassins and terror machines par excellence.

While the E-Series was initially conceived of as assasins, Robotnik has explored other avenues with the line, deviating from the base mold to create more specialized variants. The E-500 series was an attempt to create a more standardized sniper variant, while the subsequent E-1000 series was an attempt to mass produce the E-Series while trying to retain as much of its effectiveness as possible. The E-2000s deviated even further from the base mold, serving as a mobile weapon platform for an experimental heavy laser cannon. While devastatingly powerful, the E-2000s have seen only limited deployment due to faults within the cannon, notably its long charge time.

Metallix

In many ways the Metallix series represent the cream of the crop of the Robotnik Empire’s various war machines, as well as being indicative of Robotnik’s deeply warped mindset. The Metallix are killing machines in every sense of the word, and ones built in the image of Robotnik’s most hated enemies. The oldest and most infamous of the Metallix series proper is Metal Sonic, Robotnik’s second-in-command own personal attack dog. While originally designed to mimic Sonic, the Metallix series has since expanded to act as mirrors for all of the major Freedom Fighters and assorted heroes who have bedeviled the doctor and stymied his ambitions. It is even joked that the surest sign you’ve ‘made it’ in the war against Robotnik is when a Metallix pops up in your image. The Metallix are no laughing matter though- by deign of being designed to counter specific and very powerful Mobians, they are easily the most lethal of Robotnik’s forces. Where the Metallix go, only death follows... especially when the Metallix in question is Metal Sonic.

The Metallix have their origins in the Pseudo-Sonic Badnik, which can be considered a prototype for the entire Metallix Line. Robotnik had long hoped to build a high-speed robot capable of countering Sonic the Hedgehog. After forays into various “Speed Bots”, Robotnik finally refined the technology to create the Mobini powered Pseudo-Sonic, a machine designed to not only kill Sonic specifically but to also besmirch his reputation. While Pseudo-Sonic was defeated, the proof of the concept would eventually lead to the creation of the first ‘true’ Metallix- Metal Sonic, first deployed in the Little Planet Raid. Since that time Sonic has only been able to just barely keep his metal doppelganger at bay, and Robotnik has gone on to expand the scope of the Metallix Series to create more like Metal Sonic. The Metallix have since gone on to become the true elite of the Empire, few in number but deadly beyond measure.

There has been at least one attempt to mass produce the success of Metal Sonic. The most prominent attempt was made by Robotnik’s chief scientist Dr. Grimer, who converted the old Special Zone Fortress to become an automated factory churning out Metal Sonic drones, with an ‘Emperor Metallix’ guiding everything. The project ended in catastrophic failure and the near usurpation of Robotnik by the Emperor Metallix, and since that time there have been no further attempts to ‘standardize’ the Metallix.

Infiltrators

Designed to mimic organic life, the Infiltrators (also known as Auto-Automatons) are the premier spies of the Robotnik Empire. The Infiltrator line was first developed in response to the various hidden sanctuaries that sprang up within the boundaries of the Robotnik Empire that would then go on to become hotbeds of organized military resistance. Initial models were based upon pre-existing Mobians who served as templates after being captured by Robotnik. Initial research was carried out on an island facility that doubled as a labor camp, but progress was stymied when the prison was infiltrated and destroyed by a young Sonic the Hedgehog (with the help of Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel). While the original facility was lost, Robotnik was able to escape with the research and several captives, and successfully created the first units in a separate facility.

Since that time the Infiltrator series has only become more refined. The need for pre-existing organic templates is now a thing of the past as Mobian identities are crafted wholesale, and the technology has advanced to the point where the Infiltrators can mimic organic behaviors such as eating without giving away their true, mechanical nature. The main production facility for the Infiltrators is the best kept secret in the Empire. More insidiously, some Infiltrators are being deployed with fabricated memories and no knowledge of their true origin, acting as sleeper agents.

Misc Robots

Beyond the standardized units and the elite models deployed en-masse by the Robotnik Empire, there are also the countless non-standardized units that proliferate Robotnik’s domain. Mission-specific war machines, experimental units, even machines built on a whim to satisfy Robotnik’s curiosity... all these and more can be found in the Robotnik Empire, ever ready for the opportunity to inflict just a bit more misery on whatever unfortunate organics they come across.

These non-standardized units vary wildly in terms of design, armaments and intelligence. Some are attached to deployments of SWATbots and the like as part of official military operations, while others still are simply wandering menaces that attack anybody unfortunate enough to come across them. This is done both to draw out Freedom Fighters and to torment the organic communities that remain within the Empire. Either the Freedom Fighters will blow their cover or the communities will be destroyed by inches. And if said communities fight back? Then, having broken the law, the community will be culled by Robotnik and the survivors Roboticized as a message to the others.

Any of these outcomes are acceptable to Robotnik, and the sheer unfairness of it is a source of endless, sadistic amusement to the Eggman.

[arwainian]

F@tT Fic Marathon: 1961-1980

hello hello, we are FAST approaching me catching up with the tag in its entirety, possibly even tomorrow! very exciting, and i've been really enjoying the recent stuff that people have been putting out

all good news by waltztangocache - a cori fic about premonitions regarding her wings coming in, and then the painful reality of it Happening. delightful to me

stand fast by blacksatinpointeshoes - you may or may not be aware that over the course of this project i have developed a particular pet peeve for rosana being mentioned in passing in Hadrian/anyone else fics and then any concerns about monogamous commitment being handwaved away. that is not the point of this fic, but if you read this fantastic Serious Power Imbalance Hadrian/Samothes smut, you might notice that this particular pet peeve of mine is in fact subverted on top of the already excellent smutty character study

more by accident than by design and as i would have you be by blackstainpointeshoes - to continue the blacksatinpointeshoes hype, i really enjoyed these two fics about Duvall and Lyke which imagines them as weird sorta-exes, and do indeed as promised in the tags include loving descriptions of bug infestations. love the Lye Lychen voice as written here

i will reveal you by rozecrest - Brnine and Gucci set after the post-stellar combustor downtime, with a deeply convincing dynamic between them of messy passionate yet tentative new and growing love and just like. talking about the state of things. really enjoyed this

words read: 53,571 (5,807,678 total)

works remaining: 3 (!!!!)

next twenty:

so there actually isn't a finalized next twenty because there are not 20 whole fics left in the tag for me to catch up with! there are only, as seen above, THREE. they are, at time of posting this writeup:

when i finish these i will. figure it out. i will probably post a provisional writeup with a better idea of how i will handle the project going forward. i've said before but i will consider the project "done" when the tag reaches 2000 fics. but that's complicated by secsam fast approaching, meaning we might creep up close to 2000 and then very quickly shoot past it making my clean end point of 2000 kinda silly if it's in the middle of a big fanwork event. just typing out my dilemma i'm starting to brainstorm good conclusions, so when i return i will hopefully have those plans ready to share!

[kendrixtermina]

Distinguishing 5 vs 9

(This started out as a reply but then I realized that it should be its own post/ could be helpful to more ppl than just the recipient or my usual blog readers)

It’s worth noting that a 9-fixed 5 can absolutely present as somewhat “soft”, shy and/or conflict avoidant, and that 9s can absolutely come off very philosophical & intellectual, especially if they’re, like, Ne aux. Also, as both are in the withdrawn triad there would genuinely be shared behavior patterns. 

That said, for this one there’s 3 good litmust test questions:

a) “What do you do when you’re talked at unexpectedly or suddenly asked if you can do an errand for someone”.

The more randomly the better cause that way one is more likely to just respond on automatic.

Basically, (& this has been confirmed to me by numerous accounts) the 9 is much more likely to humor the rando for a while or get sidetracked from whatever they were meaning to do, even if they may be annoyed or kick themselves for it afterward. “WTF did I agree to this? I thought I was chill with this but actually it does bother me/ piss me off... ” are common types of experiences. Priority sorting is not a strenght or at least takes deliberate effort.

A 5 generally would kneejerk default to either excusing themselves immediately (”ivegottogodosomething”) or limiting the scope of the interaction once minimum politeness has been served. They’d tend to have their priorities immediately present (”If I say yes to this now then I might not be able to do what I wanted to do this afternoon...  ugh theres never enough time...”) - they would be far less likely to agree to something they don’t wanna do & if they did, it would be the result of a considered deliberate decision. (often of the form of ”lets meet my quota for now so they’ll shut up about it & let me be”)

b) “Are you a forgiving person?”

This isn’t always conclusive but often if you ask this the person will say something that clinches it one way or another.

9s can and do disappear on ppl sometimes but generally letting go on old attachments can be a struggle & they’d rather get along if the option exists &  might be the sort of ppl who’d prefer to at least forgive inwardly for their own peace of mind, & will at least generally give ppl the benefit of the doubt, second chances etc.

5s may actually tend toward keeping grudges.  You only see that mentioned in a few sources because it doesn’t fit the general stereotype. (that, and because, unless pushed, they’d simply avoid whoever slighted or angered them, so maybe only their spouse or their bestie knows that they loathe that guy from work.)

- not every individual does, because it doesn’t seem worth the drama or, they’re trying to be objective about it etc. but even then there still tends to be a “once you’re out, you’re out” policy - not generally the sorts to stay friends with their exes.

c) When someone’s trying to type themselves: “What degree of inner running commentary do you have? How much do you “interpret” your experience moment to moment?”

Specifically in a random every day situation like walking down a street, not a setting where everyone would get their thinky gears spinning, like trying to solve a task oriented problem.

None too long ago I came by this excellent writeup on “how to write a 9 as a 1st person POV character” (by a 9 writer)

Especially this bit here:

I wouldn't use metaphors/similes if I were writing myself as a close POV. If I'm watching a sunset or enjoying a flower or something, I'm not cataloging, comparing, capturing, or evaluating it, I'm just experiencing its existence as itself. For something pleasant, my thoughts might momentarily narrow to the equivalent of a long, satisfied sigh.

That’s honestly a little hard for me to imagine.

For contrast, this here is a 5 - and you can tell from the last paragraph that they are probably 9-fixed.  (The person didn’t know their type yet, so this is an almost completely untainted account) As you see, it’s almost the total opposite.

Which is super fascinating when you think about cause those 2 types can be among the most similar as far as outward behavior goes, especially if you grab yourself 2 specimens of the same mbti, yet at the same time the inner experience is night and day. 

What’s especially striking is how the experience of being struck by beauty leads this person to a lowering of activity rather than an increase of it. (I’m guessing this may be common for all the head types & gut types respectively. Some 3s, 2s or 4s please describe their experience of The Pretty for me so I can complete the set)

Earlier today I was sent a picture that made me go  “Wow this is so beautiful actually” though it was, like, a half eaten apple sent to me for the humor of eating it differently than expected.

But because it had been eaten from the top, & the core had this five-rayed structure, almost like a star, that isn’t visible when you cut it like normal, mostly cutting into the core from the sides.

I realized that it is from the structure of the flower - apple blossoms have 5 petals and of course the inner structure of the flower, the stamens, the ovary etc. also has that star-like symmetry and the fruit grows out of the inner parts of the flower. So there was an echo of a long-faded flower in that apple.

I suppose a star shape is pretty in and of itself, but much of me response came from superimposed layers of interpretation, not cause a half eaten apple is so appealing on a sensory level.

[the-blue-fairie]

Tom Thumb (1958) - Fairy Tale Movie Challenge

(TW: discussions of racism/yellowface ahead.)

Since thealmightyemprex is doing a Fairy Tale Month, I'm at last doing my writeups for the Fairy Tale Movie Challenge. I shall start with Tom Thumb, which thealmightyemprex suggested, directed by George Pal.

Now, I associate George Pal with special effects extravaganzas of fantasy and sci-fi from the 50s and 60s, sometimes with a kitschy charm to them. He made Destination Moon, he made When Worlds Collide, he made the 50s War of the Worlds, he made the 60s Time Machine, he made the 7 Faces of Dr. Lao! This film fits right in among these (sometimes not for the best of reasons, but we'll get there.) They're all a similar kind of "wonder movie." They remind me of Harryhausen films, but sometimes with a more American Christian preachy vibe. But I consider his Time Machine and War of the Worlds classics and excellent films in themselves, not just as 50s special effects time capsules.

Tom Thumb (1958) tells the story of a woodcutter and his wife who are blessed by a wood spirit with three wishes. After squandering them in a comedic sequence, she takes pity on them and grants them their wish for a child, the diminutive Tom Thumb, played by Russ Tamblyn of Twin Peaks and The Haunting. It's based on the Grimms' "Thumbling" tale (and there ARE elements of it) but you get the sense it's... essentially Disney's Pinocchio, for better or worse, George Pal style. Tom is duped by a pair of shady schemers a la Honest John and Gideon, has to save his parents to make amends, etc.

Ironically, the opening of the film before the introduction of Tom is one of the strongest things about it. Bernard Miles (oh MY GOSH he was in 1956 Moby Dick! I know the Manxman in a small role in the film, but he gets that monologue about Moby Dick so it's cool! AND he was Joe Gargery for David Lean!) and Jessie Matthews have such a great comedic chemistry and they make roles that, in other hands, could be overly treacly, work and work well. The sausage-nose routine is classic "squandering three wishes" material and it's really fun.

After Tom is introduced, things get a little shakier. It's not that Russ Tamblyn is bad. He's extraordinarily acrobatic and that makes the long dance among the toys a great watch, even if the pacing drags. But since it feels like the film is going for a Disney Pinocchio innocent child vibe to his characterization, he feels too old for the part. I still like him, though! It's just that line delivery can feel clunky in a way that reflects the worst of George Pal-isms.

AND ON THE SUBJECT OF THE WORST OF GEORGE PAL-ISMS, I made a gloomy quip about the use of yellowface in Dr. Lao just seconds before THIS GUY shows up.

Now, 7 Faces of Dr. Lao was interesting because, although Lao was played by Tony Randall in yellowface and that's awful, at least the character of Dr. Lao wasn't written to be the standard 60s-70s Chinese caricature. Lao was actually able to push back/shoot barbs back at racist white folks in the film. That makes him interesting. Yes, he's still one of those "mystical Chinese characters," but as Arthur Dong pointed out on the Criterion Channel, Lao has more depth and sympathy than most portrayals of the period.

Also, each townsperson's encounter with a different "face" of Dr. Lao is gorgeously written and endlessly interesting.

BUT THIS GUY? He's a toy that serves a bit as Tom's "super-dooper-magical-Chinese-man" to paraphrase Spike Lee. He doesn't have the depth of a character like Lao because he's either Tom's imagination or, if not that, doesn't have a character outside of entertaining/supporting our white lead. Also, his name is the worst thing I've seen since I saw the way that a certain character was credited in the 1925 Larry Semon Wizard of Oz.

Also, they never show the toy in the foreground here up close while looking at it head-on (the one who in this shot has its back facing the camera) but...

...is that a g*lliwog toy? Because if so, yikes.

The romance between Alan Young's mortal character, Woody, and The Forest Queen is a mixed bag. I found Woody initially bland and irritating, but he grew on me. Whereas I found Queenie so interesting, and possessed of such radiant charisma thanks to June Thorburn's performance, that I felt she could do much better than him. I warmed up to their relationship as the film went on, though. They're sweet.

The show-stealers, however, are Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers as the villains (also, if we wanted to talk about Hollywood yellowface and stereotyping, we could teach a whole class on certain Sellers roles and... whatever Blake Edwards' whole deal was, ooof), especially Terry-Thomas. That man is hilarious. They're doing what they do best, stealing gold and stealing the movie!

Also, the coin-counting routine gave me big "Gandalf tricks the trolls in The Hobbit" vibes and I love that.

Overall, Tom Thumb (1958) gave me what I expected, good and bad - a very late-50s, very George Pal diversion that is not among Pal's best, but which has some fun moments and a lot of charm... as well as some Yikes moments that I was at least bracing myself for, knowing the period and other Pal projects.

@thealmightyemprex @ariel-seagull-wings @princesssarisa @themousefromfantasyland @theancientvaleofsoulmaking

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Fae & Fen

This week’s recommendations revolve around faeries, either as benign outsiders that are misunderstood, or as malevolent or strange entities that can be horrific threats.

Strays, by kumada1.

Strays is a 246 page tabletop rpg about changelings---the children of two fae courts---caught in between the pull of the mortal and fae worlds.

Choose between eight Courts, take special powers, befriend buildings, wander between worlds, and try to get by in a setting where everyone wants you to grow up and pick a side.

There are rules for physical, social, and magical combat. Detailed writeups of the eight Realms of faerie. An overhaul of the regular PbtA rules. GMing advice. A sample scenario. Rules for burning yourself out and becoming an NPC. A shared hangout spot for the party. And more.

This game combines the magic of faerie with the paranoia of a setting where everyone is keeping secrets - even your parents. Your characters have only recently discovered their fae origins, and now that they have magic, all of the Fae Courts - and a mundane Taskforce - want them. This game is PbtA so much of the fiction will follow from what the characters are interested in - what’s on the line if they start pursuing their magic? Will their mortal families pay a price for being unsuspecting hosts? Play to find out.

The Gloaming Diaries, by Timor Jack Press.

The Gloaming Diaries is a tabletop roleplaying game of modern fairy tales in small towns. As a player, you take on the role of the gloamspun, half-human, half-fae beings created when a fairy fleeing eternal war encounters a human seeking change within the Wood. Needing one another, they weave their souls together, becoming one.  Among your fellow gloamspun what unfolds next is a new story. For you have two pasts, but only one future.

Play as one of 10 Paths, each of which describes the human you were and the path that led you to that fateful twilight meeting, and one of 10 Tales, each of which describes the fae you were and the story your magical life told. Were you an Elder entering the woods to die who instead found a new life with a Tale of Mischief? Were you a Lover who slipped into the woods for a tryst and found yourself drawn to join souls with a Tale of Sorrow?

What stories will you tell in your small town at the edge of the woods? For although everyone's a little strange in remote parts, few are as strange as you.

The Gloaming Diaries uses either a d20 or a pack of tarot cards to move the story forward. This game has a Third Party License that outlines the rules for creating your own content for The Gloaming Diaries, and the creator has a number of their own supplements for the game, encompassing everything from violence, death, and dreams.

Changelings: The Magic & The Fury, by Kolek Niewiary.

This is a roleplaying game about changelings i.e. fae creatures (the elves, the faerie, the fair folk) inhabiting human bodies. While in the mortal realm they must control their conflicting nature while fighting for the cause that called them onto Earth.

The players take the role of the changelings. The fair folk, the fae left this world as the civilization developed and banality ruled. Now, recalled by human dreams of a better world, they return as changelings. Infuriated with the world that once rejected them, with the people who killed the magic and replaced it with Excel spreadsheets. The Faerie, wearing a human body, finds a cause to fight for. They come to help the weak and the excluded.

Veterans of Honey Heist or Lasers & Feelings may resonate a little bit with the rules of Changelings, but it draws most of its mechanical inspiration from Wights, by Steffie de Vaan. Your characters, as changelings called forth by mortals to meet injustices with righteous anger, will teeter between the banality of the human world and the Dreams of Faerie. These two stats are called Approaches, and they can increase and decrease depending on character actions. If you’re enthusiastic about justice and faerie magics, this might be the game for you!

Adiotopia, by Minakie.

Adiotopia is a micro TTRPG (for 3+ players) about collaboratively telling the stories of a group of young Protectors in training, who travel between their world (Sanubari) and Fäerie with their mentor in order to help both Saubi and Fae deal with their everyday problems, enforcing the law, mitigating conflicts, protecting people, studying the indigenous fauna and flora and potentially solving mysteries, while always being on the lookout for the dangerous darklings and the unpredictable undead. If you're lucky, you might befriend the dragons or the elves, or even learn a magic trick or two along the way.

The premise of the game is that the world is full of creatures and mysteries worth investigating and that, while some of them might have a simple and rather ordinary explanation, others might not be what they seem at first, and be somehow connected with the multitude of mystical creatures that inhabit the land. 

 Adiotopia is a great pick-up game that borrows some ideas of magical settings for teenagers and combines it the the allure of Faerie. Faerie is a dangerous and evocative place, with endless possibilities in regards to what the party will find there. Sanubari is home, and comfortable, a place you can retreat to when Faerie becomes too weird or wild. If you like coming-of-age fiction about young people stepping into a magical world and having adventures, this is a great option worth checking out.

Faewater, by A Smouldering Lighthouse.

In the darkest woods, you may find the fae. Old and strange, their power and pleasure can be intoxicating.In the darkest waters, you may find the same.

A group of mortals have gathered to seek the deep fae. Tonight is your final act after months of secret meetings. You must not fail now.

Faewater is a one-page dark fantasy game about underwater fairies and the mortals they prey on. This tabletop role-playing game is designed to be played in a single two to three hour session. 

This is a one-page game that explores the horrific side of Faerie - the power and terror of dealing with the unknown. You are mortals diving underwater to find a mystery that proves to be more deadly than you expected, and throughout the game, your character will find themselves replaced by fae creatures. Don’t hold on too carefully to your PC - you’re going to lose them at some point, either to home or to the deep. 

Hedge, by A Couple of Drakes.

The Fey were here before we were. They have not forgotten. 

Their forms are multitude. Their powers are incalculable. Their mastery of the world, the Wyld, that they fashioned for themselves when nature rebelled against them, is absolute. They press against the edges of our world, watching. Waiting. They pick at the seams and wait for the barrier between us and them to unravel. They are coming. All that stands between them and us is the Hedge. The barrier of Nature's magic which keeps them at bay is weakening. In her agony, the Hedge calls forth her champions.

"My savior, my darling, my cure. Stop at nothing."

Once, you were merely human. Once, the Fey would have looked at you only as a thing to be bent or broken. Or eaten. Now the Hedge has chosen you to stand, to fight, and to shine. Harness the powers of nature, upgradeable weapons, and stolen Fey magic, to fight against hordes of scary faeries.

Hold tight to your humanity as you take the fight into the depths of the Wyld, facing down the Court of Air and Darkness in the heart of their power with six iconic Wardens, 102 awe-inspiring powers, 65 beefy pages of rules and vague-but-evocative lore, and the robust, power-fantasy fueling core mechanics of LUMEN. Hold the line against terrifying foes, collect powerful Fey Grafts, and save what's left of the world from a dark fairytale apocalypse.

LUMEN games excel at providing you with moldable character sheets and satisfying combat, and Hedge is no exception. The Fae are decidedly antagonistic here, and your characters are using every weapon in their arsenal to hold back the horde of fae creatures threatening your existence. There are a number of supplements, such as Horde and Hearth, for players who want to see the full extent of what this game can offer. If you want heroism, combat, and power-fantasy, this is the game for you.