#i have more development lore for all these characters that i can share later once I have more time showcasing these characters in my fanfic

[mini-kairyu]

WHOA LOOK IT'S

My ocs! I finally got around to compiling general info about the main ones I have (there are a LOT of others but they're more like named side character/NPCs that get introduced as the story I have for these guys goes on)

Lemme list off the five I have most developed rn, which form the team .wav(E) (pronounced "dot wave"):

Cora

Bold, brash, but quite cute (her words)

A bit of a firecracker

Her curiosity is as vast as her energy and wit

Has the cutest smile

Left the underground since the Inkantation and had spent a significant time adjusting to the surface culture (long before meeting her buddy Luke)

Has a secret passion for dancing, especially pop and hip-hop (very sharp sense of rhythm)

Lives and dies by Slosher. Until she has to pick up a secondary main in Squeezer too. And Tri-slosher. And Wiper.

Does gardening on the side. There are little succulents dotted around her apartment, about 8 in total

Cooks the most often out of the team, specializes in pan-fried dishes and stews

Likes hot tea (prefers herbal over fruit teas tho)

Had a fruit tea drink one time (it was a peach tea) and didn't like it at all. Had a sourness that detracted from the warmth that she normally likes from drinking hot tea, so she avoids them now

Cass

Captain of the team

Full name 'Cassidy', people usually alternate calling her between the two

Most connections to everything

Level-headed, abundant charisma (puts the rizz in charisma haHA), rarely phased by anything

A big sister of sorts to Cora. Cora took to Cass really well when she recruited her and her friend Luke after random queuing in Salmon Run and the like

Flexes anything, but will mostly stick to Blasters. Has been interested in both Tri-Stringer and Reef-lux as of late tho

Works part time at a boba store (the one where the team gathers together fully for the first time)

The boba shop's name is called Roomba Boba, which has little Squee-G bots that roam around and sometimes deliver drinks or carry napkin holders. Naturally, they're also really good at mopping up spills

Has also had many odd jobs in the past, including being a camp counselor at Camp Triggerfish and [CLASSIFIED]

She's really good with kids, always gave me those peppy young adult/senior-in-high-school vibes that always know how to hype up a crowd

Cooks just as well as Cora, but feels more in tune with baking than cooking. She comes over to her apartment to help make meals sometimes.

Tobias

Neighbor and teammate of Cora, whom he develops a firm kinship with since their first encounter at the first team meetup

Also goes by 'Tobes' or 'Tobo'

Looks reserved, but is very easy and sociable to talk with

Did stakeout in the military, and thus has the worst sleep schedule of the team out of habit

Loves tea as well, especially herbal tea. Has a dislike for coffee though.

Favors backliners as per his role on the team, but is also killer with Octobrush and Stamper

Works part-time at Ammo Knights (weapons maintenance)

Gives the best hugs

Enjoys meticulous work such as mechanical tinkering and Gundam building

Likes to take off his glasses when he's eating or needs to decompress

Luke

Cora's Turf and Salmon Run buddy prior to forming .wav(E) with Cass

Favors Brellas

The least composed of the team, screams a lot when jumped in battle

Overall, is one the that gets meme'd on the most lmao

Favorite candy is pop rocks. This information revolts Cora and Tobes.

Likes learning and making mixed drinks in his free time

Incidentally, is the heaviest drinker of the bunch

Microwave dinner degenerate lol

Loves Clam Blitz so much, he'll even play it on his own (pain and misery)

Rooms with a bunch of other rando inklings who aren't home often

Wears nail polish the most often out of all the members (the others like to as well, but not always since they get lazy sometimes)

Hira

Joins very late to the group (about halfway through the gang's Splatoon 3 arc), but signifies a meaningful development for most of the peeps

A reflection of "sweaty try-hards" who complain and tilt over their teammates (Me that was me, for a while....a dark time....)

Sweaty dualies main, is proficient with most dualies

Has a swear and an insult for every time something goes wrong in a match, especially when random queuing

Incidentally, has the biggest potty mouth out of everyone

Has a soft spot for strawberry milk (it calms her down)

Will sit down with a book or even a manga from time to time

Is actually very down to earth outside of league battling and has an overall calm and kind personality, albeit a bit cynical at times

About her encounter with .wav(E): Cass finds her at Roomba Boba one day (the boba shop she works at) and notices her being super down

So she sits with her and listens to her problem. It was a rather personal rmoment for her.

Hira's time in .wav(E) will be crucial to her improvement as a player mentally, not just mechanically, especially considering what happened with her last team

Much of her personal growth is inspired by the time she spends bonding with Cora, who also ends up being positively influenced in various ways

Rumors among the Octarians tell of a battalion that had fallen tragically in a battle with outside factions prior to the Inkantation Inkcident; nearly all members wiped out due to poor negligence and ill preparation. The few that were skilled enough to survive the ordeal moved on to serve and be decorated with honors among their newer ilk. Their festering resentment towards incompetence and inefficiency remained even after liberation, however.

[develop-your-oc]

Your blog has been so helpful with my oc developing journey! Thank you for putting so much time into collecting resources and the like! I did have a question, if you wouldn't mind answering, but how do you use Obsidian for sorting/recording your oc data? It's a little daunting and I've found myself constantly going over the info and trying to format everything. It's maddening. Thank you again for your hard work and time! <3

It's awesome that you've found this blog to be helpful! Thank you so much for telling me! 💖 (it ain't much but it's honest work dot jpeg)

Obsidian as a program is daunting especially if you're not familiar with similar applications (OneNote, Evernote, Joplin, etc.), but somehow I have completely forgotten how frustrating it was to get started from a blank page, even though I spent years struggling with that frustration. Here's a basic rundown of what I do!

Folders and basic setup are as follows:

Within one vault, I use multiple folders. One folder contains my templates, lists and other data, prompts, and so on. There are individual files for each original setting within this folder in order to take quick notes to be sorted later or keep reminders. Other files in this folder include ideas for future character names and other writing ideas.

Each setting has its own folder where everything related to it is stored, with OCs being the star of the show at the top level. There are several subfolders filled with notes, completed prompts, drabbles, lore, codex entries, etc.

One of the subfolders is for files regarding characters that my OCs interact with but aren't mine (a roleplay partner's OC, a game NPC, etc.) to store notes and other useful information for later reference, like a wiki page built only for myself.

As for the OCs themselves:

Each OC has its own file within the folder of their setting where a template holds their information. This template is vague enough to be useful in most settings, and simple enough to allow editing as needed.

The template begins as a simple formatted list of basics as you would expect (identity, appearance, occupation, etc.), as well as likes, dislikes, hobbies, skills, virtues, and flaws.

All friends, family, lovers, and so on are listed with a very brief description of how they are connected to my OC.

There are sections beneath the list for all the substantial information. — Background: everything from before their story begins. From before the arrival of you, the creator, if that makes sense. — Going Forward: from the beginning of their story, to the end (if there is one), and into the future beyond that. — Trivia: tidbits of information and facts that don't fit anywhere else. — Timeline: a chronological list with dates and concise details. Additional information is sorted into one of the other sections, the destination based on where the information would be most relevant. — Relationships: important relationships are detailed here. — Notes: the anything goes catch-all. Less about the character and more about you, like a reminder ("name their childhood pet!") or something worth noting ("my first OC!").

If the character is still in its concept phase, I stick to bullet point notes and update with the template later as needed.

Other things I'd like to mention:

There's more functionality within Obsidian than what I use, but I'm happy with my methods for now.

I make heavy use of bullet points, tab indents, and the little arrow that pops up to open or close lengthy sections as needed.

I never fill out the entire template at once, or ever; some sections remain empty permanently and some characters remain bullet points. It is what it is!

I keep the files for all the OCs that are currently rotting my brain open in tabs at the top! 🥰

Sometimes a folder is a genre and is instead used for multiple settings, such as all my OCs from the various farming simulation games I play sharing the same folder.

Relationships can sometimes be easier as their own page, particularly if it involves more than two characters, such as families and their dynamics.

This is a brief description of how I do things for myself. This works for me, but may not work for you. I tend to make up a bunch of silly little rules for myself, so please take this as inspiration rather than instruction. If this is confusing or you would like more help, anon, please DM me again and I'll work on visual examples and better explanations. Thanks again, and I hope this helps!

[valeriianz]

For the fic writer asks:

4. Obviously you did research for BitB. I'd love you to ramble about it if you like I'm sure you've got STORIES

5. Did you outline it?

7. How'd you decide it would be Hob's pov?

25-27 I'd love to know a/some favorite lines, details, and any lore you might want to share

omg TJ what wonderful questions! thank you!! this is going to get LONG!

4: Rambling about research!

do you wanna see a screen shot of my bookmarks under my "band au" folder?

man, and that's only what could fit on the screen.

there is... SO MUCH i chose to ignore for this fic. ideas that i had to drop, lines or extra details about the other band members equipment. more logistics, what Lucienne actually does, what Mervyn has to put up with as the new touring stage manager... i realized very early on that i couldn't possibly cram all this (super cool and eye opening) information into the fic and still keep reader's interest and, most importantly, to not stray away from the fact that this is a dreamling fic. whenever i felt myself getting carried away with a side character or job or even social media numbers, gossip, outside POVs, i had to reign myself in and get back on track. there will be time for exploring everything i missed in side stories after BitB is finished. i just hope i still have the energy to write it all.

once, i was so deep into research that after publishing chapter 2, i went into work and when my chef asked what "GA" meant on my prep list, i answered with full confidence, "general admission."

(it means "get ahead.")

the worst part of this entire writing process is im still learning new shit. i havent rewatched or read a lot of what i've saved because, to be very honest, i was feeling a little burnt out. it's why we're kinda full steam dreamling now. it's why ive been glossing over a lot of technical stuff and being vague about conversations amongst the crew/not including it at all. i don't prefer ignoring my research, but at the end of the day i want to still enjoy writing this fic and finish it. even if i can't be as descriptive and detailed and nuanced as i used to be.

5: Did you outline the fic?

(also asked by @hardly-an-escape!)

i wouldn't call what i have a proper "outline," it's more like a 20k word document filled to the brim with notes that i skim at least a dozen times while i'm writing a new chapter (being in my brain is literally hell). i live multichapter life very dangerously. i copy and paste lines or sections (always scattered, never together! augh!) that are meant to go together and plop them in a new document titled "band au ch.#" and then i structure the chapter around what i want to happen.

but to answer this question in the plainest of terms: yeah. i know exactly what's going to happen up until the very end. even if its all in my head and the only concrete shit that's written down are beats/plot points. i'll figure out the rest later!

7: How'd you decide it would be Hob's POV?

i actually never even considered writing it from Dream's POV. this was my first fic in the fandom (which is so nuts to think about lol) and writing in Dream's POV sounded so scary lol. i also just thought Hob's would be easier because i have worked a few backstage shows, back in my college years. i figured eh, i can make this work. and i loved exploring how weird and mysterious musicians can be, from a normie's POV. making Hob a fan first and having him worry about developing a parasocial relationship... it was fun to explore.

25: Share your favorite line

oh god, i have so many haha.

“What are you thinking about?” starting in ch.2 and onward lmao

“It’s–” Dream laughs quietly, bitterly. “I don’t like change.” He says each word with emphasis, eyes trailing down to fixate somewhere past Hob. “And I still hold onto the things I can control, like my instruments–” his eyes swing up to regard Hob apologetically. “Or my clothes or my–” he brings a hand up and wiggles his fingers around his head. “My hair.” ch.4

"His majesty is pleased." ch.5

“You are obsessive,” he states, slow and cool and with a quiet smile cracking through his composure. “Just like me.” ch.7

“You look good.” Hob has to lean in to say so, unwilling to raise his voice amongst the roar of the fans. ch.11

“Del looks like porcelain, but she’s actually made of steel.” Desire swirls the contents of their glass before pushing their shoulders back with a deep breath. “She's tougher than all of us.” ch.11

“Everything. I want…” his fingers tighten in Hob’s hair, pulling him closer, speaking against his lips. “…Everything.” ch.14

26: Share your favorite detail

how intentionally coy Dream behaves. i love keeping him a mystery and deciding when and how much to allow his intentions to peek through has been so fun lol.

Despair is in fact covered in tattoos and piercings! i say this because i feel like sometimes i forget lmao. (but also her and Hob don't interact much so. my bad haha).

Delirium's constant explosion of color in the way she dresses <3

Hob's dedication to his job, Dream, and the people he cares about the most. i don't care if people think i'm making him too soft and good, im gonna project on that man and make him a sweet, sweet simp lmao

and ah, this doesn't matter anymore, and i kinda regret doing it but. i originally had Dream's favorite bass all black but the pickguard was white. so it actually looked like Jessamy. not gonna lie when @designtheendless drew it all black i decided i liked it better that way. and truly i do. that's when i went back to ch.1 and changed it haha. to actually see the guitar with Dream, all done up sparkling black and purple flecks... gosh it's just so him. but then i got up to the reveal that the guitar's name was Jessamy and i was like, "oh, right." lmao. no one seems to care so i'll leave it be.

27: Share a piece of lore you made up for the story

i have a lot lmao. and this post is already so long... im hoping i can get to some if not all of it in side fics in the future. but for now, here's some that's more like headcanons but:

Dream hates flying. he can full on go into panic attacks on the plane if he allows himself to get into his own head.

this was mentioned briefly in ch.4, while Dream was discussing the formation of the band, but Despair was in another band before joining Endless. she is the only character in the fic who gets to keep her English roots (lol sorry) and is the oldest in the band (30).

all of the band members ages: Dream, Desire, and Death are all 28 and Delirium is 22.

Dream can experience subdrop after going too hard during a performance.

Dream paints his own nails, it's very therapeutic.

as an exercise, i explored my own headcanons for Dream in this verse in a word doc, and one thing i will share from it that you might find interesting: If I were to ever give Dream a theological values, I would describe him as a satanist. He is a physical and pragmatic person, nonconforming, and although he is introverted, he enjoys being a part of a community (he loves his band).

also found this in my notes: How Desire and Dream got along was Death making them fight it out. Hob raises an eyebrow “like in a brawl?” He couldn't imagine Desire throwing hands. “No, in a pillow fight that escalated in hair pulling and verbal taunts.”

fic writer asks

[fitpacs]

Sorry in advance if I ramble on for too long,

I think that if the server allowed for more chill game play it could have held on a bit longer. I know I'm a bit of an outsider because I got into qsmp much later, but having the players just hang out together on the server is much more entertaining to me than lore heavy streams.

I must say that Fit's lore streams feel different to me, because he created and merged his own story with the server, but ultimately it was his story to tell.

I think the server wanted to do too many big things in a short amount of time, which made people frustrated and exhausted. I also think that there might have been too many cooks in the kitchen, without a proper headchef. No proper guide or story book.

Personally, even though I absolutely love the little eggs running around causing mayhem and emotional damage, having them actually hatch into "dragons" could have solved many issues regarding their time management. Once they hatched, they could have just popped up whenever they wanted, instead of needing to be online every time a parent was on the server.

It would also have cut back on trying to make up lore for the eggs.

Long story short, having the players just hang out on the island and make up stories for themselves if they wanted to, build beautiful things, share each other's culture and holidays and if it had cut back a lot on lore it would probably have made qsmp last longer.

🐝 Anon ❤️

do not apologise, my sweet bee anon!

i completely agree with you when you say the server wanted to do too many things in a short amount of time. we never really got the chance to appreciate any of the events (the ones that were only for a day, such as festa junina etc) because the higher ups were already pushing the next upcoming event onto us - and i completely agree that it would have frustrated and exhausted people!

if i remember correctly, even before everything went to shit, multiple ccs that hadn’t logged on for a while felt almost afraid to because there was so much lore going on with the more active players and it kind of turned them off of wanting to join more often, which is the complete opposite of what the server set out to do. the idea was to join multiple languages and cultures altogether in one space, and in the timeframe of a few months it ended up only being the same select group of creators who logged on daily or every other day who had intertwining lore (with a few notable exceptions).

i firmly believe the eggs were originally introduced to fix that issue, and to give the less active creators more of a reason to log on, but when the egg lore started developing, that idea was kind of dampened greatly.

and none of this is the fault of the admins, obviously! some of them by their own admission had great fun with their egg lore, but we of course all know the darker side where due to the lore of other creators/the server’s lore with the federation, they were pushed if not forced to adopt multiple personas by the higher ups - which obviously would take a toll on anyone, and weren’t allowed breaks or time away, which we all know is fucked up and is a prime example of how the hunger for lore ended up being a huge detriment

i think we’re all in agreement that one of the biggest mistakes was whoever was in charge, and the fact it wasn’t someone that had the best interests of the server, audience, and staff at heart - this is also on q’s own admission.

for me personally, the format of the shelter smp (made by former staff from our server) is a really good balance of lore and chill gameplay - any of the members can join at any time and not feel like they’re behind at all - the fact that the server is also made by staff of the server proves more of that point as that’s obviously how they wanted to run our server, if they were allowed freedom over their (multiple) characters

and it’s not even as if the ccs didn’t have chemistry so wouldn’t be able to play without lore - this was proven in the occasional chill non-lore days, as well as the times we got other games with them such as the among us lobby that time and the fact they still continue to play games together! i just wonder if the ccs were, to an extent, told something by the higher ups also - obviously something much nicer than whatever the admins were told!

the eggs, as much as i adore them, did end up being as much of a detriment to the server as much as a blessing. because of how frequently the eggs logged on (again, due to the pressure from the higher ups) the audience and the ccs alike of course got accustomed very quickly to each egg admin’s style of acting and writing on the signs - and the server got so dependent on the eggs it was at the cost of the admins’ free time in that they didn’t have any.

i’m always in two minds as to if the server would’ve lasted longer if there was less dependency on lore - because would the exposing of the higher ups have happened as soon as it did if the admins weren’t so overworked? i honestly don’t know, my mind flip-flops on it.

sorry for rambling back at you, my sweet, i just miss our server more than anything :(

[jellisdraws]

My campaign has entered ACT THREEEEEEEEEEE

My players literally kick so much ass and I love them. We are now 75 sessions in. Act 1 took about 50 sessions, Act 2 took about 25- shorter but they were much more involved in the main plot of the campaign and the developments were HUGE. I fully anticipate Act 3 to take at least 70 sessions to get through. The party is splitting with plans to reconvene later so everyone is making a new character to have for the split arc and we’re jumping into the unknown together.

Things are coming together in such an exciting way, the future ofcthe game feels fresh and the bones I have laid out in the past two arcs are strong and allow for tons of flexibility on the part of my players and how they drive the narrative. And I feel like this is possible because I have “broken” some of the tacit rules of DMing. I’m not sure these things work without a group you’ve played with regularly for a long time but I’ll share what I can in hopes that it encourages other DM’s to cut loose a little bit.

1. I did not give them freedom when designing characters. When I proposed this campaign, the idea would be the main cast would all be kids who grew up together. The players and I sat around for multiple session 0’s designing the town these kids grew up in, as well as their families, their connections to each other and so on before they ever even had the chance to choose classes. They only were allowed to write their own backstories for the duration of a 15 year timeskip between the prologue and campaign start. On top of this I gave the players the mandate to make a second, high level character sheet that they couldn’t even name, characters whose purpose would become clear as a story within the story of the campaign. It was a whole lot of effort but it has paid dividends. The character backstories made for the 15 year gap we’re more tied to the world than any I have seen, and the players were more keen to know about the world in turn. The second characters allowed for them to experiment with other builds and feel powerful, while I could use the sessions involving them as a mechanic to reveal lore in a way that made sense, and have the actions of the players shape the narrative consequences their main characters are dealing with.

2. I have not told this story chronologically. As alluded to above, the higher level characters are powerful figures from a forgotten past that the main group is inexorably tied to. While the events of the main campaign have been in order the group has jumped around through time experiencing visions of the past in no discernible order (at first) though a pattern and timeline has emerged. As the group seeks the truth of a forgotten age I needed a way to give them lore they otherwise couldn’t access, this method has allowed for me to tell a story and expand and continue the mystery without lore/info dumping on my players too hard. Every truth or revelation feels earned: as they decipher the clues left behind with the information gained from their visions.

3. I’ve railroaded them when necessary. I’ve been DMing for about a decade now, and I can confidently say there are no hard and fast rules around railroading your players and letting them determine their own path. Imo, the best campaigns allow both the players and the DM to hold the narrative reins in their hands. While the players should always be leading the action, they should not always be leading the direction. It is necessary to give you the DM the time to bury leads, invest them in your villains and NPC’s and ensure they have a stake in the primary conflict outside of their character backstories. Once you have established what the heck is going on and given them some mile posts to achieve then you can let them lead themselves.

4. I’ve allowed and encouraged metagaming. In a campaign where I’m already doing a bunch of weird stuff to affect how the narrative is told and explored, I have happily allowed metagaming at the table and happily answered lore questions and given them information to clarify things I want them to know. My players excitedly discussing theories about my game? Crack, I want to encourage it! I’ve worked hard to craft a cool mystery into the campaign and if they have questions about their clues I want to answer them! I’ve Also ‘Metagamed’ consequences to certain actions, letting the characters fully know the stakes of certain rolls, or given context to a situation so the player can make an informed decision in character. Often they still choose to accept the dramatic irony, seeing how certain decisions will affect things. The degree of openness I’ve brought to the way the story is told has seen rewards again and again with interesting decisions and amazing plays being made that are all the more impactful because the players know the weight of those actions and decisions.

5. I’ve been downright mean. I have been mean as hell when it comes to fighting during the climactic sequences, counterspelling healing, taking out downed characters, ruthlessly using mechanics to my benefit and everytime it makes seeing them succeed by the skin of their teeth worth it. And it reinforces themes I care about and explained during session 0, the world is big and scary and they are a small and new part of it. Dnd campaigns work best when there are stakes. You don’t need to have those stakes be massive and life threatening all the time and not every combat should be a knockdown drag out slug fest, but your villains and antagonists should be smart, effective and fucking powerful. They should challenge or overwhelm your heroes at times. The stakes make those dice rolls and choices valuable.

6. I’ve played with a DM PC since session 1. I love having a DMPC. I know not everyone does, but to me it opens up so many more chances at RP. I can check in on my quiet players in game, I can reward my roleplayer characters with fun RP, and I can share little facets of the world the group might not otherwise get. The DM PC does their best to not take center stage, instead doing their best to let other characters shine and in both combat and RP I’ve found this to be an excellent tool and way to increase my enjoyment and feel connected to the story the way my players experience it.

All this being said, the most important thing I do is talk to my players. Communication is the most important thing in cooperative storytelling and knowing what they want and enjoy out of stories is most important to running a campaign that will see your players coming back for more every week and having a blast doing it.

So yeah, cut loose DM’s! Do that funky weird idea you have, talk about it to your players. Go ham. And play in the way that suits you and your players best! You’ll see dividends

[the-kr8tor]

Hallo Katy!!! Wanted to ramble a bit about the cyberpunk au, but more specific my oc's and Hobie's relationship since I haven't got to much into it (but I'm currently polishing something involving it in the fic👁️👁️ so it have some brain worms bout it)

Since in this au I wanted them to be childhood friends I think they'd meet around 5yo with both being homeless since nigh city is a harsh place, their taken over by an aunty that runs a local bar (their another character I might include) so my oc and Hobie who grow up together learning all they know from the streets and from the community around them, growing up and living to help others like they were helped.

Leading to my oc joining one of the gangs in Night city (I chose the mox since it's mostly a self defense group and it has an honestly great story behind) however I thought about this and whole I initially wanted Hobie to be in a gang as well it didn't feel like him so he just goes about doing jobs for others (not any tho he won't do the "bad" kind of shady business) but he's supportive of my oc while their in the mox offering to help sometimes (which leads to the events of the first chapter of the fic)

In terms of a romantic relationship, I don't think they'd ever be together before Hobie's death, cause they've known each other for so long I feel like they'd be scared to bring that up and ruin their friendship, even if they could work around it, it wouldn't work, so their both so full of deep rooted longing it physically pains them to not be able to just kiss the other.

Their friendship when their a little bit more older (they are around 20-21 in the current time) so when they were around their later teens they'd go out and just look for a hide hole in a big bustling city to just gaze at it and talk to each, those moments they'd share shy touches, holding fingers cause clasping their full hands together felt like a step too far and they were scared but longed for the other so bad.

And this is how much I can get into without spoiling much of the fic so I can develop more once I post it 😜

-🃏anon, have a great day Katy🧡!!

Hihi, angel!!

Yesss more cyberpunk au lore!!

Ohhh childhood friends to lovers! I love that!!!!! They had so much time together 😭😭😭 and it all abruptly ends 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I love it already! Can't wait to read it 🫶 You have a great day too 😘❤️

[clockworksteel]

The Void Rains Upon Her Heart Lore... Part 1

Alright, so, before properly beginning "The Void Rains Upon Her Heart Lore for People Who Don't Play The Void Rains Upon Her Heart But Are Kinda Curious About The Thing Their Friend Has Been into Lately Part 1", I'll remark that it's a fun game that's playable as an entry-level shoot 'em up player, and that uncovering the lore one piece at a time from reading the Memories/Notes related to items in the Collection (and a few other sources) is part of the enjoyment. Perhaps given the premise of the post it doesn't really need a spoiler warning, but here there be spoilers (although maybe not that many in this specific post).

As much as I'd like to jump right into talking about specific monster types, I think I have to start with things like the Zaraden and Tetrids. The things which set up the plot and world a little. Also, I'll use [] when I'm giving a source for something, which will be done inconsistently. Like, some things are obvious enough to a player that I'm not gonna go looking for a source, but sometimes I happen to already know of one, and I'll also try to always source the weirder facts. I might also try to get some screenshots in later posts, but this one is text-only.

The Zaraden are the dominant race on the planet Eyeris, and can be considered basically the "humans" of the world, if humans could grow wings and had dream-magic. Zaraden live in towers [Distant Towers Dreamscape Memory], do questionable experiments [Heart Tank Power Gift Memory/The Garden's Blessing Dreamscape Memory], and, as a society, are super ableist. The player exclusively plays as outcasts, who mostly never developed wings good enough to fly with. The "wingless" are largely presumed to be useless, although it is possible to be considered "one of the useful ones" for a time [Full Radiant Bonus Gift Memory]. Due to their status, or perhaps other additional reasons, the main characters no longer live in the tower, and survive in a land sometimes known as "the pit", where "wingless" are left to die [Iiry Forest Dreamscape Memory].

Though the main characters have been mistreated, and are generally forced to hide wherever they can, they are still full of love and wish to share it with the monsters [Overlove Bonus Gift Memories]. They do so by sending out their hearts into dreamscapes and directly confronting the manifestations of the fears the monsters feel using love bullets [How to Love Tutorial]. These fear manifestations usually look like the monsters but don't have to [In My Dreams Dreamscape Memory]. While monsters actually fear Zaraden even more than a Zaraden can even feel fear [Fear Sense Power Gift Memory], once their fears are erased, they are capable of loving the Zaraden back, so whoever wrote in the Fear Sense memory "Monsters are evil creatures that will kill us if they get the chance" seems to have been incorrect.

At any rate, loving monsters happens to also be a great survival strategy for an outcast Zaraden looking to live among monsters and also walk outside. However, for some reason that will likely be explored in later updates (the game is in early access), the entire region (or world?) is under a daily memory wipe which only a select few can resist, so every day the monsters are back to being afraid. The main characters still love, though, for sharing a beautiful thing and having it last only a short time is better than never at all. Also, they do hope to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. Perhaps the answers lie in fulfilling their dreams or the monsters' dreams (earning achievements), for dreaming with a Zaraden has the power to change the world [Fulfilling Dreams Tutorial].

As for why the monsters are so afraid of Zaraden, I'm not aware of any direct mention of why that is. I can factually state that triangular things known as "Tetrids" are a power source in the world [Full Prism Bounty Gift Memory], that they're formed from negative emotions [Citations upcoming], that monsters produce way more of them than Zaraden do [Prism Flake Bounty Gift Memory], and that Zaraden are definitely farming them from monsters using some method that's considered dangerous [Full Prism Bounty Gift Memory, again]. While the player definitely extracts Tetrids by either destroying fears or via events that involve sharing even more love with a monster, so they may not exclusively result from negative emotions, they are mostly known for their negative sides.

I like to imagine that Zaraden society has something like a reverse Monsters Inc., where they regularly go out and scare monsters on purpose to farm more Tetrids, leading to deep-seated trauma in the monsters, but that's pure speculation and not supported in the text as far as I'm aware.

For a bit more on the Tetrids, there are 7 colors, the first 6 of which are associated with specific emotions:

Green - Embarrassment, Guilt, and Shame [One Green Bonus Gift Memory]

Red - Frustration and Anger [One Red Bonus Gift Memory]

Yellow - Denial [One Yellow Bonus Gift Memory]

Blue - Stress and Anxiety [One Blue Bonus Gift Memory]

Orange - Insecurity and Instability [One Orange Bonus Gift Memory]

Purple - Loneliness [One Purple Bonus Gift Memory]

Radiant (rainbow) - Composed of all other colors together, although this process happens "at the molecular level" and is not something the player can just voluntarily mix together at any time [Prism Shard Bounty Gift Memory]. There is a garden which can make them from the other 6 Tetrids, but it's fairly inefficient [The Garden's Blessing Dreamscape Memory].

Each color of Tetrids are associated with different monster types, but I'll definitely get more into that later.

Also, partial Tetrids are called Motes. I didn't really have a good place to mention this. It takes 2048 Motes to make a Tetrid. The developer seems to like that specific power of 2. 1/2048 is also the approximate rate at which "Wingless" are born [Wingless Power Gift Memory].

Finally, for something that's more of a fun fact than useful to know for understanding the world, Tetrids cause different sensory experiences for everyone [Cool Tetrids Bonus Gift Memory], but usually do something related to either the listed emotions or their opposite. For a specific example, one Zaraden found that Blue Tetrids smell like mint to them, which calms their anxiety [Blue Ore Bounty Gift Memory].

[eliasdrid]

Three thoughts: since everyone and their mother calls build the best rider and I had a relatively mid experience with it and I see you had an awful experience with it…

number three but I put it first bc it’s the most important: why didn’t you like it? Sorry if you’ve made posts abt that—

number one, what do you consider the best rider show?

number two, have you seen kamen rider geats?

3 - Oh that wretched show (Kamen Rider Build)........................ I'll leave my full answer for last so I can just do a "read more" and spare people of spoilers for the show. The TL;DR is that I have a love/hate relationship with it, it starts really well but then it uh, it's like the show just forgets itself? does that make sense? I don't know, it disappointed me... My message to the world is: if you want to watch it (in my opinion) up to episode 33 it's pretty good, it gets worse later.

[note: edited this to be less harsh bc I liked a lot of the show in the end despite my issues with some choices and some people might think I didn't like anything at all]

1 - This kinda spoils the options for the poll a little but whatever. I got into toku this year with sentai so I've only watched Shin Kamen Rider (the 2023 movie) and then Kamen Rider Den-O (2007), Kamen Rider W (2009) and Kamen Rider Build (2017).

I don't think any of the shows are perfect but I think the most satisfying experience overall from start to finish was Den-O because it's a bit silly but consistent with it? So it's pretty enjoyable.

2 - Funny story... I started Geats but I couldn't click with it. I do think a lot of the suit designs are SUPER pretty though. Kamen Rider Geats, Cross Geats and Na-Go are my faves for sure (from the images and material I've seen).

3 - OK So let's do this. I have actually not done a list of all my issues with this show here in my blog but I have complained a lil to people I know and who have watched it (and shared my opinions). This is my personal opinion and I want to preface this by saying I'm a sci-fi nerd and I might have set the bar too high because it looked really promising to me.

SPOILERS FOR BASICALLY EVERYTHING IN THE SHOW

I'll get to issues related to characters first, I think that's easier:

Vernage could have been really interesting but she is equally under and overutilized when convenient to the point she's always doing everything with her last breath (until she does actually die... ) and shows up so sporadically you almost forgot she was still alive when she shows up again. It's wild because when she's introduced you're like? Oh? Will she give us lore and then die? Perhaps a clue to a secret weapon? Some secret power up? no!

Misora is never developed to her full potential despite going through a lot of stuff during the entire show. She could have had a more active relationship with Vernage and tap into some martian knowledge or be able to channel Vernage's power willingly but :/ Her dad literally ends in a coma and she is like... mostly unaffected? Doesn't talk about him? Idk, I'm not saying she should henshin because that's unrealistic with this show but she could have worked with Vernage to take revenge on Evolt for that (via helping the team). I WILL say, she does have her sad moments and her actress does a really good job, it broke my heart when she had her final conversation with Evolt!Soichi. But off that? She's an internet idol ^w^ and the glue that has to hold the team together even though she's like LITERALLY 18-19 and everyone else in their mid 20s and up???

Insanely enough Sawa's friend to spy to friend to spy to friend thing is decently executed so I can't complain much here.

Y'know what I can complain about though? Kazumi! Kazumi is such a character that I wanted to root for because he is so much about community once you get to know him and he has this good caring leadership vibe to him. This guy commits and this guy finds middle points and he can't forgive Gentoku but he asks anyway that he joins them and he even encourages him later to try and follow his father's footsteps. HOWEVER. HE IS A FUCKING CREEP OVER AN IDOL AND THAT UNFORTUNATELY IS MISORA. Bro is 29 years old demanding respect from Banjo and fangirling over a girl that is like... a real human being... who he actually gets to know. I thought their relationship would be... realizing she's a Real Human Being With Thoughts And Feelings but he never stops being a weirdo and it was uncomfortable... ☠

Isurugi Soichi... (not Evolt) underutilized as hell... we get this reveal that he can talk to Evolt near 33 and I thought "OH! Maybe he can influence him? Maybe this is what has been stopping Evolt from wrecking absolute havoc?" but as you might know/guess, this was not the case. There was a LOT of potential for a parallel with Him being posessed by Evolt and Misora being possessed by Vernage and Misora coming to terms with the fact that her dad got the worst alien buddy out of the situation but... they don't do this.

Evolt (Evolt)... my major problem with him is that the show literally tries to sell this "monster that didn't have feelings before" story on the last arc and it just... doesn't work? Because yeah, he's an asshole but like he clearly gets frustrated and excited and he clearly had a lot of feelings driving him around otherwise he'd not have gotten attached to the same human body for 10 YEARS and only hopped out of it when his "vessel" was complete.

Banjo, I got here finally, I deserve a medal. Not my kind of character but overall he's fine? The whole alien thing is done in the most boring way possible imo, idk how they did that but hey! The show is in such a hurry to go through as many small plots as possible near the end that it went super fast?

Sento! I can't talk about one and not the other! Overall Sento is a well done amnesiac protagonist until they make him go back to his old self to undo character development near the end for what feels like ages (I think it was just two episodes though?) and then he remembers and io and behold! he's Sento again but can remember some things from before. I have no words, it felt like he was going to stay like that for a second and all his character development would be undone. I think he could have remembered without having to go through that, I think he could have had conversations with himself without them just making him forget his friends so Katsuragi could have ONE chat with Gentoku. I think he was prone enough to monologue that he could have started remembering after Evolt by just. Literally talking to himself and finding his old self within him... like we could have had the same thing without the weird moment. I also think the whole arc with his dad suddenly coming back was poorly written... because? Suddenly he's not THE Genius and also Build wasn't "originally" meant for him even though it's hinted MANY times that it was Katsuragi who developed the Kamen Rider System entirely/mostly on his own. I think I could be ages here so I'm gonna move on by saying: it was bad.

Gentoku... my meow meow... I'm biased, overall I liked his character development and the Rogue drama was interesting? (it has a couple problems and more torture/blood than necessary maybe tho). His whole deal felt more straightforward than the rest and before he becomes a bit of a "joke" (with the identity fashion crisis and then the awkward moments) he has some really good moments of redemption. I really liked his speech in 39 when he feels bad about fucking up with Utsumi and is too injured to fight. ("Im not writing at 2 am edit": He has good character moments after 39 too! I understand they needed to kill the tension a little by making some fun of him and I liked some of it; the nepotism bit was really good! and his sacrifice was meaningful)

Honorable Utsumi mention because: what do you mean he was a cyborg??? That was so out of the blue and meant absolutely nothing because it's not... anything. For a show that did decent hints about things Utsumi suddenly being a cyborg because "haha his nickname was cyborg" and they maybe did one joke on an episode intro... it's really lame. Off this (which I needed out of my chest) he has a lot of missed potential and could (and should) have replaced Sento's dad as Evolt's "main" scientist because uhh he literally did the Sclash Driver and was very talented? Did the writer just... forget that? I guess so! It'd have been more interesting for sure if he had been working all along against Evolt fearing he'd betray Nanba but no.

I'm gonna go over plot things as quick as possible because I got too wordy with the character stuff:

The Pandora Box. I get it, it's a very convenient excuse but for a thing that Evolt seems to have created himself... they sure throw a last minute "but he doesn't know about this secret panel" I think... I think Evolt knows his funny little box for destroying planets and consuming their energy better than anyone on Earth...

The Sky Wall and the Pandora Tower. It'd have been SO much fun if, as I had hoped, the Pandora Tower was a massive labyrinth they had to figure out to get to the top and stop Evolt or some sort of ritual over a period of time...

The Show is called Kamen Rider Build! They do not build shit during the final episodes. I guess the Grease power up but he dies as soon as he uses it so that doesn't count. They literally got most of everything "solved" around the time Katsuragi made the Genius bottle so! They decide to reuse the Hazard Trigger to do something that is never hinted at (or makes sense if you ask me)... they don't even modify it 😭😭😭😭 They could have done something like before the proxy battle when Sawa and Sento do the modifications for Tank/Tank and Rabbit/Rabbit and have the team help Sento assemble a new device before fighting Evolt but no...

"Let's make a new world instead of properly defeating the bad guy" coward move! It also conveniently erases everyone's character development even if Sento and Banjo are "the same" in the new world it's just, a weird choice (I've been told they get their memories back in the specials or something but still ????)

Evolt destroying the world at random suddenly for his own amusement was really just an excuse to do the New World thing sellable and was really weird specially after the Be The One Movie in which he CLEARLY doesn't want Earth destroyed. He Loved Earth. He spent 10 slutty slutty years posing as a DILF and 3+ of them causing problems on purpose. BE REAL.

Also having Gentoku and Kazumi die was another way to make the "new world" thing more easy to digest because "see :( our friends died we need to bring them back :(" (idk man they were pretty decent at fighting, they could have not died!)

FINALLY. On the New World thing: A Post War scenario with the Kamen Riders helping rebuild the country and Kazumi and Gentoku in leadership positions, Misora reconnecting with her Dad and Sento trying to figure out how to use the bottles for good and more practical uses than fighting would have been much better...

anyway this got super long, I'm so sorry. Thank you for coming to my KRB talk. Kudos to you if you made it to the end, I probably have even more thoughts on this but we'd both be here forever. I'm locking this because people are weird about shows sometimes and I have seen people insist that Build is Really Really good when it's like. mid at best if you have to judge it from start to end.

additionally: I refuse to watch the specials <3 the movie (Be the One) was fine though, tbh it felt more on sync with the show than the finale. Even if they introduce the Blood Tribe guys only to kill them off. The Buid/Cross Z fusion bit was fun too!

[devvinn1ie]

Asharact Saga time guys! This essentially one of my (many) oc universes.

It’s been around for a while now (since 2020) and the characters and plot has gone through a ton of changes

(Lore copied from toyhous lol)

The story takes place on the continent of Asharcat, which is made up of 7 nations (formerly 8): Huranto, Delta, Sparks, Elocae, Glacia, Nephriss, and Xeinteria, with Lovat being the former eighth. Each nation is led by a singular ruler, with noble houses and government officials that aid them through their reign.

Each nation represents one element; Huranto with geo/earth, Delta and water, Sparks and fire, Elocae and lightning, Glacia and ice, Nephriss and wind, and Xeinteria and darkness/death.

The story is centered around the "War of Ends", a war taking place during the 57th generation's reign. Silvanus Hyde, the King of Xeinteria declares war on Huranto, led by Sparrow Luhya, with the goal of demolishing the monarchy system and reuniting all nations. The other nations are not only forced to choose sides but also gradually join the fight.

The current 57th generation consists of: sparrow Luhya, Silvanus Hyde, Darya Jendrsik, Agni Videgain, Fei Ambrose-Barnett, Remiel Yates, and Yukio Adachi

Refs cuz ye ^^^

This is probably the most developed of universe I have. I have a on going slide show for these guys that is already like 90 slides long. Just a ton of lore, character profiles, and history! I have to hold back the urge to just drop everything at once. Gotta split every bit of lore into tiny pieces and drop it bit by bit.

Since I can write sm more on here, I could probably elaborate on lore more?

Gonna share sm from this universe later (gotta share Elaine, the triplets and Aeterna!)

Ok bee bye guys

[helenadurazzo]

Amino has been having bad service all weekend. I'm glad we were still able to hold chats there despite the technical problems.

As for the new OC you shared details of, it would be a challenge for me to write a prejudiced pure blood OC without having them learn a more tolerant mindset and view of the world later on 😂 it'll be interesting what happens later on to your OC. Sorry my mind's blank on her name

Elvira (along with Warden who I am sharing either Tuesday or Wednesday I think) is much less developed, especially compared to what I already have when it comes to the lore of Phineas, Marie, and Szuszi. Once HPHL comes out officially this Friday, I’ll write a bit more for her as I am leaving her relatively a blank slate until I learn more about the storyline.

Her character can also serve as a contrast to Szuszi who comes to Hogwarts with a similar mindset but changes for the better. While I do not see Elvira changing her view points (as she refuses to attend any events that involve not pure bloods such as Olivia’s wedding). I have yet to decide if she will involve herself with a group that is similar to Grindelwald’s supports or the death eaters.

[persi-person]

I had a poll on Instagram a while back about what to lore dump on but I want to throw out some Upside Down stuff so don’t tell them.

Upside Down is something I’ve started working on recently. It’s based on a writing piece I’d started a year or so back when I was bored. It was originally inspired by Tales From The Gas Station by Jack Townsend as well as some other stories I’ve heard listening to MrCreepyPasta’s nonstop horror radio, but now that I’ve started working on it again, I’ve taken some inspiration from The Last of Us too. (Fun fact: I had originally called it Tales From The End but you can probably guess why I changed it lol)

Upside Down tells the story of a world that has been torn apart by a mysterious incident that set supernatural creatures loose everywhere. It’s told mostly from the perspective of Emory, who is suffering from amnesia after an accident in an abandoned hospital. He’s rescued by a mysterious figure and taken to a fortified camp of survivors where he makes his recovery and starts to learn about the world he’s forgotten. It has less of an overarching/adventurous/intense plot and is more about this characters experiencing the world they’re in and forming relationships.

TL;DR: I’m working on a story with apocalyptic themes

Beyond the cut is just me going more in depth on ideas I have and drawings I’ve done.

The first character design I had was for Root. At the time, I didn’t even know what I wanted to do with him, but he’s become very important by now. He’s the one who finds Emory and brings him back to the camp.

I’ve already posted this but these are better drawings of him.

He’s quiet and brooding and prefers to keep to himself. He’s got a lot of secrets that he’s not too keen on sharing. He’s a very skilled fighter and is almost abnormally strong and resilient (suspicious), but most people at camp don’t get to see him work because he prefers to work alone.

Emory gets to know him when he’s finally well enough to be assigned on missions and is paired with Root to go on a supply run. The captain understands he doesn’t like company, but she wants someone to show Em the ropes and figures Root knows what he's doing so he should do just fine.

Root doesn’t like Emory at first, but as they continue to work together, they start to get along.

It took me a while to come up with a design for Emory, but I came to this final look with the help of my friend. I’d like to credit her but she doesn’t have Tumblr and doesn’t want her Insta to get too much attention.

Emory is more outgoing than Root. He’s more reckless and impulsive, which has gotten him into trouble more than once. For multiple reasons I’m pretty sure he has ADHD, but if he does, it’s undiagnosed and will probably stay that way because there’s no one in the camp to do that for him. The most anyone can do is speculate. He doesn’t think he has it though.

Like I mentioned before, Root and Emory started off on the wrong foot, and that's because Emory makes poor decisions that put himself and Root in danger. Despite repeated warnings from Root, Emory rarely listens, which frustrates Root to no end.

Over time and as they go on more missions together, they gradually start to get along. Root teaches Emory how to defend himself better and Emory starts to listen to Root more (sort of).

Emory is the first to develop feelings. He doesn't say anything because he assumes Root isn't interested. Root later follows suit but also says nothing, instead repressing his feelings and convincing himself he's not worthy of love.

I have some other ideas and worldbuilding I will share in a later post because I can't spoil everything in one go lol. I have a Google Doc with all the random stuff I have on this if anyone is interested.

[ut-girl666]

Okay, okay. So we have (basically) canon Poet!Megatron. but, hear me out here - what about Author!Megatron?? Like, writes books, not just poetry.

Personally, I think of Fantasy Genre being what he writes, and he ends up with a good couple books. And like, they’re really well written. Beautiful plot, fantastic characters, gives plenty of development to each of them, and whole arcs, usually completed before the book ends.

Even better; he specifically tries to make them LGBTQ+ friendly. He makes lots of diverse fun characters, with different identities of all kinds. Particular interesting thing he does specifically for his repulsed readers, is he actually warns when there will be smut or something close in a chapter. This is because he’s a Repulsed!AroAce. And further more, when scenes like that actually happen (not in the first two, only implied), he actively admits, no, he didn’t write them, one of his ‘editors’ did.

He also tends to write his books with lots of warnings, and usually puts a page between each chapter, specifically so readers aren’t immediately tossed into something they weren’t alright with, because he knows that people have trauma, and PTSD, because he does himself, and doesn’t want to put his readers into a bad spot, because of his writing. He’s a very friendly writer.

And now into the funnies of Author!Megs.

One day Elita drags him onto Twitter and Tumblr. He effectively does normal twitter stuff, and he talks to some fans/readers, lets them ask stuff, etc. Tumblr, he talks, interacts a little more, and reblogs a lot, he also has a few little blogs - one for reblogging things, one for just his own talking and stuff (inc when he comments on his weblogs outside of tags - those go on both.), one where he is magical author man. Readers can talk to him there, and see when he makes new content just for fun. They love it!

And when they do the asking, it depends which he’s on. Twitter - he’s serious, mature, and very adult. Tumblr - it’s like he looked at his full ass inbox, and did some drugs before answering them. He is so fun on Tumblr.

“You said [Character] does [Hobby] in the first book, and they still do in [Later book]. Did they get any better?”

Twitter Megs: It depends. Time may only tell if they did. Full answer on tumblr - [link]

Tumblr Megs:

lol they still suck ass.

Also, Elita, being an Artist on Tumblr with her own characters, world, lore, and stuff, knows him. She loves to make him things, and has read his books. She likes them. Eventually once Ariel and Orion were bondmates, and she started having to spend more time with him (Orion and Megs shared a house for like, their v. of six years, basically- and they were gonna be in-laws, gotta learn to get along with the family. kinda. at least for dinner.), they got along. She became his beta-reader for the third book, and his editor. (She suggested the smut, and wrote it. The explicit part is on her tumblr/ao3, megs didn’t let that go through, only suggestive/implied! He got really hot and bothered by it… in the negative way. He likes it, until the actual sex. Then *scream* SLAM! So it all goes on ao3.)

She also stands up for him when people steal his shit. He doesn’t really do much besides say ‘hey, please don’t copy/steal my stuff’, as he’s new to the internet. She’s been around since he was fourteen, and she used to be like that, but now she’s aged up, and she will not tolerate theft!! So she screams it from the rooftops, and alerts people “hey! They steal/copy other ppl’s content! Stay away from them! >:(.” it’s something she does for a lot of people, and Megs is included bc she knows that just like her, he hold his blorbos close and dear to his heart.

Ppl also hate him in the second book/prequel, he does the thing, and kills a character for the first time, especially one that had become so beloved!! He didn’t like doing it. He cried, a lot. He hated having to bring them back home to him. But he happily put them out into the world for ppl to make fics about them.

That being said, he doesn’t like it when people make fics where they mess with specific established stuff (sexuality, race, etc.), but otherwise, if it’s just an AU (Cafe!AU, Royalty!AU, Highschool!AU, etc.), other little things, (fluff, angst, etc.), or even something else (fix-it fic, song-fic, slice of life, how a pair may have got together, etc.) he loves them!! He loves all of that, to see people being inspired, tossing his babies into scenarios, making what-if?s about them, maybe letting them have a break with some fluff, or whatever! It’s his favorite! And he loves to scroll and see the things. So every time his kills a character, he puts a tag around their neck, and gives them back to the fan base to play with.

I’m begging you lot, think about it!! Just an idea, but what if?! Wouldn’t it be fun?

[therpgminimalist]

Making your world the MVP

Tolkienesque world building sucks for amateur world builders.  Don’t get me wrong I love the depth of Middle earth, it’s  a fascinating and rich world, with hundreds of characters, history and extensive background lore. I’ve gotten lost in it more than once.  It was also a lifelong work.  I don’t know about you, but for me RPG world building is all a out creating a world you and your players will enjoy playing in.  

In the world of software development (which I happen to wok on the periphery of)  MVP is not “Most Valuable Player”, it’s Minimum Viable Product.  You knew this was going t work minimum in htere right ? I mean that;t the whole point of this blog. The Minimum Viable Product is the absolute least you can do to get your new thingamajig into the hands of users and have it work well enough.  If it works well, people like it and start using it, you can add features later.  If people don’t like it, you haven’t spent a ton of effort on a dud, or even worse the effort is too much, and you never finish your product development.

Why does this apply to your world building for an RPG game?  If we’re being honest with ourselves, most homebrew campaigns never get beyond a few sessions, or in many cases not even to the first session.  World builders spend a lot of development time for what in many cases is very little or even no play time.

Now if you just want to world build as a creative exercise, this is fine, but then this blog isn’t really for you. (but hey, thanks for reading)   But if you are doing it because you want to share and play in the world you have created then this is huge problem.  You end up investing a lot of effort and time in to something that never really comes to fruition.  It would be like Michelangelo (no not the Ninja  Turtle one) painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, then bticking up the doors and windows. 

[auspicious-voice]

Fuwa Maria AI & Fuwa Mario AI for DiffSinger Progress Report (April 2024)

It's been (almost) a month since my last progress report, but since it's April, I thought it wouldn't hurt to update with a new one. Plus, I got some big news to share!

Everything else is under the cut as usual.

Voicebank Progress

Both of Maria and Mario's DiffSinger voicebanks have been trained up to 200k variance and 160k acoustic! At that point, both voicebanks sound their very best, at least in version 1.0.0. Regardless, I'm still happy with the way they turned out, and at least they sound distinct from each other.

The reason why I say version 1.0.0 is because I have a potential version 2.0.0 update in the works. The thing is, version 1.0.0 will be the last time my old recording setup was used to record singing data. I say this because my current microphone, the Blue Snowball iCE, is just not cutting it for my needs these days, especially when it comes to singing in general. I don't really know when version 2.0.0 will come out, but maybe next year or so - IF I can get my hands on new equipment. Please expect version 1.0.0 to come out later this year, probably during June or something like that.

In the meantime, once I finish the artwork of my DiffSinger designs, I will post silhouettes of them along with new short demos. If that ReFlow update for DiffSinger comes out after I release my voicebanks, there COULD be a 1.1.0 update.

Possible Audio Equipment Upgrades

So for audio equipment, I'd like to upgrade to using an XLR microphone and interface for recording. I'm glad there are cheaper options out there that are actually good, plus I am on a budget myself, and would like to spend under $200 for that.

I am still using my pop filter, desktop stand, and isolation shield from my old setup, so with that being said, I'd like to upgrade to a Mackie EM-91C microphone and an M-Audio M-Track Solo audio interface. Both of these are budget options, but based on the reviews, I've heard that they are solid choices for starting out with an XLR setup. Plus the Mackie EM-91C already comes with a shockmount AND an XLR cable!

Potential Megamodel Development

I am considering developing a megamodel with my friends to add more language compatibility and range with the 2.0.0 update - that is, if everything goes to plan. I plan to add Maria and Mario's potential new datasets to the mix of course, as well as my friends if they're fine with that. It could be just plain singing data or even UTAU recordings - anything helps to further improve the model output.

For language support, Japanese and English are planned, but if possible, there could be support for French, Spanish, Italian, or perhaps even Chinese, Korean, and/or Tagalog. I still need to figure out the phonemes and how I want to organize them though.

I just hope that when the megamodel dataset is complete, Colab will still be merciful to me...I'm not sure why it takes longer to set everything up...

Character Progress

Designs

I just finished working on Maria and Mario's reference sheets for their DiffSinger designs! Currently focused on finishing their fullbody artwork, which won't be revealed up until their voicebank release.

And no, I don't want to work on additional append designs, that's already too much work...It'd make sense for standalone appends, which is what I did for my other UTAU voicebanks, but for DiffSinger...naaaaah.

Profiles

Nothing new at the moment! I'm still working on fleshing out the lore, given that DiffSinger Maria and Mario are just slightly older versions of their UTAU selves. Expect some lore drops about them when their voicebanks are released? I don't really want to make separate profile pages for them at all.

Anything Else?

For the potential 2.0.0 update, I would love to revive a discontinued UTAU of mine and resurrect them as a DiffSinger through the planned megamodel with a serviceable amount of singing data and vocal modes. If I can do the voice again, I might go forward with it!

Also Maria and Mario's 9th anniversary was on the 4th, and it's wild how they've existed for so long. Listening to their old voicebanks reminds me of how far they've come, and it makes me want to tear up a bit.

Anyways, I'll see you guys around! I might be able to publish full-length demos of Maria and Mario's DiffSinger voicebanks on YouTube at some point, so keep an eye out for that.

[writingismadnessinmymind]

The History of Gwydion Mabinogi

Based loosely on the Welsh lore of Math fab Mathonwy (first half) Friendly reminder to read it in the context of history and weird tales. This plays around 400 A.D. and, thus, rape and patriarchy are common things. I do not support this behavior at all.

Picking up the pieces of a life once divine Now I pray for our existence while I waste away the time I take pause to search for reason as I plan for my escape And then I down yet another drink cause most times it makes me think … … Of you I can hear your voice, I can feel your pain Seems we’ve traveled so far and now we're back here again It's an only life in a lonely world In the end we all get what we deserve Oh, if I could break these chains and leave this place unscathed I’d pray the scars would fade away in time and that someday You’ll feel my pain, my pain Lost in all the changes, I confess to being confused For the time is unforgiving, to all those who waste it Chose the right path of destination Only truth can set you free, and like an archer I pierce your veil so that you can be revealed by me I can be alone. I can hold my own Since you chose to abandon us for places unknown I have had my fair share of ups and downs Throw stones inevitably hit the ground — Darkhaus, Feel my Pain What makes a man what he is, or better, what he pretends to be? Most will respond with ‘experiences’, ‘education’, or ‘character’. And they aren’t wrong. But many forget that the environment plays the most important role. Where did we grow up, under what circumstances and conditions? What duties were assigned to us that would not have been experienced elsewhere? What expectations do others have of us? All of this plays a major role in our personality development and is reflected in our behavior later. We act and respond instinctively as our judgment dictates. Refusing or suppressing our response to it is all the more difficult the more memorable an experience has been. It is easier for a trained eye to recognize such reactions because they’re difficult or impossible to control.

Gwydion has always had a talent for seeing exactly what his opponent thought or desired. He studied his fellow human beings far more dearly and attentively than the documents which had been submitted to him for studying. Even his cunning brother Gilfaethwy had other things in mind than to study and was not sorry to drive his teachers with pranks to insanity, while only their sister Aranrhod devoted herself grateful to the lessons. Unfortunately, she was the least blessed with intelligence, so her teacher always had a hard time inspiring the three for the lessons and keeping them in a good mood.

It had always been common knowledge that, above all, the fairy folk were inclined to excessiveness and not to scholarship, something about which Math, king of Gwynedd and uncle of the three siblings, desperately wanted to do something. His nephews, so he had promised his sister Dôn, should once become great rulers and understand something of their craft and the history of their people. Just as his niece was to become a respected and educated woman by the side of a wealthy man.

But over the years, not much changed in the circumstances. Gideon and Gilfaethwy grew up to be handsome men, who roamed the country in the name of their uncle, respecting law and order, while Aranrhod spent her time at the court, secretly making love to one of the servants. However, the two men often understood something different under 'law and order' than the old gentleman had thought. They took whatever they liked, drank, and scuffled with the compatriots, leaving mostly annoyance and fear in the villages, because if anyone ever opposed them, then Gwydion insisted to brag about the magical powers he had discovered during his youth. Math, who was tied to the court at that time thanks to an old curse, unless a war was declared, got none of this.

One day, Gwydion and Gilfaethwy had just returned from the south and sat at the table at court, Gwydion nudged his brother, who was looking sicker and sicker for the last few days. He knew him too well to understand that this wasn’t a physical ailment, but something else.

“Boy, what's wrong with you?”

“Why? What do you see in me?”

“I see that you lose your good looks and your facial color. So what's wrong with you?”

“My dear brother, it won’t do me any good if I admit to anyone what is wrong with me.”

“What is it, my friend?”

“You know Math’s special trait that every word, as soon as it is spoken, is carried to him by the wind.”

“Well, then don’t say anything else. I know what it is: you want Goerwin.”

Gilfaethwy sighed deeply and lowered his eyes.

“Don’t sigh, that won't help you get her” Gwydion put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly, the famous sparkle that bespoke a new plan appeared in his eyes.

“I'll ensure you that she's going to be yours. Be it Gwynedd, Powys and Deheubarth got to war for it.”

And that was how it came that Gwydion cheated Math into believing that he could bring him a new breed of animals that the Lord of Powys, Prideri, son of Pwylls had been given a few days ago. Gwydion and Gilfaethwy traveled to the Court of Powys, veiled by a spell, and in turn had Prideri persuaded to close a bargain, tempting him to swap the animals for enchanted goods, revealing themselves worthless the next day and infuriating the entire court of Powys. Prideri knew immediately who had to be responsible because no one else in the country had the impudence and the power to give him the runaround like Gwydion had done. Thereupon Prideri had his whole army saddled up and called for war against Gwynedd. Math was forced to leave the yard and leave Goerwin at the court.

This was the moment the men had been waiting for: they sneaked back to the yard, Gilfaethwy took Goerwin, and Gwydion took pleasure in her maid, and there was no one who couldn’t get wind of it, but no one dared to intervene for fear.

The next day they hurried to the front of the war, where dozens of men had fallen until Prideri and Gwydion finally decided on a duel to spare the rest of the men. The ground under their feet was already soaked in blood, making smacking noises as they steeled themselves for battle. It was clear that Prideri didn’t have many chances against the mighty Druid, as they once entitled him. And Gwydion knew that as well. A confident smile crept to his lips as the blades collided, and he sneered at his counterpart.

As expected, Gwydion defeated Prideri, and so his land went into the possession of the Mabinogi. The country was in mourning and Math was angry with his nephew when he heard from Goerwin what had been the cause of all the deaths. He sent for the men and let his full wrath on them. A thunderstorm was still to be heard up to the gates and across the sea to Ynys Môn.

“What pain and what shame have you brought over our house? Only for your insatiable craving for the female flesh you have claimed hundreds of men’s lives! Like the beasts without reason and understanding you have acted, as beasts, you shall live henceforth and satisfy your lust!”

Math rose from his throne, and before one of them could oppose him, he turned Gilfaethwy into a hind and Gwydion into a stag. “Go out and live in this form, with the desires of the animals. You are to father a progeny and you will bring it back here in a year’s time!"

A greater humiliation could have befallen neither of them, and since Math was one of the most powerful druids in the area and none of them could do anything about it in their present form, they followed and went out into the forest, where they spent a year as a stag and a hind, and returned the following year with a fawn, which Math took, turned it into a boy, and baptized it. Gilfaethwy and Gwydion were still not released from their punishment, Math was still angry with them and so he turned the hind into a boar and the deer into a wild sow so that they performed the ritual again and return in the coming year with a shoat which Math also took. But still, the anger was not extinguished and he turned them again: The boar became the she-wolf and the wild sow the wolf.

When they returned with the wolf cub the following year, Math finally released them from their shame and turned the men back into their human form. Humble, they were shown to their three sons, but inside the anger was smoldering stronger than ever and Gwydion had made it his goal to wreak revenge on his uncle one day. But first, it was up to them to help Math find a new maiden. They suggested Aranrhod, who still claimed to be one, but when Math tested her, the opposite was true: she gave birth to two sons, one of whom was so inconspicuous that Gwydion pulled him aside unnoticed and secretly raised him up. Aranrhod was so humiliated that she denied maternity and even forgot her second son.

Gwydion couldn’t understand why she was so curt with the children, he wished for himself that he could’ve seen his sons grow up. So he cared for the nameless boy until he had become a handsome man before he showed him to his mother, who still wanted to know nothing about him and cursed him. The boy was disappointed and Gwydion didn’t want to let this happen. He loved the child as much as his own son, and once again consulted his talent to trick his sister into giving the boy a deserved reputation.

After all, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, with the help of his uncle, had gotten everything that a son of the court deserved: weapons, money, property, and a beautiful woman. But she did not remain faithful to him, cheated on him with the Lord of another Cantrefi, and Gwydion helped Lleu to avenge him on both until one could rightfully call the property his own.

Gwydion had waited up to that point, now it was time to take his own revenge and get rid of Math. With the help of his brother, he lured Math into a trap from which he could no longer free himself. In any case, the fairy was far too old for his taste, and Lleu a much better ruler. He himself had no intentions to ascend the throne, so he let his foster son rule over Gwynedd. Aranrhod had also caught up with her fate and she died of an by that time incurable disease without giving birth to another child as a successor. Her firstborn had also died at the hand of another man, leaving Lleu the last rightful heir to the throne.

After Lleu was finally crowned and Gilfeathwy remained at court as his advisor, Gwydion decided to leave the country and travel because his help was no longer needed. He was convinced that the world had more to offer and so he toured countless countries in the East. He did not want to stay in Cymrw (Wales), where he was known everywhere, the infamous druid! Here suffering, there an emergency. They always wanted something from him and asked him for a favor. And he didn’t fit a throne. It wasn’t easy as a descendant of Túatha Dé Danann. Worry was one of the few goods that people never seemed to run out off.

Gwydion traveled far and much. But he visited a few places again and again because he had fallen in love with the people and their ways of living. These included, among other things, a minor village in Hungary, in the south of Lake Balaton, and Bydgoszcz in northeastern Poland. Later, however, he was drawn north again: a half-dilapidated village on the southeastern shore of Lough Corrib in Ireland was the last stop he had made. However, one should not think that these places were chosen solely because of the environment and the population, no, rather it was a secret brotherhood, whose original members could be traced back to these places.

In his search, he had met with like-minded people in these places, who also expected more from the world than it seemed to offer. They wanted to explore the secrets that frightened mankind due to superstition and they did what they wanted. Laws never mattered. It serves one right who does wrong, which meant more to the four than anything that some gentleman had written on their papers.

Gwydion lived with his friends in the lap of luxury, as you might say, but it always drew the attention of jealous fellow citizens or the suspicious authorities to them. Fighting broke out and not often it ended in a squad standing in front of his house, which wanted to arrest him. But Gideon was famous for his sharp wit and masterful rhetoric. Often they could be fobbed off or deceived by magic. But if that didn’t help, he preferred to play off the lords and kings against each other, so they disposed of themselves.

But not only hostile-minded ones frequented Gwydion and his friends. Even those who were of his kind, as they said, wanted to belong to him and his brothers. It all started when he was back in Hungary and was greeted by a dozen of people instead of only his friend, who revealed to him that with the help of their powers, he had managed to come a bit further in their research. Gwydion was very upset at first, for they had actually sworn to keep silent, but when he saw that his friend was serious, he condoned the work. And so the other brothers followed soon as well. Especially in Ireland a big community and new rites awaited him.

“Who are all those people?” He asked, turning to Áernóch. “There was nothing of the sort in your last letter! We’re not the welfare or any coven, my friend.”

“Gideon, please!” He struggled to get his discovery across to him.

“These men come from another coven whose founders have delivered a great battle. All of Galway had been shaken by it!”

Now Gwydion listened as well with rapt attention.

“Whole Galway, you say?” His gaze swept toward the crowd of black-robed figures. He stepped up to one of them and planted himself in front of him.

"Look at me and tell me, what's your name?"

“Múhnaí, sir,” he replied, raising his head so that light fell on his pale features, bringing out the sunken cheeks.

“And tell me, Múhnaí, how is it that you and your brothers stand here and not with your Master?” He leaned forward, his hands clasped behind his back. “After all, I don’t want to know any apostates under my protection.”

His threatening attitude didn’t unsettle Múhnaí. After all, he was used to nothing else by his last masters.

“Lord, with good grace, but none of our masters is alive anymore, they both fell and the connection was lost, we searched, but the innermost ones must have disappeared with the corpses, they left us behind.” Múhnaí fell silent. Surely he wouldn’t beg or anything like that, but he very much hoped that he would be accepted, for what he had heard behind closed doors about the Brotherhood was no less tempting than the secrets that had been decided in his coven.

Gwydion also remained silent and straightened up again to full stature. Thoughtfully, he went back to Áernóch, but he kept the group in view out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t quite trust the whole thing. First, he wanted to put the men to the test, not that they went after him and subsequently delivered him to the supposedly disbanded coven.

“Ah, yes, I still have a question: what are the names of your masters?” He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Lord, we don’t know that, only the innermost have known this.”

“I see, what a pity. I would have loved to know more about them, but you can’t probably tell me more, now go away. I have more important things to do.” A derogatory hand movement followed and the men hurriedly followed, nobody was keen to detune the mind of the potential leader in advance.

Áernóch waited until his friend and he were alone before he spoke. He already felt that the mind of his counterpart was boiling inside, but on the outside, he couldn’t see any emotion. He played the perfect façade, perfection learned over centuries.

“Gywdyon,” he used the name only when they were among themselves, otherwise that would only have led to problems of understanding and unintentional investigation, “let me ...” He was silenced with a sinister piercing look. Okay, maybe he should now watch what he was saying.

The next moment Gwydion pushed him against the wall and pressed his hand at Áernóch’s throat.

“I think, my friend, I should refresh your memories of the Code a little, what do you think?” A vicious glint flared up in Gwydion’s eyes, clearly showing how close he was to the edge of losing his mind. Áernóch grabbed Gwydion’s hand, choking and trying to free himself from his grip, but it had been superhuman forces that were in play. “Please,” he pleaded in his thoughts and let his partner overhear, “I know the Code, but these men strive for the same goal, and the more they are, the greater we may accomplish. If I had told you about them, you would have rejected them from the beginning, you know that!”

The power of the voice subsided and Gwydion felt life gradually leave Áernóch. Therefore, he loosened his grip, but only so much that Áernóch could gasp. He then raised his free hand and pressed it to Áernóch’s right half of face, so he started screaming and writhing in pain. The smell of burned flesh came up and Gwydion pulled his hand back. Satisfied, he looked at his work:

Áernóch was now branded with a secret sign that was to be recognized only by members of the Brotherhood as a sword rune. For others, it only seemed like a burning mark by a fireplace poker.

Áernóch fell to his knees in pain, holding his face and moaning. Gwydion showed no sympathy but looked down spitefully at his friend.

“For now, let this be a lesson to you, Áernóch, and now get up, we have a lot to talk about.” He held out his hand to help him get back on his feet. Áernóch reached for it after some hesitation. He knew that Gwydion wanted to teach him just a lesson. He didn’t take pleasure in any further glee. Still, it had been a violent shock that he was sure not to forget so soon.

After a lengthy discussion, Gwydion decided he would actually give the men a chance to prove themselves. But they should also show him their new loyalty and their skills. Whether they shared his beliefs, then it would turn out. But in his opinion, people were just a mendacious pack anyway, with no sense of honor or respect for their world. Therefore, he did not expect too much from these people. Maybe they would do well as guinea pigs if he was lucky.

And now, centuries later, sitting in his small apartment, in a strange land, he stared at the sea and still commanded these idiots - at least those who had not proved utterly useless while he was so close to his destination. One of the two formerly believed coven masters, who were apparently resurrected from the dead with the help of his descendants! These damned fairies, they kept babbling, but then, when he wanted to know something decisive, they remained silent. He growled low and looked at his phone, which was muttering at that moment. Another call. Áernóch. Gwydion sighed and answered it, how much he wished at that moment to drink a Guinness with his faithful follower ... just for the good old days.

[docgold13]

365 Marvel Comics Paper Cut-Out SuperHeroes - One Hero, Every Day, All Year…

January 13th - Sersi

Sersi is an Eternal, a member of a powerful race of beings created by the Celestials millions of years ago.  The Celestials had seeded Earth, as they had with countless other worlds, with the potential for its population to develop and evolve into greater life forms.  And the Eternals were stationed on Earth to guide humankind and defend the fledgling species from the Celestials’ earlier experiment, the violent monsters known as The Deviants.  

Like her fellow Eternals, Sersi possesses the ability to transmute matter.  This makes her immortal and enables Sersi to alter the shape and quality of any substance or being; it additionally bestows her the powers of flight, enhanced strength, energy projection, telepathy and illusion casting.  Furthermore, Sersi can regenerate from any injury and can even be reincarnated in full were she to fall in battle.  Sersi’s abilities for matter transmutation is far greater than any of her fellow Eternals   

Sersi has lived among the humans for centuries, fulfilling her duties as an Eternal as well as having as much fun as she can playing the role of protector, goddess, sorceress and countless other positions of power, luxury and influence.  She encountered numerous heroes and figures of history and lore, including Odysseus, Attila the Hun, Cicero, King Arthur, Thor Odinson, Queen Elizabeth I and Thomas Chatterton.  

Sersi would later relocate to the United States, becoming a renown socialite hosting lavish parties at her Manhattan mansion.  She eventually revealed herself as an Eternal during the arrival of The Celestial’s Fourth Host.  During this time she joined the rest of The Eternals in battle against Kro and The Deviants of Lamuria.  A truce was eventually reached which led The Celestial’s to suspend their judgement of Earth’s worthiness to continue to exist.  

Sersi would later join the ranks of The Avengers and had a number of adventures alongside earth’s mightiest heroes.  During this time, Sersi entered into a romantic relationship with her fellow Avenger, The Black Knight; an affair that led to both heroes leaving the team and having an excursion in the parallel reality of the Ultraverse.  Sersi ultimately returned to the 616 Universe and some time thereafter took on the new codename of ‘Mesmer’ as part of an effort on the part of The Eternals to come across as a more traditional group of super heroes.  

Sersi and the other Eternals lost their memories of the true identities and Sersi believed herself to be a regular human with a burgeoning career as a party planner in New York City.  Eventually, the other Eternals discovered that Sprite was responsible for rewriting everyone's lives. Ikaris and others tried to make Sersi remember her past, yet she was reluctant to return to her previous life and tried instead to continue on living as a regular human.  

This retirement from Eternal business proved short lived as Sersi rekindled her old romance with Makkari and once more became involved with the team.  Makkari had become the conduit connecting The Dreaming Celestial with mankind.  This shared connection with the Dreaming Celestial was gradually overwhelming Makkari’s mind and sense of self.  Sersi attempted to free Makkari from the Dreaming Celestial yet learned that this connection as well as Sersi’s connection to Makkari were all essential in protecting the earth from the destructive cosmic entity known as The Horde.   Finally defeating this Horde appeared to cost all of The Eternals their lives without the capacity of resurrection.  And yet Sersi and the Eternals would eventually return thanks to Phastos’ reengineering the resurrection machine.  Unfortunately this process also acted to resurrect Thanos and Sersi and the other Eternals have continued to battle The Mad Titan.  

Sersi has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe portrayed by actress Gemma Chan.   The character first appeared in the pages of Venus #9 (1950).