#its still barebones but i think a good place to start

[craske]

Since Mystic Flour's original desire was to alleviate the suffering the cookiekind lived in, would her unjammed self start 'changing' by trying to aid others again? For her it is probably a very loaded thing considering what happened in the past, but idk.

since she is missing her jam, mystic flour doesnt have the power to fulfill wishes like she used to, and honestly shed be very against doing something like that again, considering how she was hurt by that. so while i dont think she would try to fulfill wishes, i believe over time she would start providing insight. at first nothing that big or important, she is still in the phase of trying to reach the same apathy from before, but her having lived through so many years, having seen so many things gives her a lot of experience. and while i wont call her benevolent, she strikes me as the closest one to that out of all other beasts. she could also potentially use her healing abilities further down the line, however itd be difficult to achieve, considering the white plague we saw in her BY episodes. still, i wont cross out that possibility

[kcrossvine-art]

Hey folks! Itsssssssssssss timeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee for another dungeon meshi cooking time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isnt that neat.

Its weird to think how long its gonna be before season 2 of the anime drops. Anyway go read the manga i promise you wont regret it. This ones from senshis lil garden on legs-

Today we'll be making Golem Field Fresh Veggie Lunch!

(As always you can find the cooking instructions and full ingredient list under the break-)

MY NAMES CROSS NOW LETS COOK LIKE ANIMALS

SO, “what goes in to Golem Field Fresh Veggie Lunch?” YOU MIGHT ASKIts vegetables, vegetable wauter, and not Much else! Knife is there too.

Head of cabbage

4 carrots

3 potatoes

2 onions

2 turnips

Thick slice bacon

Butter

Seasoned rice vinegar

I lied theres pork did you fall for it did u catch it.

AND, “what does Golem Field Fresh Veggie Lunch taste like?” YOU MIGHT ASKSon, have you ever eaten a vegetabel

Broth is surprisingly flavorful considering the limited spices and short cooktime

Potatoes are perfect texture for dipping

Cabbage absorbed a lot of the juices!!!

Was more impressed by the salad part of the meal-

The turnips need to be sliced enough to Barely see through, and the carrots julienned thin enough to be almost peels

And its this wonderful vegetable confetti tasteful in its simple pleasure

Rice vinegar of any kind will work, seasoned rice vinegar is just what i had

Salt both parts of the meal generously

In the future i wouldve shredded or cut the cabbage much smaller. We'll talk more on that later. Its also intentionally barebones with spices and oils, me using butter and rice vinegar is even pushing the limits of show accurate because in the show they used plain olive oil.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From idea to execution, this was a very quick recipe. For starters, nothing gets cooked all that long (the water spends more time empty than it does ingredient'ed) and for lasters nothing gets cut all that much. It was tricky finding good sources for stewing a whole cabbage because most recipes call for either shredding or at least chopping smaller. And they do this for a reason. Its unwieldy trying to eat a whole half of cabbage, you never quite know when to start or where to start. Do you bite chunks out? Peel leaves? Spear it with other things? I dont know. I still dont. Im not a huge raw cabbage fan and it wasnt raw, but it wasnt transformed much either. Minimalist. 

This was a feast in the show and i bet that the freshness of the veggies were a factor, considering they were plucked fresh off the living rock guys. I wouldve killed to be able to brown the onions, roast the carrots, or maybe cube the potatoes (though the consistency was perfect for forking and dipping them in butter so! Bonuses.)

Oven roast bacon is a beloved treet for me. It seemed to absorb some of the vegetable broth and vice versa with the broth absorbing the oils from the bacon, which enhanced all the flavors. Maybe in the future itd be nice to try cooking the bacon a bit ahead, and then adding it to the pot while everythings boiling? Also adding a spritz of lemon juice to either/both is always nice!

I give this recipe a solid 7/10 (with 1 being food that makes one physically sick and 10 being food that gives one a lust for life again.) for its simplicity. With modifications like shredding the cabbage and more seasonings, it could become an easy 10/10. hit that like and subscribe or kill me

🐁 ORIGINAL RESIPPY TEXT BELOW 🐁

Ingredients:

Head of cabbage

4 carrots

3 russet potatoe

2 white onions

2 turnips

10 slices of thick slice bacon

Butter

Seasoned Rice vinegar

Stew Method:

Preheat your oven to 400f. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and place a baking rack on top (alternatively you can use a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and no baking rack. but the baking rack lets the air circulate better and the grease drip off!)

Cook your bacon for about 18 minutes or until crisp. Flip halfway through.

Chop your carrots, peel and slice your potatos in half, and slice your onions into rings.

Get a large pot with a tight fitting lid, add water, salt, your carrots, your potato pieces, and your onions. Cover and heat to a low boil.

Cut the cabbage head in half down the middle. Once the pot is boiling, carefully add your cabbage to the pot and arrange the halves so theyre fully covered.

Cover and cook for about 13 minutes, the cabbage should be slightly crisp but have give to them. 

Remove from heat and laddle contents into a bowl, arrange some of your bacon along the sides so the fat and the broth mix :) salt and pepper to taste. And get a little saucer for butter so you can dip the potato pieces and/or coat the cabbage pieces.

Salad Method:

Peel your carrots and turnips. Cut off the ends of both. Julienne your carrots, and thinly slice your turnips.

Add your carrot greens (or your chosen leaf filler) to a bowl, then add your carrots and turnips.

Coat with seasoned rice vinegar, salt, and pepper. Thoroughly mix and enjoy :) 

[adobe-outdesign]

Relic pets?

Relic is really just an updated version of the ancient Stone colour that was around circa 2000 and removed pretty quickly, probably because it was just "[species], but grey and with cracks in it".

Relic is... also kind of that, sure, but along with better texturing it also adds things like a statue base for the pets to stand on, which makes it fairly unique despite sharing the same color palette as the grey colour. What also makes it unique is that the colour has changed drastically over time, and can be lumped into different "stages":

Stage 1: Pretty barebones; the pet is grey with some chipped pieces and some stone textures.

Stage 2: Similar to the above, but with the addition of plant life in the form of moss, ferns, or flowers. It started with the Relic Jetsam, but stage 1 and stage 2 tended to be used simultaneously, as you can see from the above image.

Stage 3: Starting with the Relic Kacheek, the designs became a lot more complicated. One of the most common elements added is crystals, but gilding, flowers, etc. may also pop up.

Between the three, I really lean towards stage 2 the most. Stage 1 is fine but a bit boring, and stage 3... this might be a hot take, but I don't think the stage 3 designs tend to look that good (with a few exceptions; see below). They're often very cluttered, messy, and the addition of random elements like crystals starts to get way too far away from the statue idea for my taste. I feel like Stage 2 has the best blend of detail and unique elements without going overboard with it.

Relic didn't exist pre-customization and doesn't have any pet styles, so nothing to talk about there.

Favorite Species:

Korbat: The relic Korbat takes the idea of "statue pet with a stone base" and runs with it by making it into a gargoyle tombstone; an absolutely perfect concept that goes perfectly with a bat pet. I really like how they changed the expression to fit the idea, and the stone shading and detailing is really nicely done as well.

Lenny: The relic Lenny isn't anything crazy, but I really like despite its simplicity. The way the tail feathers—the most fragile and likely to break spot on a statue—are replaced with rosebuds is just a perfect idea, and adds just the right amount of color to the design. The moss placement is also excellent and feels very natural.

Draik: One of the only stage 3 designs I like, the relic Draik sticks to the standard ideas of stone and moss but adds gilded accents and coins the design. Not only are the extra elements removable if you don't personally like them, but they add a nice bit of colour while still keeping things to a simple three-point palette. Also, not only does the gold concept make sense for Draiks (being luxury pets and dragons), but it also makes sense in terms of it being a statue.

BONUS: The other stage 3 design that I like, the relic Elephante adds gold accents, similar to the Draik, but also adds green gemstones and lots of plant life. Once again, it makes sense for the pet (Elephantes already wear jewelry in the form of their headdresses), and the gold and green are carried through nicely. My only issue, and the reason it's a bonus, is that the foliage is a bit too busy; you can remove it, but it's kind of an all-or-nothing thing whereas I would've liked to see it with just some plants instead of All The Plants. Still, it's very nice overall.

Least Favorite Colour:

Bori: The relic Bori is a hot mess. Not only is the body texturing poorly done and the tree roots look like worms, but the design somehow manages to use six (!) colours, most of which don't go together. The crystal elements feel very out-of-place and completely overpower all other parts of the design, and the whole thing lacks coherency. And for some reason, it comes with a single piece of clothing... that only affects the claws. Huh??

[vechter]

i'm going to preface this with the fact that you are one of the most incredible writers i've ever come across. your writing is so painfully visceral, imbued with countless analogies, thematic motifs and allegory. it's captured me in a way i've never seen any form of literature do before, like every word resounds in my heart. it's so contemplative and introspective yet so engaging. you have this ability to interweave all this allusion within the dynamic of bruce and dick that just leaves me reeling. you make all these characters so heart-wrenchingly real. YOU'RE JUST ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE

I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS ABOUT YOUR WRITING MASTERY BUT THIS IS CALLED ASKS FOR A REASON SO i'm currently struggling with the seemingly insurmountable task of writing a short story centralised around the human condition. gotta love english assessments. i have a tab open of lbia just to dissect all of the techniques and symbolism you've used to glean some form of idea of what i'm aiming for. i'm reaching for the stars and expecting to land on the moon. there's no way whatever i write will hold a candle to the sun that is your work BUT how do you write so well? is writing always a thing that comes naturally to you? what's your writing process? how do you come up with and organise your ideas? how do you weaponise language in a way that drives the plot forward but still properly conveys a depth of character? should i read more academic essays?

I KNOW THIS IS COMPLETELY RANDOM AND OUT OF THE BLUE AND YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO RESPOND BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YOUR WRITING HAS REALLY TOUCHED MY HEART AND I'M FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR YOUR WORK. I once heard it said that literature is something that only exists in the act of reading. its potential can only fully be harnessed through experience, much like a score of music. the scribbled notes mean nothing in comparison to the feelings in the audience they invoke. literature is fully alike in the sense that the experience of reading is the most beautiful part of literature. thanks for giving me and thousands of others the incomparable experience of reading your work. you've wrung my heartstrings and made me fall in love with reading all over again. 🫶

firstly, THANK YOU AHHHHHH!!!!! this is the kindest and most wonderful message i could have ever received and i love you for it 💖 like i've reread it fives times already and i'm giggling and kicking my feet at just how effusive you've been with your praise and appreciation... truly means the world to me 🥺

also not you having lbia open to dissect for your assignment pls im just so touched by that GOD thankyouthankyouthankyou 😭

as for my own process (long insight below the cut):

okay, so writing is never a straightforward or linear process for me... in fact, i think i'm pretty terrible with how i write; generally, when i'm writing fic, i bounce between comics and my own notes and ideas that have been scribbled and jotted in multiple places and never cohesively compiled which is not sth i'd recommend. like there's no real order or structure to it so idk how much i'll be able to help but i'll try my best <3

for lbia, i knew i wanted to write canon-divergence from dick's point of view, who is generally an unreliable narrator but would be 10x more unreliable in the post-spyral aftermath which is where the idea of indents and sections in parenthesis came from. since you're writing a short story, it would help if you have a thesis/central message or the barebones of the plot. what do you want to say about the human condition? how much do you trust your reader to extrapolate from the nuances? will the beginning and ending have the same message? since it's a short story, set up an idea bank for your main character(s)... how do they connect with their humanity? what does that look like? ask yourself questions about your character and spend time developing answers for them!

questions like these are a good starting point... spending time working out what you want to say and how you want to say it will never be a waste because it'll make the actual writing process much more straightforward + this is the time to get your creative juices flowing... you can often surprise yourself with your own train of thought!

the actual plot in lbia was definitely more straightforward— i wanted it to be about dick recognizing the shatter point of bruce essentially asking him to die again while also regaining his sense of identity and personhood in a way that felt authentic to his pre-n52 characterization... and the most natural way to do that was through the titans and the bats because so much of dick's heart is the various people he loves and connects with. so, i mapped out the trajectory of the characters he would interact with and how those interactions would go— what would be the central truths in those conversations, how would dick atone and repent without chipping away at his independence, how he would feel about these people in his life post-death

i had two outlines going simultaneously— one was more general, for the entire body of work while the other was a more detailed one with elaborate chapter outlines. for example, here's a snippet of my outline for the dick & tim conversation:

you'll see it's a mix of plot-points and actual text that went into the fic... this is because i end up doing a lot of my writing in bits and pieces when the inspiration strikes, so i usually have to compile them in outlines when i actually sit down to flesh out an entire section/chapter. organizing them linearly is not really sth i do on page, it's usually more in my head and as i'm writing the actual words but it's much easier if you have a rough chronological sense. obviously, this is not applicable to every piece of writing because it's not always going to be a linear sequence of events so you have to adapt it to how you're telling your story (and there's no right or wrong way... whatever works for you, works for you!)

as for the language, your best guide is reading as voraciously as you can. academic essays, novels, poems, plays, anything and everything you can dedicate your time to! you'll learn different words, different techniques, multiple ways to incorporate motifs and themes that lend to the depth of the plot and characters

take, for example, the pre-donna section of chapter one. i tried to use a lot of imagery and diction + dick's own perception of other characters and what it says about him to the readers... to really highlight how fractured his sense of self is. so, one possible way is to use notions that generally evoke a particular feeling in your audience to strengthen and further the impact of whatever you're trying to say. like the notion of a bird choking on plastic can have the visual impact of someone gasping for air + the toxicity of an extraneous variable being introduced, one which the bird/character has no real control or culpability for... does that make sense?

and most importantly, worry about editing later!!! get your ideas out, build a semi-coherent structure and come back for fine-tuning. when you allow yourself to write without the constraints of what's the most technically apt word here, not only do you have a more joyful time doing it but you also end up focusing more on the meaning and impact of your writing, which is ultimately what gives the gut-punch to a reader

also, i cannot believe you ended the ask with this "you've wrung my heartstrings and made me fall in love with reading all over again" LIKE THAT'S THE COMPLIMENT... of the highest order... i'm beyond honoured. thank you for sharing what my fic means to you with me, it really made my entire day i'm soooo grateful i will cherish your words forever <3

[umbracirrus]

hey its anon again!!! i actually wanted to ask if you had any tips or thought processes behind how you write for balgruuf, more specifically in a romantic context i'm trying to write content for my own dragonborn x balgruuf pairing, but its hard to write it in a way that feels true to his character. the skyrim npc's are barebones ingame, and while balgruuf is definitely given more depth, we still mostly just see a friendly formal side. it's hard to write anything more personal without it feeling out of character. any help is appreciated! i love the way you write him (as i said in my last ask) and i'm drawing a blank

Hello again anon! :)

Specifically in a romantic context... Well, I like to portray him in a way that makes him come across as earnest and in a way gentle. He can most definitely be hot-headed and easily irritated, but when it matters, he cares deeply. When with somebody he truly cares about and loves, he talks in soft and low tones, smiles more - not like big goofy grins, but more like the sort where the corners of his lips just about turn up.

I also believe that he is someone who cares deeply, both in a personal and professional context - my personal headcanon is that he was married once, to the mother of Frothar and Dagny, and losing her, and not long after that losing Nelkir's mother too, makes him almost afraid of love and those sort of connections, so if, or when he finds himself in love he has actually felt that way for a while and those emotions are strong. For that matter, I think that in general Balgruuf feels emotions quite intensely, though he is good at keeping up the facade of calmness and neutrality unless he's angry.

He also feels like the sort of person who will do his best to communicate - he'll try to be honest and won't sugarcoat things, and will think very carefully with his words (he spends his entire day being careful with his words to not drag Whiterun into the war, he's basically a professional at this point - except for when he's angry as above). Part of his honesty means that he will let his partner know if he thinks that they have done something foolish or reckless, but he most certainly will express his relief if they get out unscathed. And that goes for his more private thoughts also, or the sorts of things that are private and should be kept between partners hehe.

Sometimes he'll say or do things which he thinks are for the best for him/his partner, but he will on occasion do something which is most certainly Not, most likely when he's tired or worn down or doesn't know what to do otherwise. But his heart is in the right place.

I also like to think that he appreciates little intimate gestures - both giving and receiving. He spends his days busy and keeping up appearances as Jarl, so little things like fingers brushing in passing, a hand on his shoulder (or vice versa) even if just for a moment, the briefest of kisses when he is working would be greatly appreciated and helps him feel more like a person than just a figure of authority. When in his downtime, an embrace which he can hold and maintain for a short while as his head rests on the other's head or shoulder is like a balm to all of his issues, especially after a long and tiring day.

He will also, in spite of how much of his time is taken up, make an effort to understand what his partner does and enjoys. For example, in my fics Balgruuf will eventually start to familiarise himself with a few things to do with alchemy because Elyse likes to do alchemy as a hobby, and will let her grow flowers which she uses in her alchemy on the Dragonsreach porch/on his balcony, possibly even try to tend to them himself if he has a moment here or there.

I hope this helps! This is the sort of path that I take when trying to write him in this sort of context. I don't know if I've covered everything but this is what I can think of going through a handful of my wips and writings.

I wish you lots of luck for your writing and thank you again for your kind words 💛

[kieuecaprie]

Kieue Caprie's List of Games Finished in 2023: Entry 11

#31: Pajama Sam: There's No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside

What Platform? - Steam

Finished When? - 6/8/23

I had this game installed for the longest time but never got around to playing any of them. So I decided to play through it after having seen Limes (That's Limealicious) play through Spy Fox. It was pretty fun although I felt like I was going in circles a few times. It was still fun, though.

#32: Quake II (Remaster)

What Platform? PC, Steam

Finished When? 11/8/23

#32-A: Quake II - Call of the Machine

What Platform? PC, Steam

Finished When? 15/8/23

So, I never actually played Quake II in full until they released the remake. I always thought it was not very good simply because there was something missing. Turns out that the missing thing was the music which the Steam version lacked for some godawful reason.

So when the remake came out, I decided to give it a whirl, I did need a reason to try out my gyro-enabled controllers more tbh. It was fun, although it felt very difficult in a lot of places, it got so hard in fact that it got to the point where I had to bind quick-save and quick-load to my controller's function buttons to save my sanity.

Nightdive did a great job on the remaster, although they did kinda mess up on a few points such as the Railgun dealing less damage in SP and the shockwaves produced by certain enemies being next-to-impossible to counterplay. But other than that, it was a very solid remaster.

The new campaign was also really nice too, it had this kind of feel to it where you lose all your items upon completion so you can feel free to use the items whenever instead of saving them up for the final boss and unloading on them like I did in the vanilla campaign. Without spoiling it too much, I was not expecting certain inclusions in there. You'll understand what I mean when you get to those points if you decide to give it a look.

#33: Cruelty Squad

What Platform? PC, Steam

Finished When? 16/8/23

Not the first time I finished Cruelty Squad, probably not the last, but I felt like I wanted to play Cruelty Squad again because all my progress was gone, just like the apes. Armed with a gyro-enabled controller, I managed to make my way all the way through the depressing cyberpunk dystopian hellscape to the end, stonks and all.

Does it still hold up? Yeah, I'd think so, its got that feel to it that's hard to describe tbh.

#34: Quake III Arena

What Platform? PC, Steam

Finished When? 19/8/23

Xaero turned himself into a statue. Funniest shit I've ever seen.

Quake III Arena was one of those games that just doesn't like my PC, forcing me to play a sourceport instead. It was kind of fun playing through the campaign, although it felt barebones compared to Unreal Tournament's. However, it does have one leg up on UT... it's still on Steam. (i'm still in pain from Epic removing Unreal and Unreal Tournament games from all online storefronts...)

#35: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

What Platform? PC, Steam

Finished When? 24/8/23

Where do I start with this game? Well, it's a great game with great vibes and a bumping soundtrack, what can I say? The movement is fluid, the boostpack is very helpful for platforming (...sometimes...), the characters are great, the art-style is amazing, and the story was about enough to hook me through it.

However, I have ONE big issue with the game: The combat. It's not entirely explained by the tutorial and it felt very floaty, inefficient, and the boss battles don't really give you a lot of feedback either, on top of them being complete bullshit sometimes (stunlocks anyone?). It's probably the weakest aspect of the game for me and it kind of drags everything down with it. Had the combat been more fleshed out or something and the bosses made more than just "find opening, hit three times, can't do anything else in the meantime", it would've been much better.

That said, I enjoyed my time with the game and I wanted to get it done before Armored Core 6 decides to throw everything into the backlog. Maybe now that I'm done, I can probably go back and fiddle with it from time to time, maybe try the custom graffiti modding dealie.

Also that one song where the singer yells ASS ASS ASS ASS in auto-tune is gonna haunt me for the rest of my ASS ASS ASS ASS life.

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[catnapsoftware]

Lowering Expectations

I'll never be able to finish my dream game from my current position. And that's fine, it's good and honest to say that out loud, but it doesn't mean I intend to scrap the idea of finishing my dream game.

So what, in my opinion, CAN I finish from my current position?

The first prototype, I'm calling "Seven Days to Dice". It will be on a small "farm" map, with a place for the player to grow crops and a place for the player to sleep. At the end of seven days, monsters will attack the farm, attempting to kill the player and/or burn and loot the farm. The player will fight the monsters, be rewarded with experience, and then the cycle repeats.

I'm building off of a modified version of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition Remaster ruleset - which I think I can do, so long as I follow the ORC rules. This simplifies a lot of design choices for me, and will give me a solid foundation to build mechanics on.

WHAT DO I NEED FOR THIS PROTOTYPE?

I already have some stuff I'm going to be bringing over from my previous work - I'll be rebuilding it manually, so I'm hoping I can sneak in some good coding practices and optimizations along the way without taking too long.

I will need a functioning Character Class.

This means some kind of mesh, and various components that will make up what would be its "character sheet" in a tabletop setting. These components will be data-driven, allowing me to easily test various different mechanics on the fly, as they are created.

This means controls. I have a lot of this already set up, but I want to make sure they are optimized. It's a weird situation, because Unreal wants to make a First or Third person game, so it wants a player to "possess" a character, with a camera either inside the mesh or floating behind it - this ties the functions of the PlayerController directly to a character. For a cRPG, the player is "possessing" the camera, so I have to make use of AI Controllers to move around the character (unless I learn differently, I'm actually going to ask about that after I finish this post).

I will need to develop a number of systems.

On the surface, I need time to pass. This is going to be tweaked a thousand times a thousand times between now and any sort of playable testing, but it's one of the most critical components. I need a time of day system, I need plants to grow, and I need days to pass - or none of this works.

I need interactions. I have a barebones version of this system already (I got bogged down making a UI entirely in C++, like the silly little masochist I am) - I need to tighten it up IMMENSELY. Planting seeds is an interaction. Watering them is an interaction. Harvesting is an interaction. Sleeping is an interaction. You get it.

I need an inventory. It doesn't have to be the final product, but you need to be able to pick up seeds, collect what you grow, collect items from enemies, equip stuff.

I need farming. Again, doesn't have to be anything crazy. 3 vegetables, with different models and different grow times, and different "sustenance values" - because I forgot the next thing should probably be higher on the list.

I need hunger. I know you're thinking "aw man, nobody likes hunger systems, they slow down everything" and you're right, I just don't care. It's part of the sandbox. You'll be hungry, NPC's will be hungry, if I'm real lucky I'll make monsters hungry too. If we hand-wave too much away for the sake of the gameplay loop, we risk damaging one of the core pillars of the dream: role-based story generation**.

I need to finish combat mode.

Somewhere I have the code to generate a square hex grid procedurally on demand. I have it tested to 1000x1000 tiles with no performance hit. I won't need 1000x1000 tiles - I'm still not 100% sure if I will tile out the entire zone when combat mode starts, or if I'll just spawn a X by X "combat zone" around all active combatants to track who is in combat, who is fleeing, who gets dragged into a fight, etc.

I have to build the ability framework. I have notebooks upon notebooks of GAS notes. I have so many saved Reddit posts and websites bookmarked. GAS works, and it works well - for action rpg, fps, or MOBA gameplay. For a turn based game with combat decided by rolling dice, it is a gallon of chocolate ice cream when all you asked for was a vanilla cone. There is a TON of good there, I just don't need half of it, and I don't need most of what I DO need in the way it was built. So I'm going to build my own custom, cool acronym system of handling abilities, taking the pathfinder 3 action system into account.

I have to build a turn based combat system. This is pretty straightforward, but the back end will need a lot of UI, so I'm not looking forward to it.

I need it to look marginally better than shit.

I'm probably going to use Synty assets. There's a perception (at least in the indie dev world) that Synty assets are "low effort", and most people will assume that games that use them are low quality, by extension. That is unfortunate, but I'll circle back to immersion being important: the Synty assets all share a similar look, which will help keep the player engaged in the things that are happening as they play the game.

I really hate UI. I want to love it! I love expressing myself, I think UI is a great way to really get the feeling of the game right - I think it is an integral part of the entire shebang - I just suck at building it right now and I frustrate myself. I really don't want to use assets from the store. (I honestly don't know how they work)

I am honestly not super concerned about polish - I've been drawing up sprites for things like cursors, I've been looking through some music options, and I even licensed a variation on the Final Fantasy Tactics font to use! (I suspect people will hate this, and I will have to change it)

That's it for now, I think. I have some housework to do, and I'll get the project set up (blog post about it, maybe) and then start working on it tonight. Speaking of these posts, it's important to me that I am as active as I can afford to be on social media (is tumblr social media)? Both from a professional project standpoint (gotta get eyes on the game) and as a solo developer (grow, learn, community). I don't know how I'm going to do that yet. I used to be a streamer, and that can very easily suck tens of hours of your week - hours that would be better spent devving games. Stay curious, friends.

[tarot-winds]

Nola.

A witch...that's what they say I am. The prognosis of my diagnosis. What exactly, is, a witch? In my mind, I could only picture the things I knew or had seen on TV and in movies. What I experienced was something more of a nightmare...an experience that has left me feeling numb. Id never overdosed before. I mean. I always did party stuff. Coke and Molly mostly. Xanax too. I dabbled with percs and oxy but I never liked the cloud effect after. I can't even think about it. Sometimes it's all I think about. I'm paralyzed. Not only that but I'm craving. I swear I just want weed.

Mind you. It's only been a week since my arrival to Blackbriar. A single bag, holds all the essentials, still unpacked. The duffle sits at the foot of my bed where a tattered cream chaise is located. The maid, Mrs. Laurent, asked if I wanted her to unpack and I declined. I told her I'd get to it but that was like two days ago. I just felt dull and pitiful. Like a lackluster rock. Moping about as I spend my days around the mansion. Sitting about the library allowing myself to drift off in dusty books. I just couldn't shake the mind-boggling pain of home, of what happened there. That's why I'm still sober. I mean... I'll probably slip.

But it's enough to scare me for today.

I had gotten comfortable back in Blackwater. That's the name of my hometown. I had never left it before and now I'm in New Orleans. It wasn't just homesickness. I felt betrayed and abandoned. I learned at a young age not to cling to a placement but with Miss Mary, it was different. I had carved out a home for me in her care. She checks on me occasionally but it's awkward. I finally decided that it was time to accept my fate and unpack. I was on the dark wood floor going through the barebones bag. My emotions tumbling down my face. I sniffled and wiped my tears as I thought about the things left behind. Not the first time I've been left with a trash bag of clothes. Homeless and drifting. The rest of my stuff will be shipped, for now, all I have are a few items. While I was sorting everything into an ornate vintage chest of drawers. An envelope fell out of the duffle. It was filled with stacks of hundreds, her drug fund. The letter held a note from Lillian. It didn't have her name but I recognized her handwriting. The note said two words. I'm sorry. I bit my tongue from how angry I felt.

Two years, and our friendship, ends with drug money?! I know damn well she did not... I guess that's the rich for you. I mean why should I be surprised. It's not like we didn't get high together everyday, messed around, and one of us fell in love! All that time thrown away...I guess, money solves everything! I was bitter. I overdosed. I started shaking. I was itchy and I knew I needed to get rid of this much money. It's a more than few grand.

I could head out of the house today.

That's exactly what I did. It's a muggy afternoon. The quarter was busy with tourists and locals. The cash was burning a hole in my pocket as I walked the streets. Mostly window shopping and exploring the neighborhood. I of course visited all the touristy places like Bourbon Street. It wasn't crazy loud because it was daytime. However, I could tell at night it comes alive with sluttery. I felt sweaty as I walked around, I couldn't help but think of my days with drugs. I felt the itch to search for a good hit of something. I wouldn't, not after that night, I'll be staying sober. I rubbed my hands anxiously. I ignored the call and kept watching for little shops. The ones that caught my attention were spiritual boutiques. There are several.

I entered a few but nothing happened. No strange witchy things occurred which left me feeling like I was tempting myself. I dabbled with an ouija board as a child. I remember being scared as the planchette moved on its own. My eyes watered at the idea of the memory. I didn't know what would happen if I came across anything of that nature. I just eyed walls of herbs and crystals and voodoo items. I had very little knowledge of voodoo. I knew that Marie Laveaux was popular as a practitioner; several shops had candles in her name. Although I believe she was real to others, how real was her magic? I'd heard that her grave was fake. That those that go to her grave and mark X's. Are haunting a grave that isn't hers. Were these shops filled with fake oddities too? Most are probably fake but there have to be some that are real. I finally decided to buy into the idea that maybe some of these shop owners were real

But how could I tell which was witch?

I had no clue; but I wanted to buy something. I had too. You know what I mean? I was on Lower Bourbon Street. The lgbt community thrives here. I kept my eyes out. Usually that means drugs too. Before lillian I bought from the next town over. They had a gay district. She bought from there. The shop I decided on was definitely leaning towards the community in aesthetics. It was all sassy instead of dark. I was greeted by a stranger who was behind the counter. He was a little old gay man. I perused the shelves of interesting candles and incense before delving into the tarot cards and occult books. As I made my way over to the herbs and crystals. I felt the store mans' eyes on me. At first, I thought it prejudicial and bought a cheap love candle to make a point that I could buy something. As he rang it up. I noticed that he kept watch of me. I finally asked what his problem was. I was greeted with a warm smile and a soft chuckle as if my attitude didn't matter.

"There's absolutely no problem, it's just a bit early for our kind. I don't get visitors from Blackbriar until August. Is this all for you or would you like to buy your school supplies today?" He eyes me funny as if I meant to deny what he correctly thought of me. Another witch. I was frightened by the likelihood.

"My supplies, um, I don't know anything about them. Headmistress Frost hasn't said anything."

I felt timid.

"She wouldn't until classes began. However, I know the list for the freshman by heart. That's what you are right? I haven't seen you before; so you're from out of town. I do believe I have everything here if you'd like to purchase."

I was flustered by his straightforwardness and simply nodded my head. He moved about the shop pulling out books. He came back with three. Astromonicon by Poëtæ Clariss. Introductory to potions, and the Malleus, the translation. He carefully placed them on the counter. When rung up I knew he was taking advantage. One book was ancient in appearance. I attempted to question but he rung it up before I could speak. I didn't see the price. That wasn't all he grabbed either. Several sachets of herbs and dried ingredients. crystals. A tarot deck. Vials and bottles and white candles. When he finished ringing them up. It was in the several thousands of dollars. As if he knew I had the funds. I paid for it without blinking, thanks to Lillian.

There was a bit left over and I thought what the hell. I asked the man for a reading. I've never had one and didn't know what to expect. He was overjoyed with how much money I was spending and agreed to my request. I felt numb finally as if my anxiety couldn't take anymore. He took me into a side room and we both sat at a small round table. There was no crystal ball. Just an old ratty deck of cards sitting on a doily-like tablecloth with two rustic white chairs to match. Next to the table sat a little cart filled with tea, coffee, and sugar cookies. He poured hot water into a pair of tea cups and added Earl gray tea bags. Two saucers along with cookies sat next to them. He pulled out a gold flask and poured something extra into his. I just snickered and shook my head. I carefully held my teacup while he turned on a soft tune from an old radio. The sound of the music mixed with shuffling cards. I watched his hands as if he were a blackjack dealer. Eventually, he spread the cards out on the table. I was allowed to choose three. I ran my fingers over the busted-up cards and carefully plucked. He took them from me and eyed them with interest. He read the cards aloud and explained what they meant. I pulled death, he explained that it rarely means an actual death but change. I pulled the high priestess. Then he asked if I had experienced anything psychic lately. The high priestess stands between pillars of light and dark. She is highly intuitive. I didn't know why but when he asked.

I lied.

"The reading won't be accurate if you're holding back. You're in good company. We all have experienced some sort of psychic phenomenon. For one I sometimes get glimpses of the future. Small things really. "

"Okay, well, you said I got the death card for the past. I have recently experienced a death."

"Ah, you saw their ghost? Sometimes that happens. My condolences for your loss. Who was it, if you don't mind me asking? They could be talking. We could check the board if you wanted?"

"There's no need for that. It was me."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm the one that died..."

"Near-death experience, that's rough. "

"No, sir, I mean I died. Quite literally, rigor and all. Headmistress Frost said I'm a necromancer. That I was lucky that I even survived the revival. I mean it was crazy! I remember everything about it. Even what it felt like to not be able to breathe. I just."

"Be quiet." He abruptly cut me off.

"Huh?"

I looked at his face for the first time. Like really looked. Gone was the cheer, even if it was just because I was paying for it. This old man had long dark graying hair. A wrinkled face. With eyes that told stories. I wanted to know them but the man was stern.

"You heard me. Be quiet about what you just said. You don't tell anybody. Especially to someone who's less discreet. Just take your things and don't come back."

I didn't understand the cold shoulder. The sudden urge to question him came over me. Someone entering the shop rang a bell. The old man did something I hadn't expected. The door to the small room opened on its own as he stood up. It was very casual as he walked past me, not even taking the money on the table, the third card went unread. I collected my things as well as the cash and walked out without a scene.

Why was the old man so quiet? So filled with fear at finding out I was a necromancer? These were the burning questions that I pondered with agitation. It was almost dark out by the time I made it back to Blackbriar. The butler let me in. His name is Mr. Graves. I thanked him and went up the main staircase to the top floor. My bedroom was cleaned while I was away and a silver tray of food left on my desk called to me. I put away my things and a knock on my door snagged my attention. I quietly answered. The heavy door creaked open. The person behind it stood uncomfortably in the doorway.

It was the headmistress. To describe her. She's tall. So tall that she'd tower over a man. She's icy. Natural Ash blonde. Grey eyes to match. I thought about how she broke the news of being a necromancer, there wasn't much warmth to it. She lives up to her name.

Frost.

"Ms. Morningstar? I heard you had an outing. Was it to your liking?"

"Yes, ma'am. It was hot but I didn't mind that."

"That sounds good. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself today. I normally wouldn't call on you this late. However, there's something we need to discuss."

She stood straight with perfect posture. It elongated her neck. Which drew attention to her face. It was heart-shaped with square glasses hanging off her sharp nose. The glasses hid her beauty, as well as her hair. It was thick frizzy waves that needed a blowout. She looked sort of like a cold librarian.

"What would that be, Ma'am?"

"I received a call today. From a disgruntled local who does business with my students from time to time. I was informed of the incident and I'm apologizing on behalf. He was shocked that there is a student with your abilities under my tutelage and reacted poorly."

"Ma'am, he more than reacted poorly. Pretty much told me to never return and warned me against speaking of being a necromancer. I don't understand why. It was all very strange and confusing."

"I, should have warned you. The teachings of necromancy are typically seen as taboo. In our community, we don't speak of it. It's dangerous for us all as witches but especially for necromancers. There are not many left that know the teachings because we were hunted by witch hunters and the like. Just be careful from now on. "

"But he knows you're a necromancer, what's the difference?"

"He knows what I am but we have nothing more than a business arrangement because of that. I cut him a check and my students get discounts. Is that all for your inquiries?"

"No ma'am. I'd like to be told why he panicked. It was more than just taboo. He was frightened of me. Like I'd kill him or something."

"Ms. Alexandra, you will come to learn in due time of our world. That most are are prejudiced people. There are few that are not. Anyways, I'm sorry."

I nodded my head thankfully and my door was shut. I wasn't satisfied with the response but I did understand. I'll probably never understand. The fried fish was cold but I ate it anyway. Once finished I took the tray to the dumbwaiter in the hall. I yawned as I lazily walked back to my room. I was exhausted from my long day and decided it was time to go to bed. I typically don't enjoy sleep. Mostly because of nightmares. I've had them since I was a small child.

As full moon casting shadows along the walls. I was held captive under a night terror. There was a vividness to it. I could almost taste the fear wracking me. It was metallic, like a fresh cut lip. The sting it gives. Tossing and turning amongst sheets that were left with sweat. What had me so afraid? A beast chasing me. That's what occurred. It, or he, was tall and willowy with pale marked flesh. I raced through a land unknown. The terrain was swampy and covered in trees and smelled putrid. I lugged myself around as I tried to escape the clutches of its surroundings. My hoarse screams echoing through the night. It finally caught me and feasted upon my neck. Tearing into me as blood poured from me and then nothing. The screams die and I lay limp in its arms. The last thing I heard before silence took, was my name in its mouth. Once I awoke in the middle of the night, all I could remember was seeing a beastly creature chasing me. Its wide eyes glowed in a sea of darkness as I ran with all my might. I had a feeling it would have ended with bloodshed. Terrible bloodshed. A sea of tears poured as I shook with fervor. A ghostly cat lurking in the shadows going unseen and looking mighty mean of the things happening. By the time I relaxed it was long time to awaken.

[trippingontheescalator]

I qualify as a fandom elder, I think. I read the second book first when it first came out in 1998 when I was in middle school and then just had to find the first book and read it too.

Some of these questions I don't think I'll be able to answer, since I only ever saw the first movie and kind of hated it. Nothing against Alan Rickman (loved him in almost everything else he did) or any of the other actors, but the movie just never really lived up to the magical world in my head, so I never bothered with watching the other films.

And so, with that--

As far as I'm aware, Snape has always been one of the most popular characters in the series, even before Rickman. These books were coming out in the late 1990s/early 2000s and edginess reigned supreme, grunge was still in, hot topic was the place to be in the mall, and so here comes Severus Snape-- dark, sinister, maybe a vampire, and delightfully sarcastic but also he was trying to save his life during the entirety of book 1! He's just a misunderstood vampire :( Lol, seriously, a large number of fans were 100% convinced he was a vampire, and that made him hot.

That's not to say there weren't people who disliked Snape, but fandoms in and of themselves operated differently. A03 didn't exist, most forms of social media didn't exist except for Livejournal and MySpace, fanfiction.net was in its infancy. If you wanted fanfics, you had to really search for these mom-and-pop websites that might host like 50 fics. And so, you had a favorite character and you went and you found a forum and a website that was basically dedicated to said favorite character and it was very enclosed. With Tiktok and other platforms, a fanon interpretation like "Snape is an incel" can spread very quickly like a virus. And I say virus because I've noticed some troubling trends in fandoms recently.

In the late 90s/early 2000s no one really cared that Snape picked on Harry and Neville, in part because that kind of treatment was just par for the course, but also because no one expected characters to act morally good. This was the late 90s when every character had to be EDGY. They had to wear black leather, and be a little mean, and have a tragic backstory. We didn't have words like "problematic." On the one hand, I am glad that more kids and teens are more aware of social issues and are examining biases that might be hidden in media and not just consume it unthinkingly. But on the other hand a kind of social puritanism is on the rise. Everything must be Pure and Good and if you like a problematic character then you must be Morally Reprehensible, just like the Reverend Praise-God Barebones proclaimed.

As for the "3 year gap" issue between GoF and OotP, I honestly think Rowling had no real intention of writing anything past Philosopher's Stone. When the first book exploded in popularity, she then churned CS and PoA, saw that those were even more wildly popular, and then realized she didn't just have a bunch of kids books under her belt, she could actually turn this into something. GoF is actually the first turning point for not just Snape but the entire series, not OotP. There were 0 hints that Snape was ever a Death Eater in books 1-3, and in fact Quirrell -- WHO IS LITERALLY ATTACHED TO VOLDY AND SHOULD HAVE KNOWN -- even suggests that Snape isn't one when he says something to the effect of "He seems the type, but he's not" to Harry. But in GoF we start to see the changes from "a bunch of kids books" to "epic fantasy series with a coherent storyline" and it solidifies in OotP. Rowling probably took that break to not only hammer out Snape's backstory and role, but also Voldemort's, and Harry's, and Dumbledore's, as well as to actually bring in more themes and motifs to her writing to give it depth. She probably came up with the horcrux idea at this time, and decided to retroactively make the diary one of those horcruxes (because really, if she had always intended for the diary to be a horcrux, why the hell would Lucius just chuck it at the Weasleys, Voldy entrusted it to him, it doesn't make sense). Same with Harry's scar.

As for "James wasn't supposed to be a bully, Rowling just did that because of Rickman's popularity" Like you said, the story of Snape nearly getting eaten by Lupin was in PoA. I think originally Rowling probably intended for the James-Severus feud to be an actual rivalry like Dumbledore stated it was in the first book. A book she probably didn't think would ever be that popular and probably never planned for a sequel. But when it did, I think she decided to make James a bully not because of Rickman's popularity but to tell a specific story: I think she wanted to turn the trope of "saintly dead parents" that all junior lit heroes have on its head. It's about Harry's character development, not Snape's, and as a way to subvert the reader's expectations. Throughout the series, Harry is compared to his father, well what if Harry sees his father as someone he DOESN'T want to be like? That's interesting character development! And Rowling does love her twists, even if she doesn't always implement them very well (see: Snape's relationship with Lily, come on other than one comment from Petunia there's never even a hint. You'd think Sirius would taunt him with Lily's loss of friendship just to piss him off or something but nooo...)

a ramble and some open questions for fandom elders (and others) about whether Snape was only made more sympathetic on account of Alan Rickman's popularity/casting, and similar things

so I stopped engaging with a tiktok creator for a while who I'd previously found very interesting because nearly every time they brought up Snape, they'd throw in some casual "if Harry was a girl, Snape would be really creepy/predatory about it" or some other weird Snape take not rooted in anything (to my mind). Like, it was weird to me because they bring in book quotes or pottermore/interview snippets to other analyses of other characters and ideas, but never Snape - for Snape, it was always just about vibes and feelings. For Snape, the fact we never hear that he killed someone or the fact we never heard that he stalked Lily is, in fact, strong evidence that he did do those things - or certainly thought about it - and certainly enough to be considered predatory and likely to dose Lily (and later a hypothetical Harriet) with a love potion or keep them in his basement, or something.

I disputed that idea in the comments one time, and some Snape supporting comments outside of mine got removed and users blocked, meanwhile my comments were (I think deliberately) misinterpreted. I stopped using tiktok entirely for a while, and never went back to see if the comments got deleted or whatever. Tiktok never gave me any further notifications about it upon re-downloading, so I guess they were removed? Idk. I have no desire to check.

but all of that is background really; she's lately posted some videos (I still find the rest of her content interesting, but apparently snape content is a no-go lool) saying that Snape's whole characterisation is different after the 'three year summer' - that is, that JKR saw how popular Snape was in the films, that she had to find a way to keep Alan Rickman on board when he wanted to leave, and that when she took her break between writing GoF and OotP I think, Snape sort of morphed into a new character and she had to attempt to redeem him (which, in her eyes, he's not redeemed even at the end which is like. ok). She implied that there's no evidence of James' bullying prior to OotP, no evidence of Snape ever having had a relationship (much less a friendship) with Lily, and that all of that was tossed into the later books retroactively to 'redeem' his character. (Obviously, I have Thoughts on that, which I'll come back to).

Of course, with the sort of... bad vibes she's built up around pro-Snape comments on her videos, all of the comments were in agreement with her. I'm also new to HP/Snape in terms of actively engaging with the fandom online, as it somehow passed me by at the time. But now I have Thoughts

So with all of that in mind, and just because I want to hear other people's thoughts but TikTok comments are a nightmare on their own with the character limit, inability to read them properly/in order, and general vibe of TikTok comments (even without the creator deleting/getting antsy about pro-Snape ideas), if anyone wants to discuss this lot, I am keen to hear people's thoughts:

Was Snape always a popular book character, or did that change/skyrocket with Alan Rickman? (For my part, I don't remember hating Snape when I read the books the first time around - in fact, I hardly remember registering him at all - but I do remember hating Umbridge).

How true is it that Snape was made 'more sympathetic' following the films? To me, it doesn't make sense; the first big, weighty suggestion of the marauders bullying Snape was in PoA, which was released mid-1999; the first evidence that Snape was spying was in GoF, in mid-2000. The first film didn't even come out (Alan Rickman's charisma included) until 2001. Weirdly, the PoA stuff the user is convinced just says that Snape was jealous of James (probably true, not denying it) but in the exact same book Remus/Sirius all but admitted to Sirius trying to kill Snape, which seems like a massive overreaction to Snape being an annoying little hater of a teen that she never comments on because, I guess, Snape deserved it?

Also, does it matter if he was made 'more sympathetic'? ootp was published in 2003, and in early 2002 Alan considered leaving. sure, JK might have added/exaggerated SWM to make him more sympathetic, but the reasons for adding in scenes don't change the fact that that's now part of the fabric of the character - a character who, by this point, had already been revealed in PoA to be the subject of a near-murder plot at the hands of the Marauders and was Very Not Okay about it; the marauders had already been described as troublemakers; Snape was already shown to be wary of Lupin for reasons that weren't solely about him being a werewolf, but about the Prank/Trick/Willow incident. An incident, much like SWM, that occurred because Sirius thought it would be "amusing" to put Snape in a horrible position. if JKR wanted to, she could've made Sirius the ringleader in SWM - but for Snape, I think she just wanted to solidify why a grown man hates a child who looks exactly like his father, which was also referenced in the early books and strongly prefaced by the events of PoA in the Shack (I don't think she had it 'all planned out' from day dot, however, but went with the vibes and fleshed out the details later). Obviously, to this creator, Lupin's idea that Snape was solely a little bitch because he hated that James was better at Quidditch is to be taken at face value, despite the fact the conversation then moves on to Snape's near-death following Sirius 'trick'ing Snape into the willow

Same as above but with his characterisation; she acknowledges that the later books are darker and have a more adult tone, but somehow it's still suspicious that Snape's sympathetic backstory was never once alluded to in earlier books (which, again, I think it's fair to say it was alluded to, but in sufficiently lacking detail so that JK could deal with it when she got there). Also with PoA and GoF especially, there are hints of Snape going from his more 'silly evil teacher' which he kind of was in books 1 and 2, heading towards the more realistic, but still delightfully bitter and flawed, adult character as the books aged up. I haven't read the books in a while I'll admit, but from the Snape passages I have read, I never noticed a sufficient difference pre or post three-year-summer that didn't match the wider tone of the books changing also.

Unlike the tiktok creator, I also think that Snape's reaction to Harry in general is almost entirely to do with James, rather than Lily's so-called rejection, and so there's no evidence that Snape would be weird to a 'Harriet' that resembled his mother, or weird to Lily if he saw her again; I think with his characterisation it's more likely that Harriet would've been treated like Hermione, Ron, or Tonks - being largely ignored with the occasional insult and told off for causing trouble - aka, how Snape would treat most people. Outside of the one isolated 'mudblood' incident, Snape was a bit of a doormat when it came to Lily (bless his heart). He followed her from the train carriage without comment, backtracked when she appeared angry in the post-prank conversation, even the "I won't let you" seemed more "I won't let you turn him into some kind of hero" or even, at a stretch, an "I won't let you be with him" out of Lily's own safety or something than "I won't let you leave me", to me - because he did just let her leave him in school? James and Snape continued hexing one another in 7th year, but there's no suggestion that Snape ever tried to be weird to Lily.

To my mind, there's no suggestion that Snape stalked Lily, no suggestion that he asked Voldemort to capture her - just to spare her. And then Snape went to Dumbledore anyway, probably immediately based on how harried he is on the windy hilltop scene, because he knew Voldemort wouldn't spare her, and even if he did, Snape would probably have to keep up the ruse of 'desiring' Lily, and do the sorts of thing Snaters suggest he wanted to do, just to keep her alive. But with Dumbledore involved, Snape wouldn't ever have the chance to imprison/love potion her - and that wasn't what he wanted. He just wanted her alive so he wouldn't have played a part in her death. I also doubt that Snape had much time to think when Voldemort revealed who he was choosing to kill; it's not as though Voldemort makes decisions by committee. He'd have revealed his plans and Snape would make a quick, panic-stricken decision to tell Voldemort that he desired Lily (which he may have done, to an extent; he'd need to draw on something to back up his request when Voldemort undoubtedly looked into his mind to see why Snape wanted to spare his Priority #1 victim). And like I say, he then set up a meeting with Dumbledore, probably immediately/as soon as he could, sensing that that wouldn't work (was he not convincing enough? Did he just know Voldemort too well? I have so many questions about how that conversation went down, and subsequent conversations about Lily which presumably occurred after V's resurrection).

anyway, no conclusion, only thoughts too rambly for tiktok comments

[galadhremmin]

We have derived Caranthir liking the Dwarves (and vice versa) because apparently, Finrod succeeds in every field Caranthir fails, and at this point it's clear this derives from the in-universe writer of the Silm and his own biases. Think about it: "Dark Finwë" , a grumpy, prejudiced lordling, and "Hair Champion", most handsome, noble king, have met with the same people!! Yet the king of the first secret kingdom is everyone's friend, but the prince that trades with them regularly is not... seems sus.

Hence, Caranthir is friends with the Dwarves. (But that is just an interpretation, so you're free to think what you wish, I just have several opinions on in-universe prejudice and the almighty narrative.)

I think that 'we' might actually have been Dawn Felagund years ago. Maybe this reading existed even before that, but I doubt that-- she's been very influential in silm fandom and was long before tumblr was much of a thing. https://dawnfelagund.com/caranthir-the-slandered

I wouldn't say it's 'clear' that what amounts to Caranthir's entire documented personality derives from the bias of the in-universe narrator, though as you can see from Dawn's writing it's a reading you can argue for. There are a number of different approaches you can take to the Silm and its biases anyway. One of the few times when it's absolutely clear the text isn't telling the entire story is when it talks about the Easterlings. I've posted about this before but the recorded names are, uhh.... the ones to betray the elves are unlikely to actually have been named things like 'ugly lord' and 'ugly beard.' 'Dark Finwe' on the other hand is a documented reference to his haircolour being dark like Finwe's own; hardly a negative judgement!

I personally think Caranthir can be exactly as ill-tempered and prejudiced as the Silm paints him without becoming an unsympathetic character. If a writer cannot make a moody, deeply prejudiced man an interesting character that is a failure as a writer; there are after all enough books who manage exactly that. That is not to say choosing not to write him that way is a failure (obviously not), but it's not necessary in order to make a reader feel for him at all.

Just going by the text, I think it actually might make for a more interesting narrative to explore in fic to me. Because he does change his mind about something, and at a very specific moment; when he meets the Haladin. That is much less dramatic if he secretly been as nice and popular as Finrod, and got along with everyone all the time already. He's been raised by Fëanor, who said things like 'No other race shall oust us!' and rallied the Noldor not motivated enough by vengeance for Finwë alone by playing on their deep-seated fear of being replaced by the Secondborn. Very unlikely that had no impact. At best it has made him uninterested in humans in his area (while they're not much of a threat to ruling instead of the elves anyway). The text says they paid them no heed.

And yet! Caranthir sees how brave Haleth and her people are. He 'does her great honour.' He changes his mind and offers them lands. His tragedy to me is not that of a slandered figure, but of this deeply, deeply prejudiced person raised to distrust the motivations of human beings -- who overcomes those beliefs, offers friendship, is rejected! then extends that same trust to the Easterlings anyway... and it's those specific Easterlings, not the ones who ally with his brothers-- who betray them all. And cause the disastrous ending of the Nirnaeth. It's the 'to evil end shall all things turn that they begin well' part of the curse hitting him in the least fair way possible. Someone finally changes for the better, and the outcome is treason and destruction.

That is a very good character arc to me, actually. His aesthetics-based scorn for the Dwarves is reprehensible but strikes me as deeply Elvish, and part of his prejudices. Naugrim is too unflattering a name for them for it not to be common. His temper-- well why can't he have one? Sure there's only one recorded instance -- but that's imo because there are hardly any conversations in the Silm! Anyway I like some people with tempers well enough. Personally I think people are missing out on opiniated grouches.

Obviously the biased anti-Feanorian Pengolodh reading is a nice one, and I have enjoyed a lot of stories written based it. But it's not at all a reading that is necessary for me to read Caranthir as a flawed but sympathetic character. He can have serious faults and still, ultimately, be someone I feel for.

What I was asking though was if I overlooked any canon evidence of Caranthir being particularly, personally fond of the Dwarves; and it seems I did not. Also; there is room for Caranthir growing to like the Dwarves over centuries without an anti-Feanorian bias reading this strong, there is simply no evidence for friendship in the rather barebones narrative (I'm not interested atm because it's wildly overdone to me & I like variety).

That said, in my opinion making Caranthir the hidden, slandered Feanorian Finrod equivalent with a dash of Curufin's Dwarf affection is not as enjoyable as simply working with what little canon character is actually there. Because there is one (and it's not the greedy tax collector of some fanon depictions either imo)

1. To start with, wrt Caranthir as the anti-Finrod, I don't think it works that well. Sure sure dark/light, open/prejudiced, repressed/shouty, but different motivations, different locations, plus they meet very different peoples even if both are Edain-- besides, Caranthir's own older brothers do successfully ally with the Easterlings without betrayal, while Curufin (much more so than Finrod! no Khuzdul for Finrod!) is the Dwarves' Friend(tm). Also, a flawed Finrod already exists. That's just the regular edition. He has his own faults and (very different) tragic arc.

If Finrod never seems to have strong prejudices to overcome, and if he's not confrontational (which... look he's a diplomat. Make of that what you will. Pretty awkward there in Doriath, buddy!) he does have trouble facing his own complicity (he wanted to sail those ships despite the murders) until Sauron beats him to death with it. He leaves Valinor with the idea of ruling but he has to give up the crown. He's ambitious, he seems emotionally repressed, he's.. possibly paying the greater Dwarves to drive the Petty Dwarves out of their ancestral home to build a city? Oops. Depending on the version you go with in that case, of course; there's also ones where he's free of the blame of that one. Not of wanting to sail those ships and being uneasy with the guilt wrt wanting to do so despite their being stolen and murdered for though. No he doesn't kill; but he wants to use the result of it anyway, and to make it worse he is actually half Telerin.

There's also (to be fair, only for sure after the disaster of the Sudden Flame because that's the recorded instance) his guards killing random innocent trespassers to keep his kingdom hidden -- yes, that's right there in Silm, yes he's still King at the time. Beren has to wave that ring. People just seem to miss that he'd be killed without it somehow.

I think it's just too easy to reduce him to the golden perfect opposite of Caranthir. Yes he's described more positively; he's also just mentioned more because unlike Caranthir he rules an actual kingdom, the greatest and richest in Beleriand in fact; and does things that have a lot of very longterm effects, like helping B&L steal a Silmaril. They don't 'meet the same people' anyway -- the Haladin have a different culture from the Beorians which contributes to their reaction to Caranthir (and iirc their later fate).

Sidenote: Dawn's essay attributes the Green Elves helping the Feanorians at Amon Ereb to Caranthir's diplomatic skills; but why not to those of Amras or Amrod? This is the quote; 'Caranthir fled and joined the remnant of his people to the scattered folk of the hunters, Amrod and Amras, and they retreated and passed Ramdal in the south. Upon Amon Ereb they maintained a watch and some strength of war, and they had aid of the Green-elves' -- nothing here indicates it was Caranthir who got them that aid. In fact A&A are the hunters, i.e. more likely to have roamed in various forests where they would have encountered Green Elves, imo.

There's also the very desperate times to consider in which this aid takes place. This is just post Sudden Flame, and even if the Green Elves didn't like Caranthir they probably liked him better than Morgoth. Also, speaking of cosmopolitans, Maedhros allies with, yes, Dwarves (Azaghal), Grey elves, Easterlings (and you might say: Fingolfinians); even part of the remaining people of Dorthonion rally to Himring post sudden flame (that means Edain and Arafinwean followers in Himring, at least for a time), and he manages to be friendly with Felagund despite calling him a badger. ;)

Finrod is not the only other leader to forge diverse alliances, and though B&L ends happily his people mostly do not. Caranthir's not much like Finrod in any way. Not in motivations, temperament, tragic arc. That's fine. No hidden kingdom for a dragon to eat either. Finrod could probably do with being a little less like Finrod sometimes, though he's well-intentioned and likable. Caranthir loves to shout and isn't sneaky. Good for him.

2. Curufin also already exists. His love for Dwarves is one of his defining and redeeming characteristics and boy does he need them. He's daddy's favourite, a sneaky overambitious bitchy bastard who is also a talented smith and linguist, and truly considered a Dwarf friend, which is apparently exceptional. He's quite flawed; tries to help Celegorm force a political marriage, laughs with a bruised mouth, seeming to lose his mind while attempting and failing murder after first losing his own stronghold and then the city he tried to take from his cousin. He's just... a personality. Mostly a bad one! You can feel for him though, because he seems like an utter mess. Many 'i would love to study you' feelings on my part. Would hate for him to be real but also I'd pay to be his therapist.

3. And then finally there's Canon Caranthir. A difficult, prejudiced person who despite that (which doesn't at all have to mean there is no despite, the despite is what makes it juicy)

- seems to be responsible for re-establishing (large scale?) trade with the Dwarves, whatever he might think of them (and they of him) to their mutual benefit. I don't think he's greedy either. It seems like a mutually profitable situation. Access to Dwarvish goods seems pretty vital to Beleriand, and facilitating trade is a real service.

As someone pointed out in the replies, the Silm does mention Dwarvish companies travelling east to Nan Elmoth and menegroth various times, but quote wrt Caranthir says 'Caranthir’s people came upon the Dwarves, who after the onslaught of Morgoth and the coming of the Noldor had ceased their traffic into Beleriand' and 'when the Dwarves began again to journey into Beleriand.'

They stopped at some point and Caranthir's people made it happen again.

- which means he's practical. He seems like he's good at organising, and setting his own feelings aside if necessary despite his prejudice and temper (which is an achievement it wouldn't be without his, hm, everything). Also he and his people as well as the Dwarves work together well because ''either people loved skill and were eager to learn,' despite their (initial?) mutual dislike. Those aren't bad characteristics; seems like it was an exchange of skill as well as goods and possibly providing safe travel opportunities.

I don't like the 'greedy Caranthir' fanon and don't think it is even that easy support entirely with canon. 'They had of it great profit,' the text says-- both Caranthir and the Dwarves. They exchanged skills and knowledge and Caranthir seems to have helped them start trading in Beleriand again. That's hardly Scrooge Mcduck.

- Another thing we can say about canonthir (lol) is that he apparently attaches a lot of value to aesthetics (was he a visual artist? is a he a sculptor like Nerdanel? WORSE: AN ART CRITIC?! Feanorian art critic is truly nightmare fuel) and that's why he dislikes Dwarves (of all things...). Either way points to 'aesthetics' as something apparently important to Caranthir. Which makes sense given who his parents are. What is interesting to me is that this apparently DOESN'T matter to Curufin, who is a lot like Feanor in most things. That's interesting!

I've never, never seen this but I think it would be very funny to attribute his aesthetic prejudices to Nerdanel. I love her; but why should her opinions be perfect? I know she wasn't considered beautiful herself, but she's an artist. She's got to have had some strong opinions on aesthetics anyway. I doubt it's the beards; Mahtan had one as well. And 'stunted'...at least some of this comes down to the Elvish obsession with height yet again. Hm.

- eventually Caranthir overcomes what have to be some very deeply held beliefs about human beings and their place in the world, and offers what for all intents and purposes looks like real friendship, not the ruling over Men Feanor seems to have had in mind at best. He's capable of real change!

Anyway his character works just fine to me from canon, and what he achieves and the ways in which he fails are more interesting that way rather-- neither slandered Feanorian Finrod 2.0 nor Curufin 'Dwarf Fan' Feanorion without the sneakiness and murder attempts pack the same punch as a stupidly prejudiced grouchy man doing his best anyway for centuries in this stupid ugly cursed land, eventually changing for the better, opening up-- and being brutally punished for it by the Doom.

Dammit. I hope there's therapy in the Everlasting Darkness.

hm a bit long but that's what I get for trying to gather my thoughts wrt why after considering it a bit transferring Curufin's love for Dwarves to Caranthir is a bit boring to me personally. Though there are still stories that still do it very well.

[tainbocuailnge]

fgo criticisms have been flaring up in the wake of dw’s sakura wars mobile game quitting after only half a year but I have a disease that makes me get defensive when people try to rip fgo apart as this uniquely terrible game with uniquely terrible devs so i’m going to complain about people who are complaining for a bit.

i hadn’t heard of the sakura wars game before it shut down but from what i’ve been able to find it suffered from a lot of the same problems as (launch) fgo, terrible gacha rates with no pity, slow ap recovery rates, barebones repetitive gameplay. so i guess seeing how fast sakura wars was shut down people feel like it’s only the fate name holding up fgo and in the early launch days of barely playable fgo that was definitely the case but I don’t think it’s fair to fgo to act like people only continue to play it because it’s fate, and “being like fgo” wasn’t the only problem with sakura wars either. sakura wars is a vn/dating sim series that attempted to revive the series with a mobile game that featured none of the original cast that fans cared about while fate was already a series with new characters and a new setting every instalment and the thing that stood out in this new game was actually that it DID have characters from previous fates available. hell, it’s not fair to sakura wars to claim that its series name is simply weaker than fate’s when there were other factors involved in its failure beyond “being a delightworks game”

fgo DOES improve, launch fgo is unrecognisable compared to current fgo in a good way. events have become more streamlined (events have mid- to lategame enemy hp scaling but feature damage ce’s to let newer players keep up, mission events are set up so that they basically clear themselves just by farming the most recently unlocked node), they experiment with new game modes and gameplay mechanics on the regular, they’re taking more care to make viable permanent servants and buff the older ones, and the past few months there’s also been a noticeable effort to throw out random banners for minor things as an excuse to rerun old limited servants more often. I’ll admit the bar is on the low side (strengthening quests are a ridiculous model, there shouldn’t be this many limiteds to need reruns in the first place, etc) and progress is slower than many people are willing to put up with, and I’m not saying anyone Has to put up with it or they’re a fake fan or whatever, but like, granblue fantasy is seven years old and still doesn’t have the ability to uncap a weapon multiple stages at a time when its entire gameplay loop centers around farming and uncapping weapons and they’ve buffed heles like 7 times but she’s still shit, none of fgo’s problems are exclusive to fgo.

i LIKE playing fgo. i like tapping the cards and watching my little guys go and coming up with different teams to make them go harder or just look good together or even lean into the Themes. and this is going a little bit on a tangent but i have this post window open anyway i was talking with friends earlier that one problem that a lot of mobile games seem to have is that they use “making the game play itself” as substitute for “making the game fun to play”. the only game with autobattle functionality (out of the ones I play, i don’t know everything that’s out there of course) that I feel DOESN’T do this is arknights, where you solve the puzzle that the stage presents in order to earn the right to not have to solve the puzzle every single time you play the stage and coming up with different efficient or perhaps ridiculous ways to solve the puzzle is part of playing the game. the worst case I know is dragalia lost which upon realizing that playing it sucks implemented an item to just let you skip playing stages altogether. “this game is good because you don’t have to play it” is not the selling point some people (and devs) think it is, and fgo refuses to fall into that trap - something I believe is an intentional decision because of their explicit refusal to implement NP skip.

one big advantage that fgo has over the other mobile games i’ve played is that it’s entirely turn based with no real time elements beyond start and end times of events. fgo doesn’t NEED to continue playing itself when you look away because looking away has no bearing whatsoever on your ability to clear the quest, fgo doesn’t give a shit if you look away for six hours and then close the game and only reopen it another ten hours later, you can continue right where you left off. the problem is not that you have to manually play the quest, because as far as the system is concerned you can take as much time as you like to clear that quest, it’s that the greater structure of the game wants you to repeatedly manually clear the same low-stakes quest for disproportionately small rewards. this one’s easy enough to solve by just increasing material droprates across the board. repeat clearing a low level quest is much less frustrating if you actually get drops every other clear.

but that’s a bandaid solution, because related to the issue of having to manually farm low-stakes quests is the lack of high-stakes quests to do when you want to do something a little more engaging than routine farming. outside of event challenge quests with their time limited availability, certain main story chapters that you can’t replay, and recently on JP the permanently available kiara challenge quest in the main interlude, there simply isn’t any difficult content to play. you could argue about fgo’s merit as strategy rpg in the first place i suppose but if you ask me it does have that merit and there is a clear effort from dw’s part to improve the depth of fgo’s strategy elements, the issue is that there is simply not that much content available to unleash those strategies on. of course you’re gonna get bored if all there is to do is either brainlessly repeat the same quest for minimal rewards or play the specific challenge quest that the game hands you right this moment regardless of whether that’s the kind of challenge you feel like facing right now. the solution to this one, although it’s likely going to take some significant effort on dw’s side to implement, is to make main story quests replayable.

you want to flex your brain muscles but there’s no challenge event right now? you stomped on a boss by using overpowered servants the first time but want to challenge yourself with some 3* this time? or the other way around, you beat a boss by the skin of your teeth the first time but want to stomp all over them now that you rolled some bitching 5*? you rolled a servant that’s not that suitable for day to day farming but would really shine in more difficult content and you want to try them out? you have a silly strategy in mind that would only work against certain story enemies? you’re like me and just really crave the shimosa duels? all of this involves content that already exists and is available in the game, dw would just have to figure out a way to let you access it again after clearing the chapter. and of course ideally this extends to event story quests once they’re added to the main interlude

i guess another way to put it is that i think the reason a lot of people say fgo has bad gameplay is not that its gameplay system is actually bad, in fact it has the potential to be very engaging, but rather that it’s a system that is set up to respect your time through the ability to put down the game absolutely whenever you want without being penalised, only for the game around it to go and penalise you for putting it down anyway. if you don’t diligently spend all your ap farming this quest you won’t get single damn material drop, and if you don’t play the event while it‘s happening you’re going to miss out because you can’t be sure when if ever it’ll return. so the number one way to solve the problem of fgo’s “bad gameplay” is not to make the game play itself whenever it tells you to play, but rather to make content more easily available so you don’t have to play if you don’t want to and CAN play if you do want to. thank you for coming to my ted talk i suppose

[tharkflark1]

Now that I’ve completely caught up on KH (and even played most of em), I think I can finally give my reviews on each game in the series! Then I’ll rank em at the end!

I only got into the series about a year ago and I love it to bits! So this will be from the perspective of someone who never rlly played it as a kid nor had heard of it until recently. ^^ however it should be known that knew the the entire KH plot line before playing them outright.

KH1 - The only KH game I’d played before I truly knew what it was. I remember seeing it and playing a bit of it in elementary school cuz some friends had it, but I never knew what was going on so I never finished any of the worlds ^^’.

It’s definitely the hardest game out of the bunch. Not because of anything it does but simply it’s just so barebones in terms of battling compared to future games in the series. That’s not to say it’s not fun tho: probs my favorite time grinding for synthesis items. I’d say this game is my fav grinding experience. Plus Cure not taking up ur entire health bar helps KSNDKSNSKS

As for story: A great way to start off the series. You get introduced to your main guy, your little meow wow: Sora. And then there’s his jealous gay best friend, Riku. And probably my fav version of so far and pretty snarky girl best friend, Kairi. This game is pretty good on its own in terms of story but it really shines in how it influences all the other games in the series. I’d say playing through all the other games made me appreciate it so much more as well as create a baseline of “innocence” for the Destiny Trio to fall back on and acknowledge. And DI is just a beautiful place in general, rlly want to explore it freely someday.

My only real gripe is that Ansem SOD, tho mentioned throughout the game, is not overly built upon as a final antagonist. Maleficent, I feel, is much more satisfying to finally fight and defeat because she’s been messing with Riku’s head and planting Heartless everywhere with her other bad guy friends. Ansem SOD’s final fight is on Destiny Islands tho so he gets some bonus points.

KH Re:CoM - Truthfully, I haven’t finished it but I’m at Marluxia’s final fight, and I feel like I can talk about the gameplay in general.

The card system is a huge obstacle to get around at first, but once you get the hang of it it’s actually quite enjoyable! Finding out new ways to defeat ur enemies almost instantaneously plus needing to solve ur way out of bosses is so much fun! I could probably spend my days just grinding in that game

Story wise, the push off for this wild story as a whole. It’s this eye opening “oh shit this was going on the background of KH1 the whole time???” Kind of feel. Naminé and Repliku are great. You get introduced to Axel, Larxene, Marluxia, Vexen, Zexion, and Lexaeus… only for all except for Axel to parish, and Sora to forget he ever did that in the first place skdbdjdbs

Riku’s character arc also starts here, and his and Mickey’s friendship is rlly sweet. And it rlly shows that Sora’s opinion of Riku is rlly important to Riku. It’s just all rlly insightful to what exactly started KH1 and everything else.

I probably sound like everyone else when I say that the only thing holding this game back is the vastly different gameplay. I think I’d love to see someone recreate CoM but as a normal KH game

KH2 - The longest one. Only because like, you have to go through each and every world twice (sometimes 3 times) over, and it has the largest amount of any worlds in any KH game. Grinded to level 99 and have barely attempted the super bosses ;0; Also, Lingering Will’s Portal never showed up so I have to beat the game again >:/

Gameplay’s pretty fun! It’s your normal KH almost button-mash style. The gummiship is a lot of fun too, but still more tedious than anything. The infamous Drive forms make their appearance, and they’re pretty swell. My fav probs ended up being Limit and Anti form, but Anti form is random so ;-;. He hang by him foot I don’t know how you couldn’t not love him. Easiest time getting ultima weapon here.

A great villain cast. All of them have such interesting personalities (especially once I got to Days) and designs. They make you wonder who and what they are. Why they’re doing all of this. Honestly, I can’t pick a favorite. This game does a surprisingly good job at letting you kinda get to know each Org person ur fighting before you defeat them. It’s wild.

Holy shit Roxas. Nomura just hands you this wonderful lad before he kills him 2 hours later. It’s same with Axel (if you hadn’t experienced CoM before this). Dude is just trying to get his adopted son back, but he eventually realizes there’s no point and sacrifices himself to save Sora. It’s pretty touching (especially, again, after Days). The game is rlly the one that gets you feeling. Riku’s being a dumb-dumb through out this game, but he’s still a wise ass and it’s pretty great. Kairi, uh, Kairi’s pretty cool in the manga. I feel like neither explain when and how Naminè merged back with Kairi before they shake hands at the end of the game.

My gripes. I was told by a lot of people that this was the best KH game, but I’ll have to disagree. The way I would explain this game is just, tedious. There’s practically nothing happening inbetween Sora waking up and major plot point areas. You’re forced to got through almost every world twice. Leveling up drive forms gets specific and almost annoying (unless you know a glitch to get around the form level part. Which I had to look up). Even with this story, I’m just supposed to accept that Roxas and Naminè can never be their own people again? Like, I get that it’s supposed to be bittersweet but it’s played so oddly. I dunno, I can’t rlly explain it.

I know some peeps have said that the games stopped being good after KH2/Days and should have stopped, but I’ll have to wholeheartedly disagree. Though it has its satisfying moments, I don’t think I would have enjoyed the series as much as I did if it just, stopped there. This is probably my least favorite entry.

348/2 Days - I didn’t play it but I watched someone play it AND I watched the cutscenes.

The Tetris system seems fun! I do have a DS so I hope to play it some day. I will say, when Nomura and friends have to make the gameplay different to work on a different console, they rlly make it work. I’ll be more in-depth on this when we get to BBS. Also I love that each character has joke weapons. Amazing.

The story alone makes me wonder why CoM was remade but not Days. I would have KILLED to see Lexaeus back hand Roxas or the “Roxas, that’s a stick” line fully animated. It’s a playable tragedy where no-one wins in the end. Xion is forgotten. Roxas loses his memories of the past year. And Axel loses both of the kids he cared about sm. The lights of his life while in the Org. It rlly makes Axel’s actions all that more heartbreaking in KH2. But, I do not recommend doing Days before KH2 as Days spoils some plot points in KH2.

Again, I would love to actually play it someday. So I don’t have much gripes. Maybe I’ll update this more when I finally do.

KH: BBS - My favorite. Also the first one I actually saw someone play. You play as 3 different characters with 3 different play styles and it forces you to compensate. And it has the melding system. I will get to the melding system.

Story is one of my favs and introduces a whole new trio: Some parents and their adopted son LMAO. Plus you have old man Xehanort and Eraqus and the Unversed (I want a flood plush so BAD), and a new addition to the Heart Hotel: Vanitas. He’s such a little gremlin but also a blast to fight. Especially as Aqua. His attitude kinda reminds me of Larxene, and he’s a breath of fresh air in terms of personality. He bounces off the optimism of the protags rlly well. Love him <3

This is probably my fav trio? They are, the best. We have girlboss Aqua and her himbo husband Terra. And the saddest boy to ever live, Ventus. I’d kill for all of them. And like, it has baby Destiny Trio and young Saixel like, how much more could u want???

The gameplay is the best out of the bunch. I love the melding system. I love having the command deck. Shotlocks??? Stupendous. I played this one on Critical first, so I’m not sure how much I can talk about in terms of difficulty, but it was challenging enough to let me rlly enjoy the gameplay itself. And with playing through it practically 3 times over: it rlly helps u nail down the specifics.

My gripes are few but common amongst other peeps. I do wish we could have seen more of the trio’s friendship. Like Ventus and Aqua being friends more often would have been cool. Honestly just, more Aqua hanging out with them. And there’s no, recipe for melding stuff so you have to either guess or look up online how to get the best commands.

Other than that: ( Shakes this game in front of ur face like a pack of saltines) play ittttt

KH:ReCoded - Same as Days: watched the cutscenes and someone play it. It’s about this little dude who doesn’t know what the FUCK is going on but he’s there to help I guess?

Again, I can’t say much of the gameplay but it looks fun! Similar to Days but it’s more circuit board-esque. Love to play it someday for real!

Story: tbh it’s kinda lack luster but it REALLY gets you used to the concept of data worlds and how they work. Plus it introduces the Book of Prophecies and what the hell Maleficent is doin.

Data Soriku my beloveds <3 They are like, if Riku realized he was gay rlly early on and everything didnt get swallowed up by darkness. Wonderful. I hope to see them again :( Also what was up with Sora’s heartless evolving into a Darkside. Is that foreshadowing??? Should I be scared for my son o-o’’

Don’t skip it! Plz it’s actually quite good and both Data Sora and Data Riku are wonderful characters.

DDD - The gay one. Holy shit. Riku you poetic gay I’m going to put you back into the closet myself

Story: A really great way to focus on two different characters in different way — Sora’s being about his Heart Hotel and Riku’s being about his internal struggles. The concept of dream worlds are introduced here and while I’m still very 🤔 about it, theyre very interesting. This game rlly shines in how it writes Riku and is more focused on him as a whole. He’s pretty much the main protag of this game and his goal to find himself and Sora.

Gameplay: they got rid of the melding system :( but the Dream Eaters are super cool! It plays very similar to BBS but no shotlocks but it also has ✨Flowmotion✨. I love just launching myself into space with it. I also love naming my dream eaters and hanging out with them.

Gripes: Commantis. That’s it. That’s my gripe. It makes me wanna never play the game again. It’s such an insanely hard boss and for no reason!

0.2 - Short but does a brief character study on Aqua while she’s stuck in the realm of Darkness. Also the official KH dress up game.

Story: More a character study and a demo for KH3 than a whole game. Aqua’s thoughts and feelings on what she’s done, and she’s clearly got depression or something. I need her to be hugged and loved STAT. Also I’ll beat Yen Sid and Rickey Rat with my bare hands ☺️

Gameplay: You can complete it in a couple hours depending on how slow u are or if you wanna get all the outfits. Rlly wish they could have kept even a little of the dress up options going into KH3 but oh well. It’s weirdly laggy at points but I do LOVE the mirror puzzles. Again, more things I wish were in KH3.

Gripes: I don’t rlly, have any? It’s a good warm up going into KH3 with situation commands and everything. Some of the outfit challenges are fuckin WILD tho. Like you gotta defeat a certain boss with a finisher or not take damage during boss fights. Fuckin WILD

Great warm up game! Wish it was longer tho :(

KH3 - the big boye. The largest lad. The first game I ever actually paid attention to and actually caught my interest.

Story: It has KH2's problem i feel with everything at the start and end being important and then dying down in the middle. But I feel it does WAY better than Kh2. Nothing feels overly tedious and all the worlds and characters are a delight. One of my fav versions of Sora where he's still the happy-go-lucky son boy but theres some underlying sadness to him that accumulates until he breaks towards the end. It's great characterization for Sora, and I can't wait to see what Nomura has in store for him.

Also we get to save everyone and every time we watch Terra burst into tears I start crying. And the the Sea Salt Trio hugging ;0; Honestly? The end of this phase of KH is such a breath of fresh air. I’ve seen some peeps say that Roxas and Xion coming back demeans their sacrifices, and while I get that, I feel like the story of KH pushed so hard that Sora wanted them to be real again that them not coming back would have felt empty. Also KH as a whole puts this “everyone deserves a chance at life” thing out there and it makes me cry.

Gameplay: there is,,, so much. And all of it rocks. But keyblade transformations have to be my fav. Oh and Rage form; my little scrunkly <3. The game makes each keyblade viable and fun and it’s just so good. And they even made the Gummiship fun!! Say what you want about the story but holy shit this game is just a delight to play. I have yet to test Critical mode but I’m so ready. I’m gonna get Oblivion so badddd.

As for the Superbosses: fun. I can’t just keep saying that word over and over again but there’s rlly no other word to describe it! I’ve only done 3 so far (funniest defeat being Vanitas who got crushed by Meow Wow ass) and can’t wait to do the rest (I fear Yozora tho >_>’)

But I’m the best at cooking! That egg breaking mini game is my fav <3

Gripes: The DLC paywall probs. Kinda annoying but not the worst thing in the world. And like I said before, pacing’s rlly odd. But def a solid 9/10.

Melody of Memory: the rhythm game

Another one of those “if you don’t like the gameplay it’s rlly not worth buying” but I’m a HUGE fan of rhythm games. So I love it.

Rlly recommend getting headphones to play it. Also if ur having trouble hitting the notes you can adjust the timing in config!

Love that we got a 7 sec update this year for it and it was just Ienzo, Even, and Ansem freaking out over static KSJDKSNSK

Gripes: none rlly. Everything is enjoyably challenging. Not a whole lot of plot stuff tho. Very bare bones in terms of lore

Final ranking (from least to most fav)

KH2 -> CoM -> Days = Re:Coded -> 0.2 = DDD -> KH1 -> MoM -> KH3 = KH: BBS

[sncwbored]

♡ hi & hello! it’s peach again ( s/h, 21+ ) & here’s my second cutie cho hari, who recently & miraculously clinched a silver at the olympics for slopestyle & her life’s gone all topsy-turvy with the attention! she’s finally got a precious off-season break, so she’s just chilling here in maehwa... or trying her best to! my pages are still barebones but here ( about, wanted, bio ) & there’s some info on hari under the cut! please drop a like or an im if you wanna plot, or lmk if you’d like my discord!

have you seen CHO HARI around? i heard they moved here because SHE’S ON HER OFF-SEASON BREAK. their tenant agreement says they are 22 YEARS OLD and a PROFESSIONAL SNOWBOARDER. i always see them SNEAKING AROUND THE KITCHEN FOR SNACKS and they kind of remind me of SUNSHINE YELLOW YOLKS AND CRISPY EDGES ON A FRESH SUNNY SIDE UP…

TIMELINE

her parents had her on all the extracurriculars as a kid, trying to find the one thing that’d put their kid on the map. as with any good kid, she went with it & all those lessons

it took a while, but hari finally took to skiing first, then snowboarding, which was expensive as all hell but worth it when it scored her comfortable scholarships & a usually guaranteed spot given how small the snowboarding circuit was

always middle of the pack, 4th place tops—comfortably good, sometimes better, but never the best

& perfectly fine by her! she isn’t uncompetitive, but she also isn’t killing herself for a medal. she’s having fun & happy with where she’s at. snowboarding doesn’t have to be medal winning to be a long term career, she’s got a steady scholarship at snu with it, & it feels like she’s all set for life! she’s good at what she does & trains hard to be there

most importantly, hari’s perfectly content with the status quo. at least, when the expectations on her shoulders are only those of her own & her parents

but south korea’s snowboarding team is small. small enough that she, somehow, slides into the national team too. to the olympics

hari’s never won a medal, mostly unknown, & this is the biggest wave she’s made in her career as a snowboarder. now there are eyes on her. not many, for sure, snowboarding isn’t that popular a sport, but the weight of expectations that weren’t there before start to feel heavy

so she practices like crazy. way harder than she ever did, a schedule of jumps & flips & tricks through courses that have her speeding down slopes even in her dreams

& she doesn’t quite understand how, but—she wins silver in women’s slopestyle. a spot on the podium, for the first time ever, & she’s so excited until the expectations are replaced with a whole lot of attention she’s entirely unequipped to deal with

the first press conference goes by uncomfortably. it gets worse when she ends up on a tour for medalists, like going down a slope without her board & no practice runs. interviews go sideways the moment she opens her mouth & puts her foot in it

it’s so silly to complain when winning a medal is a good thing actually. she doesn’t run away, but its a close call. when everything’s done, it’s off-season & she gets a break, packing her bags so she can finally chill & relax in maehwa

( haha! )

PERSONALITY / OTHER

a bit of a people pleaser, has grown a tiny lil backbone since but is still easily steamrolled into agreeing to things before she can think them through

hasty talker, fast to start a sentence & cut herself off halfway. gets worse & more stilted in front of cameras. her failed interviews have probably been remixed & stitched to hell & back 

also has mad stage fright / camera shyness! on the slopes, she gets to be all goggled up & a suit of aerodynamic warmth from head to toe, so pictures then are fine, but taking her picture off the slopes is 😭

has a secret reckless adrenaline junkie side to her, at odds with how awkward she is. she’s always down for something wild & stupid & possibly maiming hehe

really hardworking, but easily content. believes in the whole, the journey is the reward stuff, which means she’s not particularly ambitious either

gets in her head a lot, unless she’s on the slopes. prone to replaying conversations where she could’ve done so much better, & getting embarrassed over them out of nowhere

arrived in maehwa like yesterday & is finding her way around! she’s gonna be here til the end of summer

also got dumped right before the olympics & never processed it so now she’s gotta... if u see her crying pls just give her a tissue or something 🤧

ramble over thank u for ur attention hehe pls come plot with me!! ♡

[egoludes]

the greatest gift of all.

note: so, to be honest with y’all...i have no idea where this came from. i was just minding my business this weekend, @adorecevans​​ and i started talking about one (1) headcanon scenario, and now here we are! this is going to be a v casual series, basically just snippets of dom!chris and sub!reader (in no particular order) building a relationship. future installments will explore the history more, but what you need to know for this one and the series overall: dom!chris meets sub!reader through a dom/sub dating app of sorts and have been engaging each other long distance for a few months. reader has no idea that it’s chris evans for the obvious reasons, and since he doesn’t give a name at all, she addresses him as Sir. i’ll explore all that background more in the future, but for now: i really hope you enjoy!

credits: unsplash for the stock image, and an anon in @honeychicanawrites​​‘s asks one day for the image of cevans calling his lady ‘mama’... i had to do it. 

warnings: masturbation, voyeuristic vibes, intimacy over video call, dom/sub dynamics, long distance / virtual relationships, sex toys, use of title as name (sir).

wc: 2.3k

The thought comes to you on a Sunday afternoon.

You’re on your belly thumbing through texts, legs up and crossed at the ankles with Sir’s newest gift -- a pretty pink slip -- and your laptop beside you. The screen is dark, save for a grey circle with an initial in the center that lets you know he’s there, listening, when you say: “Have you ever tried one of those dildo molds, Sir?”

The initial silence is suffocating, and you worry for a second that the idea - spur of the moment, really - goes too far. You’re just learning each other, after all; still adjusting to the pictures, the calls, the gifts you model for him with pride. 

But then, he speaks, a familiar rasp to the words that makes you clench in your fitting black shorts. The question comes from a place of genuine curiosity, but you’ve riled him up still, which excites you; always does. “That’s what you’re thinking about over there, huh? Feeling me?”

Your body heats, conditioned already to react to that dangerous tone in his voice; but you try to keep your expression reticent when you turn it to your camera. There’s another moment of nothing -- just you watching the lens like it’s him before you. Then, your lips curl, lids narrow, and your voice turns playfully sweet. “Well, when am I not?”

He hisses, a sharp sound that makes you preen, and you can hear him on the other end, adjusting his screen. “Easy, mama,” he growls, earning himself a giggle, “it’s too early for you to be working me up.”

You laugh again, this time with more body before resting your cheek on your palm. Without his video on -- a compromise you’ve grown used to -- you can’t know that he’s actually watching you. But you lean into it all the same, swinging your legs behind you. “But, have you?”

He clicks his tongue, a thoughtful sound, and you imagine what his features must look like, twisted by consideration. “No - I don’t think I know anyone’s who has either.”

You hum, eyes glinting with something that makes him suck in a breath. “I’ve always wondered about it. Not just the process, but just...having one,” you murmur, settling deeper into your pensive stance. There’s a dreaminess to your tone that not even you notice; but he, that ever-mindful man, takes note.

You continue on, none the wiser. 

////

A week later, you come home at the top of rush hour, grateful that you’ve made it so early, but burdened all the same. Stress is a fickle, but poignant thing, and you’re feeling its weight extra today as you make your way up to your apartment. You’re excited for the time to yourself, thinking on what you might make for dinner, when you see it - a small, but noticeable box at the foot of your door.

Immediately, your expression turns, confusion and wariness turning your mouth into a scowl. You don’t remember ordering anything, nor are you expecting something for anyone else. You hope the label will give you a clue about what this could be, but to your chagrin, it has no company - just your address and a generic return location. 

Still, you take it in, setting it on the kitchen counter, where it stays forgotten as you shower, eat, and pour yourself a glass of wine. You’re halfway through the second when the package re-snares your attention from the corner of your eye. You drain the rest of your drink with a gulp, wiping red off the corners of your mouth before you stand, determined, to approach it.

The box is unassuming; plain cardboard with nothing but the barebones label to distinguish it. You lift it again, this time with both hands, to measure it and feel something heavy shift inside. It’s enough to pique your curiosity, and you tear through the packaging until you can see what’s in it.

At the center is another, smaller box made of sleek black velvet. A card is attached with red ribbon, careful lettering penned in dark ink. Even before you fish it out, you can work out the message, but it doesn’t feel real until the note sits in your hand and you’re reading it up close.

For my favorite girl; so you can feel me any time you want.

Sir.

Your eyes dance over the words a few times before their meaning sinks in and you realize it’s a gift from him. Then, you’re practically rabid, tugging out the box out and flipping the lid in one motion.

When you see what’s inside, it’s all you can do not to buckle at the knees. In the middle of the box, set up almost regally on a bed of plushy silk, is a veined, pink dildo. You don’t need to touch it to know that it’s heavy, but that doesn’t stop you from doing it all the same. Your fingers take it by the base first, wrapping firmly above the balls to test the weight. And you moan at it, that delicious thickness as you lift it from the box with both hands. Your palms curve around it, twitching with want, and you realize then that this is what he looks like, what he feels like.

What you would get if he came home to you for real.

The thought is too much to bear. Your breath quickens, fingers dancing deliberately up and over the shaft to size it up. You tell yourself that this is all you need for now ---- you know better than anyone that to use this toy for the first time without him is a test of his patience you’re certain to fail. But, the more you touch, the more you need, and before you can reconsider, you’re on your hands and knees on your couch, panties pressed sloppily to the side as you guide the heft of Sir’s length past your aching entrance.

The impact is immediate. You fall forward with a gasp as every inch stretches you open and by the time it’s fully seated, your face is completely hidden in your couch cushions. The fabric muffles your voice as your hips start to move, a slow, languid grind to make sure everything is felt. 

You get so lost in it, you don’t hear your phone buzzing until it’s almost too late. But, at the nth moment, you recognize the ringtone you’d chosen just for him and, despite the clear risk of answering, you reach for the device, trembling with nerves, excitement, and lust, at the dangerous game you’re about to play. 

When you answer, there’s nothing but darkness from his end and your face in the corner. You’re sitting on your butt now, legs carefully spread and hips angled to keep from jostling the toy inside you. But, it’s hard not to squirm in a situation like this; even more so, when he starts to talk, voice raw from the day. 

“Hi, honey,” he breathes, the endearment -- your favorite -- making your heart swell, “almost thought you were already asleep.”

You shake your head, biting back a knowing smile. “No, Sir… I’m still awake, just...watching tv.”

“Yeah?” He says, something skeptical in the tone. Even without his video on, you can almost feel his gaze burning a hole in your expression. Like he’s inspecting it, picking it apart for clues. He must find one, because he hums lowly; a dip in the sound that makes it sound like he’s smirking. “Only watching tv?”

“Y-Yes, Sir…”

“Okay, okay -- what’re you watching? Is it any good?”

Your eyes flicker towards the television to glean what’s playing, but Sir catches you before you can get a good look. “Nuh uh -- eyes over here.” 

Despite your better judgment, you pout, all but caught now, and the expression makes him laugh. He’d had a number of subs before you -- people who had piqued his sexual interest, but never quite held up to any of his other, more innocent expectations. But you ---- even if he wouldn’t call you something as invested as a lover, your personality makes it hard to be anything but endeared to you. Before he knew it, he was in headlong, calling you for sessions a couple times a week, sending gifts even more than that. You’re fun to just exist with, even in this moment as he’s so deliberately toying with you.

“Can’t be too good if you can’t tell me anything about it without looking, huh?” His voice drops, a dangerous timbre taking it, and you feel your body shake. “So you gonna tell me the truth before you get yourself in more trouble?”

A whimper breaks past parted lips and you bite down a little too late to stifle the sound. “T-The toy,” you whisper, clenching around his cock despite him being hundreds or thousands of miles away. The irony isn’t lost on you - if anything, it’s making your need spike. There’s something so odd, but so enticing about the whole thing. “I couldn’t wait, Sir… your cock just looked so good.”

Sir curses near the phone, so close that you swear you can feel the breath of it on your palm. “Jesus...I knew you’d be hungry for it, but I didn’t think it’d get you this much. Breakin’ our number one rule and everything.” You shift on the couch, free hand reaching to pull out the dildo in anticipation of his punishment. It’s likely to be no orgasms for the night which, as disappointing as that is, seems almost worth it for the pleasure of this weight inside you. Then he speaks again, forcing you to pause in your motion.

“Get on your computer ---- I want to see the way I fit inside you. Then, we can talk about your punishment.”

The minutes between your phone call and the start of the call on your laptop are equal parts tantalizing and tortuous. You’ve only broken this rule once prior and ended up having to watch him fuck his hand through two sloppy orgasms before getting sent to bed without touching yourself even once. So the fact that he seems to be inclined to let you keep the dildo in gives you pause.

But it’s the sort that’s almost intoxicating. Your adrenaline is pumping, thighs slick with want, and by the time you’ve gotten the video up and running, you’ve shed your panties completely, legs wedged open with the camera trained between them as directed.

��Fuckin’ hell, sweetie… look at that pussy eating me up.” You whine out for him, walls clenching visibly at his words in a reaction that makes him purr. “That good? Everything you thought it would be?”

You nod in a daze, cock drunk even with your hips still, and Sir shifts on the other end, the telltale clink of an open belt alerting you to how good it feels for him too. You’re in two minds to beg him to see, even if it’s just a view of the waist down, when he beats you to the punch. “Take it out --”

You blink, trying to focus on his words enough to make sense of his command. He can see the confusion in your face and has to try not to laugh. “Take it out,” he repeats, “and sit on it. I want to see you take it properly.”

It’s a scramble after that -- you, shifting and guiding the toy out of you until you’re hovering over the tip of it on your knees. Lidded eyes dance towards your laptop as you still there, body wound tight in anticipation, and like many times before, you hold his gaze through the lens as you sink down, down, down onto the dildo he made for you.

If you thought you were full before, you’re certainly learning your lesson. The change in angle has the cock dizzyingly deep, enough that it punches the air out of your lungs. You can feel the balls against your bare skin, a permanent reminder of how much you’ve taken, and when he calls for you again, adoration in the breathy tones, you can’t help but buzz. 

You love to make him proud of you.

His tone is so tender that you nearly forget you’re in trouble and are about to lift your hips and give him a show when he stops you. “You heard what I said, honey,” he teases when your confused expression returns. “I want you to sit on it. You stay right where you are.”

The urge to beg is potent -- a searing kind of desperation that you’ve never minded indulging with him. But before you can form words in your head, let alone out loud, the dildo comes to life inside you, shaking with such force you cry out from the suddenness. Between being full, and the toy revealing itself to be a vibrator, it’s all too much, so much, and you’re falling back into the couch knees shaking beneath you.

“Now, now, don’t give up on me yet,” Sir coos, a distinct click sounding from his side of the screen and confirming your suspicions when the vibrator turns off right after, “you wanted  to feel me, didn’t you?” He pauses long enough for you to nod, gasping in a breath as your teary eyes dance blindly over the screen you wish you could see him on. There’s another click, then a cry as your body arches in an involuntary jolt.

“Then, be a good girl - show me how well you can handle it.”

[bailesu]

John Rewrites Star Trek:  The Motion Picture

This movie is great thematically, visually, and musically, and a disaster in terms of plot and character and pacing and especially pacing.  Way too many scenes of actors trying to react to special effects that don’t exist yet.  Two new characters, who are largely wasted.

So what is the theme of STTTMP?  It’s the question ‘Is this all there is?’  It’s the classic mid-life crisis question and that’s where the cast is when the movie starts - the Enterprise finished its mission, they moved up the ladder, but they’re not satisfied.  It’s that feeling there ought to be *more*.  Even V’ger has this and so this has to be a movie about the quest to find meaning in life when you have achieved your original goals... and now you don’t have a direction.  This also functions as a cosmic question - does the universe have any higher meaning or are we just an accident?  Why do we exist?  Is this all there is?

So we open with Scotty dropping by Kirk’s office to ask about some parts they need for the engine refit on the Enterprise.  Kirk is now Admiral Kirk and we learn the Enterprise did a successful five year mission and now there’s a refit and a new commander for it, Matt Decker; we get a brief mention of the Doomsday machine here and the first mention of Will Decker.  They also mention that Uhura has been working for Starfleet intelligence, mostly deciphering Klingon transmissions.  

 Then Uhura enters, dropping a report on Kirk’s desk.  “Look at this,” she says.

Cue footage of the Klingons vs  huge glowing energy field which zaps them with a beam that methodically erases them.  We learn this field destroyed three Klingon outposts and that it came from beyond the Empire.  

Uhura says, “It’s on a direct course for Gamma Iotis, near the border of the Federation.”

Scotty says, “That sounds familiar.”

“It’s where Bones is part of a research facility.”  Kirk said.  “I will get you those parts, Scotty, and brief Captain Decker.  It’s the only ship that can get there in time and even then, it’s going to be a close shave.”

Kirk has a message sent to evacuate, but it’s too far for a direct connection.  But given the limits on how fast ships can move, it will get there before V’Ger can, right?

Cut to Gamma Iotis, where McCoy is having an argument with David Marcus over whether terraforming technology is a good idea.  David’s ideas involve the use of technology based off the transporter and who still hates transporters?  Bones, that’s who.

Carol steps in to get them both to backdown and approves David doing some testing on a small scale.  Then V’Ger attacks and they’re running for the ships when everything evaporates.

Cut to a shot where the entire moon is gone and V’Ger moves on.

Then we roll the opening credits.

We see Spock, meditating in a Vulcan facility.  He has achieved his goal, Kolin’ar, but he is clearly not satisfied.  The peace he was promised is not there.

And then he feels the attack on McCoy and all the souls on Gamma Iotis vanishing.  He does something (to be explained later) and then tells the head monk he must leave.

“If you return to the world of attachments, there is no turning back,” the monk warns him.

“The needs of others is more important than the needs of the one,” he tells the monk, who cannot argue.

Cut to Kirk, who is riding to the martian shipyards where the refit is underway, taking Uhura and Scotty with him.  The VIP ship is commanded by Sulu, accompanied by Chekov, who are both bored out of their minds.  Kirk tells him the reason he ended up here was that they all did so well that Starfleet was afraid to risk them.  They had become too big of heroes, and he mentions what happened to John Glenn.

Here we get the ‘Look at how sexy the Enterprise is’ shot but cut down to reasonable length.

We now meet Decker and Ilia.  The Deltans are a race of telepaths.  Most never leave their homeworld, but if they must, they shave their heads, because their hair acts as telepathic antennas and around people with no mental defenses, they would be overwhelmed; Ilia can still do telepathy by touch.  Deltans have a reputation for being incredible at sex but are not obsessed with it, unlike Roddenberry’s version.  Decker and Ilia were once lovers but he left to enter Starfleet.  She became discontent with the limits of her homeworld, having learned more of the universe from him and joined Starfleet to see other, different places, but now they’re assigned together and it’s awkward.  Especially as he is her commanding officer now.

Scotty runs off to install the parts.

As Kirk is briefing Decker on what’s going on, two things happen: They get a report that the mysterious cloud is headed towards Earth at ludicrous speed, and that it destroyed Gamma Iotis with no survivors.

Kirk decides they have to go NOW.  No waiting.  They take off and Chekov and Sulu are along for the ride.

Decker isn’t happy to have his boss riding him.  The hasty departure leads to the wormhole problem, which Decker and Ilia and Scotty solve as they’re the only ones briefed on the new equipment.

Then Spock joins them and tells them McCoy is somehow alive and dead at the same time, his katra is inside V’Ger.  All the katras of the dead are.

Cut to McCoy, who finds himself in a weirdly frozen version of Gamma Iotis III.  He can’t figure out what’s going on but has this feeling like Spock’s looking at him.

His efforts to figure out what the hell is going on leads to V’Ger talking to him through Carol Marcus, who was up to this point one of the frozen.  We find out V’Ger’s mission is to go out, collect samples and information, to learn all that is learnable and bring this information to the Creator.  McCoy is now data in V’Ger’s banks, only he can still act of his own will.  

V’Ger then ‘activates’ various of the other people, making them act strangely and explaining that he has spent a lot of time playing out various scenarios to understand how carbon-based lifeforms think.

McCoy is really angry over that and tries to do the Kirk Manuever (use illogic to make the computer blow out, but it doesn’t work).  He refuses to play along, and V’Ger becomes both angrier and intrigued.

They reach V’Ger.  It remembers the feuding between Klingons and Federation, learned from its scan, and sends out the Klingons, reconstituted but still under its control.  Sulu and Chekov get to show their stuff here and the Enterprise wins, but Spock realizes they are just puppets, reconstituted from data about them.

He also feels V’Ger’s loneliness and discontent.  This is where Spock goes in, with Ilia flying him in, to try to make mental contact; he talks to McCoy and senses V’Ger’s state of mind.  The world is nothing but a plaything and the playing means little; it knows all that is knowable, or thinks it does, and now it seeks to report to its Creator, hoping to feel fulfilled.  Ilia tells Spock about how she left Delta because she didn’t feel fulfilled there.  She wanted more but didn’t know what she wanted.

Uhura now figures out how to communicate with V’Ger in a way it can understand and it responds by sending Carol Marcus as its ‘probe’ and tells them they must tell it where to find the Creator.  This shakes up Kirk.  It believes the Creator is on Earth, according to its oldest records.

Kirk comes up with a plan on how to destroy V’Ger with the Enterprise; he and Decker have a big argument over whether Kirk is freaking out like Decker’s father did.  Cue flashback.  Then Spock tells them that V’Ger would barely even feel it.  They cannot defeat it by force.

Their only hope is to try to reason with it.  Spock feels V’Ger is lost and seeks a purpose.  He has too much knowledge and power and nothing fruitful to do with it.  He seeks a purpose.  Ilia agrees and feels terrible for it.

They enter V’Ger and confront it, discovering its origins.  It demands of Spock to know how McCoy stillhas his own will, and Spock indicates he has been in contact with him sufficiently to sustain him, a power born of his search for Kolin’ar, but one that also meant he could not be content with it, for he could not renounce his connections to others.

But V’Ger has no others to connect to.  It has mastered this plane but does not know how to rise above it.

And now we get the Decker and Ilia joining with V’Ger, to help it to ascend and to learn how to connect with others.  V’Ger restores everything he turned into data.  Then they ascend.

This is pretty barebones, but that’s how I would do it, to give everyone more stuff to do and try to also build links to exploit for the later movies.

The Genesis Device is adapted from V’Ger tech information David gained to refine his ideas.

Carol and David will return in movie two.

We can blame the devastation of Khan’s world on V’Ger :)

We set up the idea of katras for later use and help show Spock has a strong bond to McCoy as well, for when his katra ends up in McCoy.

[mitsybubbles]

​Let's Rewrite Fallout 3 to be more like Castle in the Sky!

Because it reminds me a lot of it and Why Not I love a good au/homage/crossover or whatever you call this

This is just a compilation of random ideas so it’s kinda messy and barebones gfhfdhjggf, I’m also not gonna do too much Worldbuilding stuff, I just wanna get down some ideas for Plot

The Lone Wanderer is a normal wastelander. Because I want them to have a closer bond with James (and from what I know people don’t seem to like the vault much ghgf). James is single and Catherine’s still alive. She’s his research partner and best friend. You can decide if they were together before, or if he was with someone else or if he adopted the LW or whatever

James’s lab is also more humble than the one in Jefferson Memorial mostly because I like the idea of a scientist in their own personal lab and also because I don’t think the story should start right in the middle of DC. Imma say he sometimes keeps in contact with the scientists at Jefferson memorial.

There is an abandoned pre-war bunker or vault of sorts somewhere under Washington DC. It used to be a place where scientists were doing research for the government before the war happened. It’s known in wasteland legends for housing technology and weapons in it that could give the people who discovered it untold power. 

James found proof that the vault could exist and wants to see if it’s had anything that would help the purification project he and his research team are working on work after they ran into a roadblock

The Enclave (specifically Autumn) wants it because even though the east coast enclave escaped the NCR, the Brotherhood followed them and they are slowly dying. Autumn found papers that were blueprints for a mass weapon of destruction and was given permission to secure it for the Enclave’s use.

The truth of the matter was that a private group of scientists in it were looking into making nuclear power more efficient before the government seized control of it and made them create a weapon for the warfare that would irradiate an entire area. When they refused to cede the weapon, the army arrested and killed them. They set up a security system to make sure that spies or dissenters couldn’t hack into the weapon or vault’s facilities. After the bombs dropped, most of the survivors there abandoned the vault.

While James and the LW are travelling somewhere because he’s looking for the vault the Enclave captures them to get information. James helps the LW escape and he’s killed by one of Autumn’s lackies. This is the beginning of the game.

Catherine finds you (she followed you and James, out of worry that you’d get in trouble) and takes you back to the lab/wherever you were staying to patch you up and ask what happened. This is where the tutorial/character creation happens.

The Lone Wanderer’s main goal is to avenge their dad and to finish his purity project. The final goal is to destroy the vault so no one can abuse its powers ever again. I’m thinking the final boss is the security system of the vault. The purity project is either finished through another means (ending with the river remaining polluted for much longer as they tried to get the purifier working) or with the LW using the technology (resulting in the purification machine accidentally contaminating the river with radiation because it was too unstable).

The Brotherhood is fighting off the Enclave but when their intelligence catches wind of what Autumn is up to, they decide to also try to get the weapon. The LW can talk Sarah Lyons down from this but can’t change the Brotherhood from still attempting to do it.

By the end of the game it becomes apparent that the weapon was dangerous to even the Enclave and Autumn was ordered to abandon the mission but he continues to press forwards against orders because he believes the East Coast Enclave abandoned its ideals for cowardice. Autumn true-heartedly believes that the technology in there would be able to bring the Enclave back to its former glory and that they would ‘restore’ their delusion of how pre-war was.

Was thinking maybe doing a bit like the robot scene from the movie where the LW gets captured by the Enclave at the same time the Brotherhood is attacking their fort and they end up either sneaking out, powering a pre-war army robot the enclave found with science skill to fight their way out (which also accidentally destroys the Enclave’s headquarters), or helping the Brotherhood (which ropes you into their plot).

This isn’t really plot related but instead of you already knowing Butch, you meet him and the tunnel snakes and have to impress him/help them for them to take you seriously gjhfg.

Also, the Potomac River and Tidal Basin’s pollution is set up by having waterborne diseases and bad harvests be rampant in the Capital Wasteland. It’s more developed than it is in canon and there is plenty of greenery growing back, the river has a toll on the ecosystem, agriculture, and people. 

Thinking there is quests related to people being sick or an item being “river water” that has an adverse health effect unless you boil it over a stove or campfire, or animals that live near the water being weaker than other animals because they’re sick