#like early level recurring enemies

[incorrectallpersonaquotes]

After a very busy month, we finally finished Metaphor Refantazio.

Here, I'll talk first about our troubled journey to be able to play it, and then about the game itself (no spoilers, so you can read it with no problem).

Unlike most Atlus games, this time we were unable to purchase directly at release due to lack of money. So, the game was released in October, we only managed to buy it in November and only managed to beat it now, literally in the early hours of December 1st. In fact, throughout the month of October, a recurring joke of ours was to say "wow, this game is so awful" to contain our anxiety while we waited for the month to pass soon so we could have money to buy it.

The day I would buy it would be on my pay day. But, for some reason, the company took longer than usual to deposit the money, so it was more than 15:30 and still no salary. They finally deposited at 16h, but my internet stopped working right at the same time, and I was without internet until after midnight. So, I couldn't work (I work HomeOffice), but without internet I couldn't buy and download the game. In other words, if the salary had dropped a little earlier, or the internet had dropped a little later, we could have played, but since that didn't happen we spent a whole day anxious about playing, without being able to play.

The next day we finally managed to play, and everything went smoothly until we reached the final stretch of the game. Before the final boss, the game has some optional bosses that it recommends killing to prepare for the ending. I started killing these bosses, but they were some tough motherfuckers, so I spent about two days killing them, and got stuck on the last one. But I started to feel remorse because Babi was anxious to finish the game, so I decided to just finish the game as quickly as possible, and after that I would dedicate as much time as I wanted to kill the optional boss.

Result: in my rush to resolve things quickly, I ended up stuck on the final boss for two whole days, because I thought that, with the right skillset, I could kill him without grinding. But I wasted a lot of time on this, until I finally gave up and started grinding, then I killed him on the first attempt (but it was still a tough fight). Okay, that was about our experience playing. Now, about the game itself:

The game's biggest appeal is easily its visuals, and I can safely say that if it doesn't win Best Art Direction at The Game Awards, the result was bought. The game is beautiful, the designs are all incredible (although there are some bizarre ones, like Edeni), the screen transitions, the menus, the enemies, everything is built perfectly, and in this aspect it is on the same level as Persona 5, I think even a little higher. It's incredible.

The gameplay is also extremely fun, stimulating and, above all, challenging. The game has a Rewind feature in battles, it allows you to "reset" a battle from scratch if you realize you're losing, and I've seen some imbecile idiots out there saying that this automatically makes the game easy (makes me want to do with them what the MFing dragons in the game did with me). The beginning of the game is difficult, the middle is quite easy, and at the end it becomes difficult again, but it's the type of difficulty that is stimulating, not frustrating: yes, I was stuck on the game's bosses for almost a week, but I was having fun like never before, and if it weren't for my anxiety about finishing the game soon because I was playing together with Babi, I would have enjoyed this part of the game immensely (and, to be clear, this was something just for me, because Babi herself said that, although she was anxious to see the end of game, she would 100% understand if I spent a little more time grinding, leveling and doing the necessary things, I decided to rush everything thinking about her, but it wasn't something coming from her). And, above all, even though the game requires you to level grind frequently, it offers resources to do so in a faster and more fun way. In other words: the game is challenging in the right way, and takes all the necessary measures to make facing these challenges fun, and not frustrating.

ALL characters are charismatic, fun and interesting. The only one I found more or less was Junah, but otherwise they are all cool and fun, both the party characters and the Social Links and the villains. About this, I open a new item here just to talk about a specific character.

Louis Guiabern, the main villain of the game, is the biggest villain in this SMT/Persona niche. Like, using Persona as an example, we have villains that you end up liking because you empathize with them in some way (Akechi, Maruki), villains that you hate and end up not liking as much as you should because they are just detestable (Adachi, Ikutsuki, Takaya, Shido ) and villains who are just plain boring (Yaldabaoth, Izanami). Louis, on the other hand, is a villain that you absolutely hate, but he is a GREAT villain. Powerful, intimidating, manipulative, intelligent, he's basically Char Aznable in the world of SMT. Every time you do something, the impression you have is that he predicted your movements and is three steps ahead of you. Every time he appears, he exhales the same aura of power and authority, and every revelation regarding him hits you like a rock. And his characterization is clearly based on Lucifer, even more so in spoilery parts of the game, which have major references to the Divine Comedy.

By the way, the academic references part is also incredible. The entire game is based on the book Utopia, by Thomas More, but in addition it has very strong references to Socratic philosophy, as the "Velvet Room" in this game is literally called Akademeia and there is a cat there called Plateau (a reference to the philosopher Plato, founder of the Academy, which was originally a school of philosophy), and the political and fantasy theme itself has references to Plato's philosophy (even if to contradict it).

Not to mention, of course, the references to other games in the franchise, such as Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, Devil Summoner, Etrian Odyssey and Catherine. Whether it's Easter eggs or direct references here and there, the game never makes a beautiful collection in these aspects, so that you being by seeing it as something 100% original and disconnected from the rest, but then you eventually start to see the relationships between everything.

That said, I have to say that the overall story is good, but it is a weak point compared to the other aspects I mentioned here. It's as if the visuals, sound and gameplay were a 10 and the story was an 8, so… it's not bad, it's just not up to par with the other aspects. The story starts extremely well, but in the middle and at the end it goes awry: apart from some memorable plot twists, the script is convenient in an even more blatant way than Persona 5 and 4, relying on coincidences and situations taken out of nowhere to maintain the story more or less cohesive with the "calendar" game format, in which the story unfolds on specific days. And the end, although cool, is very plain, it has none of the tremendous emotion of other Personas. Like I said, it's not bad, but it's not breathtaking, so… it could have been better.

Overall, it's an incredible, wonderful game and one that I recommend to anyone, but especially to those already familiar with Shin Megami Tensei, Persona and the like. It was a purchase that was 1000000% worth it.

Now, just waiting for a "Metaphor Refantazio Royal". This is something that Atlus has done a lot lately that makes people angry, launching the base game and then launching a new version with everything improved and reformulated to make you buy the same game twice, and the case of Metaphor is one that is clearly seen that would benefit from this, little things here and there that, in a reworked version, if they were improved would make the game perfect. So… if that happens, my surprise will be zero. Even so, I'm going to think it's revolting. And, of course, I'll buy it anyway.

[transmechanicus]

Some thoughts about LotF having almost finished my first playthrough and started a second just to try a new class:

Good:

Parrying is a well supported strat, and most bosses with weapons can be reliably parried even if you're two handing a longsword or dual wielding.

The magic flavors (Radiance, Inferno, Umbral) are all distinctive and while all allow ranged combat, Radiance is focused more on healing and projectiles, Inferno is more aggressive with flamethrowers and summoned enemies, Umbral seems to be based on wearing an enemy down with wither (frost) damage and poison. They are all fairly low cost entry too so it's easy to buff weapons with your damage of choice.

All bosses are conceivably beatable on the first try excepting one who you're expected to lose to repeatedly for plot. Attacks are well telegraphed, and any specific gimmicks are straightforward and don't make the boss unbeatable if you can't figure them out.

Armor and weapons feel appropriately heavy and impactful, smacking even mid sized enemies back a few steps as one would understandably react to getting hit in the face with an axe.

Maps are typically straightforward to navigate and make good use of Axiom and Umbral layers for both shortcuts and necessary progression. The investigation of major landmarks being the driving navigation is really immersive.

Plenty of opportunities to kick enemies off ledges or drag them off with the lantern. Unparalleled comedy. "I'm not dealing with you today, goodbye"

Bad:

There's a class of recurring greatsword wielding enemy that has a weird hitbox if you're too close to it where it will still damage you, but your parries will fail to make contact. It also has the spell equivalent of an automatic shotgun. The number of times i've died to it after demonstrating very early on that i had the parry timing down is blindingly irritating.

Another grim reaper type enemy is a pain in the ass to hit, in the sense that its hitbox is smaller and higher up than its model would suggest and given that it flies you can often whiff right through its body. Not at all frustrating when fighting three at once as a boss.

There are some shitty little gargoyle enemies that do truly infuriating levels of damage, and will jump into the air and STAY in the air at head level for like 30s until they make contact and shred your face. Hitting them with a fully charged greatsword cannot knock them down, they just keep wrecking your shit completely indifferent.

Sometimes you'll find a key in one area that's only useful in a previous area that you otherwise don't have much of a reason to go back to. This is mainly used for shortcuts, but you start off being able to teleport between saves so this is rather redundant.

Item notifications are small, easily missable, and there have been times i've picked up quest critical items and not realized it until hours later.

Several minibosses reappear later as normal enemies and sometimes those minibosses were really difficult so congrats on getting to have your shit pushed in an additional time.

The alternate endings are rather convoluted and can accidentally locked out an hour into the game if you cleanse the Beacon of St. Latimer.

[senjutsunade]

Do you think Tsunade made Kakashi her successor because all of the Kage expected it, Shikaku advised it and he was pretty much the shoe in when she was out for the count, a choice that everyone just settled on in the moment. Or do you think he would have been her own choice as well. If not Kakashi who else would Tsunade nominate in Kakashi's stead. Or would she just have continued on until Naruto was eventually ready.

Anon-san, you are one evil creature, okay?! pointed look

Anyhow, for the sake of the fandom, let's tackle this one.

The simplest answer to this is, there was no one else. Ironic, right? And pretty sad too.

But the same was true for Tsunade's own turn.

After the Second and Third Wars, too many high-ranked shinobi died.

Let's talk about all the ones who had the potential to be Hokage.

Since Sarutobi's own Team 7 adventures, it seems like he was orchestrating a grand narrative with a recurring motif.

The trend started with the Sannin—his own team. From his three students, Orochimaru was considered to be the 'successor' for the longest time. How that story unfolded is another tangled web.

Following having one potential successor, Sarutobi did not stop there. He needed more. And who better than to have Hashirama's own blood? Again, Team 7 came into play, this time led by Orochimaru (see the tradition?). Another idea linked to this, which used to be a headcanon for Skye, was that Fugaku used to be on that team alongside Nawaki. The idea of having a Senju and an Uchiha on the same team, that too under Sarutobi's own student, was almost like bringing the two clans under his control. Yet fate, of course, had another plan—Nawaki died a genin, and Fugaku (and the mystery teammate) were placed on another cell. This disbanded Team 7.

Sarutobi, of course, couldn't help but try again—where Orochimaru had failed, Jiraiya was expected to succeed. And so the toad sage was the new sensei of a new Team 7 cell. This one had an unexpected prodigy—one Namikaze Minato. This time, Sarutobi's experiment was successful. A new potential Kage rose to fame. The sparkly brat burned too bright and then ended up a martyr.

But before that, his own Team 7 cell was put to the test, and from that, we get one Hatake Kakashi. Curse of Team 7 may be as strong as Shodai's necklace, honestly.

Other candidates who had the potential to be Hokage were a quite a few, starting with Uchiha Fugaku. His performance in the war was legendary. Had events not played out as they had, Fugaku would have been the ideal candidate.

Kato Dan was another potential candidate—for my muse's sake, he should have been Hokage. Maybe we would have had a better Konoha, after all. But the curse got to him too. He died before he could reach his dream.

Hatake Sakumo was another shinobi who had the potential to be Hokage. Another tragedy. Had he lived, Tsunade and Kakashi would have been spared a lot of backaches caused by paperwork. Maybe he thought the alternative was better? Cough.

Anyhow, Tsunade became Hokage because, with the situation Konoha was in, there was a need for someone of the Sannin's level. With Orochimaru as the enemy, it made sense to have another Sannin take the lead. Jiraiya was considered, but Jiraiya is more loyal to the prophecy than the village—sue me. But that is what I believe.

That left Tsunade. Kakashi MAY have been considered, but he was still too young, and the memory of Minato was still too fresh. The role fell to the last Senju.

For her own successor, from early on, it was clear it would be Kakashi. It wasn't about wanting the position anymore. The one who wanted it didn't survive. So the responsibility fell upon the ones who had never wanted to have anything to do with the position. Kakashi was Tsunade's right-hand man from the get-go. They both knew their roles and both filled them because they saw the position as not a dream but a responsibility as well as a burden that was theirs to bear. As if it could make all their sacrifices worth it. Fools.

Kakashi was the successor because who else could it be?

Gai had the skills but not the political mindset.

Nara Shikaku had the brains for the job but not the physical skill to match it.

Kakashi checked all the boxes.

His reputation in all of the shinobi nations was strong. Enemies feared him. Allies respected him. The Hatake clan itself was known for its loyalty to Konoha. His record is second only to the Sannin themselves. He may have never wanted the post, but that was what made him good at the job. And he had a very successful 12 years, right?

[homestuckreplay]

doing a silly dance because my gel got more viscous

(page 401-408)

Every day that Homestuck gets updated for the rest of Act 2 I will spin this wheel to predict what will happen that day, and keep track of how often the wheel gets it right. Because anything can happen in Homestuck, but also, certain things keep recurring in Homestuck. I also would 100% believe it if I learned it was written by spinning a wheel in this way, and that's not a criticism at all.

John puts the bunny back in the box, but he does not get his epic movie moment, because he puts it back in the box too hard and it falls out the other end. Unfortunately he's still a kid, and he's got a fair bit of growing and character development to do before he can be a cool action movie hero. I did rewatch the Con Air clip linked form p.20 because I thought it'd be cool if the shale imp strife had been made to parallel that scene in some way, but unfortunately I can't see a connection. Imp strife is still very cool though.

John gains two levels for defeating his first enemy, in a classic video game system where progress through the early levels is really quick, but then gets slower and slower at higher levels. We can see the first 16 levels on John's echeladder [echelon = rank in a hierarchy + ladder = climbing device], and a scrollbar that indicates there are many more to come. All the levels have fun names, and all the names we see relate to youth or childhood in some way. I would love to see the names of higher levels and find out if they're all like this, or if the ladder represents growing up and becoming an adult, and reflects this in the level names.

With each level, John gets a flashier and more colorful virtual feather on his virtual hat - from the idiom 'feather in your cap' [achievement to be proud of]. He also gets some standard video game upgrades - more health, in-game inventory space, and in-game currency (which implies the exciting existence of a Sburb in-game shop). The health being represented by viscosity suggests that it's not a greater amount of health, it's just that the health he has is harder to knock out of the health vial - which is consistent with how the imp strife worked on p.397 and p.400, and is arguably a better representation of what it means to be a physically and mentally healthy person. Real people aren't seen as having 'more' health, just 'better' health, or as tougher and more robust.

And then John does a silly dance because he's happy to be good at a video game and it's very cute.

Then, we get some new strife specibus mechanics. It turns out the strife specibus automatically updates if the nature of a wielded weapon changes - in this case, hammerkind to handlekind - and any other weapons of the same type are modified to match. This seems like a system that could definitely be exploited to get more powerful weapons. John could fix a knife to his hammer to invent the all new hammerbladekind and do bludgeoning and slashing damage all at once.

It's fun to learn that enemies within Sburb are limited by their own strife specibi, and so couldn't just - for example - steal John's weapon when he drops it and use it against him. Based on p.392 where the shale imp just punches John out, I'd guess that they start off without a specibus and can only make unarmed attacks, but have a free strife card to allocate something they find to. More powerful enemies might have multiple free strife cards and/or come with their own specialized weapons.

Bunnykind being a valid strife specibus has some weird implications, though. If John had an angry pet bunny in the house, could he now set that on the imps and use it as a weapon? Or would it follow the same rules as Rose not being able to select John with the cursor, where a living thing can't be used as a weapon? Where's the line? Branchkind is a valid strife specibus (p.37) suggesting that a plant could possibly be used as a weapon which is also alive. If it's not careful, this system could accidentally answer some big questions on the nature of consciousness and the soul.

[hopeymchope]

So I'm playing Tribe Nine: Initial thoughts

The latest release from Kazutaka Kodaka/Kotaru Uchikoshi's joint venture, TooKyo Games, is here on mobile devices and Steam. And it's a top-down RPG with retro sprites that transitions into an third-person action system during combat encounters. It also has 3D-rendered Komatsuzaki-style character portraits during dialogue/story segments.

My initial thoughts:

"XB" baseball isn't totally in the past after all. Despite the official website talking about how XB has been left behind in favor of "XG," you'll find yourself in the middle of an "XB" match after about an hour of play. And it's tutoralized in a way that makes it clear this will be some kind of recurring mechanic. But if you're expecting actual sports-style gameplay... don't. DON'T expect that.

Baseball matches are basically Danganronpa/Rain Code-style debates/conversations. You (as either pitcher or batter) and your opponent (in the opposite position) exchange dialogue before each pitch. The deciding moment comes when your opponent says something that appears as a massive wall of 3D-rendered text. To throw the best pitch or swing the bat well at the pitch, you have to pick a good response to the opponent's text by moving your "aim" around a grid to see different response. Mind you, during the first matchup, you'll only have ONE choice of response... but it's the tutorial. You'll have more options later on. And obviously, I LOVE to see this.

The third-person action battles are pretty intense. You really have to get good at determining when you can execute light or strong attacks (the latter taking longer to "wind up"), the latter being necessary to build up meters to execute stronger "ultimate" moves that will do the REAL damage. Enemies are relentless, requiring a lot of dodges and counters. It's well-designed, don't get me wrong. But for someone like me who isn't very experienced in playing action games on a touchscreen, it can feel pretty hard to juggle at times. So although I suppose this is impressive for a mobile game, but I don't personally love handling such intense action on mobile...

The story plays up the life-or-death stakes pretty early on. If you're worried you won't see characters dying in this thing, you can worry no longer; people are definitely going to die. We meet AND lose some members of our crew before "Chapter 1" even starts! But I guess we'll see how often that will occur.

Don't worry, though; you can still play as dead characters. You're not going to lose a character whose levels you built up just because the story declared them dead. This is explained by giving you access to "holographic" incarnations of the characters. They won't participate in story sequences anymore if they're dead, but they are still controllable on the RPG-style map or in third-person combat. This same excuse also allows you to have people in your party that aren't physically supposed to be present during that par of the story.

The Steam version seems to run like crap right now? I've considered transferring my save file over from my iOS version to my Steam Deck so I can use the button-based controls there. But upon booting up the Steam incarnation of the game, it quickly becomes clear that it's full of freezes and slowdown, so it might not be worth the hassle. Seems like it's not very well-optimized, which might explain why it's currently getting such negative reviews. However, they've already pushed out like four updates in the 48 hours since launch... so hopefully this is going to get cleared up quickly.

There's a gacha element, but it's not clear how much it matters. You can only play with a party of three characters at a time, and you're gifted three to use as soon as you can have a full party. You can use the "Enigma Entity" you collect throughout the game to "pull" for support cards you can equip to your lead trio, OR for all-new characaters. The former is appreciated since equipping these cards can grant different bonuses/benefits in combat... but the latter always unlock at Level 1 when you get them. So that's a major disincentive EVER using characters beyond the starting trio... unless we eventually are given some way to rapid-level them?

This game seems like it's set up to have a distinct ending to its main story. That wouldn't be a first for mobile RPGs, of course... as someone who played Fate/Grand Order and Magia Record before this, I've seen the main narratives conclude while the devs try to keep us engaged via side stories or by creating in-game sequel narratives. But time will tell whether we'll see some kind of extension on Tribe Nine. Perhaps more importantly, how much of the main narrative is currently even available... ?

[thewapolls]

So the Adult Mags boss fight became a recurring thing starting with Wild Arms 3.

In their first appearance they feature the NPC Claudia, whom Melody had disguised herself as in an attempt to seduce Gallows and Clive, which of course notoriously failed. It's not entirely clear what was on the back cover.

In Alter Code F is has the dream demon, Elizabeth on the cover and also the interior pages.

Then for WA4 and 5 they use the same cover art with the Raid Buster enemy on the front?? for some reason, and the Doctor Gob on the back.

Weirdly, they did make an overworld model of the Adult Mag in 5 that doesn't match the one used on the actual enemy model in battle; It features Yulie, from WA4.

It's actually kind of odd that the enemy stuck around, because for WA4 and WA5 there aren't that many magic book enemies, where as they had been kind of a staple of the Wild Arms bestiary in the early games, starting with Cecilia's prologue dungeon being the hidden library. And in fact, I want to kind of trace the history of this family of enemies while we're on the subject...

The seminal entry to the bestiary is the Blue Book, found in Cecilia's prologue in the original Wild Arms, and as a sort of throwback, also appears in Lilka's prologue in WA2. Despite the seemingly overly literal name, it's actually a reference to the above pictured style of British almanac.

I like the idea that it's a kind of living magical book, not because it's some cursed grimoire or ancient tome of magic, but just because it's an encyclopedic collection of information that happens to include enough aetheric truth about the nature of magic that it manifests magic itself. It also accounts for why it's such a low level monster, because it's not really a deliberately magical being.

(I had trouble getting a good shot of its front cover in WA5 but I assume it's the same as in 4 and F)

After that the obvious progression in magical books is the Necronomicon itself, famed grimoire of Lovecraftian lore, allegedly written by Abdul Alhazred, "The Mad Arab," whom is of course the namesake of the Wild Arms 1 villain, Alhazad.

It appears consistently as a book bound in black leather with some form of golden trim or clasps. Hard time getting a clear shot of the front cover in 3 or F. They have been variously localized as Necromicon, Necronomic, and actual Necronomicon as less of a translation issue and more a character limit problem.

Perhaps the more surprising addition to this family is the Targum (initially mislocalized as "Talgium") which is a Hebrew term used to refer to the original Aramaic translation of the Tanakh.

For one, it's a really obscure kind of thing to pull for a bunch of Japanese creators, but I kind of love how it isn't some faux-qabal derived grimoire the sort that was popular with Christian occultists of the middle ages, from which a lot of Christianity's fake lore comes from, and from which demonology owes its roots. Instead it's just the idea that this original translation somehow holds power in and of itself. It doesn't seem to hold innately biblical implications, instead suggesting a kind of rosetta stone sort of role. It's the closest thing a modern Filgaian reader has to some ancient lost text that they couldn't possibly understand; it's the shadow on the wall of Plato's cave, the distinct shape of an otherwise blindingly unknowable truth, and that in and of itself gives it this immegnce power.

Moreover, the model in all(?) appearances seems to be based on old Japanese side-stitch. (it's why the models rather distinctly don't have a spine and you can see the leaf edge along the back just like on the sides) It's an older style that doesn't require adhesive, and has at this point become less practical and more of a novelty. In any case, its immediate effect is to give the Targum the distinct feeling of being archaic and foreign; so old that they're entirely outside the style of printing and binding standards of Filgaia's loosely western european setting.

And finally* the rather goofy one time entry in Wild Arms 3, the Manga enemy --localized as Comic Book. It seems to feature the official character art of Dario and Romero ont he cover, with a feature highlight of Martina?

*I nearly missed Apocrypha being another WA3 original book enemy. It's pretty mundane recolor of the Bluebook, with a slightly different cover, but it's notably a neat sort of companion piece to Targum as another "biblical" text. Apocrypha are books of otherwise bible related or adjacent texts that aren't considered biblical canon, thus apocryphal texts. It's neat that the only two references to biblical texts that appear in the game with power are the original translations of the Tanakh and noncanon texts. Actual Christian new testament be damned.

And another really cool detail is that in the original Wild Arms, each book had its own unique interior texture as well, which could often barely be spotted during attacks

[eclipsecrowned]

anyway some hel as companion in galdurs bait 3 concepts i've had brewing:

her behavior in camp will actually shift with relationship values. she initially keeps her distance, strumming along on her instrument during downtime, but won't turn down any who approach her. short scenes will sometimes trigger of other companions approaching with song requests. hel when alone and it's late softly playing sad songs. songs about cycles -- one about leaving what you know for better only to find the damage follows you, love affairs soured despite changes -- and songs about haunting another. soft, sad, sometimes angry songs, sung beautifully and gentle until they're almost without teeth. it will become very apt to her personal quest that she sings of fury and sorrow and smothers the subjects under the pretty.

however! her change in character being demonstrated in those late night songs. love songs if romanced. songs of victory if she killed odin. songs of guile or folk heroes if she bested him at his own game. not playing at all if at low approval.

the popular consensus is that hel must have done something to anger the gods for the condition that ravages half of her body. the pc can even press wanting to know what's going on with that. scorned divine patron's curse? acid attack? a scar from being revived (foreshadow, foreshadowing.)? or just her infernal blood showing itself (MASS disapproval)? is it contagious? hel instead has to explain she was just born like this. some sort of misfire in her development. altered the texture of her skin and gave her recurring heart and nerve issues, which will occasionally hit her with a status effect or two after a rest. invest in potions and spells to keep your bard chugging along.

if sufficiently leveled in her cleric multiclass, she will become a one-tiefling undead slaying machine. it comes with her domain, really, but she will be able to suss out enemies that are offensive to her god and just wreck shop. turn undead and antlife shell are great for crowd control. as good on the undead offensive as she is in keeping the party from crossing over too early -- but per 5e rules, she might not work best in a party w spawn-boy given several of her beneficial spells exempt the undead from their effects.

mysterious, stoical early character begins to thaw over the adventure. practical and diligent, but also hopeful and trying to change the world for the better. generally approves of unpretentious acts of heroics or playing karma. disapproves of a self-righteous heroics or baseless cruelty. watch out, her romance approval is a little higher than average and your pc will have to jump through hoops. makes a genuine attempt to reach out to other party members as well, even those she should be opposed to like lae'z*l and ast*rion.

has this self-esteem thing where agreeing with her dim view of herself nets approval early on and disagreeing with her earns a sort of 'you sweet summer child' response. however, once the pc reaches a certain approval threshold with her, she'll stop granting approval as she learns her own worth.

yes, there is an option in a quest where you can send the bard out to perform to distract enemies. yes, she is thinking of killing the pc the entire performance. yes, if you suck shit at the stealth/battles later on, she will thunderwave her entire audience to buy you time and join the fray. otherwise, enjoy the ride of her singing a series of songs for the duration of the mission.

[elliott-igb-120]

Interesting Mechanic Discussion: Nemesis System - Shadow of Mordor/War

When Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor released in 2014, it introduced one of the most compelling gameplay mechanics in recent memory: the Nemesis System. At its core, the system created personalized enemies who remembered and reacted to the player, turning otherwise generic orcs into unforgettable, persistent villains. Its sequel, Shadow of War, expanded on the idea further. But what is the Nemesis System, exactly, and why does it stand out?

How the Nemesis System Works

The Nemesis System is a dynamic AI framework built around a hierarchy of procedurally generated orc characters. These orcs populate the enemy army, each with their own name, personality traits, strengths, weaknesses, and ranks. They remember interactions with the player, including defeats, victories, and betrayals. Here’s how it functions at a high level:

Procedural Generation: Orc captains and war chiefs are generated with randomized appearances, combat styles, quirks (e.g., cowardice, arrogance), and voice lines.

Dynamic Hierarchy: Orcs exist within a military hierarchy. When one is killed, another may be promoted. If one kills the player, they are promoted and grow stronger.

Persistent Memory: Enemies remember the player. If a captain survives a battle or kills the player, they may return with scars, grudges, and specific dialogue referencing past encounters.

Reactive Behavior: The AI adapts. Orcs can become immune to certain tactics, learn from the player’s approach, or change behavior based on how they were previously defeated or humiliated.

Why It’s Special

What makes the Nemesis System so fascinating is how it blends procedural generation with narrative consequences. These orc captains aren't scripted characters, yet they feel personal. They grow, change, and taunt you in ways that make each player's experience unique. The system transforms “random encounter” enemies into recurring characters with arcs, grudges, and (sometimes hilariously) poetic revenge.

Unlike traditional boss fights, your nemesis may emerge organically. An orc you underestimate might kill you early in the game, rise through the ranks, and come back later, armored up, snarling your name, and thirsty for revenge. Suddenly, you’re not just playing a story, you’re in a story that feels like it was written for you.

Emergent Storytelling in Action

The real genius of the Nemesis System is how it fosters emergent narrative, stories that arise from gameplay, not cutscenes. Consider this scenario:

You’re ambushed by an orc named Krûsh the Vile. He defeats you and gloats. Hours later, you cross paths again, only now, he’s a captain with new armor and a personal vendetta. You barely escape. The next time, you return stronger and finally defeat him, only for him to reappear later with a metal jaw and a blood oath.

None of this was scripted. Yet players often come away from Shadow of Mordor/War with vivid tales like these, all thanks to a system that encourages repetition with variation, character evolution, and personal stakes.

Why Haven’t More Games Used It?

The Nemesis System was so distinctive that Warner Bros. patented it in 2016, which may be part of why we haven’t seen similar systems in other games. But it also sets a valuable precedent: dynamic character systems can offer more than randomized stats, they can generate emotionally resonant rivalries, rivalries that stick with players longer than many main plotlines.

Final Thoughts

The Nemesis System is more than a clever gameplay hook, it’s a blueprint for how games can tell personalized stories without relying on linear scripts. By treating enemies as evolving characters rather than disposable mobs, Shadow of Mordor turned fights into relationships. And in doing so, it gave players something rare: a villain they might actually miss once they’re gone.

Student Contact Info

Student Name: Elliott Horne

Student Number: n12114545

Student Email: n12114545@qut.edu.au

[scarlineorbit]

Sirius Khalilson was born in Alexandria, Egypt, into a quiet, intellectual family. His father was a neurologist deeply committed to research, and his mother was a librarian who instilled in him a love for knowledge and calm reflection. Sirius’s childhood was sheltered, stable, and pale by comparison to what lay ahead. When he was ten, his family moved to Uppsala, Sweden, so his father could continue his work. The transition was smooth, and Sirius adapted well to the peaceful university town, excelling in school and showing an early fascination with human psychology. His upbringing was one of comfort, curiosity, and safety—an existence marked by books, thoughtful conversations, and familial warmth, untouched by violence or hardship.

After completing his bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master’s in Criminal Psychology and Behavioral Analysis, Sirius sought to put his knowledge into practice. He joined the CIA as an interrogator, stepping into a world that was brutal, shadowed, and emotionally corrosive. This was his first true exposure to human suffering on a mass scale. Unlike the calm, protected environment of his youth, the CIA demanded ruthlessness, detachment, and an ability to weaponize empathy. His work involved extracting vital information from detainees through psychological manipulation, stress induction, and careful exploitation of fear and trauma.

In the harsh confines of interrogation rooms, Sirius learned to suppress his empathy and emotions to survive. He became adept at reading microexpressions, controlling his voice and body language, and using silence as a tool of psychological pressure. Every session left invisible scars—he carried the residual pain and terror of those he questioned, burying it beneath a veneer of cold professionalism. Over time, the relentless exposure to trauma fractured his psyche, blurring the lines between himself and those he interrogated. The emotional toll was immense, leaving Sirius emotionally distant, hollowed, and quietly haunted. Despite this, he remained entirely human, with no supernatural enhancements, grappling with the weight of what he’d witnessed and caused.

At 27, disillusioned with traditional methods and driven by a desire to overcome his human limitations, Sirius volunteered for the classified P.A.N.D.O.R.A. Project. This top-secret program promised to create operatives who could manipulate trauma and emotion on a neurogenic level, turning psychological warfare into a tangible weapon. The decision was as much an escape as it was a commitment—a desperate attempt to find purpose and control over the pain he had long carried.

The induction process was a crucible of agony and transformation. Subjected to invasive genetic modification, neural rewiring, and psychic conditioning, Sirius’s mind and body were pushed to their absolute limits. The program forced him to confront not only external suffering but the trauma buried within himself, fusing it into a new form of power. Emerging from this ordeal, Sirius was reborn as “Graft”—a codename reflecting his role as a living graft of empathic pain, capable of absorbing, storing, and redirecting trauma.

Graft’s abilities are both a gift and a curse. He can take on others’ emotional and psychic pain, containing it within himself to shield vulnerable targets. He can then transfer or project this pain back onto enemies, weaponizing trauma itself. Additionally, he can manipulate memories by imprinting or erasing emotional content, destabilizing foes on a profound psychological level. These powers come with a staggering psychological price—dissociation, alexithymia, emotional numbness, and recurring PTSD-like episodes plague him. His psyche is a fractured landscape, held together only by an iron will forged in the fires of his past.

Over the past nine years, Graft has operated in the field as a specialist in neuro-affective extraction and emotional warfare. His missions take him to places rife with psychic disturbance and human suffering, where conventional tactics fail. Often working alone or alongside operatives similarly fractured by trauma, Graft functions as both a living container for pain and a devastating empathic weapon. Physically lean and emotionally guarded, he balances a razor-sharp intellect with the crushing burden of carrying the pain of countless others within himself.

Despite the formidable power he wields, Graft is haunted by the chasm between his past and present. The pale, peaceful childhood of Cairo and Uppsala feels like a distant memory, a fragile innocence lost forever beneath layers of trauma and transformation. The man he was is almost unrecognizable compared to the weapon he has become—an existence where pain is no longer just endured but harvested, wielded, and borne as both burden and shield.

[goldencorralmenu]

Deliverance Ministry

Deliverance Ministry

Deliverance Ministry the constant and recurring thoughts and torment by the Programming of all the enemy has installed. We will remove the programs just like a computer. the same formula is used today as it was along time ago. Deliverance ministry refers to freeing people from the influence of evil spirits, or in other words, casting out demons. For Jesus and His early followers, deliverance was a normal part of the gospel.Because of misunderstanding, fear, and other factors, deliverance has been greatly neglected in the Western church.

But it is just as needed and relevant today as it was in the time of Christ and the early church Deliverance Ministry. Many people have received deliverance and experienced freedom from oppression, bondage, torment, and affliction. Do these terms sound familiar to you? You probably have heard them before. Preachers speak of them every day, and the art of exorcism became known with the release Deliverance Ministry can also provide a greater level of anonymity, which can be important for people who may feel uncomfortable discussing their issues with a counselor in person.

This can make it easier Deliverance Ministry for people to be honest and open about their struggles, which can lead to more effective counseling. Deliverance ministry became well known in the late sixties with a change of thought regarding spiritual warfare. Deliverance Ministry Four varieties of thought emerged with the first one including preachers and Bible teachers like Don Basham, Bob Mumford, Derek Prince, and Benny Hinn who took a more charismatic approach.

[witchesoz]

Hi again, @chthoniccult ! So the reason this question is very interesting is because... there is no "magic system" in Oz! Or rather there is nothing we can define by the modern term "magic system" which was coined by fantasy theorists. You see, while the Oz books do represent an early form of the American branch of fantasy, these books were primarily fairytale influenced, and thus while they are overstuffed with magic... it is a fairytale magic with no clear, defined rule. You have a mix of generic magic tropes, a handful of specific inventions of Baum adding some details, and the rest is mostly unexplained or left for the child's mind to fill. As a result while we can establish broad laws and some recurring facts with the magic of Oz, it is impossible to give actual explanations or a clear-cut system, we can only theorize, generalize and debate with what we are given (magic as written by Baum for his Oz is mostly plot-driven and ambiance-thought, rather than part of a "worldbuilding effort").

For example if we go by the first book of the series, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", here is what we know about magic. Magic seems to only be inherent to Witches and Wizards - the only two "categories" in Oz seen as able to cast spell or wield magical powers naturally. Magic can be used by non-Witches and non-Wizards, but only if they have a magical item (like the Silver Slippers) - Witches and Wizards themselves rely heavily on magical items to expand their own power (the Wicked Witches wouldn't be as dangerous if it wasn't for the Silver Slippers or the Golden Cap). However owning a magical item is useless if you do not know how to use it, as they require knowledge of their powers and sometimes specific ritualistic instructions (the Golden Cap's incantations). It is implied that Wizards are much rarer than Witches, and more powerful than them - but a lot of things are left unclear. How to create magical items? Where do Witches come from?

The second book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz", expands a bit on the Ozian magic. With Mombi we see that between innate powers (like the Good Witch of the North's protective kiss) and magical items, magic-users also can perform various complex rituals. We are told that magic-users have specific domains they specialize into (like Mombi who is expert at transformations and illusions), and that some magics are judged more "wicked" or "evil" than others (thus Glinda refuses to do transformation magic). Baum also introduces here the idea that being a Witch is not so much a specific category of living beings than a specific title or "work category". Indeed, when Mombi's situation is described at the beginning of the book we learn that the Good Witch of the North outlawed any other "Witch" than herself, which frustrates Mombi as she has the power required to reach this level. This is completed by a short list of the "ranks" of magic for a woman, from lower to top: Sorceress, Wizardess, Witch. This is very interesting as in retrospective it changes the idea that Wizards are superior to Witches (from the first book, implicit) into the one that Wizards are inferior to Witches (second book, explicit). This is part of something that would last in the rest of the Oz books as wizards are indeed seen as lesser powere than witches (something something about men never being as strong in magic as women, since the Oz "witch" is used as a female word only). This also leads to very interesting implications with Glinda's choice to now be referred to as a "Sorceress" rather than a "Witch", despite being a Witch and even more powerful than other witches. An act of humility on her part? A desire to be underestimated by her enemies? A desire to avoid negative implications that the term "Witch" could have in Oz?

[The latter seems to be something Baum himself felt, as despite him breaking the norm with his "Good Witches", he did fall back onto the "witches are negative" cultural consensus in later books - Glinda being called a Sorceress, the Good Witch of the North disappearing entirely, and the witches remaining being Mombi, Blinkie and other Wicked Witches.]

"The Marvelous Wizard of Oz" also introductions magical potions, and other magical substances - from the Powder of Life to the Wishing Pills... And I could go down the list of the fourteen books written by Baum, with each one introducing new concept, new nuances, new little details to the whole. Baum complexified this vague "system" I described to you by expanding the row of magical item, adding various other species able to do magic (Fairies, Erbs), and various sub-categories among witches (Yookoohoo, Krumbic witches), without however clearly explaining the differences, origins and limits of each things... Because it is the old logic of children literature. "This is this. This is it, and this is like that because we it. We move on."

It also doesn't help that in Baum's Oz, magic and technology have blurred lines, as a lot of technological or scientific feats as presented as defying the very rules of physics or sciences, if not REALITY ITSELF - which results in many of the "mad scientists" and "mad doctors" of Oz looking like sorcerers or using magic for basically sci-fi feats (Smith and Tinker, Ku-Klip), and other strange things being left unclear on whether they are magic or science (we are never explained how Langwidere's head-switching works). Finally, there's also the fact that, since Baum intended Oz to be a "Fairy Land" in the likes of Wonderland or the universe of the Grimm fairytales, magic just... happens and is in random ways, for no particular reason. The Scarecrow just happened to come to life, there was no spell, no curse, no ritual - people made a Scarecrow, and it just became alive. (At least by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, later stories have tried to explain or retcon this into various explanations).

So here's your paradoxical answer: there is no magical system in Oz, yes you have enough material to make an entire magical cosmogony (especially if you add elements by later "Royal Historians of Oz", I just focused here on Baum's own writing)

Could you make a post describing the magic system of Oz?

Hi! It is a very interesting question, and I do want to answer it. However since this is my main blog for a lot of generic stuff, I will rather answer it by my side-blog entirely dedicated to Oz, @witchesoz . Wait a bit and my answer shall be provided!

[thecreaturecodex]

Venger

“Venger” © Robson Michel, accessed at his deviantArt page here

[Bust out those Peter Cullen impressions. After that Venger post I reblogged blew up, I started thinking, and this had to get out on paper. There are “canon” 3.5 statistics for Venger, where he’s a CR 21. Some of that CR is from giving him the half-fiend template, which I think is unnecessary. As previously mentioned, I don’t think Venger is that powerful (I think their justification for giving him 9th level spells is that he uses something that looks like imprisonment in one episode, and that is the 9th level spell the stats give him). The 3.5 Venger also has levels in archmage, a prestige class that doesn’t exist in Pathfinder. I did give him feats that duplicate some of that version’s archmage abilities.

My version is designed to be a mid-level boss. He could easily be a recurring character, harassing the PCs starting relatively early in their careers. I chose an infernal over abyssal bloodline in order to give him wings, but he doesn’t really use them much in the TV show. Riding a nightmare is much more stylish.]

Venger CR 14 NE Outsider (native) This imposing humanoid stands tall, his blue skin, reduced nose and small fangs marking his inhuman nature. He wears a red cowl and vestment over a dark gray gown, and bat-like wings lay across his back like a cape. A single curved horn grows from his left temple.

Venger is the epitome of the dark lord, maintaining the obedience of an army of monsters while constantly striving for complete domination of the whole realm. He maintains several strongholds, each of them manned by a menagerie of humanoids (orcs and boggards are favored minions). Venger has no patience for creating magic items, and so covets powerful, unique treasures, going so far as to stalk adventuring parties for years if they have something that he wants.

Venger’s powers stem from a deal made with the powers of Hell, but he has little patience for strictures of law, and freely traffics with a wide variety of fiends. The closest thing he has to a hobby is environmental degradation, and he hunts unicorns, fey and other creatures of nature for sport. He is rarely found alone—he rides a nightmare into combat, and a shadow demon acts as his spy and informant (as well as attempting to pull his evil closer towards chaos and the goals of the Abyss).

Venger maintains a strict watch on his allies and enemies alike through frequent scrying spells, and teleports between his fortresses regularly. He uses mind-influencing magic to ensure the cooperation of his minions, but rarely uses it in combat. When dealing with non-evil creatures, he has been known to travel in disguise, compounding magical and mundane deceptions. Venger often punches below his weight class, terrorizing the weak and targeting low-level adventurers for harassment by his armies. He is somewhat cowardly despite his power, and typically flees from creatures that can properly challenge him, preferring to engage them indirectly with hired or mind-controlled minions.

Venger  CR 14 XP 38,400 Tiefling sorcerer 15 NE Medium outsider (native) Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +8 Defense AC 20, touch 16, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 armor, +2 deflection) hp 115 (15d6+60) Fort +10, Ref +10, Will +13; +4 vs. poison Immune alignment detection, detect thoughts, discern lies; Resist cold 5, electricity 5, fire 10 Offense Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average maneuverability) Melee masterwork dagger +7/+2 (1d4-1/19-20) Spell-like Abilities CL 15th, concentration +20 (+24 casting defensively) 9/day—corrupting touch 1/day—darkness Spells CL 15th, concentration +21 (+25 casting defensively) 7th (4/day)—greater teleport, mass hold person (DC 23), prismatic spray (DC 24) 6th (7/day)—chain lightning (DC 23), disintegrate (DC 22), mass bull’s strength, planar binding (devils and fiendish template only, DC 22) 5th (7/day)—cone of cold (DC 22), dismissal (DC 21), dominate person (DC 21), polymorph, wall of force 4th (7/day)—bestow curse (DC 20), charm monster (DC 20), scrying (DC 20), stoneskin, wall of fire 3rd (7/day)—fireball (DC 20), haste, ray of exhaustion (DC 19), suggestion (DC 19), vampiric touch 2nd (8/day)—acid arrow, command undead (DC 18), invisibility, resist energy, scorching ray, see invisibility 1st (8/day, 1 used)—disguise self (DC 17), identify, mage armor, protection from good (DC 17), shield, shocking grasp 0th—acid splash, detect magic, disrupt undead, light, mage hand, message, read magic, ray of frost, touch of fatigue (DC 16)  Sorcerer Bloodline—infernal (pit born) Tactics Before Combat Venger keeps a mage armor spell up 24 hours a day; this is included in his statistics. If expecting combat, he casts shield and stoneskin, as well as haste and mass bull’s strength if accompanied by minions During Combat Venger prefers to debilitate enemies with mass hold person and reach bestow curse spells, and then let his minions capture or kill them. If he intends to kill, he targets weaker-looking opponents with spells such as chain lightning and disintegrate. He fights from the air, either on his own wings or aboard his nightmare, and remains on the move to avoid being pinned into melee. Morale Venger has not lived as long as he has by being reckless. He teleports away to heal and plot his revenge if reduced to 50 or fewer hit points. Statistics Str 8, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 20 Base Atk +7; CMB +6; CMD 21 Feats Blind-fight, Combat Casting, Eschew Materials (B), Elemental Spell (electricity), Dodge, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Quicken Spell, Reach Spell, Spell Focus (evocation), Toughness Skills Bluff +14, Disguise +11, Fly +15, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knowledge (planes) +10, Perception +8, Ride +9, Spellcraft +12, Stealth +9,  Use Magic Device +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Fly SQ bloodline arcana (+spell level to Intimidate checks), on dark wings, vestigial wings Gear headband of charisma +4, sorcerer’s robes, cloak of protection +2, ring of protection +2, ring of mind shielding, wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), potion of blur (x2), masterwork dagger, 3 doses diamond dust (stoneskin components), silver mirror worth 1000 gp (scrying focus)

[monstersdownthepath]

Demigod Dossier: Velstrac Demagogues, part 1

Pictured: Aroggus, the Abbey-Maker

Lawful Evil Mad Artists of the Shadow Plane

The Complete Book of the Damned, pg. 120~121 Additional information is also present in Adventure Path: Return of the Runelords: The City Outside of Time, pg. 74~79

Our second-ever Demigod Dossier, now fully in-swing! The Velstrac Demagogues are the rulers of the Shadow Plane and all the lives within, though many of said lives within aren’t really fans of them. Natives to the Netherworld find the presence of the Velstrac an annoyance at best and a threat to their lives at worst, and would much prefer if they went back to Hell where they came from, but unfortunately for everyone everywhere they don’t appear too eager to throw themselves into the jaws of the inferno just yet. Instead, they’re busy throwing themselves into the jaws of one another.

The Demagogues represent the pinnacle of a specific subset of the Velstrac’s twisted senses of ‘art’ and ‘perfection,’ either because they’ve mutilated themselves into something wholly unlike anything else that can, did, or could exist, or they’ve pioneered a form of artistry that other Velstrac couldn’t even conceptualize in the first place and gathered a fandom. It takes some very twisted, alien forms of thinking to become a Demagogue and get others rallied behind you, even moreso because the Velstrac themselves are, putting it kindly, completely out of their gourd. When your audience already expects the insane and outlandish, you have to go even further, and many of the fiends you’ll soon see have.

We’ll only be covering four in this initial post, with the rest to be saved for later...

Demagogues view mortals as little more than primal clay to be shaped, and thus see little worth in investing true divine power into them, worshipers receive Boons that are are relatively simple: a trio of spell-like abilities, each of which may be used 1/day. Boons are normally gained slowly, at levels 12, 16, and 20, however entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes can see the Boons gained as early as levels 10, 13, and 16. Note that while they are Lawful Evil fiends originally from Hell, they are not devils, thus you cannot enter the Diabolist Prestige Class to obtain their Boons without DM fiat.

Aroggus, the Abbey-Maker

Demagogue of Possibility, Revenge, and Sanctuary Domains: Evil, Law, Protection, Trickery Subdomains: Deception, Defense, Fear, Tyranny

Obedience: List the names of those who have wronged you until the writing covers a page, then consume the parchment. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws to resist compulsion effects.

What a completely normal, sane, and healthy thing to do! As the first of the Demagogues to flee from Hell, Aroggus is EXTREMELY angry at the devils for locking them up in the first place. Angry enough to want revenge on the whole of the diabolic race, as well as the Asura... Angry enough that he hasn’t yet even started getting around to enacting his revenge, instead just constantly thinking about and refining it as if no iteration of suffering is perfect enough to match his fury.

True to form, he wants you to ruminate in your anger rather than doing anything to enact your vengeance, blacking out a page with the names (or just one name) of all who’ve wronged you no matter how petty or insignificant the inconvenience they may have caused. Unfortunately, no two ways about it, you’re going to look insane (in the literal definition of the term) doing this every day, especially if you only have one or two people who’ve wronged you enough to get onto your list. Scrawling their name, front AND back, until the page is filled and then eating it is behavior that will raise eyebrows no matter who you’re adventuring with. Best to keep this one behind closed doors. Make sure you have a glass of activated charcoal after, because all of that ink day after day (unless you write with, I don’t know, berry juice or blood) is going to do amazingly terrible things to your constitution.

The benefit is good. Compulsions are typically Save-Or-Suck effects, so having more Save means less Suck for you later on. It’s useful at any point in your adventure, so I can’t say anything bad about it! My only wish is that it was a little stronger, since some other gods give +4 vs compulsion and charm effects.

Boon 1: Nondetection Boon 2: Forcecage Boon 3: Imprisonment

Nondectection is a good spell for those times when you need to sneak by diviners, hide magic items from scrutiny, avoid the gaze of a Paladin who’s a little too judicious with Detect Evil, or to add another layer of shroud over Invisibility and the like. It’s a spell that’s a pain to prepare every single day, but useful to have when you need it... but you only have one casting of it per day, so using it wisely is paramount. Ironically, it combines well with your own Divination to find out if you’ll even need it later.  More often than not you won’t be using it at all except to idly ward yourself when going into town or diving into a dungeon.

Forcecage is a completely different animal, the offensive and defensive applications of the spell simply mind-blowing, to the point that keeping this to just one paragraph to save space is going to take some herculean effort on my part! So, the basics: Forcecage has two versions, both of which halt all movement through them: A 20ft square of force bars that allow spells, projectiles, and line-of-effect through, and a 10ft cube that blocks line-of-effect and all forms of magic and supernatural abilities. A Forcecage is effectively invincible (having Hardness 30 and 20hp/level) and impossible to move, so anyone trapped inside without the ability to teleport is likely to stay there for the spell’s duration. Also, to put it simply, shoving enemies in the cage is the main point, but if you cannot, a 10ft/20ft square is an enormous roadblock to stop up narrow passages with.

Which leaves Imprisonment, a portable hole you can shove all sorts of problems into, which will likely create new problems down the line if the target had anything you needed on them. I recommend knocking out a foe, stripping them of their valuables, and then shoving them into their baby jail for all eternity! With the Freedom spell being the only means to undo Imprisonment (even Wish and Miracle fail), you’ll have no actual way to undo the spell against any target you cast it on for one or two more levels, if at all (depending on the party composition). Make sure to use it only when the villain has no MacGuffins, or is a powerful recurring threat. Imprisonment works on anything and everything capable of failing the Will save (take note, anyone wanting to fight Kaiju, Great Old Ones, or Spawn of Rovagug), which gets a -4 penalty if you know the target’s name and some facts about its life, so famous villains are even more vulnerable to being thrown into the Eternity Marble! 

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Barravoclair, Lady of the Final Gasp

Demagogue of the Elderly, Fatalistic Insights, Resurrection Domains: Death, Evil, Healing, Law Subdomains: Murder, Restoration, Resurrection, Undead

Obedience: Practice breath control, holding your breath until you nearly pass out. Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on checks to resist drowning and on saves against inhaled poisons.

A hell of a step down in terms of unhealthiness in terms of Aroggus, and significantly less suspicious, too. Breath control is practiced by people of all stripes, from athletes to explorers to simple monks attempting more profound meditation. While ‘nearly passing out��� is skirting an edge most people won’t approach, it’s not exactly as dangerous for you as, say, inhaling water or eating poison every day. Without any materials needed, the Lady of the Final Gasp is one of the simplest and probably the single cheapest Obedience ritual one could ask for! There is a minor caveat in that races who can’t breathe can’t technically do this Obedience at all, but those aren’t the audience Barravoclair wants anyway.

Unfortunately, the benefit is as weak as the Obedience is easy to do. Drowning is unlikely to come up as a danger unless you’re physically dragged into the water by a monster (which means holding your breath likely isn’t an option anyway), and inhaled poisons are the least common poison type in the game. Against the odd Catoblepas or Green Dragon it will come in handy, but it’s protection from injury poison you really need, which the Lady of the Final Gasp doesn’t provide.

Boon 1: Speak With Dead Boon 2: Resurrection Boon 3: Soul Bind

Alright, let’s face it. Some days, you need Speak With Dead to keep the plot running smoothly. Whether your overzealous DPS kills everyone in the room, your Fireball-lobbing Sorcerer kills everyone in the room, or your summoner’s unchained beasts kill everyone in the room, chances are at some point in your career you’re going to save the party a lot of headaches by being able to pull answers from a corpse. Having Speak With Dead available every day will likely not matter 80% of the time (meaning you can typically use it at your leisure just before going to bed), but much like with Water Breathing and spells like Remove Curse and Neutralize Poison, having it for those 20% of times you need it can keep the wheels spinning and stop unneeded side quests.

... And speaking of side quests and things you’ll need once in a blue moon, Resurrection? For free? Even 1/day? With the hefty cost of 10,000gp for the normal spell, even a well-off party will feel the impact every single time they have to use Rez, but the removal of the cost ups the power level of the spell by a margin so enormous that it doesn’t really matter what Boon you get before or after this one; THIS boon rewards worship of Barravoclair enough to justify putting up with her empty benefit. Even without factoring in the ability to raise party members, you can now curry favor with people of all stripes and demand all forms of insane payments for your ability to raise centuries-old dead at no cost but time... or do your work for free and call in favors at a later date. Do note, however, that you’ll also need someone else on standby to remove the negative levels/stat drain caused by the resurrection process.

I said it didn’t matter what the third Boon was and I stand by it. Unlike with the free Rez above, Soul Bind’s enormous cost still makes its use as anything but a once-per-campaign finisher of an annoying enemy irritating and unfeasible. Spell-likes normally require no components, but Soul Bind operates in a gray area of the rules in that its focus component becomes the subject for the spell, meaning that a DM can very easily and very rightly say you DO require the  gemstone whose value must equal or exceed the target’s HD x 1,000. Binding even a simple 5 CR creature requires the tall order of a 5,000gp gemstone, and if you want to use it on a target that’s worthwhile, it gets expensive fast. It’s way cheaper and easier to just hire a Cacodaemon. 

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Fharaas, the Seer in Skin

Demagogue of Experience, Murder, and Patterns Domains: Evil, Knowledge, Law, Repose Subdomains: Ancestors, Fear, Memory, Souls

Obedience: Study the interior of a freshly severed limb. Benefit: You are immune to bleed effects that deal 6 damage or less.

This Obedience is deceptively simple for what its implication is. You’d best get yourself a Sack Of Rats or have access to a lot of disposable prisoners (or the Regenerate spell)! But thankfully, there’s some wiggle room in the wording: ‘freshly severed’ means no cheating and using Gentle Repose on the same arm over and over, but it ALSO means you can carry around a single corpse and slowly slice it apart, as the limbs themselves don’t have to be fresh, just freshly cut off for the purpose of the ritual. Also, you can use the bodies of Undead, Constructs, and any other creature that technically has severable limbs! Though Fharaas, the Seer In Skin, will likely punish you if your ritual doesn’t involve the examination of actual flesh.

You’re going to look really weird, is what I’m saying. At least if someone barges in on you, you can claim you’re inspecting them for something or other. Infection, signs of magic, etc, whatever you can come up with to blunt the blow. You can cover yourself moderately well by being a butcher or a hunter in your day job, as the severed limb doesn’t have to be human, or even sapient (hence why I suggest a Sack Of Rats), letting you freely slice up and examine your kills.

Bleed effects are fairly uncommon in the grand scheme of things but are also a pain in the neck to deal with in the middle of battle, so this giving a +4 bonus aga--wait, sorry, hold on no, this isn’t a bonus to saving throws? Or skill checks to heal bleed? It just... Stops them if they deal 6 or less damage? You don’t even have to make a save?

Okay. Okay, alright. So you’re just immune to bleed, then?

More or less, really. There are very few monsters that deal more than d6 bleed damage with their attacks (be warned that higher-level ones can sometimes stack their bleed!), and this ability also works on the rare but dreaded stat bleed, and off the top of my head there are NO monsters that deal more than a d4 dice in stat bleed damage. My main problem is that it doesn’t reduce the bleed damage you take by 6, so taking even 1 more point of bleed damage makes this ability useless. Still, though it’s fairly narrow, being effectively immune to a dangerous and irritating status ailment at level 3 or so (when bleed is at its most threatening) is well worth taking up butchery. 

Boon 1: Keen Edge Boon 2: Vision Boon 3: Foresight

Keen Edge is a spell you absolutely want to slap onto any vaguely pirate-y or hoity-toity party member you may have, as cutlasses, rapiers, and scimitars all leap from a dangerous 18~20 critical range to a terrifying 15~20, meaning they threaten to critically strike 1 out of every 4 attacks instead of just once every other fight or so. With a duration of 10 min/level, the enchantment will likely last multiple fights even if you only have it 1/day, but unfortunately it refuses to stack with any crit-boosting enchantments or feats the wielder may already possess, lessening its usefulness as your adventure goes on and your martial party members pick up increasingly fancy gear and pad out their collection of feats. Still, it’s useful for when you get it, and will remain useful for several levels after.

Vision is a whole different beast, and a dangerous one at that. It operates as the Legend Lore spell but vastly accelerated, allowing you to scrape the public consciousness for any information it may have on a specific person, place, or thing. I’ve complained about the general niche uses of Legend Lore before, but Vision grants the information in a much shorter time (a single standard action) at the cost of a potential for failure and a slap of fatigue whether you succeed or not. I don’t like 1/days that do nothing on a failure, but since Vision is purely a downtime spell (unless you need to know the boss’ weakness or info on the Evil Doom Artifact right now immediately), it’s not as much of an impediment to lose out on whatever information it could give you. That being said, the DM will likely have ways for you to do whatever plot-relevant research you need anyway, so Vision is more of a way to speed up the process than anything.

Which leaves Foresight, a spell whose main benefit relies intensely on DM cooperation, as I’ve ranted about here. Mechanically it’s fairly unimpressive, but if the DM reads the spell carefully, they should realize it gives whoever you cast it on a 6-second glance into the future at all times. Whatever horrors befall the victim 6 seconds from now should spring into your mind before they happen, making you the best trap radar on the planet, and the spell’s warnings for the best ways to protect yourself will urge the DM to grant you information about the enemy’s capabilities you may never otherwise know... but what do you expect from 9th level magic? It SHOULD be filling you in with details you’d never figure out!

------

Inkariax, the White Death

Demagogue of Preservation, Absolute Cold, and Solitude Domains: Evil, Law, Void, Water Subdomains: Fear, Ice, Isolation, Slavery

Obedience: Inventory your collection of hoarded knickknacks, reciting your unique name for each item as you do Benefit: Gain a +4 profane bonus on saving throws to resist effects that would petrify or paralyze you.

God, finally, someone normal. At worst you’ll look like someone with a few obsessive issues, but at least you won’t look like a menace to society as you lay out your, I dunno, marbles or bone dice or dolls or what have you and make note that they’re still there, cooing to them with names only you know. It’s fitting for Inkariax, of all the Demagogues, to have an Obedience that requires no self-harm, physically or psychologically; unlike all the rest, he was born perfect and doesn’t need to chase after it. Instead, he pursues finding perfection in others, freezing and collecting people and items he believes represent perfection in whatever unusual way he desires that day (having perfect posture, or a perfect scream, or a perfect pair of eyes, etc). Much like him, you’re encouraged to expand a collection of whatever you deem perfect and desirable, which you’re often going to do just over the course of normally adventuring. I’ve yet to see a player character that doesn’t start amassing all sorts of junk in their pockets the moment they get a Bag of Holding or similar.

Indeed, you can just pick up whatever catches your fancy, be it stones, sticks, or severed bits of an enemy, though I’m sure Inkariax will ever-so-slowly raise a disapproving eyebrow if you just pick up any old junk. Make sure to curate your collection now and then! Being able to perform this Obedience with anything you happen to gather is especially helpful if you’re ever separated from your collection (always a danger) and need to start again, but note that each item you gain in your collection must have a completely unique name. That’s only really a danger for especially RP-heavy campaigns, but in such campaigns Worship of the White Death isn’t for everyone who just names all their collected bird feathers Jeffery. Start getting in the habit of stretching out your inventory sheet with names for all your items!

The benefit you get from lovingly counting up all your stolen statuettes and dusty books is resistance to two of the worst status effects in the game. While petrification is relatively rare it typically appears in Save-Or-Suck form, which makes protection against it far more valuable than, say, protection against something like the far more common fatigue or exhaustion. Paralysis is an ailment just short of a death sentence by itself, costing the victim their turn at best and their life at worst, so even a +4 between you and that is something you need to cling to with your entire being.

Boon 1: Sleet Storm Boon 2: Sequester Boon 3: Microcosm

Sleet Storm is a very simple spell with a decent number of functions. Its Long range means that any enemy in your line of sight can potentially be a target, letting you lash out easily at ranged enemies or dangerous casters by creating a 40ft-wide and 20ft-tall area of concealing sleet that’s impossible for any vision to pierce (except the rare and niche Snowsight or Fogcutter Lenses). Anyone inside will have to rely on Tremorsense or Blindsense (though the jury’s out on if the splashing of the sleet would confound those, as well) to navigate it, and 40ft of difficult terrain can feel impossible to clamber through when you start right in the middle of it with no idea which way is the way you need to go. It’s one of the strongest vision-blockers in the game due to its immunity to common tactics that thwart lesser spells (Gust of Wind, True Seeing, etc), forcing enemies to either blow their valuable uses of Dispel Magic or suffer for its entire duration. My only complaint is that you only get it 1/day and that it screws over your party just as hard if you use it incorrectly.

Sequester is as niche a use spell as there ever was for players, requiring a bit of forethought about what or who you’d want to hide with it. The target must be willing or inanimate to be affected, so tricking an enemy via Charm or Dominate into accepting the spell can keep them fresh as a daisy for weeks at a time if you ever have a reason to do such a thing. More often than not you’ll use it to conceal items you seriously don’t want seen or detected, such as a Bag of Holding or similar loaded with your collection of knickknacks or emergency supplies, a particular hostage, an NPC you need to keep alive, or your phylactery if you’re a Lich. If you’re especially sadistic, using it on an item someone else needs and throwing it into a well or a hoard of other objects will keep them occupied for a while. If you’re a more martial character, using it to hide your armor is viable, making it seem as though you’re invincible when enemy blows bounce straight off, or even your weapon to confound your enemies who seem to be taking wounds from an unseen item. Your mime routine will be killer, literally! Just... Just don’t drop the thing, because in the heat of battle you’re never going to find it.

Microcosm is one of the best spells you can hurl into a crowd of commoners or a swarm of foes meant to gum you up instead of actually threaten you. Its 30 HD limit will mean it likely will only strike one or two creatures capable of actually threatening you, but it’s brutal even then. The spell is permanent, trapping your victims in an illusory world in which everything goes right for them even as their bodies starve to death in the waking world. Anything with less than 10 HD is automatically affected with no saving throw, the spell easily mopping up mobs, while anything with 11~15 HD escapes automatically after 10 min... per level you have. On a successful save. There’s Save-Or-Suck, and then there’s the immensely rare Save-And-Suck! No wonder Microcosm is ONLY on the Psychic’s list! Anything with more than 16 HD is unaffected if they succeed their save, but all their allies are likely in an everlasting dreamland now. The big issue is that the HD restriction is way tighter than you may think; creatures, especially at higher levels, usually do NOT have HD matching their CR, but if you’re mainly battling level-appropriate Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid creatures, Microcosm is fairly reliable in such battles, as those foes typically have HD that roughly matches their CR. But if you’re up against, say, Dragons or Outsiders, good luck bud.

Side note: Microcosm and Sequester used in combination make for excellent ways to start your own morbid collection of living creatures, just like your icy master! Just make sure you have some non-Divination means of seeing them, as Sequester blocks even True Sight.

[obsessedwithkirby]

Oh wow, in regards to the early chapters not using narration and such, I hadn’t even realized that until you pointed it out. While watching the anime I was also very taken by how much more I enjoyed it than reading the early parts of the game, but I couldn’t really pinpoint why that was (beyond the sloppier translation), that makes a lot of sense though.

Yesss the operator kits playing into their characters is so good. I love that subtle aspect of video game storytelling where gameplay traits and mechanics and the names of these characteristics play into the themes and characterization. Arknights does a really cool recurring thing in having operators be medics despite being in-lore excellent warriors. Like, it just emphasizes Rhodes Island’s ideal, and the games themes, of putting helping and saving others first. You have characters like Shining who could be devastating combat operators, but choose instead to be healers. From a naming standpoint, I like the foreshadowing in Amiya’s talent going from being called ‘???’ to ‘chimaera’, indicating there’s something more going on with her than the game initially lets on (which I’m not even sure if we have the full answer to now).

In a similar vein, I love the descriptions given to enemies in the bestiary that sometimes adds an extra bit of depth to them, and of course the records that each operator has, and how you unlock more of these records, and how they talk to you more about themselves, as you spend more time with them. There’s a lot of small things all over the game really. Some of the level names and descriptions are surprisingly poignant (‘the town of taba’ and its description in darknights memoir always stuck out to me) and realizing that the level map previews are all labeled with ‘eyes of priestess’ after seeing the brief flashback that introduced priestess in like chapter 8 really took me by surprise.

tags from @obsessedwithkirby on one of my posts

Glad you liked my analysis! I totally agree, it's a shame that a lot of people skip the story. I've been feeling the pain of convincing someone to play arknights only to have him skip all the story; at least I got him to try the anime.

I do enjoy the gameplay and aesthetics of arknights, but the writing and worldbuilding are what really have their hooks in me. I'm continually impressed by the breadth of the worldbuilding and variety of subjects the game touches on. Critiques and commentaries on heavy, real-life issues that take care to express the complexity of the subject without oversimplifying it or providing an unrealistic happy ending solution.

[twistedtummies2]

Sinister Sevens - Electro

In my previous “Sinister Sevens” post, I talked about Sandman. Now, it’s time to talk about another famous Spider-Man enemy: Max Dillon, a.k.a. Electro. Just like Sandman, Electro is what one might call a quintessential Spidey Rogue, in terms of his persona, how he started out, and even how he’s developed as a character. In the early days, similar to Flint Marko, Dillon was basically just a goon with a fancy gimmick: a dimwitted thug and overgrown bully who had a big ego and a HUGE amount of power. He was dangerous, but Peter Parker’s fantastic brain was always able to outwit him, and he was a fairly straightforward antagonist.

Over time, Electro has grown into a very different character: he’s still rarely depicted as the brightest bulb in the bunch (ironically enough), but the Spider-Man universe has toyed with themes of isolation, familial affection, and other such sympathetic elements over the course of the character’s career. Max Dillon has evolved into a darker and richer character as time has gone on: a man with a LOT of issues to sort out, no longer a simple hooligan with a taser touch. Other media has played with the character, accordingly, in all kinds of ways, with some versions being more sympathetic, more menacing, or more humorous, and all working pretty decently on the whole. Which ones are my favorites? Well, find out as I present to you My Sinister Seven Portrayals of Electro. 

7. Josh Keaton.

Probably one of the single most deranged takes on the character, Keaton’s Electro appeared as a supporting antagonist in the popular PS4 Spider-Man game. (In my opinion, the best Spider-Man game ever made to date.) He’s one of several villains in the game who has faced Spider-Man before the story begins, and is depicted as a cocksure punk with a decidedly unhinged side to his personality. Even his motivations are pretty out there, as this Electro doesn’t want money or power or any of the usual things, but simply desires to attain his “destiny” by becoming a being of pure electrical energy. What I love most about this depiction of Electro, however, is simply the voice actor: Keaton has played Spidey a couple of times in the past (in fact, he’s my FAVORITE voice actor to play Spider-Man), and hearing him go toe-to-toe with another Spidey when his Electro combats Yuri Lowenthal’s Peter Parker is just a delight to see and hear in action. Honestly, that fact alone is all it takes for me to place him in the Top 7 here.

6. Thomas F. Wilson.

While the PS4 game is my favorite Spider-Man game, and arguably the best, I would personally say “Shattered Dimensions” is a close second on both points, and this version of Electro wins out over the other JUST by a whisker. For one thing, he just has more to do in the story, and for another, the levels of power he displays are far more impressive. Appearing in the “Ultimate” universe of the game, this take on Electro - aided by a piece of magical treasure - seeks to increase his power by draining it all from a hydroelectric plant. As his power increases, he becomes larger and stronger, eventually turning into a massive giant of crackling electricity. He even gains the ability to create ghostly electric entities to help him fight Spider-Man! Wilson depicts Electro in what might be termed a classical light, giving him a gruffer, more heavy sort of voice, while still having the narcissistic wit the character has in many incarnations.

5. Christopher Daniel Barnes.

Another case of an actor who played Spider-Man also playing Electro! In the “Ultimate Spider-Man” animated series, Electro was a recurring antagonist, and his voice actor - Christopher Daniel Barnes - is one who has played Spidey several times in the past, most notably in the 1990’s show “Spider-Man: The Animated Series.” Much like the version in Shattered Dimensions, this Electro is something of a traditional interpretation, but Barnes’ higher register I think matches my personal ideal of Electro a little better. And, again, simply the fact his presence makes his encounters with Spidey a sort of Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man affair, which I just love. There’s a lot of humor to this take on Electro, as once again he’s depicted as a villain Spidey has known before the show even starts, and the wall-crawler generally seems to consider him a joke…but at the same time, he’s not necessarily TREATED as a joke, as his powers can still cause a lot of trouble, and he’s a thoroughly unrepentant rogue. It was always fun whenever he popped up. Barnes has since reprised Electro in a couple of video games, and he’s just as much of a delight there as he is in the show.

4. Liam O’Brien.

O’Brien first played Electro in the video game “Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.” (If it hasn’t been made abundantly clear by now, there are a TON of Spider-Man-related games out there.)

This version of Electro is both utterly demented, and yet somehow another more sympathetic portrayal. In the game, Electro appears searching for his sister, Melissa, who - after being infected by Venom - is taken by SHIELD for study. You can hardly blame Max for going on a rampage to try and save her, and later in the game - after he, himself, is first infected with the Symbiote, and then freed from its influence - he joins Spider-Man as a somewhat unsteady ally. O’Brien would reprise the role twice in two other games, first in “Marvel Heroes,” and then in one of the video game adaptations of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” He did a fine job in those games, too, but it’s his first outing in “Web of Shadows” that’s gets him placement here, playing one of the most psychotic and yet understandable Electros out there.

3. Jamie Foxx.

While the Green Goblin is the main villain of “No Way Home,” Electro is effectively the secondary antagonist. And talk about a case of the character being LIGHTYEARS better. Foxx’s Electro in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” had a lot of potential, but virtually none of it was realized, for a lot of reasons. But with “No Way Home,” not only did Foxx get a brand new look (which I vastly prefer), but his story and personality as a character developed in an interesting way that still felt like it worked with what was established, while also GREATLY improving on the problems the initial treatment had. THIS is the Electro I wish we had gotten before: a smarter, more devious villain with a great sense of humor, the sympathetic elements much better realized and motivations much better dealt with. He went from being one of my least favorite Spider-Man movie villains, to one of the greatest I’ve ever seen…and to be fair to Foxx in the first film, I feel he was trying his best with what he was given, and he does get a good action scene or two out of the deal, so even there, there were probably worse ways to handle the character.

2. Ethan Embry.

I’m willing to bet a lot of you haven’t heard of (or at least don’t remember) “Spider-Man: The New Animated Series.” This was a short-lived CGI animated show that was set in the same universe as the Sam Raimi movies, taking place between the first two films. While the show is of dubious canon to the movies (for example, the Lizard appears in the show, whereas Dr. Connors never becomes the Lizard in the actual films), and features none of the original voices (Neil Patrick Harris portrays Peter Parker), it was still interesting to see people try to tell new stories and create new characters within this universe, just as they did in the video games. I think that, by far, the best part of the show was its take on Electro: in the series, Max Dillon is depicted as a social outcast, and a friend of Peter Parker’s. After being exposed to mysterious chemicals (and zapped with lightning for good measure), Max becomes a being of electrical energy, and begins a quest of revenge on everyone who ever wronged him. It’s a classic story, and it makes for an interesting parallel to Peter: Max, like Peter, is a geek and a frequent target of bullying with a not-so-secret crush to deal with. In a way, he shows what could have happened if Peter had never learned the lesson he did, and decided to use his powers to get back at people instead of helping others. I honestly would have loved to see this take on Electro in a movie, but que sera sera.

1. Crispin Freeman.

Like I said on my previous list, “Spectacular Spider-Man” is my favorite overall depiction of Spidey and his universe. Fittingly, nearly every character who appears there ranks highly among my favorite portrayals of the same. So it’s really no surprise that Freeman’s Electro takes top marks here. This interpretation essentially takes the most interesting elements of the previous two and combines them to create a truly grand version: this version of Max Dillon starts off as a clumsy electrician who has a little accident in the laboratory of none other than Curt Connors. Instead of his power being treated as a gift he flaunts, this Electro is CURSED by his electrical output, as he finds he can no longer live a normal life, and feels hated and shunned by all of humanity. As the story goes on, Max becomes more and more unstable, both mentally and physically, and by the end of his origins, he has lost himself entirely to the Electro persona. Even when he returns as a member of the Sinister Six, there’s a sadness to this Electro, as he considers the Six to be the only thing close to friends he can ever have, and seems to have particular respect for Dr. Octopus, even seeming to see him as something of a father figure. He’s totally out of his mind, but you understand why, and seeing the character go on his own arc as he begins to accept his new role in the universe and loses himself more and more to his condition is pretty interesting as a result. It’s not the definitive take on the character, I’d say, but he’s easily My Favorite Electro.

[midrashic]

your tag system is so intricate! how did you develop it and do you have any favorite tags or ones with good stories behind them?

ahh thank you so much!! i've been getting a lot of compliments about my tagging recently & i'm glad people seem to be interested in it.

honestly i started doing it because i wished other people would use unique tags so i wouldn't have to see their opinions on things other than what i followed them for lmao. the supernatural / marvel cinematic universe cold war of it all... you can still see some of my early supernatural tags are pretty silly, & right now my tag system is pretty broken because i'm trying to revamp the whole thing to make it more aesthetic and less me-as-seventeen-year-old.

developing a tag system like this is really just... figuring out what tags you will actually use. there are some tags i stopped using because it was too much trouble to try & squint and figure out whether this post fell into this category or that category. i used to have a tag called #just geek girl things, and it was supposed to be for trivia that was kind of academically oriented, but i kept getting it confused with #trivial pursuits, which was supposed to be more like those maps that say the most searched-for animal in each u.s. state. it would stress me out, trying to figure out what belonged in each category, & eventually i dropped them. tagging shouldn't really activate your ocd (i say this as someone with ocd). & the other big part is keeping track of it. i have all my tags in a note to myself which i'm trying to transfer over to a spreadsheet.

fun tag names can come from anywhere! some highlights:

steal! both #relship: we'll always have cuba & #ch: heavy metal broke my heart are both cribbed from this post. (i figured the chances of someone following me & the originator of the tag and the originator still being in the cherik fandom are pretty small, plus i think relship instead of otp: or ship: also adds a level of remove, so if you wanted to filter me out you could lmao); #temp directory: the pornbots are coming from inside the house is a quip someone made about a tumblr problem from, like, years ago, when someone noticed that the only notes ads got were from porn blogs, & hypothesized that tumblr staff ran the pornblogs to artificially inflate post engagement numbers; #hyperfixation: the leveled geocities stretch away is from that "ozymandias" parody that was circulating on here a while ago

some small detail from canon, like logan uses shane to frame its themes so my laura kinney & logan tag is #relship: there aren't any more guns in the valley; my monica rambeau tag is a line from the story carol is seen telling her in captain marvel, #ch: aloutte flew up throughout the night; my yelena belova tag is a line from "american pie," #ch: when i read about his widowed bride

some cool meta someone wrote about a character or pairing that sticks in your brain. like i thought the recurring joke of logan stealing scott's motorcycle in the original x-men trilogy was hilarious, because i'd actually read all-new x-men first & baby scott steals logan's motorcycle in that one, so my scott & logan tag is #relship: a history of motorcycle thievery. #ch: the never-queen of alderaan is from a few fics that dwelt on how leia is forever the princess of alderaan, who will never be a queen, because there is no planet to crown her so. #ch: writers are the enemy for chuck shurley / god is from a refrain that gets repeated throughout postfinale supernatural meta

tags in pairs! like janet van dyne's tag is #ch: float like a butterfly; hope's is #ch: sting like a bee. fitz's tag is #ch: the left hand doesn't know & simmons' tag is #ch: what the right hand is doing

a spin on famous titles or phrases. #hyperfixation: love in the time of amatonormativity is a play on love in the time of cholera; #filed under: your mental health's a joke you're broke your brain chemistry's d.o.a., is, you know, the friends theme; #fandom: unusual medical investigations: princeton plainsboro is of course a spin on those csi titles

lyrics from songs strongly associated with a character or pairing (#relship: the person that you'd take a bullet for (is behind the trigger)), or songs you associate with the character or pairing. my jean grey tag is #ch: gonna change you like a remix, from fall out boy's "phoenix," & my steve + peggy tag, and this is one of my favorites, is from a song from the bonnie and clyde musical that hits all the notes i think of when i think of them

honestly a lot of it is just seeing what associations hit! like my new linguistics tag, #hyperfixation: cunning linguistics, is, you know, an old joke, a middle school joke, but it was what came to mind when i asked myself about phrases i associated with the word "linguistics." #ch: the problem that has no name is an iconic quote from friedan's the feminine mystique, so i used it for mystique. #hyperfixation: and i bless you more life is for queer culture & art, the ur-example of which is, for me, angels in america.

favorite tags... i do have tags that i would never, ever change, because they just make absolute sense to me. & i actually had a whole list typed up of some of my favorite tags, and then i realized... my favorite tag is my greg house + james wilson relationship tag, #relship: amazing how fire exposes our priorities. that quote is actually from a different sherlock holmes adaptation, but house's finale conflagration is much more dramatic than sherlock rescuing john from the guy fawkes fire.

thank you so much for the ask!! if you're curious about any tags in particular, i can expound then, but... i have a lot of tags slkdfjsdf.