#me as i see volo for the 1st time

[sexysilverstrider]

i finally have Legends Arceus and hellooooo Volo

the volo experience

[agentc0rn]

holy moly guys I found a really cool az and volo encounter comic on Twitter (tweet is by original artist)…

EDIT: Updated with rough translation below!!

1st page: Togepi: Wow, so many flowers! Hmm?

2 page: You there, you seem like a strange person. You’re larger than Volo. Do you like flowers? Oh, Volo!

3rd page: Volo: so you’re looking for a Pokémon?

Az. …Yes, i’m in a journey.

Volo: You come from a faraway region, I imagine?

Az: from here, to the west…what is it. (Gonna split this into multiple parts lol)

4th page continued

Volo: oh no, it’s just…your belongings, and clothings are something not commonly seen in this areas. Yet you seem to have make great use of them for a long time. Is your journey a long one?

Az:…. Volo: my apologies! To verify such a rare person, thing, event is of a merchant’s nature! It was a rather ill-mannered question, please do forget-

Az: 3000 years. Nearly 3000 years I have been travelling.

Volo: You are kidding me! You hold some distinctive conversation techniques! You are very amusing! What sort of a Pokémon that a person like you seek to find is it even if it would take 3000 years?

Az: ‘so he asks many questions in the end….’ “…floette. A Pokémon said to appear with a flower. In my region it is not rare. It is one of them.”

5th page: Togepi: 3000 years? I don’t understand at all but he has traveling for a long time? Torkoal: you would believe such a tale, young lady?

Togepi: he doesn’t seem to be the type of person to lie.

Torkoal: ohoho, you are astute, young lady.

Togepi: and about floette? She likes flowers? I would like to meet her!

Torkoal: ohoho

Volo: ‘his way of speaking…seeking a Pokémon doesn’t seem to be a lie…’ “To say it is uncommon, yet for you it is the most special one, isn’t it? Spending eternal time traversing landmarks you in seeking the special one…that is a very dreamy story! Az:….

Volo: I myself will be supporting you! I too would…

AZ: don’t do it. The unending pain of not knowing when it will all end…it cannot be called life. It’s hell.

6th page: Volo: I apologize if I offended you. I cannot comprehend 3000 years but I just thought taking time to pursue your dreams is a fabulous thing… I mean, what is 3000 years? Is it in the form of a jest?

Az…I’m tired. I will rest.

Volo; oh my, is that so. Well then have a good rest.

Togepi: that person, did he get mad?

Torkoal: cohoho, no…..perhaps he was reminded of the past.

7th page: Togepi to az: you like flowers, don’t you?

8th page: oh, are you already departing?

Az: yes. You wanted to hear my story. To live a life longer than an average person chasing a dream means you would suffer longer than any other person. It means you are the only one cut off from this world. This body of mine…from the dream I sought…must be punishment. You must not overstep.

Volo: punishment I see… yet if I were to be able to live long…ha ha…yes..

Az: you don’t understand, do you?

9th page:

Volo: "even if 100 years pass, I would like meet you and hear your traveling stories again! It’ a matter of perspective, isn’t it ? After all, I wish to take time to know the world better! I want to chase my dreams!! If the world were to punish me for this curiosity then I wouldn’t want to live in such a ridiculous one. And if I am able to fulfill my dreams…even the world…! I can live for a long time so I can…!

Az: I don’t know what kind of dreams you have but it is impossible to expand lifespan! Volo: Well then, how did you became the way you are now? …wait please, I would like to talk little bit more… (Le epic Pokémon appears)

Togepi: hey, this isn’t fair/right! Torkoal: I’m sorry young lady, this cannot be known.

10th page: im amazed! I didn’t know how much Pokémon were hidden until now. It’s like trained soldiers, or a weapon. You yourself beyond a glance appear to be honest and complicated individual… (So many unknown Pokémon…should I used THAT to rout them? No we need to know this man’s secret by revealing mine.)

Az: if we were to meet again hundred years later, I will tell you.

Volo: understood! For that we’ll have to work on that! (An interesting method to expand lifespan …a thinking that sounds like an insurance policy!) now it is the best time for me to carry out my plan successfully!

Torkoal: farewell young lady and thank you. It was fun.

Togepi: I hope you meet floette again soon. Give my regards to floette! Torkoal: kohoho…thank you young lady, thank you: I pray that after a hundred years or so later…we don’t meet again…”

[volodei]

Volotober Day 21: Team

“Godslaying is a team effort.”

Here it is! To keep with the spirit of the prompt, these pictures were done as a team by me and my friend 🤝💕 I did the sketch and lineart for the 1st pic while she colored it in, and then we switched for the 2nd one. If you’re interested, take a look at her Fiverr account for commissions, or follow us both over on Twitter. My handle is @volodreaming and hers is @gapu_ysbs.

Speaking of which, this is the first time I’ve ever used Twitter, since I’m very shy, so I’d greatly appreciate any tips and follows. (for example, do I post my backlog here once a day, or all at once? i don’t want to clutter tags) I’ll be sure to follow you back so come and drop on by! 🥰

Read below if you’d like to see my personal HCs for Volo’s team.

as mentioned before, I love the idea that Volo’s team acts completely out of the norm for their species. ofc none of this is final, and I plan on publishing a series of drabbles expanding on their pasts and interactions sometime in November.

Togekiss — Cunning and devious just like her wielder. Like an ice queen. She only melts when she’s with Volo, or when her teammates need her care. Her family’s happiness matters above all else, and she’ll give no quarter to anyone who threatens that. As Volo’s ace, she’s the strongest of the team and she knows it.

Garchomp — Shy, but sweet and intuitive. He is very cautious and careful with new things because of his past as a Gible, but he can also be rather naive and quick to sympathy. He is conscientious of his size, and hones his power to a fine point, so his attacks are always deadly and precise, unlike the usual raw destructive power of his species.

Roserade — Lax and easygoing. He loves food above all else, and he’s easily bribed with it. Other than that, he likes to dance, and he enjoys joining in the ones Volo does as part of old traditions of worship. Likes to play dirty, making full use of his paralysis and sleep powders. If it helps him win quicker, who carers?

Lucario — Feisty and quick-tempered. Gets into arguments with Togekiss sometimes. He’s incredibly fast and powerful, but he often falls for taunts and leaves his defenses down. Though he won’t admit it, he can also be very clingy.

Arcanine — Though most of her species are wary of their surroundings, she is headstrong and hasty, dashing off ahead on her own without looking for danger. This, coupled with her clumsiness, often gets her into trouble. Thankfully, her team is always there to watch over her, and her wielder trains the clumsiness out of her before her final evo.

Spiritomb — Cheerful and clingy. He’s always attached to his wielder when he’s outside, and likes to accompany him in ruins, providing light and conversation. I tweaked the face on his keystone to look like it’s smiling, just to drive it in.

[28in2024]

I know I have a lot to catch myself up on: the breakup, buying a house, getting my GS-14 promotion, and adjusting to this new normal of being on my own. But that’s a later post because there is SO MUCH HAPPENING ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Need to brain dump this!

Monday, July 22nd - [WORK] Farewell with the team, PMA-209.

Wednesday, July 24th - [VOLLEYBALL] Played first Volo beach volleyball game at National Mall as captain. Carpooled with Charlie, first time talking talking to him and clicking fast.

Friday, July 26th - [BOYS]

1. Zach Fowler (Ohio) texted me at 4am seeing if I was down to come to Cincinnati after not talking to me for 1+ months

2. Charlie from volleyball asked me on a date via IG DM after literally 1 time hanging out. Turned him down and explained that I just got out of a long relationship and also we just met. Down to get to know each other more.

3. Had a “hangout” but pretty much a date with Cam that very expectedly lasted overnight and into the morning. Haven’t seen Cam in 3 months but had a very successful and intimate yet very wholesome date. Had KBBQ, walked around a very romantic old town at night, then I invited him over (stated not to be sus upfront) while he waits for his friend to pick him up. Watched cowboy bebop and samurai champloo then played some board games. Ended up laying next to each other on the couch at 2am and cuddled then kissed. Around 4am we both moved upstairs to my bed bc I had to get some rest before auditions!! He asked to be shirtless bc it’s hot and I told him I was too excited to sleep. He gave me a massage and we kissed some more before eventually drifting off to sleep. Made him filipino breakfast the next day and left him at the spot to Uber while I head to auditions.

Saturday, July 27th - [DANCE] Had Comeback Crew Auditions

Felt confident I did well in this 5 hour long process. Made friends along the way. Definitely got Korean fried chicken then showered and knocked out early after.

Sunday, July 28th - [FRIEND]

Went to church in the morning, ran errands, and finally visited nearby Ed’s plant world. Sean came over for the first time for homemade pasta dinner, Olympics, and good conversation.

Monday, July 29th - [VACCINE]

Got the COVID vaccine booster because I wanted to completely screw myself over for my first week at PMA-290. So sick and on Motrin around the clock the whole next day.

Wednesday, July 31st pt. 1- [WORK]

Laid out management style and team expectations to entire PMA-290 ROK P-8 team as new NH-4 case manager.

Wednesday, July 31st pt. 2- [BOYS/VOLLEYBALL/DANCE]

Carpooled with Charlie again and played second volo game. Had Zoom interview for Comeback Crew in the car on the way home.

Got McDonald’s and had good deep conversations with Charlie at my house until 11:30. I never imagined hearing “but they’re not my person” so sweet as his words. He seems like a very genuine, good guy that’s ready for something serious and aspires for marriage. Definitely interested in me and mentioned asking to hang out after volleyball season. He found out my ex boyfriend is khrystian, and I stated having khrystian and my friends on the same team is too messy to start anything with Charlie. He has a nice smile but he’s too short IM SORRY my tastes changed

Thursday, August 1st - [BOYS]

Celebrated Cam’s birthday showing him birria tacos at Mexican. Had ice cream at old town. Did advanced day one class. He texted me at the end of the night that he likes me a lot. I personally don’t feel the same. Not sure if it’s bc my social battery is crapped out or I am attracted to his appearance and not so much his personality. I need to sleep on it.

Angela also got engaged! She FaceTimed me during dinner!

Friday, August 2nd - [WORK]

Interview for FMS job at US Embassy in Rome

- we’ll see how this interview goes. I can’t help but think that if I get it, I really have a huge decision to make.

Friday-Sunday, Aug 2-4 - [FRIENDS]

Kyra and mharc coming over!

[tigressaofkanjis]

Seeing Volo with a Togepi and a Gible made me shout out loud at the bullshit I'm going to have to go through with an advanced fight with him eventually because a fairy/air and dragon/ground team up is monstrous! And since this game is a lot more sensitive to type weaknesses than I've ever seen (you can literally be twenty levels up against a Pokémon but type weakness kills you still), fighting him is going to be a miracle. Like, what the hell are you, Volo? Are you that sweaty of a bitch?!?! How do you get that team?!?!

Edit: Thinking on it, I realize that we're all sweaty bitches too because my team in Sword had all legendaries before even fighting the Turffield gym (1st gym) by sweating in the Crown Tundra max raids. And the first time I played, I mined for candy to bring all my team to level 70 before halfway through the game itself so...

[chillspacebear]

Volos’ Summon Day

(Told from Volos 1st person perspective)

Today’s been good so far. I had a good breakfast and lunch, and I just did some work in the lab! Now it’s time for a bit of fieldwork; I think I’ll change into my overalls for this instead of wearing my normal clothes.

It’s already October, so I’ve had to start working on fruits and vegetables for Halloween. Squash, some sweet potato, and, most importantly, pumpkins. I’m being careful with my wishes this time around, and I’m trying not to make them as sweet; people may not like them as much, but it’s a better alternative than the chaos I caused a few years back.

First things first, I should check the progress of everything to see how they’ve grown and what they need at the moment. All the crops should be sprouting soon.

Everything seems normal with the squash and sweet potatoes, now to check the pumpkins. Everything looks normal there too. Wait, is that pumpkin fully grown?! It should only barely be sprouting! This is really interesting; maybe I should take it back to the lab for a closer look.

I try to pick it up, but it’s way too heavy for a regular pumpkin. I can lift it anyway, but I wasn’t expecting this. When I get close to the lab, something even more unexpected happens.

“Don’t experiment on me! Please, Volos, please!”

I scream and accidentally throw the pumpkin in the air behind me. And, as usual, I slip and fall on my butt. When I turn around, I expect to see the pumpkin smashed, but instead, it’s as if I never dropped it. Not only that, but it’s sitting upright. And if things couldn’t get any weirder, when I stand up and see things from a different angle, there are footprints right next to the pumpkin!

Trying to think about it more, I believe I know what’s going on. The pumpkin doesn’t match the others, talks, and made footprints. I go to pick up the pumpkin again.

“Sorry about throwing you. I won’t be experimenting on you, Goemon.”

In a puff of smoke, Goemon appears in place of the pumpkin; I was right.

“Hey, Volos. I’m a little sad you figured it out, but I’m happier that I wasn’t a guinea pig. I wanted to surprise you.”

“Well, I’m definitely surprised but, why?”

I put Goemon down, waiting for a response. But then.

“Voloooooooss!”

I hear someone screaming my name from behind me. I turn around to see, and before I can see who it is, I got pinned down on my back. When I actually see their face.

“Cu Sith??!”

“Happy Summon Day, Volos!”

“Yeah, I was trying to surprise you like that, but I guess he beat me to the punch. Happy Summon Day.”

“Thanks, you two. Now, could you get off of me, Cu Sith?”

“Oh, sorry, Volos! I just got excited.”

Cu Sith rolls over, and the two both stand up and dust themselves.

“Well, I’d love to join you two for anything you had planned, but I need to finish tending to my fields first.”

“Anything we can do to help?”

“There’s not much left to do. Besides, neither of you really have any experience, so it’d be faster If I just did it instead of trying to explain everything first.”

“Alright. Well, Cu Sith and I will be over there trying to make one combined plan.”

“Take your time, Volos!”

I start tending to my crops again, trying to work faster than I normally do. I can’t believe I forgot my Summon Day! I’ve never really celebrated it before in the first place, but now I’ve got some friends to spend it with. This is gonna be great!

[penname-artist]

Evil Plans

Cooking up shit over here and I wanted to share some progress on many things:

- my “Big Planes Project” for Youtube is slowly creeping it’s way to completion, I’m probably almost halfway there? My plan right now is to try to finish it by my borthday, so, not a lot of time left but I think I can get it done. We’ll just see what happens.

- I’m itching to make other random bullshit for my channel. I just made the thing about Dusty getting gelded (hrr hrr) but now I’m debating some ideas for future vids. Based on the insane popularity of “Types of Fanfic Writers” (just passed 5k views this morning) I may do a sequel, and/or some similar takes, like “Types of Shippers”, etc.

- Would you believe me if I told you I want to write The Paper Guard and actually post it before the end of this year? Yeaaaaah, high bar for me but, I think that I’m ready. And I think some viewers will really enjoy it. It is a primarily plot-driven storyline, but I’m also giving myself the freedom to have some more slice of life style episodes sitting in between.

- Maybe we’ll do something special for Volo Pro Veritas’ 6-month anniversary? That’s coming up this April 1st y’all, we should do something fun to celebrate! I have no idea what yet! XD

That’s all I have for now, brain ran away again. Byee!

[incorrecthousamoquotes]

2019 Unofficial Event Survey Results

I was inspired to conduct this survey after I looked at some surveys held in other fandoms/interest groups in the past. This survey included all the events that had been translated from Dec 2018 to Dec 2019. You can view an archive of the questions here.

As a complete nobody with no marketing skills who appeared to be conducting this kind of survey for the first time I was pleasantly surprised to see this many responses from a rather small community.

I don’t quite have the knowledge to analyze these results on a holistic scale and I don’t believe I have a large enough sample size to say anything about the community as a whole, so this report will just be my own personal reflections on conducting the survey, and my observations of the sample group as it is.

If you have any questions or comments about the survey, the ask box is always open. I’m also open to suggestions for future surveys because I want to ask better questions that let me see trends of what people like in this game.

“Prefer not to say” answers were included in the transgender/orientation questions and were counted out. Some also wrote in “Prefer not to say” answers in the country question.

I believe I found it fairly difficult to share my survey because I was a nobody so the response pool was very US-centric.

I was initially surprised by the high references from Reddit (where it was shared in /r/TokyoAfterschool/) before I realized that people who are interested in reading longer content in a place like Reddit may also be interested in taking surveys (I can’t prove this but the possibility is there) After all, the surveys I took inspiration from were also found on Reddit.

also don’t mention Twitter to me I am going to pretend I didn’t see myself flop hard on Twitter qwq

The number of people who heard of this game before Mar 2018 surprised me a bit. The only time Lifewonders had interacted with the English community before then was in 2015, long before Housamo had even started on Dec 2016. That being said, there is a trend of more people starting to play the game after translations started (76 / 34.7% after Mar 2018, 87 / 39.7% in 2019 or later)

I had expected the English survey to be English-centric, but in the future I hope to get help in translating future surveys to other languages.

I had put in the protagonist question because I thought it would be interesting to see who people played as, but seeing as the question was made optional and I don’t think I can make any meaningful conclusions out of the responses beyond that, I don’t plan to include this question in future surveys.

I forgot to list the percentages of each event so here they are below:

14.8% total votes / 16.2% weighted points (Raiders of the Lost Isle)

14.6% total votes / 15.8% weighted points (Valentine Panic!)

13.5% total votes / 13.7% weighted points (New Champion of Christmas)

11.0% total votes / 11.2% weighted points (Seaside Summer School With You)

10.0% total votes / 10.7% weighted points (Black Snow on the Hot Spring Mountains)

9.6% total votes / 9.4% weighted points (I Ain’t Scared a No Halloween!)

9.6% total votes / 8.8% weighted points (Year of the Guardian Dog)

9.4% total votes / 8.7% weighted points (Embark! Summer Ocean Adventure)

5.0% total votes / 3.1% weighted points (Gift from an Apprentice Santa)

2.3% total votes / 1.5% weighted points (Lil’ Salomon’s Golden Week)

Respondents were also asked to choose what they liked most about the events they voted for, and the majority chose between Story & Characters. For Black Snow on the Hot Spring Mountains & Raiders of the Lost Isle, Story was the most picked answer. For the other events, Characters was most picked.

Age was the only demographic I decided to analyze for this survey.

The percentages of weighted points for each age group are as follows:

under 18: 20.1% (V) ｜ 17.6% (Y) ｜ 11.8% (R) ｜ 11.8% (I) ｜ 9.8% (N) ｜ 9.3% (E) ｜ 6.3% (B) ｜ 5.9% (S) ｜ 4.4% (G) ｜ 2.9% (L)

18-21: 18.4% (V) ｜ 16.5% (R) ｜ 13.5% (N) ｜ 12.0% (S) ｜ 9.4% (B) ｜ 8.6% (Y) ｜ 8.4% (I) ｜ 7.8% (E) ｜ 4.3% (G) ｜ 0.8% (L)

22-25: 18.1% (R) ｜ 13.7% (V) ｜ 13.0% (N) ｜ 13.0% (S) ｜ 12.2% (B) ｜ 11.5% (E) ｜ 9.6% (I) ｜ 5.2% (Y) ｜ 3.0% (G) ｜ 0.7% (L)

26-29: 21.0% (N) ｜ 17.3% (V) ｜ 13.6% (R) ｜ 9.9% (I) ｜ 9.3% (B) ｜ 8.6% (E) ｜ 7.4% (S) ｜ 5.6% (Y) ｜ 4.9% (G) ｜ 2.5% (L)

30+: 20.2% (R) ｜ 19.0% (B) ｜ 16.1% (S) ｜ 13.1% (N) ｜ 8.3% (I) ｜ 7.7% (Y) ｜ 6.0% (E) ｜ 4.8% (V) ｜ 2.4% (G) ｜ 2.4% (L)

The most notable trend here is the popularity of Valentine Panic in the younger age groups. I suppose it was possible it could’ve beaten Raiders of the Lost Isle had it also been popular with the older age groups.

Other things to note include how high Year of the Guardian Dog placed in the under 18 group and how high Black Snow on the Hot Spring Mountains placed in the 30+ group.

This section of the survey was completely optional. Excluding Lil’ Salomon’s Golden Week and Year of the Guardian Dog, the average response rate was 79.3% (1st favorite) and 68.3% (2nd favorite)

I received feedback that the survey became lengthy by asking for two favorite characters per event. This was supported by the response rate dropping in later events, so future surveys will only ask for one favorite character.

Respondents also answered what they liked about the character they chose from their Appearance, Personality, how they were written/Developed, and their Interactions with other characters. I will be noting which aspects scored the highest on the top 3 chosen characters from each event.

Yule scored fairly consistently in all aspects, with a lead in Personality & Development.

Ded scored significantly higher on Appearance & Personality.

Ryota scored higher on Personality & Interactions.

Sitri scored significantly higher on Development.

Moritaka scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Gunzo scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

2 characters (Moritaka & Andvari) received votes but didn’t make it to the rankings; They earned 3 and 2 points respectively.

Chernobog scored higher in Personality & Development.

Zao scored fairly consistently in all aspects.

Oniwaka scored slightly higher on Appearance & Personality.

Lil’ Salomon scored significantly higher on Personality.

Marchosias scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Asterius scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Benten scored significantly higher on Personality and Interactions.

Typhon scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Ahab scored fairly consistently in all aspects.

This event had a really large ensemble cast; 15 other characters received votes but didn’t make the rankings.

Ashigara scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Jinn scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Bathym scored slightly higher on Appearance & Personality.

Volos scored fairly consistently in all aspects, with a lead in Appearance & Personality.

Alice scored higher on Personality and Interactions.

Cu Sith scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Triton scored fairly consistently in all aspects.

Nomad scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Kurogane scored slightly higher on Personality.

Krampus scored fairly consistently in all aspects, with a lead in Personality & Development.

Ryota scored higher on Personality & Interactions.

Taurus Mask scored higher on Appearance & Personality.

Moritaka scored slightly higher on Personality.

Agyo scored higher on Personality & Interactions.

Garmr scored slightly higher on Personality.

[onceandfuturekitty]

17 things tag game

I was tagged by @hideriame​—thank you! :D :D

Rules are simple: answer seventeen questions and tag twenty one (yikes 😅) people person.

Nickname: Basically everybody I know in person calls me by my nickname, Sisi. No idea what people online call me xD

Star Sign: Scorpio and Rat. Hmm, maybe that’s part of the reason why I’ve always related to Yuki so much....

Height: I like to think of myself as 5′5″. xD

Last Film I Watched: Technically Lego Movie 2? Given that I couldn’t see half of what was going on though, maybe Toy Story 4 (so cute!! And sad. And cute!!), the last movie I saw in theaters, is a better answer.

Favorite Musician: For individual singers—probably Josh Groban? For bands—Il Volo c: (just discovered them this summer!!) For instrumental musicians—does the London Symphony Orchestra count? xDDD For composers—Tchaikovsky, hands down. :3 (still love the Nutcracker so much, even to this day...)

Song Stuck In My Head: Currently one lyric from “For Fruits Basket”—let’s stay together, itsumo [always]! Cute ^_^

Other Blogs: Nah, or at least not active ones (I probably have an old blogspot or wordpress from ages ago around somewhere....).

Do I Get Asks: Verrrrrrry rarely xD

Blogs Following: Like 171?

What Am I Wearing: PJ’s! Just took a nice hot shower :3.

Dream Job: Something sustainability related. Especially if it’s related to helping a group come up with/revise a sustainability plan c:

Dream Trip: ITALY. I love love loved it when I went last time, but I didn’t get to see Florence *tears* 😭Also I loved Rome so much and would love to get to go back there!! If not Italy, then France and/or Austria for the first time.

Play Any Instruments: My voice when I sing? XD I used to play piano, violin, or clarinet, but I haven’t touched any of those in a while, unfortunately :/ sad.

Languages: Fluency in English and sorta-proficiency in Chinese, French, and Italian. My Chinese reading and writing skills have gone down the drain since high school, though my spoken Chinese has improved from speaking it more with my mom ^^;; Some very limited Japanese from watching anime/reading bits and pieces of Fruits Basket raws/using Drops’ Scripts phone app to pick up some of the hiragana and kanji.

Favorite Food: Chinese food, hands down. Mmmmm. [So long as it’s not spicy..] But if I had to pick one Chinese food, then maybe 粽子 (zòng zi)! My mom wraps them amazingly well, and I looooove her fillings of rice, nuts, mushrooms, and pork :o :o

Favorite Song: Vocal—Hallelujah as performed by the singing group I was in. Such beautiful harmonies supplementing the melody *tears* 

[technically cheating a bit, but] Favorite Instrumental Piece: used to be Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in e minor, 1st movement. Not sure anymore, partially because it seems to shift around depending on my mood—maybe Alexander Rudin’s Chant du menestrel for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 71, or maybe Vytautas Sondeckis’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise op. 34 no. 14 (arranged for cello and orchestra)?

Random Fact: [I learned something new today! :D] “Penguins ingest a lot of seawater while hunting for fish, but a special gland behind their eyes—the supraorbital gland—filters out the saltwater from their blood stream. Penguins excrete it through their beaks, or by sneezing.” —Source #6

I tag @ultramayuko19870​ if you’re interested! :) And anyone else who wants to do it! Thanks again to hideriame for tagging me~

[mexicaneurolover]

Eurovision 2015 my top 40

Hello, and welcome to another episode of this ESC top series, as I go back to May 19, 21 and 23, 2015, when the 60th edition of the contest was held in Vienna, Austria, after Conchita Wurst’s victory in Copenhagen last year, making this the second time the contest was held in Austria. 40 countries took part, while Serbia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic returned to the contest, Ukraine withdrew because of political and financial reasons, and also Australia made their first showing as a guest country. The contest was won by Sweden with Måns Zelmerlöw and the song Heroes, making this their 6th victory overall, and they are only behind Ireland in the number of victories. And now, let’s review the songs!!! Also this was the largest final with 27 songs, amazing. 

1st Place: SWEDEN/Måns Zelmerlöw-Heroes (Real Placing: 1st-365 points)

But this song is amazing, the music is beautiful, his voice is stunning, he’s so handsome, and the performance is such a blast, I love the projections so much, and of course this is a very deserved winner, and I like this song because I can relate to the lyrics so much, and they are an inspiration for me to be a better person despite the problems I had in my childhood. WE ARE THE HEROES OF OUR TIME. 

2nd Place: ITALY/Il Volo-Grande amore (Real Placing: 3rd-292 points) 

My favorite Italian trio ever, they are so handsome and I love them so much, so when I saw they were in Eurovision I couldn’t believe it, and this song is so perfect and beautiful, also this is so powerful, the music is stunning, the lyrics are so romantic and they have some angelic voices, I love this entry so much and it would’ve been an excellent winner if that was the case that night. 

3rd Place: ESTONIA/Elina Born & Stig Rästa-Goodbye to yesterday (Real Placing: 7th-106 points) 

THIS SONG IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES OF THE DECADE, they sing so well together, the performance was full of passion and feeling and the music is so beautiful, and the lyrics are so brilliant, and it’s a shame this didn’t make the top 5 because this song deserved it so much. 

4th Place: RUSSIA/Polina Gagarina-A million voices (Real Placing: 2nd-303 points) 

Awww poor poor Polina, she didn’t deserve those booings, it’s the ESC c’mon, the song is beautiful, the music is stunning, she’s such a talented singer with a perfect voice and the performance is pretty, a deserved runner up that night and it’s a breathtaking ballad. Beautiful song. 

5th Place: AUSTRALIA/Guy Sebastian-Tonight again (Real Placing: 5th-196 points) 

Welcome to the contest Australia, and what a debut they had, Guy is such an amazing singer, his voice is so powerful and strong, the music is perfect and catchy and this song always makes me smile, the performance is also great and for me it’s still the best song Australia sent to the contest. 

6th Place: ISRAEL/Nadav Guedj-Golden boy (Real Placing: 9th-97 points) 

THIS IS A PARTY ON STAGE, the music is so wonderful, his voice is so perfect, the performance is an absolute banger and I love Israeli men so it’s perfect for me, I hope he can show us Tel Aviv in the 2019 contest please. 

7th Place: BELGIUM/Loïc Nottet-Rhythm inside (Real Placing: 4th-217 points) 

Wow, speaking of wonderful entries, this one is such a pleasant surprise, his voice is so special and beautiful, the staging is perfect, the music is so elegant and modern and this song is a perfect composition, I love him so much on the stage and it’s a very catchy song. And 4th place for Belgium with this one, AMAZING. 

8th Place: LATVIA/Aminata-Love injected (Real Placing: 6th-186 points) 

This song is pure awesomeness, the music has ethnic elements mixed with modern sounds that make this entry amazing, her voice is stunning, her dress is beautiful and the performance is magical, the chorus is amazing and the bridge before the last chorus is the best part of the song, one of the best Latvian songs ever. 

9th Place: GEORGIA/Nina Sublatti-Warrior (Real Placing: 11th-51 points) 

This song is pure rock perfection, her voice is so powerful, the music makes me feel like a warrior and the performance is perfect, well the smoke machine was a problem but still this song is amazing, and this song is my alarm song because it wakes me up with a lot of energy. 

10th Place: SPAIN/Edurne-Amanecer (Real Placing: 21st-15 points) 

IEIEEEEEEEEO, this entry is pure passion, she has an amazing voice, ignoring the last part of the song, the music is perfect and wonderful, the performance is so good, she’s so beautiful and I can’t see why this entry finished so low on the night.  

11th Place: BELARUS/Uzari & Maimuna-Time (Real Placing: 12th SF1-39 points) 

An epic song! I love the music so much, he has an amazing voice and I love this entry so much, he’s cute, the lyrics are amazing as well, maybe the performance was a bit of a letdown but still this song is perfect, a shame this didn’t make the final that year. 

12th Place: CZECH REPUBLIC/Marta Jandová & Václav Noid Bárta-Hope never dies (Real Placing: 13th SF2-33 points) 

Another duet with a powerful ballad and amazing lyrics, and what a comeback for the Czech Republic, they did better, yet they didn’t reach the final, the music is beautiful, they have amazing voices together and I love Václav so much, he’s so handsome. An amazing song from them. 

13th Place: SLOVENIA/Maraaya-Here for you (Real Placing: 14th-39 points)

Since the first time I listened to this song, I fell in love with this one, she has an outstanding voice, the music is brilliant, and I love the violinist so much, this is a very intimate song and it’s wonderful, one of the best Slovenian entries in the contest. 

14th Place: NORWAY/Mørland & Debrah Scarlett-A monster like me (Real Placing: 8th-102 points)  

This song enters the group of the songs that make me cry, they sing so well together, they are gorgeous, and the music is so wonderful, this with an orchestra would’ve been miles better, the lyrics are so nice as well and it’s a stunning and classy entry. 

15th Place: MALTA/Amber-Warrior (Real Placing: 11th SF2-43 points) 

One of the warriors of that year, and this song has a lot of power and a wonderful singer, the music is epic, the lyrics are good and she deserved to be in the final because the song is amazing. 

16th Place: MONTENEGRO/Knez-Adio (Real Placing: 13th-44 points) 

This song is an absolute trip to the Balkans, the music is so lovely and beautiful, he has an incredible voice and the staging is so lovely, this is one of the songs I enjoy the most because it’s very relaxing and GO KNEZ. 

17th Place: SWITZERLAND/Mélanie René-Time to shine (Real Placing: 17th SF2-4 points/last) 

Also i can’t understand how this song came last in the semifinal, she has a nice voice, the music is great and the staging is lovely, I love those drums, yeah, this is a very enjoyable entry and I love the chorus so much. 

18th Place: SERBIA/Bojana Stamenov-Beauty never lies (Real Placing: 10th-53 points)  

YEEEES BOJANA, she has such an impressive voice, the song is so nice, the lyrics are beautiful and she’s so lovely, the way she sings in the last part of the song is superb and it takes my breath away, also a nice transition from a ballad to a dance song. 

19th Place: GREECE/Maria Elena Kyriakou-One last breath (Real Placing: 19th-23 points)  

Okay this year has a lot of ballads, and this one is another good one, her voice is so strong, she delivers the song so well, and the music has a very amazing ending, also I love her so much, she’s such a great singer. 

20th Place: FRANCE/Lisa Angell-N’oubliez pas (Real Placing: 25th-4 points)

Such a sad song and a cute ballad, she has a very powerful voice and the staging was so brilliant, sadly the running order killed this gentle song, an elegant song with a lot of feeling, and it’s amazing as well. 

21st Place: GERMANY/Ann Sophie-Black smoke (Real Placing: 27th-0 points/last) 

Another one of the mysterious mysteries of the ESC, WHY THIS SONG CAME LAST WITH 0 POINTS? This is a very good song, the music is so great, she has an amazing voice and the performance is so beautiful, also she’s so cute on stage. This deserved at least being outside the bottom 4 places, it’s simply amazing. 

22nd Place: IRELAND/Molly Sterling-Playing with numbers (Real Placing: 12th SF2-35 points) 

Also another beautiful ballad this year, and she has such a unique voice and the music has an uplifting touch but it’s still very melancholic, the lyrics are a bit sad and touching, and overall this song is very relaxing, I like it. 

23rd Place: LITHUANIA/Monika Linkytė & Vaidas Baumila-This time (Real Placing: 18th-30 points) 

An uplifting song, this is so happy and it lifts my humor, they sing so well together and the music is pretty, also the performance is perfect and I loved the kiss in the middle of the song, also, hello Vaidas, he’s so handsome. 

24th Place: CYPRUS/John Karayiannis-One thing I should have done (Real Placing: 22nd-11 points)

Awwwwwww again a song that makes me feel emotional, how many of them are this year? His voice is so cute and the music is relaxing, the lyrics are so heartbreaking and the atmosphere he managed to build in the arena is simply magic, sadly he was between two stronger entries and that killed this little ballad. 

25th Place: PORTUGAL/Leonor Andrade-Há um mar que nos separa (Real Placing: 14th SF2-19 points)  

This entry is so amazing!!! I love her voice and her confidence on stage, the music is so perfect as well and the performance is so nice, and I think this song had a lot of potential to reach the final, also this gives me nostalgic vibes to those songs I used to hear on the early 2010′s. 

26th Place: ROMANIA/Voltaj-De la capat (Real Placing: 15th-35 points) 

A nice song with a beautiful message, I love the main singer’s voice and the performance is effective, another song that makes me feel so emotional and wow, I enjoy this so much. 

27th Place: POLAND/Monika Kuszyńska-In the name of love (Real Placing: 23rd-10 points) 

This song always makes me cry, I love the lyrics even if they are a bit cliché, her voice is so good and also kudos for her, she’s so awesome and beautiful, the staging is so pretty and this entry makes me feel so emotional. A pretty little ballad. 

28th Place: SAN MARINO/Anita Simoncini & Michele Perniola-Chain of lights (Real Placing: 16th SF2-11 points) 

That NO in the beginning is so epic, and Michele is so cute, this entry isn’t that bad, until she starts to rap, maybe they were nervous but they are amazing singers, well, in JESC, still I like this song, has an anthemic Christmas feeling to it. 

29th Place: ICELAND/Maria Olafs-Unbroken (Real Placing: 15th SF2-14 points)  

AH THIS SONG WAS SO RUINED, her voice was so shaky and there were so many dodgy notes, also the performance was a bit weird, the music is so cool but sadly she ruined her own song, this song had a lot of potential to reach the final, sadly, they broke their chances. 

30th Place: AUSTRIA/The Makemakes-I’m yours (Real Placing: 26th-0 points) 

Poor Austria, they hosted the contest and finished with 0 points, without coming last, still the music here is lovely and he has a nice voice, overall a nice song, it’s pleasant but with that running order, they were easily forgotten. 

31st Place: FYR MACEDONIA/Daniel Kajmakoski-Autumn leaves (Real Placing: 15th SF2-28 points) 

Awwwwww this is such a lovely song, ruined by the performance. The music is so lovely and he has a very nice song, still I think this needed something else to improve their chances at the contest. 

32nd Place: MOLDOVA/Eduard Romanyuta-I want your love (Real Placing: 11th SF1-41 points)  

This song is quite interesting, there are days I love it and days I hate it, depends on my mood, in studio this song is so good, but live it was a bit of a mess, the performance is so nice but his voice not so much. The chorus is very catchy indeed. 

33rd Place: THE NETHERLANDS/Trijntje Oosterhuis-Walk along (Real Placing: 14th SF1-33 points)  

Why, WHYAYAYAY, this song had a lot of potential, but the staging and the whole package was a disaster, also the whyayayay turns a bit annoying after a while, and sadly, that makes the 50% of the song, also, what’s going on with that dress, it’s so horrible. 

34th Place: UNITED KINGDOM/Electro Velvet-Still in love with you (Real Placing: 24th-5 points) 

Also I love the retro vibe in this song, but maybe this song was too much, there were so many things happening on this performance which turned to be a bit distracting, they sing so well together but the song itself is a bit of a problem for me. 

35th Place: DENMARK/Anti Social Media-The way you are (Real Placing: 13th SF1-33 points)  

Aww a song with a Beatles vibe to it, this makes me feel happy, but at the same time I think this was the wrong song for the contest, and the performance was a bit flat, maybe Suitcase by Anne Gadegaard would’ve been a better option. 

36th Place: ALBANIA/Elhaida Dani-I’m Alive (Real Placing: 17th-34 points)

This song is quite meh for me, her voice is cool but there’s something in the music I can’t stand, and overall this feels a bit plastic IMO, not one of the best Albanian entries for me.  

37th Place: ARMENIA/Genealogy-Face the shadow (Real Placing: 16th-34 points)

This in the studio version is perfect, but live this became the “I can sing better than you” competition, at some point they were screaming so much and that ruined the song for me. Leaving aside this, I’m in love with one of the male singers.  

38th Place: AZERBAIJAN/Elnur Huseynov-Hour of the wolf (Real Placing: 12th-49 points) 

Another song that I can’t connect with, his voice is so perfect but the song itself is my problem here, and IMO this doesn’t go anywhere and it’s a shame because he’s an extraordinary singer. 

39th Place: FINLAND/Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät-Aina mun pitää (Real Placing: 16th SF1-13 points/last) 

The shortest song in the history of the contest, and I don’t like punk rock so sadly this is a bit annoying for me, but somehow I enjoy the music, and I admire them so much because they were on that stage and wow, they nailed it so nicely. 

40th Place: HUNGARY/Boogie-Wars for nothing (Real Placing: 20th-19 points) 

I usually don’t sleep at a song, but this makes me feel so sleepy and I can’t avoid it, I try to like this but nothing happens, this is a very forgettable song but the message is so cool. 

[fairymint-archive]

Me having Volo brainrot aside, as far as the ship goes, it’s Volo that starts shit first, chronologically speaking.  Felix muse spends most of the time In Game being, well, hyperfocused.

He is hyperfocused on his Arcphone, his pokédex, exploring the land, and well, doing small quests for people that help them, right here right now. Something that I don’t go over enough in meta, is how Felix catching feelings has a delayed reaction, and it can be hard to get his attention until he settles down, or at least finishes his task. A great example of this is me in all but words telling Adaman and Iridia to fuck off because I’d rather collect radishes for the shopkeeper than fight Avalugg.

So, actually, his mind isn’t that much on romance in game, despite some fuzzy feelings- he tucks these in the back of his mind to explore Later.

Volo does decide that he likes Felix right away, as a ‘friend’. He deduces that Felix is an adult after battling him a second time, and gains a little crush by the time he’s headed towards Ursaluna- When he finds him useful on accident. This crush is dismissed in a few stages along the way.

By the time they meet with Ingo, he starts to think their meeting was fated, but believes that it’s still temporary.  It’s when Felix shows sexual interest at the Ancient Retreat that his feelings grow from fuzzy, to obsessive and possessive, oh he likes him back.  He can’t act on it yet, believing that he has to keep the truth from him, and at least they’re both on the same path together, finally. He assumes until even postgame that Felix would want nothing to do with him, only finding out in two ways- Generally speaking, if/when Felix tries to talk him out of committing suicide (regardless if he was going to or not.), and, Romantically speaking, at whatever point they’re both trying to pretend that nothing happened in Jubilife. There’s glances, there’s tones of voice, there’s still chemistry no matter how hard they try. Everyone can see it, something happened when they were out there, but....what?

Volo finds out personally when Felix has Arceus for sure, because getting closer like that nets the true feelings. Their anniversary is most likely April 1st- when Felix decides to let Arceus out of its ball for the first time as a prank. (It’s an Anti-Joke.)

While Felix didn’t have a crush persé, his fuzzy feelings built a foundation for it. Volo going on about ruins and mystery caught his interest. Up until the Ancient Retreat, Felix’s thoughts were light.  ‘does this Nerd have a crush on me? Do I have some sort of fan?’

Of course being followed all the way up to the temple of Sinnoh the first time had him blushing, he wasn’t going to shake this guy. As well, Volo sure didn’t waste any time in trying to scoop him up and take care of him when the sky turned red. Being told Don’t Worry likely started the real crush. A moment of weakness when he wonders where he’ll sleep....what about Volo? He comes onto him in a fit of curiosity. Everything kind of gets worse from there, falling in love with Volo deeply at Giratina’s statue. So, minutes before betrayal.

Of course, with all due intents, that love doesn’t go away, it only deepens as he wishes to understand Volo. He catches Arceus ‘for’ Volo and a bit for himself, despite feeling some pokédex fatigue and burnout. His Arceus prank is unrelated, he just wanted to Spook everyone in the village for fun, but it does draw Volo right to him like flies to honey.

From Giratina to Arceus is a publicly, sexually tense period, where they want to talk, but can’t find the time- so mutual pining for about a month. From Arceus on things dip deep, as Volo can’t stay away any longer.  In the Good Ending, as they find their desires absurdly similar, and Volo, defeated by Arceus, redirects his dream to starting a family with Felix.

[mysticvhedd]

[LFP] [PAID] [5E] Dragon Heist Sunday 7pm EDT

Dragon Heist Campaign

Game: D&D 5e

Suggested Player Experience: All levels

Day/Timezone: Thursday at 8 pm EST/ 7 pm CST/ 6pm MST/ 5pm PST

Frequency: Game runs weekly session ($15 per session fee applies)

Length of session: 3-4 hours

Beginning 5/2/21

2 seats filled, 4 seats open

Introduction

Welcome to Waterdeep, the Crown of the North, where a wondrous tale of urban adventure is about to unfold. Our story begins with the gathering of adventurers at the Yawning Portal Inn and Tavern. Volothamp Geddarm, the famous explorer and raconteur, has a quest for them—one that entangles the characters in a bitter conflict between two nefarious organizations. If the adventurers complete his quest, Volo rewards them handsomely. Yet a much greater prize lies hidden somewhere in the City of Splendors, waiting to be claimed.

Cache of Dragons

In Waterdeep, a gold coin is called a dragon. Before he was ousted from his position as the Open Lord of Waterdeep, Dagult Neverember embezzled half a million dragons and hid them in a secret vault. As a security precaution, he arranged for all knowledge of the vault's location and defenses to be magically erased from his mind and the minds of his subordinates. The wizard who performed the procedure trapped this knowledge within an artifact called the Stone of Golorr. The wizard disappeared shortly thereafter, and Dagult hid the stone in the Palace of Waterdeep.

The stone was stolen and passed from one hand to another like a common jewel until it wound up in the clutches of Xanathar. The Stone of Golorr is actually an aboleth transformed by magic. In this inanimate state, the aboleth can read the mind of any creature that attunes to the stone, as well as modify that creature's memory. A creature attuned to the stone can also extract information from the aboleth, including lore about the mysterious Neverember's Vault.

War in the Streets

Beneath the city streets lurks a criminal underworld, its leader a beholder called Xanathar. Hoping to gain a political foothold in Waterdeep, agents of the Zhentarim (also known as the Black Network) recently tried to ally their organization with the Xanathar Guild. The architect of this attempt was a clone of the wizard Manshoon, a founder of the Black Network long thought dead.

While the two sides were negotiating in Xanathar's lair, the Stone ofGolorr suddenly disappeared from where Xanathar had hidden it. The paranoid beholder accused the Black Network of stealing it and slew the Zhentarim envoys who were present. When the Zhents retaliated by attacking Xanathar Guild outposts, Xanathar took their actions as confirmation of the Black Network's vile intentions. Now the bad blood between the Zhentarim and Xanathar has begun to spill into the streets, threatening peace throughout the city.

The questions on everyone's minds: Who actually stole the Stone of Golorr? And where is it now?

Now the hype is over, let us go over a few ground rules, shall we? Should you be a kind and descent person, well you only need glance at them to recognize what I am getting at… don’t be “that guy/girl”.

 1) Cursing is allowed at my table, but I request that it be used as a tactic for the purpose of character building and authenticity—in other words, in moderation. Keep the nature of your vulgarity and the comfort of your tablemates in mind. If you are asked to tone down your use of vulgarity or avoid a particular use of it in the future, be mindful of that request.

2) Be respectful of the time people spend in the spotlight. Please, try to keep talking over one another to a minimum. Granted, we will all be getting to know one another, and over time we should develop a rapport that will avoid such issues. As a good rule of thumb, use roll20’s typed-chat feature in between turns when initiating a moment of RP while another party member is currently RPing; use discord’s similar feature when speaking OOC or cracking jokes.

 3) Mic check! We've all been in a game where we heard the background of another player’s mic. This can and does diminish the fluidity of the game as well as people’s enjoyment. No one needs to hear the crunch of your snack between rounds of combat! Make sure to mute yourself while eating, or else avoid eating during the game.

 4) The majority of this game will be run via the rules as written. If you want to do something on the fly that bends the rules but does not outright break them, the rule of cool comes into effect! During a game, my adjudication is final. You may contact me privately if an adjudication bothers you. I may choose to alter future adjudications based on your expressed argument, but I reserve the right to refuse to do so. Do not bog down playtime with debate. That being said, I am fine with a “rules lawyer” helping the table by briefly citing an arcane and often forgotten rule or trying to elevate the game during epic moments, but once I make a call, leave contention and debate for post-game discussion.

 5) I respectfully require 24 hours cancellation notice. During the 24 hours prior to play, I plan out the game. If someone cancels at the last minute, then a lot of this planning goes to waste. Failure to provide 24 hours’ notice and not showing up will be considered a No Show. Too many No Shows and you will be removed from the game. Exceptions will be made for family emergencies and other unexpected things.

 6)Follow “Wheaton’s Law” and have fun!

 About the DM:

I have been playing D&D since I was a kid starting with 1st edition in 1982. Since then, I have played/Dmed all other editions through the years. When it comes to House rules, I am 90% collaborative, and will defer to group vote on incorporating them into our game. Your encounters will be on a spectrum ranging from fairly beneath you to a little too much for you. Do not count on an ever encounter being an even match. If you choose not to run when I drop hints that the encounter might be a bit too much for you, that choice is yours to deal with. Fair warning, no punches will be pulled, and no decisions retconned!

My style is collaborative, as such, I will count on you to look thing up every now and then. I have found this practice to be beneficial to group. Helping to expose inexperienced players to more game knowledge and for veteran you have a better understanding of your companion’s abilities. I have an excellent understanding of RAW, however I am not a rules encyclopedia. (please see ground rule 4)

The qualities I like to see in my players are honesty, patience, and treating each other with kindness. My peeves are meanness, cheating, using OOC knowledge/Meta-gaming. Specifically, if it feels like you are playing other players' characters. Though I do encourage thoughtful consideration (tactics and planning) I cannot allow indefinite discussion… Something I refer to affectionally as "analysis paralysis", at some point I will have to prod you for a decision to keep the game moving.  The guiding goal is fun, and enjoyment. Think about character development as well as level climbing. Your characters should make friends, enemies, and contacts. Work on projects. Build things. Establish reputations. Etc

 All Questions Can be Left below, or Feel free to contact me Via Discord at:

mysticvhedd#6266

[nerdsonearthblog]

Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is the newest adventure for D&D 5e. The back cover describes it as “a mad romp through the wards of Waterdeep” that will take players from from 1st through 5th level. I’ll provide a full chapter-by-chapter review below, but first, please indulge me as I take you on a quick romp around the block.

Anyone who has undertook a huge new endeavor knows it takes a couple of years to really hit your stride. My personal belief is that Chris Perkins is the greatest living D&D storyteller (respects to the King of the Nerds, Gary Gygax). Perkins, of course, was in no way solely responsible for the launch of D&D 5e (his colleagues include the talented Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford). Still, Perkins understandably had a lot on his plate story-wise when D&D 5e was first launched just a few years ago.

This resulted in the first few D&D 5e adventures being very good, yet sometimes just shy of great. To be clear, I enjoyed Hoard of the Dragon Queen just fine and I thought Princes of the Apocalypse and Out of the Abyss had many, many moments of greatness.

But years into the release of D&D 5e, I read Tomb of Annihilation and it was that specific adventure where I had the thought that Chris Perkins was fully at the top of his game, having solidified himself as the GOAT-not-named-Gygax.

Now, having just turned the final page of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, I felt like I read a Chris Perkins story so clever and brilliantly done that he has reached the point of confidence in his career that he could set the stage for adventure, then step back and invite a new generation of storytellers to their mark on the story.

But…what do I know? Maybe I have read the situation entirely wrong. But even a gross mis-understanding of the internal processes of WotC doesn’t change this simple truth: Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is an astonishingly excellent D&D adventure. There are several sections of the book that don’t feel like they were written as much as they feel like the design team collected everything fun and enjoyable together in order to stuff them into a confetti cannon that was fired over the pages of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and allowed to fall onto the pages like a glitter bomb of joy.

So, let’s take a deeper look, shall we?

Reviewing Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

In order to properly review Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, an overview is first in order. In the splendid city of Waterdeep, a gold coin is called a “dragon” and a half million of those dragons are hidden somewhere in the city. A magical item called the Stone of Golorr is imbued with the location of the treasure vault but the Stone of Golorr is comically being passed around a huge cast of NPCs like a hot potato.

Players are on the hunt, but their madcap chase is complicated by the fact that there are warring, jostling factions in Waterdeep. These factions might try to recruit the PCs just as quickly as they try to kill them, the end result being that their are four different villains the players can confront:

Xanathar, the megalomaniacal beholder crime lord who is based in Skullport, deep below Waterdeep,

The Cassalanters, Waterdavian nobles who are secretly devil worshippers that reside in an ostentatious villa with a secret lair beneath it,

Jarlaxle Baenre, a dashing drow swashbuckler best know for being a character in the Drizzt novels, and

Manshoon, a powerful Zhentarim wizard who has cloned himself like the glam Mr. Sinister.

Are you having fun yet? Because I had fun just reading the introductory chapter, which perfectly set the stage for adventure. But if it sounds like a huge cast of NPCs and different possibilities for villains might make Waterdeep: Dragon Heist difficult as an adventure for first time players or DMs, you’d be correct.

Perkins and his team clearly understand this, so included in the book are coherent overviews and well-done flowcharts to help track the adventure. Still, this isn’t a D&D adventure that I can recommend you use to get your feet wet. (The Starter Box adventure Lost Mines of Phandelver is best for beginners.) Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is best for players who like intrigue, bluffing, subterfuge, and other roleplaying heavy skills.

It begins with a bar brawl and a quest from none other than the famous Volothamp Geddarm (chapter 1). Even Volo’s introductory quest has twists and turns, ultimately resulting in a case of mistaken identity. But it introduces lots of NPCs and allows players to get a feel for the city setting of Waterdeep.

Plus, the quest concludes in the most wonderful way possible, which is Volo giving the PCs a deed to an old tavern in Waterdeep! (chapter 2) In addition to giving the players a “home base,” this always allows players to feel at home in the setting, while also introducing quests that deepen the major factions of Waterdeep.

Even though the quests are effectively simple “dungeon delves,” Chapter 2 is wonderfully and thoughtfully done. Besides, even though many have begun to use phrases like “it’s just a dungeon delve” as a pejorative, that completely overlooks that delves and crawls are the meat and potatoes of D&D.

Chapter 3 is where Waterdeep: Dragon Heist stumbled for me. A fireball is detonated just outside the players’ new HQ, rattling the windows. This leads to an elaborate ‘who done it?’ that has the PCs working parallel to Waterdeep’s City Watch to determine the who and why of the fireball attack, before finally determining the where of the Stone of Golorr.

To be clear, it’s a well-written and exciting plot that reads like a episode of True Detective. But it involves a slew of NPCs and an amount of skill checks that could frustrate even the most patient DMs or the most intrigue-loving players.

One of the chapter 3 headings was “What’s Happening Here?” At times, I couldn’t tell. My recommendation would be to allow the City Watch to solve that mystery and feed the information to the players so they can jump right into Chapter 4: Dragon Season.

I won’t beat around the bush: the 40 pages of chapter 4 are among to absolute best that I’ve ever read in any roleplaying game book, ever. What they outline (again, with the help of a handy flowchart) are ten different encounters that range from a classic old tower to a mausoleum to a wharf or a chase across rooftops.

Depending upon which of the four villains is chosen, the ten encounters are shuffed into a unique sequence. Then each encounter is re-jiggered according to the season, giving fresh elements to each of the 10 encounters for the spring, summer, autumn, and winter, respectively. At the end of each encounter chain, players should now have the Stone of Golorr, attuning them to the location of the horde of dragons. It’s dope.

Huzzah! After one final tussle with the villains, the players exit the vault and return the treasure to the proper authorities, becoming celebrities as word of their deeds spread throughout Waterdeep!

The four villains (Xanathar, The Cassalanters, Jarlaxle, and Manshoon) are too powerful for the player characters to face directly, so Waterdeep: Dragon Heist does a bang up job of allowing them to face off indirectly,  hindering their criminal operations without an obvious TPK. Overall, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is light, fast, and  filled with quirky characters.

But chapters 5-8 do excellently detail each villain’s lair should the player characters have delusions of grandeur. Otherwise, the now 5th level characters are invited back to the Yawning Portal in order explore Undermountain, the next book coming from Chris Perkins and the D&D team.

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Apologies for brushing past chapters 5-8, as the lairs are well done, but it’s chapter 9 that takes Waterdeep: Dragon Heist from a simple adventure book to something much more. The D&D team have cleverly attempted to have each adventure book double as a fine setting book for homebrewers. This is certainly true with Waterdeep: Dragon Heist.

Volo’s Waterdeep Enchiridion (chapter 9) beautifully paints a picture of life in Waterdeep. DMs will want to read it for the adventures of Dragon Heist of course, but home brewers will dig it, as it is a nice aid for further adventures in Waterdeep, or even a generic urban-based story that is thunk up. It’s not a full gazetteer, but the chapter has enough hooks to hang up all the mittens and coats from a long Minnesota winter, making it a nice value add for future adventures in the splendid city of Waterdeep.

Closing the book are the typical appendices that detail NPCs, new magic items, and player handouts. But I want to close by talking about maps. First, tucked into the back cover is a large removable map of Waterdeep. It has one side for players, while the other side is for GMs and includes marked locales. It’s fantastic. I don’t know what the economics are of getting a map like this tucked into every D&D book, but I hereby start a petition that it should 100% be the law of the land.

The interior Dyson Logos maps in the book aren’t to my taste. I fully admit the sparse black and white maps are very usable. (Quick to draw or easy to snap a picture, then print out) But I would have preferred them as free digital downloads, allowing the actual interior maps to have the added color and details. As Banky taught us in Chasing Amy, inkers and colorists aren’t simply tracers, they really add depth and definition to a drawing. I would have liked to see that depth and color in the book’s included maps. But, again, that’s just a personal preference.

What I love about Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is that it isn’t a hyped-up world-destroying cataclysmic event designed to have PCs face down villains to prevent total doom and destruction. Instead, it’s like Cannonball Run or the Amazing Race if all the contestants were, you know, wizards.

I close this review as I began it. Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is an astonishingly excellent D&D adventure. Kudos to Chris Perkins, the entire D&D team, and for the new designers to D&D, who certainly added freshness and creativity to the book.

It’s a great time to be a D&D player, a god reason being that we all get to enjoy a wonderful city-based adventure for the world’s greatest roleplaying game. So I highly recommend Waterdeep: Dragon Heist as your next D&D campaign. And if you aren’t considering running it? Well, Nerds on Earth’s jack-booted thugs will soon arriving at your doorstep to push a 20-sided die into your palm. Resistance is futile: Xanathar sent us.

You can get Dragon Heist here. Better yet, ask for it at your FLGS.

[Disclosure: Wizards of the Coast sent Nerds on Earth a copy of Dragon Heist in exchange for an honest review.]

The Newest D&D Adventure: A Review of Waterdeep: Dragon Heist Waterdeep: Dragon Heist is the newest adventure for D&D 5e. The back cover describes it as "a mad romp through the wards of Waterdeep" that will take players from from 1st through 5th level.