#not even this pretty fellow's name XP

[juls-art]

based on me and myre's shared idea/headcanon that The Dream Visitor is wearing a face that is familiar to the protagonist/player character in order to appear more trusting and/or alluring. >:3

In Anotos' case, it would be that of a past lover; a handsome and charming bard.

–  

Kofi | Patreon    

[rielzero]

Goodnight Fellow Abyss lurkers! I'm RielZero | About Me | 2024

You can call me Riel! I am a gay, neurodivergent, disabled artist from the netherlands. I am dutch, though I primarily communicate and write in english more comfortably. Since I am not a fulltime employed human and can't work, I spend my days creating art, playing videogames and reading comics. Branding and Handle My Preferred handle online is actually.. ActualEvil! However, this one seems to be currently taken by another user on this website. Since this is a somewhat uncommon occurrence, my back-up handle tends to be the name of my OC Persona, Riel Zero. If you want to make sure an active social is mine, please check out my Carrd for my socials.

I don't feel comfortable sharing too much personal detail online, however there are some things I have talked about and will point towards because I think its important.

Disabilities (and Ableism) I've talked in detail about my experience with Dissociative amnesia and how it affects my day-to-day life. I am mute and not capable of speaking due chronic pain. When I happen to mention my disabilities or autism, folks will often do the thing were they offer unsolicited advice because they do not understand invisible disabilities. My only request is that you do not pity me for being disabled, discredit my experiences, ask for diagnoses or try to diagnose me with new things. Amongst these, I also suffer from IBS, chronic fatigue and light sensitivity. Please do not make up assumptions about my life.

I'm too gay for this shit If It wasn't obvious from my little blog blurb, I'm a gay dude! Yes, alphabet maffia! In all seriousness I do not tolerate intolerance and support my diverse community. Please do not send Homophobia, Transphobia or Queerphobia of any sort my way. Fellow queers, I see you, and I love you.

This Blog is for fun The world is pretty tough and awful lately, I am not a ''content creator'' Whatever work I make is mostly made for myself by myself. I blog about nerdy things, I come online to escape real life. I'm by no means an activist or even educated enough to speak out on politics.

Can I ask you... Where I live? My IRL name? Face reveal? Where I went to school? What my family is like? If I have friends and foes? No. Privacy is pretty important to me. You might find nuggets here and there on my blog, but I avoid sharing the bigger picture. Please respect this.

Boundaries I am pretty chill and don't mind being interacted with or making friends, being moots is cool! But if you are trying to start a conversation with me and I don't respond please don't take it too personal, I am more socially awkward than you might think. As I'm an adult, I would rather not interact with underage people. If you are a minor I humbly discourage you from following my blog(s). I curate my experience and I recommend you do as well.

Please do not steal, trace, or repost my artwork. Reblogs are appreciated!

Can I ask you some art advice? I am self taught, but I'm not exactly the right guy to teach others. I do have a few tutorials (1, 2, 3) up on clipstudio tips, but that's about it. You are free to ask me about my work and thought process! But don't expect it to blow your mind.

When did you start drawing? I don't remember to be honest. Digitally I started when I was 13, haven't really put the pen down since.

Why do you use 3D in your main work? Long story short: Work smarter, not harder. I have more fun this way. What do you use for art? Digitally: XP Pen 22 Artist Pro pen display (1st generation) Traditionally: A lot of different brands, usually ohuhu markers. Generic typical ink pens for scribbly doodles.

Do you take commissions? Do you sell Adoptables? Can I support you in some way? When commissions are open, you can find them on my Ko-fi! I also sell adoptables on there. Being disabled means my access to work is limited, so is my access to luxury spending. Earnings go towards funding my hobbies. Alternatively, I have throne.

Do you do art trades? Art trades are reserved only for friends and mutuals. Please private message me if you are interested in art trading. I may not always be available for this.

What is your favorite media? What inspires you? Difficult to answer really- I LOVE DEADPOOL! I love marvel. Marvel movies, marvel comics- COMICS!! I love anime, I love manga- I also love webcomics, I am a comic book collector and I am slowly teaching myself to make comics. I love all things superhero and fantasy. Hell yeah VIDEOGAMES grindy RPGs, fallout 4, skyrim, spiderman, horizon zero dawn, conan exiles, god of war- BALDUR'S GATE 3!! hajhsjdjhfgg I can't pick a favorite. Hyper-fixations are loud demons and they come out at night. And during the day. And while I sleep. I have a love for a lot of things.

Do you have a favorite artist? Everytime I try to answer this my brain breaks, this would require a large separate post on its own. I love a lot of artists and artistic works. If you want a classic work though, It would be the nightwatch by Rembrandt van Rijn.

Do you have pets? Yes! GUINEA PIGS!! Here's a post and another about them.

My question isn't on here.. I have an askbox for that! I don't bite- Ok I might. Just a nibble. ...Just a little nibble.

Man Made Fire (Original Webcomic, Currently on Hiatus) Webtoon Canvas tapas io Tumblr Blog

''A spark, all it takes to start a fire. Hope, light, warmth. What about the underlying destruction that never ceases to threaten all that exists?

Is the spark the start of change, or the warning sign of the endless cycle itself?''

Man Made Fire is a comic series following the endless cycle of death, destruction and rebirth, witnessed by a Multiversal Traveller we may come to know as Schrodinger's Cat; AKA ''RielZero'' or ''The saviour.''

Baldur's Gate: Don't Say Inevitable (Fan Webcomic Series) Webtoon Canvas Tumblr Blog

''Locke is an unlucky, nobody Warlock with very little going well for him. Growing up he's known nearly nothing but pain, loss, hunger, and death. Failing his apprenticeship as a Necromancer, Locke contemplates his life before being snatched away by mind flayers. Only to wake up stranded with 4 concussions. He is quick to find fellow victims, and without much else to go on with, decides to put his survival skills to use to find a cure for the parasite, fast.''

Don't say inevitable is a fan comic series based on my playthrough of the videogame Baldur's Gate 3 and the surrounding Dungeons and Dragon's universe. It mostly follows the misadventures of Locke and his companions.

99% Percent of art that I post that isn't Baldur's gate 3 related are Original characters and personal creations. Check out my Toyhouse!

Originality has flaws Please do not compare my ocs to pre-existing characters, or to the ocs of others. Any coincidental similarities between people's characters has the tendency to be just that: Coincidence. People like and enjoy similar themes and tropes in characters. Even if they're rare. Please do not intentionally take my character work, stories and designs and claim them as yours. Do not kin my OCs. Do not roleplay with my OCs.

Character Ages Unless stated otherwise, all my characters are adults. My art style is not super realistic when it comes to facial features, petite and soft-looking characters may appear younger than they are. Please keep in mind that hollywood movies have made us age-blind.

Mature Themes My Ocs are usually not of the wholesome-only kind, and may have mature themes associated with their backstories.

Can I ask something about your oc(s)? You can ask me, or you can ask the oc directly! I might draw the response. If your question requires me to spoiler, I may not answer it. Some questions will linger in my inbox for a long time until I feel ready to answer them.

Can I draw you gift art/ Can I draw my oc interacting with your oc(s)? You can draw my ocs as is if you want to. Please do not alter their design in any way if you do. I appreciate gift art! I save all gift works I receive, and may upload some of it to their toyhouse galleries. (with credit, of course.) As for interactive art, If the character has not appeared in any of my comics, please ask first before you draw them with your oc.

Can I ship my oc with your oc? If we are not mutuals, please don't. Please keep in mind while my characters have diverse sexualities, a lot of them are gay. Some ocs are Aro/ace. I'm not really interested in M/F stuff. If we are moots/friends and you want to talk about RP or fun shipping headcanons with me, my pms are open!

Can I buy/offer you something for your oc(s)? No.

Do you Roleplay with your ocs? I do not participate in TTRPGS, but I have roleplayed with friends.

Can I write fanfiction about your oc(s)? At the moment I don't feel super comfortable with this. This might change in the future. If you are a friend or mutual and want to gift a fic, I'm not against it.

Youtube: Actual Evil and Actual Evil - Games Twitch: ActualEvil

Other blogs: @ohnoestherestadpoles @manmadefire @actuallyevilgay @rielzero-adoptables

If you see this, thank you so much for reading this long ass introduction/pinned post, I've taken several hours of a day to work on this and double check. Still, it might miss some information you're maybe looking for and I'm sorry for that.

I'm not the best at conveying tone, so if anything on here makes me sound like I'm full of myself.. Or any other negative character traits- Keep in mind that I'm merely human. I'm flesh and blood, I am not perfect by any means.

I'm just some guy on the internet.

[sanjuno]

Meta Fic rides again

I'm a little stuck on how to word something in my Nano 2020 project so I decided to take a break by trying to read “Scum Villain’s Self Saving System” again and failed horribly because I got to the part when Binghe comes back and my interest died a quick and messy death for yet a third time. Someone write me a giant pile of gen-fic and LiuShen AUs to heal my heart.

Here, I’ll start us off:

Spite and Fury (or; PEDW is a hive of Scum and Villainy)

So bitter-old-man!Madara dies of old age after he passes his Epic Revenge Plot over into Obito’s keeping, and the Sage’s knockoff-brand cycle-of-transmigration peels Indra’s chakra out of Madara’s soul - which results in dying!Madara having a screaming ragefit that sends his spirit-and-chakra careening through the void between worlds

At which point shattered-and-fragmenting-more!Madara gets into an altercation with the System and since the System is a little bitch it tosses Madara into the worst possible Fate it can think of (see: PEDW)

Transmigration bullshit and Sharingan fuckery smash into each other in a gigantic clusterfuck of asspulls

Madara is missing bits because Indra’s imprint got ripped out

The Shen Jiu base soul is missing bits because torture and previous abuse of his character by the System

The resulting villain amalgamation is Not Pleased

Instead of landing in the divergence point chosen by the System - aka the Qi deviation fever shortly after Binghe arrives at Cang Qiong Sect – we instead have the jigsaw puzzle mashup of Mads-and-Jiu land in baby-slave Jiu’s body

The good news is Madara and Jiu stop fragmenting because they end up woven together - they’re stuck together as an almost-single person only with two different sets of memories

Character exploration is going to be an EVENT

Also the Madara part of them is really happy with the silky smooth hair

Also Yue “lets-Binghe-kill-him-because-he-thinks-Shen-Jiu-is-dead” Qi is cast is a much better light when compared to Senju “stabs-his-sworn-brother-in-the-back” Hashirama

So Mads-Jiu plays it close to canon for the first few years - the only real difference is that he tags his Jiejie with a tracking seal for after he escapes from slavery - he’s not leaving his ability to find her again up to chance or developing a reputation as a whoremonger if he can help it

When he gets bought by the Qiu is when Mads-Jiu starts being a manipulative little shit like we all know he is

Xanatos-pileup-or-bust!Mads-Jiu basically lets Yue Qi escape alone because he NEEDS Yue Qi to become Cang Qiong Sect Leader for his long-term plans to work properly

So Mads-Jiu warns Yue Qi that if he has to be CAREFUL because cultivating is dangerous and if Yue Qi comes back missing any pieces then Jiu will cut the EXACT SAME BITS OFF HIMSELF

And so Yue Qi is EXTREMELY safety conscious and the life eating sword drama is avoided entirely

Of course he’s also taking longer to reach his initial strength levels than in canon because he isn’t rushing

So there’s nothing like Yue Qi showing up early to trigger a plot divergence alert in the System

</mwahahaha>

Mads-Jiu is more pragmatic regarding Qiu Haitang’s so-called innocence this time around - and so he arranges for her to catch the Creeper Qiu bro abusing and assaulting Shen Jiu

Haitang is HORRIFIED AND DISGUSTED to see what her brother is doing to her fiancé and also TERRIFIED by the fact that he talks the entire time about how sweet it’s going to be when it’s HAITANG under him

The Qiu burn on schedule but Haitang kills her fair share - double Qi deviations FTW!

The system does not notice such a minor change in the background events - Jiu kills the Qiu, burns down their house, and Haitang survives the fire with vengeance raging in her heart

Mads-Jiu kills the demonic creeper that was hanging around because ew no and also keep your hands of Haitang

Again, it’s too close to canon for the System to notice - Jiu killed him in defense of a “childhood friend” so hahaha again

Instead of being used as a stalking horse by an evil master Mads-Jiu runs off with Haitang to track down and rescue his Jiejie

Shenanigans ensue

Afterwards Mads-Jiu “has an idea to help find Qi-ge” by asking around for him at the Immortal Alliance Conference

Of course there are more shenanigans and Yue Qi saves all three by claiming that they’re Cang Qiong disciples - so of course he drags all 3 of them back with him and wibbles at the current Sect Leader until he lets them all join

Still (mostly) following canon! Ha! So no “punishment” events get triggered in the System (which is mostly dormant because the Protagonist isn’t born yet XP)

Qiu Haitang was supposed to join a Sect! Jiejie got sold on schedule! Shen Jiu killed the Qiu and his “first master”! Yue pesters his Shizun into letting his sibling(s) join the Sect in an unorthodox fashion!

But the devil is in the details

And the devil’s name is Uchiha Madara

Jiejie ends up as Peak Lord for Talisman Peak because magic and seals saved her before

Haitang ends up Peak Lord for Hidden Peak because she refuses to be caught unawares by a dangerous secret ever again... also because she’s a mean sneaky bitch and owns it

Having more than one sibling for the Sect Leader to blatantly favour means less wholesale resentment directed at Mads-Jiu as well

However the Jiu part of them has memories from PIDW and also SVSSS - so he knows that shit is going to get horrible once Su Xiyan gets knocked up

Obviously the answer is to seduce all of his fellow peak lords into a glorious polyamorous clusterfuck so as to promote skinship and pack bonding and harmony among the sect leadership

(It worked for PIDW Binghe with his wives and SVSSS Shen Yuan with getting Bing-mei to chill his tits after all and nobody can trip you into bed quite like a shinobi)

And so Cang Qiong’s family aesthetics get rocked so hard that instead of panting after his Shizun baby disciple Binghe decides to seduce his peers...

... and his rivals

... and other sect’s disciples

... and the occasional demon

Mads-Jiu is really proud of his baby demon lord but makes sure not to single Binghe out - instead every Qing Jing disciple gets rewarded and punished at the same time

It promotes bonding! And teamwork!

And prevents the utter destruction of Mads-Jiu’s chrysanthemum via oversized demonic pillar!

There is totally going to be an extra where Mads-Jiu realizes that the average size of a male cultivators pillar is DANGEROUSLY EXCESSIVE

NOBODY NEEDS THAT MUCH PILLAR

Even HIS pillar hasn’t escaped the curse

BIGGER IS NOT BETTER!

How the fuck is he supposed to fight if he can’t even wear pants comfortably!?!?

(No wait come back Mu-shidi this shixiong is sorry it wasn’t mockery it was a perfectly reasonable tantrum that was a long time coming now stop sulking your dick is very pretty let shixiong make it up to you~)

And at some point there will be a wild Bing-ge who appears to cause trouble with a mirror that’s intended to temporarily transform people into the form of their last life - he aims it at the native Bingbing to get him out of the way so he can steal the “nice” Shizun

It would have been Pom time for Bingbing but Mads-Jiu pushes him out of the way

And cue giant explosion of dark Qi as a bonus expansion pack of Madara’s 10-tail Jinchuriki time with powers-and-memories gets downloaded into Mads-Jiu

Mads-Jiu the “Heavenly Demon Demi God” drops several mountains worth of flaming meteor rock on the invaders and then goes on a giant flaming skeleton rampage against Bing-ge

... Bing-ge has changed his mind he doesn’t want this Shizun take him back and oh gods the shrieking

How does he shriek so loud? Doesn’t he need to breathe?

... ok so Shizun breathes fire that’s good to know

Whelps time to bravely run away

And then the amassed sects need to figure out how to calm down the rampaging hell beast

The youngest Qing Jing disciple is brought out and told to cry for Shizun

Actually-a-broody-hen!Mads-Jiu whips around and starts fussing over his baby student

Because baby why are you crying stop it tell Shizun who hurt you and he will BURN THEM TO ASH

The last bit I have an idea for involves Mads-Jiu getting yanked though dimensions because Edo Tensei where he instantly twigs to what is going on and pushes the “righteous cultivator” skin to maximum strength

He shoves all the baby ninja behind him and keeps barrier spamming the zombie army - because ew no stay away from the children resentful corpses

Zetsu is included in the zombie army shall not pass smack down

Zombie!Tobirama is appalled because wut? Wasn’t this supposed to be Madara’s zombie? What is happening?

And I dunno something where he “notices” the resentful energy surrounding Danzo because stealing the eyes of the people you murdered is bad karma

So Mads-Jiu does a spirit thing and the ghosts of the Uchiha rips Danzo apart while screaming about his guilt in full view of the entire Village

And then Mads-Jiu goes home because filial little Bingbing came to get him and he’s not enjoying upending the shinobi social order nope not at all whom exactly do you take him for?

... Yes he’s done and ready to go back to his spouses now he’s sure the ninja have all learned better than to raise living corpses now anyway

The end

=/=

[boog-shitposting-edition]

So I been playing a ton of Kenshi and watched all of the Mandalorian in a single day shortly before and it’s got me thinking about what makes what I consider a good action hero, because there was definitely a time where I thought the phrase “good action hero” was an oxymoron.

I grew up around some angry, unstable dudes who had that bad habit of watching horror movies and opining that in the same situation they would simply shoot the monster with the gun the character was holding. I got some views on the model of masculinity that sees the male ideal as functionally a tool for performing violence, condescension and occasional reddit-approved banter with all other emotional responses pared away or suppressed. This seems like a good way to manufacture a product for performing labor rather than developing a whole functional human being. So I generally veer away from that sort of thing pretty hard.

So I’m resistant to the Mandalorian at first, right? All the ads are basically star wars apocryphica and a power armored fighty gun boy. The last star wars thing I’d seen was The Rise Of Skywalker and my faith in the franchise is low. But it’s been a hot minute, the hype dies down, and my girlfriend is a better and more patient fan than I’ll ever be so we give it a go. And the first thing that really nails it for me is what a DORK the mando is. I’m delighted, his life is violence interdispersed with being an absolute buttfumble disaster. He slips and falls over things he could never have predicted, he burns his life down for a baby he finds in the desert. Pedro Pascal references Boba Fetts stiff menace and plays it off as someone who has no social skills other than stiff menace and it’s FASCINATING. Him explaining to the village woman who is obviously into him that he hasn’t taken the armor off since he was thirteen isn’t a badass declaration of martial devotion, it is the single saddest and most awkward interaction I have ever seen filmed and it hits all the harder for the fact that this is a character I’ve mostly ever seen as an action figure with a spring loaded missile backpack. Instead of being a faceless emotionless action-cudgel, Pedro amps up the body language in his acting to really sell you this heavily psychologically damaged, desperate, viking-space-catholic mess with no life skills other than violence and a devotion to his people’s creed that borders on obsession. Rather than paring himself down making him a psychological fortress, the Mando is an incredibly obvious walking raw nerve (”I’m not sad-” “Yes you are.”) So, Kenshi.

I’ve heard about this game on and off a few years and finally got it a few days ago. It’s been in early access since 2012, appears to be mostly getting finished by its modding community, and glitches like absolute woah. There’s no core storyline, just a post-apocalyptic setting with some surprisingly detailed autogenerated NPC interactions with some options for starting conditions and the sole goal of surviving. It’s essentially a rapid sequence of story prompts hidden underneath a closely interlocked system of XP grinding, survival mechanics and dismemberment algorithms, and is appallingly my shit.

My first run at the game got pretty far, went from a lone confused desert wanderer to a 13 man village running a tidy copper-mining operation to trade with the ant people. In the early game, fight mechanics are basically a death sentence; my first character immediately got her leg torn off by a goat and I had to restart. All skills grow only by excersizing them; you have to fight to get better at fighting, you have to LOSE fights to gain toughness, and when you lose a fight the consequences can range from “these bandits are stealing all your food” to “this monster is eating your leg/heart/head” to “these slavers are taking your character away and your game experience is Different now.” And while I was proud of myself for finding a way to survive, grow and thrive with a low-combat squad, once I tried the basebuilding mechanics that basically just meant my town was a source of free food and money for local bandits while my squad starved to death, unable to abandon our locale. So I got fed up and restarted.

As mentioned the game gives you different start positions; wanderer gives you 1 character, some money and pants. Guy and his dog gives you a dog, which is fun. Exiled officer starts you with good skills and the hatred of your former commander, which complicates things. Cannibal Hunters starts you already in a fistfight with 30 cannibals. It’s exciting times. But I figure this time I’d like to start my squad a LITTLE more capable of defending themselves, so I look at the Holy Sword start; you’re a bandit who starts with a stolen holy weapon, minuses in most skills, no money and a 20,000 bounty on your head from both major factions.

So I proceed to character creation and notice I can pick whatever I want for player species/subspecies with this start. There’s robot people and warriors made of stone and baseline humans and all sorts of fun options, but you remember those ant people I mentioned before? In game they’re called the Hivers, you find ‘em in 3 recruitable varieties (prince, worker drone and soldier) and they have an interesting in-universe quirk; ones that grow up in the hive are pheramone-addicted, chemically wired into the needs and wants of all of their fellows, but if you’re away from your kin for over a fortnight this addiction dries out incredibly fast and cannot be reinstated. Hivers who ever spend any time away from the hive are declared “lost ones,” and are often taken advantage of in the outside world as they long for a new community.

In survival sims I dont often play dedicated fighters, I always feel like being a brutal fight-beast isn’t really in the spirit of finding a niche to exploit and growing from a fumbling plebian to a major power. But I was already starting this game with my ONLY advantage being a nice sword. And the soldier hivers gain a buff to experience gained for melee attack and toughness, and a debuff to literally all else.

Manual labor. Science. Engineering. Farming. Cooking. First aide. In a setting that heavily prioritized your ability to survive using multiple vital skill sets, my character would start with negatives in his skills for putting on band-aids and FEEDING himself. So I gave it a go.

Getting more wild here, it turns out the Holy Sword opening also takes place in a time in the setting with more recent warfare, so a bunch of the starting villages are destroyed and it appears that more of the nearby cities are controlled by the factions that have a bounty on me. So my character CAN’T rely on other people or meet anyone to recruit at first. He can run, he can scrounge and scavenge, and as mentioned above starting characters can take lethal damage from GOATS so he can’t even hunt for food; the only way I was getting a meal was if I robbed someone or ran into merchants on the road I could hawk my salvage to for a scrap of bread.

He eventually finds someone willing to join him on his travels in spite of being flat broke, a shek named Ruka running from a dishonerable loss on the battlefield, and comparing their skills he’s so useless for everything besides combat that I assign him to bodyguard her. And again, this game’s appeal is that the survival mechanics make good story prompts, so imagine that in character.

“Fine, I need a change. I’ll join you.” “Thank god. Lead the way boss.” “What?”

Things regarding my characters bounty are starting to heat up in town, so we head north into hiver territory. We get attacked by bandits and heavily injured, my soldier gets knocked out, so Ruka picks him up and carries him until we find a hive town. I saw these guys all the time in my last playthrough, I survived by selling to them, they’re super friendly, should be fine. Ruka walks into the local shop and before I can have her ask for directions and a medikit the shopkeeper is already shouting- “SKREEE! LOST ONE! GET OUT! LOST ONES BRING MADNESS”

Apparently, my protagonist being a hiveless hiver means there’s a THIRD faction that’s hostile to him; his own goddamn people. Ruka has to leave him under a tree not just outside but like 50 feet from the edge of town, and just has  to hope none of the local wild megafauna eats him while she rushes back in to buy things from the now abruptly friendlier shopkeep.

I’m finally sitting there, having Ruka watch my soldier hiver sleep while she cooks scavanged meat and waits for him to finish healing, that I realize what the story being generated here is and it’s a good one; a Hive soldier whose only skills are violence, frantically scavenging and stealing to survive until he can find the one circumstance where he’s comfortable, sacrificing himself to protect others. He steals a sword that’s obviously important to two major governments, just because he knows it’s powerful and thinks that power will justify his continued existence as a hiveless soldier drone, essentially buying his way back into his people’s good graces by performing his function. Literally wandering the world until he found a single person who was willing to boss him around again and devoting himself to their defense to a state of pathological damage just to feel like he has a hive again. It’s sad. It’s badass. It’s deeply, unsettlingly pathetic.

But I also think it’s what makes a really really good gruff action hero!

Hypercompetence in violence is really interesting when you acknowledge the damage it can do to your humanity in the storytelling! The Mandalorian is unsuccessful in repressing his empathy response so he just tries to tough through the pain it causes him as best he can, until he meets The Child and it snaps. The Hiver is essentially playing pretend at being still valued as a product for committing violence, even in the face of being openly rejected for his previously esteemed role. This stuff is INTERESTING.

TL;DR version, a lot of these “supersoldier raised by the military/fight wizards/karate” characters are super boring and obnoxious when they’re put forward as power fantasies, and really interesting when you realize that being raised by Fight Wizards is why they’ve never had a girlfriend and called their handgun “mom” once.

[jaybug-jabbers]

All-Glitch Pokemon Blue Run Pt10: Creating Hybrids

June,

To answer your first question, yes, the headaches are likely related to Superglitch, but you need not worry about them. It’s a side effect, but because you followed my steps closely, we’ve done our best to mitigate those effects. If you notice your name no longer shows up on your Glitchdex, er, don’t worry about it.

To answer your second question, you are almost ready to meet your new glitchmon. First, however, I suggest you pay a visit to the Daycare Center. A few of your party pokemon might be slightly mutated from the effects of Superglitch. Don’t worry, though-- the Daycare Center man is an old friend of mine and fellow glitchmon researcher. If you leave them in his care he can nurse them back to health, for a small fee. 

Finally, I strongly recommend healing at the Pokecenter before doing anything else. This step is very important if you want to save data on your Glitchdex. Ah, it’s a long explanation as to why that is, but trust me, it helps reboot the system so things function normally again. 

After all of that, you now will be ready to meet your new glitchmon friends! 

---

Professor,

All right, I completed your directions and then Teleported back to Lavander Town. When I  withdrew the new glitchmon, though, I uhhhh . . . ran into a bit of a problem. I immediately lost the pokeball.

I searched in a panic for like ten minutes before finding it. I’m not sure how I was so careless. Then I let the glitchmon out of the ball.

It . . . looks like it’s just a Charizard? I don’t get it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Charizard is really cool, but I thought this was supposed to be a glitchmon. At any rate, I named it Charmed.

She seems awfully shy, actually. I turned around for just a second and looked back and she was just GONE. It took me several minutes to find her again. You’d think it would be pretty difficult to lose a giant fire-breathing dragon, but apparently I’m talented.

-June

---

June,

What you have in your possession is no ordinary Charizard. That is Charizard ‘M, or glitchmon FF. 

This species needs careful handling when in your party. It has a ‘cloaking’ ability somewhat similar to a Kecleon’s camouflage, although more extreme. Indeed, this cloak is so powerful it can hide even the Pokeball it resides in, as well as other pokemon in its immediate vicinity!

You’re also correct in noting it can be quite shy. It takes a long time to establish trust with this species, and they rarely trust the nurses at the Pokecenter. You may need to potion them by hand if they see any sort of battle. 

I must give a word of caution, though; Charizard ‘M has also been known to accidentally induce mutations in pokemon nearby. Merely exposing pokemon to its presence is enough. Try to keep its pokeball a bit further away from the others, at the bottom slot in your party. You don’t want an accidental hybrid on your hands, after all.

-Professor Gingko

---

Professor,

I kinda wish you’d said something about that a little bit sooner. I had stopped to capture a Paras I’d found . . . and when I went to deposit things in the PC, uh. It was kind of disturbing. The Paras and my HM slave Kadabra had melted together. I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought maybe if I’d evolved . . . it, then that would force them apart, so I tried a few Rare Candies.

Didn’t really work, though? Now I just have a Parasect with all these strange moves. 

-June

---

June,

For goodness’ sake. Well, all you’ve done is ensured they remain fused together as a hybrid, now that it’s gone and evolved. You’ve lost your Kadabra HM slave for good, I’m afraid. It became the recipient for the hybridization process. You can still normalize what’s left of the Paras, however. If you return to the Daycare man and give him the Paras-- which should be currently hybridized with Charizard ‘M-- he should be able to get it back to normal. 

You’ll have to keep the Parasect as is, though.

-Professor Gingko

---

Professor,

Honestly? I’m ok with that. My new Parasect is pretty neat, and now is an even better HM slave then I had before. This Charizard ‘M has some cool abilities. I wonder what other bug hybrids I could make?

For now though, I’m keeping her at the bottom of my party, away from the other pokeballs. I’m taking along Wobbles, Fractal, Dustdevil, Giago and the new Charizard ‘M, and leaving Azure and Dirge in the PC for the moment.

Oh, and I spent some time exploring Celadon City at last. It was nice to finally do that. There’s some casino there that all the locals are talking about, so I gave that a visit. The games are actually pretty lame, but I’ve never liked gambling. I came across something weird, though-- there’s a basement to the casino. I went down there and it looks like the casino is just a screen for some underground illegal pokemon trafficking by a shady group of thieves. That's pretty wild.

The badguys weren’t too happy to see me there, but fortunately I could defend myself just fine with my team. It helped that I’d recently taught Ice Beam to Dusty. I also came across the Double Edge TM in that basement, so I taught it to Fractal, who now hits like a freaking meteor. 

After a little more exploring, I came across the HM for Fly, but I learned I didn’t have the air clearance to actually use it for travel unless I’d earned Lt. Surge’s badge. For some odd reason? So . . . I had to backtrack all the way to Vermilion and defeat the guy. After that, I could teach Fly to my Missingno. and get around MUCH easier.

This let me fly back to Lavander Town. I made the trip because I’d picked up something interesting in Celadon-- a Silph Scope. I figured I should use it and take a tour of that creepy tower.

The trip taught me a lot about my team. The climb up the tower was a slow and difficult one. Starting off, I ran into Oak’s damned grandson again.

His team wasn’t bad to face, although his starter had evolved to Wartortle by now. Still, I had picked up a TM from Lt. Surge, so Wobbles had Thunderbolt now. It was an easy kill. 

In general, Wobbles had no problem with any of Pokemon Tower. His Special is just sky-high. My other pokemon had to work a bit harder, though.

Gia is a defensive sort of poke. She’s not huge on offense, especially Special offense. But all her physical attacks were Normal type moves, which are useless against the ghosts. She was stuck chipping away at ghosts with her Surf, while the ghosts para-fused her. Fortunately she at least has so much bulk she sometimes came out on top of those fights. Gia’s fight style is all about long-term survival.

Meanwhile, Dusty struggled a fair bit because her stats are just not great in general. Despite that fact, she was scrappy and determined and could scrape by. Her speed also meant she could get in hits at vital times.

When paired together, Dusty and Gia could manage to take out the ghosts with teamwork. This was great, since Wobbles and my new Charizard ‘M had plenty of levels and didn’t need the XP at the time. My last pokemon on the team, Fractal, is the very definition of a glass cannon. Fractal could take pokemon out with his raw power, but only if he didn’t fall first. He was knocking himself out cold in a single hit if he got confused-- but he also sometimes knocked his foes out cold in a single hit. This is why I gave him Double Edge; his fighting style was hyper-offensive to an extreme.

After touring to the top of the tower, we took care of the local rowdy ghosts and some trainers rambling about something called ‘Team Rocket.’ I dunno, but the way they were dressed looked awfully similar to the creeps at the casino. Maybe they’re the same crew. I wasn’t paying much attention, to be honest. 

There was an old man up in the tower who talked to me after my battles, though, and invited me back to his house. Normally I’d nope the heck out of that sort of situation, but he seemed harmless enough. . . and he gave me a flute as a gift. He tells me it can wake up any sleeping pokemon. I have the perfect pokemon in mind to test it on.

-June

---

Glitchdex #: FF/255

Family: Charizard Hybrid

Type(s): Fire/Flying

Species Keyword: CLOAK

This shy POKEMON is so good at disguise it can even fool highly trained POKECENTER nurses. It only trusts its trainer to heal and care for it. 

---

End Notes

Glitches used/mentioned in this post:

* Making Superglitch useful

* Creating pokemon hybrids

* Charizard ‘M

* This Charizard ‘M was created by placing a normal Charizard named ‘Charmed’ in my sixth party slot and then using the controlled superglitch corruption mentioned in my last blog post. The Charizard ‘M that appeared in my seventh expanded party slot then inherented the ‘Charmed’ nickname once I deposited the first pokemon in my party into the PC.

Click for the next part of the series! 

This is a repost on a new blog. The original post was on Nov 30, 2019.

[noonmutter]

Mun Dash Game

Rules: Name your top 10 favorite characters from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people.

Editor’s note: These are in no ranked order or anything like that, they’re just ten favorites as I could think of them.

Bismuth - Steven Universe. You may notice a theme here; I like my characters complex, their motivations valid, their decisions misguided, and their actions questioned by everyone, often including themselves. I loved Bismuth’s entire concept and I’m sad that she hasn’t had more time front and center to develop beyond her introduction as both a plot device and as a catalyst for Steven’s advancement. Same story with Jasper, though she got a few more appearances. I want to see these people grow and for the people they hurt to grow with them, damn it. Even if that growth is downward into an even worse state, I want to see it because positive or negative, emotional fallout is awesome.

Demona - Gargoyles. There was going to be a Gargoyles character here and I am basically legally obligated to pick either Demona or Thailog because I am a sucker for great voices and tragic villains. Demona’s story wins out by a decent margin because her suffering was entirely borne of her own poor decisions, many of which she felt were right at the time. She just refused to accept that she was wrong or that she could try to make things better at any time, and I was fascinated by that from the first time I saw it. This shit was in a kids’ show that predates Steven Universe by 19 years.

Baby Doll - Batman: TAS. She only showed up once (in the original animation style, anyway) but good god damn did it count. She was angry, hurt, belittled, and so unbearably lonely that when everything fell apart and the dust settled and she couldn’t kill all her problems away, she just broke down. “Why couldn’t you just let me make believe?!” is still crystallized in my head, and it still gives me little pangs when I think of it. And at the end of it all, she sobbed “I didn’t mean to” as she hugged Batman’s leg. And he comforted her. Also in a kids’ show that predates Steven Universe by 21 years.

Scanlan Shorthalt - Critical Role, Campaign 1. I bet you thought after those first three it’d probably be Vax or Percy, but... Look, the character was fantastic and the player made him that way and frankly made that campaign. He’s my go-to for when I need a good cry, and he’s why I learned to build a bard. The same man who started the campaign by asking his bestie what the worst race/class combo was and saying “Okay I’ll play that,” at the end of the campaign made the word “Nine” hit his fellow players and viewers in the chest like a sledgehammer, and nobody has topped that since. His second campaign character, Nott, has also got one of the most poignant backstories I’ve heard in a while, and man will it twist yer gut. Meanwhile both of those characters provide some of the best goddamn comic relief you’re liable to find. Emmy Winner Sam Riegel, ladies and gentlemen.

Francis - Left 4 Dead. I love this grumpy asshole biker. I love that Steam took his “I hate everything” (except vests) schtick and ran with it. I love that the trailers for the second game included him and Rochelle meeting up and commiserating on their hatred of everything, up until Rochelle says she hates his vest and he short-circuits. I miss Francis and I miss playing Left 4 Dead all the time and I yearn for a remaster or rerelease that works better with current setups cuz the original one has uh... not aged well, technologically. Francis and Zoey made life worth livin’ in that game.

Jogurt - Shining Force. This is probably the most obscure one on my list but that’s because Shining Force is an old-ass Genesis game/franchise that is, I admit, pretty generic as far as the plot goes. I love it to pieces regardless because it had some fun with it, and the character designs were wierd and some of the interactions were downright silly. Jogurt was the easter egg secret character in this game, and he’s a little hamster thing with a football helmet on. At the time you get him, most of your fighters have stats in the 20s or potentially 30s and their level is 9, 10, or they’ve been promoted to a new class; every single one of his stats is one and he had not been promoted. If you are able to keep him alive long enough to get him the XP necessary to level up just once, which takes some doing since an enemy can be unarmed and as long as they don’t miss, they kill him, you’ll get a ring called the Yogurt Ring.

When worn, it makes a character look like Jogurt. In the remake for Game Boy Advance, the image for the character shows that it’s a costume with a huge visible zipper up the back. That’s all it does. That’s the joke. And I adore it.

Freddy Krueger - A Nightmare on Elm Street series. I have a love-hate relationship with Freddy. On the one hand, creativity in horror movies--especially in the kills--is something to be embraced, and no matter what else you think of them the Elm Street movies got real fuckin’ creative most of the time. On the other...there have been nine (official) movies with Krueger in them, and only the first three were good. The remake in 2010 was disappointing because it tried to both play to nostalgia and ignore it at the same time and also made Freddy darker, which made him less fun to watch.

Still, I enjoyed the hell outta Freddy’s concept, for much the same reason that I love Chucky the Good Guy Doll so much: they’re both snarky monsters who really enjoy the horrors they’re inflicting and they have incredible presence because of the actors who brought them to life. (Mark Hammill worked with what they gave him for Chucky but uh...what they gave him sucked).

Lorewalker Cho/Margeaux - World of Warcraft. The first, because he’s voiced by Jim Cummings and he’s a knowledge-hungry panda who Blizzard has not been stupid enough to kill off thus far. In the middle of an attack by what is basically Cthulhu, he wants to you bring him research notes on Cthulhu’s fishmen. I love him and I would commit war crimes for him.

The second, because she was a bit character that had me fully invested in her and her story within ten minutes. And then Blizzard ripped my fucking heart out. And I yelled at Questifer about it. Aaaaaaaa.

Granny Weatherwax/Sam Vimes - Discworld. They’re both staggering badasses who have neither time nor tolerance for the bullshit trappings of men, while at the same time harboring a deep and abiding love for their fellow beings. They also approach that from completely different ends. They are also both unquestionably the most noble characters I’ve ever read. They are the sum of their principles and their refusal to budge. Steve Rogers could learn from them. In D&D, they’d be paladins to their core, and they’d absolutely hate that.

Spawn - Image Comics. I have, admittedly, read exactly one Spawn comic book, and mostly love him because of his design, his backstory, and the fact that he’s voiced by Keith David in all animated iterations including video game appearances (and only the animated ones were ever good--the 90s movie was fucking horrible). I am hoping the rumored new movie will make things a bit better for the live-action version, but until that actually comes out, I’m not holding my breath.

Tagged by: @safrona-shadowsun and @ourcollectivefantasy

Tagging: Have you done it? Then you’re it.

[paimaniagalaxia]

Ranar and Asriel-Goodbye

by Paimania and Trinity

Ranar The Demon- @trinity-xp

Asriel The Charming Demon- Mine

In this roleplay, Asriel leaves for Gotham before returning to Toontown four years later. He says goodbye to everyone except for his brother in arms--Ranar.

It was late that night as Asriel, being the heartbroken fool that he was, had packed up his suitcase and belongings. As he was on his way to Gotham. His father, was good friends with this Bruce Wayne fellow and staying with him would be the most vital option. So he had a place to stay while finishing off his education at Gotham University. It city was set a few decades ahead of their time, but lucky the train he was going on broke the laws of time and space. He didn't know who made such a contraption, but was thankful to see what was beyond his own time.

Before he could go, he had to make a few goodbyes. He already did so back at home with his mother and father, even to Sammy and the Inky Searcher Squad. The Butcher Gang as well go their fair share of farewells.... There was just one other he was missing. It was Ranar. Hopefully he was out and about down this route to the train station. He didn't want him to go searching for him while he was in a different place, in a different time.

Coincidentally, Ranar was standing by a route to the train station. Minding his own business, and leaning against a concrete wall while staring off into space. He was unaware of the current situation Asriel was in, mainly because he hasn’t had time to speak with him in a while. But on the inside, he worried for him gravely. But Ranar brushed off the thought and sighed. He remained in his position.

Within the his gazing sight, Asriel spots Ranar. He rushes over to pick up his pace before stopping beside the hooded demon. "Oh thank Satan I could meet with you again. It's kind of rare that we get to see each other." Asriel replies back, placing his hand onto his chest. He was a tad bit winded for rushing over to his brother. With a rolling suitcase and all.

Ranar flinched a bit,, but he soon heard the sound of Asriel’s voice, and he looked up to see his brother standing in front of him with a suitcase. And on the inside, he was totally confused. “Asriel? Wow, its been a while.” He looked at the suitcase and said “what’s with the suitcase?”

"Oh... This?" Asriel looks down at his black suitcase before turning his attention back at Ranar. "I'm going somewhere for a little while. Well... Give or take four years..." The demon chuckles a bit anxiously. Hoping Ranar wouldn't try to stop him, he was doing this for his own good and wanted his father to be proud of him to move on of what happened as of late.

Ranar went silent for a bit and sighed. He then patted Asriel’s shoulder “I’m sure you have a good reason for leaving. But I will truthfully miss you. I’m guessing you came to me to say goodbye right?” He asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Asriel nods. "After Prima broke up with me... I was devastated and broken. I wouldn't leave my bed or even hardly ate anything... Dad thought it would be good for me to finish my education, and see the world.." He kept it vague, just in case if Ranar wanted to follow. He heard Gotham was pretty high with crime, and didn't want that worry on Ranar's mind. "Sorry I couldn't get to you earlier. We don't write or anything."

Ranar nodded, “And I apologize for not trying to reach you sooner as well. I’ve been..busy.” He tilted his head. He had heard of Prima, but didn’t know the full details of who she really was. He only knew that she was Asriel’s girlfriend. Well, Ex-Girlfriend now. “But anyways, wherever you choose to go to finish your education, I wish you luck. I just hope you won’t forget me.” He shrugged.

"I promise I won't. Before you know it, I'll be back home and you and I can hang out some more." Asriel smiles. "I know Lil Haven Theater has a good mini-bar." Asriel chuckles with a smile. "Would you like to walk with me to the train station?"

Ranar looked around, and pondered at his invite for a few moments. Then he said “why not. It’s a good opportunity to say an official goodbye to my brother.” He patted Asriel’s back and started to walk with him to the train station.

Asriel smiles as he and his brother walk down to the train station. It felt rather nice to be with someone on this long travel to be so far away from home. Once they were there, he takes out his train ticket, forgetting that it was in view as it said the name of the City that was on there.

Ranar noticed the train ticket, and the city name on it. He stared a couple moments before turning his attention to the train. Ok the inside, he was a little worried about Asriel, but he made no hints to show it. Once Asriel was done, he turned to him and said “so I guess this is where we say goodbye, huh.” He didn’t mention the fact he saw the city name.

"Yeah... This is good bye..." Asriel replies a bit sad. He was going to miss him. Before Ranar could do anything, Asriel pulls him into a tight hug before he heard the conductor call out that the train was leaving for Gotham. "Got to go! See you in four years!" Asriel lets go and waves frantically, as he leaves to the train.

Ranar waved as well, and said “see you” after the train was out of sight, he sighed. A part of him wanted to go after Asriel, but he knew that he could never do that, since Asriel was a grown demon that could care for himself. And in the near future, he couldn’t wait to see him again. Ranar then turned away from the station, and slowly walked off into the night.

[b1a4seeyou]

Eight people I'd like to know better

Tagged by @masatohijirikawas ! Thankies, boo!! ;w;

Name/Alias: Eunhwa/Eun! I like the meaning behind it uwu

Birthday: 15th May (a day before Toriumi's holy heck)

Zodiac: Taurus!

Height: .....165 cm qkwhwlsjdlkc

Hobbies: My hobbies are pretty much everywhere. XD. But I guess singing, gaming and uh... does... cleaning count??

Favourite colours: RED!!!

Favourite books: *stares at my entire comic collection* Can these count? ;w;

Last song I listened to: Not gonna lie, I replayed a few old Vocaloid songs lately but Vocacircus' The Start is pretty much recent! Plz do give it a listen! It's a masterpiece 👌

Last movie I watched: I'm not even sure myself jwpqjskcn

Inspiration: NNGGGGHHHH. I'm not sure but I can say that my best friends are my inspirations! They achieve a lot of higher rank stuff irl and social media, and I really look up to them! Hearing their stories about what they did gives me the boost to keep going for the things I wanna get through so maybe, we all can be in the same level and achieve things together! (o 0 w0)o

Dream career: Umm... haha, Idk yet. *games all scattered* Oops, sorry, I didnt mean to- *writing drafts flying away* No, wait, this isnt mine haha. This is just work- *short game concept ideas all over the place* Okay, okay, but hear me out. This is just temporarily. *code samples sticks to your face* NNGGGGHHH. Okay, okay, okay!! I did plan to be a game developer one day and currently taking a course based on it. ;; But like I said, it's just a temporary kinda target. If it doesn't work out, I'll probably open my own cat cafe and drag my friends into it wosjdonfkc

Meaning of my URL: Once upon a time during my Kpop obsession phase, I was too obsessed with the group and decided to create an account to meet fellow people. Turned out good but didnt expect to be in this phase now wkdbdofjvk. Also 'seeyou' was actually one of the member's fan name, I just feel like combining them. XP

Oh boy, eight people. Mmmmm... Tagging uh @shinanigansen @mewtwo24 @jessrine @mp100 @multipeaceout14 and uh just anyone who hasnt done this! Just tag me as your tagger uwu

[aquaburst3]

Vocal Pineapple made a video reimaging western superheroes as what they would be like if they were characters in My Hero Academia universe and made to fit said universe. I want to do the same thing with other heroes he never mentioned in the video as a fun thought exercise. I might make another one of these if I think of more.

(As a side note, I’m not doing Spiderman since Vocal Pineapple already tackled that one. Same goes for the other characters he talked about in the video. I won’t talk about Superman, since I think All Might is BNHA’s version of that character already. xP)

Bruce Wayne: Bruce is a quirkless man, who was a part of one of the wealthiest families in the US. Bruce’s parents died while he was a small child. Instead of vowing revenge and wanting to take them down, he started his own hero agency. Other socialites in his city saw this as a strange pursuit, especially given the fact that he had no quirk and never went to a hero school, but Bruce did it anyways and started Batman Incorporated. Over the years, many people worked for him including Barbara, Tim, Luke, etc. Also, during those years he adopted a few boys and had a biological son in the form of Damian.

Ra’s: He’s an Arab man with a longevity and healing quirk, which slows his aging down to a crawl. In fact, he was one of the first quirk users around, born around the same time as All for One. Back when he was alive, Ra’s was the head of the League of Assassins and was one of the big names in the underground alongside All for One. He didn’t like this, so he took out the competition by stealing Ra’s’ quirk. He died shortly after. That’s how All for One is able to live for so long without dying. (After he dies, Talia inherits The League from her father and hatches a plan to have a child with Bruce so he could take down All for One and rule the criminal underground.)

Damian Wayne/Robin: Son of Tailia and Bruce, his quirk, which he inherited from his mother, allows him to predict the moves of his opponents. (With the downside being that he has to make eye contact with them for it to activate.)  He was raised by his mother to be the prefect assassin and was the heir to his late grandfather’s empire.

When he first came to live with his father, he was a spoiled brat and saw himself as a prince, everyone around him found him quite annoying. He struggled with the duelling sides of himself–The Assassin Prince and The Son of Batman. Over the course of his adolescence, after much struggle, he calmed down considerably and became a pretty well adjusted adult. He can still be intimidating and badass when he wants to be, even having a sword cane.

In the current timeline, ie when the manga is taking place, he’s an attractive man in his late 20s. He’s married to Kimiko Queen, the half sister of another wealthy socialite, Oliver Queen, and a fellow a former assassin, who works for another hero agency. Damian inherited his father’s company after the aging Bruce retired shortly after he graduated from hero school. Many people work for him, including some fresh talent like Terry (who’s not related to Bruce in this version).

Dick Greyson/Robin/Nightwing: He started off as an acrobat with an agility quirk, who worked long side his family before they passed away. Bruce adopted him and he became Robin while doing his provisional licence. During his early 20s, instead of sticking to his adopted dad’s agency and becoming like Batman, he decided to go down his own path. He did a stint at some hero agencies as Nightwing, being in the Top 10 Heroes List for America for a few years, before deciding to become a teacher at an American hero school and settling down with Barbara. All of the students love him there, since he’s patient and always helps out young students in need.

Tony Stark/Iron Man: He’s another quirkless scientist on I-Island, who created a technologically advanced suit. After his technology gets into the wrong hands, he makes sure that it would never happen again. Expect many dick wagging contests between him and Melissa’s dad over who comes up with the better stuff. He also mentored Peter Parker before Peter passed away right out of high school and then Miles.

Scott Lang/Ant Man (going with the MCU versions for this): He started out as a criminal, who wanted to get money to save his sick daughter by stealing some tech from the company his brother used to work for. One day, he’s tasked to go to I-Island to steal some top secret tech for a group of thugs. He’s caught by Hank Pym. Since he tried to steal for him to help his daughter and had a transforming quirk, the aging doctor offers him up the opportunity to work for him and test out his new suit. Scott agrees and he’s used as the guinea pig for his new powered suit. Now, he’s as an official hero working for Hank Pym with the help of his daughter.

Kamala/Ms Marvel: She’s a Pakistani-American teenager, who attends an American hero school around the same time as Deku and has a quirk where she can morph the size and shape of her body. (Think Mr Fantastic, but with the drawback that she has the strength of those sizes). She’s also still pretty nerdy and loves geeking out over heroes like Deku.

Robbie Reyes/ Ghost Rider: A Latino American with a quirk that allows his whole body to be engulfed in flames without dying or getting burnt and control them. (Think Endeavour’s quirk, but with less control of it if he’s emotional.) He’s a younger hero who is based out of a hero agency in the US. He also uses a motorbike to do his work to separate himself from Endeavour and born with a skull for a head, earning him the name “Ghost Rider.” He’s also does some side work at the US version of UA and a lot of the kids love him as a teacher.

Diana/ Wonder Woman: Born a normal human during the first generation of quirk users, she had a strength quirk that even allowed her to jump long distances and deflect bullets. During this time things were out of control without any rules in place, she went out and caught evil doers anyways. In modern times, long after her passing, her legacy lives on and she’s seen as an idol to young girls, who want to get into the hero business.

Dr Strange: He’s a doctor turned hero, who has a quirk that allows him to manipulate matter. Don’t know what else to add other then that, really.

T'Challa/Black Panther: The king of an African nation, he has a quirk that gives him the skills of a panther. (Think something like Tsuyu’s quirk, but with panther powers and he doesn’t have any panther psychical features like a tail or something.) He decides to use his powers more often to help out his own people and others are in desperate need of his help around the world.

Arthur Curry/Aqua Man: Instead of being the king of the sea, he’s just the son of a lighthouse keeper with a quirk that allows him to control sea life. He joins Mera and starts up his own hero agency. He has two protegees: Aqua Lad and Tempest.

Aqua Lad:  Jackson Hyde is the son of an accountant and the villain Black Manta, making him rather self conscious about his image and how others in the business perceive him. Despite being the son of his greatest foe, Arthur wanted him to do his provisional licence training with him. He has a quirk that allows him to manipulate water like a Water Bender from the ATLA universe…without the healing abilities. Personality wise, he’s like his Young Justice counterpart.

Jaime Reyes/ Blue Beetle: He’s a boy living in El Paso,Texas. He has an pulse cannon quirk that allows him to able to create an outward surge of energy wherever his hand is pointing, damaging anyone in a close vicinity. (His friends Paco and Brenda often tease him about being the human version of a cinnamon roll, despite having the power to take out All Might if he wanted to.)

One day while visiting his friend Miles Morales on I-Island, Ted Cord’s lab gets attacked and the scarab that he was creating attaches itself to his spin. The scarab turns out to be armour that has the ability to shape shift and has a highly advance AI (think JARVAS from the MCU). However, due to it not being fully realized yet, it has some glitches and bugs like the AI saying that he needs to use his quirk to destroy others that makes Jaime fear it. Branch of the League of Villains located in the US, The Reach, try to control the scarab in order to turn the boy into a living weapon for All for One, but Jaime stops that plan and the scarab becoming friendly to him.

Oh yeah, he’s also friends with Tracy 13 and Impulse.

Jon Stewart/Green Lantern: He’s a former solider turned hero with a quirk that allows him to create anything, but can only due it when he has another object at hand. (Kinda like a mixture of being an alchemist in the FMA universe and Momo’s quirk.)

[robintheghost]

Ask me stuff, I have zero interaction with my followers.- Answer all of them lol

MYou’re a blessing dear :D!

1. What is something you always wear, even in the shower? Well, nothing lol2. What is your favorite thing to wear to sleep?Either a boxer or nothing3. What is/was your favorite stuffed animal growing up!My teddy bear, Teddy!4. Have you read any book more than 5 times?Nope, not much of a reader5. How did you feel after your first kiss?Happy I guess, can’t exactly remember the feels :P6. What Tempe of underwear do you prefer?None, don’t wear that brand7. What was the first movie you’ve seen in a movie theater? I’m not sure, the one that first comes to mind is the Dutch film Floris. Going with that as my answer

8. What is your state or country’s minimum wage? ~€1.578,- per month9. What moment in time did you truly feel ‘awe-inspired?’ During my trips to Brazil & Chicago10. What is your least favorite food?MOTHERFUCKING GREEN BEANS. BURN IN HELL, GREEN BEANS.11. What is your favorite constellation and why?Despite liking space, I don’t have a favourite constellation. I’m not paying attention to those lol12. If you could have any hair style you wanted, what would it look like?Curly, but a bit more balanced (my hair grows slightly harder at the middle of my head, sides trail a little bit :P)13. Gold, silver, or bronze accessories? Gold appears more, tho silver looks very classy as well14. Do you have any allergies? To vegetables, however moms doesn’t take that seriously, wonder why xP15. Do you like the smell of cedar wood?Wood does smell nice in general I think16. Shower curtain, or door?Shower glass for us. We used to have curtains. I do prefer those to doors17. Do you wear slippers? Only when going into the garden18. What is your favorite pattern? Minimalistic patterns19. Do you watch any big sports games?Oh yes I do, and the emotional suffering is part of this experience haha 20. Can you play any instruments? No, unfortunately not. I had piano lessons during high school, but I forgot everything21. If you could learn any language that you don’t already know semi-fluently, what would it be?Portuguese, only know the basics of that language22. What is your favorite topic in history class?World War II

23. Do you believe in love at first sight?Wouldn’t say love, but a stepping stone to that level, yes!24. Name one dream that ruined your day when you woke up.Can’t name a specific dream, but probably one which was a fun dream with epic events taking place, and waking up realizing it wasn’t reality25. Have you ever burned yourself?Yes, I have26. Do you own a hair dryer?No, I do have towels xP27. What age did you learn to make toast?At an early age, as croque-monsieur has been a common breakfast/lunch during my younger years28. What color is the mat in your bathroom?Black with grey29. Name something in your bathroom you constantly run out of besides toilet paper.The battery of the electrical toothbrush :P30. What kind of watch do you wear?I don’t wear a watch31. How much did the shirt you’re wearing right now cost?Like €8,- (praise you, AliExpress)32. Are you still friends with anyone from middle school?Yes, I am!33. Do you hope to advance at your current job?Yes, but let’s get the basics under control first (as a junior, there’s still a lot to learn)34. Would you like to marry whoever you’re seeing right now?Not seeing someone currently (insert sad face here), so that’s a no35. Have you ever thought to yourself that you’re the luckiest person in the world? Not really. I have thought I had lucky moments, but never had such luck I felt I could take on the whole world :P36. What is your favorite color to paint your nails?None, I don’t paint my nails :P37. What time of day do you most enjoy looking at the sky?Constantly, the sky is pretty!38. What is your dream vehicle? Ford Mustang39. What was the best thing you ever did for your parents or legal guardians or parent figures? Being born, I’m such a blessing X)40. Have you ever worn a suit?A few times, not my style41. Would you rather make 2d or 3d art?2d, as making art is difficult enough for me I would only cause myself more troubles if I were to add more dimensions lol42. Have you ever made a list of questions for Tumblr?No, but I do run a blog gathering lists of questions. Does that count too :P?43. Do you prefer candles or incense?Candles44. If you marry, would you do a tradition wedding, or get hitched? I’m not sure what is meant with a hitched wedding. Google’s not helping me. But simple answer, I wanna get married one day :P45. What is the weirdest thing you’ve done with binder clips?Closing a bag of chips? I really have no clue lol. Don’t think I’ve done something weird with those things46. Do you still go trick-or-treating? Halloween’s never been big here. Must’ve been in my youth, when there were some activities in the neighbourhood. Not a lot has happened in my part of the town in the last decade47. Have you ever won a costume contest?Nope, sorry to disappoint :P48. What is something you’ve done every summer for as long as you can remember?Wake up incredibly late X)49. So you touch things for no reason?Yes, I’m a curious little fellow with the spirit of a little kiddo X)50. Do you eat candy corn?No, I don’tThank you very much Legolas!

[honorableferengimerchant]

Day 5: Further prep for Mol'Rihan. I bought some tools for doing combat engineering work on the hunt. A total of 2k ec. They're not the tools I wanted, but they were the tools that Lessa let me have for cheap and under the table. I also purchased 20 large hypos and 20 large power cells for a total of 10,240 ec.

Mol'Rihan isn't incredibly welcoming. The local bribetaker told me there was much to be done, and that there was this fellow who would give me assignments, but he refused to say a word to me. I did, however, find a Romulan marketer who is willing to give me decent prices for anything I need to pawn. Her name is 'Vendor,' which is pretty funny. Romulans obviously take their names very literally.

Buvuok now has a suit of body armor that only costs 200 ec from Vendor. Tholians, Tal Shiar, and Dewan Arthropods are the main threats in the wilderness here. I'm gathering glowing rocks, glowing plants, and taking radiation readings. I think there'll be a real market in these someday, and I'm planning to corner it!

At last. A day of real work on the Mol'Rihan frontier has earned me an audience with D'tan and Foreman Kylor. I wonder if it was my pest control efforts in the staging area, my reports of cloaked Hunters in the peaks, or my efforts against the Tholian and Tal Shiar intruders that got their attention. Now, they are promising actual paying work that promises significant profit. Kylor also let slip some of the secrets of Mol'Rihan that we can all exploit together. It's a pleasure to get to do actual engineering work, even if it's just break-fix. Hoversleds, replicators, storage units. . .

I've also been assigned some investigatory work by a Romulan admiral -- Keverak. Everyone knows Romulans are an admirably suspicious and conniving people, and it seemed odd that they'd ask me to figure out one of their own's schemes -- but then it turned out that there’s another Ferengi involved, and it all made sense.

Daily Results: 2,480 units of dilithium. My first. 831,668 ec. Long way to go to the Tuffli. 134 romulan marks. They might be useful someday. OOC: Defeating individual ground foes without a mission is slow-going for the xp, even during a double xp event. But it did get Stovak to 4, and then that got actual missions. It’s possible that I just didn’t realize I could start the New Romulus episode at level 3. If so, oops.

[50cyg]

Yamato’s awareness of Taichi in Digimon Adventure Tri: Saikai/ Reunion

Everything begins after the airport battle (this post is going to be a shot by shot, and I’m aware it’s kind of over the top, but what is Tumblr for if not crazy break downs and over-analyzing like this).

From the get go, Yamato seems particularly interested in watching Taichi.

Koushiro points out the damage to the rest of the chosen and they all turn to look

Then we get a close up shot of Taichi’s reaction, where we can see the affect it has on him

And immediately after, we get this shot of some of the other chosen looking towards the damage

Notice Yamato’s line of sight in this shot compared to those of Hikari and Takeru, he doesn’t appear to be looking at the damage but instead is focused on Taichi. Whether it’s because Agumon is still injured or simply because he feels that something is wrong, he is already showing heightened concern for and/ or interest in Taichi.

And then we see a close up on Yamato, where he goes from looking… I want to say interested, or curious...

To looking concerned and maybe even upset

Again, he appears to be looking at Taichi here, not the damage. And he is looking at Taichi’s back for that matter, which means that he can tell, just from looking at Taichi from behind, without seeing his facial expressions like we did, that something is wrong with Taichi and it is upsetting to him.

They proceed to discuss the men in suits and potentially getting some answers, and when Taichi shows a lack of enthusiasm about getting answers from Daigo

We get an immediate reaction shot from Yamato, where in we are made aware that he finds Taichi’s behavior strange due to the confused noise he makes (similar to a ‘huh?’)

Now granted, Sora and Hikari look concerned for Taichi in the following shot as well

But the movie does not call attention to it the way it called attention to Yamato’s reaction. And as we will see later, none of them key in that something is wrong with Taichi the way Yamato does.

When Mimi shows up, while everyone else is presumably smiling the way Taichi is

Yamato doesn’t smile until he seems sufficiently satisfied with Taichi smiling

Moving on to the scene on the way home:

The kids are discussing Himekawa and wondering who she is. Notice how Taichi seems to be looking down while everyone else is looking at Himekawa. I think this might be a nod to the fact that he is not emotionally okay, despite the fact that we saw him smiling earlier.

Then Taichi says he is just glad they are all going home safe, and Mimi follows this up by asking where Jyou is.

It could be because he was triggered to do so by Taichi’s comment, or maybe he would have done it anyway, but when everyone else is looking at Mimi while they answer her question about Jyou, Yamato is instead looking at Taichi.

Now Mimi is also looking at Taichi in this shot, but that is most likely because he is answering her question.

The following morning, we see all the kids watching the news, including Yamato, about the incident at the airport, where the broadcaster talks about the damage and paints the Digimon in a negative light.

Then immediately after, we see Yamato is waiting for Taichi in front of his apartment complex.

Based on the way Taichi stops upon seeing him, and the way he says his name, I’m inclined to believe he was not expecting Yamato to be there. Yamato just shows up suddenly. Now I have no idea how far apart these two live or how much time passed between the news broadcast and Yamato’s arrival, but I don’t think it’s far fetched to assume that Yamato would have had to rush over to Taichi’s place immediately following the broadcast in order to be there when he is. And why is he there? I can think of three potential reasons:

1.       He wanted to talk with Taichi right away upon seeing the news

2.       He knows Taichi’s bicycle was destroyed and is offering him a ride

3.       He is concerned about Taichi’s reaction to the news based on his behavior from the previous night and wants to check in on him

These reasons do not have to be mutually exclusive, it could be one of these three reasons or a combination of any number of these reasons. Yamato definitely has the news on his mind though, because he asks Taichi if he saw it right away

But Taichi never gives him an answer, he just makes a noise as though he wants to dodge the question.

Now it’s possible they could have chatted about it on the way over to school but, based on how their conversation goes under the bridge later in the movie, I’m inclined to believe they didn’t discuss it.

So, when they reach school, we can assume Taichi still hasn’t said anything and he doesn’t even face Yamato, yet Yamato looks uncomfortable and doesn’t move his eyes from Taichi.

Then, when they hear the girls start to talk,

He takes Taichi away from there, as though he knows what’s wrong with him, or at least what is causing his behavior, and how to handle it.

When they presumably find out that Daigo is away that day, and therefore they will not be able to get any answers, Yamato takes note of Taichi’s reaction (by looking at him when he slouches in defeat).

Then we have the scene in the courtyard, the one where Yamato was totally about to beat the crap out of some fellow students (I’m not going to lie, Yamato’s violent side entertains me to no end).

Now, this shot is pretty ambiguous as to where Yamato is looking, but I think it’s possible to interpret it as him looking at Taichi (btw if you missed him he’s in the doorway).

I’ve seen many people question where the heck Yamato came from or why he is there when he suddenly runs in ready to kick some ass. I think part of this is because a lot of people didn’t notice that he is standing in the doorway in the previous shot. As to why he is there, honestly, I theorize that at this point he’s just straight up stalking Taichi, it’s certainly consistent with his behavior up to this point.

So, assuming he is there because he is watching Taichi, it means he is choosing to pay very close attention to Taichi’s behavior and actions. Or maybe that he is even concerned and wants to make sure he’s there if anything happens.

In Daigo’s office later on, Yamato, once more, looks for Taichi’s reaction (this time to the info they got from Daigo) and looks concerned about Taichi’s, again, lack of enthusiasm.

Then in the battle against Alphamon both boys arrive on the scene at the same time. When they notice that Alphamon is targeting Meiko, and that she is in danger, both go to run towards her in order to protect her. However, Taichi has flashbacks to the damage in the fight against Kuwagamon and hesitates. And the second Taichi hesitates, Yamato notices and turns around to find out what Taichi is doing.

HOW?!?! How does he know Taichi isn’t following behind him? There is a giant mecha type Digimon in front of them, a girl in peril, and Yamato immediately notices when Taichi hesitates. Does he have psychic GPS lock on Taichi at all times? Does he have some kind of Taichi-sense that alerts him whenever Taichi gets a few feet away from him? Does he have a telepathic link to Taichi where he is immediately aware of any changes in Taichi’s mental state? Seriously, the only explanation I can think of for this scene is that Yamato has some sort of metaphysical link with Taichi that makes him aware that Taichi is not behind him, or that Taichi is hesitating. This would make sense if they were joined by Omegamon, but they are not!

He also somehow knows exactly what to say to get Taichi to snap out of it.

When it comes to Taichi, Yamato is borderline clairvoyant.

And it’s not just that, Yamato doesn’t just break through to Taichi with his words, he breaks through to him by simply existing within Taichi’s memories. The memory of him shows up through all of the images of destruction and gives Taichi the strength to fight.

It doesn’t last though, and that’s what causes Omegamon to break apart. But the fact that he could do it for even a bit is impressive.

I think it’s pretty cool too that Yamato knows to link his arm with Taichi at the right moment to stop him from falling backwards

Then after the battle we see Taichi fall to the ground, while Yamato remains standing

But in the following shot of them, we see that they are both sitting down, and Yamato is sitting cross legged so it doesn’t give off, at least to me, the impression that he collapsed as well. Rather, I think it’s probable that he made the conscious decision to sit down next to Taichi and stay by his side.

Okay this final scene is interesting,

Now we don’t know what happened between the reveal of Meiko being a Chosen Child and this scene, so I am purely speculating all of this. It looks like some time has passed and everyone else has gone home. The only 3 people left are Taichi, Yamato and Sora. Since Taichi looked fine right after the fight there is no reason for Yamato to suspect that there is anything wrong with Taichi, or that Taichi had doubts during the fight and still has doubts, but he does seem to know. I believe it’s likely that he very quickly picked up on the fact that Omegamon broke apart because of Taichi and that is what this scene is about. It’s a precursor to the Kabedon scene in the next movie. So again, Yamato knows something is wrong with Taichi even though he is acting fine after the battle. I kind of think it’s likely that Yamato stayed behind as everyone else left to watch Taichi some more and Sora stayed to supervise in case a fight breaks out.

Hope you guys had fun reading this insanely long post as much as I enjoyed rewatching Digimon Adventure Tri in order to make this insanely long post XP 

For Part 2: Yamato’s awareness of Taichi in Digimon Adventure Tri: Ketsui, Kokuhaku and Soshitsu

[mistralrunner]

Running Reads Oathbringer: Part II.IV

I decided to turn my "let's run over 5 miles to a park with the largest book I can find and climb a tree to read it and then run back" stunt a couple years back with Words of Radiance into a tradition. Despite the fact that when I read Words of Radiance it was summer and thus a reasonable time to sit outside, unlike the approaching winter of the present. Managed to read nearly two chapters of Oathbringer and then it started raining despite the forecast not saying it would rain until a few hours later. Well, journey before destination!

Spoilers for pages 481-528 ahead. Also Mistborn thoughts again cause I have a problem.

The sea? As in an actual or metaphorical sea.

I'm amused at the irony that this dreaded work placement is not as bad as what fellow humans forced Moash to do

It's still slavery. It's still awful. But it is interesting how humans acted more odiously toward their slaves. The Voidbringers are efficient and focused rather than wantonly destructive.

But Moash you're falling into apathy here. People can be better

It's ironic that Moash was the one Kaladin appreciated for not revering him and now Moash is putting him on a pedestal

The Voidbringers still have Parshmen slaves? Are you kidding me? I really shouldn't be surprised but still.

I am surprised they're treated worse than the humans. Did they try to rebel? Were they the Listeners or Kaladin's people (please not the latter it would hurt Kaladin)

And they're almost taking the place of Bridge Four as the ones who are treated the worst so even if you're in a bad spot at least you aren't them

Oh no

They are the ones Kaladin helped

Noooooo

What about the children?

This hurts

The horrible irony that these people ended up worse off for being helped. That is evil.

Kaladin save them please

Or Moash. That would be ironic.

Yes you go Moash!

Twenty three years ago so Adolin's around now?

Oh no Dalinar not you too with the firemoss

Yikes Dalinar re the bar fight

Honestly “yikes Dalinar” is a good summary of these chapters

Wow born unto light that is a name

Now I want to know all the name meanings

What happened with Jasnah all those years ago and her "lunacy"?

(Around this time while reading eerie pattering started around me and I realized rain was approaching and packed up. My book is unharmed)

Gavilar, Alethela was great in part cause they recognized fighting as a necessary evil not because they saw fighting as what made them great and in charge

It's good Dalinar is at least aware he has a problem. That is a first step.

I am concerned about whatever Gavilar is thinking might help with Dalinar's problems

Huh he's not going to the Rift? At least not yet cause I'm pretty sure whatever he forgot there hasn't been shown yet.

Heh that's a nice echo of Gavilar's last words to his brother "if only I knew the right ones to say" "you must find the most important words a man can say"

WHAT IS GOING ON

Obrodai?

Shards conquering worlds?

Is this what Sazed is facing in era II?

I am really fixated on that problem since Sanderson confirmed the red-eyed kandra in The Bands of Mourning aren't of Odium but are related to something similar happening across the Cosmere

They can make avatars of themselves?

As in they invest a person and bring them under as their god or something else?

I am so confused

Just let me spend ten minutes staring at the epigraph and ignoring the actual chapter

Dalinar's flying?

Dalinar and Navani are flying?

YES TEN SQUIRES AT LEAST ARE FLYING I’M SO PROUD

That really does speed up warcamp travel time

Ten weeks huh-I should try making a timeline

Yes it was Rushu who came along

I have so many favorite minor characters

Yesss Navani doing engineering and Dalinar being happy for her

Yes Queen Fen!

So we're sending Kaladin to unlock the Oathgate? That's the only person we can really send.

In which Dalinar faces the greatest adversary of DnD: the door

And like a typical DnD player he doesn’t think to look/ask for the key first  

I love the Windrunner express

So does this mean Hoid is going to be missing this book because he's facing the dreaded water level of a video game in order to seek help for Roshar from some arrogant Shard?

I want this story now.

Okay the artificial stone wards are pretty cool

Heh, stonewards

The presence of crem in general is interesting.

It really is interesting that these beings of Odium aren't doing a slash and burn

And that this is the book where we're getting backstory on Gavilar and Dalinar's campaign for the contrast of conquest methods

Also I wonder how much of that Fused being impressed with the orchards is due to the fact that during the last Desolation and thus the last time the Fused were active human society was in tatters and probably didn't have anything like that

Moash, just casually admitting he killed a Voidbringer XP

Sah has to deal with a second member of Bridge Four

What happened to Sah's daughter I'm still worried can we save her

You know if any of the Voidbringers can acquire and use an Honorblade, we're in trouble once more Oathgates get unlocked

Huh that is a clever design, keeping suburbs far from the city so you can't siege from immediately outside

Wow

That is just

The sheer amount of dramatic irony there

Hysterical laughing really is the reasonable response

Laddermen doesn't have the same ring to it as Bridgemen though

Sorry Ishnah, the Ghostbloods aren't impressed with you

I am really concerned about how dangerous a position Shallan is re the Ghostbloods

And also the fact that Mraize's statement at the end of WoR about Shallan vs Veil is coming true cause Shallan really is fading

I'm concerned that the reason for this Lightweaving discovery was skipping more meetings that she really should be attending but that is a very useful skill

Okay Shallan that is a good idea I'm impressed. And a nice presentation.

Give everyone a hat-I mean sphere-of disguise

Also glad Elhokar's taking a bit more command

My DnD instincts are too strong though and I keep thinking what if someone has Truesight? Which still could be valid here you never know. Or one of those Stormlight draining creatures like Nale had.

The irony if Gaz is brought along

Eighteen and a half years? How old is Renarin again. How much did the Kholin brothers see of their father in early childhood?

Okay at least being responsible for tactics is a step forward for Dalinar

The Thrill addiction really is disturbing. Such a good underhanded weapon of Odium.

You haven't even read all her letters...

Team Evi deserves better

Really Dalinar you were there for Adolin's birth but not Renarin's? He was the looked over son since birth?

And he ignored the spanreed for the naming of Renarin while delightedly naming Adolin

Dalinar, Evi tried and is at least taking effort to listen and learn tradition

"Like one who was born unto himself" kind of fits Renarin unconventional cryptic but ties to family names, like and unlike

Dalinar you were so elated over Adolin and now Renarin doesn't get that love how dare you

I love Evi

At least Dalinar realizes she deserves better.

Aaaa little Kholin brothers

Evil flying chulls pfft

...as cute as the little kid salute is it is really disconcerting that Adolin doesn't see enough of his father that that is the greeting that happens

D'aww baby Renarin

Okay I am indignant that Renarin isn't getting the same love

Ooo glyph info

The idea of infiltrating the Calligraphers Guild is hilarious

Purity's Eye? I feel like I should be able to place that reference.

Okay this is so cool I love this

Glyph explanations!

Linguistics!

So the general person isn't aware of these procedures? Otherwise I feel like the Stormwardens could have just adopted the phonemes rather than combining glyphs phonetically

Really tempted to attempt to make glyphs now

Yay Jasnah

Wait is this another letter

Hmm does that mean that earlier part was actually multiple letters

That would explain why I got confused

Hoid is sending a lot of letters

Ooh Veristitalian stuff?

Okay that is messed up NanKhet

The fact that Navani turned that area into a scholarly institute is so delightful

Huh that must have been frustrating, wanting to discuss scholarship with people when all they care about talking about is your atheism when you've established that you'd rather not be defined by something that you don't believe

But science and scholarship everywhere!

Hey Jasnah Renarin can float between worlds if he wants it's called balance and being well-rounded

Especially cause if I was in Roshar I definitely be doing the same thing cause Bridge Four but also scholarship

I want to believe you're not so limited

I really respect Jasnah's dedication and effort to quietly protecting her family

And yeah really why are royal families often so messed up

I do not want stormwardens near Renarin albeit for different reasons than Jasnah. I don't trust them.

Tashikk's system is so cool

If the Voidbringers target it....

Fantasy chat room!

Jochi and Ethid I love them already 

I'm glad Jasnah has Veristitalian colleagues/friends 

See Jochi is well rounded and in two worlds, a philosopher and running a pastry shop

Ooh Ethid’s a scion I was curious about those

Oh right Ethid could have been there when Nale/Darkness/Inspector Javert tried to kill Lift in the Azish palace

Is this how Szeth is going to return to the narrative? Jasnah hunting Heralds?

Jochi spotted Axies the Collector? He's known of in certain circles?

Heh they're discussing Lift

I need to reread Edgedancer to see if Ethid showed up at all

Is Dalinar's vision the unexpected source of the images of the Heralds or something else

Yeah Ethid it really does feel like Radiants are popping up everywhere

I'm just really happy Jasnah has scholar buddies

Wait Navani and Shallan are already discussing wedding Adolin this feels too soon and like something will go wrong probably learning Adolin killed Sadeas

I mean I figured something was off with Renarin given we know what the Truthwatcher spren should look like from that interlude with he poor cobbler and his foresight hasn't been confirmed as a Truthwatcher ability but now I'm really getting scared

*Hisses at Amaram*

I love how two of the characters I despised can technically be referred to by the same name now

OHHH

OHHHHHH

BURN

okay I take it back Amaram's presence was acceptable just so I could see him get burned

"Remind me to find whoever told you and have them hanged"

I LOVE YOU JASNAH

Also bonus points for glowing while you say that

Destroy him Jasnah

Tear him apart

Ugh I actually hate Amaram even more now, dude not listening when a woman says no, physically grabbing her

Oh man this is just delightful

Also I have never seen Jasnah this...vitriolic?

Shame Kaladin isn't watching

Team Amaram haters unite!

This is so beautiful

What does Jasnah know about him though

Heh yeah my reaction is pretty close to Shallan's

Jasnah's just oh no I was a poor example

And to be fair insulting ones female relative isn't a great route but I was just so delighted to see Amaram verbally attacked

Ah Shallan skipping over the part where it was your idea not Elhokar's

Ooh what did Renarin find

What on Roshar? Just sounds a tad jarring even if it fits

Oh that is awesome

Glowing musical gem language to preserve knowledge aaaa

[nomanicsdak]

New Post has been published on http://manicdak.com/?p=2405

The Handsomest Man in all of Greece

I Know, I know, It’s Been 84 Years, etc…

Note: I wrote this one well before the holidays and am just now getting to posting, for the record!

What Are You Up To, Kleon?

We’re out to help Kleon today now that they Symposium is over! Let’s see what kind of job he has to offer. Probably not the drunken orgies that Perikles and Co. had for me, but, hey—you never know! Let’s go raid some Spartan camps! (As is Kleon’s wish, if you remember that far back.) That being finished, I go back to Kleon, with a note from a Spartan polemarch about further secret missions for Athens that Kleon is engaging in. Of course, this isn’t the end of his quest for me. I now have to rescue a messenger at a quarry. Come to find out that he is dead, but I do managed to rescue a sea captain who is also in on the plan. They are all being very hush hush about what is on his ship, and that makes me really suspicious. Better I don’t know? I beg to differ!

Well, not only was this guy captured, but so was his entire crew. I have to rescue them and then go defeat some Spartan ships, and maybe I have discovered the reason we parked in some random cove…because my ship is right there for me to swim to! Barnabus lets me know I have a message about a lead on some cultists, which I will check out later, and I make short work of the ship and head on back to see if maybe these dudes will tell me something!

Nope, nobody tells me anything. Maybe I have doomed all of Athens by helping these guys, or doomed somebody else. Who knows? Mayhaps it doesn’t actually matter since most of the time there is just an illusion of choice. Heh. I mean, I can go about raiding all of Athens and it doesn’t seem to affect much in the way of interactions.

In fact, let’s go on a side quest now that I’m done with Kleon. I know I said I was going to Korinth, but you know me. There was never a spot on the map that I ever want to pass up! So, I accidentally run through a restricted area and get chased by some guards all the way to my exclamation point destination. Let’s see who it is!

[singlepic id=101 w= h= float=center]

Dudes being Bros

Ooo, boy. It is none other than Alkibiades and his bud Sokrates. They are still at it. Sokrates is talking and talking and Alkibiades is flirting and flirting. What kind of shenanigans are they up to? Well, Alkibiades wants me to help his friend become a citizen by sneaking into a place and signing his name to a thing. Alright, seems easy enough, yes? I think my abilities of sneaking have been way over estimated by the game. Quest completed though. I return to Alkibiades and he gets a new exclamation point above his head. Dude. What now???

Well, I have to find a witness, for this citizenship; a “handsome” dude named Peiroos. Neither I nor Ace here can be the witness, because he is a friend and I am not a citizen, but I should be careful not to get too distracted by Peiroos handsomeness. I think I can manage. What I don’t think I can manage is not giving this guy the nickname “Poos”. Hahaha. I am 12. Anyway, I just get some vague directions to find him; the quest isn’t going to lead me directly there this time. I guess I will just look out for the too handsome dude.

And OMG, I keep running into this restricted area. I am not meaning to do this, just there’s these big steps leading up to this temple and regular citizens are just running around there all willy-nilly. Why can’t I? Boo!

I Got This.

But I Was Expecting This

Well, it’s this guy. Lol. Okay, if you say so, Ace. I have a feeling that every person that walks into his eyeline is probably the most attractive person in Greece in that particular moment. Anyway, Peiroos doesn’t want to help. Sophanes, he’s the dude I’m helping with the citizenship and here I am still on this quest so I guess I’ll remember his name for a minute. Anyway, he’s a betrayer who turned on his own troops or something. According to Peiroos he doesn’t deserve citizenship. Great. Now what? Fine, I’ll bribe him…pay for his debt with this huge pile of drachmae I have that I never spend on anything. Surprisingly this bribe works without me having to do any more favors. Ok, I guess I will find out what damaged I’ve wrought later if any.

Reporting my success to Alkibiades, I give him some shit for not telling me all of the deets about Sophanes apparent treachery. At least I can grumble at somebody for it, if I can’t grumble at Kleon. He says he didn’t think I would care, but now he knows. Have I rebuffed Alcibiades too many times now?  Who knows, but he believes in second chances. Me too. When he leaves Sokrates and I rap about whether good people can become bad or bad people can become good, and can we predict anything about it. Alexios seems relieved when Sokrates finally bows out of the discussion leaving it for a later date.

I guess the later date is now, because the next exclamation point is leading me to Sokrates who has apparently transported himself all the way across town instantaneously. So, Sokrates is in an argument with some playwright named Aristophanes (Fannies?) about Kleon and another dude name Hermippos. Apparently Hermippos (Hippos obvs.) thinks Kleon is the bees knees and isn’t afraid to shout it from the rooftops, and Aristophanes is done with it. Not sure what Sokrates can do about it, but I’m sure we will find out.

Stop Hippos!

Ok, the short of it is Sokrates is down with freedom of speech. Aristophanes thinks some people should shut-up already. Even Sokrates. Anyway, I’m going to be hired to find Hermippos so Aristophanes can give him the what for. 

I get some more vague directions, but I’m pretty sure I already tried to break into his house earlier when I was completing locations. Yep, I did. He does have quite the suspicious amount of guards and huge villa for a playwright. I find a note from Kleon about his play and some huge amounts of money just laying about, and the cherry on top is this Cult of Kosmos mask. *Gasp* Something culty is afoot here after all! And here, I thought Aristophanes was full of shit. Let’s get him! There is another cultist in Athens and my map tells me I will find clues in the quarry, so I’m going to go back there and see what’s up.

My map lies! Ok, well, not quite. I’m supposed to do favors for nearby people and maybe I will stumble upon the clues somehow. Instead, I ignore that little notation and head directly to the quarry to complete the location with much effort and dying and it got me nothing except a check mark and some armor that is a lower level than the armor I already have on. I stayed up way past my bedtime for this? Yay? 

I go in search of a maybe helpful quest and take on some bounties that I’m not sure I’ll finish. I get a mission to collect some seals from some Spartan polemarches in some forts and also realize I have a finished quest that hasn’t been completed because I didn’t go back and talk to the dude that gave it to me yet. I think I got distracted by the magical spear upgrady machine. Anyway, I head on back to the beach where I first landed to help my twice not!brother, brother. I cause troubles at some forts to collect my one part of the required goods. 

After raiding several more forts I have now realized that they are Athenian, and that is the reason I’m not getting the special quest required polemarch seals. Uuuuuggghhh. Self. C’mon! I am going back to Athens, there’s lots of Spartans in that area. 

In search of forts, I do find another human sacrificing faction in a cave. Nothing to do with the Kosmos cult, these guys are Pan fans, they’ve got the sacrificial altar and a pit of blood. I fail at sneaking and basically have to pick them off with my arrows whilst trying running backwards around and around in a circle through the cave tunnels. This tactic somehow manages to work without me being desynchronized once. Phew.

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Old Friend, New Trouble

I do a few more quests and meet up with a former fellow mercenary, Heitor, who is now one of those dudes that runs a weapon store. I still have not managed to procure another polemarch seal, but that is for another day apparently. Anyway, this guy wants me to get his very special sword back for him from this huge, well guarded Athenian fort. Cool. I do that, but in doing so learn that he actually probably sold the sword to the Captain there. He, of course, admits nothing, but whatever. Team Merc. 

NOW, he wants me to save his friend who has been captured, which I agree to, but who knows. He probably sold this guy too. Harumph. On the way I run into some lady who gives me a sob story about her play being banned for being just toooo dramatic, you guys. It brought all the soldiers to tears and they stole it so no warrior would ever be overcome with such emotion again, she is just so talented. She doesn’t want me to rescue her play from the sad soldiers, but she does want money, which I give her. I’ll take the easy XPs, whatever. I’m fairly certain this was a con. *shrug*

Anyway, I go through all the trouble of rescuing this guy in less than stealthy fashion and get him down to a boat where Heitor is waiting…to kill him. Uuuuuugh. Why? Because this guy was shackin’ it up with his wife and she ended up dying when she got in between their fighting. A love triangle gone awry. 

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Let’s All Just Enjoy the Sunset and Forgive Each Other, Eh?

Guys. Stop. Think it through, my mans. I tell them nothing is going to bring her back and somehow convince them to part ways without bloodshed for once. Yay! Now let’s clear some more locations before we move on. I mean, I haven’t quite forgotten that I’m looking for my mom this time, so I clearly have more busy work to do!

Oh yeah, the Seals guy. I think I finally gave him the seals and now he wants me to find more seals. To be honest, I’ve kind of lost the plot with this guy, but I’ll keep him on mind as I’m going on this next quest to the Silver Islands. I don’t remember where I picked this one up, but I’ve been hired to aid a failing rebellion on Myknonos! Let us be off! I have my crew drop me off away from civilization because I saw a dot in the distance sitting on a beach and I wanted to check it out.

Levitating Bears; Up to No Good!

It is a bear! I don’t really want to kill this bear, because on one hand he is pretty, but on the other hand the beach is littered with dead guys. Clearly, this bear is a trouble maker like me. Once that is done, I explore his cave which doesn’t really yield any good treasure. I do come to the realization as I crest a nearby hill that I am not in fact on Mykanos at all. Ah well, Let’s explore this island while I’m here I guess. I am on the sacred Lands of Artemis on Delos island…part of the Silver islands it turns out. It is a beautiful place with purple flowers all over. This one speaks to me. Maybe I can retire here, but probably not I’m sure someone with a spear is going to chase me away soon enough. (This last sentence in retrospect…oh boy. In my headcannon, My only mercenary retirement plan this Alexios has is this, and the only kids he will be having are the baby voyeur goats that I will be raising with Alkibiades, history be damned! Cute country doctor and Sokrates can come too.)

I move on to the next section called the Birthplace of Apollo where I find more people, a terrace of Lions and a Sacred Lake. Obviously, I must defile the sacred lake, because surely this place must have treasure at the bottom even though it isn’t a marked location. I am right for once when I find a bunch of loot and a sword down there. Haha!

Greetings from Kira

Bless! I am finally on Mykanos where I find out some guy is basically being a dick all over the place. We’ll call him Murdery von Taxation since I forgot his name. I really forget the specifics because all this happened last week So, so, very long ago, and I didn’t write anything down. Does he have a name? Is he a cultist? Perhaps. Perhaps I am just here to help Kira on her quest to bring him down. Anyhow, she has me running around meeting her places and investigating stuff, but I run into a beggar lady first who, as it turns out has some secrets to unload on me.

You see, she was once Kira’s nurse, or something, and Kira’s mother was Murdery’s mistress. When he found out she had a kid, he came around to kill her, and succeeded. The nurse absconded with Kira and didn’t even tell her any of this. So, now I have to tell her that the man she’s vowed to take down is her very own father. I know the feel, girl. My dad threw me off a cliff! I think that’s where I left it.

 Okay, so, I have absolutely no idea what happened because I played a little and then went on a long vacation to the heart of it all (Ohio) and yeah. I’m pretty sure I told Kira the secret and tried to console her and then we took down her dad, there’s no guarantee that that is going to do anything to help the situation. Someone higher up the chain might just come and be just as terrible to the townsfolk, but I’m just going to assume my job is done and get on with the questing.  (Unless I haven’t, in fact, finished this quest, in which case…I’ll do that!)

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[mediaeval-muse]

Video Game Review: Vampyr (Dontnod Entertainment, 2018)

Genres: action RPG, horror

Premise: Players assume the role of Jonathan Reid, a newly-turned vampire who struggles to balance his thirst for blood with his Hippocratic Oath during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918.

Platform Played On: PC (Windows)

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

***Full review under the cut.***

I am evaluating this game based on four key aspects: story, characters, gameplay, and visuals.

In-Game Triggers: violence; blood; body horror; mentions of: xenophobia, sexism, self-harm, suicide

Story: I’m honestly not sure how to talk about the main plot of this story because on the one hand, the post-World War I/Spanish Influenza historical setting made the vampire narrative feel fresh. I feel that too often vampire stories are set in the Victorian era, which is understandable, but the choice of setting for this plot made vampire lore interesting to me again. On the other hand, the overarching narrative that deals with the source of the pandemic and the quest for Jonathan Reid’s maker is BANANAS. Without giving anything away, it was a strange mix of very down-to-earth conflicts (pandemics, social class, etc.) with mythology and folklore - and not just the vampirism bits! I honestly can’t say the main was laid out well, or that it was engaging. I much preferred running around talking to NPCs and learning about their lives. But I did enjoy some elements of the bigger plot, such as the struggle against the vampire hunter group known as the Guard of Priwen, and the ultimate reveal of how the epidemic started. Those were well done, I think, because they kept the focus on London, and I enjoyed seeing how vampires would fare in such a setting. When we ultimately branched out to figure out who Reid’s maker was, I was less enthused because it felt too mystical and too disconnected from the Spanish Flu/post-War Britain.

Characters: Because this game is an RPG, characters are perhaps the most important aspect of the narrative, and in my opinion, Vampyr did very well on that front. Jonathan Reid himself is an interesting figure in that he’s not only a doctor, but a war veteran who has some radical ideas regarding where to take medicine. Depending on how he’s played, he can be a compassionate healer or an arrogant bastard, so that’s pretty neat.

This game also features an array of named NPCs called “citizens,” who Reid can talk to as players explore the semi-open world layout. Talking to citizens gives players “hints,” or interesting tidbits about their past or secret activities they participate in (for example, one citizen is involved in an underground medical dispensary). The more hints you unlock, the more dialogue options you have, and sometimes, you have to go back and talk to citizens you’ve conversed with before to unlock more dialogue and more side quests. I really liked this aspect of the game. It didn’t feel tedious to me. Rather, it felt like I was learning all the juicy gossip around London. For the most part, these citizen backstories were compelling and varied, and I was genuinely impressed that they dealt with issues of social class, race, gender, sexuality, and PTSD.

I do wish, however, that some of the more major NPCs were given stronger motivations, especially the women. Although I liked Reid’s sister, Mary, and his love interest, a fellow vampire named Elizabeth, I wish they had more to do and were integrated more with the main plot. I also wish that Reid was given an option of romances rather than just one, or the option not to pursue a romantic relationship at all, mainly because that would enhance the RPG elements a little more.

Gameplay: Because Vampyr is an RPG, some gameplay elements will be familiar, such as skill trees, multiple dialogue options, experience points, etc. All of those worked fine for me and helped orient me in gameplay. There were also mechanics regarding crafting and research that were pretty straight-forward, so if you’ve played action RPGs before, these aspects shouldn’t feel too different.

Combat was admittedly a little clunky and felt repetitive after a while. I really think this game could have benefited with more stealth mechanics, similar to how you can choose between being a lethal tank or stealth assassin in something like the Deus Ex reboot. You are, after all, playing as a vampire. I did think it was clever, however, how your supernatural abilities are fueled by “blood” instead of “mana,” which you acquire by biting people in combat or by eating rats (you can also craft syringes which give a temporary boost to your blood bar).

But where I thought Vampyr really shined was in the way it asked players to balance the chaos level of each of the 4 districts that made up the semi-open world layout. Players can explore these districts and talk to “citizens,” unlocking backstories and performing medical examinations to see who needs treatment. Players can then decide to craft medicines and administer treatment, which will boost citizens’ XP and render the area more “stable” (so that it is clear of monsters and offers more side quests). As I discussed above, talking to citizens gives players “hints,” or interesting tidbits about each citizen’s past or secret activities they participate in. The more hints you unlock, the more dialogue options you have, but also, more hints and a healthy medical slate gives the citizen a higher “blood purity” level, which will grant Reid more XP if the player decides to kill them. It’s an interesting approach to RPGing, as the mechanics literalize Reid’s personal struggle between healing and bloodlust.

Traveling between districts was admittedly a little annoying. This game could have benefited from fast travel between “hideouts” (the safe houses where you can level up and craft). I also wish the game didn’t use an auto-save system, just in case the player wanted to go back to a previous checkpoint. It was personally anxiety-inducing to know that once I made a choice, whether on purpose or because I accidentally hit a button, that I had to live with it. The auto save might heighten the suspense for some and make the stakes feel higher, but I personally wasn’t a fan.

Visuals: I’m a sucker for a character with a well-tailored suit, so I’m perhaps a little biased when I say I love the look of Reid’s design. Suit aside, I really liked the spooky animations when Reid used his vampire powers, and I especially loved that they were rendered in a deep red (to mimic blood of course) that contrasted nicely with the gloomy color palate of disease-ravaged London.

Speaking of which, even though the 4 districts were largely grim and grey, and NPCs were dressed to match, I did like the early 20th-century, post-World War I setting. The textures were all really nicely realized and the details were splendid.

I did notice, however, a drop in frame rate from time to time, which would have been fine if it didn’t interfere with combat or mess up my navigation when trying to figure out where I was. My screen would almost stutter in the middle of a fight, causing me to lose some life because I couldn’t see where the hits were coming from. I also wished the camera had moved around a bit during dialogue, so it wasn’t fixed on one face the whole time.

Recommendations: I would recommend this game if you’re interested in the early 20th-century, post-World War I history and psychological consequences, turn-of-the-century medical science, plagues and pandemics, vampires and vampire lore, and RPGs.

Final Verdict: Despite some technical missteps and randomness of the overall plot, I was addicted enough to the RPG elements, visual design, and hint/heal system regarding citizens that I thoroughly enjoyed playing this game.

[hermanwatts]

Crest of the Stars and Dungeon Born

In the far-distant future, mankind has traversed the stars and settled distant worlds. But no matter how advanced the technology of the future becomes, it seems the spacefaring nations cannot entirely shed their human nature.

Jinto Lin finds this out the hard way when, as a child, his home world is conquered by the powerful Abh Empire: the self-proclaimed Kin of the Stars, and rulers of vast swaths of the known universe. As a newly-appointed member of the Abh’s imperial aristocracy, Jinto must learn to forge his own destiny in the wider universe while bearing burdens he never asked for, caught between his surface-dweller “Lander” heritage and the byzantine culture of the Abh, of which he is now nominally a member. A chance meeting with the brave-but-lonely Apprentice Starpilot Lafier aboard the Patrol Ship Goslauth will lead them both headfirst down a path of galaxy-spanning intrigue and warfare that will forever change the fate of all of humankind.

It’s refreshing to read a light novel not encrusted with 20 years of bad fannish in-jokes. However, Hiroyuki Morioka’s Crest of the Stars was also written at a time when linguistics was a writing craze on both sides of the Pacific Rim, so the book serves as much as a crash course on the Abh language as it does a story. The J-Novel Club translator uses an interesting strategy to minimize this, by bolding sections of the English text when corresponding Abh words have already been introduced to the reader. It’s still jarring, but not so much as the same text half-written in another language. A reader should not have to hold degrees in neologism linguistics, history, psychology or anthropology in order to understand the story. Fortunately, once the exposition-heavy introductions are complete, the interruptions settle to a more manageable rate. But that’s still one massive hurdle, one that many readers might balk at.

On the plus side, there’s a real Vorkosigan Saga feel so far as the story follows Lafier and Jinto on what will become their first mission in an interstellar war. There’s mild Ceteganda influence to the Abh, with a society disrupted by genetic manipulation and a uterine replicator on steroids. Lafier’s obsession with the proof and status of being a “Daughter of Love”, a child created from an act of passion instead of laboratory procedure, is a glimpse at the first cracks in the Abh’s air of supremacy. Neither Lafier or Jinto live up the manic level of Miles Vorkosigan, but then again, few characters do. Jinto displays a pragmatism forced on him as the only non-ethnically Abh noble, a mayfly among elves, while Lafier is a hammer with a strong sense of obligation that weighs heavily on her shoulders–more so than the privileges of her lofty position. Instead of an odd couple, they are complementary and rely on each other’s talents as they speed to warn the rest of the Abh fleet of invasion and war.

Crest of the Stars is the first third of a novel split into three books, instead of today’s spiraling serials, and in the 1990s, needed three years to find a publisher willing to take a chance on space opera at a time when space opera was a dying trend. The extra time was spent in refining the prose and the story, creating a space opera tale that is not just a good light novel, but one that can take its place among the better space operas world-wide. It helps that Morioka was a science fiction short story writer, not a fannish writer clinging to trends and in-jokes, and, with the exception of a Tom Swiftie or two, his prose, even when translated, is up to Western standards. This is aided by a rare but consistent use of dialogue tags, which more light novels should employ. Because of all this effort spent on the prose, characterization, and worldbuilding , Crest of the Stars can be recommended as a proper science fiction novel, not just a young adult paperback.

Conquering dungeons and using them to grow has long been the most efficient way to become a powerful adventurer. The only thing keeping the process from being easy is the Beasts that inhabit these places. Questions plague those entering this particular place of power: Where do the ‘rewards’ of weapons, armor, and heavy gold coins come from? Why is a fluffy bunny charging at me? For abyss-sake, why are there so many monsters?

Cal has all of the answers to these age-old questions for a very simple reason. He is a Dungeon Core, a soul forced against his will into a magical stone. With the help of an energetic friend, Cal grows a dungeon around himself to bring in new sources of power.

When a threat he doesn’t fully comprehend bares its many teeth, Cal is determined to survive the attempt on his life. Unfortunately for adventurers, the only way for him to achieve his goal is to eat anyone that enters his depths.

The first novel in Dakota Krout’s Divine Dungeon series, Dungeon Born starts as a pretty formulaic dungeon builder story, in the same vein and general plot as Bone Dungeon. A murdered man is reincarnated as a Dungeon Core, the chief intelligence in the creation and building of dungeons. Along with his fairy-esque assistant, the newborn Core branches out underground, absorbing wayward creatures and careless adventurers until he attracts the attention of the Adventurer’s Guild. The Guild debates destroying the young dungeon, but the drop of a legendary treasure persuades them instead to use it as a training ground for novice adventurers. Along the way, the Core stumbles into a special relationship with one of the young trainees, which will become a lifesaver to them both.

Here, the Core’s name is Cal.

Again, pretty standard stuff so far, although Dungeon Born has a sharper edge than the more whimsical Bone Dungeon. Yet Dungeon Born maintains the lighthearted approach that makes many dungeon builder stories a popcorn read.

What does set Dungeon Born apart from other lighthearted gimmick fantasies is its replacement of the traditional dungeon-builder game mechanics of HP, MP, and XP with the chi energy cultivation system of Chinese xianxia. This moves the actual dungeon building exposition from arbitrary mechanics to abstract, but more logically consistent methods. Issues of purity, contagion, and energy flow can affect what Cal is currently able to create, with breakthroughs coming from cleaning up energy paths and new ways to adjust the flows. Chi cultivation also allows for worldbuilding hooks into the plot that mere XP and MP do not allow. Surprisingly, this distinctly Chinese magic system is used without any other chinoiserie elements, which indicates a further progression of xianxia into the English-speaking fantasy mainstream.

However, Dungeon Born does have issues when it seeks to move past the narrow scope of the dungeon. Since the popularization of The Lord of the Rings, epic scale fantasy has been the flavor of the decades. An intelligent cave just is not mobile enough to visit, much less influence, cataclysmic events, and Dungeon Born, like its fellow dungeon builders, wants to play in the cataclysmic. And rather than train heroes, Dungeon Born wants Cal to be the hero. The result, played out in its sequels, is the power creep familiar to fans of shounen manga. There is also a lack of purpose to the story, as Cal grows stronger to draw more energy to grow stronger in a cave’s power fantasy. Every bit of cleverness is tied to a rather weak purpose with few obstacles in the way. The result lends itself to the open-ended approach of kishotenketsu‘s development-twist-consequences cycles instead of dramatic structure. Dungeon builders in general need more focused plots and more modest stories that take advantage of a dungeon’s immobility and allure to adventurers.

As mentioned, Dungeon Born is a lighthearted beach read with aspirations to something grander that stands out as a transitional story in the growing evolution of American xianxia.

Crest of the Stars and Dungeon Born published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/