#so anything i could share would be incomplete and i don't think a useful glimpse

[ratwavegamehouse]

Doing work on This is Your Lifepath season 2 has got me thinking about lists of inspirations again. So I rounded up some lists in upcoming projects.

(Ritual Magic for Besties isn't here as its bibliography is fairly short and more explanatory rather than list-y, also like it comes out later this month so you can just wait)

PSYCHODUNGEON

The games listed are primarily about mechanical influence (which is why they're mostly a very large slice of Belonging outside Belonging games). Big exceptions are Subway Runner and DD.TV which are both there for post-dungeon fantasy influence. ACWtM is there for the influence on the asymmetric roles, which are a divergence from how BoB setting elements tend to work, and so my own Fear the Taste of Blood is there because working on that is how I understood that element better.

Probably should clarify Moonstruck is the comic (as like loose setting influence) rather than the film (which bangs but doesn't relate much to PSYCHODUNGEON).

NHSmackdown is a wrestling/performance art show by a friend of mine which was focused on being a nurse. The influence is in how it got me reflecting on being trapped in job which is nominally doing good but isn't protecting you and is honestly actively harming you.

Nemesis Revealed

Nemesis Revealed is a storytelling game of great rivals, where you play someone's nemesis, their dark counterpart and follow their story. It has multiple playsets which frame a different hero to create your nemesis in opposition to.

So the game influences are either in mechanics or in the structure of a book basically. Whereas the other section primarily focuses on specific influences for different playsets (there's a sort of conventional street level superhero, a gender-twisty tokusatsu inspired story, as well as strange space knights and near-distant future mecha crews). It's a scattershot and probably reads very opaque without context (I think that's how all my bibliography lists look which is probably why I place them at the back, where a reader will find them already armed with context, rather than at the start as a taste setter).

Transgender Deathmatch Legend II: Grand Slam

TDL2 actually has two separate lists. There's a traditional bibliography. I referenced my own work I've drawn on because it seems honest. Fox in the Forest is there for influencing the original mechanic. Hieronymus influenced how i wanted the shape of the book to be. Stealing the Throne influenced some non-fighting mechanics.

The other references are more for how they influenced specific scenarios (like one is loosely Raid inspired but turned into smashing up a GIC, while another is a direct Warriors-riff).

I included the Party of One episode i did cause it helped clarify how i felt about the game. British lads hitting each other with chairs is there because it's a mood.

Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum with Expats was a fringe theatre show I did set up for and it ended up influenced the content of a work-in-progress show I did called Crossface (which was a wrestling inspired character comedy performance drama). Some of the content for Crossface has been recycled into some personal essays I have in the book. So paying tribute to that root felt important.

But before that section TDL also has a Recommended Reading list. It's mainly stuff that I think conveys what's enjoyable about wrestling. I wouldn't say everything was a direct inspiration, but if you read the book and played the game and wanted to know more about wrestling; there's a little roadmap in the book.

(Though being serious this appendix is obviously super subject to change before release if anything horrific comes out about anyone featured, obviously the danger in recommending any wrestling tbh)

[sweetygirl90]

Failed ritual AU:

The self-sacrifice ritual has failed and Wei WuXian has been brought back from death as a ghost that only Mo XuanYu can see and hear. With the beginning of a friendship, both decide to go in search of the most significant remnants of Wei WuXian to complete the ritual without XuanYu having to die in the process. On the way they are interrupted by the encounter with HanGuang-Jun and the mysterious case of the corpse arm. Their main mission will be put on hiatus to deal with this mystery. After all... Repairing the ritual does not have a time limit. Or does it?

Mo XuanYu liked dogs, what's more, he was very sure that he was a dog person. Having one was a wish that he still could not fulfill, due to the circumstances in which he had always been involved, so he had considered commenting on this to Wei WuXian later, for him to weigh it since they would live side by side. Well, he no longer needed to ask him anything, the answer jumped before his eyes —rather his poor ears— when that loud, terrified screech resounded just for him. “No...! No, help! XuanYu! Lan Zhan!” Wei WuXian screeched, forgetting all decorum and dignity as he ran around his friend, since as soon as the dog noticed it to his misfortune, she also tried to go after him which became a nightmare with which he could not try. “Help! She wants to bite me! She wants to bite me! Put her away!” Mo XuanYu didn't even have a chance to ask what was the cause of such a scandal over a simple dog since the specter kept screaming practically begging him to get away from her, and not only that, but he could sense that Wei WuXian fear was so great that apparently the bond was doing its thing forcing Mo XuanYu to feel part of that terror, making him back away. He did not remember seeing anything about these animals in Wei WuXian memories. What had he missed? It did not matter, solving that question would not be for now, because now he also felt the enormous need to escape from the canine as if it had never seemed to her the adorable little ball of hair that he saw at first. Who knew a ritual and a connection could screw him up so badly. I-I wanted to pet her, it's not fair! "A-Ah ... AAHH! HanGuang-Jun! HanGuang-Jun!” "Lan Zhaaaan! Save us! Help!” Finally catching a glimpse of the second master Lan was a miracle, so he wasted no more time and ran to stand by his side, barely grabbing onto his arm to avoid Fairy, something a little more subtle on his part than his ghostly friend who was nothing to climb on Lan WangJi’s back like he was tree. Mo XuanYu wondered what HanGuang-Jun would be thinking about it if he could see Wei WuXian. Wei WuXian couldn't care less. He couldn't handle the fear. Seeing or even hearing the barking of those horrendous four-legged beings was enough to terrify him totally, returning his memory to those times when he fled through the desolate streets of Yiling, with several of that type chasing him.

I come with a new concept drawing! The scene that I wanted to draw was the one that takes place when Wei WuXian meets Jin Ling in the market (You know, when Jin Ling throws a merchant away, scene that I would like to draw later) and is scared by the presence of Fairy.

I don't think I explained it before so I'll say it here so there is no confusion.

The ritual being incomplete, also for the same reason it made an incomplete connection between WWX and MXY. WWX does not have the body of MXY, however they are now linked by a bond that does not allow WWX to stray too far from MXY and that allows them to share memories and emotions. If the emotion is very strong, it can affect the other, although not on a personal level. MXY knows that he is not afraid of dogs, but the fear of WWX is so strong and intense that he is affected by it.

They continue to have their emotional autonomy, they simply know what the other feels.

As for the memories... It works similar to Empathy. MXY can sometimes view the most significant memories from WWX and can voluntarily and unintentionally show his own, and vice versa.

The situation of WWX and MXY is supposed to be a secret at this point, so LWJ has no idea that the real WWX is a ghost hovering around them.