#the game made it possible to…implement personalities? which made it more fun idk

[emblazons]

I’ll be so real: I never once understood the appeal of OCs and complex internal worldbuilding until I played BG3—but now I keep putting my people in little scenarios and realize I’ve just been missing out LMAO

[borderline-off-fangame]

it's the anniversary... of the game's development. idek why I'm making these at this point, I suppose because it gives me some kind of purpose or motivation to continue on despite the shit that's been happening in my life. The massive burnouts, the lack of motivation, my dayjob eating up my time to the point that I'm unable to sit down and work on the game.. the depression.. but I keep persevering..

Last year I released a remade demo of the game, where I rehashed the entirety of the game, from the gameplay to the story, the entire thing was changed.. And there were lots of struggles and hurdles I needed to surpass just to release a (somewhat) perfectly functioning demo, completely bug-free.. That's an achievement if I do say so myself... I did take a break from the game afterwards and ended up making Escape Button, a.. quite short and silly little experimental game where I tried to emulate a 'point-n-click' setting.. It's possible, you just gotta be a little creative. *pensive* For the most part it worked, and from there, I applied what I learned in Esc and slapped it into burdel borble, you will see what I mean in a few.. enough sob stories about my crippling depression and burnout, you came here for the good shit, but if I end up wallowing in my own self-pity, that's on me. I'm a tired creature, that is all I am..

I unfortunately did not receive any questions, so I may as well make up some questions you might wanted to ask me.

WHY IS IT TAKING YOU SO LONG?!

To put it bluntly, I'm a one man developer.. People might misinterpret what I mean by that, so let me elaborate. Other than music and the assets I receive from volunteers who want to see my game come to fruition, I am left to do everything else that isn't in the music department or general assets. Which means coding, mapping, setting up events, story and dialogue, constant beta-testing, yadda yadda. Other factors play in this, and it has to do with my day-job. Since I started my day-job back in February, all my focus shifted onto my work, so I have been unable to sit down and work on the game..

I know people want to see my game get finished someday, but idk when exactly that someday will be.. Might not be tomorrow or next year.. My fg does not have a deadline and it's better that way, so I don't end up stressing myself out.. When it comes out, I hope to make it into a grandiose deal or some shit like that..

For the most part, I'm mostly re-working on dialogue and certain events in game to make it pop a little bit more and make it look more.. mine you know.. like I made it with my own 2 hands..

WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?

Finish the game ofc, and then begin working on new projects.. I do have something in mind, might be another experimental one, who knows.. And ofc, finally kickstart my twocrown tutorial channel, where I post rpgmaker related tutorials.. I'll keep that short haha.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE SO FAR? WHAT WILL WE SEE IN THE FUTURE/FINAL VERSION?

Lots of things actually! Let's start with the most basic..

Animated facesets. It came to me in a dream lol So I wanted to try out a thing where the characters are able to speak. As in you see the faceset's lips move. This one took time to implement because I kept running into issues.. Then the bird brain awoke and was like: remember that large sprite tutorial for 2003? Make it for the facesets! And so I did!!

Aleyes shop gets a bit of an overhaul! learning from Esc, I made a panorama for his little shop, where he will sell you goods. This is a point-n-click segment.. don't worry, there will be more, in the form of minigames and puzzles! they are fun to make!!

First person battle. Think Earthbound. Just think Earthbound!! This one comes with it's pros and cons unfortunately.

The major Pro here is that it will not be necessary to constantly change the battle sprites, all i have to do is just change the faceset and I'm moving on with my life.. the con? well, when their HP reaches 0, they are dead, but they're unable to show.. I'm trying to figure out a way to overcome this, but I am drawing blanks.. i do see potential in the window c variant (the first person view), I haven't seen much people use this type (WITHIN the fangames!! not outside, within!!!)

and that's about it I suppose.. I don't have much else to show cuz everything else is spoiler territory and I don't want to spoil!

So yea, happy anniversary, and.. let's hope I finish this game someday..

[whoredmode]

AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING. THE "ROMANCE" SCENES SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN JUST A ONE MINUTE THROWAWAY JOKE!!

Literally all the dynamics they created for those scenes with those characters were so interesting. Like they KNEW that there were interesting ideas there. But they played it off as a one off joke when some actual development of the relationships between characters would've been a welcome addition to the game, since there was nothing with any meat to it anywhere else. Sorry but the romance scenes make me so mad. We could've had it all.

Anyways the only thing I enjoyed about SRIV were, ironically, the collectable voice logs from other characters. It was fun to see past and present characters reflecting on the boss and the saints. More of that carried throughout the game would've really made for a much better experience. I'm with you on the shitty "greatest fears" bits. So much potential... only for nothing to come of it.

I’M SAYING LIKE! i get the romances were supposed to be more like jokes, specifically parodying mass effect but like. hey maybe. just maybe sriv. you could not be afraid of yourself for two seconds and actually do something interesting. instead of feeling like you gotta rely on referential humor you could, i dunno, explore the potential dynamics between the boss and the others in a romantic light? that’s fascinating to me. and there’s so much personality in several of those scenes that like….it all felt like it was right there. the johnny one in particular is insane. y’know at one point in srtt’s production there were apparently plans to have your boss date johnny or shaundi (depending on if you played a female or male boss respectively) but they would break up w you in the end regardless. which i think is really funny on the surface but like. it shows they weren’t totally against the idea of exploring how these relationships would evolve over time? it’s not out of the realm of possibility that these characters may start to develop romantic feelings for each other, and if anything i think it adds an interesting layer. how do you deal w that in this line of work? why allow yourself to care when you could lose them so easily? johnny in particular is an interesting case in and of himself: how does he move on from aisha, especially after what happened to her? there’s so much there! and maybe it’s asking too much from this game but like. idk man.😔

i will say i appreciated the overworld/hub that sriv had and how it allowed you to talk to the lieutenants and all that. it’s something i’m glad they implemented in the reboot, and if they ever remade the first two games i’d hope they’d put that there too. i would LOVE to see the lieutenants around the church and being able to have conversations w them.

and i completely agree, i think the idea of the audio logs is actually really interesting and if anything i wish there was more of them.

[tlbodine]

Thanksgiving is Gonna Be Weird: A Survival Guide for 2020

It’s 2020, the pandemic is worse than ever, and the holidays are right around the corner. No matter what, this is going to be a weird Thanksgiving for a lot of people. With travel restrictions in place and most of us having a mighty desire not to murder our friends and family by spreading around a disease, there’s a good chance that you’re going to be celebrating a bit differently this year. 

And, hey, maybe you decide not to celebrate at all. Which is perfectly valid! 

But maybe you’re staring down the possibility of your first Thanksgiving on your own, or feeding just the small group you live for rather than a big crowd, or some other unusual circumstance. And if that’s the case, I wanted to compile together some resources/ideas to help you out. I know this isn’t my usual horror fare, but...well, I hope it’s helpful, regardless. 

“Help, I’ve Never Made Thanksgiving Dinner Before” Starter Kit

Maybe you’ve always gone home for the holidays but are currently stuck in an apartment with a few roommates, and none of you have any intensive cooking skills. Maybe you always take the kids to Grandma’s house and have never had to contribute more than a side dish but now really want to do a proper Thanksgiving feast for your partner(s), kid(s) and whoever else lives in your house. 

Never fear! A Thanksgiving feast doesn’t have to be intimidating! In fact, Thanksgiving foods are usually pretty simple; the most challenging part of the whole feast is the project management aspect of working with a lot of different dishes and getting everything ready at once. But the smaller your crowd to feed, the easier that is! 

So, the first thing you’ll want to do is come up with a menu. Sit down and write a list of all the foods you normally eat and enjoy on Thanksgiving. If something is served at your family meal that you’ve never cared for, guess what? You can boot that bad boy right off the list! 

By and large, the standard Thanksgiving feast consists of: 

Roast turkey 

Mashed potatoes

Gravy

Some kind of dinner roll

Cranberry sauce

Some number of vegetable side dishes (often a green been casserole and a sweet potato casserole) 

Some kind of dessert (often/traditionally a pumpkin pie) 

I’ve linked above some easy & favorite techniques/recipes for all of these foods, but of course you can buy time-saving convenience items to get you rolling -- from potato flakes to gravy mix to premade pie. I won’t tell if you don’t. 

If there’s something you’re used to eating every year that you don’t know how to make....call whoever usually makes it! If at all possible, obviously, I’m not recommending you do a seance to talk to your dead great-aunt and get her rolls recipe. Just, like...phone up your friend/family member, get the recipe, and use it as an opportunity to connect. Odds are both of you are missing the human interaction. 

“Hey, That’s Nice, But I Live in a Dorm Room”  Edition 

Okay, okay, I get it. You’re away at college and can’t get home to see your family safely and you’re living in some kind of weird socially isolated dorm situation where you have limited access to cooking implements. Or, shit, idk, maybe you’re couch-surfing or living in a motel or otherwise not in possession of a full kitchen. 

I got you, fam. 

Do you have at your disposal a microwave? Rice cooker? Even an electric kettle will work! 

If you have some way to boil water, you can make instant mashed potatoes, gravy, and stove-top stuffing. If you have a microwave, you can steam some vegetables and bake a sweet potato. For dessert, core an apple, stuff the cavity with brown sugar + cinnamon + butter and nuke in the microwave for 4 minutes. 

It’s hypothetically possible to microwave a turkey, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Instead, I’d opt to buy a deli roast chicken (about $5 at most grocery stores), or even just some turkey deli meat. Alternatively, ham usually just needs to be warmed rather than cooked, and you can buy a big ol’ ham steak at the store for a couple of bucks. 

“I’m Dead Broke Because COVID, Send Help” 

You know the great thing about Thanksgiving food? It’s cheap. No, really! It can be, anyway, especially since a lot of foods go on sale. 

In my area anyway, the local Wal-Mart and Smith’s Grocery have: 

A can of green beans for about 79 cents

A bag of instant mashed potatoes for about $1 

A big can of yams for about $1, or fresh yams for 50 cents/lb (usually a couple sweet potatoes = 1lb) 

Canned corn or peas + corn for 50 cents, or steam-in-bag veggies of your choice for $1 

Stovetop stuffing for $1 or sometimes even 50 cents per box 

Margarine for 79 cents to $1 

Gravy mix packets for 50 cents each

A can of cranberry sauce for $1 or less

Most of these are also available at Dollar Tree! 

A lot of food banks will also be giving out turkeys this time of year, and some grocery stores will give you a free turkey if you spend $50 or $100 on groceries or whatever. Do you have an older relative who needs groceries? Ask if you can go buy their food and deliver it to their door (contactless!) and keep the free turkey.

You can pretty easily feed a group of 4-6 for $20 or so, especially if you’re willing to be flexible on your protein. And what are you doing feeding more than 6 people in the middle of a pandemic, huh? 

“I’m Used to Hosting a Big Dinner But There’s Only Like Three Of Us Living In This House WTF How Do I Scale This Shit Down” 

Maybe you are a Thanksgiving veteran. Maybe you’re accustomed to hosting for a big crowd and cooking a small meal just seems dumb and pointless. I feel you. This is my life right now! But don’t despair! 

The way I see it, you’ve got a couple-three options: 

Option One: 

Cook your turkey + a different side each day, and eat your Thanksgiving feast spread out over a week or so. It’ll keep your leftovers from dominating your fridge, let you eat something fresh, and allow you to enjoy all your favorite recipes. Downside is you’ll have to cook every day, so you tell me if you’re too busy to do that. 

Option Two: 

Cook everything that you normally would, but portion off half of it or whatever to stuff into your freezer, or go deliver it to somebody else’s door. The odds are pretty good that you’ve got a friend or family member who is freaking out about the holiday, and if you can’t see them in person, you can at least drop food off on their porch and then honk aggressively/cheerfully from the safety of your car! 

Option Three: 

Make something different this year. If you’re a foodie, take this as an opportunity to challenge yourself to create something high-maintenance and weird that you wouldn’t normally make. This is a good choice if you’re off work and stuck in your house with nothing else to do. Basically you’re subbing out quantity for quality so the meal still feels special and unique even if it’s, y’know....just you and your cat, or whoever. 

PS: Roasting a whole chicken or a cornish game hen is a fun, small-scale way to get your bird-in-the-oven experience. You can also buy a turkey breast and just cook that, which will be a lot faster than the whole bird anyway. 

"I’m An Essential Worker And I’m Working Thanksgiving And Have No Time To Do ANYTHING, What Now?” 

Dude, I get it. And whether you’re a doctor, nurse, grocery store employee, or whatever other essential service-worker, my heart goes out to you because hoo boy this year has been shit, hasn’t it? I can’t do anything about the hazard pay situation, but I CAN tell you that there are a few places offering delivery-based Thanksgiving meal options! 

You might want to search around a bit for your specific area. Cracker Barrel, Marie Callendar’s, Boston Market, and other types of branded “home-cooking” type restaurants tend to have some kind of Thanksgiving thing. Why not call your local restaurant fav to see if they’re doing something similar? Most restaurants are desperate for a way to stay afloat right now, so a ton of places that don’t traditionally deliver are offering curbside service now. It’s worth a try! 

So, there you have it. 

I hope some of these tips taught you something new, pointed you to a helpful resource, or gave you some ideas. More than anything, I just want everybody to be safe and happy this holiday. So, please -- get creative, wear your mask while you’re shopping, avoid the get-togethers, and be careful. You may save a life! 

[mic-and-cheese]

Please info dump about your husband...I wish to know more about him!

AAAAA OK I DIDN’T THINK I’D GET THIS FAR 

Idk where to start so I’m just gonna ramble?? I guess??? Puttin it under a readmore bc it’s long as FUCK

I think one of the most interesting things about Buddy is his backstory? Like he used to love supers but now hates them because his idol rejected him? I’ve seen a lot of different interpretations of his past, and I apologize for starting off on this note but Buddy comes off to me as someone who was neglected as a child, so he has trouble with empathy, other social skills, and doesn’t really have a way to healthily deal with stress, which lead him to go down the path he did. I think he was born in a small southern town, but moved to Metroville and became enamored with superheroes because he’s now living somewhere where he can see and meet them personally. He views Mr. Incredible as a father figure because of a lack of a father or other male role model in his life and he probably feels like maybe his life would be better or that he’d be more loved if he had powers, and he’s been constantly told and lead to believe that he can’t be a hero without powers, so telling him that is a sore spot for him.He started messing with machines and learning how to fix them because his family didn’t have enough money to fix or replace things around the house when they broke and he found that he really had a passion for building and creating. Of course, he’s a really smart kid, he loves to read and loves math and science and did well in school, but some adults kinda thought he was a nightmare to be around cuz he’s a lil bit bratty and tries to get attention, but he got along well with teachers and other adults who recognized that he was talented and gave him the attention he needed. Buddy is really used to having to cause a lot of trouble to get what he wants or to be listened to, which is a trait he still kept into adulthood. His first real invention that wasn’t just him tinkering around with whatever he could find was his rocket boots, and he made them with spare parts he found or bought. He’s met Mr. Incredible a few times before, but he was hoping that being able to show off his talent would impress him enough to let him be his sidekick.Ever since he was young he’s always been an entrepreneur, making money by fixing stuff for neighbors and taking other odd jobs.Even after he was rejected he still loves superheroes, or at least the idea of them, even though he doesn’t really like them as people anymore but I’ll get to that later.The interesting thing about him really is just how much I can estimate about him just from what little info we know about him in canon, and how many ways there are to interpret him. I’ve seen him be interpreted as a kid who was spoiled and didn’t know how to deal with rejection, and while I can’t say I like that interpretation, but it is possible. Even though his backstory is interesting, his personality is just…??? Lovely??? I mean it’s really not but I think it is. He’s just??? so geeky and adorable and I love seeing him get so excited over superheroes even though he has a love-hate relationship with them, and he’s just fearless and probably a bit of a dare devil? He really seems like the sort of person who would try anything at least once and doesn’t get embarrassed easily. I mean it’s just so amazing how he’s an evil mastermind but like, he’s still Buddy ya know? Like he still has his excitable, nerdy, funny personality, but he can also be downright terrifying? It’s interesting from a character writing standpoint of course but like, just? On a personal level??? I mean his personality alone flusters me because everything about him (save for uh, the murder) is something I find obviously given the subject of the blog, really attractive. Like he’s not afraid to be himself or play around and he embraces self-insert esqe enjoyment so like??? How cool is it to have an f/o who may also have f/os or at least be supportive of self inserting!!Of course even though theres a lot about his personality that’s cute, there are a lot of things that aren’t, so he’s not really the best with empathy, and he can be pretty cruel, petty, selfish, and he has difficulty opening up to people but I do think that he’s open to learning and changing with someone he trusts, and can be really sweet when he wants to, even if it is a little awkward.One thing I really love about him is how you can tell that he’s got a life and interests outside of Kronos. Like yeah he’s really focused on his plan obviously, but his personality is just so strong in the things around him and the things he does and says that make him feel so much more dimensional. For example, a lot of his tech is integrated with or inspired by nature, so I really think he likes biomimicry, probably because he’s learning how to one up nature, aka basically what his entire motivation is. I love that he’s obviously just got cute little tics like how his eye twitches in the lego games or how much he likes to gesture and hum and whistle. (also his humming is so cute oh my god)And I’m just constantly in awe of how smart and resourceful he is. I mean my love of tropical islands aside, Nomanisan is just… impressive. Like its so ingenious to build his base literally into the island in a way that makes use of its natural features, such as the underwater landing pad, secret exits, underground passageways, and of course the lava wall, and I just can’t help but wonder how he came up with all of that and how long and how much money it took? And thats just taking about the things on the island that are canon. I mean, from my own speculations I figure that the island not only has that amazing lava wall, but is built to redirect the flow of lava to prevent any volcanic activity on the island, keep lava and ash away from expensive tech (the rocket and mantajet for example) and provide power to the island via geothermal energy. Maybe even a little use of wave energy too if necessary since it’s a pretty good option for a place surrounded by water. I assume Buddy chose the island for its resources, (namely a metal alloy that one of the books mentioned) considering he’s made it pretty self sustaining with what it already has after implementing all his tech. The location, being far from any other place, really, and outside of any governmental jurisdiction is good too, so when you really think about it, he probably could have gotten away with a lot of the things that he did, which is, uh, pretty impressive to say the least, not to mention the real world location of Nomanisan (Easter Island) doesn’t face the sorts of hurricanes and harsh weather you’d expect for a small island in the middle of no where.And I mean??? He’s a genius inventor villain who is still extremely in tune with nature to the point that it inspires some of his inventions??? How cool and unique is that??? I’m sure the island must be an amazing place to be, I mean the beaches and caves, rivers, waterfalls… it must be such a joy to explore. And I dunno, I’ve always imagined that working for Syndrome could be kinda fun sometimes. I mean, he is a pretty funny guy with a good sense or humor, and surely guarding and what not all day must get boring, so I’m sure he’s not opposed to having some fun every now and then.And he’s certainly not ashamed of what he considers fun either! I have a feeling he’d like scale models and collectibles and would go to the ends of the earth for a rare one that he particularly likes, especially if they’re ones he gets to build himself. I’m sure he’s a huge fandom geek as well, like name any 50’s-60’s sci fi movie and he knows it by heart. And with all his animal inspired inventions, I’m sure he loves going out in nature and watching the unique wildlife of Nomanisan. Given Easter Island’s own wildlife, I’m sure sharks and whales, and even some really interesting lizards would be pretty common around there. (And given how much forest it has in comparison to Easter Island, I’m sure there’s A LOT more than that. Maybe even rare species only native to the island.) I also really see Buddy as the sort of guy who just loves new and exciting experiences, no matter what it is. Like if it’s something he’s never done before, he’s on board!With all that in mind it’s just so wonderful just how much of a well rounded character he is. I mean he’s happy, nerdy, childish, and excitable, but he’s also bitter, revenge driven, and unempathetic. That being said, his relationships with other people all have such an interesting dynamic to them. He adores Bob for his ingenuity while still hating him enough to try to kill him and his family, and he cares for Mirage but doesn’t really know how to show it. Like I said earlier, I think he was neglected as a kid, so he never really learned how to properly regulate his emotions, so a lot of the time he’s pretty conflicted. He’s an extrovert who wants to be loved and adored, yet he’s too scared to trust after being betrayed. He has a hard time relating to people and thus doesn’t understand how his actions can hurt them when he means well, for example, betting Mirage’s life or saving people from his own robot without proper regard to his surroundings that a truly well meaning hero would have (aka, throwing a tanker truck just to make a spectacle out of saving a mother and child with no regard to what damage the truck could have done).Of course, while his scenes with Mirage can be interpreted as him not really caring for her, I think it’s the opposite. I think he knew that betting her life was the only way he could have saved her (he couldn’t have pulled her away from Bob, shocking Bob could have shocked her, and if he had shown any weakness for her, Bob could have used that as leverage against him, whereas if he shows no remorse, if Bob had killed her he’d just have a dead lady on his hands for pretty much no reason). Granted as well meaning as he was, I don’t think he understands how that hurt Mirage. He sees that he saved her, and doesn’t expect her to be mad about it, but the reality is that she honestly does have a right to be mad about her life being risked, especially when he never clearly communicated that his intent was to save her.Somehow I’ve gone this far without even talking about why I like him??? I mean I don’t even think I’ve ever fully explained why I like him. I’ve tried, sure, but I don’t even think it’s something I can actually convey in words? But I’ll try??? Anyway, he’s literally everything to me, and I don’t just mean that in a sappy romantic way. I’ve always been fascinated with him since I was 6 years old and saw the movie for the first time. He reminds me of happy memories with my dad who passed away some years ago because I saw the movie with him and I remember how much it confused little 6 year old me. Like the fact that the movie started with interviews was the wildest thing to me, and I don’t even think I could even comprehend the plot until much later on. But during that first experience, I don’t know what it was but something about him always stuck with me. Funnily enough one of the things that stuck with me was his joke from Jack Jack Attack and that was the first joke that I knew I didn’t understand but knew I would someday and I literally made a mental note back then telling myself that I knew I’d understand it, and well, thanks for remembering that 6 year old me, because I get the joke now and it’s still funny to me. (I also never actually realized that the guy silhouetted in front of the lava was supposed to be Syndrome until like last summer and I always just thought that was something that was never explained haha.) Anyway after seeing the movie with my dad, he asked me who my favorite character was. I said Violet since I thought saying otherwise would have been weird at the time, but in reality it’s always been Syndrome and that’s just an important memory to me.And now he’s that memory and so many other things to me. He’s what finally helped me recover from a rough couple of years by showing me that people could still create wonderful and impressive things despite being cast away by someone that they once adored and that my success wasn’t based on their approval, which finally helped me shut them out of my life and become so much happier. He helps me manage my anxiety because all the things that make me scared would be nothing to the guy who still wore a cape and rocket boots even after they nearly got him killed. And of course, I love him because he’s nerdy, excitable, brave, and smart, and even because I feel like I can understand his lack of empathy. He’s just such a well rounded, multifaceted character that it’s almost hard to believe he’s fictional haha. With all that combined, he’s one of my my special interests too! I mean it’s hard not to want to know everything about such an interesting guy right?But even if you can’t see the appeal in his personality, it’s no question that he’s just amazing in terms of his accomplishments alone. I mean he can’t be any older than like, 28 max (I consider him 25 though, since the closest we ever get to a canon age is mid 20’s)  and yet he’s a billionaire with his own private island, at least one successful company, and groundbreaking tech that makes today’s tech look simple, but he did all in the EARLY SIXTIES.The mantajet in particular is just awe inspiring to me, mostly because I love planes, but I mean, most planes take 15 years just to be conceptualized. Buddy created a completely automated, uniquely shaped, supersonic, semi-aquatic jet with the ability to hover in under that time. It’s like if the SR-71 Blackbird were a luxury all-terrain vehicle! And I am just so endlessly impressed that it can go underwater, like I’m sure its entire design was based around that ability, since the engines would have to be strong enough to withstand literal tons of water going through them, which is why I suspect they’re placed in those cavities above the wings, to direct air and water to go through them in the right way while also keeping them intact in the impact! (they may be waterproof but they are unfortunately not (or maybe fortunately, depending on how you look at it) uh,,,, Syndrome proof) And the “manta feelers” probably help the plane hover and also serve as the landing gear??? UGH IT’S GENIUS, SUCH RESOURCEFUL GENIUS.Of course I’ve gotta talk about the design of his aero boots too!! He’s come such a long way since the rocket boots!!! I’m so proud of him!!! The new boots are just as genius as the mantajet, really. They have vents in the sole, probably to either keep them from overheating or to draw in oxygen to use for combustion. I love how the metal strip is implemented into the heel and up the back of the boots, that’s probably where the fuel and engines are housed, and man, I can’t imagine how much power they’d both have to generate, those tiny little engines. I’m sure they run on some pretty efficient stuff. And how the soles of the boots look like they can come off of the main boot itself, I’m sure that makes for easy maintenance! I also love how the animators added the detail of the screw in the arch of the boot so that it articulates properly, rather than just saying “yeah whatever he can walk fine somehow with these half-metal boots.”And then there’s Zero Point Energy??? I mean, ZPE is actually based off a real scientific concept that would essentially harness infinite energy. I think about this on the daily and I still can’t comprehend it. He harnessed infinite energy. In the 60’s. And made a device small and powerful enough to literally generate it in the palm of his hand. Since all of that energy is generated in his gauntlets, it’d have to pass through his hands to reach his fingertips, so not only can he generate it, but he created a suit that can conduct infinite energy around him so that it doesn’t hurt him. Like no wonder he’s so protective of ZPE. (On that note, this is exactly why I think he designed his suit and not Edna or Galbaki. He’d never trust anyone else to design a suit with his most valuable tech built into it)Not to mention, how interesting is it that a ruthless serial killer villain like him chooses a technology that doesn’t harm his target and instead just freezes them in place!Also also can I talk about just how amazing the other features of the gauntlets are? I mean they hold a small bomb that can produce a big enough blast to in theory kill the nearly invincible Mr. Incredible. He’s got a laser powerful enough to make a clean hole through the roof of a house, and those gauntlets can take a hell of a beating too, considering it was thrown all over the city during the final Omnidroid fight with minimal damage. Oh also the little sliding cover over the buttons is cute.Ok ok, next there’s the energy prisons. I assume they work on ZPE since they’re able to suspend victims in mid-air? I literally shouldn’t be so excited about this thing but I can’t even get over how ingeniously HORRIBLE they are. I mean I don’t want to get into any details, cuz if I do I’ll go into scarily gruesome territory but those things are terrifying. They work with almost any sort of super he could possibly be keeping prisoner with such a pretty simple idea really, just by suspending them against their own weight. The only fault in them really is that Violet can get through them, but he may not have necessarily known that beforehand since I doubt he had any force fields to test them on (or at least any “organic” ones).Implementing the monorail system is such a perfect idea too!! It makes it easy to get around, keeps guards from getting lost, works on all terrain, and keeps supers from seeing things they don’t need to see, so long as they stay on the tracks they’re supposed to be on.And speaking of hiding, while not technically tech related, I don’t know if he knows about the KRONOS carved in the cave, but I bet you he does know about that cave and all the other hard to reach areas of the island, since there’s an I2 deleted scene that shows he knows how Gazerbeam died, and the guards know to split up to catch Dash in one of the caves. Also related to Kronos, I like to make fun of his computer room for it’s impractical at best, dangerous at worse design, but listen. The security system. It’s brilliant. He’d have to engineer some sort of substance that stays compact and non-sticky while not in use, but that can quickly expand and maintain its strength to capture intruders. And the victim would still have to be able to breathe through them too?? And like how do they come off?? I’m sure that’s an interesting process too. The “fire randomly” approach is also interesting, since it pretty much leaves no escape. And what about under the walkway??? Like what’s way down there??? I don’t even have a theory for that, really. And and and how does the security system for that room work? Does it recognize unfamiliar noises perhaps, since it was triggered by Bob’s suit tracker, cuz if it were triggered by just random noise, I’m sure Syndrome or Mirage would have accidentally triggered it before. Oh, also also also x3 the computer screen automatically shuts off once the security system is activated, which is a nice touch, so that the enemy can’t get any more info as soon as the system is notified. Having only one way in and out of the room is clever too.I JUST WANNA KNOW MORE ABOUT NOMANISAN’S SECURITY PROTOCAL OKI wish we had seen more of the technology that he used for Mirage’s message too. Like, he obviously uses the voice matching and scanning technology on the island (the security bird and life probe) but what about that illusion effect on the tablet?Also I mean, I’m sure being an arms dealer during the Cold War in itself has got to be extremely lucrative, but that doesn’t even account for how high tech his other weapons that weren’t mentioned must be.Ok, ok I think that covers all of his other inventions. I haven’t talked about the Omnidroid yet because hooo boy do I have some things to say about that beautifully terrifying piece of tech. I love that he used an iterative process on it to build upon its design (also the idea that he respects the strength his self-proclaimed nemesis enough to build up the robot to prepare to fight him), and I’ve actually gone back and tried to figure out the reason behind the changes he made in each iteration. And listen. How long do you think it took him to build and test all those robots? A few years maybe? Nah son, using the movie’s timeline, I’ve calculated that if he were working at a consistent pace throughout the project, it’d take FOUR MONTHS. 10 highly advanced ai robots. Fully drafted, programmed, built, and tested in 4 months. Oh and did I mention HE CREATED AI. LIKE ACTUAL AI.And his control over the Omnidroid (at least Omnidroid 9 anyway) is brilliant too. He’s got perfect control over it, and the reason I bring that up is because Omnidroid 10 tried to kill him. I’ve spent a long time wondering why he had perfect control over 9 but 10 disobeyed him, and my conclusion is that he implemented some new code in 10 that would make it act more destructively, thus making it more difficult to control but he never actually expected it not to listen to him because he didn’t actually test it on the island since, uh, having a 10 story tall rampaging robot on the loose near your base isn’t a good idea. I also headcanon that 10 was built to self destruct when defeated so that no one could trace its origins back to Syndrome had he won and been considered a hero.With that long ass section out of the way I’d finally like to bring up that if Syndrome did indeed create all of these inventions, that’d made him a computer programmer, aerospace engineer, possibly a civil engineer, a chemist, the inventor of harnessing infinite energy and ai, and thats only what I can think of off the top of my head.Another one of my favorite things about Buddy is that I love how easy it is to imagine him as a way more fleshed out character than he really is. On multiple occasions I’ve heard other people say that he seems like someone who would love conventions, or probably be an internet troll, and other things of that nature that relate more to his interests and personal life. I mean sure, anyone can headcanon anything for any character, but the way people headcanon Buddy just feels very… natural? Very fitting? Like, he’s a character that’s very easy to imagine having a life and hobbies outside of his evil schemes.Another little interesting thing is how he’s pretty much his own downfall. I mean sure a lot of his losses can be attributed to the Parrs defeating him in some way, but his most glaring faults are usually things that he could have prevented had he acted a little differently or planned a little differently. I dunno I just think that’s interesting for no particular reason.And one more thing I haven’t really discussed/seen discussed as much as I really think it should because it’s an interesting part of his character is does he see himself as a hero or a villain? And There are some interesting interpretations to that question as well. For example, if he views himself as a hero it’s probably because he doesn’t believe that superheroes are actually good people at heart, and that they just put up a facade of being kind and helpful to the public, which he uses to justify his atrocities. Or perhaps he legitimately does see himself as a hero for wanting to give normal people the opportunity to be super, or maybe he thinks that he’s doing a service to the world by killing off the people who are simply putting up that facade of good, or perhaps he sees himself as a victim deserving of a “redemption.” And if he sees himself as a villain, maybe he doesn’t understand or want to acknowledge the full weight of his actions, because it’s all a game to him, or maybe he does see himself as a bad person beyond redemption, so he decided that being a supervillain was fated or required of him. Regardless of which idea he believes, it’s obvious that Syndrome very much so lives (and has always lived) in his own fantasy world where things do play out exactly like how comic books do, and that his actions have no real weight to him (except when he feels like he’s been wronged, because he views himself as the protagonist or antagonist of the “story” aka making his own emotions relevant “plot points,” even if no one elses’ emotions (except maybe Bob’s) have any importance to him) because it’s all a comic book in his mind.Anyway there’s my nonsense rant

[unassumingvenusaur]

Fire Emblem Sacred Stones: Sibling Swap

Download v1.0: UPS Patch (Nintenlord’s UPS tool, use on a clean ROM!)

Finally, I am very glad to debut this side project I’ve been working on! 

The concept of this mod is very straightforward-- Eirika and Ephraim, the Renais twins, switch both story roles and personalities in this version of the game! For this release, the changes to the game’s original script are minimal, outside of names and references to gender.

Why?

Consider this something of an ideological counterpart to the FE8 script edit Restoration Queen, which I hold in very high esteem and was actually my first experience with Sacred Stones! That project wished to take FE8′s at times disappointingly sexist script and rectify it, especially its treatment of Eirika. With this, instead of making the original script more palatable, I aimed to recontexualize and and expose the sexism and other aspects. Simply put, I wanted to see and show others how differently the script comes off when doing something as simple as switching the roles of brother and sister! Hence why I tried to edit the script as little as possible.

Besides, putting aside all that serious stuff-- Wouldn’t it be fun to play FE8 again with a gung-ho Eirika who’s an utterly respected warrior destined to become queen, and a softer but bitterly determined Ephraim? To confess, there were a few parts where I had to get a little more creative in editing the script, and in these small moments I got a bit invested in this new Eirika and Ephraim. I might do a more extensive rewrite of this mod one day, that treats their genders more...completely, shall we say. But that would serve a different purpose altogether and would take much longer to produce, so for now enjoy this! 

What’s changed? 

The script has been thoroughly combed through and edited for every reference to Eirika and Ephraim, to completely swap their roles. Seriously, I read every single bit of text in the game for this. It was a lot, so if I missed something or made a typo, please let me know! 

New portraits! I made Eirika myself, and got my friend @starsovercheve‘s help on Ephraim’s!! The slight redesigns capture their new roles and personalities. 

New battle animations! Eirika wields lances and Siegmund, while Ephraim wields swords and Sieglinde. I edited the battle animations for the base male sword lord, male sword great lord, and female lance great lord myself. However, the base female lance lord’s animations are courtesy circleseverywhere!

The only visuals that were not changed were the opening graphics and CG images, because I simply don’t have that kind of artistic talent.

A few small quality-of-life things: 

Fixed some typos from the vanilla script 

Implemented a fix for the wyvern pierce glitch 

Boosted the con of super trainees a little, because idk maybe they’ll suck a little less 

I wanted to include circleseverywhere’s more than 5 support mod, but I couldn’t get it to work with Fe8 for one reason or another. Would disable supports entirely. If someone gets it working, please let me know! 

How to install? 

Download this .ups patch, and use Nintenlord’s UPS tool to apply it to a clean FE8 rom! Simply browse and select the ROM to patch, select the .ups file, and click the “Patch” button! Then just open it up in your emulator of choice and enjoy! 

Feedback is always appreciated, and have fun~

[lewnatic]

For the D&D asks, 1-20

Oh gosh, okay. This is gonna be long so I’m gonna do it under a cut.

What was your favorite Nat 1 Experience?

I don’t think a lot of my characters have had really funny Nat1 moments, sadly. I will always remember the one when @zhixx​ made a goblin named Spook’em specifically designed to have the least survivability possible. The first time he was downed he rolled a Nat1 on his first death save. The feeling of comedic timing was just beautiful.

Favorite D&D Inside Joke?

“You are a privateer! BUT ON LAHND.”

Favorite Item Your Character received in D&D?

Phailyn was supposed to get a tome to increase his strength, but when his crush said she wanted it, he immediately fucking dropped it so she could have it. So the DM let me sneak off and get a scrying orb we’d passed up earlier. He hasn’t used it yet, but I just like the story behind it.

Ves probably considers Sikrikta to be the best item she’s received has a lot of really expensive shit she’s keeping just because she has bourgie taste. She got a bottle of wine as a gift that would have been 400g if she’d left it unopened. She’s drinking it gradually through the adventure. It’s good, but not quite as good as what she’s used to.

Teeki has a gaudy diamond crown that Bing bought for 300 gold. It does nothing. It is purely cosmetic. She loves it.

Basically I love frivolous shit.

Preferred Animal Companion (if you had any)?

Vesxlit has a familiar, if that counts. He’s a parrot named Brilliant. He talks like a normal human (in a setting where that is definitely not commonplace) and is a member of the Bardic College in the capital city of the nation we’re traveling in.

He’s a posh gentleman who helps Ves sew dresses. They spend 90% of their time arguing because, being a bird, his fashion sense is incredibly bright and garish.

Favorite D&D Battle Encounter?

Every boss fight Skaaren has done is goddamn awesome, tbh. My favorite is the first just because of how scary it was.

Keep in mind, we’re level 1 in Pathfinder, an Oracle (Ves) and a Barbarian (Cato.) We’ve just watched a big hole open up in the ground, and our characters don’t know why, but we’re looking for missing people (including the barbarian’s boyfriend Fabius, he’s important) so we figure hell, this is probably where they’re missing.

We find some of the missing people at the bottom of the hole, but we haven’t found Fabius, so we go deeper in. We find this creepy old woman doing some kinda ritual or something by a pool of water? Barbarian charges in to kill her and save his man, and… kills her very quickly.

Silence. We go to check on Fabius, and we’re not sure if we can safely move him. I’m running out of heals from earlier stuff and I pop my last one on him, and after a while of debating what to do a ton of undead start coming out of the water. Just a goddamn mob. Whatever the hell creepy-lady was doing, we were suddenly way in over our heads. Even if we picked up Fabius and ran, we don’t have a fast way out of this hole. And we start taking damage fast. Including Fabius.

I don’t remember the specifics of the fight. I think that’s a testament to how much we were panicking. I remember feeling the helplessness of being a mage completely out of spell slots frantically trying to hit things with my stupid mace.

And I remember when the fight was over, I stayed down there panicking for several more minutes, trying to determine if Fabius was even alive while the barbarian ran to get the local doctor in a town of which he didn’t even speak the language.

In the end, Fabius was okay, and we both got out of it alive. It was just that sense of dread and fear, that we didn’t know how the DM’s rolls were going or if anything we were trying had any impact. Skaaren has always done a stellar job since of bringing that sense of genuine fear into the game when he wants to, but that first unexpected taste of it was so damn cool.

Favorite D&D NPC Interaction?

Varis Vrynn was my favorite villain. Not because of his fight, or how he fit into the greater lore, but because of how @extravagantshoes​ played him. He was a slimy uppity elf in the city of Galthiel, a city with heavy class divides based on magic ability. Varis was a powerful diviner, and a lot of our party interactions involved everyone in the party trying to piss him off and Varis looking down his nose in disgust at all of us.

Then Cedlanna, our young sorcerer, got a conversation with him alone in his manor, where he wanted to make a deal with her. And she just ripped into him. Cut to the core of his insecurities and how with all of his riches on display, his manor still was incredibly empty–that for all the parties he hosted he was completely alone.

He was doing some really irredeemable things and later tried to kill us all but I still managed to feel kind of sad that we ended up gruesomely killing him.

Dumbest thing You & Your Party Did

Charging through multiple spinning saws comes to mind. Every time I try to sneak around in heavy plate armor also comes to mind.

I feel like I need to make a separate post to discuss just all the impulsive things Cato does. Turning an entire city upside down just for the chance to punch a specific guy in the face was one.

Most Epic thing You & Your Party Did

I might also make a separate post about this, but Cato and Ves convinced a bunch of lizard people that they were their gods.

Basically in this setting, the level 1 baddies generally fought are called Rapia. They’re kobold-esque in design, but they have a faith-based culture and… well, kind of a faith-based biology. Rapia need something to worship, they undergo gradual physiological changes based on the thing they follow. (Say it’s a sea creature, they might get gills.) And if they don’t have something to worship, they literally become sick and presumably die.

We’d fought a few before and looted crap from their caves, including a tiny hammer that we never could have used but the barbarian held onto cuz idk??

We later ran into some others by falling through the roof of their cave, but they didn’t attack us. They started to assume that we were the gods depicted on one of their cave walls. For the sake of brevity, a fight broke out later when we were trying to leave, and Cato gave the hammer to one of the rapia who was helping us escape. It turned out in the DM’s notes, this hammer had significance to the rapia, and was supposed to be given to the religious leader of a tribe. And so the entire tribe turned to our side and protected us. And… they started following us.

It was about this time that the DM broke character to tell us he had no plan of this happening, and I guess we just have a tribe of rapia now. And we’ve had the goddamn campaign balanced around having a tribe of rapia ever since.

What did you like about your Campaign’s World?

I’m gonna try to sum these up quickly cuz these stories have already gotten long.

The Ascension world has elements of what I affectionately like to call Pop Fantasy, there’s some genre-awareness while not being parody, and all the work on the pantheon Spi did has been goddamn amazing. I also cannot figure out the overarching mysteries and that is awesome.

Nejj puts a ton into immersing us into the world. I can always very clearly get a feel for the sort of setting he’s putting us in, and I’ve been having a lot of fun with the political intrigue he’s been setting up.

Skaaren’s got the weirdest goddamn races in his setting and I love every single one of them. He’s also packed the setting full of little cultural details, I swear to god he’s done extensive research into what we’re having for breakfast in the morning based on where we’re staying.

What was the most Interesting Lore you Found?

I seriously can’t pick a favorite here so I’m going to give a silly answer, and that’s that acolytes of Ves’s goddess commune with her by getting super high. 

Summarize Your Campaign(s) in a Single Sentence

One for each campaign:A group of weird rebels and one very ordinary guy dismantle the ruling government.Goblins discover crazy politics and necromancy, what happens next will warm your heart.Tourists getting intimate with the horrifying hidden truths of nature

Describe your whole Party Dynamic in a Sentence

The best bunch of weirdos and one stupid shady paladin.Loner rogue becomes Team Mom by sheer force of how much the other two hate each other.Bug Jesus and The Angriest Boy discover family in the form of lizards.

What Alignment do your characters lean towards?

I have a weird time choosing an alignment for characters cuz motivations change a lot for my nerds. Teeki was True Neutral but has become more Chaotic Good. Ves is Lawful Good I guess?? And Phai is a goddamn mess whose alignment has shifted at least thrice since his conception.

How do you tend to Take Notes (if you do)?

Badly! Next question.

Prefer Story/Plot Driven or No Plot/Character-Driven Campaigns?

I tend to prefer plot-driven, but I honestly think elements of both should be implemented in your narrative–occasionally giving breaks from the overarching plot to give the cast some time to dick around can give a breath of fresh air to roleplay.

Combat or Role Play?

Roleplay, of course. I actually used to think I hated D&D combat. It took a lot of great sessions to make me realize that the RP doesn’t stop for combat, and that’s when I started really getting into learning and enjoying mechanics elements.

Favorite D&D Monster/Creature?

Illithid. I would love to actually play as one someday.

Magic User or Fighter?

Magic is more engaging to me, personally, but I like both.

Preferred Weapon/Spell in D&D?

Tasha’s Hideous Laughter. In large part because of how it’s roleplayed in Critical Role tbh. I also have felt the high of Sneak Attack enough times to really love it now.

What was your Favorite Nat 20 Experience?

One time I rolled a Nat20 perception while we were on the road and it was literally just to find a coin on the ground. That might always be my favorite. 

[ask-crs-sides]

(1)So you asked for feedback but giving feedback is scary so I'm gonna do it on anon. First is critiques, which are few: a couple of the mini games seemed too limiting in choices, which is not necessarily bad, but was somewhat frustrating at times. Also, something that I noticed, mostly with Patton but a bit with Roman, is that sometimes characters don't use their skillset. It's possible that this was explained in the beginning and I've just forgotten,

(2) but Patton sometimes seems to be completely clueless on procedures that should be well known for police chief, like crisis de escalation and hostage situations, and there were a few instances where that detracted from the story (but also that could have been bc of mini games and I'm just forgetting so might not all be on you could be us too). And then there's one teeny tiny thing that's not super important but at the very beginning there was a

3) deaf character who read lips and you mentioned that no one uses sign because no one gets taught sign on lower levels and I just wanted to mention that in the absence of taught sign, deaf people will almost always come up with their own sign language, and while hearing people might not know or be willing to learn this home sign, it just felt off to dismiss sign entirely for deaf people in the lower levels, esp. since the levels haven't always been implemented? Idk. Now the good!

4) i really loved the setup for this blog. Plot driven askblog isn't something I've ever seen before, but I really love it and I really love how you implemented it. The mini games were super fun and it really felt like we got to affect the outcome of things and our actions had real consequences. Personally, I feel like the fact that what we chose mattered really made me 10x more involved in this blog. All of the characters were super well rounded and designed,

5) and there were points in the story where I feel like I showed up more for your OCs than the Sanders characters themselves! I especially loved Charles, Rex, Imaj, and Roman's mother. Also, the diversity!!! Omg there was more diversity in this story than I've ever seen in like anything published, and it was so amazing! You have gender, orientation, race, class, and disability, and they were just there, affecting the CRS world just like our world,

6) and that is just truly, truly amazing to see in a story, especially one that doesn't shy away from any of that. I'm so impressed, honestly. And I love that no one made it out unscathed. There's no, "and they all got married and never had problems and were magically cured" here. Your inclusion of family was also important and amazing for me. You have so many types of family, birth family, found family, made family, broken family,

7) and the fact that all of them are so real, and how even the most functional family has conflicts between members and their goals, and even the most broken families were just people trying their best and not quite getting there, was so so important to me. And then finally, this is kinda shallow in comparison to the rest of what I said, but I really love the aesthetic of this blog and also your blog theme is hella. In conclusion,

8) i really really loved this blog, and sometimes it makes me wanna start my own ask blog lol. I would definitely be interested in any livestream you do, and any new blog you do, and while I would be interested in any slice of life stuff you do for this blog, I do think it had an absolutely perfect ending, and if you just wanted to leave it right there, I wouldn't be disappointed. ILY! (end)

((Wow!! That’s so much feedback! Thank you so much :D I’ll definitely keep those critiques in mind when I make the story and design the next blog. Some of the problems came from me just not knowing enough (like the deaf info you mentioned), wanting to keep emotional drama high (occasionally not using their skillsets or having limited choices), or just having to make things up on the fly because you all made a decision I honestly didn’t think you would haha!

I’m glad to hear that you loved the characters and such. I definitely write more for character and character development than plot progression, which is why I enjoyed this set up!

I do not currently have plans to continue with slice-of-life type stuff, as that’s something more that you all need to decide for me, since you would be asking the questions haha! I will keep the livestreams in mind, though. And you should totally make an ask blog! They’re honestly really fun :) Thank you again for all the detail!!))

[worldofsurvivorcomoros-blog]

VERONICA’S JURY QUESTIONS

okay, so i wanna start this off by saying that i really do love the both of you a lot and i had so much fun playing with the both of you <3 secondly, i didn’t 100% show just how genuinely upset i was when i was voted out because i wanted to be nice and non dramatic and what not BUT since we did tribal so early in the day i had time to wipe my tears, get over the sadness i felt, and then let my sadness fester into petty bitter extraness. so with that being said i know i promised regan my vote already but that’s off the table so i can i have some sort of leverage to get y’all to answer/do my three part questions/demands. which i know y’all weren’t wondering but in spirit of being petty i specifically chose 3 parts because i got 3rd place. hehe.

PART ONE – ROP! because i was in the final 3 with y’all, i didn’t get a ROP from either of you and so i want one now, and yes flattery will get you everywhere but i want a genuine 100% honest thoughts about me and memories in the game and whatnot shit which should be simple enough and like it doesn’t HAVE to be at least 300 words….but it’d be nice :////

PART TWO – POEM! i want a poem written about me and i want it to rhyme preferably not half assed and in good length but this one is very iffy just because if its super short but really good then it will be okay and i just wanna smile and or nod my head in agreement so do with that what you will

PART THREE – QUESTIONS! just so i’m not a completE troll in my jury statement/question thing i will ask some genuine questions about your game play and etc.

–– REGAN

1. you said time and time again that you wanted to see me in the f2 with you and you always talked about loyalty between us. if you would have won the final immunity, would you have taken me?

2. you’re possibly the most emotional player i’ve ever encountered……..ever. why should i give you my vote when you let your feelings cloud your judgement and actions in game?

3. what would you say are the strengths and weaknesses in andrew’s gameplay?

–– ANDREW

1. ok so forgive me bc u already know i don’t know much about survivor, but explain to me in detail about your specific strategic side of your gameplay because from how i see it the only truly 100% strategic thing (and not just social) you did was use the sapphire idol, and even that didn’t go as you planned, so to me as of right now i only see your entire gameplay as – talk to everyone and then rely on winning comps or youre out

2. as you said in your speech, you had it easy pre-merge because you were always on the winning tribe, but i still don’t see why i should vote for someone who only really had to play and do heavy gameplay towards the middle to end versus regan who didn’t have the cushion of immunity pre-merge and had to work her way to the end. can you explain to me why i should still vote for you although you didn’t work as hard as regan?

3. why didn’t you tell me you were voting me out in pms like i had asked you the night before :///

IN CONCLUSION –– i really do love you both as people and a large part of why comoros is my favorite survivor game i’ve played is due to you both and i don’t make any promises to not make half joking/half genuine bitter comments about this game (esp to u andrew) but i wish you both the best of luck and i will be voting based on responses to my question/statements and to others and from what i know about each of your gameplays and hopefully YALL don’t hate me after this extra ass mess that i had to do bc like if i’m not gonna win or get the runner up spot then i’m gonna have fun and being the bitter bitch that i am

ROP: You were my closest ally in this game and you know that. I felt like karen and andrew were on the top of our alliance and we were on the bottom so I'm glad you and I flipped it was the right move. And thank you so much for listening to me in the karen vote. Means a lot because without you I could not have done it. It would've went to rocks. it changed our games for the better.

Poem: I hope I won't lose your vote because of what I wrote. The fact that you're mad makes me really sad. Remember before you went you promised me your vote is that really what you meant?? I cannot write well, I'm sorry writing a good poem to you would take a spell. I really think you will keep your word I hope, or else I don't know how to cope.

Questions 

1) yes I would have taken you. If that meant I would have lost 9-0 (or something idk I'm bad at counting) then that really sucks. But when I tell people I'm sticking with them I will. I was very loyal to you and daisy and I only voted daisy out because I had to choose. I hoped to win immunity so it would be us 2 like we always planned. I felt that we were on a more equal playing field and plus I wanted to see you at the end with me

2) I'm sorry that I was Emotional I guess my feelings do affect my game a lot. but nothing anyone said to me or did to me personally affected who I was voting out. Karen was always extremely kind to me and I have zero reason to hate her. same with daisy. but I had to vote them both out. I did what was best for my game. so why I would say emotional things, I wouldn't act on it. or  else my game would've gone differently and Luke would've gone earlier because I was upset by things said by him. Veronica I may have been mad at you due to another game but I didn't let that affect my final 2 with you despite saying it might. you were always someone I wanted to be loyal to.

3) Strengths: -Very good physically. tried so hard in every challenge like he even brought his laptop to class in order to win final 4 immunity. that's commitment -Commitment. as I mentioned before he never gave up even though after Karen's vote he may have felt dead in the water. he tried to convince us to keep him and also never gave up on immunity and had an immunity streak going until the end. -Loyalty: he was extremely loyal. I don't think that until the final 4 he was planning on voting out you me or karen. he wanted it to be us 4 in the final 4 and it hurt him that Karen left. like emotionally not his game play really.

RoP - Whew I really hate what I ended up doing to you in this game. And I don’t think any amount of apologizing will be able to make it better. But I am glad that you still want to continue this friendship because I very much do as well. When we both first saw we were not only in this game together but on the SAME TRIBE, it was hilarious. We were both freaking out and made sure we were gonna have each other’s back. You were not only an awesome ally, but an awesome friend to have as well. Like I told Daisy in her RoP, it’s become more difficult lately for me to kind new people I could really befriend in games because it’s the same people playing a lot of the time. And while we were friends already, this game helped out a lot. We were always so excited in PMs together, and honestly one of my favorite memories of this game is gonna be the call we did for the checkers challenge where we just kept cracking jokes about the mess that was happening. I loved playing with you and getting closer to you this game, and I really look forward to continuing the friendship. Thank you for being the ally and friend that you were, even though I ended up doing what I did at the very end. Ily mom <3

Poem -

Veronica, my mom You are the bomb diggity. Yes With a goodnight streak You make everyone weak Memes for days Queen of the gays Lady Gaga who?_Veronica_

Roses are red Veronica is our queen Her messages will light up any laptop screen She won Mystic Falls And we march down the halls Chanting so strong queen? Veronica

Mother of Sinnoh Queen of Comoros How we love her so Veronica

1 The talking to a lot of people aspect of my game was to open the doors for me to implement the strategies I wanted. You won’t know how people are voting and you can’t get people to vote the way you want them to without talking to them. And that’s what I had to do. A big part of this game was making sure people voted the way I wanted them to, because this was a game of split votes. At least at the merge. There was so much that could’ve gone wrong with the Sapphire Idol play (which ended up benefitting me anyway) and all of the other votes up to Drew’s elimination due to his idol. So split votes had to be implemented. And with a split vote comes a lot of talking and pushing different agendas onto people as to convince them to vote a certain way. Get this person to vote person number 1 for one reason and get another person to vote person 2 for this reason. If you want an example of a plan other than the Sapphire Idol, we could move to Drew’s vote out. This required getting Luke on our side, making sure that Daisy would be on board for the vote, and getting the alliances together to split the votes the way we wanted them to. It also required the convincing of Drew that Luke was the one going home so that he would not only protect Luke but make himself vulnerable to be voted out. There’s so much that goes into these plans that I spent a lot of time working out the necessary voting distributions that I wanted to go down. And I’d say I had a good success rate overall. Through working with alliances and talking to various people separately, a lot of my strategy ended up working.

2 I understand the dilemma of not wanting to vote someone who as safe all of pre-merge. However, that’s something that was very much out of my control. It’s very circumstantial how the tribal immunity wins play out, and you fight to win those as to see another couple days in the game. So, I’m hoping that isn’t something that devalues or discredits my game. And like I said in my opening statement, I used that time to make the necessary social bonds I needed to in order to get me to the end. I know that Regan had to go to some tribals, but what I had heard from during the swap is that Regan was never really in any danger. From what I had gathered, Karen, Drew, and Regan were going to be too tight-knit to be broken pre-merge, and they stayed together throughout all of the pre-merge. So I’m hoping this doesn’t discredit my game, especially because people like Daisy and Chris, who played good and respectable games up to their eliminations, could have potentially faced the same criticism as well had either or both of them made it to the end.

3 I honestly, truly had no figured out what I was doing that night. I dunno how much you believe that, but it’s the truth. You and Regan as well as the hosts all knew that night I was very overwhelmed with irl situations, and I really kinda just won the immunity, stayed online for a little bit, and logged out to clear my mind from not only this game but what was giving me anxiety irl as well. This isn’t something to make you pity me or feel bad for me, it’s just the truth that I was already very overwhelmed that night, and when things like that happen I always tell myself and other people to get offline for a bit if it means you’ll be calmer. So, when I woke up late the next morning and made my decision, I went to you guys in the chat, waited for you both to be present, and revealed it to you both. And that’s all the 100% truth.