#this was the one thing I wanted made into visual

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard info compilation Post 3

[Part 1] [Part 2] Post is under a cut due to length.

There is a lot of information coming out right now about DA:TV from many different sources. This post is just an effort to compile as much as I can in one place, in case that helps anyone. Sources for where the information came from have been included. Where I am linking to a social media user’s post, the person is either a dev, a Dragon Age community council member or other person who has had a sneak peek at and played the game. nb, this post is more of a ‘info that came out in snippets from articles and social media posts’ collection rather than a 'regurgitating the information on the official website or writing out what happened in the trailer/gameplay reveal’ post. The post is broken down into headings on various topics. A few points are repeated under multiple headings where relevant. Where I am speculating without a source, I have clearly demarcated this. if you notice any mistakes in this post, please tell me.

Character Creation

All armor and clothing options will scale and mesh to any body type [source]

The character creator has lots of sliders for body parts and overall shape, none of which are tied to the voice or pronouns (she/her, he/him, or they/them) that you choose [source]

"Epler took special care to show off the extensive curly and textured hair options in the game, including several versions of braids and locs, noting that increasing these options in particular was very important to the team" [source]

You can change your character’s physical appearance at any time during the game, but not their class or backstory [source]

"Each individual class has some variability, too; even the mage class has some up-close-and-personal attacks, since a mage player character could still conceivably have an assassin backstory and would therefore need to have some attacks to accommodate that sort of career path" [source]

" "We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about skin tone,” Corinne said. The character we made, a Black elf, seemed to glow in the bluish light of a nighttime scene, and under bright sunlight, I could see the richness of his color. Corinne: "We want to make sure that skin tone is reflected authentically" " [source]

" “We have dozens and dozens of hair types,” she said. “And they’re fully affected by physics.” The quality and variety of choices I saw delighted me. The rows of bouncy, luxurious-looking hair of all curl types and textures (and yes, the annoyingly ubiquitous “Killmonger cut” was among the options, what can you do?) brought the biggest smile to my face in the hour I spent with Busche and The Veilguard." [source]

Story and lore

NPCs will remember when you chuck a shopkeeper through a plate-glass window [source]

" The game’s story sees Solas intact a plot that will result in the deaths of thousands. When his justification that “people die, it’s what they do,” falls on deaf ears, you and your merry band of misfits have to stop him " [source]

" “Early in the demo and in the trailer, you’re in a part of the world you’ve never been in – Tevinter,” Epler tells me. “Tevinter is known for being a place of high magic; visually, it’s different. Obviously in Origins you’re in Ferelden, which was grubby, muddy, and very visually different and distinct. That said, it’s the first hour of the game, so we’re only seeing the prologue. As you go deeper, you’ll find that the game can be just as bloody and just as grim as Dragon Age Origins, 2, and Inquisition. For us, it’s that feeling of contrast. You get moments of higher fantasy magic coming back to the world through Solas’ ritual, but also things get pretty grim, and things get pretty dark in some spaces for sure.” " [source]

"Snappy dialogue" [source]

The game is really about each of the companions [source]

Narrative narrative narrative! [source]

The Shadow Dragons are an underground resistance that engages in guerrilla warfare against the corrupt mage rulers of the Tevinter Imperium [source]

"Varric has created the group called the Veilguards, recruiting a veritable group of weirdos to pursue Solas, who’s carved a path through the magical empire of Tevinter" [source]

"There’s intrigue to the game’s tale already, with Varric hoping he can convince Solas to stop his plan of tearing open the Veil: a wish by the dwarf to save a dear friend. There’s a fascinating relationship that's already being set up, Varric and Solas as opposing narrative forces, with your character, Rook, pulled between them" [source]

"There’s extra context to flesh out dialogue, with short descriptions that help give a vague idea of how things play out. The example we were shown was Rook trying to take down a gang leader inside a bar. We could choose to defuse the situation with either words or weapons, but the catch is you don’t know how effective those approaches will be" [source]

" Busche explained that the team wanted to give players a game where locations were imbued with just as much personality as the characters. “That meant making contrast from the areas that are dark and decaying to the areas that are illuminated with magic,” Busche said " [source]

" “This is a part of the world where magic has been embraced,” Busche said. “It is a society of mages and magic in this world is inherently colorful. So whether we’re seeing them use magic for everyday purposes like signage or using them as spells, that color really comes through.” " [source]

We will visit the Necropolis of Nevarra [source]

Gameplay, presentation, performance etc

There are dozens of abilities and spells [source]

The game has an easy mode [source]

There is a setting where your character can't die in battle [source]

"The Rogue class in our demo had a bow with recharging arrows for ranged attacks, and dual blades that could unleash a furious flurry of instantaneous blows" [source]

[☕ found this post or blog interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

[ms-demeanor]

Hello! First, I wanted to say thank you for your post about updating software and such. I really appreciated your perspective as someone with ADHD. The way you described your experiences with software frustration was IDENTICAL to my experience, so your post made a lot of sense to me.

Second, (and I hope my question isn't bothering you lol) would you mind explaining why it's important to update/adopt the new software? Like, why isn't there an option that doesn't involve constantly adopting new things? I understand why they'd need to fix stuff like functional bugs/make it compatible with new tech, but is it really necessary to change the user side of things as well?

Sorry if those are stupid questions or they're A Lot for a tumblr rando to ask, I'd just really like to understand because I think it would make it easier to get myself to adopt new stuff if I understand why it's necessary, and the other folks I know that know about computers don't really seem to understand the experience.

Thank you so much again for sharing your wisdom!!

A huge part of it is changing technologies and changing norms; I brought up Windows 8 in that other post and Win8 is a *great* example of user experience changing to match hardware, just in a situation that was an enormous mismatch with the market.

Win8's much-beloathed tiles came about because Microsoft seemed to be anticipating a massive pivot to tablet PCs in nearly all applications. The welcome screen was designed to be friendly to people who were using handheld touchscreens who could tap through various options, and it was meant to require more scrolling and less use of a keyboard.

But most people who the operating system went out to *didn't* have touchscreen tablets or laptops, they had a desktop computer with a mouse and a keyboard.

When that was released, it was Microsoft attempting to keep up with (or anticipate) market trends - they wanted something that was like "the iPad for Microsoft" so Windows 8 was meant to go with Microsoft Surface tablets.

We spent the first month of Win8's launch making it look like Windows 7 for our customers.

You can see the same thing with the centered taskbar on Windows 11; that's very clearly supposed to mimic the dock on apple computers (only you can't pin it anywhere but the bottom of the screen, which sucks).

Some of the visual changes are just trends and various companies trying to keep up with one another.

With software like Adobe I think it's probably based on customer data. The tool layout and the menu dropdowns are likely based on what people are actually looking for, and change based on what other tools people are using. That's likely true for most programs you use - the menu bar at the top of the screen in Word is populated with the options that people use the most; if a function you used to click on all the time is now buried, there's a possibility that people use it less these days for any number of reasons. (I'm currently being driven mildly insane by Teams moving the "attach file" button under a "more" menu instead of as an icon next to the "send message" button, and what this tells me is either that more users are putting emojis in their messages than attachments, or microsoft WANTS people to put more emojis than messages in their attachments).

But focusing on the operating system, since that's the big one:

The thing about OSs is that you interact with them so frequently that any little change seems massive and you get REALLY frustrated when you have to deal with that, but version-to-version most OSs don't change all that much visually and they also don't get released all that frequently. I've been working with windows machines for twelve years and in that time the only OSs that Microsoft has released were 8, 10, and 11. That's only about one OS every four years, which just is not that many. There was a big visual change in the interface between 7 and 8 (and 8 and 8.1, which is more of a 'panicked backing away' than a full release), but otherwise, realistically, Windows 11 still looks a lot like XP.

The second one is a screenshot of my actual computer. The only change I've made to the display is to pin the taskbar to the left side instead of keeping it centered and to fuck around a bit with the colors in the display customization. I haven't added any plugins or tools to get it to look different.

This is actually a pretty good demonstration of things changing based on user behavior too - XP didn't come with a search field in the task bar or the start menu, but later versions of Windows OSs did, because users had gotten used to searching things more in their phones and browsers, so then they learned to search things on their computers.

There are definitely nefarious reasons that software manufacturers change their interfaces. Microsoft has included ads in home versions of their OS and pushed searches through the Microsoft store since Windows 10, as one example. That's shitty and I think it's worthwhile to find the time to shut that down (and to kill various assistants and background tools and stop a lot of stuff that runs at startup).

But if you didn't have any changes, you wouldn't have any changes. I think it's handy to have a search field in the taskbar. I find "settings" (which is newer than control panel) easier to navigate than "control panel." Some of the stuff that got added over time is *good* from a user perspective - you can see that there's a little stopwatch pinned at the bottom of my screen; that's a tool I use daily that wasn't included in previous versions of the OS. I'm glad it got added, even if I'm kind of bummed that my Windows OS doesn't come with Spider Solitaire anymore.

One thing that's helpful to think about when considering software is that nobody *wants* to make clunky, unusable software. People want their software to run well, with few problems, and they want users to like it so that they don't call corporate and kick up a fuss.

When you see these kinds of changes to the user experience, it often reflects something that *you* may not want, but that is desirable to a *LOT* of other people. The primary example I can think of here is trackpad scrolling direction; at some point it became common for trackpads to scroll in the opposite direction that they used to; now the default direction is the one that feels wrong to me, because I grew up scrolling with a mouse, not a screen. People who grew up scrolling on a screen seem to feel that the new direction is a lot more intuitive, so it's the default. Thankfully, that's a setting that's easy to change, so it's a change that I make every time I come across it, but the change was made for a sensible reason, even if that reason was opaque to me at the time I stumbled across it and continues to irritate me to this day.

I don't know. I don't want to defend Windows all that much here because I fucking hate Microsoft and definitely prefer using Linux when I'm not at work or using programs that I don't have on Linux. But the thing is that you'll see changes with Linux releases as well.

I wouldn't mind finding a tool that made my desktop look 100% like Windows 95, that would be fun. But we'd probably all be really frustrated if there hadn't been any interface improvements changes since MS-DOS (and people have DEFINITELY been complaining about UX changes at least since then).

Like, I talk about this in terms of backward compatibility sometimes. A lot of people are frustrated that their old computers can't run new software well, and that new computers use so many resources. But the flipside of that is that pretty much nobody wants mobile internet to work the way that it did in 2004 or computers to act the way they did in 1984.

Like. People don't think about it much these days but the "windows" of the Windows Operating system represented a massive change to how people interacted with their computers that plenty of people hated and found unintuitive.

(also take some time to think about the little changes that have happened that you've appreciated or maybe didn't even notice. I used to hate the squiggly line under misspelled words but now I see the utility. Predictive text seems like new technology to me but it's really handy for a lot of people. Right clicking is a UX innovation. Sometimes you have to take the centered task bar in exchange for the built-in timer deck; sometimes you have to lose color-coded files in exchange for a right click.)

[aturtletotz]

Update ☀️ 🌙 ⭐️

I thought it was important to share an update on how things are going in regards to my Game Show AU, Sight on the Prize, and my Tumblr (posts, artwork, etc) .

There are good news and bad news.

Good news ⬇️

Format change: Instead of SotP being a written story that’s published on AO3, I have decided to make it into a comic instead! Many of my ideas are better portrayed visually than in words, and I realized this while writing the first chapter.

Ideas: I’ve got many! So… many bullet points… Too many. There are so many things I want to reveal about this story, but I have to hold back for the sake of making the reveal worthwhile.

Artwork: I will keep on posting any artwork relating to my AU, as well as possible gifts for fellow artists. These may be less frequent for now, but I’ll try to keep posting!

Spotify: Well, would you look at that! I’ve had a growing playlist with any songs I view fitting for SotP. It currently pretty short, but it has any song I see that could relate to the game show brothers, the story’s plot, etc, in case you are interested in checking it out. If the link does not work, reach out to me and the problem will be fixed.

Bad news ⬇️

Busy: I’m currently struggling on maintaining a balance between this, social life, work, and so forth. For instance, I was originally planning on making a reveal video/post, featuring an animated SotP Sun (and a voice actor speaking as him) to announce how SotP will become a comic. I do not have many opportunities to put a lot of my time into this project.

A wait: A comic seems to be an easier route for me to take for this story. However, its a more time-consuming one, resulting to longer periods of time waiting for comic pages. Drawing characters and backgrounds, with lineart coloring and shading, while also having a story to tell will take some time.

Burnout: I’m hoping I do not exhaust myself with the responsibility, which is why I will take my time on this story. Right now, it’s been a while since I've made any new accomplishments with SotP. I’m taking a small break on the main project to focus on other responsibilities in the meantime.

I will still be around, especially on the daycarefriendpickup weekend magmas!

⭐️Thank you to those who took the time to read this update ⭐️🫶

[writingquestionsanswered]

I have trouble with writing in general. Can you help me? English isn't my first language, but I really want to write a story in English someday. However, both I and my English teacher have noticed a problem. He says he can tell I haven't cheated on my assignments because I write like I speak. That comment broke my heart a bit and made me feel pressured because there's a recurring joke in fanfiction that all stories starting with "English is not my mother tongue / I'm not fluent in English" are masterpieces, haha. I'm very disappointed in myself because I don't feel as good as other non-native speakers. Do you have any tips for improving my writing?

Improving Writing as Non-Native Speaker

First, I'm so sorry that your English teacher or anyone else has ever made you (or anyone) feel bad about your speaking or writing. Anyone who tries to learn a language other than their native language should be commended, no matter the skill level they reach. Many people who have the ability and access to learn another language never even bother, so kudos to you for learning. If it helps, I wouldn't have known you were a non-native speaker if you hadn't told me.

Any time you want to learn to write stories in a non-native language, there are four things you can do to improve your skills:

1 - Watch movies, TV shows, videos, and listen to audiobooks and podcasts in that language. Not dubbed or with captions in that language... movies, TV shows, and videos where the people are actually speaking the language you want to learn. This type of immersion can really help you get a feel for how native speakers actually sound, which can help you with writing and with creating authentic dialogue.

2 - Read stories, books, magazines, blogs, poems, and posts in that language. Again, nothing that has been translated into that language, but things that were originally written in the language you want to learn. This helps to reinforce the visual of the language in your mind's eye as you write, and quite often, seeing things in text can stick out more to you than they do when only hearing them. Also, some people just learn better one way over the other, so both hearing and seeing the language makes sure you're covering both bases.

3 - Practice speaking in that language. Even if speaking isn't your issue, it's still helpful to practice speaking the language, because it helps to reinforce it in your mind. Try reading news articles, stories, chapters of books, and social media posts out loud. It can also be helpful to look up movie and play scripts and speak the lines out loud.

4 - Practice writing in that language. If you wanted to learn a concerto for a piano recital, you might practice by watching other people play it, listening to it, reading the sheet music over and over, and practicing the tune with your voice, but nothing would help you improve more than actually playing the song over and over again yourself. You would get better with each performance, and writing works the same way. The number one thing you can do to improve your writing in another language is to write a lot of stories in that language. It's okay if you're not perfect. Even native speakers don't write perfect stories without practice. ♥

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[cbrownjc]

You know, I was already feeling kind of apathetic toward Season 2 of HOTD, but I was still trying to remain positive about it.

And then I read the Blood and Cheese leaks . . .

Oh.

I mean, look. I get it. They probably didn't want to traumatize young children by doing the scene directly as-is. But I DO think there is a way you could have done it almost the same way as they appear to be doing it, without it losing any of its bite and horror.

Like, you could still have all three kids in bed together, but awake and scared and crying quietly, completely confused as their mother is being threatened in front of them to choose. And, you know, having Alicent there, gagged and tied, so the kids also see their grandmother in trouble as well.

And, you know, have Maelor there too, so the choice is still between the older and younger boys. With Maelor still hears his mother choose his older brother over him.

Then when Haelena makes her choice, they grab Jaehaerys up out of the bed in a quick cut and you don't actually see his murder, just cut away to guards hearing Haelena screaming. When the guards burst in, Blood and Cheese are gone, Jaehaera and Maelor are still sitting on the bed shellshocked. Haelena, meanwhile, is kneeling in front of the bed on the floor, her back to the door, but obviously cradling a little body that is still mostly hidden but causing a pool of blood to spread around her, still screaming.

This way, you obviously don't have little kid actors being visually threatened with knives and swords and such on screen. And possibly traumatizing such little kid actors in any way by doing it the way it was written. Leaving the kids all on the bed also means you can just show them in isolated cuts, where they don't even have to have been filming while things such as Haelena being threatened -- as well as the threats to the kids themselves -- are happening. You only need one or two establishing wide shots to show everyone in the room, and that's it.

And of course, you don't see one of the kids get their head cut off. Just Jaehaerys being grabbed from the bed instead of Maelor (after Haelena chooses Maelor to die and we get cut over to a close-up of his scared face), and then just smash-cut to the guards hearing Haelena screaming.

There. That's IMO how you do that scene without traumatizing little kid actors as well as still giving the scene its disturbing bite. Not whatever it sounds like we are getting instead. Which not only doesn't have Haelena not even offer up her own life for her kids, which, okay, but apparently makes the choice between the twins while they are asleep, and they don't even hear their mother picking between them. And Maelor is just being cut altogether since there was no time to establish him.

If the show is going for another Red Wedding moment with this -- which it very much could have been -- then they failed, and utterly butchered it. Because the true horror of the moment isn't even Jaehaerys losing his head. It was Haelena having to choose which of her children to die, the kids hearing their mother make that choice between them, and then the one she chose to die having to live with the knowledge that his mother chose for him to die, while the one she chose to live got murdered instead.

It is all supposed to be Sophie's Choice but with a crueler twist. And it sounds like they very much like they executed it all completely wrong. It was already going to be hard to get audiences to care since we've barely seen the twins -- and Maelor not at all (which, given that he's been cut . . .) -- but even then, you could have still had the kids hearing the choice made, which is supposed to be part of the cruelty and shock of it all. And now . . .

I'm really trying not to shit on this without seeing it yet. But just hearing how this was done isn't giving me much confidence -- for this or in enjoying the season on the whole in truth.

[siflshonen]

The Greatest Robot on Earth: Astro Boy and Pluto Part I

So you’ve just watched Pluto on Netflix, but you didn’t know that it is the best Astro Boy fanfiction ever made. Great! Or maybe, hypothetically, you’ve read classic Astro Boy but don’t know about Pluto, or, as it was called for the Viz release, Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka. Well, awesome, because I’m about to give you all the details behind their creators and creation and give you a side-by-side of the classic Astro Boy and this new(ish)-fangled Pluto.

C'mon. Look under the read more line. You know you want to.

If you want to skip to the manga side-by-sides, check out part II and part III. Or, you can read the whole thing in one go on Ao3.

Context and Background

Tezuka, Urasawa, and the Showa Era

So, let me start with the basics: What is Astro Boy? What ain’t Astro Boy?

Tetsuwan Atom, known in the west as Astro Boy, is the most well-known manga created by the “Godfather of Manga/God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka in the 1950s, but it metastasized into multiple anime series, games, merch, spin offs of various types, and that one CGI movie in 2009. The series follows the adventures of robot hero Atom (called Astro in the west) as he fights for the benefit of humans and robots to create a harmonious future for both.

Here’s a timeline of Astro Boy- and Pluto-related events to help you visualize what came out when and why there were multiple runs of the Astro Boy manga. For our purposes, the most important thing to understand is that, even though Astro Boy was a kids’ series, its attitude and themes, as written by Tezuka, reflected the incredible shifts in Japan after World War II and the ever-present shadow of it still left in the minds of its citizens.

But before we get into all that, let’s talk about Osamu Tezuka himself.

Osamu Tezuka's Legacy and His Monster

If you, sweet reader, are a self-appointed weeb and you don’t know the name Osamu Tezuka, I’m personally scandalized. Still, here’s the short version: he was a workaholic mangaka that many hail as the creator of modern shonen manga (historians get heated about when, how, and if Japanese comics made the jump to modern manga, so do your own research, but Astro Boy is definitely the most famous worldwide contender for this title instead of, say, Tezuka’s first work Shin Takarajima/New Treasure Island), and he’s the guy who created the world’s first serialized made-for-TV anime with a sequential plot and sold it as a loss leader to get it on the air.

Arguably, the precedent he set in order to get the anime-ified Astro Boy to screens everywhere is a major reason that the anime industry is so unsustainable, but we’re not here to talk about that.

Tezuka-sensei was a prolific, passionate, and deeply beloved artist from Osaka who tackled damn near every manga genre and arguably created some of them before he died of stomach cancer (and overwork, if we’re being honest here.) I’ve only shown a few of the 400-plus titles he created to give a brief overview of the scope of his work. Since I’m talking to you as a fan, not a historian, I specifically chose titles I own or have read most closely.

Message to Adolf, which was also published as Adolf, is about Nazis. Okay, that’s only part of what it’s about, but we’ll revisit this one in more detail later.

Black Jack is probably Tezuka’s second most famous work, and yeah, it’s broadly categorized as a shonen. It follows the adventures of underground doctor and genius surgeon Kuroo Hazama who dresses like a vampire, acts like a black-hearted and preachy douchebag, and endears himself to everyone who interacts with him.

Dororo is a historical fantasy thriller about a guy regaining parts of his sacrificed-upon-his-birth body by slaying demons and uncovering the mysterious past of his companion, the child thief Dororo.

On the flipside, Princess Knight is a shojo for younger kids about a princess with the heart of a boy and the heart of a girl who uses her two hearts to genderbend as needed to maintain her claim over her kingdom and keep it out of the hands of the wicked.

Meanwhile, Ode to Kirihito is an extremely mature medical fantasy drama that questions when and how a person still maintains their humanity and when they become a beast in their own eyes and the eyes of others. As I’m sure you can tell, such themes exploring what humanity means are almost as common to Tezuka’s works as a medical professional featuring as a main character. He needed to use his degree for something, I suppose.

In fact, the common conflict between Tezuka’s bright, young, optimistic, passionate, independently-minded, and opinionated doctor main characters and the corrupt, constricting, slow-moving, old-fashioned medical institution probably offers the most insight as to why Tezuka chose to pursue manga over medicine. I don’t think this was the only reason, but from reading his manga, I feel founded in asserting that the stifling status quo of established medicine was a contributing factor.

Tezuka never made any bones about putting himself and his feelings directly in his work. He spoke what was on his mind throughout his manga, and his introductions to various Astro Boy stories are no exception. He was also transparent about his struggle to make sure his works maintained popularity even when he resented any changes others suggested he make  in pursuit of this goal. In general, Tezuka-sensei didn’t take kindly to the idea of others influencing the direction of his creative visions basically ever, if the story of the Jungle Emperor: Onward, Leo! anime is any indication. (He’s just like me for real.)

If Tezuka-sensei wanted to write about war, he did. If he wanted to write about rape or trauma or abortion or racism, he did. He jumped on the chance to write about sex ed and, well, several of those other topics in Apollo’s Song.

If that scares you, don’t worry. Most of the time, Astro Boy was usually about the nature of war, human rights, the nature of humanity, and robots. It was also written for grade school kids.

Tezuka’s penchant for frank honesty wasn’t limited to commentary made within his manga, but also about his manga, and his statements on Astro Boy are some of his more standout claims on that front. That he called Atom a “monster” and said he created him “for the exposure and the money” doesn’t paint a flattering picture of his attitude towards his most famous work.

But, in truth, his distaste for compromising the truth of his characters at others’ suggestions probably betrays his real feelings about Atom. As much as he may be Tezuka’s monster, he is also his pure-hearted hero of justice and beloved creation. And, by his own admission, his feelings towards his work during the creation of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, the Astro Boy story on which Pluto is based, were distinctly positive (even if at one point the background characters remark that Atom is a monster!)

The readership’s opinions on “The Greatest Robot on Earth” were likewise pretty positive. Among those readers was Naoki Urasawa, who credits the story with inspiring his deep love of manga. (His recounting of the impression the story left on him in this interview with Netflix Anime is incredibly sweet.)

Naoki Urasawa and His Monster

Who is Naoki Urasawa, besides the guy who co-wrote and illustrated the 2003 Pluto manga? Well, Urasawa-sensei is my favorite mangaka, so jot that down, and he’s known for his suspense thrillers, layered narratives, melodramatic showstopper moments, and also stories about cute girls doing sports. He is also a musician and guest professor alongside his editor and Pluto co-writer, Takashi Nagasaki.

20th Century Boys, named in part for a T.Rex song, is arguably his most famous work and it is heavy on the 1960s-1970s nostalgia, but in a good way! The inherent optimism, kindness, hope, and passion (and sometimes outright cheese) of every Urasawa character and title never feels insincere. The series is a seinen with the heart and whimsy of a shonen (and personally, I feel like such a description holds true for even Uraswa’s darker works.) 

If you don’t want to read 20th Century Boys or its sequel, 21st Century Boys, you can watch the live-action movie adaptations.

Meanwhile, Monster is my favorite manga and anime. Herr Doktor Tenma (yeah, like Astro Boy’s Tenma), a Japanese brain surgeon practicing in 1980s Germany, saves the life of a little boy only to learn years later that the kid is a mass murderer, his murdering ways continue into his adulthood, and he will likely never be caught. Only Tenma knows the truth, so he embarks on a quest to stop the “monster” he revived. 

I have less familiarity with Yawara! and Happy!, but the first is a sports comedy about a girl struggling to balance an athletic career and a normal life, and the second is a sports drama about a girl pursuing tennis to avoid becoming a prostitute. 

Pineapple Army is about an ex-merc’s adventures working as a self-defense instructor. Urasawa illustrated this one, but did not write it. I suppose I could have included Billy Bat as a representative work instead, but I honestly didn’t want to start unpacking that—though I will say that Billy Bat is probably the closest answer Urasawa has to Tezuka’s Message to Adolf since they both spin around the concept of a rumor or idea causing the world to lose its collective mind.

So what motivated Urasawa to add Pluto to his body of work? Mostly his editor/producer and co-writer, Takashi Nagasaki, probably. Er, that’s not very flattering. Let me try again.

Japanese media loves to emphasize passing its passions and convictions to the new generations (source: have you ever read or watched a mainstream action shonen in your life? If you’ve been paying attention to anything I’ve written about My Hero Academia or read the manga itself, I’m sure you think as much as I do that pointing out such a thing feels like beating a dead horse), and Urasawa’s (and later, the M2 team’s) motivation in creating Pluto is no exception. As Urasawa put it in his Netflix interview, “It’s like we received the baton from Tezuka-sensei, and would pass it on to the new generation."

And Osamu Tezuka-sensei’s son, Macoto Tezka (who probably spells his name that way so people don’t get him mixed up with his dad) let Urasawa and Nagasaki do it so long as they made sure the new retelling was something new, exciting, and unique when compared to the original! And while the pressure to succeed in this endeavor probably damn well near killed Urasawa-sensei, I think Tezka made the right call!

But if the goal was to pass on this Astro Boy story, which was written by a REALLY old dude, beloved by kinda-old dudes to the new generation, and practically unheard-of by today’s anklebiters, what kind of direction was the damn thing meant to take?! And why was the answer “fantasy Gulf War Astro Boy fanfiction”?!

Astro Boy in the Eyes of the New Breed

Astro Boy may be a series meant for younger kids, but it didn’t exist in a vacuum separate from the climate of the world from which it came. Tezuka would probably roll over in his grave if it did. The work, its messages, and its sensibilities were grade-A, postwar Showa stuff—particularly its reflections on pacifism, war, and power. 

Nagasaki’s summation from the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 8 sums up Tezuka and his generation’s outlook pretty handily, but I think it’s helpful to show exemplify this outlook and contrast it with the outlook of Nagasaki and Urasawa’s generation through manga!

Please observe this key moral-of-the-story panel from “The Greatest Robot on Earth” published in 1964 alongside this panel from late-1980s Dragonball featuring Muten Roshi stating the core idea of his series. I’ve chosen Dragonball as a point of comparison not just because of its notoriety as a big shonen title created for a similar audience as the original Astro Boy, but because creator Akira Toriyama was born in 1955 and, much like his contemporary Urasawa, who was born in 1960, “The Greatest Robot on Earth” left a deep impression on him. (Despite what the caption implies, the photographed page in this tweet actually features Toriyama’s admiration of Tezuka, though I don’t doubt the article from which it is pulled also includes Tezuka’s feelings about Toriyama. I ran it through Google Translate a few times and then laughed when I realized Toriyama made a self-deprecating joke about his poor reading skills, since he points out that he was in third grade when he read “The Greatest Robot on Earth” in the magazine Second Grader.)

To Astro Boy’s Ochanomizu, strength ain’t all that great, and strength for strength’s sake is foolish and vain. In fact, Professor Ochanomizu, who is the moral compass for most Astro Boy adventures, doesn’t value the pursuit of strength the way modern shonen, and several other characters within his own series, do. Hell, he doesn’t give Uran any superpowers even though Atom, the robot boy with nuclear power fueling his 100,000 horsepower (later 1,000,000 horsepower) and seven special powers is her brother! 

At the time of Ochanomizu’s creation, real-life Japan still freshly remembered World War II and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; no the fuck Ochanomizu (and Tezuka, through him) wasn’t about to endorse or create robots that doubled as weapons. That nonsense was for other, “more violent” robot manga, or the slew of other misguided and corrupt roboticists within the Astro Boy canon. Well, except there was that one time Ochanomizu helped create the artificial sun, but he didn’t ever intend for it to become a weapon.

Meanwhile, while Roshi also does not believe in strength for strength’s sake, he absolutely pursues it and encourages his pupils to do the same while fostering their awareness of the hardship, dangers, and fun of their path. Even with his warning, the Dragonball cast’s pursuit of strength is portrayed as alluring despite the double-edge, much like promoting national pride (and power) increases a nation’s convictions in its unity and identity but also draws the negative attention of other, possibly more powerful nations. Andy Yee succinctly frames this still-impending crossroads about how Japan might use its nationalism—its “pursuit of strength” in Dragonball lingo—in his 2013 article “The Twin Faces of Japanese Nationalism”. In it, he quotes this 2012 Project Syndicate article by Joseph S. Nye, Jr. pointing out that nationalism could be a force for positivity if tempered with reform and control, but could also cause the country to start conflict with its neighbors and shit the bed if left to run wild. (The conversation surrounding the topic of Japanese nationalism continues beyond 1980s manga or the 2013 socio-political scene, of course.)

Unlike Atom or Ochanomizu, Dragonball’s Goku finds such attention alluring: his heart’s desire is to fight strong opponents. It is his ikigai (“reason to live”) and at the end of the Cell Games, it becomes his, uh, shinigai (“reason to die”), if you will.

Did I lose you? I just asserted that the messages in these shonen about acquiring strength = messages about acquiring national pride and power. At its best, the Dragonball-esque attitude towards increasing national pride (and combat strength) is empowering, inspirational, and bolsters the good-hearted. At its worst, it could feed into a cycle of toxicity, unproductive self-importance and, ultimately, flat-out Japanese nationalism and war (and at its stupidest, it just becomes Let’s Fighting Love. Protect my balls.) Since classic Dragonball is a gag manga, I doubt Toriyama was ever thinking this hard about the messages of his work in regards to world history, but that’s sort of the point: Toriyama and his generation likely weren’t thinking this hard about it. Dragonball’s authorship lacks the crushing, firsthand memory of the consequences of unbalanced and misused power that the authorship of Astro Boy has.

In other words, Astro Boy’s cast pursued scientific advancement while lamenting the inevitable folly and destruction mankind brought forth with it so that Son Goku could fish naked, kick ass, get his ass kicked, meet god, kick ass, ghost god, ghost his family and friends, come back, kick more ass, repeat this cycle like twice, and get everyone to thank him for it. Dragonball’s more optimistic, power-fantasy-ish outlook broadly categorizes the outlook generation of New Breeds (shinjinrui) born around the 1960s like Toriyama, Urasawa, and Nagasaki before the reality introduced in their emerging adulthood hit them like a fucking truck.

The New Breed generation earned its name because their outlook and values, which were developed during a time of economic plenty and peace, seemed totally divorced from the values of the generations that lived during or immediately after World War II.

“They might as well be a different species,” snarked their elders, probably, though not necessarily out of bland hatred—Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Gundam series portrays his Newtypes, who are meant to be at least somewhat analogous to the real-life shinjinrui, in a generally more sympathetic light and occasionally a positive one (if they aren’t being used by someone else, that is.)

Tomino, who was born in 1941, also worked on Astro Boy at Mushi Pro.

Baggage between generations is not unique to any one country, obviously. But in this case, it seems Urasawa and Nagasaki decided to tap into it and incorporate the core beliefs, hopes, and grief of their generation and those of the generations before them into Pluto. 

Taking this approach was also the perfect excuse for Urasawa to distill everything he knew and loved about Tezuka’s works into one transformative manga. And don’t just trust Tomohiko Murakami on that—trust me as a fan of both Tezuka and Urasawa. It’s very noticeable that Urasawa and Nagasaki pulled from all things Tezuka to create Pluto even as it incorporated new ideas, including criticism of the Gulf War.

…So it’s probably a good thing I took the time to explain all this stuff to you so that you can now start to see it too! You can thank me later. Let’s see how the classic “The Greatest Robot on Earth” compares to Pluto.

[genesis-otto]

If there is one thing that I'm sure of, it's that the losers club always bake cakes for their birthdays. But as we all know, they are iDiOtS. And their cakes are just...bad. I don't mean the taste, the cake always tastes good cause there are some responsible people in this group who somehow manage to do this part right. It's the visual that is horrible. Like do you imagine them trying to decorate the cake without fucked it up on purpose (or not) ? Yeah me neither. So here is what I imagine all the cake that the losers have done one year :

This one is for Bill, it was the first time that they actually made a real cake so he is ugly as fuck. Bill is born in january which makes him the oldest of the losers and I would imagine the losers always making fun of Bill for being old. And since he is the first to celebrate his birthday, the others will totally tease him all the time with the fact that he has now like 15 while all of them are still at 14. This nightmare will last until Beverly finally celebrates her own birthday in february. One entire month of torture for Bill Denbrough.

Bev is the only girl of the group and I'm sure that sometimes she's just so done with the bullshit of the other losers. She always reminds them that "boys are trash, but no offense guys." So it was obvious for them to make her a cake ridiculously girly with that beautiful sentence on it. (The cake is way better than Bill's cause they eventually did practice for it to be perfect. 'Bev deserves a perfect cake' they all said. It took them at least three tries before to manage to make it look good).

This one is obviously Richie's. They did it the year when Richie officially came out to them. They wanted to make a trash cake at first (Eddies and Bills idea) but Stan thought that making a gay joke was funnier. Mike agreed saying that it would show that they truthfully support their gay favorite trashmouth <3. (Eddie still used colors that didn't match together cause he wouldn't let go the trash idea).

(I don't know who are the people on the pictures, but let's just pretend that there are the guys of the new kids on the block). So this one is Ben's. It's Bev that came up with the idea and all of the others followed her cause they like to make fun of Ben for his, as Richie says, bad tastes in music. Ben still was happy when he saw his cake (and he ignored the comments of his friends) cause he thought that his cake was matching with Bev's.

This is Stan's cake. Who is surprised ? Not me. It was a collective message of all the group and Stanley flipped them off when he read what they had written (even if he found it funny, which he will never tell out loud). He also tried to say that he didn't need to go to therapy that bad but they're all traumatized, Stan fooled no one. (Bill promised him that they'll make him a bird's one for the next year so Stan was happy).

Mike is a sweetheart and they all know that. So they HAD to make him a cool cake. They know that Mike LOVES the animals at his farm so they wanted to make him a cute cow. They eventually manage to not completely fucked it up and Mike, very happy with his cake, give it a name. So when Bev tried to cut the cake for eating it, Mike took it away from her because "YOU CAN'T EAT JOHNNY, HE'S MY CHILD."

Eddie is the youngest, born in september. And oh god you don't know how long it seemed for Richie who was waiting for this moment all the year. Since the first time making a cake for Bill, he already knew what he wanted to do for Eddie's when it'll be his turn. The losers all made the cake and it was pretty nice. They left it one moment without supervision and it took only one minute to Rich to fuck it up. He was very proud when the others came back with Eddie and saw the note. Richie died this day.

[inuhalfdemon]

No One Can Know...(20/22)

Word Count: 6,269 Words

Rating: Explicit (SMUT + Violence)

"You're a story that I hoped I'd never have to tell.

You're a lesson that I wish I'd never learned so well.

After all my years of giving up and letting go,

All I wanted was to give you what you've never known.

I know now, you can only hurt me 'cause I let you get to know me so well.

I know now, I love you 'cause only you can turn my Heaven to Hell.

I know now, I want out from under your spell."

- The Birthday Massacre

It only made sense that the radio demon and the television demon would find ways to collaborate with each other – in those earlier days. Both Sinners were of a medium variety; sharing a very specific niche. By utilizing each other’s strengths, they quickly learned that whatever power they found and obtained for themselves; it could be gathered in an exponentially greater amount when their abilities were combined.

Vox had the visuals and Alastor had the audio. A perfect combination that resulted in a greatly beneficial investment to both parties and an incredible form of entertainment.

For decades; both demons worked together and maintained a very lucrative business for themselves. Their relationship remained strictly business as they continued to respect each other’s own professions; own territories and contracts. But, like with many things; time moved forward, there was change and slowly – they both began to become more involved in each other’s lives.

“Ok, out with it – because I really want to know…” Vox slammed his drink down; splashing beer onto the bar counter. “Boys? Girls? What?”

Alastor swiveled his head over. “Hm? What?”

“You know what!” Vox growled at him; wagging a finger in Alastor’s face. “Boys or girls, I wanna know!”

They both had gone out drinking; indulging themselves a little too much after another fantastically productive week.

“No.” Alastor said simply, sipping from his drink.

“No, you won’t tell me!?” Vox nearly roared back at him; his screen flushed red from the effects of the alcohol.

“Just…no.” Alastor shrugged. “I find them all quite…unexciting.”

“You-you what!?” Vox and leaned in to take another drink and ended up spitting it all over onto the counter. “How!?”

Alastor shrugged again; smiling dopily back at him.

“No fucking way – uh uh – I don’t believe you.” Vox told him; blearily. “You are such a…fucking liar. You know what – prove it! I wanna see it for myself.”

“If you must.” Alastor drunkenly agreed.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How are you not hard right now!?”  Vox was yelling at Alastor within the explicit sex club.

Alastor was leaned back, perfectly at ease, comfortable; the very picture of unperturbed; sipping at a cosmopolitan.

Vox had paid good money for them both to be treated to the most visual of erotic displays - from both men and women; all manner of demons - and Alastor had sat through each one – never blinking an eye; going on chattily about work, politics, Cannibal Town, the fucking weather… clearly disinterested and not the least bit aroused.

Vox, meanwhile, had sported himself an erection for nearly every dance; having to excuse himself to the men’s room several times.

“I told you.” Alastor sang back at him; smiling joyfully.

“What is fucking wrong with you?”  Vox glared at him and Alastor actually started giggling.

“Fuck…I’m wasted. Let’s get out of here.” Vox threw down some bills for a tip and they left.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know…” Vox began; trying to keep his thoughts straight and from slurring his words too badly. “That whole sex club thing that that guy Valentino’s got going isn’t really a bad idea.”

He and Alastor were shuffling their way out of the club, both feeling dizzy and giddy from their night spent out.

“Ugh…please.” Alastor stuck out his tongue; making an exaggeratively disgusted look despite his smile.

“Just because you got your wires crossed!” Vox shoved him. “Some people actually really enjoy the sex stuff, you fucker.”

Alastor cackled and Vox sighed.

“I’m just saying…the guy knows what he’s doing. Give him the right setup, the right equipment, the right people…he could really make and sell some fucking good porn.”

“Not this again.” Alastor snarled.  

“Seriously, Alastor.” Vox was getting excited. “This guy could be a big benefit to what we’ve already got rolling out for entertainment!”

“Nope…I don’t like him.” Alastor was shaking his head; stumbling a little. “I don’t like him, I don’t like what he does.”

“You’ve hardly talked to him! How do you know you don’t like him!?”

“He fucking uses the people that work for you him, Vox.” Alastor hissed. “He controls them with his powers – his abilities - he takes away all of their free agency.”

“Is it really so different from what you and I already do? With the video and the radio stuff…c’mon?”

“YES!” Alastor yelled; becoming both angry and passionate now. “What we do….it’s suggestive, it’s manipulative: cold and calculating. We find the parts in people that make them weak, make them susceptible…what Valentino does…it’s force.”

“Uh huh…clearly different.” Vox rolled his eyes, agitated.

“I’m not having this conversation with you again, Vox.” Alastor sighed. “You can jump onto a wagon with him if you want but as soon as you do, I’m out.”

“You are so fucking stubborn.” Vox hissed.

“Yeah, well…one of us has got to have their standards.” Alastor smirked back at him.  “Fuck…it’s late. I’m going to head for home. See you some time later tomorrow?”

“Yeah…I’ll catch up with you later.”

Alastor nodded; smiling before he drifted off into the dark.

Vox sighed, shuffling the last half of the block to his apartment. “…the guy is such a fucking prick, sometimes…” He mumbled to himself.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

It started as a joke amongst friends; the flirting.

Vox initiated it, of course. He liked getting under Alastor’s skin and when he found that some jokes actually landed and got the guy flustered, it gave him all the more reason to continue with it. Alastor – never one to be beaten in any game – saw that Vox’s teasing wasn’t going away so he found ways to insert his own blush-inducing quips and snippets.

They flirted together with casually placed; subtle innuendos; suggestive ideas or possibilities between them that invoked hilarity and laughter. As time went on; the jokes became less subtle, less suggestive; more explicit in their nature and sometimes, less funny.

The problem with this though is that given enough time; enough history…feelings change and jokes can become less jokes and more: cleverly placed japes made to ‘test the waters’ or to pinpoint for any hint of actual possibilities; at least to some.

Years after this development; Alastor still flirted with Vox as a joke. Vox did not. Vox had gotten comfortable with Alastor and he was starting to see possibilities in Alastor that went beyond just having him as a business partner.

Alastor was very different from one you would expect to be an Overlord in Hell. He was good at what he did; he could wield awesome power, string in souls like nobody’s business and he had a sweet tooth for the violence; the blood and the gore that came with that territory, but he also: was incredibly respectful – generous even - to those he worked closely with, he was resourceful, he was dependable, he fiercely protected the things and the ones he cherished most and he was incredibly and undeniably hot. 

Vox never was good at relationships; there was always some miscommunication or lack of something vital that deteriorated any coupling he ever attempted with anyone – and all usually fairly quickly. The business deal he had struck with Alastor had lasted longer than any relationship Vox could have ever hoped to. If he and Alastor could form a working relationship; one that remained intact for as long as it had and one that kept both parties mutually benefited and satisfied…then what possibilities were they missing by not pursuing something…more? 

Alastor really didn’t like talking about sex but Vox so far had gleaned that Alastor could get it up; he just rarely found the inspiration or motivation to do so. What traditionally turned other people on…it didn’t work for him. Vox was tolerant of this to a point but he also suspected Alastor avoided trying sex; avoided trying to find ways that he might enjoy it. Maybe, if Vox convinced Alastor to pursue…something…with him; they could explore that more together.

Vox’s flirting became something else and it didn’t take long for Alastor to pick up on the difference; to put two-and-two together. A part of Alastor may have enjoyed it…stringing Vox along; feeling his ego inflate by the pining and the wanting that ultimately would lead Vox to absolutely nothing. Over the years though, Alastor had developed a fondness for Vox – developed an authentic friendship with the man. He could only say the same for one other Overlord; and very few others.

Alastor didn’t just form those types of relationships on a whim. If he felt anything for Vox; it was because Vox was important to him in some way. Maybe he built this fondness he held for Vox upon how similar they both were; both in personality and in their pursuits, or maybe he just held Vox in such a respectable, high regard as an Overlord over Hell that he could collaborate work and interests with. No matter the reasoning; Alastor was reluctant, but he also didn’t have it in him to just push Vox away.

“You’re here late…I saw the light from the office on from my apartment. Is something wrong?” Vox asked.

“No. I just came in to get some work done.” Alastor told him; irritated.

“It can’t wait until tomorrow?” Vox asked him; looking at Alastor with open concern.

Alastor’s ears leant back and he groaned; leaning himself back in his chair and rubbing at his eyes. He was irritable, he was uncomfortable, he was…he was in a breakthrough rut. He had hoped to put off having to address it until the weekend; it was Thursday night…if he could make it through one more night, one more day…

He had made it a point to never discuss his ruts with Vox.  

“Do you want to go and get a drink?” Vox asked him.

“It’s fucking late, Vox. No, I don’t want to go out to a bar.” Alastor snapped.

“Do you want to come over for a drink then?” Vox offered.

“What is it with you!?” Alastor hissed, standing up from the chair and glaring at Vox. “I’m obviously trying to get shit done. Now, would you very kindly….leave!?”

Vox just might have; but he had noticed the movement in Alastor’s ears. Alastor very rarely let his ears tell a story; very rarely let them budge from the stiff and straight-at-attention position he kept them in.

“No.” Vox told him.

“No!?” Alastor hissed again.

“No.” Vox repeated. “Something’s up with you. Something’s wrong. I’m not just going to walk away and pretend that I don’t see it, Alastor.”

“Why the fuck would you care?” Alastor growled at him.

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I care?” Vox demanded, cooly. “We’ve been business partners for ages. Hell, we’ve been friends for ages. I know I’m not privy to every little thing that goes on in your life, Alastor, but I’d like to think that I can recognize when something’s off. I want to help.”

“I’m sure you fucking would…” Alastor said, lowly.

“Excuse me?” Vox’s voice was rising; he was getting sick of the temper. “You wanna tell me what the fuck that-“

Alastor was on him in a second; grabbing him by the collar; lifting him and throwing him down hard on top of the desk. Vox gasped. Alastor had him pinned on his back; clawed hand wrapped around his throat. Alastor’s eyes were wide; insane – his smile stretched tight and twitching across his face. He stepped between Vox’s legs; pressing his erection heavily into the TV man’s thigh.

“You really want to help me, Voxy?” Alastor snarled. “You really want to help me with this!”

Alastor jutted his hip; thrusting his hard length into Vox’s leg for emphasis.

Vox’s eyes widened. Holy shit…

“You want to see me fucking lose control?” Alastor continued, eyes flaring red. “You want me to fucking rip you apart!?” 

Vox erupted into laughter; his body absolutely shaking in his guffawing.

“You think this is funny!?” Alastor hissed lower at him; his grip tightening around Vox’s neck.

“YES!” Vox shouted; unable to stop his raucous outburst.

Alastor’s eye narrowed. “Pray tell…”

“Your fucking pissed off because you’re feeling randy!?” Vox broke out again into snickers. “Unbelievable!”

Alastor’s ears flattened; he leant in – about to say something when Vox’s hands were moving.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this for you?” Vox asked him, softly – his fingers working at the clasps to Alastor’s dress pants. Vox reached between them; sliding a hand into Alastor’s loosened waistband and pulling his swollen and engorged length out.

“Jesus…this thing is throbbing.” Vox smirked up at Alastor; his neck still clenched between Alastor’s clawed fingers. “When’s the last time anyone’s touched you like this?”

Gasping at the contact, Alastor’s head involuntarily leant back; feeling an incredible and pleasurable relief.

“C’mon, then.” Vox encouraged him; his hand slowly starting to pump Alastor’s penis.

Alastor thrust himself forward; hand still tightly clenched around Vox’s neck as his hips jutted against the TV man’s lower torso – into Vox’s hand.

Alastor’s antlers were stretching crazily outward.

Vox tightened his grip; feeling Alastor’s member already curving tightly into his fingers – feeling the touch of pre-cum on his wrist. Vox gripped Alastor’s shoulder with his other hand; lifting his pelvis to instill more friction against Alastor’s movements.

Alastor’s hand clenched tighter and the Vox clenched his teeth.

Fuck! Now I’m hard now…

Vox tilted his pelvis even more; feeling Alastor’s momentum rubbing against him.

Alastor gasped; his penis tightened, curving more – he thrust himself heavily forward once, twice – then he released; his cum spilling through Vox’s fingers, smearing onto his lower jacket and pants. Shaking, Alastor released Vox’s neck – stepping back and feeling dizzy.

Vox sat up; a stupid smile stretched across the screen that was his face.

“Ah, fuck…” Alastor groaned; moving himself back into his pants and adjusting himself the best that he could. “Ugh...” He swiped a hand down across his face. “I guess…let’s go for that drink at your place and I’ll…I’ll return the favor.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Alastor – true to his word – returned the favor and then some.

When Vox woke up beside him in his bed the next morning; the TV demon was still reeling from the night of full-on fucking that they had had.

Well, fuck me side-ways…the guy can bone!

Vox shifted in bed; feeling deliciously sore from their nighttime antics.

Turning his head; he looked at Alastor – watching the demon sleep soundly beside him. How can a guy that did all of that last night have zero interest in sex. Vox could not make sense of it. Watching Alastor; stretched languidly out on his back – eyes closed and chest moving up and down in rhythmic breathing; Vox realized he wanted more mornings like this one. Even after last night though; they weren’t really a guarantee.  

Perhaps…maybe some insurance.

Carefully, Vox lifted a wire – sliding it smoothly over to where Alastor laid stretched out and asleep; the end of it softly connecting to the radio demon’s skin.

Now…just to fire the right nerve endings; just a touch – BINGO!

Alastor had shifted in his sleep and when he did there was a clearly pointed tent in the bed covers over which his hips rested. Vox carefully slid the wire back; anxious for Alastor to wake up and find that he was already very much aroused and ready for another round.

Clearly uncomfortable; Alastor shifted some more before waking up. Sitting himself up, he blinked blurrily; looking around him and wondering where he was - how in the Hell he got there.

“Good morning.” Vox told him, leaning back and smiling wickedly.

“Ah, fuck…” Alastor blinked. “No…we didn’t….” He suddenly remembered. “Nope…we did.” He groaned, stretching out his back. “What time is it?”

“Bone-o-clock.” Vox clucked his tongue; eyes wandering to the covers over Alastor’s legs.

“Heh, funny.” Alastor told him, dryly – sliding out from the bed.

“Wha- Where are you going!?” Vox asked, confused.

“I’m getting dressed!” Alastor told him, bending down and reaching for his clothes. “We’ve still got stuff we need to today!”

“But, you- You’ve got – You-“ Vox was tripping all over his words. “But, your boner!?”

“It will go down!” Alastor snapped back at him. “Where’s my bowtie!?”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know that Val and I…we’re on and off, right?” Vox asked.

“Yeah, I knew that.” Alastor told him; fiddling at a speaker.

“Well…should I talk to Val or…?” Vox waited, then when Alastor said nothing he continued. “I mean, I don’t want it to become a problem, you know…for us.”

“Why would I care about something like that, Vox?” Alastor sighed, setting the speaker down and looking around for the right cord that he needed. “I didn’t care before…do what you want with your free time.”

“I just didn’t know if you wanted something more…committed.” Vox explained.

Alastor stopped what he was doing; leaning back and swiping a hand across his face.

“Vox…I just don’t know that I’m exactly what you are looking for in…a partner.” Alastor told him, honestly.

“I think your everything I’ve been looking for…Alastor.” Vox said, quietly.

“Look, I’m not saying…no…I just.” Alastor sighed again. “I just have never tried something like this before; it’s not something I’ve ever really wanted – I’m usually too focused on work, I don’t like the sex –“

“But, you liked our sex.” Vox smirked.

“Yes…” Alastor admitted. “I did, but I’m just not sure if – if what I have to give to you, Vox, if it’s enough.”

Vox stared at him; saying nothing.

“Let’s just, let’s see where it goes, ok. You don’t have to make any big changes, I have no expectations at present…I’m not a personal fan of Valentino’s but -funny enough - I can’t get STD’s as an Overlord of Hell, so…” Alastor waved his hand; signaling he was done having this conversation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

A long day of work led to a night of laughter and drinking. Laughter and drinking led to both Alastor and Vox feeling giddy and fantastically buzzed which led to them both being in bed.

Vox pulled Alastor with him onto the mattress and Alastor readily joined him. Settling himself in, Alastor set to work at leaving a colorful love mark against Vox’s dark skin – placed just below the collar bone. They both spent some time there; winding each other up before Alastor’s antlers started to lengthen – branching out.

Sucking at Vox’s skin, Alastor grazed the mark he had made with a sharpened tooth, piercing the skin. Vox hissed in pleasure at the stinging cut. Feeling Alastor lapping at the drops of oozing blood, he arched his back - reaching for Alastor’s antler.

Alastor caught the movement of Vox’s arm and hand in his peripheral and suddenly he tensed – flinching back. Vox immediately paused; his hand raised and holding nothing.

Alastor quickly processed his own knee-jerk reaction; eyes widening.

“What-?” Vox started to ask him.

“I need a minute…” Alastor untangled himself from Vox; sliding away.

…

Outside, Alastor leant against the second story railing – smoking a cigarette; dressed in only his boxers.

He thought about how he would be having another one of his ruts coming around soon and he’d have to make sure Vox made plans for a weekend with Valentino… Alastor would do what he always did now and find his satisfaction from other outlets. Thank god for Rosie…and all of her usefully discreet resources.

“It’s worse than I thought.” Vox commented; sliding the glass door to the patio and stepping out with him – dressed in his own set of boxers.

“What?” Alastor asked him; blowing out smoke.

“You’re smoking…that’s never a good sign.” Vox smirked; leaning against the railing beside him.

“I smoke!” Alastor gave him an indignant look.

“Yeah…when something is actually bothering you. The last time I saw you with one of those was when that tech group was jamming up your radio frequencies. It took us weeks to track them down and get that mess all sorted…that was ages ago.” Vox was remembering.

“Hmph.” Alastor pretended to ignore him; pulling in a deep drag.

Vox reached out and Alastor passed him the stick. Tilting his head; Vox held the cigarette to his screen – taking in a long and slow inhale. He passed it back to Alastor; holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment before slowly releasing it out his mouth.

“So…you going to tell me what the fuck that was about back there?” Vox asked him.

“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Alastor said; lifting the cigarette back to his lips.

“Yeah, no shit.” Vox smirked.

“It was just a reflex.”

“Funny, I don’t remember you minding me grabbing hold of an antler before.” 

“It wasn’t that, I-“ Alastor sighed. “It’s just my past coming back to haunt me, I guess.”

Vox snorted. “Well, that’s fucking vague as shit.”

“I…killed someone.” Alastor said, quietly.

“Haven’t you killed a lot of someone’s?”

“Not like this…I-“ Alastor’s fingers clenched around the railing. “We were…it was intimate…and I lost control.”

 “Wow….Alastor, I’m sorry.” Vox told him; Alastor turned at that. “I mean…oof…but, that’s kind of hot.”

Alastor shoved him with a hand, clenching the cigarette between his teeth. “It’s not funny you jackass.”

Laughing, Vox deftly caught him by the wrist. Holding it, he told Alastor: “You’re right. It’s not, and I know it’s not because it’s obviously something that is still very deeply troubling you. But, we’re in Hell, Alastor.” 

Alastor turned his head away; feeling sure that he already knew what Vox meant to say.

Vox continued. “We’re all here for a reason. Everyone in this godforsaken shit-hole with us has made their fair share of fucked-up mistakes. Maybe grant yourself some mercy and stop punishing yourself so much.”

Alastor looked at him again and he saw that Vox really and truly meant that.

His ears leant back; and Alastor said nothing. 

“Now,” Vox reached for the cigarette – taking it from Alastor’s mouth and flicking it over the railing. “I believe we were in the middle of something.”  

Vox offered him his hand.

Taking it, Alastor went with him – following him back into the bedroom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

If things were on and off again between Vox and Val; things with Alastor were – mostly…well, were off.

Not that Alastor completely ignored Vox; they still worked well together, and they still went out drinking and enjoyed spending time together but Alastor never really wanted to do anything…intimate. Not usually. At least, not in the ways that Vox did. He didn’t want to kiss, he didn’t want to make-out, he didn’t want to fondle each other in the bedroom every night or in the taxi going home – the fucker didn’t even want to hold hands.

Every once in a blue moon; Alastor would get some random itch and Vox would happily scratch it for him.

Years and years went by, and Vox thanked Satan that Alastor really didn’t seem to care that he was seeing Valentino on the side. Vox was itchy all the god-damned time and he wasn’t finding any relief unless it was by Val.

Vox wanted to understand. Vox wanted to be patient. He really did, but this…this was so irritatingly one-sided; he didn’t know what to fucking do anymore.

“Ugh…I don’t know, Val. The guy just really frustrates me.”

“Hmm…no kidding.” Valentino replied, bored.

They were lying together in Valention’s bed; both passing a joint and shooting the shit after a rather rough round of fucking.

“I’m sorry…I’m sure you’re tired of me venting to you about it.” Vox sighed.

“Oh, contraire. I love getting to hear about your on-going tragedies in paradise.” Valentino chuckled. “But, I wonder…have you tried extracting what you want from him?”

“How do you mean?”

“You’re convinced that he has feelings for you…that he won’t admit them to you or himself; why not use some of those oh-so-special powers of hypnosis you employ on others to get what you want from your radio demon?” Val asked him; pulling in a long drag from the joint – letting pink-tinged smoke out from his mouth to curl and swirl around them.

“I’ve…never tried that on him before.” Vox admitted, realizing that he never really thought or dared to.

Valentino chuckled. “It could be worth your while.”

“Yeah, or it could blow up right in my fucking face.” Vox told him. “He might not like it…”

“It’s not as bad as everyone thinks, come here.” Valentino pulled Vox to him. Taking another deep drag from the joint; Valentino held the smoke in his lungs then pressing his lips to Vox’s screen – he blew the smoke into Vox’s nose and mouth.

Vox felt light-headed but euphoric. He blinked his eyes; shaking his head.

“Now tell me…” Valentino’s eyes glowed in the smoke-filled room. “What are your deepest, most darkest desires…Voxy?”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alastor realized that he hadn’t been very fair to Vox.

He had spent years…not really pushing him away but encouraging him to walk away.

It wasn’t Vox’s fault that Alastor didn’t find anything good in sex or intimacy with others but…Alastor had enjoyed his time with Vox. Sleeping with Vox was…much easier than it had been with anyone else. Vox let him take control; let him set the pace and things never got nearly as clumsy or clunky as Alastor imagined that they might have been. When Vox did his part; he was sure and confident in his administrations and Alastor ended the night feeling satiated and satisfied; something that rarely happened.

It scared Alastor, but Vox clearly…cared…about him; actually wanted something with him. He hadn’t known that feeling often; living or dead.

Maybe it was time for a change. Maybe Alastor could let go, give in and just be with someone.

His rut – a true rut – was coming on; he could already feel the hormones skittering through his system. This time he wouldn’t avoid it; this time he wouldn’t even seek out other outlets. He would tell Vox about his ruts - he would spend his this one entirely with Vox - and when it was over, he would really and truly try to be something more for him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why did I know you would be here?” Vox asked Alastor. “It’s late…”

“I know, but I think I figured out how to re-route the system – channel your power into multiple stations…if you help me, this will be done in 20 minutes.” Alastor was untwisting some wires; tracing the cords back to their sources.

“I don’t really want to do this tonight…can we please just go home? We can get it sorted in the morning.”

“We can’t keep all your reserve power stored here into this one unit, Vox.” Alastor was telling him, “It leaves you too vulnerable...”  

All of my power…it’s here. 

“I’d really rather you put that focus toward…other things.” Vox told him, going over to Alastor. He leaned over Alastor’s back; wrapping his arms around the radio demon’s waist.

Alastor shot him a smirk over his shoulder.

“And, I’d rather you focused on anything else – but, here we are.” Alastor gave him a light shove. “Now, seriously. Help me with this.”

Vox stepped back; a dark look crossing his face and he sighed.

A series of wires shot out from a wall of modems and servers that dominated the back wall of their business suite; wrapping around Alastor and pulling him backward.

Alastor was pulled roughly against the buzzing and flashing tech; the wires forming tight wraps of bundles around his arms, torso and legs.

“The fuck!? Vox!?”

“You know, Alastor…you can be very tiresome sometimes.” Vox walked slowly toward him. “So resistant to change…so resistant to progress.”

“Cut the shit, Vox! This isn’t funny. Let me go!” Alastor was fuming.

 “Why should I?” Vox tilted his head.

“I’m…uncomfortable.” Alastor growled.

“Well, let me do something to make you more comfortable.”

Two wires quickly slid from Vox before quickly shooting toward Alastor; their ends connecting smoothly to either side of his neck. The wires glowed a vibrant blue and suddenly Alastor felt a jolt of pleasure shooting down his spine; pooling deep into his abdomen – heating his groin.

Alastor gasped; his pupils dilating widely.

“Fucking stop it!” Alastor yelled.

Vox left the wires; looking hard at Alastor.

“I was just at Val’s…he showed me something…I’d very much like to show you.”

Alastor jerked his head to the side; his breathing becoming heavy from arousal and stress.

“Nothing good can ever come from Valentino.” Alastor spat and he struggled against the cords that were holding him.

Fuck….he’s somehow suppressing my power… I can’t even use my shadow. Alastor realized and a cold, sharp panic sunk deep into his chest.

Vox’s stimuli thrummed through his body and he was feeling an ominous twitching between his legs.

“You want to fucking rape me now, is that it!?” Alastor growled. “You think that is wise!?

“I won’t be taking anything from you that you won’t be willing to give, Alastor…” Vox stepped closer. “I’ll only touch you when you ask me to…Hell, you might even be begging me to.”

Alastor snarled.

“It’s time you and I were honest with each other, Alastor.” Vox continued.  “It’s time that we were open with each other. I can go first, if you’d like.”

Alastor glared at him; narrowed eyes flaring red.

“I’m tired of you always calling the shots and I’m tired of you always stringing me along. So, this is what is going to happen… Val’s coming on board. I’ve already made him an offer, you should consider joining us.”

“I decline.” Alastor hissed.

“That’s your prerogative.” Vox shrugged. “You’ve never been interested in advancing your own work and I’ll leave you to it….however, you and I – we can’t keep tip-toeing around each other. You’re so scared to care about someone; so afraid to love someone… I want you in my life, Alastor. I want you as my partner. I’m done playing and I’m done waiting. And…I need to know that you feel the same.”

Vox had learned something about himself earlier that evening while he was with Valentino. He wasn’t just infatuated with Alastor…he was obsessed with him. It wasn’t enough for Vox to have Alastor in his life in the way that he had him now…he needed all of Alastor and he needed Alastor to feel the same way about him.

“If you want to know my true feelings, Vox, then fucking let me go.”

Vox just stared at him.

“I’m serious…I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you everything. I know I haven’t been fair…I know I’ve been a complete and total ass about this whole thing with you and I can try harder; I know I could be a better partner…just let me go.” 

“No.”

“No!?” Alastor yelled, struggling harder now. “You think this is funny!? You think this is some joke!?”

“Oh, I think that you’ll find that I am being very,” Another wire slid from Vox; shooting toward Alastor; it veered to the side, swinging back around to connect smoothly to Alastor’s temple. “Very serious.”

No…

“Vox…don’t. Don’t do this.”

“It’s not as bad as everyone thinks it is...” Vox told him; widening his eyes; the pupils turning into hypnotic rings.

Alastor flattened his ears; squeezing his eyes shut. The wire connected to his temple glowed neon blue and he felt a kind of thrumming entering into his thoughts now. Alastor clenched his teeth.

Have my body, Vox…but don’t invade my mind!!!

Jolts of stimuli shot through Alastor’s body and his mind; he threw back his head and arched his back; sweating as he mentally and physically fought against the attack.

“Tell me what I mean to you, Alastor.” Vox’s voice was reverberating from every direction.

“I….I….ugh!” Alastor bit himself, blood trickling down his chin. He was straining; fighting for control. Vox increased the stimuli; doubling his efforts and Alastor gasped – eyes flying open.

Monitors and screens lining the walls were flashing and glitching across the screens. The cords wrapped around Alastor were tightening; and sparks were shooting from splits in the wires.

There was a pulsing in Alastor’s groin and he knew he was hard; his heart was slamming against his chest and his blood was running hot… Vox’s stimuli was coursing through his veins; igniting the hormones that were flooding into Alastor’s system. Vox was going to send him into his rut.

Black splotches erupted behind Alastor’s eyes and he knew he was losing consciousness.

I can’t blackout…I can’t…I’ll…I’ll kill him… I’ll –

Power erupted in an explosion of twisting cords and fraying wires – electricity surged through the building – illuminating everything in a brilliant light before all of Hell went dark.

…

“Vox! VOX! I swear to god; if you caused a rolling blackout on a night that I have fucking royals at the club, I’ll-“ Valentino had thrown open the door to Vox and Alastor’s business suite.

Wires were sparking; a screen here and there flashing or flickering erratically around the room. One wall of monitors was lit up in stark white screens; but there was something splashed across the surfaces of each one – dark and maroon.

Valentino couldn’t fucking see a thing but he felt something; large and hulking in the room. It made the feathery ends to his antennae stand on end. Something shifted and large, glowing red eyes glared at him from the darkness.

“Mother of fuck-“ Valentino pulled out his pistol; he couldn’t see for shit and he still didn’t know where Vox was so he shot the gun off straight overhead.

The gun cracked; the bullet piercing loudly through the structure of the building.

Alastor’s eldritch form jerked at the sound; dropping something heavy from its mouth. Valentino caught impressions of large branches moving close to the ceiling; rolling red eyes; a large lanky form of something crawling toward him and great, long pointed teeth.

A groan from the darkness…from where something heavy had fell. 

“Vox!?” Val yelled, stepping back and aiming the gun at what he thought might be the incredibly large head to whatever was moving toward him – he really couldn’t tell.

“Val!?” Vox yelled. “Val!”

Dazed; Vox shot a voltage of electricity into the monitors that were lit white above him and their screens lit the room in a brilliant flare of bright white light.

Alastor’s eldritch demon form flinched back; blinking at the onslaught of light. Blood and drool seeped from the great mouth; stains of blood washed across the talons of his huge clawed hands. The brilliantly white screens shown through a spray of blood. Vox leaned against a pile of broken monitors; blood pouring from a gaping wound to his shoulder and neck – it was pooling into the fabric of his suit.

“VOX!” Valentino yelled and Alastor’s large head snapped around. Baring his teeth; he crouched and prepared to lunge.

Yelling with effort; Vox threw more cables from the servers and the modems at him – coiling around the large frame and sending volts of electricity through the radio demon.

The eldritch demon jerked from the contact of the cords; pulling and clawing at the modems and servers – sending the tech bursting into flames or crashing heavily to the ground.

“NO!!!” Vox was yelling; feeling the power he had stored and relied on dissipating from him entirely.

The charge of energy burned through Alastor’s senses; his conscious flickering back to his body and he saw Vox; bleeding and torn in the wreckage below him. Stumbling; Alastor quickly shifted form – falling to his knees and gasping in pain.

“I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU!” Vox roared at him.

Hitching in a breath; Alastor struggled to stand – his legs shaking heavily beneath him.

I didn’t kill him…He’s alive. I didn’t-

A sharp crack resounded, and Alastor’s legs buckled underneath him; and he fell - feeling like he was punched heavily in the shoulder.

A split second to process; then Alastor realized that Valentino had shot him in the shoulder with his pistol. Before Valentino could chamber another round into the gun; Alastor quickly merged into the shadows – disappearing entirely.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Directly following these events; Alastor decided to lie low…monitoring the aftermath of their situation.

It didn’t take long before rumors were spreading and tabloids were headlining “Don’t FUCK with the Radio Demon” with all kinds of charming bits about how Alastor had shamelessly and violently murdered a variety of bedwarmers… It wasn’t a hard guess as to who was spreading this information. It did nothing deteriorating to Alastor’s formidable reputation as the radio demon but it hit him somewhere sore, just the same.

If Alastor had meant to continue to regularly satiate his rut; he would have found a hard time in it…even with Rosie’s unique resources. For now though; Alastor was finding that he was less and less interested in meeting the needs of his cycles. He commanded more power now than he had before– he would be less susceptible to any ill and knowledgeable intents – and…whatever suffering he endured because of his abstinence would be well earned.

Alastor decided that the only reason Vox gained the upper hand on him…the only reason that Vox could actually hurt him…was because Alastor let Vox get so close to him. Alastor had made another mistake, had let himself become too vulnerable with someone. He gave Vox a chance for something that - he decided then - would never be worth giving to anyone very again.

Vox and Valentino joined forces; just as Vox had always planned. They didn’t become “The Vee’s” right away…at least not until Velvette entered the game later on.

Alastor watched things play out; deciding to make himself scarce for a while longer yet…In doing so; possibilities he hadn’t previously thought to consider before crossed his path…and Alastor became much more…scarcer…than he had ever fully intended to be… 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taglist: @nyx91; @reath-solia

Next Update: 6/15/24

[open-hearth-rpg]

“Why Do Your Actual Play Videos Look Like Ass?”

ROUGH BUT FAIR

I got asked this, albeit indirectly, back in January. At the New Year’s Open Hearth Community meeting someone relayed they’d heard this comment about our Actual Play videos. This referred to not just my channel, but our community collection of actual plays built up over eight+ years. 

It’s a lot of sessions. A lot of games. My stuff alone is over 1000 sessions over dozens of systems. 

And it’s a fair question. They might stumbled on to one of our video roundups or seen a session shared. I can understand their reaction, especially if they’ve watched heavily produced and edited videos like those from Critical Role or Dimension20. Or even if they’ve followed one of the many talented teams who stream on Twitch or elsewhere with seasons, transitions, and nice visual templates. They’re all great watches– especially streams featuring indie games and diverse casts.

So what’s up with us?

Answering that question takes a little bit of set up and explanation. 

The short answer: You know that reliable YouTube repair video recorded on a phone by someone in their garage? That’s us. 

The long answer…

WHAT THE WHAT IS OPEN HEARTH?

We’re an online tabletop rpg community. We’ve been around in some form since 2016. Game facilitators post series and sessions on our calendar and people can sign up there. Every game’s run under our code of conduct and has to use a layered set of safety tools. Our GMs teach any rules and while we lean into indie and storygames, we also have folks who love OSR and more trad-leaning games (like my runs of 2d20, GUMSHOE, Imperium Maledictum, 13th Age, and the like). 

We have a patreon which gives backers a 48 hour window to sign up for sessions before they’re open generally. But we also have folks running games specifically for new players which set that aside. We’re always looking for ways to get new folks into sessions– like the open gaming events we do a couple of times each year. After folks have played with us a couple of times, they’re welcome to post their own sessions and series. We also do irregular “Game Facilitator Camps” to help people learn and polish their online GMing skills. 

Since the beginning some of our GMs have videos of our sessions and collecting those on our YouTube channel. Game facilitators mention in their event description if they plan to record. Not all sessions are recorded and posted. It’s not a requirement. In most cases, players can say they’d rather not be recorded– and in all cases a GM needs to confirm before posting any session publicly. For example a couple of times I’ve had folks ask for me to trim out personal info or emotionally fraught moments from a session. 

All of these recordings are rough. They’re the raw play of the session: unedited and wysiwyg. I’m recording from Zoom, some folks use Streamyard, and a small group of the more technically savvy use OBS+. On occasion I remember to pause the recording over breaks or during character creation when everyone’s tooling away on their sheets. But generally it’s like sitting in the room while someone’s running a home game. They’re messy, mostly on topic, trying to get to grips with the rules, figuring things out together. 

And I love it for that. They’re not polished. A comment made in connection with that “why do your APs look terrible?” question suggested we were some kind of ‘elite gaming association.’ I fear that impression might come from my posting a lot of game thinking, history, and analysis in our social media feeds. 

The truth is that I post those things in a desperate bid to have content. In our community we mostly talk about what games we’re playing and what games we want to play.

Bottom line: we’re a bunch of folks getting together to play our elf-games, make silly voices, and try to tell fun stories together. We’re trying to do that in a way that’s inclusive, takes safety seriously, and evolves over time. 

So why post actual play videos in such a state? I have some answers, in order from most important or probably least important…

FIVE REASONS

First, these videos shows how a particular game actually works at the table. Our community plays a lot of different games– I’d argue one of the largest collections of different systems. It serves as a great resource if you’re curious about a game, setting, or system. Most of us who record include our session zero as well as play sessions. So you get to see what’s involved with that, how to manage set up, and the kinds of collaboration which happens. You also see, warts and all, the rough patches and stumbling blocks. 

For example, I love Hearts of Wulin, but building Entanglements takes a lot of work during character creation. Don’t get me wrong: it's also the most important. Entanglements up the conflicts and plots you’re going to explore. But it requires you to both do some heavy creative work and listen to the other players at the same time. Sometimes I manage that phase really well– sometimes I forget that it has a higher cognitive load. Then I have to lean in and help folks navigate creating those. 

In a similar way, our AP illustrate the flow of play. What does resolution involve? How long does combat take? Where do folks get bogged down? That’s useful and can tell you if this is a game you’d be comfortable playing or running. Beyond that you get to see how much people seem to be enjoying and engaging with it. We present the naked truth of the game. All the rough edges remain and I think that’s great. It’s not for everyone— especially if you like a more polished presentation.

Second, you get to see safety tools in action. If you want to know how GMs carefully present a layered set of safety tools, watch a couple of session zeros. Different game facilitators will approach this in different ways, but we stress that GMs explain and actually implement a couple of tools. In my case I use Lines & Veils as a baseline, the X-Card as a reactive tool for resetting & calibration, and Open Door so folks know they aren’t trapped in a game. You can see how these tools don’t present a burden, don’t get in the way, and do enhance play. It reduces some of the worry people may have about joining a group of strangers online. It isn’t perfect, but these tools offer a baseline. I’m a white dude with all the privilege that brings, but I wouldn’t join in a random online game unless I knew tools like those were in place. 

Third, like other online streaming games: curated, edited, or otherwise, you get to see good GMs and players in action. It’s a great way to learn and pick things up. Not necessarily the full-on art of theater and improvisational acting, but what good play looks like. How you move the spotlight around. How you work to bring others into your scenes. How you collaborate to build a setting and vibe. How you handle end of session debriefs and feedback. That’s useful and, I think, confidence building. 

Fourth, and more selfishly, these videos are a decent advertisement for our community. It’s a decent and cheap way for us to keep our name out there. Beyond the videos, as I mentioned above, people can listen to these sessions as podcasts now. It’s also a way for us to boost the work of designers. It’s not a review, comment, or five stars but it does show how much we’ve enjoyed a particular game. I always dig it when I see designers resharing sessions, I hope it helps them increase their audience. 

Fifth, I like having those videos out there because they celebrate our GMs. They’re the engine of our community: folks who enjoy running games and put in the effort to entertain and engage a group of folks. We have amazing game facilitators and what strikes me is how different their approaches can be. I learn something new whenever I play with another GM here.

But on a related note, I will admit that I like having cover for my vanity. By placing my sessions alongside others, I manage to conceal how much my posting these sessions is an act of ego. I’m more than a little vain about my GMing.  

STARS AND WISHES

Overall we hope to be a useful and accessible resource for folks playing ttrpgs online. We hope folks will find their place in this hobby. If someone comes and plays with us, that’s great, but we’re more interested in just getting people to play anywhere. 

If you want to check out our collection of Actual Play Sessions, like and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

If you’re interested in just listening to sessions, you can subscribe to our podcast.

If you want to see the Playabl calendar app we use for organizing

If you want to find out more about our community, see here. 

We have Discord we’re working to do more with.

[sheikfangirl]

Since you're the Queen of Puppet Zelda, what are your thoughts on these possible explanations for her level of autonomy?

Is Puppet Zelda merely made of Gloom and acts as a physical extension of Gannondorf himself so he has a set of eyes, ears, and hands that can travel and exert influence outside of his perch in the Depths, but as a higher quality puppet/projection (and therefore more taxing on his power to maintain) than the Gloom Hands and Phantom Gannons? Or is she a separate being entirely, created by him, but given her own agency, mind, and will to make her own decisions, in so far as she's still a slave to doing Gannondorf's bidding? She doesn't need constant effort on his part to control or exist, but would have probably cost him a chunk of his power upfront to create.

Could she be something else?

First, let's rectify one thing: I am NOT the Queen of Puppet Zelda. Puppet Zelda IS MY QUEEN. (But thanks for the compliment, I am blushing over here 🤭)

Secondly, thank you so much for your interest in my HC. I will happily share my thoughts on this criminally underused character that has drama written all over. This is an overview okay because I feel I could write a freakin thesis paper on Puppet Zelda 

Quick note: I am not pretending to be right or to have the absolute truth. This is my headcanon, the backstory in the back of my mind when I draw my Puppet Zelda art.

All headcanons are valid, games are an interactive media, and the relationship and connections one has with a game are personal.

As you might know, English is not my first language and  visual support helps me explain things... so I made a graphic. I hope this will help understand my take of this character and why I love her so much🤣🤷‍♀️

In a nutshell:

I think Puppet Zelda is an independent minion created by Ganondorf using his magic powers. He created a shell in Zelda's image from 10 000 years ago to do his bidding and re-used her 10 000 years later to distract Link to buy himself the time to regenerate to full power.

Exhibit A: Ganondorf's Magic

If Ganondorf can spawn a whole list of monsters and gloom hands, he created Puppet Zelda too. The monsters are not continually controlled by Ganondorf, right? They do his bidding, they do what they were "programmed & designed" for, we might even say. I think it's the same for Puppet Zelda. But she is definitely a more defined and complex creation.

Exhibit B: The Hot henchwoman trope.

I am not gonna lie: This is one of my very favorite tropes.... EVER! I always fall for the hot henchwomen. Ganon's quote from the glorious Sanctum scene during  the "Crisis at Hyrule Castle" scene makes me absolutely think she is indeed autonomous. "Did my puppet distract you?" Ganondorf asks Link in that chilling and subtext filled scene.

Puppet Zelda had one objective: To distract Link.

Ganon was busy regenerating. Having to control or act through someone would've been too power consuming. I don't buy it's a manifestation of him. AT ALL. so...yeah. hot henchwoman trope. Also, I'm a lesbian and I have no interest whatsoever in Ganondorf. ....HOT HENCHWOMAN TROPE SUPREMACY!! Yep. Fanservice for me.

Exhibit C: Real Zelda's Angst

This is where it's getting twistingly FUN.

This is an HC I assimilated like a borg from my ZHS buddy @kazraza  Her theory is so ***** angsty and delicious and I love it! 

At the time of King Rauru and Queen Sonia, Ganondorf created a pawn with Zelda's appearance so that it could get close to them and attack.

Then, in order to distract Link 10 000 years later, Ganondorf had to "refine" his weapon. He needed "data and real Zelda knowledge" uploaded into Puppet Zelda to ensure her credibility and the success of her mission. He wanted to make sure she could distract Link and trick him. 

And where did all this personal knowledge of Real Zelda's innermost intimate thoughts and insecurities come from, you may ask?

Well from the real Zelda herself of course!!

But when and where was this data collected?

We believe all of Zelda's Angst was leached directly from her during her 100 years mystic battle containing Calamity Ganon in this Malice Cocoon in Breath of the Wild. *GASP* Puppet Zelda was there all along in Breath of the Wild....absorbing all of Zelda's angst!!!

This is why everyone was confused and tricked by Puppet Zelda in TotK. This is why Puppet Zelda asks Link if he remembers their time at Hyrule Castle: she has Zelda's pre-calamity memories. And why Link is so tortured in my art: I really like to think there is a part of real Zelda inside Puppet Zelda. Her dark side: Her anger, her cockiness, her jealousy, her selfishness... her lust. 

She is also kind of Zelda's answer to Dark Link.

Alright I wrote enough for tonight. To whoever took precious minutes of their lives to read this well...thank you! I am now moving on with my life too 🤣

For more HC about Puppet Zelda, her powers and influences, this should be all covered in future art

(i hope)

Cheers!! And glory to Puppet Zelda ✋

[citylighten]

Hello it's me and I'm in your "Asks" ☺️

What/who made you come to simblr and what/who made you stay?

Hello!! I'm pretty sure when I came to simblr I had no idea who to follow beyond cc makers, specifically @ebonixsims & @xxblacksims. My simblr account was born due to the fact I had purchased TS4 for the first time and I wanted to make a cute bedroom for Eve, as I was procrastinating on cleaning and decorating my own bedroom. That was it! That was literally it! 😂

So I was just following random simblr blogs, and eventually I saw the storytelling community due to a reblog or something. I thought it was so interesting, because like everybody else when I played the sims I constructed a narrative in my head and to see people took their narratives seriously I thought, "okay, I want to try that too."

Also, in my childhood I loved to play games like Disney's Magic Artist Cartoon Maker where you just placed 2D stickers of Mickey Mouse and friends on a background, so I'm not surprised storytelling became the thing I felt the most passionate about. 😂

What made me stay were two things. The first was the stories I found by other people and the second thing is the bonds I formed with them, once I got out of my shy state, that is.

Although I had read a hand few of stories, @rebouks definitely had the first story that stuck out to me. Both in terms of narrative and visuals! @cinamun's story was the second story I became full-heartedly obsessed with. I saw a handful of posts back when Hope was a kid, and like...the characterization was so strong with Indya, Darren, and Lil' Hope that eventually I got curious about who they actually were and read the story from the beginning. And let me say reading Things Fall Apart from start to finish was the most inspiring thing as a new storyteller who didn't have editing skills that were exactly good. Because cin's editing was n o t h i n g like it is now and with each past post I read, I saw how she experimented with new things, slightly tweaked Indya's appearance over the years. But more than that, I noticed how her story grew in terms of readers. TFA did not always get a lot of notes. It was truly a, "okay, if Cin can progress like this, I can too. If Cin can grow like this, I can too." But yeah, rebouks and cinamun are absolutely my biggest inspirations with visuals and editing. And the fact they're both very sociable people when you message them was also encouraging, because there wasn't a sense of elitism that you can find in other fandoms spaces. This made me feel welcomed and like I wasn't a pest.

After that, I read more stories which led to me creating really strong friendships! Like, Hungry for Love by the user formally known as shanisims always stands out to me. That was another story I loved and obsessed over lmao I said it recently but @straightouttasimulation is a reason why I add prose to my story caps and she's even the reason why I attempted to do gifs. Because SHE started experimenting with gifs first! And then to see how she could pull them off, I thought: "okay, let me give it a try." All and all, she's a great mutual. I love her dearly. Then I met @digital-deluxe who shared my love for the mafia genre, and shortly after I think I began talking to @ardeney-sims. Tags led me to meet @swiftviolets who was also into the mafia genre and of course, @havenroyals and I started clicking a lot! And there's so many more people I love and cherish that I'm mutuals with [but I don't wanna like, tag everyone] BUT THE POINT IS I don't think I would be excited to log onto my dashboard if it weren't for the people I talk and joke around with. Even though it's good to try and like...be there for everybody in a community because people can feel overshadowed or neglected, communities are really about the people you vibe with the most because they're the ones who directly impact your experience.

[greenqueenhightower]

I can understand why people like Rhaenyra. I can understand why Alicent isn't to everyone's taste. I still don't understand how she is so hated for behaving like a human considering the gaslighting and abuse she's been through, and how she has much less free agency than Rhaenyra. It was reading through the horrific and vitriolic extreme takes on Alicent that made me side with her. And something about Rhaenyra and her mean diehards just remind me so much of white feminism. I feel like it's no coincidence I see way more WoC tending to sympathize with Alicent, as a WoC myself. The gaslighting and watching someone else consistently get away with things you wouldn't while being trapped in a cage is all too relatable. The rules dont apply to Rhaenyra and Rhaenyra only. And seeing Rhaenyra being the only one in the narrative made to look extra sympathetic (like the double birth scenes, as if all births aren't horrific and like Alicent didn't give birth even younger too). I also hate how despite their efforts in diverse casting, black actors are just backdrops or tools to make Rhaenyra and TB look better and how they're disposable to move the plot forward for her. This matter has been brought up in the TG subreddit thank God I was not the only one who saw that. Now it seems like they're even butchering B&C to absolve TB. 🙂🙃 Girl I am not ready for the blind Rhaenyra dickriding and Alicent victim blaming to come this season. You'll know it'll be misogyny and double standards all around. The suffering Alicent endured in Season 1 will be even more disregarded.

Hi anon! 💚

Alicent isn't to everyone's taste because to understand her character, motivations, and aspirations, one needs to take the whole show as context, instead of some stand-alone scenes that provide dissatisfaction or lack the "wow"/"badass" factor that the average got/hotd viewer is used to.

I understand how Rhaenyra's character appeals to people because she is the female Targaryen heir, desires the best for her children, and is determined to honor her cause and her late father's wishes to serve the realm. Rhaenyra believes so much in herself; Alicent doesn't. Rhaenyra's overconfidence, her "flouting to do as she pleases" is what is so attractive to a lot of viewers, me included, because, well, she doesn't give a damn. She can go against the conventions of her time because she has already entered the game in a good battle formation, has the means, and is ready to play it (I'm trying to go for a chess analogy here as we saw in the promo, bear with me).

Alicent on the other hand, has entered the game as a foreigner. She did not wish this, she has no historical ties to rulership, no dragon blood to base her confidence on, and no pride in taming and riding wild beasts. She is common as Rhaenyra is exotic. What Alicent has and brings to the game is "honor, duty, sacrifice." These values alone make Alicent compelling and intriguing because they are very subtle qualities and principles that one needs to notice to comprehend her character. They are not as easily identifiable as riding a dragon or slicing a wild boar.

Yet they are equally powerful, because as Rhaenyra plays the game in the open field, being free to make her own decisions, unstoppable in always getting what she wants and being able to claim it herself, Alicent plays the game behind closed doors, in septs, praying to the seven, following directions, seeking council, and moving strategically. Rhaenyra's battle is more visually impactful, but Alicent's is equally moving if one cares to observe and understand it properly.

Therefore, what you are saying about WoC standing by Alicent makes perfect sense because the motivations and experiences as well as the feeling of always having to try twice as hard to achieve what is simply given to others is a point of connection for WoC.

You also very poignantly highlight the show's "humanization" of Rhaenyra through two birth scenes, because again, she is this exotic being whom the audience loves to aspire to, but we must also not forget that she is special while also being human. Alicent's suffering in S1 very much humanizes her in my eyes and is precisely also what distinguishes her from a commoner. She becomes a strong woman who doesn’t shy away in the fear of danger, learns to hold her head high and pushes forward the interests of herself and her children. The hate Alicent receives is uncalled for, and it stems from a misreading of her character, despite being the most interesting character in hotd in my opinion.

I’m glad you decided to stan Alicent after reading all the horrific takes about her! There are so many people in the fandom who want to vilify her, but there are also many who totally connect to her and sympathize with her character, like queer people, WoC, etc.

I didn’t like what the show did with black characters in s1 either. They served mostly as props and had brutal deaths. For S2, it does seem as if the show will want to downgrade the events of B&C and continue emphasize the narrative of Rhaenyra’s superiority (and the Greens and Alicent will be blamed and hated a lot this season), but I honestly stopped reading leaks and spoilers because they affect me a lot. I’d rather wait and see what the producers decide to do with their portrayal and then comment on the events. I’m so scared about B&C though and how this will affect the Greens’ arc and their perception by the public, but again, I’ll be standing by Alicent’s side till the end lol. 💚

[counterspellthisyoucasual]

Childhood dream achieved: seeing the John Rider bridge death tape

[uncanny-tranny]

Another bonus to learning a fiber art is being able to speak to others in a Lovecraftian language that nobody else understands...

...and also being able to read things like THIS:

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"And soda; runs off into the street..." "...and soda... is totally okay!"

[askfallenroyalty]

Not that I needed a NEW project to work on but... Here's my Underfell take. Let's see where this goes.