#turn based combat my beloved

[rlida]

I can't stop making Tavs but she is so beautiful!!

I am so tired of playing Act I but my brain is just nothing but ocs

[deer-with-a-stick]

oh wait holy fuck how did I miss this

Legend of Lara Croft??? Lets go (and lets hope its good)

is it just me or am i getting really heavy tlovm vibes from it? like name and animation wise. not complaing, i love the style

[americankimchi]

honkai star rail has me by the neck

[siiin]

friendship ended with genshin impact now reverse: 1999 is my best friend

[magireco-collection]

Magia Exedra Livestream Summary!

I started watching it halfway, and my Japanese isn't perfect, so feel free to correct me if you see any missing or wrong info.

From what I understand, Magia Exedra will be similar to HSR. Open-world game with turn-based combat and 3D designs! It will be available on Steam, PC, Playstore, etc and there will be a global server too!!!

These are the 3D models of Madoka and Iroha. They look amazing!

We will be able to use up to 5 characters per team, and instead of Memorias, we will get Portraits to use on our characters.

There are gates and stars too. We will probably pass from the gates to fight witches, and collect the stars to get our beloved megucas!

Last but not least, a bit info about the story:

The shadow is called Namae (Name). She lost all of her memories and sense of self, she has no idea why she turned out like this.

The matcha kyubey is called AQ. During the livestream, they kept saying it is different than the Kyubey we know. I think I understand why:

AQ is pronounced Eikyuu. It is possibly a pun for EQ (Emotional Intelligence). If that's the case, then this one is capable of feeling emotions.

I am so excited for this new game, and I suggest everyone to collect side story megucas (Tart, Oriko, Kazumi, etc) because we saw them on PV and we might be able to transfer their data from Magia Record if they allow us to use our characters!

[asimplearchivist]

𝓢𝓪𝓭 𝓔𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰

𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐘 𝐕 𝐨𝐟 𝐗𝐗𝐕

[𝓪𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓬𝓱𝓲𝓿𝓲𝓼𝓽'𝓼 𝓶𝓪𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓽] [ 𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓 ] AO3 | SPOTIFY | PINTEREST summary ☾ ⤏ you and jake enjoy having movie nights, but he has the habit of spoiling the endings for you. this time is different, though. pairing(s) ☽ jake lockley/reader-centric | constellations!verse word count ☾ 1.9k a/n ☽ ⤏ my fifth entry for the moon knight bingo hosted by @juneknight and @spacecowboyhotch over at @moonknight-events. I will eventually crosspost this to the main fic for constellations on ao3 when it will best fit the chronological progression of the chapters. this takes place post-chapter iii. ⤏ this one derailed from me as well. I swear these guys have minds of their own. this ended up being a lot sappier than I intended, but...c'est la vie. I love one jake lockley. ☽ MASTERPOST ☾ ☾ PREVIOUS ENTRY ⤎ ☥ ⤏ NEXT ENTRY ☽

“I’ll never forgive you for this.”

“Come on, querida. You should’ve had some idea that this would happen.”

“No, I absolutely did not!” You lifted your face from your hands, twisting to the side with your elbows still planted on your knees in order to glare up at your smirking fellow historical drama critic. “It’s not my fault that I don’t have a sixth sense for figuring out plot lines in the first ten minutes like you do!”

“Says the writer,” he chuckled, eyes glittering. “If it makes you feel any better, Steven wasn’t expecting it, either.”

That did, actually. You and Steven had long since developed the practice of conducting ongoing commentaries and speculations on the potential plotline based on the details revealed in whatever media you’d enjoy together—be it TV shows, movies, or books (print or audio)—whereas Jake was more the type to verbalize his predictions as they came to him, disregarding any suspension of disbelief. At least Marc only remarked on the glaring inaccuracies regarding combat, weapons, or injuries that Hollywood lauded for exaggerated effect.

On one hand, it used to drive you crazy—you preferred to experience things as they unfolded and let the story tell itself, following along for the ride…but, on the other hand, the knowing gleam in Jake’s eyes, the smug tilt of his close-lipped grin, and the way he’d start to pay more attention to you instead of the film (particularly with his hands—rubbing his palm over the line of your, at times, tense shoulders, grasping the nape of your neck and stroking the pad of his thumb along your hairline and under the shell of your ear, or petting your head like one would a beloved pet—about which you could never truly complain) eroded your exasperation over time. Now you almost looked forward to it—even if you still gave him a hard time about the inevitable spoilers involved.

Tonight, it would seem, however, that he’d decided to bide his time in order to see your unprepared reaction without dropping an obvious statement that would have indicated the plot twist to you ahead of time. For once, admittedly, you would’ve appreciated the warning.

“How could they say that about her?” you bemoaned, eyes returning to the screen with prolific lamentation. “She’s literally done nothing to them—she doesn’t even want to marry him, they didn’t have to drag her reputation through the mud!”

“I don’t know what to tell you, querida,” Jake chuckled, “it was visible from miles away.”

You huffed and turned away from him, refocusing your attention on the television screen. You watched the protagonist’s subsequent emotional breakdown with trepidation, frowning as she was scorned and criticized by the people that should have been her allies and had claimed to have been her friends. The only people that believed she was innocent in the matter were her sister and, fortunately, her love interest. He arrived late the next rainy night on a raven-black horse that shivered and bellowed mist from his nostrils as the man, drenched and pensive, dismounted to greet the distressed young woman at the door of her family’s home.

“Hey,” Jake murmured, nudging your side with his elbow. “It’ll turn out fine.”

You glanced up at him, relaxing slightly. You’d been teased in the past by several people for being so emotionally invested in fictional characters and their plight—your ex included—and while you weren’t ashamed of the fact you had the ability to extend so much empathy (even in hypothetical situations), you were sensitive to what others might think. Steven didn’t mind—he was much the same as you, honestly, and that was such a relief. Marc didn’t seem to mind one way or the other, thankfully. But Jake was a notorious tease and found a lot of joy in flustering you, and you were still getting used to gauging his personality since you hadn’t known him as long as the other two—so that he wasn’t poking fun at you about this was a monumental relief.

“I know,” you breathed, sinking into his side. He coiled his arm around your shoulders in response. “He’ll save the day with his money and marry her silly. These things never have sad endings.”

Jake hummed and drummed his fingertips on your upper arm. “It’s a good thing. Wouldn’t want you to be sad, chaparrita. Might have to pay that studio a stern visit otherwise.”

You rolled your eyes, but your heart squeezed at the sentiment—as aggressive as it was. There was one thing that you had learned for certain since meeting him: Jake showed his love through protectiveness as opposed to the gentler means of the other two men. You’d never want him to hurt someone for you, necessarily (unless they deserved it, of course), but the thought that he would be willing to go up to bat for you, that he had your back no matter what, was far more reassuring than you had ever expected it to be. (Something, something, scary guard dog privileges.)

“Some movies need them, though,” you pointed out. “Sometimes that’s the whole point of the story—something out of the characters’ control happens, and they have to decide how they’ll react. Other times it’s pointless, serves no greater purpose to enhance the plot.”

“Shit happens in real life for no reason, though,” Jake pointed out, voice low as the music onscreen swelled. The love interest was embracing the weeping protagonist, having informed her that he had, in fact, solved the issue. “Sometimes there’s nothing you can do about it.”

You nodded, dropping your head onto his shoulder. “Some people are fortunate enough to have happy endings, though,” you murmured. “It’s a dangerous thing to claim, because things could always go wrong, but…” You swallowed, tucking your nose under the lapel of his shirt. “...I’m glad I met you guys. It was worth everything I’ve gone through.”

Jake stilled, falling silent. You had also learned that such intimate proclamations tended to throw him for a loop—he was not accustomed to revealing his inner emotions, since he’d repressed them (and himself) for so long. He was getting better at communicating in general, thanks to Steven’s long-suffering patience and gentle coaxing, but you could tell anything ‘mushy’ made him slightly uncomfortable. (Having noticed this, you’d asked him early on if he wanted you to slow down on giving him affection—but he’d visibly recoiled at that suggestion, more demanding than asking you not to stop. You could only really speculate since he didn’t talk about it much, but you knew that if you were in his position, even if such attention was new, you’d be famished for it. You’d decided he was just embracing his adjustment period instead of avoiding it, like Marc had tended to do at first.)

He shifted, angling his body closer to yours, and tucked the end of his nose behind the shell of your ear. “...We’re glad we met you, too, querida,” he finally murmured, his free hand slipping down to curl around the knob of your knee. He pressed his face into your neck, and you wondered if he could feel your pounding pulse against his lips. “You’ve done us a whole lot of good.”

Chest tightening, you focused resolutely on the television despite the warring urge to arm him up and press a litany of kisses all over his face and head—any affection he felt comfortable doling out was precious indeed, and you would grant him the privacy of tucking himself out of sight, even if it was under your chin. Marc struggled the most with letting himself be seen as any semblance of vulnerable—and while Jake was more inclined and apt to it, he was still learning to trust you in particular, so allow himself to lower his guard and be himself with you (while, simultaneously, discovering and determining exactly who he was).

To receive a compliment of such caliber from Jake, though, was the highest bestowment of honor anyone could receive. He was picky, you’d learned, extremely so—especially regarding people with whom he associated. He had high standards, given the fact that his top priority had always been protecting the system first and foremost. Allowing anyone with dangerous intentions close enough to potentially hurt them was simply unacceptable, and thus he kept most everyone at arm’s length. That was why he’d acted in such a way towards you when he’d been forced to intervene for Marc’s sake, leading to your first ‘official’ meeting—he never gave anyone the benefit of a doubt until they proved themselves worthy of his extremely loyal regard (and his protection).

“I’m glad,” you responded softly. “I always try my best.”

“It’s all we could ever have asked for.”

You caved, but just slightly. You tilted your head down to press a lingering kiss to the crown of his head, nestling your nose into the neatly combed curls and inhaling the complimentary scents of their shampoo and hair gel. You curled an arm around his back and rubbed your palm in a series of circles between his shoulder blades, forgoing the movie for the sensation of his breath hitching against your throat.

“Thank you,” you whispered. “For letting me have my happy ending.”

He swallowed roughly, and when his muscles went rigid you almost expected one of the others to surface—Jake had a habit of retreating when emotions got to be too much for him, which you’d never taken offense to (only had ever worried, but it wasn’t usually very long before he slipped back into the driver’s seat to reassure you by diverting the topic to let you know he was okay)—but instead of Steven’s falsetto lilt or Marc’s flat baritone emerging to notify you of the switch, Jake’s rumbling rasp vibrated your skin via his scruffy lips brushing your artery. “It’s I who should be thanking you, chaparrita, for not running for the hills when you had the chance. You’ve…been there for them when I couldn’t be. And you didn’t…you stuck around for me.” He cleared his throat quietly. “Gracias.”

“De nada,” you returned, kissing his head again and reaching up to play with the errant locks at the nape of his neck. “Eres precioso a mi.”

He let out a breathless, if slightly wet, chuckle, and snuggled in closer. You counted it precious. You counted them precious.

“Tengo hambre,” you commented after a while, sensing he might like to have an out. “¿Qué tenemos qué podemos comer?”

Jake retracted, but it was slow and borderline reluctant, if you didn’t know any better. “Let’s order something, chaparrita. I don’t feel like futzing around in the kitchen this late.”

You smiled and reached for your phone. “Sounds good to me. Asian or…?”

“Thai.” To your surprise, Jake tugged at your arms as he reclined, coaxing you to recline on top of him, your back to his chest. He wrapped you up in an unyielding, tight embrace, smothering his face into your neck once more to mumble against your ear. “Those glass noodles Marc’s gotten before are good. With the chicken.”

You tried your best to bite back your smile, but you couldn’t help the heat building beneath your cheeks. You raised your phone over your face to pull up the corresponding delivery app. “Anything for you, handsome. Anything for you.”

[demifiendrsa]

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth details Gold Saucer, Corel Prison, Vincent Valentine, Cid Highwind, and more detailed

■ New Art

■ Regions of the World

The world is comprised of multiple regions, each boasting unique environments for players to explore and experience on their adventure.

Gold Saucer

Referred to as the gilded paradise, the Gold Saucer is a resplendent amusement park on an epic scale. It is divided into seven areas, called “squares,” each with their own unique attractions. One such is the Skywheel, which takes guests high above the Saucer for an unforgettable view of the park, and has proven to be a popular date spot.

Corel Prison

A sprawling slum that infests the base of the Gold Saucer. It’s almost as if the Saucer’s glimmering façade acts a beacon for vagabonds and ne’er-do-wells the world over, as they have flocked there in droves. So dangerous is the Dustbowl—Corel Prison’s slightly kinder sobriquet–that those who enter its limits are said to never return.

■ New Characters

Vincent Valentine (voiced by Matthew Mercer in English)

“Who dares disturb my slumber?”

A self-proclaimed “security” guard who hibernates in a coffin deep below Shinra Manor. This man of mystery is swathed in a red cape and boasts the genes of a monster—as well as a hidden connection to Sephiroth.

Cid Highwind (voiced by J. Michael Tatum in English)

“Shinra don’t own the skies! They couldn’t stop me even if they tried.”

This rogue pilot of reputable skill runs a shuttle service out of various abandoned airstrips. After Cloud and company flag him down, he flies them around the globe in his beloved Tiny Bronco.

Dyne (voiced by Dave B. Mitchell in English)

“You took everything from me. Everything and everyone!”

Dyne was once Barret’s closest friend, back when the two used to make their living in the coal mines of Corel. Now, he is a wanted man with a gun grafted to his left arm, and his current whereabouts are unknown.

Dio (voiced by Ian James Corlett in English)

“As park director, it’s my pleasure to welcome you to our gilded paradise.”

The charismatic owner of the Gold Saucer. Famous for his brawny physique and handlebar mustache, Dio is often found participating in his park’s parades, flexing his muscles before throngs of screaming guests.

Doctor Sheiran (voiced by Lloyd Sherr in English)

“Won’t charge for my services, but I wouldn’t turn down a blood sample neither.”

Though his clinic in North Corel may be small, Doctor Sheiran’s heart and intellect are anything but. Lately, he has been caring for the black-robed figures that have stumbled into town, and is attempting to uncover the truth behind their mysterious illness.

Solemn Gus (voiced by Jonah Scott in English)

“I’ll help…but only if I get a little something from you first. Understand?”

The sleazy kingpin of Corel Prison, Gus is as flamboyant as he is smooth-talking. Add to that a healthy dose of showmanship, and it’s little wonder that the dregs of the Dustbowl have flocked to him.

Biggs (voiced by Gideon Emery in English)

“Why in the hell did fate pick me?”

After surviving the fall of the Sector 7 plate, Biggs awoke to find that he is the last remaining member of the ill-fated anti-Shinra rebels, Avalanche. Having recovered from his injuries, he now seeks revenge against the company that murdered his comrades.

■ Combat: Synergy Skills

Synergy Abilities

Powerful attacks in which two characters team up to turn the tide of battle. More abilities will unlock as you increase the party level─a numerical expression of how closely-knit your team is─and deepen the affinity between party members. Fill the synergy gauge by using abilities, then unleash a synchronized assault!

—Cloud / Aerith: “Firework Blade”

Cloud uses Aerith’s magic to unleash a ranged attack.

—Tifa / Caith Sith: “Moogle Dunk Shot”

Tifa swings Cait Sith’s moogle around and launches it at an enemy.

■ Combat: Summons

Summons

Setting summoning materia will grant access to the power of the gods. A conjured deity will follow the player’s lead and fight enemies automatically, but you can also instruct them to use special abilities. Before they depart the battlefield, summons will unleash one final attack that will wreak immense havoc.

Titan

A titanic colossus whose arms of solid stone can rend the earth—and your enemies—asunder.

—Titan excels at both powerful melee strikes and area-of-effect attacks, such as Boulder Hurl.

—Upon leaving the battlefield, Titan unleashes Earthen Fury, calling forth giant pillars of rock from deep within the earth. This imposing magic attack harnesses the power of nature to cleave your enemies’ resolve.

Bahamut Arisen

A massive dragon covered in resplendent red scales. It cuts off any possible escape routes with its lightning-quick speed, and decimates its enemies with both sharp claws and a veritable arsenal of weaponry.

—Bahamut Arisen excels at attacking in rapid succession, but can also obliterate foes with charged magic attacks from its limbs. Once its Umbral Bombardment lands, it releases two orbs of magic that fan out and annihilate all surrounding enemies.

—When it leaves the battlefield, Bahamut Arisen activates Gigaflare—an extremely potent attack that sees the dragon unleash beams of magic from its wings and maw, burning any nearby foes alive.

Phoenix

A bird possessed of exquisite beauty and wings of brilliant flame. Phoenix not only flies about the battlefield assailing foes with its blisteringly hot attacks, but also heals the party’s wounds.

—In addition to engulfing enemies in flames with its wings of wildfire, Phoenix can grant buffs with healing effects. It can also revive incapacitated allies and fully recover their HP with Arise, allowing them to return to the front line and continue the fight.

—When it departs the field of battle, Phoenix unleashes Rebirth Flame, which recovers the party’s HP and spells a fiery death any foes within its wide range. A single feather falls from Phoenix’s wings, enveloping the battlefield in burning flames, after which the bird rises from the cinders to deal the final blow.

■ System: Relationships

Bonds of Friendship

Cloud’s actions and the way he responds to other party members while conversing with them will affect his relationship with them.

With a strong enough bond, you may even reap some benefits, so whenever you’re faced with a decision, you might want to think hard before responding—especially if it concerns your favorite character.

Loveless

A theatrical production based on the classic epic poem Loveless.

It depicts a hero’s fight against the Dragon King, the tyrannical ruler of Guardia, as well as his love for Princess Rosa.

Thanks to the latest in VR technology, the Gold Saucer’s Golden Theatre brings this play to life like never before. Depending on your relationship with your fellow theatergoers, the person playing Rosa may even change—along with parts of the script.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the second game in the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, will launch for PlayStation 5 on February 29, 2024.

[berylcups]

(A bit of inspo from song😊, from the Readers POV ) Imagine reader tries to put an end to the growing Mafia-gang Passione. Doing so, they've unknowingly put a target on themself. The boss wants to put a stop to them and any threat to his empire. So he puts a hit on reader. "Make them disappear." Should be an easy job for anyone of the hitmen, when it all goes wrong in trying to put a stop to them. The one that got away. So they stalk them in order to get to know them better, but they accidently caught feelings. The boss did say to 'make them disappear', he just never said how. So they kidnap reader <3 how do you think each of the hitmen would try to accommodate to the readers needs and their new home environment?

Omg that song was sooo good 😩 I have a new artist to go binge now thank you lol

Ask coming right up! (Apologies for the delay!)

“Make Them Disappear” La Squadra X Reader

Cw: paranoia, yandere behavior, kidnapping

Notes: hey everyone! Sorry for the delay! I hope this well done enough, there was so many ways to take this! But I hope you all enjoy! 💜 Beryl

“Make them disappear. I don’t care how. Just make it happen.” These were orders from the boss. Once the order has been made it cannot be undone. Nobody on his hit list survives.

Stay awake. You have to stay awake. They are watching, waiting, praying for you to make that one little mistake. Do you have the door locked? How about the 2nd lock? Did you lock the windows too? …It doesn’t matter if there are metal bars covering them! You have to lock them! The paranoia is killing you. You shouldn’t have messed with the boss of Passione! This is the worst and might be the last mistake you make in your entire short life! You have a stand but it’s not combat or defense worthy. You have to rely on your kitchen knife you have by your bedside, and the meat cleaver under your pillow.

You've been up for 3 days straight now. You know they are watching, but you have no idea what they look like. You have to stay awake.

The only thing you could think of doing is sitting on your bed and playing a game on your laptop. You don’t know where your sleep started and your game ended, but it's game over for you. It was already over, you were just delaying the inevitable.So many access points, so many choices…who was going to take you? There's mirrors in your bathroom, plenty of cracks under your doors, the metal bars could be bent and broken off...I could go on. You don’t know their powers but that’s why you tried so desperately to stay awake.

A crash woke you up with a start. It was pitch dark in the room. When did you turn the lights off?? As soon as you tried to get up you felt a large hand hold you back down and an odd smelling cloth over your face.

“Don’t move, don’t make a sound…” was the last thing you heard before you passed right out.

Risotto

He found his way inside pretty easily. All he had to do was to manipulate the iron bars covering your window.

He keeps you at the base in the basement. Yeah plenty of people died in there but he cleaned it up and sanitized it prior to your arrival.

You have plenty of furniture, a bed, and a tv to keep you entertained. If you need anything like art supplies, video games, and other hobbies he’ll get it for you once he’s sure you are not a danger to yourself or him…you are obviously not but he doesn’t want to deal with his beloved trying to attack him every chance they get.

“Remember, you’re alive because I allow it. The boss has no clue you’re still breathing . You can hate me all you want but I’m not letting you leave my side amore.”

The basement door is locked and even if you managed to open it there’s always someone at the base ready to drag you back downstairs.

He slowly tries to get you used to him by visiting frequently by bringing you food and taking you upstairs to shower. He talks softer around you to ease your anxiety. He makes sure you have your medication too.

Once your accustomed to him you’re free to roam around the base itself since someone is always there. You’ll share a room with Risotto able to decorate the room to a degree. He can only allow so many Sanrio plushies on his massive bed.

Formaggio

He was able to shrink himself to get small enough to get under the tiny gap of your door.

He makes sure you're nice and cozy in a doll house he has in his room. Don’t worry the cat can’t get you, she’s in the living room. Now if you leave the doll house and sneak out of my room I can’t help ya if the cat sees you as a cat toy…or a snack…

“Hey hey now, calm down! Im not some big bad boogeyman! I’m here to save you from being on the boss’s shit list! You can trust me—well…I guess that’s hard to do since I stalked you for weeks… but I swear I’m not gonna hurt a single hair on your pretty little head!”

He’s gonna to win his way into your heart through your stomach. He’s a great cook! But if you don’t trust him and refuse to eat he’ll taste test the food for you in front of you.

“See babydoll? I told you I didn’t put anything funky in your food!” He talked with his mouth full. “You need to eat, don’t make me feed you like a baby~. I swear I’ll start making airplane noises if you don’t ~! Hehe” he jokes.

Illuso

He slithered his way through your bathroom mirror.

He’s probably the most unsettling to get used to. He puts you in the mirror realm of his home so you have no way of leaving.

“Why are you fighting me??? I’m SAVING YOU. Don’t you know the Boss wants your pretty little head served to him on a silver platter???” He frustratedly asked as he restrained you from trying to claw his face.

“He what?!” You burst out into tears.

“I-I-I don’t mean LITERALLY!!! Calm down with the waterworks! Please!” He panics.

When you do stop fighting him he does treat you very well. Anything you want you will get—except your freedom of course. The boss thinks you're dead!

He brings your things from your apartment to make you feel more at home. He brings your favorite shampoos, lotions, perfumes, home air fresheners… all scents that helps you be reminded of home.

He’s going to refrain from making fun of you and treat you gently since he wants you to like him.

If you allow him—or at least don’t fight him, he’ll try to bond with you by brushing your hair and styling it…washing it (in the sink salon style of course), he picks out your clothes and wants to see you model for him. He’s going to have nothing but nice things to say or say it’s not really “your style”.

“Looking good! That dress looks great on you!” He says giving an ok sign. “But the color…hmm… I don’t know… I think this other color would look better with your hair color. But what do you think? You should wear the color you like best.”

He holds up a poofy white dress that oddly reminds you of a wedding dress.

“Think you can model this for me doll?” He asked blushing with a sly smile.

“Uh…” you could feel your cheeks heating up.

Once you get close enough and he feels you ready he will allow unsupervised access to his home outside of the mirror realm. But don’t think about leaving. He has eyes everywhere…

Pesci

This poor guy had a tough time getting into your home. 😢 (but good for you!) he used Beach Boy to snake his way under the door and use the hook to unlock the door knob and security locks.

“Sorry sorry sorry” you’re going to hear that word so much that it has no meaning anymore.

You can yell at him, scream at him, punch him, kick him, ANYTHING to the guy and he won’t fight back. (I know he kidnapped you but can you not??? 😭)

“Please forgive me Y/N!!! I’m only keeping you here to keep you safe from the boss!” He panicked while blocking your attacks.

He’s the most accommodating. He practically moves everything from your apartment into his. Hell, he’ll throw away ALL of his belongings just so yours have room. He somehow managed to make his home SMELL like yours.

If you have pets he’ll bring you those. Even if he’s allergic. He will deal through the sneezes and sniffles to see you have a moment of peace.

He lets you roam his home while he’s home, but there’s Beach Boys hook dangerously close to your heart threatening to rip through if you try to leave. (Reality: he won’t. He’s too much of a mammoni 😢 but he’s not going to let you know that)

Once you two get along finally he lets Beach Boy inch away less and less from your heart until you get full freedom. But you have to stay in the house. He’ll remove his stand once he trusts you, and he’s very smart so he’s able to tell if your love is genuine. He can smell bull shit from a mile away. So no funny business!

Prosciutto

It took him a little bit but he had all the time in the world…He used Grateful Dead to age the door knob to rust off and wood to wither so he was able to weaken the door. (I’m assuming GD can be used on objects 😅 if not just bear with me)

He doesn’t understand why you are being so difficult right now. He’s saving you from death. You should be grateful!

“Enough with the dramatics! If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t be here on earth right now! I demand that you calm down right away!” He chastised you.

You only cried louder.

…That went well. Prosciutto really has his work cut out for him.

He keeps you in his apartment . He has you restrained to a support beam in the home. It’s long enough to where you are able to get to each room without difficulty but not long enough for you to exit the place.

You don’t want to leave even if you could… he threatened to age you with his creepy looking stand and it’s the thing of nightmares.

He makes sure you have the best of the best. You get the best clothes, the best healthy organic food, multivitamins and medicines, best shampoo and conditioner, body wash, lotions, fragrances, toiletries, your hobby stuff, and everything else you never knew you needed before.

He’s stern but in order to win you over he tries to be a bit more laid back in his approach. He becomes more doting in a sense.

“Y/N dear, come over here please.” He pats the seat next to him. “I want to fix your hair… I think there’s a tangle in it. Are you using your detangler after your shower? I don’t want you to end up with split ends. Your hair is just so delicate, and I can’t exactly take you to a hair salon anytime soon. Not until I’m able to secure that plastic surgeon.” He murmured as he brushed the knots out.

During the night he makes sure you two have matching pajamas. He’s very pleased when you allow him to cuddle with you. ♥️

Melone

He had to use 4D thinking on getting in. He got BabyFace since he’s small enough to climb through the vents and plop out of the bathroom air vent and unlock the door for him. 😭

“Hey wait—!”he feebly yells out before he gets slapped. “I’m just trying to protect you from the boss! … nice slap by the way. You're very healthy-oof “ he says as you slap him again.

Being around him would be the most awkward…for you, not for him. He doesn’t pick up on any of the signs that you’re very uncomfortable…(or that he doesn’t care? Rude.)

He probably has everything you need and want because he’s the most observant. He has all of your favorite bath products, foods even if they are foreign and can only be found in another country (jalapeño Cheetos in Italy? He has them. For YOU.), clothing brands, anything you name it.

He's on the frail side and can’t exactly bring all your furniture, but he can bring you your favorite pillows, blankets, plushies, Knick knacks, and your pets.

Don’t think because he’s frail that you can waltz right out. BabyFace don’t play. And it’s a long ranged stand so it hang around to babysit if needed. He also has cameras everywhere in every room. (Yes, even the bathroom. He’s a pervert.)

He’s very doting once you stop hitting him. He’s always here for physical affection whenever you need it and he loves to praise you.

Ghiaccio

This brazen man just froze the hinges off the damn door. 😭 he doesn’t even worry about the noise, he’s coming to get you!

He’s the most stressful to be around. He has no clue why you are so upset right now!

“Why the hell are you crying?! I’m saving you from the boss! Don’t you know I was ordered to kill you because of him?!” He snapped.

This made you scream louder and tried to pry yourself out of his grip.

“I said I WASN'T going to kill you! I’m going AGAINST his orders! Stop wiggling and biting me!”

He’s the most obsessive so he probably already has his home decked out to look just as much like yours as possible. It’s actually unsettling how homey he made it.

“I live minimalistically so it didn’t bother me to deck my house out like yours with all your weird shit.” He said, trying not to seem creepy.

He tries his absolute HARDEST not to yell in front of you so you can become accustomed to him.

He’ll talk for hours nonstop if you aren’t much of a talker. He doesn’t mind. He tries to get on your good side by engaging with your hobbies and making sure you have your favorite shows to watch while he’s gone. He also has every gaming system so you have a nearly a full library of games to choose from.

He can’t cook for shit so stocks up on foods that you know how to make (and he secretly expects you to cook for him as well…poor baby never eaten home cooked food in ages), and foods that easy just to grab and go.

He has no idea what specific brands of toiletries you use so you need to let him know which ones you want because right now you’re just using his. 😅

He makes sure you can’t leave by freezing the doors and windows shut.

It’s going to take him a very long time for him to trust you enough to not do that but he also has a camera or two installed for security.

Sorbet & Gelato

They made copies of your apartment keys. How did they get a hold of them to even get copies? Your landlord did suddenly get replaced by another one without prior notice. But you were too paranoid to see the missing person posters all over the city with your landlord’s face plastered all over it though.

They put you up in their own home. There’s always one there while the other is out.

Gelato is unstable but is very affectionate. He’s always there to wipe away your tears when you're panicking and demanding to go home.

Sorbet… he’s stoic. But he gives you your space. He’s also mindful to feed you 3 times a day since Gelato always forgets. It’s not that he forgets about you he forgets to eat for himself too.

They don’t bother to lock any doors or windows because someone is always in the room with you.

They know not to take naps without restraining or chaining you to the bed after that sneaking off stunt you pulled.

You were sooooooo close to freedom. Your hand was on the front door knob. Then you felt something sleek and cold up again your throat and a fist in your hair.

“Where do you think you're off to Y/N~? You weren’t thinking about running away were you?” Gelato asked playfully while pressing the knife more firmly to your neck.

“If you tell us what you learned about the boss when we were watching you…we will forgive that reckless stunt you just pulled.” You gulped hearing the 2nd voice. Sorbet is awake too. Better tell them everything you know.

Even with every attempt they still treat you well. They feed you and make sure you bathe regularly and get your medicine and they bring you your comfort items from home.

Gelato plans on looking for plastic surgeons so you can go out with them on dates instead of only having at home dates.

Sorbet uses some of his computer knowledge to make deep fakes of you dead as proof to the boss to assume that you are dead.

[thatoneblogthere]

Advice wanted on dealing with Combat Slog

What I mean by combat slog is often a traditional D&D or Pathfinder (can be other systems too, frequently turn-based with larger numbers of combatants) combat encounter will be fun at first, but after a number of encounters, I am doing a routine attack sequence and then stuck waiting for the party or enemies to do their turns.

I want to be able to say this is an attitude problem, and it might be, but I’ve always felt this more acutely when playing rpg video games, thinking of games like Pathfinder: Kingmaker, WotR, Rogue Trader, Baldur’s Gate 3, hell even my beloved Pillars of Eternity. But I also feel it playing D&D, Pathfinder, Starfinder, etc., with friends too.

Despite being the sort of person who will sit down and have fun making character builds specialized for combat, maybe I just don’t enjoy traditional combat that much.

Often it feels like combats are present as a time fill to prevent from getting to something interesting too quickly, especially egregious when having to fight through a number of distinct groups of enemies to be able to continue a conversation, that once again leads to more combat encounters.

Anyone else have this problem or have any advice?

[dynamite-derek]

Sea of Stars: The best game you played as a child that released in 2023

When I was in middle school, I have vivid memories of playing Chrono Trigger. I rented it from my local video store, a poor man's family video. It even had a tanning bed, as was the style at the time. I sat in front of my grandmother's mid-size CRT television and was amazed at just about everything I saw. The beautiful pixel art, the various set pieces, the story, the music. Everything. My inner monologue for about a month after experiencing Chrono Trigger for the first time was using "thees" and "thous" a lot like Frog did in that localization. He was the best character so the way he spoke was the best way to speak. Simple as that.

Often times games try to ape Chrono Trigger because my experience with it is hardly a unique one. Most of the time, I feel these games miss the mark or fall short of it. They tease you with the "Chrono Trigger" but it more hits on some highlights that Chrono Trigger had instead of making an actual good game that can stand on its own merits. The example that comes most prominently to mind is "I Am Setsuna," a game I once wrote about on this blog. It's a game that mindlessly tries to take what makes Chrono Trigger a good game and slaps it onto something else. A soulless product developed by a company with a soulless name (Tokyo RPG Factory.)

My brother has been pestering me to play Sea of Stars for months now. Yet the specter of products like "I Am Setsuna" prevented me from making the jump for a long time. Yes, aesthetically, it played the part...but if I were to go back in time and rent this game from the fake Hollywood Video and play this on the mid-size CRT at my grandmother's house, would it capture my imagination? Would it stand on its own?

Yes.

On the surface, Sea of Stars looks like it's trying to be Chrono Trigger. They have the combo attacks, they have the wacky cast of characters from a variety of different backgrounds, the overworld and spritework looks pretty close and the music...well, the music can often feel like it was lifted straight from that very SNES game. But there's more to it than that. Quite literally. Sea of Stars doesn't just try to mimic the style of one beloved RPG, it lifts from several and becomes something of a Jack of all retro turn based trades.

The combat uses timed hits like Super Mario RPG - a system that's extremely easy to wrap your mind around but is extremely adept at keeping the player's attention. You can't just take your mind off of the game once you hit 'attack.' It also has the ability to change your characters in combat, which gives the game something of a Final Fantasy X (it's odd that a 20+ year old game is the 'newest' thing mentioned here) feeling. Sometimes a spot will call for a poison user, sometimes it will call for your warrior cook, sometimes it will call for your moon user. It's simple, but it makes each encounter feel unique and engaging. It also uses something akin to a limit break system, as seen in various Final Fantasy titles. Everybody gets an elaborate ultimate attack. When is the right time to use it? Even more variables tossed into a fairly easy-to-use system.

It's not just in the gameplay either. One of the big mistakes video game companies make when making 'new' retro games is that they cram too much story into the game. Don't get me wrong, stuff like Final Fantasy IV, Lunar Silver Star Story and Chrono Trigger have plenty of story, but go back and play those games and then go play Final Fantasy VII. The amount of dialogue and dedication to storytelling is next level compared to what you get in SNES games. Older RPGs have a smattering of world building and story but that is bolstered by the gameplay. Sea of Stars is similar in this regard. It does not have 'too much' story, it has about as much as you would see in an SNES RPG. It leaves something to the imagination. Not every last detail of the world is explained, you're left with a sense of wonder.

When I first heard the term 'solstice warrior,' I grimaced. It sounded so lame, like something out of a kid's cartoon. And yet, it is tackled with sincerity. They don't go out of their way to tell you every aspect of what goes into making these warriors, they keep things very simple and straight forward. It just feels authentic. By the end of the game I wanted to learn more about this world and these characters, I did not feel like everything had been spelled out in game and there was something left to discover. Even a post-game twist felt like something a kid would tell you at school and you'd just roll your eyes and say 'yeah fucking right Ned, I'm sure collecting all 60 conch shells will do that.'

My discovery with this game is that in order to create a 'love letter' to a genre, you need to focus on more than one game. It needs to just focus on lots of things. I am Setsuna feels like a shallow clone of Chrono Trigger. Sea of Stars feels like a game that saw great elements from a lot of other great games and came to its own conclusions by throwing those things together. I fully believe a middle school aged Derek would have been glued to his Grandma's CRT for a month straight playing this game. It's the highest compliment that I can pay this game. It's not better than Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI or Earthbound. But it still stands on its own and it is fantastic.

[from-a-legends-pov]

Star Wars Legends Highlight of the Week: “You showed up for your wedding day with a blaster?”

In this feature, a fan will share one thing they love from Star Wars Legends - a book, a comic, an author, a character, a scene, an event, or anything else they want to highlight – and tell us more about it.

If you, too, love Legends, follow @from-a-legends-pov and check out our From a Legends Point of View fanfiction event, where we’ll be working with writers to build a collection of Star Wars Legends fanfiction set during the time of the Original Trilogy. Writer signups are open now through June 2, 2024 – use our Signup Form here to pitch your story concepts (Signup Guidelines available here), and please encourage your favorite writers to participate!

Today’s Legends highlight is an arc from the 2013 Star Wars comics run from Dark Horse Comics, in which Leia Organa attempts to get the Rebels a new base by agreeing to marry the crown prince of Arrochar, and we’re talking with @lajulie24.

Tell us about your Legends highlight. What is it? What’s it about?

My highlight is part of the “Rebel Girl” arc from the 2013 Star Wars comics from Dark Horse Comics. The overall arc starts in issue #12, where we first hear about Arrochar, but the main parts of the arc are in issues #15-18, where things come to a head. The arc is set about a year after Yavin, and Leia comes back from a private mission and announces that the Rebels have been offered a base on the world of Arrochar, a planet in Hutt space, in exchange for Leia agreeing to marry their crown prince. Everyone from Mon Mothma to Han Solo to Wedge Antilles to Luke Skywalker is pretty dubious about this idea — Luke being the worst, and getting grounded by Wedge because his sulking is making him do a lot of reckless things during flight exercises— but Leia already feels extremely guilty about Alderaan and about recent losses, so she’s ready to go through with it.

Basically things start looking pretty shady on Arrochar from the jump, and Leia is not really happy about what she’s about to do, but she’s preparing for the wedding when the palace is bombed and a group of Star Destroyers shows up! Turns out one of the royal advisors betrayed the crown prince and has been courting the Empire the whole time (unbeknownst to the prince, who genuinely was into Leia and was sad that she wasn’t really into him). Luckily, Leia in fact did bring a blaster to her own wedding, she and Mon escape, Luke quits sulking long enough to defeat the trap he was lured into and escape with Han on the Falcon, and the Rebels’ new ion cannon saves the day.

What makes this a Legends highlight for you? What do you love about it?

Like many of the comics, this arc is a little bumpy for me — the quality of the artwork is a little uneven from issue to issue, with Leia getting some pretty weird expressions at times, and I do get annoyed that so often Leia’s plot lines tend to be things like “Leia tries to get needed resources for the Rebels by sacrificing herself” or “some fancy rich guy wants to marry Leia”, both of which are present here. But there are several things that make this arc enjoyable despite that, including:

1. Leia fixing X-Wings in her tank top my beloved (this also very much annoys the royals of Arrochar because she’s not proper enough for their tastes, also earlier in this series Leia is regularly flying an X-Wing in combat, so lots of great pilot Leia visuals)

2. Han and Wedge both talk with Leia about her decision and while they respect it, they don’t like it (as evidenced by a gritted-teeth conversation between them before the wedding) and have each tried to let her know that she doesn’t need to do this for the Rebellion, that’s she’s done enough for the cause.

3. There is some gentle future HanLeia ship teasing throughout, including a few scenes where it’s clear Han’s preoccupied with someone and it’s definitely not the attractive fellow contractor he’s been working with (she notices that he’s distracted, and that it’s not about her).

4. There is a brief moment where we learn that Red Squadron has just been approved to use the “Rogue” designation, i.e. the beginning of Rogue Squadron here.

5. And of course, Leia does in fact bring a blaster to her own wedding, which she gives to Mon Mothma right before using her hand-to-hand combat skills to fuck up some guards (and obtain a new blaster in the process).

Basically, I enjoy that it’s centered around Leia, that she shows off her flying, mechanical, and combat skills, and that the people around her actually value her for those skills and feel like she deserves so much more than to be a bride in the court of Arrochar.

To learn more….

If you’d like to read more about this comics arc, check out Star Wars: Rebel Girl or Star Wars (2013): #12-18 at your favorite comic book store or online, or read the entry on Arrochar or the Rebel Girl entry on Wookieepedia.

And be sure to check out @from-a-legends-pov and our From a Legends Point of View fanfiction event. Writer signups are now open — access the Signup Form here (step-by-step Signup Guidelines available here), as well as our Overview and FAQ.

[whimsylueur]

question- do you have a sp oc/self insert??

Up until I received this ask, no lol

But since I have been asked, I actually wanna make one. :)

I guess this counts as an ethnicity reveal too haha. Otherwise, he’s based (mostly) on my beloved bf.

Edit: this name felt right, I liked the word Tetany though so it remains incorporated.

Maruwehi = to inspire respect or dread, Te Tini = the many (taken from a saying “te tini me te mano” meaning the many and the thousands, referring obviously to his spiders), the pronunciation is identical to ‘tetany’ which is a condition similar to seizures that is the first condition of Maru’s spiders’ venom.

Maruwehi (pronounced ma [“mu” in mud] ru [“do” w/ rolled r] we [“whe” in where] hi [he as in he/him]) is a pretty cheeky guy with a big heart, he’s family oriented and would be homesick quite often while attending Corrival. Even so, he loves Ireland and took up good work as a gamekeeper, teaching mortals and sorcerers alike to hunt, soon after graduating.

He talks with plenty of slang and while he isn’t the most eloquent speaker he isn’t intimidated by (some) big words. Despite being a Child of the Spider, his appearance is charming and demeanour approachable. His name isn’t that frightening either. His father “Tūiri” is a different story, considered extremely dangerous by the NZ sanctuary and constantly maintains his gigantic spider form. Maru respects his father greatly and promises to take his discipline but isn’t keen to be apart of the temple.

He crosses paths with Arbiters Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant when some mages go missing in the hunting grounds Maru frequents, he assists in surveying the area and identifying some suspects after the mages turn up deceased. He can appreciate the detectives’ deadpan humour and simultaneous diligence when solving a case.

Abilities- Spider creation and control, they look similar to katipō (a species native to NZ) and have potent venom that is easily fatal. He doesn’t use them to hunt but he uses them to track and spy. He can’t quite achieve his entire spider form but he wants to before his surge takes place. His second favourite discipline is Elemental magic. Weaponry and combat, obviously being trained at Corrival made him a competent fighter, he has a great knowledge of guns too, preferring his reliable Henry rifle (modified for range) for work. Sigils have been incorporated into his puhoro (tattoo extending from his waist to his thighs) by his older brother, a Signum Linguist and tattoo artist, that simply allows Maru to be tracked by his family.

Hobbies- Muay Thai he enjoys above all martial arts taught back home and at Corrival, likes to compete when he’s got some time. Maru has played rugby since he could manage to run in a straight line and joined a club in Ireland, playing with his mortal and mage mates. Growing up, if he wasn’t at the temple he was in the bush hunting with his cousins and siblings on horseback, it’s no coincidence that it became his life’s work.

[centrally-unplanned]

Watched a bunch of stuff last night, including the Alita OVA from 1993! I thought it was a lot of fun, the thoughts:

--- It did the "obvious" thing of adapting the romance arc with Yugo of Volume 2 as the core, while blending in the events of Volume 1 as sort of backstory and setup as opposed to their own story. This arc is Alita at her most humanized in the early parts of the manga, and its the plot that centers Zalem as the untouchable overlord city most effectively. Any short adaptation is gonna choose this - part of why James Cameron (lol) did the same thing!

--- Speaking of, the manga does not actually have any particular focus on Alita's eyes, but the anime definitely has more than one shot where it establishes them as thematically special. Given that the James Cameron film is famous for going full CGI on Alita's eyes, and he knows about the property from Guillermo del Toro passing him the OVA as opposed to the manga, I think I can see the chain of events that lead to that (ill-fated?) decision.

Her eyes are pretty amazing in the OVA, so I get it! As my previous reblogs showed lol.

--- I think I can break apart the manga into three "concepts": the setting as cyberpunk dystopia, Alita as a character dealing with identity issues as an amnesiatic combat robot, and shounen fighting & levelling arcs. The OVA heavily focuses on the first part, ditching almost all the shounen stuff - its fight scenes are quick and focus on violence & bodily destruction over strength or "fighting techniques", etc. This is great for me, obviously! But it also, almost accidentally, ditches most of her identity issues? Because its less than an hour long, and needs to do a ton of worldbuilding - including even adding in a new character from Zalem to help with that - and is doing Yugo's entire arc, you really don't have time left for Alita's struggles. Yugo actually gets more "inner depth" than she does! She commits to being a bounty hunter, then after that she is pretty much just In Love while Yugo goes through his detailing of his past and collapse.

I'm not saying it doesn't work, it does as a story. Just interesting for something that is known as very "protagonist associated" to have an OVA where she is barely the protagonist.

--- While no Urotsukidoji or anything, this is another one of those OVAs where its reputation, particularly in the west, is as a hyper-violent, gory OVA? And like so many it really isn't. People get decapitated, don't get me wrong, buts its never lingers on those moments. Instead they serve as tone setters for the crapsack world or just are part of the action sequences.

I think in general the OVA era rarely made horror/gore films the way some other mediums/industries did? There are exceptions of course but in the end anime is trying to do too many other things; beautiful animation, focus on character designs, often being adaptations and so doing the plot of those more complex stories, erotic content for audiences that aren't *that* fetishistic on average, and more. All of these priorities compete for space in comparison to having endless jumpscares and blood splatters. So far my track record for watching the famous "gorefest" or "~crazy~" anime is that every one of them is tamer than the rep suggests, and I believe this medium/genre mismatch is why.

--- The biggest question I have around Alita in general is why there was never any more anime? Its weird, right? Its a famous property from a beloved genre, it had a hollywood film for some crazy reason, things like Ghost in the Shell got multi-season anime after all. Why no feature film remake in the 2000's? Why no 13-cour in the 2010's? I don't have an answer to that yet.

Why the initial OVA was so minimal is at least partly answered by Kishiro here:

MNS: Many fans have wondered, why were only 2 anime OAV episodes produced in 1993? YK: It was based on the plan proposed by the animation production company. It might have been better to turn down the plan and wait for a better adaptation proposal to come up, but back then, I couldn't afford to review the plan coolly. At that time, I was still serializing the work and was so busy that I wasn't ambitious to make it into animation.

Essentially he took the "deal on hand", not offering much, because he didn't have the time, money, or business savvy to work the industry for a better proposal. 100% understandable. I don't think the OVA did too well? I can't find a lot of sales figures, but the comments I see are in the "respectable" range, and it didn't get quick or expansive rereleases over time.

More broadly, and again speculative, I think maybe Alita overall isn't that successful? Like sure Kishiro is still out here releasing more sequel manga to this day somehow, but when I look at the "media mix" its just really sparse. No big video game adaptations - it has a PlayStation game in the 90's - it has like a drama CD and a novelization? No big merch waves or tie-ins. I am betting the big anime production committees just don't think its a hot enough property to sell that great. Wouldn't be a bad idea or anything, but not one you have to do like idk Chainsaw Man.

In the western fandom spaces its quite well known because of the idiosyncrasies of licensing history, the weird James Cameron factor, and I think a general fascination with anime cyberpunk; the west eats up any of the older cyberpunk properties for its aesthetic in a way that can blind people to the reality of that just being a subgenre in Japan at the time. Alita might just be niche enough that it not getting any wider anime adaptations is no grand mystery.

(But I hope to dig into this question more)

[torchship-rpg]

Dev Diary 12 - Destructive Testing

Breaking from the usual format for this one, and it’s going to be a bit shorter, but this is important.

At the beginning of November was Metatopia, a convention dedicated to playtesting roleplaying games. It’s an excellent place to go to break games in order to fix them stronger than ever, and in that respect Torchship did not disappoint. While its parts all worked beautifully, there were some issues with the connective tissue tying it; the game needed a stronger mechanical framework to put these pieces into.

With that in mind, we’ve started a new draft of Torchship designed to be rapidly playtested and iterated, into which all the other stuff we’ve built up can be plugged back. This new draft focuses particularly hard on making sure the game’s fundamental tablefeel is strong, that you always know what to do and where to go next.

Which is to say, fans of my games having big circles in them somewhere? There’s a big circle in this one now too. Torchship now has two distinct modes; an Action mode where you go out and gather information, and a Reflection portion where that information is managed, damage gets fixed, and plans are made. Action takes the form of ongoing narrative play, dropping into turn-based combat when needed, where Reflection takes place in a series of special scenes called Vignettes to represent timeskips, with more impactful ‘Resupply’ Vignettes acting in some ways as bridges between episodes or story arcs.

While it may sound similar to some of our previous games, this isn’t like in Flying Circus where each part of the Routine is a commitment to a certain kind of gameplay before you can go back. You’re able to switch between the two pretty readily; so long as there’s nothing bearing down on you this minute, you can go into Reflection and play out Vignettes, with the number available before you need to go back into Action depending on the in-universe time until the next important thing.

This structure imitates the back and forth you see in many episodes of Star Trek. To use Devil in the Dark as an example, the Action scenes are things like arriving at the planet to meet with the staff, or going out into the cave to track down what’s killing the miners. When they go back to talk about their findings, prep security crews, or bring in new resources, that’s Reflection. It covers your beloved TNG meeting room scenes, the cut to sickbay as we find out what happened to the redshirt, and the montages of inventing or building the tools that’ll solve this week’s problems.

As part of these rewrites, some parts of the game have been modified from previous dev diaries. We’ve simplified the way Harm works; you now have two Harm tracks, Injury and Panic, and a new accumulating penalty called Strain which builds up quickly as you make checks or use medicine to manage the other tracks or boost your abilities. Strain is easy to clear so long as you have supplies available, so it acts to pace out scenes and give less-skilled characters a reason to roll; if you know there’s a lot of a certain kind of work ahead, you might want to save your expert for the rolls which really matter!

(Radiation no longer uses a whole track, but instead consists of a small card the GM can hand you entitled “Congratulations, you’ve been irradiated!” with a list of dosage effects.)

A variety of changes large and small have emerged from these changes. Relationships act as an excellent starting point for Vignettes, while access to meetings have let us place restrictions on the number of checklists out on the field at a time, as you can always call meetings to retire checklists, propose others, and figure out what your next Big Question is about the mission. We’ve created a new XP system where you train skills directly by using them, with the pace of advancement limited on a per-episode basis to encourage you to play wide and learn new things.

Finally, we’ve come up with a neat solution to one of the longstanding problems that original sci-fi games often run into, where players are unsure what their technology can do, resulting in decision paralysis. We’ve added a very distinct CAN & CAN’T field on the info cards which lists exactly what everything does and what their limitations are so you can jump straight in without slowing the game to ask the GM where the boundaries are. 

Things are bound to change more over time as the game is refined and tested, but that’s a good thing. Good games take time, revision, and a willingness to recognize and rewrite when things aren’t working as well as they could.

[twstjam]

Twisted Wonderland Enchanted-inspired au WITH A TWIST! (badum tss)

okay so you know the gist: Beautiful orphan lost prince is raised in a cottage in the woods by his adoptive fae father. One day, this is all thrown out of order when the small family is suddenly attacked. The prince is rescued by a brave knight and the two fall in love and are wed.

....or that's how it's "supposed" to be, anyways. The thing is, even though this person had saved him and his beloved father, Silver doesn't WANT to get married. He doesn't WANT to be "rescued" from "the evil clutches of the fae" and returned to his "real" family. He wants to repay this knight, sure, but is there no way other than marriage?

"No," everyone else says, confused, similarly to how he feels when he asks the question. "It's just how the story goes."

"This is what's best for you," his real parents reply with kind smiles and features not unlike his own but eyes that in no way reflect any kind of understanding.

"Like hell I'm letting anyone marry off my son to an absolute stranger to achieve a "happily ever after" that is based on some ridiculous conditions!" his father hisses, crimson eyes filled with contempt yet Silver feels more loved than he does with anyone else.

They both turn to the dark prince for assistance. He also isn't the slightest bit thrilled at this arrangement the humans have made against Silver and Lilia's wishes. And to not even invite him, Sebek, and Lilia to the wedding! What nerve!

Malleus decides that in order to combat the rules of "Happily Ever After", the only way is for it to not exist at all. So, he enacts his "genius" plan: by throwing Silver into the world without Happily Ever Afters on his wedding day.

Silver knows his liege means well, but he's completely lost in this strange new world... until he runs into someone he'd met before once upon a dream (Yuu) and they kindly take him in without expecting payment. Still though, Silver insists on repaying them and helps them clean and fix up their home with the assistance of this world's animal friends.

Now, I could very easily make this Silyuu and I have nothing against Silyuu, but I am a Malleyuu shipper first and foremost and I came up with the PERFECT idea for how it could work in this:

So you've all most likely already noticed the roles the characters take in this: Silver is the distressed royal who was rescued, the knight is his savior and supposed true love, and Malleus is the evil dragon who gets in the way of their happiness. Obviously, the story isn't as simple as that and is a little... twisted (BA DUM TSS—)

So, it would only be fitting, wouldn't it, for the "evil" dragon to fall in love and get a happily ever after, since it's not something that follows the rules of the fairytale and this story is all about going against the fairytale?

[bugsludge]

My fantasy high jr year thoughts for episode 15

There is no context just what I would have live blogged about

THE WRITTEN TEST??? Crazy I would have died on the spot and the fact that they actually tried is crazy but they did so good for the circumstances 100 hand written words in 5 minutes is insane

Also the shrimp dragon??? I love art department so much it’s so creative and also just such a cool looking model I was dying when’s it came out

Gorgug hitting a nat 20 always makes me happy bc we jsut see more of his artificer barbarian stuff work but the 2 crist back to back Zac always has the best rolls I swear

Zacs stupid little stamp I love him sm

FIGS SPIRIT GUARDIANS WITH THE STURGES WAS SO FUNNY I live Emily so fucking much

The second pass on the math exam is so based I fucking hate math he’s so me

When the worm came out I was stunned holy shit there were so many monsters on field

FIG AGAINST THE WYVERN WAS CRAZY ALMOST 90 points of damage in one turn

Shrimp jump/shrimp party and crab king being turned into literal monsters is so funny

ZAC WITH ANOTHER NAT 20 HIS DICE ARE SO GOOD

THE WORM IS HORRIBLE OH MY GOD

ANOTHER NAT 20 WHAT THE FUCK ZAC

“My kid got a 7… my kid got a 1”Lou and ally talking about their dice in the same tone as the Charlie Brown Halloween quote is so fucking funny

Gavin is the mvp I love him, fantasy high npcs are always so funny

Fig eliminating a full wyvern as well as a bunch of fantasy mosquitoes with little to no effort on her part is insane she’s so cracked

Fabian fighting for his life to just…. Not be held by a monster for a turn is so funny. This shouldn’t be his turn for most rounds as an extremely Dex character lmao

The hangman with 2 nat 20s on an attack on a giant crab is hilarious bc Lou’s rolls have been mid this whole time ahsjdjd

Fig kissing the fucking pentacorn mid battle is the most Emily thing she could choose to do her playstyle is my favorite thing in the entire world

FIGS SPIRIT GAURDIANS COME IN CLUTCH SO MUCH HOLY SHIT

KIPPERLILY THAT FUCKING CUNT HOLY SHIT HELLO??? KILLING BUDDY??? OISIN BEING APART OF IT TOO???? NOOO I WAS ROOTING FOR HIM AND ADINE

the ocher jellies are so cute and so fucking pointless ahsjdjd

Gorgug vs the worm no thoughts just very stressful ahsjdjd

RIZ WITH THE 31 DAMAGE VS THE UMBERHULK WITH 30 HP WAS INSANE LUCK MURPH ROLLS COMING IN CLUTCH WHEN IT MATTERS

butter gummies my beloved

“Come on riz”

The mimic being the strongest monster is so funny bc this was 100% supposed to be a quick kill round 1

Fig carried combat today holy shit even with Emily’s bad rolls she’s taken out half of the enemies that’s insane

GORGUG WIRH ANOTHER FUCKING CRIT WHAT THE FUCK ZACS DICE ARE INSANE TODAY next week he’s gonna be rolling nat ones all day long

“What did you call it….BUTTER. GUMMIES.” I adore ally so much

30 persuasion roll on the butter gummies…. It’s time for love NOW

“You are stupid” as if Gorgug didn’t leave the owl ears and dedicate the whole year to studying for his mcat pls

Gorgugs artificer stuff is so fun I’m so glad Zac took on that class