#zeshaika rambles

[zeshaika]

Rewatched the Triology Three-Parter in Quantum Leap Season 5, again.

It’s kind of fascinating how many new and different ways that set of episodes manage to frustrate me each time I watch it.

[zeshaika]

The fun thing about being being both in the  Danganronpa and  Samurai Girl Real Bout High School fandoms  is hearing someone mention the name Aoi Asahina, and having to take a moment to think on whether they’re talking about her:

or if they’re talking about her:

[zeshaika]

So, I know that the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG is a bit obscure and getting a group together online is kinda difficult (At least for me. Since I don't really know much about the system of the games to feel comfortable enough running a game). But, I had sort of a vague idea for a campaign set in the Buffyverse that I figure I'd write down here (though I might eventually attempt this in the future.) (More details under the cut)

The setup: -A multi-season (with each "episode" being mostly self-contianed one-shot sessions (except for the "season finale" and any multi-part sessions), but a larger arc loosely connecting individual sessions, grouped together as seasons. Player characters level up/gain new ablities/etc. between "seasons". The seasons would run parallel to seasons of Buffy/Angel, but would largely be it's own thing (with maybe a few crossovers with the main canon if possible).

-The campaign would start (Session 0) roughly in Buffy Season 3, in the middle of the episode "The Wish". The PCs start out as students in the Wishverse, who've banded together to help others survive the vampire-controlled Sunnydale. *This would allow the players to better get an idea of what they want to do with their characters, and get a feel for the systerm, and also avoid having players have to re-roll characters in the event they die in this session, since most of the Wishverse stuff gets undone by the end of the episode, anyways*.

-Somewhere in the "episode" the PCs would encounter something that hints at the main Campaign Big-Bad, and possibly some other influencing elements to come into play later, and ties the characters to the plot. However, before the players can dig too deeply into investigating, the episode ends, and the players find themselves back in normal-verse Sunnydale, just going about their normal lives (whether the PCs knew each other in their normal lives is up to the GM and the players.)

-The catch is that, for reasons that (until much later, that being the overarcing story of the campaign) remain a mystery, the PCs somehow vaguely remember their lives in the Wishverse.  (*Depending on how the GM runs the game, having the normal verse characters not initially have some of the skills they had in the Wishverse. Ex: someone playing a witch could, in normal verse, not yet have tapped into their magical potential, and their memories of that verse could serve as the catalyst to get them into exploring it.)

-From there, the group sort of finds themselves inexplicably caught up in various adventures/encounters with the paranormal of Sunnydale (and beyond, depending on where you want to take the game as the seasons progress), and forging close friendships with one another, while trying to figure out their place in the puzzling events that drew them together in the first place (*This is where the players and GM could work together to incorporate stuff from characters backstories and such to make the story extra character-driven, and encourage player involvement/interaction/character development.)

Other notes: -Some canon events would probably be necessary to include, as that they effect location/etc. Example: The fight against the Mayor during Graduation and the desctruction of Sunnydale High would be things that have to happen (Which, honestly? Having your characters participate in the battle might be a pretty cool season finale bit to show off the PCs finally showing off their solidarity and accepting their destinies as fighters of evil). (But once the PCs are out of High School, it's up to the GM if they want to continue using the Sunnydale as the setting or expand out into other cities, or even other dimensions.)

-Of course, there's some off-screen stuff that got referenced in canon that might make some fun stand-alone sessions: Like, the PCs could have been the ones who stopped Andrew's plot to attack the school play with flying monkeys,which is why the Scoobies have literally no fucking clue who the hell he is in Season 6.

-Given the nature of the Slayer lineage, the GM might want to talk with players wanting to play Slayer characters (possibly having them run the character as the 'Slayer' archetype, but for all intents and purposes being a, likely undiscovered "Potential". (Though this could change depending on whether one believes that Buffy's death in S5 would have activated another Slayer, despite having already done so after her death/revival in Season 1. Regardless, roughly around the the time Willow's spell activated all the Slayers in S7, the Slayer character would likely become full-fledged Slayer. Also a lot of the Slayer mythos, related to the PC slayer could be altered depending on how much you want to play with bending reality/canon. )

-Likewise, Watcher PCs might want to talk with both Slayer PCs and the GM, to work with how their backstories would intersect. Would the Watcher be a Watcher-in-training who hasn't yet been recruited to the Watchers' Council? Was the Watcher sent to Sunnydale to train the Potential Slayer, unknown to Giles (and possibly Wesley, both of whom were at Sunnydale at the time)? Does the Potential Slayer even know that the Watcher is her Watcher, or even know what the Watcher's Council or the Slayer?

-Anyways, this is a lot of words to say that I don't really have an idea outside of a vague concept. It's really unlikely that I'd  ever really do anything with this, since I really don't have a time/energy/experience to plan out or run a game at the moment. But, still thought it was a good idea to write it down in case I want to go back to it later.

[zeshaika]

Rewatching some Unsolved Mysteries episodes from the 1980s on Hulu right now. Part of me sees some of the the sets they filmed Robert Stack’s segues on and keeps feeling like I saw them used in Quantum Leap. (Which, would probably make sense since both belonged to NBC around the same time?)

Or at the very least some of the set pieces in the early seasons looked kinda similar to some sets in QL. But, that could just be a coincidence.

[zeshaika]

Don’t think I didn’t notice this Buffy The Vampire Slayer episode trying to pass off a copy of Dragons of a Fallen Sun as a D&D manual.

[zeshaika]

So, after many years of putting it off, I FINALLY got around to finishing the Balance Campaign of The Adventure Zone.

I’ll admit, the first couple of arcs of the series were a bit of a slow start (which is kinda why I kept getting sidetracked and kept putting it off for a bit).

But once the main story hits about the third arc and the story really starts to get moving? Just..holy damn did it get really fucking good!

[zeshaika]

On today’s edition of : “Jess finds obscure-ass RPGs on Amazon that related to her childhood anime nostalgia phase”.

So, the first two are sourcebooks for an anime-style roleplaying game/resource book based on the Tenchi Muyo series. Granted, the ones that I found were focused on the OVAs/TV series that aired on Toonami back in the early 2000s. It basically runs on the same Tri-Stat system as the Sailor Moon RPG that I found a while back, but is more tailored toward the canon of Tenchi Muyo, with certain abilities being renamed, and inclusions of stats/abilities for mecha. (Honestly, there’s a LOT of resource books like this out there, with the same system, but modded for different anime series settings.)

The other is the d20 version of the Big Eyes,Small Mouth anime style-role playing game. The BESM’s original system was the source for a lot of the anime RPGs that I’ve come across, so I wanted to see what changes were made to convert it over to d20 (though granted, it came out around the time of D&D 3.5e, so I have little idea how it’d work with more modern rules), and compare them to any copies of the original system, or if I started up a game in either system and wanted to switch over to the other.

[zeshaika]

So, a long while back I posted about a few slightly obscure anime-based RPGs from the late 90s/early 2000s that I found being sold online Two of those books were the Tenchi Muyo RPG/Resource book, and the Tenchi Universe Resource book that was meant to be a supplement to the first. I noted that there was a third book that covered the third Tenchi Muyo series that aired on Toonami back in the day.  Up until now, I hadn’t been able to find it, but I managed to come across a copy of it (for about $20, so a fairly reasonable price all things considered). 

So, I figured that I’d just post this just to show off an addition to my growing collection of anime setting Table Top RPGs. 

[zeshaika]

Attempting some traditional art for the first time since high school. Working with acrylics and currently waiting for the canvas to dry.

Apparently, the black acrylic paint I’m using smells a lot like tomatoes.

Anyways, the piece is gonna be a bit abstract, and I might post pics of the finished work once it’s finished.

[zeshaika]

Two attempts at Acrylic Pouring art.- Acrylic Paint on Canvas

There’s sort a bit of a story of what inspired me to do these. So, a little while back I was watching Game Grumps 10 Minute Power Hour series, where they did an episode where they did acrylic pour paintings (the link goes to the episode). 

It looked kinda of cool and fun (and I’d been wanting to experiment again with acrylics for a couple years now), so I’d thought I’d give it a shot. Admittedly, it’s a little bit restrained as far as pouring goes, since I don’t really have a huge work space to do this kind of stuff in).

The first painting I did as sort of both a Starbomb inspired one (since the Tryforce album had just been released around the time I started making these), as well as sort of an abstract Pansexual flag (since I am pansexual), since both have the same color scheme.

It’s also a paired piece with the second painting, since it’s CMYK color scheme vs. RGB color scheme. With the second one, I’d attempted to do some minor blending in some spots for effect, but I’m not sure if it really shows up in the picture.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy!!!

[zeshaika]

Small update on my previous post: 

So, I managed to explain to my boss the situation, and he let me take Thursday off, but I’ll have to come in tomorrow instead (which would have been my usual off day).

No real clue on getting me back and forth to work the next couple of weeks after that is gonna go, though.

[zeshaika]

Devil Hunter Yohko

So, I got into a bit of a 90s anime nostalgia kick the other day and I recently decided to check out this sort of obscure five episode OVA (it’s technically six episodes, but episode four is a music video compilation).

I remember coming across some of the artwork for the series when I was younger, and thinking it looked interesting (After all, I was really into Sailor Moon at the time, and Yohko’s technically a magical girl, and has similar hair to Usagi), but I never really was able to watch it until recently.

And, that’s probably a good thing that it took me so long, since the series itself has some nudity and suggestive/sexual scenes (Especially in the first episode).

The show is.....just okay. Like, there’s a few things that could have been improved upon: like giving the devils more organization/motives, and fleshing out everyone’s personalities a bit, and not lazily handwaving some of the potential lore/explanation of some characters (I mean, there is literally a doppelganger character named “Asuza #2″, with the only explanation given as “Oh well, that kind of thing just happens!”).

(Also: Haruka, the pink haired girl, has a completely different appearance in the episode she appears in than she does in a lot of the official art. And, the red-haired girl in the second pic never actually appears in the anime, as far as I recall. But, that’s a side note).

Anyways, despite its flaws, I still kind of have a soft spot for the series, as far as it’s art style goes, and I felt like it had a bit of potential to have been a pretty decent action-oriented, mid-90s, magical girl title.

[zeshaika]

Zeshaika’s Super Sentai Watch-list (Excluding movies/specials.)

Just making a list to keep track of the Super Sentai series’ that I’ve watched/and plan to watch in the future.

List under the cut

(Bold indicates completed series)

1.Goranger

2.JAQK

3.Battle Fever J

4.Denziman

5.Sun Vulcan

6.Goggle V

7.Dynaman

8.Bioman

9.Changeman

10.Flashman

11.Maskman

12.Liveman

13.Turboranger

14.Fiveman

15.Jetman

16.Zyuranger

17.Dairanger

18.Kakuranger

19.Ohranger

20.Carranger

21.Megaranger

22.Gingaman

23.GoGo V

24.Timeranger

25.Gaoranger

26.Hurricanger

27.Abaranger

28. Dekaranger

29. Magiranger

30. Boukenger

31. Gekiranger

32. Go-Onger

33. Shinkenger

34. Goseiger

35. Gokaiger

36. Go-busters

37. Kyoryuger

38. ToQger

39. Ninninger

40. Zyuohger

41. Kyuranger

42. Lupinranger vs. Patranger

43.Ryusoulger

44.Kiramager

45.Zenkaiger

46.Donbrothers

47.KingOhger

48.Boonboomger

[zeshaika]

Been gathering together some stuff for a few cheap cosplays for Halloween and whatever (Granted, since I don’t have much skill in actual sewing, a lot of my cosplays are either cheap ones from like Halloween stores, or whatever I could piece together from stuff I found at Goodwill). 

Anyways, Here’s a few selfies of a WIP of a Barb from Stranger Things cosplay that I’m planning on doing for Halloween. Right now it’s just the wig and the glasses, since I’m still waiting for the shirt to come it.  I’m thinking I’ll do a more finished photoset once I have this once I get everything in.

[zeshaika]

Finished packing my stuff out of my room. I look kind of like a wreck, and the camera quality is kinda shit on both pics (I was using my laptop’s webcam).

(Also, here’s an older photo of me with makeup from a few months before I cut my hair (and added the blonde streak that you really can’t see in the newer pic, and I really need to touch it up), To compare what my old room looked like before the move.)

[zeshaika]

I just realized that I have a weird job when I can casually say “...And then I walked into a room that was covered in blood. It was kind of annoying, really”.