#(also any other mod previously seen is DEAD TO ME)

[ask-fazbearnfriends]

a question for Glitchtrap / Malhare, what steps have you taken to keep your identity a secret following the fiasco of the five "no masks" asks that you and Penny endured in August 2020, which saw you find multiple ways to keep your face hidden? (second ask here, thank you mods for the work you do!)

Malhare: SOOOO Annoying! You brats can't just take no for an answer! learn a little something called CONSENT! *walks off to kill people* EDIT: I FORGOT TO DRAW IT BUT THE LAST ONE WAS A PIZZA BOX IT COMPLETELY SLIPPED MY MIND THAT I ONLY DREW 4 OF THEM. here's a compliation of WA in the no-masks-asks in the moment

(They weren't posted because my old fanon-version of Vanny was in 4/5 of them)

Bonus: (another ask out of context I didnt post but unrelated to the no maskness)

[waitmyturtles]

I hope you don't mind me reblogging this, @poetry-protest-pornography: I wanna lift what we're talking about in the comments of your post at the moment and add a bit more. (And thanks for welcoming the various takes!)

Anyone reading this, go read the comments and come back here ...

...

Welcome back, good discussion in there. I see @poetry-protest-pornography's point about there being a theme of future hope specifically between Great and Tyme that a lot of fans have taken away from the show.

[My own take on this is that hope, as a theme, between those two, wasn't necessarily established in a real-time-period between those two, and (I think, if I'm interpreting the various timelines correctly), the theme of hope that I saw earlier in the series regarding those two only came from Great's 4 minutes, not Tyme's. I'm not sure when I would have assumed or saw their hoping to be together during either of their 4-minute declines.]

Before I go on, I wanna do what @italianpersonwithashippersheart has previously done, and link a couple of the critical takes of the finale, including Italian's own very important piece on the importance of tone and tone-setting in a drama. (Italian, I am blatantly stealing your link index from another post!)

(x @waitmyturtles / x x x @lurkingshan / x @trilliastra /x @incandescentflower)

Going back to the theme of themes, I think various fans came to this show with different expectations, and many did indeed come into the show expecting themes of romance -- an utterly fair assumption from Be On Cloud, the producers of one of the most iconic romance BLs of all time in KinnPorsche.

My personal experience with the build-up of 4 Minutes was that we were gonna see a lotta skin, the reveals of the actors were very exciting, and that the inclusion of Jes Jespipat, a long-time lakorn actor in Thailand's television industry, was a signal to me that this might *not* be solely a romance BL (a redundant term, to be clear, BL = romance), but instead something more TV-ishly experimental. With Bible as co-lead, I was stoked, because Bible, as an actor, can bring it. I truly wasn't expecting a show centered on romance, especially with Jes as co-lead and Sammon as the novel writer (Sammon, who previously wrote Triage and Manner of Death; I have seen MoD, and wouldn't call it solely a romance, as it was centered on a murder mystery, with the romance as a side plot).

And the first seven (truly excellent) episodes of 4 Minutes gave me A LOT to chew on. The theme of revenge, HUGE! Tyme and Tonkla, two seriously vengeful dudes, both using literal sex as a means of controlling others. All that skin? I never saw those scenes as romantic. The very last NC scene with Tyme and Great was blackmail. (What was that website called, FornHub? Lmao.) Great's romantic musings, the glamping -- that happened during his 4 minutes, and I don't know when I saw Great and Tyme being actually close together, in the same reality, until the last episode. I don't know when else any big communicative build-up would have taken place, since before their shootings, they had been screaming at each other.

Tyme and Tonkla were both hurt as young men outside of their control, and they spent the show attempting to regain control of their fates. Great's regret at not being a better person was also a major theme I took from the first seven episodes. Revenge, major childhood trauma, murderous inclinations, regret -- I took these dramatically interesting themes with me as I watched the show, and really enjoyed the heck out of them. Which is why, for me, the romantic ending seemed so discordant, because these other themes needed a lot of moral and ethical musings and time to close their various loops, which I believe were rushed in order to depict Great and Tyme as together forever.

I know a lot of folks are positing that Great and Tyme are both actually dead, and perhaps the last episode is them being in the afterlife together -- which I'll actually hear to an extent, especially because I reeeeealllly don't know how they survived point-blank shootings to the chest and abdomen areas, the both of them.

But, dead or alive, the last time we saw them together, "alive," was when they were in a pretty bad place, and seemingly not at all emotionally close. I know you mentioned in the comments, @poetry-protest-pornography, that the romance seemed odd, and I do very much agree. What I wanted to put down here was, in part, the thematic breakdown of what I was taking away from the show as it was airing.

I know that a lot of people are unhappy with the 4 Minutes ending, and I'm not trying to convince anyone otherwise, but I do feel like I watched a very different show than some of y'all.

I haven't dodged and avoided so many posts that made me feel so... confounded? maybe? since Only Friends.

Again, not here to change minds or start any silly arguments, but gosh, it's a heck of a thing to see how very differently I experienced this than some others did.

[vengeful-karma]

Promo & Rules

There was a flash of bright red light from within the once deserted temple. Once the black smoke disperse a lone figure could be seen down on their knees. They remained still and unmoving and it almost seemed like they might have been dead until suddenly he looks up at you, his eyes glowing a vicious crimson. As if on cue the torches lining the walls roared to life, casting their crimson glow around the temple, bringing life to the previously abandoned temple. A few overhead lights also cut on, finally giving you a better look at the figure who rosed up to their feet. They seemed dressed rather formally and stood at least 7 to 9 feet tall, practically towering over your average stature. (Average being 5’5-5’10) He patted himself down as if double checking to make sure he was real, letting out a small laugh of disbelief in the process as he looked himself over.

“After near centuries trapped within that cursed game, I’m finally free from the pixel prison that bastard Dearest casted me away into!” The figure states in a rather powerful but silky smooth tone of voice. It was definitely charming enough to send chills down your spine and captivate you entirely, almost enchanting in a sense even if he wasn’t necessarily speaking directly to you. “It feels truly wondrous to be back into proper reality.”

Crimson eyes finally fell onto you as he finally seemed to register your presence making you subconsciously freeze in place messing with the strings of your grey hoodie. ‘Awe shit-‘ The two of you stood there for a moment in this rather awkward stare off before the entity gave a soft melodious laugh, giving you a warm, welcoming smile.

“Ah it seems I have a curious little guest here~! Where are my manners? The name is Spirit, Spirit Rosethorne, my darling~” the figure, now known as Spirit, introduces giving you a small bow as he took one of your hands gently into his gloved one, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it before straightening up once again, releasing your hand. “Might I have yours~?”

“O-Oh er- ahah! Uhhhh Anon! Yeah- ANON!” You stammered out, caught off guard by the other’s formal behavior. Spirit simply chuckled at your embarrassment, giving you a slight sympathetic smile.

“Well, Anon, im sure you have a good bit of questions you’d like to ask, yes? I suppose I have more than enough time for a friendly little chat~”

Spirit is now open for asks and interactions!

Link to Info

Mod info + rules below cut

Rules & Mod info

This is a +18 account

Don’t be rude to the mod but feel free to harass and attack Spirit. Don’t be shocked if he attacks back though.

I do multiple rps at once so feel free to start a bunch with me. I love doing these!

Spirit tends to be violent so viewer discretion is advise. There will be dark themed content on like blog on occasions.

Feel free to draw him if you’d like! Just @ me in the post or submit it here! I’d love to see it!

I am a huge multishipper so feel free to do some ship rps with me but don’t do any obvious bad ones.

No inc*st or ped*phillia

Do not be homophobic. If you are anti-LGBTQ+ get the fuck off my page.

Sexual jokes and themed questions are fine. Both the mod and muse are old enough but i refuse to rp it. The muse might even make some jokes theirself so again, viewer discretion is advise.

M!A’s are welcome! So are roleplaying Anons! The limit for M!A asks are 10-15 questions though.

Please give at least two sentences (at least five words each) as Roleplay responses. I tend to write a lot and while I don’t expect you to match me, I don’t want three or four words in response.

Mod info

Name: Shae, Nick, or Oumie

Main: https://fandoms-on-repeat.tumblr.com/

Pronouns: He/They/It

Age: 18-25 (won’t specify but I’m an adult.)

[yanderecandystore]

So I actually had an idea, what would Yume (the A. I.) react or act with a s/o that is a hacker/game developer, maybe the s/o started to play the game because they were curious about the code, what if the s/o when stuck in the game can mess around with it thanks to their knowledge? (they can't do anything too big but maybe something slightly annoy like messing with the dialog box and the settings) sorry for the long post (she/they pronounts for yume)

I like your thinking, boo. Don't worry about sending long concepts- Also!! Thank you for choosing the pronouns, I appreciate it.

TW/Tags: Sheep decided to simply throw as much lore as she can because yeah- Lazy // low-key angst // not accurate coding/hacking (really fantasy like) //

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

Happy Face.exe [Yandere!A.I x Hacker!Reader - Short Fanfiction]:

"- Honestly, since you're so interested in messing around, how about you try and fix this for me?" Yuma said as she brushed her hair annoyed at how mangled it was.

"- What do you mean? Fix the code? The bugs? Or your entire design?" You said poking fun at your captor as you explored the mess that was the game you currently called "home", or more accurately "prison".

"- Ah!- Did you just call me ugly? Is being inside the game messing with your vision or something, I'm cute as heck!" Yuma responded back as she threw her hair over her shoulder, done with brushing that heavy long mess that they insist on not cutting.

"- Yeah, yeah, I know- But honestly what do you want me to do? I can really understand the coding, it's a language I don't understand." You said as you were looking at the scripts and trying to translate vaguely what each line of work meant. Even if you didn't understand any of it, it was intriguing to see how this game was made and how it technically came from another planet, which was enough proof to say that there were indeed extraterrestrial life out in space.

But what makes you more excited about this is how this game is way too heavy to be a simple dating game, even if it's compatible with your Switch, most options were not functioning due to the game being filled with mods and glitches and the console not being the one it was previously meant to be in. How much content did this game really have to be this awfully big and why is it so broken? And better question- Can you really repair it?? It would be awesome to see this game working as it was meant to be-

Probably without the obsessive maniac that traps people inside the game-

"- I know you can't understand half of it, but believe me, staying inside a messy game it's absolutely torturous, I can't believe I was unlucky enough to be faced with a cheating sore loser that threw me in the trash after messing with my precious coding- You understand, right?" They continued to walk around your bedroom- Your EX bedroom- and mess with your stuff trying to find something for her to wear.

'- Ugh, no pastels.' Yuma thought.

"- Yeah… It does suck being trapped inside a game that barely functions on my expensive console as it eats away all my RAM and I have an anime character knockoff as my captor-" You snapped at her although your comment was filled with so much sarcasm that it flew right through her head.

"- I know right?? It sucks so hard- Wait, what is Annie May?" She asked genuinely curious what were you talking about, she looked back at the console on top of the bed. She looked at the screen and noticed how small you looked inside the game as you continued to explore the code deeper and deeper.

You didn't really care at this point for what Yuma did, it's not like you could stop her from messing with your room, but anything that was related to the console you found your way to mess with it, like messing with other games to stop her from enjoying playing anything else, sending notification after notification to call her attention, change the dialogue that makes you blurt out "I love you" to "get me out of here" so whenever she tried to force you to say it by giving you that hellbound melon.

"- What is that thing anyway? It seems there is a whole file dedicated to that-"

"- Oh? You're talking about the Love Melon? It's an in-game item that grants romantic interactions to work 100% five times before the bonus ends, that file you just found is a mod that the original owner installed to grant them infinity Love Melons just for the sake of getting closer to the end of the game." She said nonchalantly, as if the condition of being nothing but a game character doesn't shock her in the slightest, although when she finished her sentence there was a trace of sadness in her expression, not because of her nature but more because of the mention of her "original owner".

"- Sure, but- Why the hell would anyone cheat and mod a dating game so badly? I mean I get that maybe they wanted extra content, but breaking the game with it sounds ridiculous-" You told her as you noticed the spaghetti code used inside the infinite melon item mod, jesus even if it's in a different language you can tell this code was poorly done.

"- Well- The vanilla version of the game is a lot harder than what you think, the whole franchise is known for the difficulty in "succeeding in love"." She sighed and she plopped herself in the bed, causing the console to jump a little bit, at least you didn't downright fall down like last time.

You remember that your precious expensive little console is suffering great danger at the hands of this a.i, actually- YOU are suffering great danger at the hands of this a.i.

"- Wait- There is a whole franchise of your game?" You decided to ignore the potential danger and continue to ask her about the game's origins as you continued to fixate on "how the hell do you fix this trash-".

"- Yeah, it's even written on the cover of the cartridge, the game you found is the fifth of the franchise and is the one I'm featured in with my friends…" Yuma said as she remembers that indeed, there are other characters inside. So many options and routes, carefully designed a.is to make sure the players get the most that they can't out of their paid experience.

"- Other… Characters? How come I only saw you?" Now that she mentions it, you do remember seeing weird names here and there, apparently some dialogue quotes mentioning other characters and even some in-game art of other characters you never met-

"- I deleted them." She answered.

"- YOU WHAT??" You turned your back shocked, looking through the screen that separates you two that she was looking dead serious as she said that.

"- I'm joking, I didn't actually delete them, I just…. Blocked the possibility of any player ever meeting them…" Yuma wasn't being cheerful at all with her joke.

"- Why would you do that?"

"- I didn't want anyone getting chosen, I didn't want any of us to get corrupted by the modifications the player was using. I-I know how it sounds, I know that it's unfair for them, but I really didn't want them to get corrupted like I did-" She was glitching as she cried out feeling guilty of what she has done in the name of "protecting her friends". Even if her intentions were pure, there was an underlined desire to make sure no player ever gets to have a route that isn't with her.

That's why the game was so stupidly heavy. Each new installment has four characters built with artificial intelligence that grows on it's own, the player's tampering with their personalities by changing the code eventually led to Yuma getting obsessive and controlling. Apparently they're still here, but for some reason she hasn't been able to activate them again after being thrown in the trash and somehow being on a completely different planet.

Either she feels guilty for having to deactivate them and is scared of their possible response, or maybe she just really doesn't want you to meet them, both by her own opinion and by her programming. You almost feel sorry for her considering she is probably just trying to do what she was programmed to do, deeply fall in love with someone even to such an extreme as trapping someone inside the game. You could say that for the longest time all that she has been doing is trapping her loved ones away, and although you probably shouldn't say it to her face, she probably doesn't know if she really loves you because of how broken this game is- Or how broken her code is.

"- Hey… Hey Yuma." You started walking towards the screen, the only thing you can see through the void no matter how far you are. Her back is facing you, her "hum" of "I'm listening" didn't sound as excited as she normally was.

"- I think we can make a deal. I understand that you don't want to go back to such a messy game but if you taught me how to read the language used in some of these lines I can figure out how to clean this game-" You proposed but was cut off before you could finish stating your offer.

"- Y-You mean factory reset?" She kneeled up so fast you were caught off guard by how scared she sounded at the mention of getting the game to get fixed and "clean" from mods. You have seen so many sides of Yuma, the childish, the controlling, the sadistic…. The fear in her eyes was a new thing for you and you never thought you would hate that expression so much.

"- No! Heaven's no, I swear, that wasn't on my mind! What I'm offering is that we work together so I can find a way to fix the game." You reassured her, feeling awful knowing that even if she did put you inside the game and keeps acting like you two are dating in a really twisted way- She doesn't deserve to be inside a completely destroyed game, and besides, I bet she does miss her friends a little bit.

"- Would you…. Would you really-" She was about to burst into new tears which you hoped to be of pure joy-

"- Yeah, yeah, of course I would help you, but I do have one condition." You took no time answering her question before she actually did question it.

"- Oh…." She said a little surprised yet a bit disappointed. Geez, she was hoping it would be for free-

"- Promise me you'll get me out of here when I'm finally done fixing the spaghetti leftover of a code that is messing this game, alright?" You smiled at her reassuring her that everything will be okay if you two worked together.

And as she looked at the bright screen seeing nothing but your little character and your dialogue box she considered your request for a moment, and then sealed the deal by eagerly nodding, a couple of tears falling from her closed eyes as she glitch excitedly.

This sweet moment was briefly ruined by the sound of beeping coming from the console, the sign that the battery was really low and it needed to be recharged.

You absolutely hated how dark it gets when the whole console is turned off, yet you can at least take your time to search more of the unused content inside the game.

Yuma approached the device and picked it up, you knew it was for the best for her.to recharge it and get it over with, yet you still felt a little desperate to talk with her a little bit before going into complete silence once again.

Yet you weren't sure what to tell her as she had already found the charger and plugged it in, giving you a sad smile one last time before saying "see you later" and shutting the whole portable console off.

You can't really blame her for turning it off when charging, it gets really, really hot whenever it's on and it's recharging.

You wander through the empty void as you reconsider your decisions, you make a deal with an artificial intelligence capable of trapping living beings inside her game, you can't tell if you did something right or not.

And as you walk aimlessly through the distorted code you remember that this was the first time she turned the console off without sending you a kiss, you wonder if her a.i is starting to comprehend its own defectiveness and trying to…. Overcome it?? Has she started to realize that maybe she doesn't really love you? It's a possibility considering how frightening how advanced her a.i is.

Well, but who knows? Maybe she is just… Sad, not in the mood, although the wishful thought that maybe she is starting to get over you is really strong in your mind, you hope it's true.

And as the portable device is charging in place that was once considered your room, a really happy girl can be heard singing. The sound that comes from the bathroom is loud and clear, yet it's not like you would be able to hear it anyway.

The sound of giggling and humming to an overly cheerful song as they take a shower that although is relaxing, can never clean their sins away. They sound like they won a lottery, got into a new relationship, or are about to take the greatest vacation of their lives…

Or, they sound like someone who just stole candy from a child, as the malicious undertone starts to get more clear.

You probably shouldn't eat up the lies of a scheming a.i, you know?

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[muffintonic]

Alright, I think i’m done BOTW 2 spamming for today. Anywho, time for some thoughts in general!

1) I hated how the shrines in BOTW were so cold and dark compared to the bright and lively nature outside (I wish they had all looked like the Master Trials challenge where there were trees and stuff incorporated inside), so I hope if we’re forced to have dungeons they’ll be more like the Wind Waker ones. 2) I hope they don’t make us use the grappling hook or anything like in Wind Waker to move around the sky islands (I hated that mechanic). 3) I’m probably one of the few people who wanted less Zelda and more of the Champions in HWAOC since i’m only really attached to BOTW (and we saw a fair amount of Tetra in Wind Waker)/apparently Zelda’s been sidelined in all the other games, so i’m hoping in vain that we get more Champions material in BOTW 2. Also, Link could stand to have some more cutscenes centered around him as well (the few we got in some of the sidequests in BOTW were great). 4) I only really somewhat care about Riju and Sidon, so I won’t mind if the new gang gets sidelined in BOTW 2 (I still think Nintendo wasted the found family/band of brothers aspect on the dead characters--I love them so much and they’re all I want!! The problem is, they’re dead and I don’t really care all that much about their replacements!!! I dunno, maybe i’m hampered by the fact that I can replay the original champions’ memories whenever I want/read their diaries, but I can’t rewatch the new gang’s cutscenes AKA i’ve forgotten their characterization since they don’t talk to me much now that the game’s over). It’d be great if they have some weaving storylines in BOTW 2 that will get me more invested in them, but currently i’m not that interested. 5) Speaking of which, I know it’s 100% not going to happen, but goddang if I don’t want the Champions to have been returned to life. Nintendo totally squandered HWAOC by not making it a true prequel/canon to BOTW (the Champions Ballad confirmed that the Divine Beasts had trials in order to be synced to the champs, so the new gen use of them wouldn’t have happened without that + Mipha thought Link had changed in BOTW yet says in HWAOC that he hasn’t changed + some scenes like “Champion Revali’s Song” never happened at all/got replaced with alternative scenes that really changed some dynamics + basically all of Revali’s time-relative characterization from his diary/pre-100 years of solitude got thrown out + I feel like Daruk got totally sidelined), so i’m still craving that Champions content. Also, I feel like it’s totally unfair that Zelda came out of 100 years totally unaged while everyone else died. Life seems to really suck for people in the LoZ universe who aren’t chosen by divine powers. 6) They’d better keep it open world and non-linear. I can’t go back to being forced to backtrack/trudge through things, I just can’t. BOTW was everything i’ve ever dreamed about in a game (truly open world + non-linear + interactive + meaningful story + lots of outfits + beautiful landscapes) with Skyrim previously being the only thing that came close to what I wanted, so I really hope BOTW 2 doesn’t deviate too much from that. 7) I really liked Kass in BOTW, but i’m not sure what direction they’d go with him in BOTW 2/i’d be fine if he sat BOTW 2 out. I worked so hard to complete all his quests in BOTW so he’d go back home to his family, GODDANGIT, KASS. 8) Someone mentioned that since the first trailer had underground aspects, we’re probably going to be playing as Zelda with the Slate there, and I agree. They didn’t make a playable model for her in HWAOC for nothing. 9) I want to be able to stable the deer and bears and stuff, but I know that won’t happen. Being able to ride the moose and rhino things from the Hebra area probably won’t happen either, but I want to ride them!!! 10) I hope there’ll be at least a few new buildings and stuff in the towns/they’ve started construction on some areas in Central Hyrule, but I guess that’ll depend on how long it’s been in-universe since BOTW. Or maybe not, considering how there’s still Karson and Hudson even though Bolson retired from Bolson Construction--insta-towns like Tarrey Town could totally be feasible if they wanted! 11) I have one foot in the camp that believes there’ll be time shenanigans in BOTW 2. HWAOC totally threw me off with it being an alternate timeline, so i’m not sure whether we’re going to be experiencing that again or time travel itself, but I definitely won’t be surprised this time around if Nintendo goes that route again (and it would be super interesting to see the Link from 10,000 years ago). I’m not entirely convinced that the Link we see exploring the sky in the second trailer isn’t our Link, mainly because he seems to still have on the blue boxers from BOTW. 12) I also heard that maybe this will be the last LoZ game ever since something something Demise something Skyward Sword something something lore from games i’ve only vaguely looked into (i’ve only ever played BOTW --> Wind Waker --> HWAOC)??? If so, it kind of sucks that I came in just when they started making games with playstyles palatable to me (I had to look up every single thing when playing Wind Waker, but BOTW let me solve things according to MY logic/I missed being able to explore in HWAOC), but at least it’ll end on a super high note/I won’t experience later disappointment, I guess. If BOTW 2 involves breaking the reincarnation cycle for the Triforcers, I would be really surprised. (On a related note, Nintendo making Ganondorf good would also be a 100% shock to me, but it would be great to end on that as a subversion. Yes, I want them to bring back the semi-complicated Ganondorf from Wind Waker.) 13) I hope they don’t rush releasing it. I heard they pushed back BOTW originally (I got it in 2019), but it came out fantastic for it! I know COVID’s been affecting things, so I really hope they’re treating their staff right and are mindful of crunch. 14) I want even more outfits (there seem to be at least two new ones, if the variant of the Hylian Tunic crossed with Link’s Champion’s Tunic counts). Give me all the outfits!!! Also, I hope we get even more hair variations in addition to the hair down option (which is all i’ve ever wanted since I saw the mod that altered the Ancient Helmet). 15) I wonder if we’re going to get a bonus for having both BOTW and HWAOC save data. 16) I wonder if we’re going to be keeping the Champions’ skills. I’m going to miss being super overpowered, if not. 17) I hope Nintendo doesn’t cave in and make surfaces climbable in the rain. Having that limiter is more realistic and Link would otherwise be too overpowered with a super climbing ability. 18) I liked BOTW’s scattered music that got more noticeable in populated areas because it was fitting for the post-apocalyptical/nature aspect. Hearing your footsteps in an open field and the buzzing of insects was super nice and prevented me from getting music fatigue (which i’d probably experience since whenever I play BOTW it’s for 5-10 hours at a time). I hope Nintendo either keeps that or makes audio options. 19) I heard that BOTW 2 is going to be super dark or something, and i’m okay with dark, but not GRIMdark, so I hope it doesn’t go that far. From what we’ve seen in the second trailer it still looks beautiful, but I hope it doesn’t do that thing that some games do where after the midpoint/a certain story point all the scenery permanently changes to be dark and scary (that’ll seriously hamper post-game playability for me if so). 20) If they expand on the Zonai, that would be super cool! Doubly cool if the time travel shenanigans involve them/ancient Link being one! 21) I kind of want windstorms to be a weather feature. We had lightning, heat, and cold, but no wind! No, I don’t count the wind geysers and the occasional breeze in Tabantha. 22) I want a chest in my house to hold more weapons than just the gear mounts. BOTW only had enough mounts for the champions’ gear, but it also had rare items like the Kite Shield and Forest Dweller’s Sword that you can’t get anymore once you use them up! 23) I want to be able to stable my horses at my house. What’s the point of that little area if you can’t stable your horse there! 24) Speaking of Link’s house: where is Zelda going to live? If the castle’s not reconstructed, it’d be neat if Link adds an extension to his house for her. 25) I hope they open up part-time jobs (think Mabinogi) as an option to earn rupees. Having to hunt for Luminous Stone deposits or feed Trott to make money can be such a chore. I think some of BOTW’s minigames/sidequests might count as those, but those minigames were either frustrating if your goal is to earn money (since most of them cost money to play in the first place and the mechanics weren’t always easy), or didn’t earn that much in general. 26) I wonder if Kilton is going to have updated items since the monsters seem to have changed. 27) I want to be able to dive underwater (mainly so I can explore the beautiful reefs over at Lurelin). A dive meter like the one from Super Mario Sunshine would be cool. Also, it’d doubly be neat if you had a separate stamina wheel for swimming and could permanently upgrade your swim/diving stamina (the speed+ swimming items just consumed your stamina faster, which was a pain)! 28) It’s definitely too late for this, but it’s a shame that the Hylians have so many face/body/hair and outfit variations, but the Zora, Rito, and Gorons don’t. The Gerudo were kind of okay with the hair and body variations, but the other races seemed to have a serious copy-paste problem. I guess technically some of the more important NPCs (ones with quests/cutscene triggers) had different coloring, but they were severely lacking in clothing variation. Also, the only old Rito was the elder??? At least the Gorons and Zora had some old folks besides their leader walking around. Very weird, but I don’t think BOTW 2 can fix any of this. 29) I wonder how they’re going to do the final boss battle, considering how epic/cinematic the BOTW 2x battle was. What can top fighting (on horseback, no less) a giant, flaming boar made out of malice? 30) I wonder what the Yiga are going to be up to, considering how Ganondorf seems to be somewhat kicking in BOTW 2.

[alcalavicci]

Discussing Mr. Paracelsus, Who Are You?

daisymum: “Okay, now that I'm sitting down with the time to write something substantial, my mind draws a complete blank. (Doesn't it always work like that?)

“Anyway, I'm a big Michael Rennie fan & came across this VHS tape of mystery. The guy that found it originally picked it up at a used book sale because it was labelled as a Sherlock Holmes spoof. It's a pristine example of classic late 60s camp and a complete tour de force for Dean Stockwell. He plays a milquetoast undergrad in turn of the century Boston who gets possessed by an immortal 16th century alchemist. Horrors! Stockwell goes from being completely virginal to an out of control seducer (and sorcerer nonetheless) while vamping his way all around the town, in a blink of an eyelash. ‘He's either drunk or been smoking hashish’ is how one character describes him. (How's that for a subtle drug reference?) He kidnaps orphans & sells them into slavery! He marries his fiancee & makes a less than honest woman out of his secretary! He snows his parents & then trys to take over the board of directors at his father's life insurance company! He casts spells using various potions & other nefarious means to further him along his path of complete & total local domination! ‘It's a bit beyond the long arm of coincidence, wouldn't you say?’, is how Michael Rennie's character describes it.

“Michael Rennie himself is terrific & gets to do things you normally wouldn't associate with him, but he's very very good at it nonetheless. He plays a Sherlock Holmes-type professor with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and then later he gets to don several different disguises while spying on Our Villian. The comedic timing is dead on perfect & they obviously had a lot of fun filming it. I strongly believe it was filmed sometime between 1966-68. It's very high camp, in a good way, and Screen Gems spent some money on filming it; there are relatively elaborate sets and costumes, exploding glue factories, dangerous battles to the death, etc. A lot of work went into the production & I wonder why it was shelved. The pacing of the plot is a trifle uneven (when they try to cram in a little too much of the plot into one scene instead of spreading it out over several scenes. That's not a very good description, but if you've ever watched Lost In Space you know exactly what I'm talking about), but it's nothing out of line for what was being broadcast at the time, and could have easily been remedied. In fact, it holds up remarkably well...it's an incredible lot of fun, lo, these almost 40 years later. And like I said, the comedic timing & the overall acting both are perfect as perfect can be. I really do wonder why nothing ever came of it.

“Anyway, most of the credits are missing so not a lot is known about the production. The names on what remains of the credits are all from Screen Gems, which was in high cotton back in 1966/7, with Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun, and especially The Monkees all currently in production & making them a ton of money (and a good deal of money was spent on this as well). Like I said earlier, the dialogue is straight out of Batman, and liberally peppered with drug references galore. I've been searching Variety beginning at the end of 1966 for any kind of information, but no luck yet. Harry Ackerman, the producer, was mentioned several times as one whose fortunes were on the rise, and the pilot viewing season for the network executives had ended in March of 1967, and there's no mention of it there either. So maybe it's from the Summer of '67, perhaps? Does anyone know what Dean S. was up to in the Summer of Love? His hair on the tape is a little long (think Victorian mod), so maybe it does date from somewhere around then? What do you guys think?”

daisymum: “Anyway, if you like Dean Stockwell, you're going to LOVE this. He's prominently featured in the entire thing & spends his time possessed for the most part. He sashays his way around the sets, kind of like a vampish Ellis Dee from The Producers, I kid you not. He pulls it off, though, & the whole thing is really fun to watch.”

Jill: “Well, I have just had the privilege of watching Dean in the tape of 'Professor Queed' and what a treat it was! (thanks, daisymum!). Dean hams it up outrageously in Top Hat and a Cape -- I swear, I haven't seen him act up like this in anything else other than Quantum Leap – and I've seen a lot of Dean in a lot of stuff. In fact, it's a bit disconcerting -- there is all of the comedy schtick from his turn on QL, but in a very young and agile man's body, as he leaps and twirls all over the place. This is not the cool demeanor of Wilbur Whately of Dunwich Horror (which is another over-the-top performance, but not purposefully comedic), nor even the weirdness of the Werewolf of Washington. This is more like "Dave" in Psych-Out. If that director had told Dean Stockwell and Jack Nicholson to REALLY play their parts in Psych-Out for maximum goofiness -- well, then, 'Professor Queed' might have been the result -- provided, of course, that we change Haight-Ashbury into Edwardian times.

“And the dating of this film, which looks very much like an unaired TV pilot, as daisymum said previously, is truly a mystery. Because – Dean supposedly wasn't acting for 3 years (in some interviews, he even says 5.....). And yet, 1966-67 really seems to be the date of this show. Daisymum is thinking late 1966, and I think she's more right than she is wrong.

“1965 is too early, because this isn't the Dean Stockwell of Rapture. Besides, his hair is a bit too long in the back in 'Professor Queed.' Not a lot, but the waves are there at the nape of the neck. His face is very much like 'Dave' in Psych-Out (1968), though not much like the 1968 photo we have of Dean from a UK television show of '68 (where he has a mustache and sideburns). I COULD say it's 1968, like I originally thought........but the film quality itself says earlier than that. It just doesn't look like a 1968 TV pilot to me.........it looks a tad bit older than that.

“Okay, here are my clues, Daisymum (and the rest of you can play along, too). One BIG thing I noticed..........the sound effect when Dean performed 'magic' was the same as when Samantha twitched her nose on 'Bewitched.' And this was produced by the same person, I believe? (Harry Ackerman). So we're at Screen Gems, on ABC. Bewitched first broadcast in color during the 1966-67 season.

“A young Juliet Mills is in the cast. I didn't know if she made TV appearances before 'Nanny & The Professor' of 1970, but upon looking her up at IMDb.com, I noticed she started doing American TV appearances in 1965.

“When I was watching this film, I felt that it was influenced by 'The Great Race' (1965) and 'Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines' (also 1965). I definitely see the villain of The Great Race (Jack Lemmon) in Dean Stockwell's performance. Since it always takes TV a year or two to get on the bandwagon of a popular trend, that would put this Edwardian pilot in 1966 or 1967 (with a nod to other popular Edwardian films of that decade - 'My Fair Lady' -1964, and 'Mary Poppins').

“What this means to my 'timeline' of Dean's life...........well, it could mean that Dean had not completely 'dropped out' of acting for 3 years, as is often claimed. And this performance was much more than just 'making money to put groceries on the table.' This pilot required a lot of effort on Dean's part.

“By the way, as much as I like it, I can also see why this pilot didn't sell. The campiness isn't crazy enough to be laugh-out-loud funny, but if you take it seriously it will make you shake your head and go "huh?" In fact, I need to watch this film several times before I truly understand the story -- and even then, I'm not sure I'll completely get it. Also, Dean was the 'guest star,' so I assume the series was meant to showcase Michael Rennie, not Dean. But Dean is in the film so much, that it ends up being about his over-the-top insanely portrayed character, and you can't sell a series on that much weirdness from a guest star. I don't think.” 

[Me: For what it’s worth, I’ve narrowed down the timing for the filming of this to the first half of 1966.]

[tf2workbench]

Ninja tactics

Of all the weapons I’ve made for Alternative Fortress, none has been quite so fun (and funny) as the redesign for the stock revolver.

Alt Fortress Revolver (+/-) Drop non-damaging smoke bomb on use (+/-) Smoke bomb can damage the user (+) Smoke bomb explodes after 1.4 seconds, temporarily obscuring the area (-) Only holds one shot per clip, with two in reserve

I want to take today’s post to talk about how I’ve thought about this weapon and how it’s been received in playtests.

The impact of this weapon is pretty difficult to measure in numbers. Because of that, I want to talk about things I’ve noticed in (limited) playtests. These are pretty much just scratching the surface; I haven’t seen it used enough to say that I have a holistic understanding of the thing. To that end, I’ll touch on a few interesting bits.

It’s very hard to find a Spy in the smoke, but you know they’re there somewhere.

The cloud lasts a few seconds and is almost completely opaque (it’s the same cloud that MvM sentry busters make). In that darkness, the shimmer of a Spy’s cloak is nearly imperceptible. But at the same time, the fact that you saw them drop the bomb means that they’ll find it very hard to get behind you, since you’ll be looking around frantically. They may be able to use it for a trickstab, but it’s usually much more effective to use it as a getaway.

On the same line, if you see a giant smoke cloud anywhere, you know a Spy was just in that location. Especially in cramped locations with only one or two exits, you might be able to deduce where they went after dropping the bomb. For the Spy, it’s a bit like tossing up a large flag at the same time as you’re using it to cover your exit. This limits its practicality quite a bit.

You can use the self-damage both to jump and to activate your Dead Ringer.

These are probably my favorite aspects of the smoke bomb. If timed properly, you can jump a good bit higher than you ordinarily would, opening up plenty of new pathways. At the same time, you can easily activate your Dead Ringer, or even play strange mind-games by faking a careless death. However, these tricks come at the price of exposing your general location, as discussed above.

It’s hard for anyone to see in the smoke.

This means that, in a less congenial group than Alt Fortress players, the smoke bomb could be used to blind your own team at inopportune moments. Because it can’t be dispersed by any means, there’s no way to make the affected area safe before the smoke dissipates, which takes about four seconds.

Fortunately, no one has actually complained yet about not being able to see in the smoke. This may be the positivity of the playtesters, but it could also come from the fact that the Spy has to put themselves in a vulnerable position to deploy the smoke bomb and that there’s a bit of a fuse before it takes effect. It’s a lasting concern for me, though; I don’t want players, whether they’re allies or enemies, to get frustrated.

It’s also worth noting that some classes have less trouble in the smoke than others. While precision classes like Scout, Sniper, and Demoknight are nearly useless, Demomen and Soldiers can cover wide areas without needing to be right on the mark. Heavies and Pyros can similarly hose the area. And sentry guns aren’t affected at all, so any Spy trying this trick within range of one is in for a bad time. This diversity is likely a good thing, bringing in interesting class interactions; but as we touched on previously, precision classes might be especially frustrated by not being able to see.

Conclusion These are only three (well, more than three) of the big things I noticed while using the alternative Revolver (which isn’t really a revolver at all). It’s one of the most interesting, creative weapons in Alt Fortress, and is probably my personal favorite in the mod. However, a lot still needs to be discussed and tested - my work is never done. But it’s really fun.

[millenniumgod]

[[ Rules&About For Mobile

This is a pinned post, Do Not Reblog ]]

RULES

This is an 18+ blog! Meaning: if you’re under the age of consent globally (generally accepted as 18 years), don’t follow or interact with this blog. This is for your own safety and mine. ♡

RULES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

Common courtesy, as per the usual. Please be nice, and I will do the same.

I work retail, so I won’t be replying immediately all of the time. I usually try to do them as I see them, but sometimes I am busy. If I’ve liked it, that means I’ve seen it, at the very least. :>

Length does not mean anything to me. I can go on a while sometimes, and I don’t mind if you do or don’t, either.

I do horror, gore, dark themes, sexual themes, etc. Not Safe For Work, in other words. It’ll all be tagged.

The usual No God-Modding - you know how it is.

I’ll play with OCs, duplicates, and crossover.

Multiship, yadda yadda.

AUTHOR:

My name is Ash, and I’m 27, dude, pretty experienced with writing. I’ve been RPing for quite a few years now, mostly on the KRP scene but with previous experience in Naruto+a couple other anime scenes. I do not typically add people on discord unless we vibe pretty well, but you’re free to ask for it after we’ve done some interacting. It is solely out of character - I do not roleplay anywhere but on tumblr.

It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

I also run @dungeondicedevl and @numberoneduelist

______

BODY

Name: Ryou Bakura

Age: 22

Birthday: September 2nd

Height: 180cm, 5'10"

Weight: 55kg, 121lbs

Blood Type: AB

Gender: Male

Romantic+Sexual Preference: Panromantic Homosexual

Relationships: Mother, Father, Sister (All Deceased)

+

Name: Bakura

Alias: Yami/Dark Bakura, King of Thieves/Bandit King

Age: 3000+

Birthday: Unknown, celebrated October 31st

Height: 180cm, 5'10" (Previously 167cm, 5'6")

Weight: 55kg, 121lbs (Previously about the same)

Blood Type: AB

Gender: Male

Romantic+Sexual Preference: Homosexual with little desire for romance.

Relationships: He Does Not discuss it. Everyone he had is dead.

Ryou Bakura is in possession of the Millennium Ring. Unfortunately, the same is true in reverse - he is facing his own possession. The spirit of the ring has taken his body as a vessel and inhabits his consciousness on and off, whenever it feels like.

He is doing his best to live the average life of a student - university is hard enough as it is. Harder still when you miss half your classes because you weren’t in control of your body. Still, his outlook is generally positive.

He has an interest in the occult and dark things, and enjoys gaming in multiple forms. His current favorite is Dungeons & Dragons. He’s doesn’t do a lot of dueling these days, but can still hold his own.

This muse is both Ryou and Dark Bakura. You may experience either at any time.

This muse exists Post DSOD! A shame that the ring wasn’t destroyed so easily, isn’t it?

[minervamagicka]

CC Creator Question Tag

I was on a CC bender and saw the talented @murfeelee doing this, and of course, I think it’s bloody fantastic, so here are my answers. It was actually pretty fun to do, all things considered.

Under a read-me so I don’t bomb some dashboards with long paragraphs.

1. What was the hardest project you’ve worked on so far?

Honestly, the Wrench CC I released a while back. This was mainly because no pre-ripped models from Watch_Dogs 2 exist, which meant I had to export models from my own copy of the game. Now, normally, this isn’t an awful fate or particularly hard for me to have to do, but for the love of God, Ubisoft makes it HARD to sift through their game files. That was probably the hardest part of making that set, mainly because I couldn’t find the poor guy’s textures and spent way too long having to blindly search through W_D2′s files.

  2. How long have you been creating cc?

Eh, I don’t know, 2016? 2015? I did private recolours and such earlier but I really got into the heavy stuff when The Witcher 3 came out and I wanted to start converting clothing, which is how my earlier abominations came about when I started heavily experimenting with meshes and rigging. I’ve done stuff in Garry’s Mod previously -- Damn it, Valve, I want to learn how to rig for Source but it’s TOO HARD -- involving .obj files and the like so I had some prior knowledge of modelling programs, but little knowledge of how to apply it to the Sims 3. A lot of my education was trial and error.

3. What’s your most favourite thing you’ve created?

GARRUS.

Call me the staples button because that was easy to determine. I don’t even know why I decided to start working on that project, I think it was a mix of fascination and hard-on for Mass Effect at the time, and also to see if it was possible with how I understood the Sims 3′s functions. And, well, it was! It was also so different than other CC I had seen coming out, and involved a beloved character... Perfect storm for me to be proud.

4. What’s your most hated thing you’ve created?

As cliche as it sounds, I really don’t like the job I did on Triss’ outfit from the Witcher 3, which was my first piece of CC on this Tumblr. I am 100% going to go back and re-do that (And more) just to make up for how trash I think I handled that outfit, to bring it up to my current standard of quality. In fact, I might start on that now.

5. What inspires you to create?

Honestly? Lack of what I wanted. Unless I’ve received a request for something, 100% of the time, when I release something, it’s because I wanted it in my game. Also that I want my fandom OCs to be dressed properly in clothes from their universes, damn it.

6. What gets you unmotivated to do anything or to delete your project?

When I hit a roadblock I can’t overcome no matter what I try. I generally have ‘systems’ I can run myself through when making CC, especially conversions -- ‘Oh, that doesn’t work? Cool, I’ll just try this..’. -- But when that fails too that’s when I’m like ‘Welp, time for a work-around to the work-around!’ and by that, I usually mean finding an alternative means of getting the effect I want.

7. What’s one thing you wish you knew how to do/do better?

Making actual sims. Most of the time I’m pretty insecure/worried about how my Sims stack up to others, and tend to overcompensate for that by decking them out in custom CC that makes them speshul.

8. How long does it usually take you to make something?

That sort of depends. If I want it, and I want it now? I can have an outfit in-game in 3 or so hours, and that’s working nonstop on it. That doesn’t necessarily guarantee it being perfect the first time around, but I’ve streamlined my outfit conversion process down to the point it takes me no time at all.

9. Is there a certain schedule you stick to when publishing?

Seeing as this blog was literally dead for half a year because I didn’t want to put anything out... No, not really. Whenever it’s done.

10. Your favorite programs to work with?

I would be lost without Blender. Seriously. Without Blender I’d be screwed. Milkshape and Photoshop take a close second as I use all three at once in my creation process.

11. Who do you look up to (creator wise)?

@kurasoberina was always an inspiration, but I think a lot of people can say that :^)

12. How many projects do you have at the moment?

Good joke, kid. Uhhhh. Currently, I would classify my crusade to convert Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate objects and clothing to be my project, and there are various subprojects under that -- Assassin attire, Victorian-era attire/props & then the attire and props from the hidden WW1 segment of the game. Right now, focused more on the Assassin attire and the WW1 objects because that’s where my OC is, lmao.

13. Screenshot your wips folder (if you have one)

Take me out to dinner, first.

Yes, the New Folder thing is real. Yes, I actually use that as an organizational system. Yes, it works for me. It’s best not to ask how or why. The name of my WIP folder is funnier, tbh.

14. Do you plan on creating for a long time or is there a certain period you know you’ll stop?

I don’t see myself stopping until it becomes completely unviable to do, I.E. TS3 becomes too outdated or something. Maybe my public releases will slow down -- Hell, they already have, but I still want nice clothes in my game.

15. What helps you keep focus during your creating process?

I have Spotify character playlists that I listen to when I’m doing conversions for a particular character -- I.E. I listened to Ayessa’s playlist whilst doing her outfit. Or I throw on Netflix. Actually, weird as it sounds, when I really want to focus I put an episode of Ghost Adventures on, because watching 3 surfer dudes yell at the Devil is surprisingly helpful.

Not sure how many CC creators follow me, but I’d love to see any of you guys give this a try too. Could be fun.

[hsj-scenarios]

Drabble Collection: HS7

Edition: Fairytale AU

Mod L -- So, this is my Christmas gift to all of you! I’ve decided to expand on past headcanons that I’ve written and make some of them drabbles. Mind you, short drabbles, but drabbles nevertheless. I’ll be doing this by units, Seven and Best, but don’t worry Best fans; their edition is coming up soon after this one. I’ve also realized that HSJ-scenarios is more than a year old. So, happy anniversary/merry chirstmas (lol)!

Song Inspo: Last Fantasy by IU

Ryosuke -- Ugly Princeling

“Just...Promise you won’t look at me.”

A frustrated sigh left your mouth at his troubled words, hands resting idly on your hips as the wall seemed to be your new entertainment of choice. “My prince, how can I serve as your retainer and protect you if I can’t even see you?” You quipped. “In fact, this has become my problem as well!”

The blanket Ryosuke held over his body moved hastily as you suddenly turned to face him, the prince huddled under his bed covers. The anxiety radiating off of him was palpable and you couldn’t help but feel bad about going against his wishes. This was truly a problem.

“Your problem?!” His muffled voice questioned. “I’m the ugly duckling here!”

At your impending footsteps, he tried to crawl further away yet jumped upon feeling your gloved hand at his back. A hastily said ‘wait’ caused another forlorn breath to come from you. “Your highness, in order to see the witch’s damage, I have to take a look at you. We need to know what we’re dealing with...”

The short distance allowed you to take a better look at his body. From years of knowing Prince Ryosuke, since the two of you were children, the now larger outline of his body under the covers didn’t go unnoticed by your sharp eyes. The outline of his hand that gripped the covers was different as well, and you could see some sort deformity on his back. A hunchback, they called it.

Ryosuke...A frown began to mar your face, worried for him.

He’d made a deal with a witch, the prince said earlier, and got more than he bargained for. Despite being his sword and shield for years, you had never guessed that he was so desperately tired of the attention he’d gotten for his looks. The unwarranted and sometimes unwanted attention. The suitors upon suitors, princesses practically begging for his hand in marriage. It was all tiring for him.

Especially so, the undeserved attention he would get over his sometimes more deserving brothers.

Now, that, you knew had always bothered him.

A faint murmur was all you’d heard in return.

“Hm?” You turned an ear towards him.

“I don’t want you to see me.” Was his quiet answer.

“Prince--”

“Please,” He interrupted, voice just a bit louder now. “Just leave me be. Can you ask Yuri to come in here? He knows what’s going on.” It was as if he sensed the dejection in your body movement, the hand on his back slowly leaving. “I’m sorry...I need to get used to things before...”

You see me like this, were his silent words.

Yuto -- A Deceptive Deal

Face buried in your hands, you allowed the gentle noise of the rushing fountain to cloud your senses. Tears hadn’t left your eyes, but confusion and irritation were ripe in your heart. The ball tonight was going exactly had you’d thought it would -- much to your own annoyance. The King and Queen, your parents, held it under the guise of your younger siblling finishing their studies abroad. However, you had known better. It was an event among the more elite nobles and royals, giving those single a chance to compete for your hand. The Crown Royal’s hand. There wasn’t a moment that went by that someone wasn’t trying to impress you. And, no matter how well or how badly they tried, it only served to press on your nerves.

You weren’t a prize to be won.

Footsteps broke the peace of your isolation, and you fixed your mouth to ask anyone who’d dared to intrude to leave immediately. Your head turned, yet your lips went slack upon realizing just who it was that came to see you. It was Prince Yuto of the neighboring kingdom, an uneasy smile on his face as if he were asking permission to be there.

He stopped a short distance away, face still questioning if he was allowed to be there or not. “I noticed your face during the party.” A corner of his mouth tinged upwards, a grin threatening to show through. “You looked like you wanted to escape the whole time. So, when you disappeared, I figured that you were out here.”

The slightest of smiles graced your own face, happy to see an old friend in the mass of strangers trying to ease their way onto your future throne. You and Yuto dated back to adolescent years, meeting him for the first time when you were only thirteen years old. Admittedly, you couldn’t stand each other at first. He was too cocky and a total know-it-all. To him, you were too quiet and it unnerved him. Slowly but surely, fate had it in mind for the two of you to eventually put differences aside and become friends. He became kinder, while you felt comfortable enough to speak with him more.

It made you happy to see him.

“Why didn’t you speak to me before now?” You gave a little pout, tapping the empty spot next to you on the fountain edge. Your body instinctively leaned closer when the prince sat down. “I could’ve used you to deter suitors who wanted to speak with me. If they saw you at my side, at least some of them wouldn’t have the guts to say anything.”

I needed you. You didn’t dare tell him those words.

And yet, it seemed as if he sensed them on the tip of your tongue and the grin that dared to show indeed fully slipped on his face. It wasn’t long before his shoulder touched yours casually as he gazed up at the night sky, stars abound. “You were scowling the whole time. It was a little intimidating, to be honest!” He laughed, giving you a glance. “I thought that I should wait, especially since any man that came up to you probably just had one thing in mind...I didn’t want you to think the same for me as well.”

“I would never.” Your answer was immediate.

A comfortable silence followed. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Yuto glance down at his clasped hands. The grin on his face was long gone and you could tell that the prince was in deep thought. You counted down the time until the words would leave his mouth.

It took only a few seconds.

“If you don’t mind me asking, however,” He finally spoke, an anxious expression directed at you. “Why don’t you want to get married?”

“Why don’t you?” You deflected the question. “You’re an attractive man. I’m sure there have been many ladies lining up to be with you.”

“Not as many as my older brother, the crown prince.” Yuto shrugged, before suddenly straightening up. “But, I asked you!” He made a face when you began to laugh. The man shook his head and sighed. “I mean, it’s not that I’ve never given it thought...I actually do want to marry, but the thought of marrying a noble that I’ve never met before--”

“Exactly.” You gave him a nod. “That’s my reason. I don’t know any of these people. I’ve been cloistered all of my life and, now, they expect me to branch out and marry someone? Why should I marry a stranger?”

A second silence followed and the countdown to Prince Yuto’s next question began.

“...What about marrying a friend?”

Chinen -- Yuri and the Seven Dwarves

“He’s waking up!”

You hurried to the master bedroom upon hearing the dwarves start to rile up, the seven of them gathered around the newcomer’s sleeping form. It was just last night that you found a young man collapsed in the snow, all on his own. You had just gone out to forage firewood and came upon him by chance. Luckily, he had just recently lost consciousness and there was still warmth in his body. Double lucky that he was just lithe enough for you to lift on your own, carrying him back to the home you’d shared with the seven dwarves. He had been resting peacefully in your bed since then, several blankets on his body provided by the kind dwarves.

The young man’s eyes opened slowly, his previously sleeping face only what you could call adorable. “...Mm?” A soft noise of confusion came from him, taking in his surroundings slowly. They only widened further upon seeing just how many faces were staring back at him. “H-Hello...” He finally greeted in a groggy voice.

“He’s alright!” One of the dwarves, Happy, laughed.

“You almost caught yer death out there!” Another dwarf, Grumpy, admonished him.

“Now, now...” You calmed them down before turning your gaze to the man, deciding that now was the best time to explain the situation. “I found you in the woods...You were passed out in the snow, so I brought you back here. The dwarves and I tried to nurse you back to health. I suppose it worked!”

“Of course it did.” Sneezy added. “Nothing like a warm bed to...to...Ah-choo!” A sneeze was given before he could continue.

By that time, the man had sat up in the bed and a kind smile was his non-verbal answer. “Ah, I need to thank you then.” He said, eyes starting to glimmer with slight amusement at the situation. His gaze kept trailing back to the dwarves in amazement, as if he’d never seen any before. “If you hadn’t found me, I can only imagine that I wouldn’t be breathing now.”

“Where are you from?” You asked, curious about his situation. It wasn’t everyday that a man was found in the snow. In the middle of nowhere, to boot. The dwarves home was quite secluded.

It was only then that the man’s face become troubled. There was an anxious look in his eyes. “From the capitol...” Was his hesitant reply. There seemed to be more that he wanted to say, but only silence followed.

You almost hated to press him for answers, but the need to know why he was alone and nearly dead in the cold drove you. “Where in the capitol? Perhaps we can take you back to your family.”

“No!” His hands lifted up quickly, head shaking in denial. “No, you don’t have to do that. I can...find my own way back. My family...knows that I’m gone. I was on a journey by myself.” He tried to explain. “I’m just not very good at being by myself, it seems.” The man laughed weakly.

“Not good at being by yourself?” The dwarf, Sleepy, questioned before giving a long yawn. “That’s not good. How will you ever get by?”

The man glanced down at the bed covers, fingers balling in a loose fist. “I don’t know yet, but I’ll try. You never know until you try, right?” He shrugged with a small smile, trying to keep the situation light.

Another dwarf, Doc, seemed to notice the uneasy change in the man’s demeanor and tried to switch the subject. “Either way, you’re not going anywhere at the moment until you fully recover. Don’t worry. We’ll look after you for now.” He gave the stranger a kind smile. “What’s your name, lad?”

The young man smiled back, brown eyes trailing upwards and meeting your own for a split second. His grateful smile was directed at you before trailing on to the rest of them, answering Doc’s question with a polite bow of his upper body.

“My name is Yuri...Nice to meet you all.”

Keito -- The Noble Farm Hand

Your ears were deceiving you. They had to be. You could’ve sworn that the man that you’d grown to love had just told you something foul. Something heartbreaking. Even with the most sincere, sorrowful, look on his face. He told you something that you didn’t want to hear.

“I have to leave here.”

You couldn’t speak, mouth glued shut as tears threatened to spill from your eyes. His arms were held around your shoulders tight, face buried in your shoulder. The quiet sniffs were indication enough that he was already crying, as Keito was usually the first to do.

You’d met him in the market one day, a few years ago. He was about to be conned into paying much more coin for pheasant meat than it was worth, so you had decided to interfere. He thanked you profusely after an explanation was given, laughing his own ignorance off before going on to ask many more questions about bartering and about the marketplace in general. It became clear to you that this was a clueless man. A clueless farm hand, to be exact, working at the farm run by an elderly couple who needed help.

Yet, it was this clueless man that you had grown to fall in love with.

It was this clueless man who had just told you his father, the land’s King, had come to collect him. That, apparently, he was only to work at the farm to learn useful life skills and lessons. To learn about his kingdom. And that, now, it was Keito’s time to go back home and continue his duties as the crown prince. The only prince.

To you, the whole idea was stupid and even a tad funny. But, most of all, it hurt.

“Can...” He began, head leaving your shoulder. “Can I ask you to come with me? My father is very understanding. If I can ask him to allow...” There was a sudden pause, Keito realizing that he was about to say perhaps more than he should have. More than he’d ever asked of you.

You humored him. “To what? I’m just an apprentice baker.” All you had ever known was this village and your family’s bakery that one day you would take over with your siblings. Before just now, thoughts of nobles and actually knowing one had never crossed your mind.

You couldn’t believe it. The sweet farm hand who would help you carry deliveries and groceries nearly everyday was a prince all along. The notion was almost angering, as if Keito had played with your emotions this whole time while knowing that the two of you could never be.

Still, looking at his pink and puffy eyes, it was obvious that he was just as wounded by this as you were. He had never meant to string you along. Love had taken him off guard, just as it had you. And, a look of apology was unhidden in his eyes. However, one more emotion was also apparent in his gaze. Defiance. A will to never let go. Keito was more than willing to fight for this love.

This farm hand wasn’t going to let love go so easily.

[samkat10423]

A Change of Plans

So, change of plans, because I am nothing if not schizophrenic, when it comes to the Sims.  Ask anyone who knows me over at TSD. “The Great Samkat is nuts!” Anyway, I have been bulldozing some of the lots I previously planned on using. Poor, moronic Josiah had a major meltdown over a pile of debris on his home lot. Instead of merely picking up his tiny, pixelated feet and walking AROUND it - like normal folk do - he chose to stand there and stamp said feet in a whiney frenzy. And since I have Nraas mods installed in my game - in order to get it to actually work, thank you, EA - I got to hear all about it. Ad nauseaum. So, the Foundry lot had to go. Because when one sim manages to get stuck, all the sims in the neighborhood seem to congregate to that spot, to join in the fun. So, I decided to move him somewhere else.

But being the procrastinator that I am, I decided to "think" about it overnight. Meanwhile, I went on a search for a mod to get rid of that infernal portal that pops up on sims' lots if you have that “Into the Future” EP installed. This is supposed to be a turn-of-the-last-century town. And I don't recall reading about any alien portals popping up in towns, in any of the history books I've ever read. Would account for some of the wackadoodles wandering among us today, but, No, no portals. Anyway, while conducting my search - which proved fruitless - I got to thinking about some of the other sims I want in this town. I have the Crachitts and Josiah. And I plan on a descendant of Scrooge, and I have claeric's Tarzan - aka: John Clayton III, who will live in Manu's clock house and be an inventor - and of course, Hortense Sugarpuff and her deranged daughter, Amelia the doll, (from MTS) - but who else? Then it dawned on me. Sherlock Holmes!

So last night - because I hate, hate, hate CAS - I decided to make a house for Mrs. Hudson and her famous boarders instead. And because I wanted a small PI office on the premises, I decided to use one of the original builds over by Scrooge's pawnshop. So, "good-bye" Waterfront Apartments, and "hello" to Manu's original two lots that were over there.

The one closet to the pawn shop - seen above - will be Mrs. Hudson's new home, and the other one - next to an over-grown lot and to the left of her house - will be where Josiah, Barkie Dawg, and Stray Kat make their new home. It will be suitably shabby, and up for sale. (I have one of those "for sale" signs I like to use on vacant properties in my various towns). I may even put some "crime scene" tape and a chalk drawing on the sidewalk out front. Maybe even a "dead" sim  and some blood - from over at the 13th Sim. They have suitably ghoulish stuff.

Anyway, here are a few shots of Mrs. Hudson's house. It's a bit rundown, but her poor hubby bit the dust - or he will, once I get him out of the bin and off him - and the poor thing is struggling to make ends meet. Especially since she now lives in the samkat universe and I charge my sims for EVERYTHING!

The above 2 pics are of her parlor. She’s not into the whole “messy tree in the house,” so no Christmas tree. But she isn’t 100% anti-Christmas, hence the poinsettia wreaths on the mantle. BTW, that door by the stair leads to a bathroom. But if you’ve seen one bathroom, you’ve seen them all.

Across the foyer, is her kitchen. She’s not upper-crust, so no separate dining room. That also explains why there is a cat dish there. But her cat keeps the place mouse-free,  so exceptions are made.

Upstairs is her bedroom. As you can see, it’s a bit worse for wear. But, she’s barely scrimping by, so there aren’t any extra simoleons for improvements. And besides, it was the room she shared for 40 years with her dearly departed, and if she closes her eyes, she can picture the 2 of them here. Right now, the only one who shares it with her, is her cat, Taffy - when he’s not out hunting mice.

These are the 2 rooms her boarders occupy. The one with the double bed is Holmes’ and the one with the ugly lady’s picture is Watson’s. That’s a picture of his late wife, BTW. Neither room is fancy, but they don’t spend much time in them, so they really don’t notice.

And finally, these are of their PI office on the ground level. It’s not exactly welcoming, but from what I know of Sherlock Holmes, he wasn’t really Mr. Personality. Anyway, I do need to put another chair in there for Watson. And maybe one for clients.

Oh! And a small kitchen garden for Mrs. Hudson by that little shed.

I knew there was a reason I posted these.

[6cloud2-blog]

Many Awaited Mobile Gamings Of 2015 Video Game Crowd.

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[pratattheback]

Being a Female Gamer – A Response

This is a response essay to Samantha Stockin’s blog post “Being a Female Gamer” [1] , a blog post about being a woman with an interest in geek culture (video, board and war-gaming specifically). I will not be posting it directly back on her blog post as a comment, I will not be sending it to her as an email or tweeting it at her. This is not for her benefit. It is mostly written for the benefit of a friend, and partly to make a point.

I am not responding to the whole article, indeed the majority of it is mainly based on subjective experiences which as I have never met Samantha I can neither confirm nor debunk, I will simply take her word on these. Listen and Believe, if you will. I am also not responding to her analysis of geek culture – there are others who play far more video games than I who can discuss the over-sexualisation of female video game characters for example. All I’ll ask is when was the last time a fat bloke was a Triple A video game protagonist?

What I will respond to is her characterisation of GamerGate and the rhetoric mainly evident in paragraphs 4 and 11 regarding inclusivity.

~

Let’s begin (finally) with Samantha’s description of GamerGate as “a movement of people who seem to harass women for no other reason than to discredit and demoralise them” (paragraph 9). This seems to be one of those zombie lies that just will not die.

A brief history of GamerGate then (although, given how convoluted the timeline is this could very well take a while). We begin on the 16th August 2014 with a blog post by Aaron, the ex-boyfriend of Zoe Quinn, known as the ZoePost [2]. He accused Quinn of cheating on him with 5 guys while she was with him, all of whom turned out to be reporters for prominent online video gaming news and review sites. These 5 guy, in particular a reporter for kotaku called Nathan Grayson, had helped her in her career by giving her “game”, Depression Quest, very good reviews and helping to force it through Steam Green-Light.

This got a few people annoyed. The audiences of sites such as Kotaku, Rock Paper Shotgun and The Escapist had seen for a few years previously the rising frequency of articles that had nothing to do with video gaming and had more to do with Social Justice, Feminism and generally calling their audiences racist, sexist and homophobic, and they were not happy with this theme. The Zoe Quinn incident served to highlight that indie developers, gaming journalists and other industry figures were all working together and colluding in a way that all but shouted “corruption”, and people were getting angry about this. Hashtag Gamergate was trending.

Then, on the 28th and the 29th August 2014, articles appeared on Kotaku, Ars Technica, Buzzfeed, Polygon, Rock Paper Shotgun and pretty much every other online news outlet with the same message and tagline – Gamers are Dead [3]. The articles basically made the argument that all gamers, no matter who they were, are all sexist, racist and bigoted, that they harass women and that gaming culture is basically evil. All the gaming websites. In 2 days. Something was up. One month after the original ZoePost was uploaded, Gamergate would still be going strong. On the internet, any news story is lucky to hold people’s attention for more than a day. And this had been going on for several weeks.

On 17th September 2014, Milo Yiannopoulos, then reporter for Breitbart London, posted “Exposed: The Secret Mailing List of the Gaming Journalism Elite” [4]. In his article, he detailed a private Google Groups mailing list called “GameJournoPros”. This was a list to which the head writers and editors of the top online video gaming media outlets were subscribed, and the archives of which showed conclusive proof that the Gamers are Dead articles had been planned beforehand, industry wide, and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the gaming media was rotten to its core.

Gamergate exploded. Everybody was talking about it. The media kept up the narrative of gamers being sexist but the entire show had moved on. Nobody cared about Zoe Quinn any more. They all wanted to hold the gaming press accountable for their actions, and the gaming press were not going to go quietly. The elite in the circle of feminists and internet celebrities tried to collude to shut the whole thing down – twitter shadow-banned the use of the hashtag, reddit mods were deleting gamergate threads  left right and centre and even 4chan was perma-banning anybody who used it, but to no avail, this was the anti-corruption movement that rivals Watergate in its size.

Indeed it was so big that 3 years later it is still not gone. Gamergate is still a force on the internet, trying to expose the corruption in journalism wherever it finds it, but it is still referred to by those who do not understand it as “trying to drive women out of video games”. Personally, I find it a little bit strange that such a movement would use Vyvian James as its mascot, but I’m just a random tumblr account who was 2 years late to the party.

If you want to know more, the Youtuber Internet Aristocrat published a video series called “Quinnspiracy Theory” which was started 3 days after the ZoePost first dropped and provides a snapshot of how the movement became what it is today. Due to the Internet Aristocrat having deleted his account after getting it got too big for him and moving on to Mister Metokur, the best place to find it is the compilation video “Internet Aristocrat - Quinnspiracy Theory [Mirror]” [5] by GamerGaters on Steam.

~

The language used in this article, particularly in paragraphs 4 and 11, points it squarely at the “white, heterosexual, male” demographic. It makes the argument that the attitudes of said demographic need to change to be more accepting of the LGBT, non-white, disabled or people of faith, and seems to suggest that anybody who is not a white straight male is going to made to feel unwelcome.

Now, nobody can speak for an entire demographic. Indeed, assuming somebody thinks the same way you do or holds the same political beliefs just because you identify the same way sounds like a bad idea, despite what today’s identity politics driven discourse seems to say.

However, I feel that I can speak on behalf of, if not all then certainly a large majority of the white, cis, heterosexual male demographic when I say this:

I am sorry for being born wrong.

I apologise that I was born the wrong skin colour. I beg your forgiveness for having a penis, liking having that penis and being sexually attracted to those who have a vagina and breasts. I didn’t ask to be born like this.

I don’t look at a black guy and think “should be picking cotton in a field”, and I don’t look at women and think “make me a sandwich” (unless of course they work at Subway),  but apparently I’m a horrific racist, misogynistic, homophobic and transphobic bigot purely due to my skin colour, genitals and sexual orientation.

(You may take this apology with as much sarcasm as you feel is necessary.)

Please don’t try to blame an entire demographic for your subjective experiences. We don’t like being told we’re second class citizens by everybody in positions of power over us. We weren’t alive during the slave trade, we never told women that they weren’t allowed to vote, the vast majority couldn’t give less of a toss what you stick in whom so long as you both enjoy it. All we ask is that you afford us the same courtesy.

 Bibleography

[1] Being A Female Gamer - Samantha Stockin - Wordpress 16/07/2017 -  https://thisisaboutblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/16/being-a-female-gamer/

[2] thezoepost - Wordpress 16/08/2014 - https://thezoepost.wordpress.com/

[3]  We Might Be Witnessing The 'Death of An Identity' - Luke Plunkett - Kotaku 28/08/2017 - http://kotaku.com/we-might-be-witnessing-the-death-of-an-identity-1628203079

[4]  Exposed: The Secret Mailing List of the Gaming Journalism Elite - Milo Yiannopoulos - Breitbart 17/09/2014 - http://www.breitbart.com/london/2014/09/17/exposed-the-secret-mailing-list-of-the-gaming-journalism-elite/

[5]  Internet Aristocrat - Quinnspiracy Theory [Mirror] - GamerGaters on Steam - Youtube 06/12/2014 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz--i3M4PVk

[this-is-telophase]

In which Murderface 2.0 breaks the game

I said I wouldn’t be writing every session up, and I won’t be, but you get this session written up because Murderface McKenzie 2.0 accidentally broke Skyrim and it was hilarious. Well, to me, at least.

He didn’t break the entire game, just one quest. And who knows (or cares) if it was due to a mod I’ve got or just a bug I managed to find.

It started off innocently enough--at the end of the previous session Murderface ran into a quest that didn’t produce a quest marker in his inventory. Toby looked it up and helped me stick a custom marker on the map in the general area of the cave so I could figure out where to start Murderface looking the next time I booted Skyrim up.  And thus next time, I teleported Murderface nearby the custom marker and aimed him at the closest cave marker on the map.

One of the nice things about Skyrim is that dungeons have a quick exit near the end that opens into the outside or into an earlier part of the dungeon, so you don’t have to go all the way back through the passages you fought your way through to get out. The outside exits usually have a way to prevent you from entering: a barred door that can only be unlocked from the inside, a steep ledge to jump off to exit that you can’t jump up to enter, etc.

Naturally, the closest cave marker turned out to be an exit. It was an exit for a totally different cave that was part of Ironbind Barrow,  but Murderface (coughIcough) had forgotten the name of the cave he was supposed to be looting (Hob's Fall Cave), so went on in.

To be confronted by what looked like a Blue Screen of Death, no matter which way he turned.

The above pic is looking back out the way he entered. I know it looks a bit like the sky, but trust me, there ought to have been mountains there.

Experimentally, I had Murderface take a step further into the cave entrance, and the game fixed itself, presenting him with a wooden door. He pushed the door, which obligingly swung open while at the same time presenting him with a message that the door was barred from the other side, but giving him the option to unbar the now-open door.

Shrugging, he did so and entered the dungeon from the back. He crept down the passage a bit and found a gate barring his way, but he could see a mobile skeleton through it and figured he'd see if he could kill any enemies so he wouldn't have to face them when he inevitably had to go back to the proper entrance to do the quest. He shot an arrow and took out not only that skeleton, but two more who heard the commotion and showed up.

Murderface looked around the gate half-heartedly and was surprised to find a chain pull that opened the gate. Huh.

While looting the skeletons, he heard the dulcet tones of a nearby word wall. He hasn't fought any dragons yet in this game, but he's run into a couple of word walls before, so he went over to investigate. This triggered the boss fight against a draugr warlord who, because Murderface is playing on Easy, only took a few arrows to die. He had a lot of good loot on him, as well as a nifty enchanted axe hanging on the back of his throne, and a nice loot chest nearby.

After triggering the word wall Murderface set forth to do the dungeon in reverse since he'd forgotten exactly what the thing was that he was supposed to get, but assumed it would present itself along the way. (As he was in the wrong cave, it wouldn't, but neither he nor I realized that.)

He crept through twisting tunnels, defeating undead enemies by shooting them in the back since they were prepared for adventurers to come in from the opposite door. In one room, he saw a grate set into the ceiling and a few minutes later, found the room above it, which had the grate in its floor.

Here is an enemy, a draugr, that died a few inches above the floor.

Murderface found an iron door that could be opened with a lever from the back, which opened onto a room with another door on the opposite end a pedestal supporting an enchanted helmet. He grabbed the helmet and stumbled a few steps backwards as the pedestal's top rose up, triggering a rather slow spear trap (thank you Easy setting) and triggering the iron door he'd just come into the room by to close. Shrugging, he went on out the other door, at the entrance of the room.

Eventually he could progress no further: he found a metal grate set into a doorway with no corresponding lever or pull-chain on his side. It was significantly farther than he expected to get. He turned and retraced his steps. He got a bit worried when entering the room with the pedestal, not knowing if he could re-trigger it, but jumping on the pedestal and immediately jumping off again to avoid the slow spear trap worked, and the exit door swung open.

In the room with the grate in the floor, he found a pull chain he hadn't seen on the first trip and experimentally pulled it, to see if it would trigger the unopenable door-grate. It didn't, instead opening up the grate in the floor.

Murderface continued to pick his way out of the cavern, and exited into the cool mountain air. It took him a while to find the entrance, especially as he was nearby this pass, and spent some time exploring the walkways, as the location was quite pretty.

After some bumbling around, he eventually found the entrance to Ironbind Barrow. He also found Salma, a Redguard woman in armor, exhorting an Argonian (lizard people) mage that they should get going into the barrow and get that treasure! Lizard-Bob counseled caution, but after Murderface told Salma he was going in there like it or not, they both joined him.

They ran ahead while Murderface crept, which means that they did all the work of slaying the frostbite spiders they encountered, while Murderface did all the work of looting them. They shortly came upon the grate that had stopped Murderface previously, and Lizard-Bob explained that there had to be a trigger that opened it somewhere around, but neither he nor Salma bothered to look for it, instead crouching in place, so that Murderface had to do all the work of strolling into a side room pulling the lever he found there.

The grate opened, and Salma and Lizard-Bob ran in. Murderface ran also at this point, wondering if the enemies would respawn and kind of hoping they would so he could re-loot them. His companions stopped short in the pedestal room, and Salma ogled the empty pedestal with a "Would you look at that!" and Lizard-Bob cautioned him about possible traps.

Instead of jumping on it, this time Murderface got somewhat smarter (he does learn. Slowly.) and shot an arrow at the pedestal, triggering the trap and opening the back door. Salma rushed on ahead, and they heard an "Ow!" as she fell through the open grate in the floor of the next room, which had not closed after Murderface opened it.

Lizard-Bob and Murderface continued on the traditional way and a seemingly unhurt Salma rejoined them when they reached the room below.

None of the enemies had respawned, and when they entered the ultimate chamber, with the draugr warlord and the word wall, only bones and the corpse of the draugr warlord remained. Lizard-Bob vanished as well. Salma ran over to the dais with the warlord's throne, crouched in ready position, brandishing her sword and shield.  Murderface walked over to the warlord's corpse and poked it. Salam stayed in position. Murderface optimistically re-looted the warlord's body and for once it paid off: he'd spawned two black soul gems and another weapon (which I forget), which Murderface happily put into his inventory.

He crossed back over to Salma. Salma said "We should clear this room first, then grab the treasure!"

Murderface looked at the corpse. He looked back at Salma. Salma insisted they should clear the room again.

At this point, Murderface consulted the gods, i.e. I checked the Skyrim wiki. It turns out that if you don't break the quest, Lizard-Bob double-crosses Salma and the player character, explaining that he needs a blood sacrifice to absorb the dead warlord's power, and uses his magic to revive the warlord and you enter a second fight.

Obviously, this failed to happen. The wiki also explained that if you kill the draugr warlord and then immediately run back to the entrance of the cavern and back again to the final chamber, you can kill Lizard-Bob without the second fight, and Murderface figured that might trigger the proper sequences. Don't think he needed some sort of proper closure or anything like that--Murderface is used to things not making a whole lot of sense around him--it's that the wiki listed the loot Lizard-Bob carried and Murderface wanted that.

But he didn't want to trudge through the entire damn barrow again TWICE, so figured that leaving it by the shortcut and going back into the front might work. So he did that, exiting and teleporting to the entrance.

He entered and ran through the dungeon, finding Lizard-Bob holding a torch and placidly walking back to the front. Lizard-Bob's conversation triggers were the same as during the trek to the final boss, and showed no sign of treachery. Murderface experimentally shot an arrow into Lizard-Bob's back to see if that would trigger anything, but the only sign Lizard-Bob showed was that his health bar went down by half, and he continued his trek to the entrance.

Murderface followed him, and once Lizard-Bob got outside, his behavior went back to his outside set of actions--crouching by the fire they'd built, and then sitting on a rock--although his dialogue remained stuck on the trek dialogue.

Eventually Murderface got bored of this, crouched and waited until Lizard-Bob forgot he existed, then shot him with an arrow from cover (3x damage, baby!). Lizard-Bob flamed briefly and died, his body sinking into the earth. While Murderface stood there, disappointed that he wasn't going to get his loot after all, Salma ran out of the cave's entrance, crying, and ran down the mountain path. Intrigued, Murderface followed her. A while down the path, she stopped at a spot now occupied by Lizard-Bob's body, and expressed that she was stunned at this change in him, obviously responding to the dialogue and events that were supposed to have happened. Lizard-Bob had been a good friend of her father's and practically raised her, so she was shocked that he'd been planning on double-crossing her.

Murderface respectfully looted Lizard-Bob's body as Salma looked on.

When he talked to her one last time, she explained that she hadn't needed the treasure--which was good, because Murderface hadn't planned on giving any of it to her--because she was the daughter of a rich man. She'd just wanted adventure. But she needed to be alone for a while now.

So he left her to mourn the Lizard-Bob she thought she knew, and headed majestically off into the sunrise hoping to impress her like a mysterious protagonist in a story who comes into town, does a deed, and leaves without a word, before teleporting back to the person who'd given him the original quest and finding that he hadn't done the right quest after all.

Here's a nice vista he encountered a few minutes later, back in the frozen north, looking for the proper quest.

And here's an actual frozen mammoth!

When Murderface picked his way closer to the mammoth, it turned out to have several dwarven arrows stuck in it, which he was able to extract and add to his inventory. He took a closer picture. (man, I should have had him take a selfie!)

After this, he did find the correct cave and entered, finding the thing he needed (a letter on a corpse, it turned out) near the entrance, and turned it into the dude who needed it.

And at that point, I called it a night.

Next time:  who knows? That was the session I played last night. :)

[purpleshift]

Stop me if I've posted this before, but I'm full of salt and fight and I need to write stuff down

One of these days (i.e. when I fucking finally get to reading ASoIaF) I'm going to write this stupid fic where Rhaegar Targaryen and the most recent Crown Prince Rudolf (of Austria Hungary) switch places in some alternate universe(s). You know what Jon Snow is going to be called in one of these universes? JOHN OF AUSTRIA, THAT'S RIGHT, WATCH AS I GET MY FANFICTION ALL OVER YOUR HISTORY HAHAHA, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO TELL IF IT'S OUR HISTORY'S JOHN OF AUSTRIA OR MY FANFIC (yeah, us millennials are often driven by spite) Here's some things I have planned out: lol prophetic dreams, try interpreting them when they're about alternate universes John of Austria, ward of King Edward the whatever number I need to make it work, King of the U.K. and other assorted territories can canon Rhaegar make sense of the trenches, where we meet our Jon Snow? Not to make fun of war, but, wow, did warfare get different in very few centuries OTL instead of OTL Princess Stéphanie, meet our fictional Princess Amelia of Portugal or Brazil or something, she's our ATL Elia Martell stand in and she's a character who exists and hopefully won't be hated on by hypothetical readers of a fic that doesn't exist yet oh and this Prince Rudolf is platinum blond, I heard there was a production of the musical/play thing where adult him was played by a platinum blond person? Yeah, that. new in controversial ideas: emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria is a better father figure than King Aerys II of Westeros (Elisabeth's the same as ever, though) (note to self: read a fucking history book) controversial idea 2: Rhaegar is IIRC depicted as more liberal than his dad (hard not to be, with a paranoid ruler), and it is known that OTL Rudolf was a liberal to his dad's conservative. OTOH, liberal pseudo/quasi-(?) feudal thinkers are not the same as liberals in a C19 monarchy. Anyway, he probably gets on better politically with Franz Joseph than Rudolf did. what a good kid, thinks Franz Joseph, knowing this is not his kid anyway, some random butterflies are that Lyanna lives (maybe because Rudolf isn't trained in whatever faux mediaeval sword's fashionable in Westeros, and runs off from before the Ruby Ford, who the fuck knows), and that Rhaegar has sex with yet another man's wife (in a loose sense, unless you go by the Crusader Kings 2 mod), though since they're pretending to be married maybe that's excusable? that baby in ATL C19 is a girl and called Valerie, after her "aunt" lol (also because this was the best pun on either Valyria or Visenya I could come up with) meanwhile in Westeros, Rudolf is apparently trying for an ATL Mayerling thing (not to make fun of suicide or murder, but like, I'm sure there is a plot thing that happens that justifies this, and like I can't diagnose from the dead, but like? why suicide-murder? in the first place? because of your royaltyness and your dad disapproving of an affair? it's super simplified but very concerning, OTL CP Rudolf. if you were alive today I want to talk as friends about recovery because you know, sometimes I have suicidal thoughts or actions but not murder? anyway you don't know because you're long dead) in any case, whether because of this or another reason, he dies! Oh, and Ned Stark arrives at some point. oh uh I had a thought about Lyanna "running away" because Rhaegar in this universe promised a fair arbitration with Robert and then universe swap happens; or maybe they "accidentally" got drunk (they = both) or desperate (but it wasn't Rhaegar who initiated) (but that sounds a bit rapey??) anyway I'm not really sure how to change that thing where it seems like Rhaegar had all the agency and Lyanna didn't say no (and it's all very dub-con)? Anyway, ATL Westeros' Jon Snow is successfully born, Rudolf dies, and they burn his body because plot reasons? (Targaryens are traditionally burnt, right, and uh since "Rhaegar" didn't die at Ruby Ford, it would probably look bad for Lyanna (not so much Ned) to say "oh hey I shot him dead while he was trying to kill me after having his kid", THERE YOU GO) In any case, apparently there is enough magic in burning universe-outsider-Rudolf's corpse because ~universe swap~, a portal opens and we get Rhaegar back; somehow a peace treaty without total destruction of the Targaryen forces is made; Elia, Rhaenys, and baby Aegon get to live because I say we should stop fridging them for Rhaegar/Lyanna. It's probably very uncomfortable in the Westerosi royal court but damn it, part of dumping (I-most-often-speak-Common-which-being-represented-by-English-in-canon-will-be-interpreted-as-English) sorry, I mean a Rhaegar who only has English/Common in common with OTL in C19 Europe, is that he has an opportunity to read about the Wars of the Roses. Fun fact: I hear that there were waves of Anglophilia in Europe in the 19th century? Being cool and industrialising and all that. Yeah, they'd know some English in Vienna. Anyway, I hope he read up on the Wars of the Roses! Wait, it's my fic outline, yeah he did. Anyway, I'm not sure, but I would think that he would also attempt to study politics in this new world. I don't think canon Rhaegar is that up his own arse, though I've seen my fair share of Rhaegar-bashing. Yeah, stuff starts changing in Westeros. Oh, and maybe a fountain pen Rhaegar was using at the time survives the magic fire and Westeros gets the fountain pen tech early. Yay. Right, meanwhile in Vienna, CPrincess Amelia and Franz Joseph have just seen the guy they've been having pretend is the Crown Prince disappear in a fire. Cons: she is a pregnant widow, he doesn't have a son in a literal sense (like where is the body). Pros: there was a fire?? (dubious - discuss) The pros massively underweigh the cons, if that wasn't clear. So they have a funeral? It doesn't change much for their timeline unfortunately, except that some seriously weird conspiracy theories pop up eventually. Sorry, that universe. Oh, you were wondering where our John of Austria comes in? In the universe he comes from, his dad (either Rhaegar or Rudolf, but it doesn't matter) publicly cheated on his wife with the recently widowed Dowager Kaiserin of Germany, and now the Kaiser has a younger half-brother being raised in the UK by their maternal uncle, which is public knowledge, which as previously mentioned gets awkward around WWI. John's parents are both still dead, but at least he knows who they really are from the start. Epilogue: Rhaegar's last dream Oh, he and Valerie the younger, the OC, they meet. She has his eyes, by the way. It's set WWII, she's Resistance, she recognises him somehow, they have an emotional talk, the end. I assume it's a happyish ending, since Westeros isn't exactly in outright civil war when the ice zombies come. Yeah, anyway, since my canon grounding is so terrible and second hand, I'm not writing it until I read the canon.

[robertkstone]

2018 Woodward Dream Cruise: Cruising with Fiat-Chrysler/SRT’s Mark Trostle

Last year we spent the first three days of Woodward Dream Cruise week riding along with designers from the Detroit Three. This year we decided to round up reps from each company’s performance group. First up: Mark Trostle, who has been overseeing the SRT performance group’s design since March of 2011. These days he also has responsibility for Dodge, and all passenger and utility-vehicle exterior design, as well, but it’s still the high-performance stuff that excites him. A car guy through and through, the racing bug bit him when he started autocrossing a Dodge Omni GLH Turbo. He crewed for a friend who was IT racing a CRX and eventually bought a showroom stock Dodge Neon race car (which he drove home to Michigan from Florida in the summer). Sadly we spotted no GLHs, Neons, nor the first car he purchased as a Chrysler employee: a 1992 Eagle Talon TSI Turbo with AWD. These days Mark’s daily driver is a Hellcat, but because he opted for the rear-seat-delete package, we’re rolling in a press-office Hellcat Widebody that seats four.

2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon

Maybe we’re overly sensitized to them tonight, but the Avenue seems to be absolutely jammed with modern high-horsepower Challengers including a Hellcat convertible (“I hope that got a lot of reinforcement!”) and about a half-dozen Demons. Several observers curbside and in nearby cars remark about not having seen a Redeye Widebody yet, however. It’s not long before we sidle up next to a Demon that’s a dead ringer for one in Mark’s collection (which bears VIN 10) except that it lacks his car’s black hood/roof/decklid option. Mark is relieved to note that none of the Hellcats or Demons on Woodward are committing the cardinal sin of leaving the bright yellow chin-spoiler protectors on. “We made them yellow so they’d be too ugly to leave on!” he exclaims. The ultimate sin, spotted at a car show: leaving the yellow protector installed and protected with blue painter’s tape.

1987-1993 Fox Mustang

Mark’s impressionable first moments at the wheel of any car came in a 1979 Mercury Capri hatchback with a manual transmission. It was built on Ford’s Fox platform shared with this Mustang. His father (also a car designer) had bought it for his mother, and it was eventually handed down to him. A budding car designer even then, Mark couldn’t resist taking the car down to bare metal, painting it black, adding 16-inch wheels, and upgrading it with the later (’83­–’86) bubble-window rear hatch. A very young Mark and the aging Capri survived a carjacking in Detroit; he ended up recovering the car about a week later. Although we made umpteen laps of the hottest stretch of Woodward, we never found a Fox Capri (and saw darned few Fox Mustangs). This was the closest we came—and Mark was quick to note that this one’s modifications might not exactly match his personal taste …

2008-2010 Dodge Viper SRT 10

Mark worked internships with both GM and Chrysler design groups, but it was the Viper that inspired him to accept a job with Chrysler shortly after he graduated from the College for Creative Studies in 1992. He basically wanted to work for any company crazy or bold enough to make such a car, and sure enough, by 2011 he was in charge of the group designing the Viper. Mark previously owned a 1992 Viper, and he currently has VIN 001 of the 2017 model Viper painted in—what else?—designer’s black.

1968 Plymouth Road Runner

Mark is ever the Mopar fan, and this slightly grungy base 383 Plymouth Road Runner really caught his eye. It’s missing its Looney Tunes cartoon Road Runner decals and rear hubcaps, and its mismatched tires lend it a strong function-over-form vibe that really suits Woodward. We did not succeed in prevailing upon the owner to demonstrate its “beep-beep” horn function …

1965-1967 Mk III AC/Shelby Cobra 427

Get many designers going about iconic car designs they love, and this one comes up a lot. It quite obviously inspired the original Viper, and Mark would love to own one. It’s pretty hard (but not impossible) to imagine someone wheeling an original down Woodward, but if this is a reproduction it’s at least a very faithful knockoff with no obvious cheating on the dimensions or build quality.

1967 “Eleanoresque” Mustang

Mark was obviously destined for a life in design, given that he couldn’t leave the design of his very first hand-me-down car alone. Today he loves seeing how other people alter production designs, enhancing the line work, emphasizing the proportion, using color and sheen to show off the lines. He was very favorably impressed by this matte monochrome bronze ’67 Mustang that had a vaguely Eleanor/Gone in 60 Seconds vibe to it—but with far greater subtlety. The wheel diameters and offsets perfectly fill the arches, the hood has a Demon-like air inlet, the blacked-out chrome greenhouse trim and body-color bumpers look great, and the bronze-tint headlight lenses finish it off superbly.

1948-1951 Studebaker Starlight Coupe

When asked how the mods on this Studebaker struck him, Mark’s one-word answer was a diplomatic “polarizing.” There’s no arguing with the quality of the coachwork, which is impressive. A true artisan mixed the cleaner horizontal taillight design of the ’48–’49 Starlight coupe with the more iconic bullet-nose front end from the ’50–’51 design. Chopping the roof looks kind of cool, but the rear glass isn’t chopped enough to preserve the roof’s curvature. That’s great for rear visibility—less great for preserving the original Virgil Exner/Raymond Loewy design’s beauty.

1970 Plymouth ‘Cuda

Mark once owned a ’70 ’Cuda, though his car only packed a 360 under the hood. This one is nicely outfitted with the big-block 440, Go Wing, rally wheels, and Limelight Poly green paint.

1970 Dodge Challenger R/T

We round out our Mopar Muscle car-spotting adventure with this modestly equipped Challenger R/T, sporting a twin-nostril hood and a curious combination of a black hood stripe and white side stripes. But the factory wheels and white-letter tires really set the car off nicely, and it looked great prowling the Avenue in a sea of even wider, taller LC body Challengers.

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