#(you used an animated icon so I'm using one too :D )

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Docktown, Minrathous (in the daytime, in contrast with the gameplay reveal video), reminding us that Minrathous is built on an island. maybe the magic-monorail-looking bridge here is actually the single bridge that goes to Minrathous, like in the lore?

Docktown is the home of Neve. the distinctive floating building is in the distance again. compared to Ferelden, the buildings in Minrathous are like another planet entirely! Tevene architecture/design is so hostile - spikes on chairs, spikes on the sides of buildings.. I wonder if the doorway here is the entrance to the tavern/bar here [second image]. if you look in the window to the left of the door, the figure on the right could be the 'bouncer' at the top of the steps in the bar image. also, outside of here are tables and barrels, like you might expect outside a tavern establishment.

I'm curious about the heraldry of the boat in the harbor with the blue unfurled flags. it reminds me a bit of this Fereldan heraldry, but the animals are the wrong way round and it isn't quite right. either way, the heraldic animal is also present as the prow of that boat and one other.

Elf Rook (either City or Dalish but without vallaslin applied in CC), Emmrich and Harding. Rook is a sword-and-shield warrior here, Veilguard symbol on their chest plate, Warden symbol on their shield. Maybe this Rook has the Grey Warden background? anyways, looking closely at Rook's chest plate here, with the gray metal armor, the purple Veilguard symbol on the left, the 'bandolier' of three brown leather pouches across their chest, and the diagonal lines on the plate going the other way, it looks like maybe this Rook is wearing the same 'iconic[?] Rook outfit' as in the key art, or at least the torso piece. They both also have the metal shoulder plates, purple fabric over the elbow area, brown leather gauntlet etc. It's just that in this screenshot Rook isn't wearing a helmet/hood (or has them toggled off in the Options menu? ^^). anyways, I love that purple seems to be the 'iconic[?]' color for Rook, and also look at how this long-haired Rook's hair flows and sits around their neck and shoulders! and again the detailing is cool, like scratches on the shield and stuff.

Harding's arrow is glowing. Is her bow or arrow enchanted or have some kind of stat buff, or could this be an example of her magical powers in action, like her tarot card art might suggest? also, we can see from the tall skeleton/undead statues in the background and the skull-lid vases in the foreground that this shot is from the Necropolis.

The groupshot at HQ is so [cat crying screaming].. 🥺🥺 I love it so much, with the round table it has like Knights of the Round Table vibes or something and it's so nice to see everyone together and in their casual outfits too. I hope there are lots of moments like this in the game. ^^ Davrin is whittling wood, something that reminds me of Halsin and my Inquisitor (who is Dalish, and also had that hobby). Did some people.. bring their chair of choice to the meeting room hh? Davrin's looks like it was carved from a tree stump. Harding and Neve have a comfy sofa. Emmrich's looks kind of gothic and Nevarran. Taash's stool [?] is gold and practical-looking.

Taash looks so bored hhh. here we can see Bellara without her magical gauntlet. Do you think Manfred and Assan come to the team meetings..? :D Lucanis has impeccable tailoring, with lil bird-skull looking buttons at his collar. he's buttoned right up and professional looking even in his casual downtime, even when some of the others are the opposite. unsurprisingly his casual clothes have that blue-black corvid feather sheen. surely he has coffee in his mug. ^^ I wonder what Neve's drink of choice is though? from the way Lucanis leans here, do you think Lucanis and Emmrich is one of the companion-companion relationships that might develop like Taash and Harding?

Harding looks so cute and cozy on the couch with the cushion and her slippers, I can't take it. and I really love Neve's casual look with her scarf and hair like that!!

I think this scene is probably from the Lighthouse. Game Informer mentioned that it had a library, which is the central area of the The Lighthouse, and that it's there the party will often regroup and prepare for what’s next. Could this be one of those moments in there? ^^ in the background are stacks of books, and books on shelves, like a library would have. on the table is an assortment of scrolls, maps, papers. you can see a feather quill pen and red wax seals. having the maps in front of Davrin, a Warden and monster-hunter who has probably travelled far and quite a lot, is a nice touch. some of the books look quite ornate and arcane-ish, and are there a few of the 'Bellara'-style triangles on the table as well? and what do you suppose is the blue diamond-looking thing with white veins on the table?

(I'm also curious what the golden thing in the top right is.)

we can tell from the way it looks but we also know from a file name that this is the Rivain Coast. it's beautiful, it looks so bright and hot, the water is so blue. we first saw this locale in the Thedas Calls trailer from Dragon Age Day 2023. again, in the distance, we can see that statue.

From a file name, this is Arlathan Forest. everything is suffused in soft golden light, almost whimsical and Fable-like the Game Informer piece said. this shot is framed with those familiar trees with orange foliage e.g one, two, three. this place reminds me of some of the elvhen ruins we got to see in Trespasser. in the top right is green Veil/Fade shenanigans. a place where the Veil is weak, or the edge of this particular Veil bubble? past the wall of green it looks like some of the buildings are broken thanks to the warping, and there are floating rocks.

and look closely at some of the assets -

there's an owl, which are associated with Falon'Din and Andruil. lots of those howling Fen'Harel wolf statues. they look just like they do in DA:I (I don't mean that they look bad graphically or old or anything, just that the details are the same!!) which is awesome for consistency (also cool to see these return, so many of the art assets in DA:I were rly cool), and might even be the same assets being re-used (which is sensible and sensical for game design, something Mark Darrah talked about before). nb, just in case, I'm not saying this as a comment against asset re-use, it makes sense to do and I was excited to see these DA:I or DA:I-style ones in these caps!

[creamedh0ney]

☀️Hey Sunshine ☀️

I thought I'd introduce myself! I wasn't sure how to make a nice looking introduction but I figure I'll just go for it and add if I need to!

First of all, you can call me Andy. My name changes sometimes in real life but Andy is a pretty safe, gender neutral one to use for me.

🌻Basics About Me🌻

Big Age: 18!

Little Age: 1-6

Gender Identity: Genderfluid

Pronouns I use: she/he/they/it/xe (depends on the time, but use what you'd like)

Sexuality: Pansexual

Other Stuff: I am autistic, I have c-ptsd and chronic pain - Please be patient with me!

🪁Hobbies🪁

Drawing (with sidewalk chalk, chalk pastels, pencil, marker, crayon, anything really!)

Gardening (though I'm not good at it yet)

Biking

Volleyball (just for fun though, I'd rather not do anything competitively)

Baking

Writing (poetry, fantasy or romance stories, essays)

Reading (fantasy, romance, classics, poetry, fanfiction, science nonfiction)

Watching anime/animated TV shows

Shopping

Listening to music

🧸Interests/Things I Like🧸

Shows(some of these are not agere or sfw necessarily!): Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Banana Fish, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sesame Street, Owl House, Ouran High-school Host Club, Gravity Falls, Haikyu, Strawberry Shortcake, Wild Kratts, X-Men, Amazing Spiderman

Movies/Studios: Disney (specifically Tangled and other princess movies), Studio Ghibli, Tim Burton movies (specifically Coraline and Edward Scissorhands)

Toys/Toy Type Things: Dolls (porcelain or rag- not creepy ones or anything, just normal), Stuffed Animals, Calico Critters, Barbies, Littlest Pet Shops, Animal Figures (specifically schleich), Play Food, Play Dough, Lego

Games: Stardew Valley, Slime Rancher, Minecraft, Genshin Impact, Sims, Roblox (I like Fashion Famous and Royale High specifically), Animal Jam, Fall Guys, Star Stable, Pokémon (though I've only played it on other people's consoles)

Other:

Animals (of all kinds!! I adore any and all, but if you reallyyy wanna know specifics, I can yap for AGES!)

Clowns! I have been for a very long time, I adore them!

Anything pink or yellow! Those are my favorite colors ever!

Nostalgia is a very big theme in my interests, there's something so very special about it!

🎀BYF/Things You Should Know🎀

- I'm gonna be posting randomly, there's not really a set time. I may post a TON in a day, or I may not post for weeks. Please be patient and respectful of my time!

- I prefer cursing to a veryy very small amount. The occasional d-word or s-word is okay. I curse a lot outside of regression - which I'm working on - so I don't kind, but this is a safe space for me and many others. Please be respectful of that in your language choices.

- If I post something which is triggering to you and don't post a trigger warning, it is completely okay to let me know! Tell me to post a warning! Please! It doesn't harm me at all to edit and add a tw.

- Adding onto the one above, I may post something and come across as too blunt or may not word things correctly. Let. Me. Know. I want to know if I come across as rude or if my intention isn't clear. That's important to me.

🧼DNI🧼

Basic DNI (homophobes, racists, misogynists, etc.)

NSFW/K!nk

Accounts featuring g0re, S/H, e/d, and the like

Anti agere (obviously)/ Anti Furry / Anti Neopronouns (idk if there are terms for that, please let me know if there are, but you know what I mean for now!)

Basically, don't be a jerk! I want to be as friendly and welcoming as possible, but that means keeping this space safe, respectful and kind. This is my blog and that means upholding my rules. Thank you so much for understanding!!

( @kodaswrld made my dividers and icon!! Love it sm!!)

[puppy-phum]

tag game ✨

thanks for tagging me zey @thasorns ♥ i teared up at your addition about me, that is so sweet :( i miss our dff talks too! idk what you're into these days but would love to talk about some show with you again :')

-

1. why did you choose your url?

bc am obsessed with one (1) man who belongs to another amazing guy ♥ (been thinking about an url change lately tho bc i'd like to put last twilight and the hurt it caused behind me but haven't found something else to tie myself to yet. maybe we are and phumpeem if the ending delivers?)

2. any sideblogs? if you have them name them and why you have them.

not really. the only side blog i have is my og url vishcount saved for nostalgia purposes but there's nothing on that blog

3. how long have you been on tumblr?

started on this hellsite (affectionate) on the lord's year 2013 and it shows

4. do you have a queue tag?

i don't use the queue much so no. you will only catch me reblogging like ten posts in a row when am online/in the mood and then going back to lurking again

5. why did you start your blog in the first place? 

i was into a bunch of animes and tumblr was filled with amazing fanart. i wanted to be able to look at them in peace

6. why did you choose your icon/pfp?

to show who my url is about ♥ mork my beloved

7. why did you choose your header?

wanted it to fit the theme. also i adore the last twilight rooftop kiss, it's one of the brightest spots of the show

8. what’s your post with the most notes? 

most likely this the untamed edit from 2020. i was truly living my peak back then :'D tbh i feel like the whole of tumblr was living its peak when the untamed was airing and when we all lost it together for the longest time after

9. how many mutuals do you have?

way too many and i adore all of them, tho i probably forget or cannot recognize most of them. especially if you've changed your url/main fandom OR i have, we might not even know each other anymore haha

10. how many followers do you have?

more than i deserve and idk what all of you are even doing here but i like feeling like i'm part of some type of crowd ♥

11. how many people do you follow?

quite recently i unfollowed some inactive blogs and blogs about things i don't really care for anymore so my follow count is a nice number of 205

12. have you ever made a shitpost?

uh. i don't really know? do some posts from my finnish tumblr (suomitumppu) era count? :'D

13. how often do you use tumblr each day?

am chronically online and i open this app like a fridge

14. did you have a fight/argument with another blog once?

no, not really. am not really one to share strong opinions, especially negative opinions, publicly online which i think is the cause of most arguments ppl have here. i'd rather just keep my peace and be nice

15. how do you feel about ‘you need to reblog this’ posts 

mostly i don't like doing things when am told to do them

16. do you like tag games?

yes! it always makes me happy to know that someone is thinking about me and i do find these a lot of fun to do ^^

17. do you like ask games?

also yes. i just don't often reblog those bc i don't really have a lot of interactions on this site. if i find an ask game with very interesting questions, i might forward it to kiddo @i-am-just-a-kiddo and we do it together privately to enjoy it like that ♥

18. which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?

the first one that comes to mind is hanyi @ruanbaijie who i think deserves all the recognition for her absolutely amazing giffing skills ♥ she's also the sweetest so idk what's not to follow, make her even more famous if you can!

19. do you have a crush on a mutual?

nope. idk if i function like that tbh. i have some huge friend crushes tho and want to be closer with some ppl a lot! not mentioning names bc am shy haha

but i want to say that monica @stormyoceans is very important to me these days. she brightens up my days and makes my whole fandom experience so much better by simply being her enthusiastic and authentic self ♥ never change!

and also jessi @oswlld who i still cannot believe is someone i can call my friend and bestie on this site. i am so happy we've gotten to share bad buddy, vice versa, and last twilight together! also happy to hear about your life at times and to just share silly things with you ♥

third one i want to mention is shannen @icouldhyperfixatehim who always manages to stand out in a positive way. we don't interact much but i cannot help but feel very giddy about their presence on my dash. they leave the best tags and every time they reblog any of my edits with their tags, they manage to make me feel like i've made it and my edit was worth the effort :'D so thank you!

20. tags?

want to tag at least @psychic-waffles @foxofninetales @hils79 @sherrymagic @srnileforme and @thitiponqs ♥ also the ones i mentioned before are free to join and anyone else who wants to do this!

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders Viewers' Choice: Beast IV L

if anything's getting my icon blurred out, it's this one. anyways!

it's that time of the month once again, and this time I feel like an absolute beast. well, to be more accurate, y'all felt like getting an absolute beast. a beast (fgo definition) that summons beasts (D&D definition). I'm sure this won't be confusing at all.

as usual I highly doubt this build is even remotely balanced for actual PvE play, but beasts are supposed to be world ending threats, so that shouldn't be a surprise.

the build itself will be under the cut, because hoo boy there's a lot to go over.

first up, beast IV can show up in her standard Koyanskaya form, which is the one primarily used when outside her lair. this is effectively a suped-up version of Koyanskaya of Dark, with access to unlimited weaponry and NFF-brand grenades, all of which work like standard "weapons of <x> slaying" do in D&D- they deal extra damage to humanoids, and can knock humanoids prone.

the big addition here aside from standard high-level-boss resistances is her Add to the Collection ability, where once per day she can try to forcibly plane shift a non-humanoid creature into a demiplane of her creation, basically putting them in suspended animation. this will be important for later.

form two is effectively Koyanskaya's big shadowy fox form. I didn't make any hard and fast rules about how these forms connect to one another, but I would probably say her masked form can turn into this combat form once a day, probably for a couple minutes at a time.

the gimmick for this fight is her Seasonal Cycle, which both reduces the number of legendary actions she gets to actually attack people each round, but also gives her buffs. I tried to keep this close to her lostbelt-based buffs in her final fight, but I also changed the names to be less FGO-centric if you want to use this build in a game. there's not a ton to say about this one that isn't regurgitating the seasonal cycle, it's just Masked Form with a bigger focus on kicking humanoid ass.

The big nipply form shown in the build picture has a lot of text, but I'll do what I can to break it down. This is Beast IV's final form, and it's the one that sets up the Tunguska Sanctuary in the first place, so there's a lot going on. Once again her humanoid-slaying effect grows larger, but she can only take this form in her lair, plus her speed is cranked wayyy down at this point. I just. cannot imagine that thing moving any faster than a crawl. if you need something done fast, that's what your lackeys are for.

speaking of lackeys, let's Reveal the Collection. this is a ten-minute ritual, which upon completion can summon copies of creatures that were stored by the Masked Form. The higher the CR of the creatures being made, the less you can make at a time, and the shorter your range is. there's also a lesser version of this you can do as a legendary action, and it's restricted to one creature at a time, of up to CR 10.

but of course, you need a place to put all those creatures! that's why she's got Regional Effects too! it's a whole lot of text, but it basically boils down to making a life zone and a death zone around her lair. half of your collection will tend towards the life zone, and half towards the other. in the life zone, the area is choked by plants, slowing down all humanoids in the area, and also healing effects targeting non-humanoids are more powerful. the death zone has extreme heat, and humanoids have disadvantage on saves against it. also, all summoned creatures in this region have double their normal perception distance when it comes to perceiving humanoids.

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

So overall, this build isn't a world-ending threat like Tiamat, or an orbital laser like Goetia, but she's not supposed to be a full-grown beast yet, so I'd cut her some slack. plus, if your party includes non-humanoid players you can make a dozen clones of them to fight the party which sounds like a really fun time. that being said, I do pity any DM who as to keep track of her seasonal buffs in a fight.

[doodles-of-a-nerd-kid]

Were there any specific media/cultural inspirations for your OCs? Ones like Polka especially stand out to me, really neat design!

If you used any picture references those would be neat to see, too.

THIS IS AN AMAZING QUESTION

I'VE BEEN WAITIN' TO ANSWER SOMETHING LIKE THIS TYSM ANON

To keep it short and sweet so you can stop reading here:

I am very heavily influenced by anime and video game character design. When I'm creating a character, I try to cram lots of different references that are slightly consistent ^^" Funny you bring Polka up though, she's the best example of this!

I put this whole chart together to sort of visualize my erm... creative vision/inspirations I suppose:

...Let me attempt to break this down a bit ^^"

It probably isn't too obvious, but Miss Polka here is actually a Cave Story fan character!

So for you who do not know, there is an old witch woman named Jenka present in Cave Story. Her name is very interesting because:

and I was like: "Alright, I'll name my witch character off of a traditional dance/song as well because that would be really funny huehueheuheuheueu xddddd"

And that's how I ended up with Polka's name! The polka is also a folk dance, and has a cute outfit for the dancers~ So i took some inspiration from it when designing her outfit ^^

Polka is a young witch... and Misery's apprentice. So Misery unsurprisingly was a really big influence when I was designing Polka. I tried to keep as many things as I could from Misery, like her hair and accessories... but I mostly took her color palette lol

Also hey!! Sue's here, what's up with that??! Well, that's a bit of a secret~ I can't tell you, hehe! But just know that she helped out lots when trying to decide personality traits for Polka and bits of her design as well :>

So guys idk if you knew this but I am a super duper weeb

Anime/JRPG stuff has a chokehold on me, a lot of my artwork and characters are influenced by it

Some of the inspirations at the top of my head for Miss Polka are things like Genshin Impact (kill me) and the Sailor Soldiers (the CLASSIC magical girls, they're too iconic to not think abt >:D)

There isn't too much thought between the tail capes, ribbons, fingerless arm warmers and her... skirt... tuft... thing...? I just think they're really neat and gave some more detail to the design :]]

BUT the skimpiest part of her outfit is well,,, y'know-- the swimsuit aspect. This is because Polka can use hydromancy, so I just thought it would be a cute nod to that, lol

I think that's about all of it! I had a lot of fun answering this one, hope that answers your question~ Polka actually has gone through the most redesigns outta all my characters, so that's prolly why she's the most interesting visually! I am def happiest with her current appearance, and I can't see myself making any changes too it anytime soon--

Hopefully this wasn't too much of an infodump, I just love talking abt my characters in detail >///<

Thank you so much again, Anon!

[goldendoodlerlockerlove]

So I got asked by @fangomango what some of my favorite end credits scenes are (it was on my main Shadowbanned blog, though, so Tumblr is rude and won't let me answer it there ;-;) but yes, I am so excited to answer this question, because I've wanted to make a full post on my favorite end credits scenes ever since I asked @drawthethingdoppelganger about her favorite end credits scenes:

--One of my all-time favorites is Candy Cane Moose because it's so flipping catchy somehow despite only consisting of a few lyrics that are repeated over and over. Also, seeing the Belcher kids are lil' babies makes me 🥺 I actually screamed when I saw this one for the first time because I was not prepared for the cuteness:

--Of course, I also love Pesto in My Pants, because Bob and Tina's dancing is glorious, and it's just so iconic:

--99 Red Balloons is hilarious, I adore the animation in it as everyone is pelted with water balloons:

--Turkey, I Need You Beside Me makes me sob because it makes me think of my dad 😭 And Bob and Gene are just so cute in it, I can't:

--You Make Plumbing Fun makes me feel so 🥹 IT'S JUST SO ADORABLE, CAN YOU HEAR THE ADORATION IN THEIR VOICES AS THEY SING?? (And Gene's lil' dancing is the most precious thing):

--I love Beyond the Sea as a song, but Larry Murphy's cover of it as Teddy is fantastic. He's actually a really talented singer! And the visuals for this one are so much fun:

--God, I love I Love U So Much (It's Scary) so much. It's so wholesome seeing the family singing and dancing together and eventually getting Bob to join in as well 🥹. I know I made a post saying that Pesto in My Pants is more iconic, but really, this one still holds a special place in my heart (and that post by far got a ton more notes):

--The Wonder Wharf two-part Season 4 Finale is one of my favorite episode sets in the entire show and this end credits scene is absolutely fantastic. John Roberts absolutely kills it, and the visuals are *chef's kiss*:

--I'm choosing Street Life because it's so catchy for some reason?? I also need John Roberts and Larry Murphy to sing together more often:

--Tina's Spanish Song (I forgot the name) is the most hilarious thing ever, I wheeze uncontrollably every single time I listen to it and remember it exists. It's the end credits of the episode where Gene has a ukelele that he never uses again, and the episode where Gayle and Mr. Frond get together:

--Twinkly Lights is such an absolute banger, and I adore the message about diversity in it! It's incredible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TpZHJvpMWo&list=PL_c9X60eyied1UKYCo48cNW25KXFWgres&index=97

--The TSA Musical outro is so cute, and Gene's lil' bouncing 🥺: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyTzxGnOJ9g&list=PL_c9X60eyied1UKYCo48cNW25KXFWgres&index=102

--Best Couple Friends is so addictive ("Like Heroin? :O" "YES SON, LIKE HEROIN >:D") and it's just so much fun. And it's a Boblin end credits scene!! What more could I ask for?: https://youtu.be/_mOc3oS5fcw?si=O81ioknHi3LByfIy

--The Burobu end credits song is way too catchy, I adore it as someone who was really into Pokémon at one point: https://youtu.be/lsJ4hQQoh-k?si=Qis-ASt8aQgDq4YS

--The Right Number of Boys is awesome. It's so cute and catchy, and Tina's lil' dancing at "How 'bout seven?" is adorable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TIqEiJ2qFU

--Doot Doot Doot (Means I Love You) was the first ever piece of Bob's Burgers media I ever consumed, and I fell in love fast. Yes, this outro was the one that got me into the show in the first place: https://youtu.be/kbAYu-0JdHw?si=GIaR8QF0HD68DdPu

--It's Halloween is so catchy and funny, and Gene's lil' dancing near the end gets me every time: https://youtu.be/aA37bcLABj8?si=efrPQTTgX0EOW2Wl

--Nun of Your Business is so iconic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdJKiDEnIlM

--Me and My Spider is so catchy and sweet, I can't handle it: https://youtu.be/UDn7ZrKGI38?si=cZwmbTpsFSmZmYuF

--And finally, I have to put in I'll Be Around because I wanted to make sure to include a Mr. Fischoeder song. It's so good. And it has Boblin dancing!!: https://youtu.be/ep0Hyw9Ajeg?si=nNOeZVxRYXmjYRqO

Okay, this ended up being way too long, but I just have a ton of outros I adore!! I know there are some that I wasn't able to include, because there are just that many good ones. Do yourself a favor and listen to all of these. Oh, you have?

Listen to 'em again.

Okay, I have so many on this list, but if I had to pick an all-time, absolute favorite??

I really can't.

But it might be either Candy Cane Moose, You Make Plumbing Fun, or The Right Number of Boys.

[vivianvixen]

Preface: I'll only be covering the TV shows I've seen at least partically, plus one other thing.

What's With Starfleet's Uniforms and Color?

There seems to be this odd trend in the uniforms on Star Trek to gradually reduce the amount of department-identifying coloring. Exhibit A:

Here's the one from the original and animated series. Good classic look, somehow just the most spaceman-looking getup they ever had in my eyes. Like I look at this and just go "yeah that's a guy who goes around in space." It might be because it reminds me of the Space Lego guys I had as a kid, because I'm entirely too young to have watched the original show as a youngin'. Notice how the shirt is entirely in command gold (actually chartreuse!).

Exhibit B:

Here's the original one they had on The Next Generation. I kinda like this one better than the one they switched to later, dig the piping on the shoulders, and it feels more spacemanny. But I get why they changed to the other one because this one was causing back problems because it was so tight. Same basic design, though. Never quite figured out why they swapped the colors between command and ops, maybe because the movies with Kirk & Co. made red such an iconic uniform color? But most importantly, notice how the shoulders are black, as are the sides and a bit of the tummy? It's still clearly an update on the TOS style, though.

Exhibit C:

This one originally appeared on early seasons of Deep Space Nine, apparently meant to be what they wore on starbases as opposed to starships, though they then also used it on Voyager and graudally phased it in in Generations. I like that it's a more seamless jumpsuit as opposed to the shirt and pants they had in late TNG, again making it somehow more spacemanny (yes that's an important quality). But what's with the almost reversal in the color? Now it's just the shoulders that are in department color!

Exhibit D:

This one was used in the post-Generations TNG movies as well as later seasons of DS9 and you have got to be kidding me! They swapped the colors of the shoulders and the undershirt, so now you can only see the department color around the collar!

Exhibit E:

Continuing in linear time, this is the standard uniform style from Star Trek Online, seen here worn by one Captain Nog. The department color is barely noticable. This is a travesty.

And finally, Exhibit F:

I have nothing bad to say about the uniform from Enterprise. Where the TOS one screams "spaceman," this one says "astronaut." And that's awesome, it's a really nice midpoint between, like, NASA and Starfleet. And look at all those pockets! So handy! I love this one, and while the department color is minimal, at least it's back to the original ones!

[cursedvibes]

Happy holiday.... What do you think that made Yuuji is so likeable as a character? I've only been in the JJK fandom for a year, and I've seen a lot of other JJK characters' stan. But one thing in common, they all love Yuuji and mostly will include him in their top 5 fav JJK charas (including me :D)...

Also, extra kudos cause your blog is anti-gojo. Most of my moots love him and can't stop talking about him. I already tell them that I don't really like him (actually I hate him), they're okay but still so into him. So I'm so happy when I found your blog.

What do you think that made gojo so famous? Is it the pretty face and bad personality (I'm still confused until now)....? I dislike gojo kinda like I dislike dazai from BSD. They're both called "The one who stole the spotlight from the protagonist" (by my animanga group)....

Happy holidays to you to, hope you had a good time

I think it's pretty hard not to like Yuuji. Even if you aren't that interested in his character, due to his friendly personality and plenty of cute moments it's hard to hate him. I think this Pure Sunshine Boy interpretation (that I don't entirely agree with) is the main reason fans are drawn to him. The suffering he has to endure and how he continues to grow from it is quite fascinating to witness as well. What I personally like about him is also how he has a darker side to him, that pure hatred he has reserved for Sukuna and Mahito, but which we also saw when he beat up bullies as a middle schooler. He's not just sunshine and rainbows, he has a quite serious and lonely side to him he often hides from others and that is the reason he used to not have many friends until recently. Fits with his morbid obsession with death and how he is prepared to die and wants to die to pay for everything he's done despite being so young.

Looking at fan interpretations of him, I'm not sure that's why he's in the top 3 of the popularity polls, but it's what I like about him. The main criticism I see of him is that people think he's too weak to be the main character of a shonen series and isn't the centre of attention enough, but I think that's pretty stupid and thankfully it's only a (loud) minority of people who think that. I'm glad he deviates from the shonen formula there.

Now for Gojo, I first have to say that I wouldn't consider myself "anti-Gojo". I often think he's annoying and recent developments in the manga led to me complaining about him a lot, but I don't actually hate him, not the way I do with Geto, Yuuta or at times Choso. His fans can get on my nerves a lot and I think he was written very badly after being released from the Prison Realm, but usually I don't care about him. I like his high school self actually, before he got so overpowered, his faults were more interesting there.

I think the majority of his popularity is because he's a pretty white-haired anime guy with cool powers and part of a popular yaoi couple, i.e. you got some dramatic feels mixed in there as well. That seems to be the gist of what I see online as reasoning for why people like him and what made him famous when the anime started airing. There are deeper reasons too (best ask a Gojo fan for those), but his looks, iconic blindfold design and relationship with Geto seem to be the main things people are drawn to. Things like that are often what's most important in making a character popular.

[p-receh]

Ooo wait are your thoughts on the two boboiboy movies?

Wah, Nice one!

I've had nostalgic memories when I rewatched movie 1. Particularly because it was the last entry I followed before I went on hiatus. ... 8 years ago I think?

Whereas I watched the second one during my marathon session this year.

Due to 'my messed-up order of watching' this series, I ended up knowing big spoilers about The movie 2 and I forced to give up my 'anti-spoiler' act before I watched it. Kinda of a bummer for the general view, but you know what? It made the scene more fascinating to watch!

"Oh this is Retak'ka? THE Retak'ka?"

"No wonder why Adudu is so into martial arts now."

"So that's how Ice got his bow eh?"

"Oh Fu-Yes! The debut of Fusion Elementals!!!!"

ehem.

From a general technical standpoint, they stepped up their game drastically. Of course, it's for movies after all. They went bold for expanding the areas, improving the graphics, increasing action scenes, and also adding more music as well.

At the same time, they also upgrade Boboiboy and Kokotiam gang's power so it's making it a 'bit' op for the sake of spectacle. It's not that bad in a negative way, I understand that because the enemies themselves were hella strong as shit. (the first one used a black hole and the second one used all-in-one power hunger fest that could also destroy the galaxy. Logically the earth's supposed to be gone by now :/).

I loved what they did to the lighting and hue for both movies. it's like watching smash bros ultimate but in the movies(weird reference I know but hope you get the idea :/)

The details! Holy- IT'S SO PRETTY~~~

ehem.

Both of them were also establishing the expansion power of elementals and what they can do about it. The first one was the fight with all elementals showcased and the second one was the alternative way of fighting by combining two elementals.

Alsoooo both finally managed to properly introduce the one and only .... Boboiboy Hatless! :D

I'd say they had a fair share of hiding it perfectly well. Cleverly teasing the audience to grasp 'Why the hell do they keep hiding his hair with that particular angle?' Because... If I'm not wrong, Boboiboy was one of the characters that falls in the same category with Upin&Ipin: limiting the haircut for animation efficiency during the first production.

So when his hat does let off, It is always an impeccable scene to watch. That trick never fails to amaze me. (like Professor Layton's hat case :3)

Now I wonder how much screen time his hat is off for the movie 3? I'm sure it takes a lot more than the previous one since his 3rd tier is pure hat off(and dyed hair).

If I want to say from my opinion. Movie 1 has its standout over Movie 2 and vice versa. Both have ups & downs yet they are equivalent to each other. For instance: the timing to add their theme song was a bit out of place in movie 1 so the latter fixed that, whereas the Fang and Ying banter in their language was lacking in movie 2 when the former had this iconic scene (sound on recommend) :]

Oh speaking of Music, my god their theme songs are epi~~~c

I remember how hyped I was when one of my fav local band, D'masiv, created a credits song for Movie 1 AND Galaxy season 1. But heck all movie themes in order are wholesome af!!! 'Masih Disini' - 'Dibawah Langit yang Sama' - 'Fire & Water' are in my repeat playlist recently. So overwhelming that I actually cried? The montage during Fire & Water played was not a sad moment but heck I cried because it's soo touching for no reason.

Oh yeah, I forgot it's a family movie so they have rights to not make any deaths scene. I can understand why yet I'm still disappointed.

I cried. HARD when I saw Tok Kasa collapsed. It portrayed emphatically well and worked for new characters that was introduced a bit short.

Then, not long after that, we got this

(I guess they didn't want to do another httyd 2 moment. It's too painful for kids to watch)

So... There's my review. Honestly I don't know what goes on for movie 3. It could be anything after season 2. But if I may guess...

It's between father and son now...

[blacktowbarony]

d100 Spells, Part 1: Dungeoncraft

I wrote 100 spells for my The Black Hack hack I was using before I switched to Knave. I moved away from writing my own system because I was spending much too much time worrying about balance and game experience in between sessions, when I SHOULD have been thinking about fun things like magic items and characters.

I'm proud of this spell list I made though. I may rewrite it at some point, or adapt it to Knave.

But for now, keep these spellcasting definitions in mind:

L - The level of the casting wizard.

Duration - If not specified by the spell, L × 10 minutes. The caster may end the effects earlier if they chose.

Range - If not specified, 30 ft.

Damage - Any damage dealt by spells is L + exploding d6. (Exploding: If the roll is a 6, keep rolling additional d6’s until a 6 is not rolled.)

I subdivided my spells into 10 categories. I did this so that I could quickly theme magical NPCs, monsters, and religions by limiting them to one or two schools of magic.

The first 10 are the bread-and-butter spells of OSR dungeoncrawling. Iconic spells of the genre that would really be a shame to exclude. Having these also increases compatibility with modules that use some version of D&D as a system.

Dungeoncraft

Popular and practical spells, considered classics by adventuring wizards and magical thieves.

Knock - Unlocks a lock with a loud sound. Roll d20  -L for volume, 5 is as loud as normal speech.

Web - You spray out thick webbing.

Sleep - A group of targets of total level no more than L falls asleep.

Comprehend - You become fluent in all languages.

Detect Magic - You hear nearby magical auras singing. Volume and pitch signify the aura's power.

Charm - The target treats you like a close friend for the duration.

Spider Climb - You can walk across vertical and upside-down surfaces.

Invisibility - Target turns invisible.

Polymorph - Nearby target turns into a mundane animal no bigger than L ft in any dimension. The health of the animal form is set by the DM (usually 1 per ft of its longest dimension). Once the animal form’s health reaches 0, the target reverts to its natural form, and excess damage is carried over to its natural health pool.

Dispel Magic - Test Wis to cancel a spell or magical effect, target is 10 + the original caster’s level. Cannot remove curses.

[greenbeany]

heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy [keeps dragging it out]

wanna recommend your favorite mcyt animatics? :3c I've seen a few really cool ones since last time and the artists are insane

THERE IS NOOOOOTHING I WANT TO DO MORRRRE THAN TALK ABOUT MCYT ANIMATICS. Most of my animatic knowledge is towards the DSMP side of MCYT so I hope you're not looking for anything hermit related 😅. I'm assuming you've seen the SADist animatics, but if not, those are your starting point before ANY of these. Gogogo.

Innocence by LateAugust

One of a six part series with absolutely beautiful colours that tells the whole story of the DSMP. Uses music from two of my favourite artists (Madeon and MISSIO). This one tells the story of the first season and is also how I ended up finding out the lore. I highly recommend all 6.

Vibrant Eyes by CG5

It's a CG5 song (he's the fnaf music guy) about Ranboo, the only blorbo ever. The animation is by Shyshui who destroys me :D. CG5 has a few really good ones, like Lonely King, but this is my favourite.

I Know Who You Are by Knp!

Knp is the artist of all time and they have way more flashy exciting animatics than this (like 'I'll never die' and 'Ashes') but this ones my favourite because of the song choice and the characters. It's to the song Dear Wormwood by the Oh Hellos and it's about the guy of all time, Tubbo.

100 Days by Cryingwyvern

Absolutely nothing to do with the DSMP, this is a super new one about Charlie Slimecicle's video of the same name. Sososo iconic and dramatic and honestly the talent with this one is insane.

Theseus by Iopichio too

This won't make sense without context, which honestly makes it funnier to watch. You'll understand once you're ten seconds in.

Your (obedient) servant by Linktoo

An iconic one in the fandom for its psychocompetetive nature. Hope you like Hamilton.

Creature by WolfyTheWitch

Again, this one's not about the DSMP, but rather about Philza's hardcore Minecraft world. The art and scenes in this one are DELICIOUS. I really recommend this one to anyone.

Cool thats my animatic starter pack for MCYT. If you're looking for Hermitcraft animatics, Life series stuff, talking animatics rather than music stuff or Fanfics and Artists to follow, send me another ask <3

[hollowsart]

Hey Hollow, I have a (few hundred) question(s)! Do you think that Mysterio puts glitter in the smoke that he uses? Also if he did do you think he would use edible glitter? Honest questions all around.

(also another question that is more so for Aceida, does she wear different costumes for different times of the year/weather?)

((okay one more, because I know that I will forget but I've wanted to ask this question for a while, Aceida. How did you come up with her, why, and what do you think are the most important things to have for Aceida))

Thank you for answering any of this, it's just that sometimes I'm shy and then.... KABOOM lots of questions that may or may not be useful or worth your time. Anyways! Love what and who you are and I'm proud of you!

Sorry, I need to get this cursed thing out of my system first:

OK ANYWAYS, to seriously answer your questions!!!

[APOLOGIES, THIS IS SO LONG “orz]:

=========

1) Does Mysterio use glitter?

Well, I would be disappointed if he didn’t LOL

Special biodegradable glitter that is a-ok for the environment is definitely something he’d use! Mostly for his entrances and exits tho, just to add that extra bit of flair to his performance. He thrives on the melodrama.

Edible glitter would also be good, just in case someone inhaled it by accident when he makes his grand appearance or get away. I mean, he’s not a killer, he’d actually be upset if someone innocent got hurt during his “performances”, someone he wasn’t intending on hurting in some way.. He’d feel horrible about it and, if given the opportunity, he would apologize.

But yeah, this man absolutely uses glitter! :D (despite my loathing of glitter that isn’t sealed to prevent it from transferring to other things, I’d so totally hug him still regardless of the risk of getting glitter on me for days after)

2) Does Acedia have seasonal outfits?

[I will post these by themselves shortly for better viewing!!]

Been meaning to design some alterations to the Sloth Suit, and this gave me the motivation to do just that! Enjoy my seasonal hero wear!

3) How did you come up with Acedia?

OK SO. STORY TIME:

I originally thought about joining everyone during the initial big spidersona bang when Into the Spiderverse was first released and everyone was making their own. I saw a few people talking about spider crab based spidersonas and wanted to join that but, well.. that was too difficult and I never was able to come up with anything cool.

sometime down the line I was initially interested in the anime My Hero Academia (thank heck I never watched more than barely the full first season, knowing all the drama and junk that’s happened, I dodged a bullet LOL) but I did come up with some oc’s for it and even a ‘quirksona‘ that was sloth based named Acedia, basically myself, but more sloth and also not as cool as I wanted:

You can see where I’m going with this lol

nothing came of that character so cut to years later, this year, I recently rewatched Spiderverse and started to get into the Spiderman side of things again out of the blue after watching TSSM and falling in love with the show all over again, and doodling Doc Ock, too. I thought back to my old failed attempt at making a spidersona, so I decided to try my hand at that again.

I remembered Acedia’s design and tbh I really did love the design so I reworked it and made adjustments to better resemble a sloth and better resemble Spiderman’s iconic appearance. On top of that I did also just make the character under the costume ME with no real changes at all. And thus, Acedia, The Cryptid Crawler was created:

although the ref sheet has since been updated and changed from this^^

Anyways, that’s the story behind Acedia’s creation!

I just really like sloths.

I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “most important things to have for Acedia“ but I hope some of this answers that? maybe? you’re free to elaborate on what you mean by that and I can do my best to answer!

[phyrestartr]

Peak literature, two updates in a row 😭 I'm honestly very satisfied with the divine favor ending, it was so cute! It honestly exceeded my expectations, that's what I like about your writing, it's never predictable and it's very enjoyable! >⁠.⁠<

don't know if you get this question often but I hope it doesn't bother you, what do you do to get inspiration and write such great stories? All the concepts are so original fr

Btw, i have seen the anons have an icon, can i be this one? 🦪 :3

EDIT: O SHIT YES ALSO THAT ICON IS YOURS MY FRIEND!!

Eyyy tysm dude! Really appreciate it :'D honestly I'm really glad to hear that my works are a bit unpredictable loool IT'S A WARZONE IN MY MIND TO COME UP WITH CONCLUSIVE AND RATIONAL ENDINGS THAT ARE NOT TOO CLICHE--but I digress

I actually have never really gotten that question omg and it definitely doesn't bother me, no worries! I, too, like to know where ppl's inspo comes from so I gotchu B)

IT'S A GOOD Q THO LOL HMMM I know some of it must come from consuming so much anime/manga/TV/movies/books/TTRPGs/games/etc, and then gradually becoming pickier and pickier as I got older in regards to what media I like lol. I really like improv-ing and writing within a set world where there're established rules (which is why doing my own, original work can be tough sometimes). if I think a character concept or interaction is just absolutely PEAK, I glom onto it and think about it for 40 days and 40 nights frfr. That feeling of finding something that makes your brain light up with intrigue is like crack

I also think a lot of it comes from a desire to find ways to make things connect/work in-universe for whatever fandom I'm writing for, so I end up googling a lot and doing a lot of reading up on topics that I think I want to incorporate 🤔 I learn a lot about random things that I can add in and tie to future plot devices/elements/casual unimportant interactions or whatever, and the more i learn about random shite, the more I'm like "OOOH I can use that"

Ex: Divine Favour came about because I found out Sukuna was actually an entity from real af JP folklore (info here if you're curious), and I already had an interest in JP mythos/any mythology in general, so I did research on what yokai I wanted to go with for the reader (y'all ALMOST got a jorougumo instead of a kitsune LOL) and from there, I kind of just read a lot about that topic, and find out new things that I can connect back to JJK/ABO/whatever to make it feel more concrete and tethered and interesting to write/read. (I also did a lot of reading about EMPs caused by solar flares for Burning Bodies even tho that never got mentioned in the fic at all loool)

When it's NOT smth that I do a lot of reading for, I usually find inspo from people around me (mostly their careers/hobbies), and take inspo from my own life and hobbies and what not since I can write confidently about that (ex. acting, entertainment industry, PLANTS!!!!)

The smartest thing I've ever been taught in regards to art is that our own experiences is what makes our art just ours, if that makes sense. You could give 50 writers the same prompt, and the results would be different because of what they've all experienced in their lives that the others have not. It's really a cool way to view the expressions of others and to see how people differentiate and how they see the world and such :'D

SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG LOL I hope that kinda answers your Q!! the tl;dr is that i write about things i like and i draw inspo from my own life u7u

[red-panda-agere]

Little Mera icons

(Icons are free to use with credit)

So

What if

Out of nowhere

I post about a character that I'm not even super obsessed with rn.

!!!Diaper/Pullup Mention!!!

Little Mera Salamin

Age range of under a year - 3 (very small baby)

Indus is her caregiver (Dada)

Very sleepy baby, most of her little time consists of naps or just making comfy little 'nests'

She uses a bunch of pillows, blankets, and stuffies to build up her little nests.

Her favorite 'nests' to make, are in the living room where Indus helps her build it infront of the couch. He puts a few pillows in a circle (sort of); lays a big, soft, comforter over it, making sure to cover the middle too; and finally setting out a few miscellaneous blankets and stuffies.

Indus puts everything little Mera colors or draws on the fridge or in his special binder for little Mera.

Her favorite stuffed animal as an Arctic fox she named Gwennifer (after her fursona) that they got at the zoo together.

Really likes Beanie Boos

Indus is always very very gentle with her, and they never play rough or even really do much other than just staying in one cozy spot.

Because Mera is at the hospital because of her Epithet alot, Indus has a special 'little bag' they always take there with them. It has a pacifier, sippy cup, a few coloring books, some crayons (Mera prefers crayons because even if she doesn't have exact shades of certain colors, she can just color a little lighter or darker, or even blend them), a story book or two, and fidget blanket they bought special for hospital trips.

Gwennifer goes everywhere with them anyway, so they never worry about forgetting her or not having her incase of emergencies.

She doesn't like being left alone AT ALL. Almost all of her childhood, after discovering her epithet, consisted of lonely, long days, locked away in her room. She watched the children outside play, wanting that for herself, but she was never allowed. Indus tries to give her the best he can in that aspect, letting her play and go outside whenever she wants to.

If Indus even leaves the room for a moment, he has to tell Mera where he's going and roughly how long it will take.

She cries over the smallest things...even if it's just coloring outside the lines a bit in her coloring book, she whines to Indus, asking him to fix it.

"Princess...I don't think there's much I can do for your coloring. I'm sorry baby." Indus says softly. Mera hugs his arm gently, hiding her face in her hand in embarrassment, knowing it's a dumb thing to cry over. " 'm sorry!" She sniffles. Indus very very carefully wraps her in a blanket before lifting her up and setting her in his lap. He gently cuddles her until she feels better, assuring her it was okay to be upset.

She's very embarrassed about it, but when she's in her headspace, especially when she's not even a year, she sometimes has accidents. Indus doesn't mind having to buy diapers or pullups for her. He understands that even when she's not regressed, her epithet makes her very weak and 'fragile' in every sense of the word. Whatever makes her happy and comfy.

"D-Dada!" Mera sniffles, her face a bright red as Indus picks her up out of the bath tub, patting her down with a towel, very carefully. "I've got you princess. Dada's here." Indus spoke softly. "'m sorry Dada! Didn't mean to!" She cried. Indus wasn't upset at, not minding the cleanup at all. "Dada knows you didn't mean to love. He's not upset with you baby girl." He placed gentle kisses to her forehead before helping her into one of her diapers and a purple snap up onsie. "All clean little princess...all better. It's okay sweetheart." He lifted her up, covering her face in kisses, trying to make her stop crying. "You didn't do anything wrong princess..." she snuggles into his shoulder, nervously chewing on his shirt collar out of habit.

She's really self conscious about her fear of ducks, since it's usually seen as a dumb fear. So when she goes to the park, walking around with Indus, she feels really dumb when someone laughs at her for hiding behind Indus when a duck wanders onto the path for a moment. Indus ways assures her it's okay when they're alone.

Her favorite pacifier is a purple paci with moon decals on it.

She has a collection of teething rings because they make her feel really little and comfy. Her favorites are the ones shaped like keys.

She loves being called "princess"

Onsies make her feel very safe, especially the ones that cover her legs and feet.

Baby bottles > sippy cups. She loves strawberry milk.

Indus feeds her sometimes if she feels too little to eat by herself. She usually just asks for 'finger foods' because spoons and forks are for big kids. Mera is much too little.

Indus learned how to put up ponytails and braid Mera's hair, Mera liking her hair being brushed and played with.

Blankie burrito baby

She has terrible nightmares, especially about her training in the desert. She hated the training in the desert so much.

Her favorite book is Goodnight Moon

[filipinosamflynn]

RED RISING BOOK 1 CHARACTER TIER LIST + FULL THOUGHTS! >:D

Below is my review of book 1, I'll go into spoilers. After this, I'm either gonna move onto a different book or try to find golden son. Not sure which one will happen.

But yeah, great book, 4 stars, or 8/10! Definitely just set up for things to come in the trilogy, but also a really good setup & story.

PREFACE: This is from the perspective from somebody who DOESN'T read books for fun too often. Red Rising was the first book in a long while I chose to read for fun since Harry Potter in 1st year high school (I didn't even finish the series, I stopped at the start of Half Blood Prince). So you're dealing with one of the most casual guys who went into the series. Another thing: I came into the series thinking it would be similar to Nimona (2023) or Sylas's story from League, since I brought up these two things when I first asked for book recs, so my expectations were HORRIBLY wrong (kind of, sylas's lore is pretty similar and the only difference is that sylas gets STRAIGHT into action but also his characterization sucks). So my perspective is strange, is what I'm saying, and I am far from the most valid person to be seriously reviewing this book. I'm just sharing this for fun lmao :P

I'm just writing the first few things that come to my mind, so stick with me people! These are messy, unfiltered thoughts.

This book is rough, really whumpy at the start of the book, but it's good whump. It's just setting up and establishing what's to come and to make all the payoffs feel better by showing us the insane suffering Darrow goes through. But also? Damn. That was rough. it felt like grimdark (this is coming from the perspective of a guy who actively avoids all things grimdark - with the exception of whump fanfics on ao3).

And then we get into the institution, and I just went, "oh. This is hunger games harry potter." I was a bit disappointed to be honest, I know the book is called "red rising" and it literally means "the slow rise of a red" so he still needs to prepare himself for what's to come, but also... eh?????? Someone in Reddit called this segment "pierce brown kidnapping fans of the hunger games when it was at the peak of its popularity", which ✨️iconic behavior✨️ but I was a bit confused as we took this academy stuff seriously. But slowly, I grew into it when the characters started interacting. I liked it when Darrow was interacting with others since the first half of the book felt so isolating. I liked every single scene Sevro shows up since he brings so much chaos and fun to a story that had so much downtrodden underlying sadness. The chapter 9 reveal is still hitting me, like "damn FUCK THESE GUYS BRO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS PLANET HAS ALREADY BEEN TERRAFORMED???" Also because sevro's fucking awesome, but that's besides the point. The same goes for Darrow's scenes with Virginia and pre-sword fight Cassius, but they aren't as iconic as Sevro.

Darrow is a super compelling protagonist for the story he's in. Making him this power fantasy fulfillment guy makes things feel all the more liberating when he beats the shit out of a guy, it's sort of like a shonen anime protagonist, I guess (i don't watch anime btw). Bro talks about Eo a bit too much though 💀 it got to the point where it got a bit funny, but some moments do hit... before virginia came into the picture as the better love interest since she's girlboss and eo is seraphine from league of legends.

Most of the characters are well written or awesome! The proctors are real loveably hateable pieces of shit I wanted 200 feet below the dirt, and I loved seeing them get beat up. Except you Fitchner, you are iconic, and you gave us Sevro. I love you. Antonia, Cassius & Jackal are just set up here, and it's mildly disappointing? I am super happy the finale ended up being "FUCK THE PROCTORS" but also that stole time away from finishing off the inter-student conflicts. Yeah those will 100% be explored in the rest of the books with more time to do so, but damn :/ the last time we see Antonia, I think she just stands there at a castle to remind us she exists??? Whatever, watching the proctors get shit on was exactly what I needed to want to see more out of this series.

I was a bit disappointed when Darrow ended up being the only red we explore in this book. I was kind of disappointed when Darrow just speaks with a gold accent the entire time, I hope later in the series he speaks like a red again because I have a red bias and hate fancy ass shit. From a book called "red rising", there aren't too many reds after part 2 which I found odd for a revolution story about a red taking control over the system. Titus? Ohoh! FUCK HIM! why did they write him to be this rapist guy, and he just exists to let darrow know he isn't the only fake gold at the institute. I was mildly hoping we would get to see another red-turned-gold team up with darrow as a 100% trustworthy ally since I felt like we needed it after all the loneliness Darrow goes through, but sadly no :(

OH AND THE ACTION SCENES HELL YEAH!!! Reddit wasn't kidding when they talked about how bloodydamn GOOD the fight scenes are. I got spoiled that "Clang! Clang! Clang! Confess!" means something, and I don't even know who is fighting who, but I want to read the whole series just to get to that point because it sounds badass.

But uhhh this series came to me at a rough point in my life. It was hard to read some parts of it and I took a few breaks. Yeah, I read the whole thing in 2 weeks, but also just to fill myself with some sort of closure when I felt sad. I felt good coming out of it, but during? UHHHHHH-

These disorganized thoughts are getting messy, if you have any questions about specific things, comment them for me to answer. I might. 🥰

Story: 7/10, just set up but good set up

Characters: 9/10, bloodydamn good, almost all of them. I can tell, despite my initial disappointment for some of them since I know this is a book SERIES, so we will be seeing more of them soon.

Personal Enjoyment: ????/10, felt too sad at some points, absolutely adored this book in others.

Quality: 9/10, amazing writing, I want to buy all the books JUST to support Pierce Brown, I'm not even sure if I will be reading them, I just feel like throwing money at him.

Overall Score: 8/10, scared to continue, but damn I want to continue.

[cyberkevvideo]

The Dragon Ball Z TTRPG -- Yes, an Official One Does Exist

Before I go into the game itself, I want to talk about the creator of the franchise.

Yesterday, the world learned of the loss of the great Akira Toriyama. He was so incredibly influential to so many of us, and like many others, I was absolutely gutted by the tragic news. He was far too young.

Dragon Ball was a big part of my life growing up, and it's what helped me create bonds with so many people who became good friends. Other people online have written poetically about how much each of his series and creations have touched their hearts, and I don't know that I can do the same justice. I'm not wordy like that.

I grew up during the start of the NES era so I knew about Dragon Quest, but at the time I had no idea that the iconic character and monster designs were thanks to him. When the SNES came out and Chrono Trigger was released, I immediately recognized the style of art. Dragon Quest VIII is still my favourite, if only because it's cool to see the characters go pseudo-super saiyan. In 1995, the original dub of Dragon Ball hit airways here, and a few months later Dragon Ball Z was released. It was surreal to watch kid Goku and adult Goku every week, simultaneously. Seeing the flying nimbus, but not seeing the Power Pole, and not knowing who Piccolo or Krillin were, but recognizing Master Roshi and Bulma, and finding out Goku was an alien the whole time. It was jarring at times, but seeing references to each series like the Kamehameha Wave and capsules, helped. Then there were all the Budokai games for PS2. I practically broke my dual-shock controllers trying to win those beam battles.

This is going to get long, so I'll put a separation bar here.

When the internet finally came out publicly and schools had access, I looked up Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, discovered what anime was, learned of Akira Toriyama and how he had a comedy series called Dr. Slump, that the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime were considered separate stories, but the manga kept it as Dragon Ball, etc.

Heck, when the cards came out, I was one of the first people to buy Ani-Mayhem's DBZ set.

What's really great to see is people discovering the Dragon Ball manga for the first time, hearing their thoughts on YouTube videos (namely Merphy and TotallyNotMark), and how original and groundbreaking the fight choreography is compared to others series, and how much his style has influenced current day shounen manga. And that doesn't even include how Team Four Star and DBZA has influenced people.

But, let's get into the rest of this post.

When the TTRPG came out in 1999, DBZ was such a phenomenon that our local bookstore was having trouble keeping it in stock. My gaming group ended up having to pre-pay for a copy of the TTPRG. DBZ: The Anime Adventure Game from R. Talsorian Games was a little rough around the edges when it came to balance, and how powering up worked compared to the series, especially when that system was revised in the Frieza saga book. Still, it was nothing any of us had experienced before. Up until that point, we had done AD&D, Rifts, Toon, Shadowrun, and Marvel Super Heroes.

The person who usually ran the games, ended up being the GM and we did two campaigns. I had an absolute blast. Unfortunately, I was kind of alone in that. The TTRPG doesn't leave a lot for social interaction, which a number of our players preferred doing. This is closer to a war game. As such, we never played the game system again after the two campaigns. In fact, we never even finished the second one. I still picked up all three books as they came out though, and the GM from that group still has his original Saiyan Saga book.

The first thing that made me happy, as I didn't have nearly the dice collection I do now, was all you needed were 6-sided dice. That made my life so much easier, and for the Shadowrun players, they had tubs of d6 ready to use.

When it came to the contents of the book, what I really enjoyed was seeing all the power levels, and the character art.

These power levels updated with each book, and the lore and special abilities would also update.

If you kept the game to Dragon Ball levels, you felt that you could keep the campaign going for a very long time. The character sheet was extremely simple, and there were tips on what you could build a campaign around, as well as basic suggestions on trying to keep the "main character" complex to a minimum. The Star Wars RPG systems have a similar concept where the GM is told that either everyone's a Jedi, or no one's a Jedi. Same thing for ewoks since they were so limited for weapon proficiencies (they literally could never learn how to use tech, ever, which I find ridiculous). Basically, for Dragon Ball, namekians should look at fushions to power up, or everyone should be a saiyan or half-saiyan, especially if you're bringing in the super saiyan transformation. Otherwise, no saiyans in the game at all. This way everyone stays about the same level and can't be a spotlight hog while everyone else is forced to sit back and watch the game instead of participate.

If you'd like to read a full review of it, you can check one out here. Barnabas did a great write-up.

Personally, I find it kind of wild that there's literally zero stats for dinosaurs or other prehistoric animals. Where's the T-Rex and sabertooth tiger? This feels like a massive oversight given that people live alongside dinosaurs and other extinct-in-our-world beasts.

Overall, it was original in what it tried to accomplish, and I appreciate that. We've since seen other game systems that can replicate this fairly well. I prefer BESM (Big Eyes, Small Mouth), and any edition works, but I know others really enjoy doing DBZ using FATE, which I can see working. I've seen people try to pull off DBZ characters using 3.5e, Pathfinder 1e and 2e, and 5e, but you'd need to homebrew your own class from the ground up, and it likely wouldn't be balanced. At best, you could maybe get something close with a 20th level character.

If you find a copy somewhere, I definitely recommend it for a one-shot, if nothing else. Maybe you can run it at a convention. I'm considering doing that. It'd be a nice send off. And this year's convention is dinosaur themed, so maybe I'll have the mission be to teach a dinosaur how to ride a ball.

In closing, I'm so grateful to Akira Toriyama for giving us the stories and designs that he did. I can not convey in words just how important the Dragon Ball franchise was for my friends and I to even have met one another, and then Chrono Trigger brought us even closer and we'd go to one friend's house every lunch (he lived across the street from school) and we'd watch him play because we were so immersed in the story and with the characters...

So much respect and admiration for him. Akira Toriyama, thank you for everything. In Eiichiro Oda (One Piece mangaka)'s words: "I wish that heaven is as jolly of a world as the one you imagined and drew."