#Also the editing and storytelling is very very good

[cloudbends]

I got so absorbed in the game that I forgot to post about it. oops

[herecirmsims]

I was going to make this post last week after an incident that pissed me off, and now there's more nonsense occurring, so here's my rage turned into something productive: some free posemakers whose work I really rate! No CurseForge, no theft. Just folk whose enjoyment of this little hobby really shines through to me.

@simmireen - our queen of romance @electricwhims - storytelling and fantasy poses hereeee @freezerbnuuy - storytelling poses & BB goodness! @truecolorssims - lots of really useful storytelling poses @nefaricussims - fantasy storytelling poses TheSerenadeOfShadows - fantasy and mer queen! SamsStudio - I use their poses ALL the time Rebouks - another necessary maker for any storyteller J3llyFish - poses, make-up, accessories, ahhhh! SurelySims - honestly Surely can do anything I think RaspberryWhimss - sweet couples and pregnancy poses! SimmerBerlin - retired, but I use their emotions constantly LibetSims - on hiatus but I also use their emotions a lot MadeByCoffee - poses and deco Sims aaaaahhh SakuraSimz - sweet sweet couple poses WhimsyAlien - very cute storytelling & supernatural poses SubieSims - adorable family storytelling KeirosSims - lovely poses for our boys ALuckyDay - storytelling, modeling, and accessories! TalentedTrait - gorgeous family poses YangSims - super cute storytelling packs! AdjustedKarma - a huge range, I especially love the pin-ups TheStarTome - sweet couples! Simmistrait - lots of varied posepacks

That's just off the top of my head, and I hope they all tag because Tumblr hates me... otherwise I'll be going back and adding links.

Edit: reader, they did not all tag. 😌

[luckthebard]

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about storytelling vs. gameplay in Actual Play and finally had some solid thoughts coalesce around it when looking at Worlds Beyond Number and Thresher.

Thoughts after the cut:

This is going to be a hot take but I think, increasingly, Worlds Beyond Number is not an Actual Play but a collaborative audio novel/drama. While the margins between those things might seem on some level semantic, I think they’re really key for thinking about how Actual Play is different from other kinds of storytelling media. WBN was originally conceived of and advertised as “like the games you run in your living room” but as it has gone on the podcast has moved so far away from that that it is no longer delivering on that original conceit. This does not mean it is bad! I think WBN is actually succeeding more on a storytelling level as it sheds more of its obvious gameplay. But it’s gotten to a point where the game mechanics are either edited out and therefore not central to what is heard by the audience, or incidental to the story being told, which is driven far more by Brennan as the main worldbuilding storyteller than by game mechanics or player action. When a supposed Actual Play has a key narrative episode that finishes with almost 10 minutes of story narrated solely by the GM with no gameplay rolls or mechanics mentioned, of an epic, hugely narratively important combat, in my mind gameplay has taken enough of a backseat to the storytelling process that the podcast is no longer an Actual Play.

And I think we’ve seen an evolution over time of a lot of Actual Plays de-centering game mechanics or the conceit of gameplay in favor of more crafted narrative beats, to both the benefit and detriment of the stories themselves. In Critical Role for example, C1 and C2 in many ways felt more like a D&D game than C3, if only because of the presence of incidental, seemingly narratively insignificant combat moments. As late as late C2 with the Mighty Nein in Aeor, the players were rolling random encounters that had no relation to the larger endgame plot. This led some viewers to complain about pacing, but made other Actual Play enjoyers happy to the extent it showcased game mechanics and allowed character moments to emerge from the combat mechanics themselves, the core gameplay element of D&D. Contrast that to C3, which very early in the episode count did away with “meaningless” incidental combat and pushed forward with a very clear endgame narrative. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that fan engagement with mechanics really fell off in C3, with less meta about what spell or feat choices meant for character development. Similarly, the sunsetting of the CritRoleStats project, while certainly because founders were just busy and had put years into it already and were ready to move on, also was at least somewhat influenced by having less to work with as gameplay mechanics were emphasized less and less at the table in C3.

If you were to look at a lot of the more professional and academic study and critique of Actual Play, you might be convinced that a move away from centering gameplay and above table mechanics discussions was universally good for the medium, as an emphasis on storytelling over gaming would make it more universally accessible. I would posit though that at least some of this comes from the loudest, most professionally credentialed commentators on Actual Play coming from literature backgrounds, and therefore valuing storytelling and narrative over gaming for audience appeal. But I think that misses the gaming audience of Actual Play, who are less and less catered to as the medium becomes more mainstream.

There’s often not a lot of understanding of the appeal of gaming itself as an object of, especially curative, fan obsession, even as sports fandom exists as a huge example of the wide appeal. I am, pretty loudly, a baseball fan as well as a ttrpg and Actual Play fan. In many ways, these things hold similar appeal to me. I am interested in thinking about the game mechanics and action economy of certain character builds and how they fit into party composition in the same way I might obsess over a pitcher’s ERA and arsenal, as well as what his role is in the starting pitcher rotation or the bullpen. I find the prospect of a matchup between, say, Shohei Ohtani and Zack Wheeler appealing in the same way I’m excited about a mechanically strong D&D party fighting a Beholder. Gaming has long been interesting to people not only as something to participate in, but something to study and analyze. Win scenarios, optimal builds, and gameplay tactics are engaging to viewers as well as players. And I think, increasingly, Actual Play productions either forget this or, if the prevalence of editing gameplay out of edited AP is any indication, do not think the gameplay itself is of value or interest to the audience. Published Actual Play scholarship, in my opinion, continues to make this mistake as well. This has led to an increase of productions which are labeled as Actual Play and ostensibly have a gameplay component but are so far removed from watching/listening to people play a game that it is hard to argue that they are still Actual Play.

Which brings me to Thresher. Thresher was brilliant at threading that needle between production, radio drama vibes, and centered and narratively driving gameplay. I am someone who often complains about Actual Play production and editing doing Too Much but I actually loved the costumes and some of the editing gimmicks on Thresher because all of the storytelling and narrative was still so clearly grounded in the gameplay mechanics. Uses of drive mechanics and character abilities were clearly defined even as the audience could hold their breath in a tense horror atmosphere. Mechanics like Turn the Tide and Jasper’s move as the GM to allow the players to pass him secret notes were fantastic ideas to center player choice in crafting the narrative, and let the players surprise each other, leading to big and exciting moments a the table. The storytelling was enhanced by Abubakar’s above table exclamation of “what the fuck is this??” at the end, because it wasn’t just about the story that had unfolded but that his fellow players had surprised both him and the GM by using their game mechanic options to change the direction of the narrative and the condition of the story. I would love for more Actual Play to remember the value of the audience seeing that or being in on the extra-narrative elements of gameplay that shape story. Not all Actual Play needs to be the same, but I think we’ve lost something in the medium as a whole recently with a shift away from visible mechanics and toward streamlined, almost audio drama style story that just happens to have scaffolding from a tabletop roleplaying game.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Self-Editing

Editing writing draws upon different skills than creative storytelling, which makes self-editing difficult for many writers. If hiring an editor isn’t an option, you will want to improve your own editing skills to increase your writing’s readability and overall quality.

Tips for Editing Your Own Writing

Print it out. Reading your words on the printed page can help you find spelling mistakes, sentence fragments, and run-ons more easily than trying to track them down on a bright computer screen; you can even change the formatting of the text if that helps you look at it differently. Use a red pen (or any other vibrant color) to track changes or edits along the way.

Read aloud. Hearing how your writing sounds can also help you listen for lines that don’t sound right, like wishy-washy sentences, overuse of particular phrases, and unnecessary words. Sometimes a writer doesn’t realize that their sentence structure is poor or that their main point isn’t clear until they hear it read aloud (you can even use a text-to-speech program or ask someone else to read it back to you while you jot down things you notice).

Take a break. Walking away from your writing project for a period of time and coming back to it with fresh eyes can help you gain a fresh perspective by creating an emotional distance between you and your work. If you’re finding it hard to be objective, give it space—when you return to your own writing, you may find yourself with an entirely new outlook.

Keep your voice active. With active voice writing, the subject of a sentence is performing an action. That action is represented by a verb, which is the part of speech that anchors all complete sentences. While passive voice isn’t completely forbidden in a piece of writing, it’s usually a good idea to keep your tone energized, as it keeps your readers reading.

Edit line by line. A good editor will systematically go through a piece of writing line by line, and that is what you should do as well. It may take time and be a painstaking task, but if you’re editing your own work, you’ll need to look closely at the words you’ve written to find any outstanding issues like grammatical errors or typos.

Get familiar with style guides. Professional editors may come equipped with extensive editing skills, but it’s possible to learn what they know. Look up which writing style guide applies to your writing (if you’re copywriting, you’ll likely want the AP style guide, whereas fiction writing will use the Chicago Manual). Follow the proper guidelines laid out and add them to your editing checklist: Are all the commas where they should be for this particular piece? Are words properly italicized or quoted? Knowing what to look for can not only expand your editing experience but help you become a better writer.

Avoid clichés. While they appear in good writing every so often, clichés are mostly boring unless you have a unique spin on them or can integrate them in a way that doesn’t seem tired.

Embrace re-reading. Editing isn’t a one-off process, and chances are you’ll need multiple read-throughs in order to find all of your weak sentences, grammar mistakes, punctuation errors, and spelling errors.

Mind your syntax. Be on the lookout for issues with grammar and word choice. Certain words can change the whole mood or feeling of a piece, and using weak verbs and weak adjectives will only exacerbate that. Make sure your writing feels strong and clear, and use a thesaurus with caution. If you’re not exactly sure how to use a word, don’t.

Save the proofreading for last. Whether you’re copy editing for content marketing or writing the first draft of a memoir, proofreading is the very last step you should take when self-editing. As you go through your piece, you’ll be re-writing sentences and paragraphs, so searching for grammar errors or doing a spell check before your final draft will only waste more time. It’s okay if you spot errors along the way (you don’t have to ignore them), but don’t make it the first step you take when tackling your own editing.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Editing ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[interact-if]

Our fourth edition of the Black History Month Author Spotlight series, features Becky (@losergames)!

(I’ve been in awe of Becky’s multi-talents (art, writing, coding, excuse me??) for a long time now, and am super excited to get to interview her and introduce her awesome game, Chop Shop! The portion on morality and finding a middle-ground between harmful stereotypes of “bad” POC characters and angelic, one-dimensional ones who can do no wrong was a really interesting and insightful take.)

Author: Becky

Hello hello!!! I’m Becky! I am a black bisexual woman from the UK, lover of games, TV and food. I have a Bachelor's degree in Animation & Visual Effects and currently work as a technician at a college 😁

Games: Chop Shop (crime, action, LGBTQ+, meaningful choices)

Short blurb: A crime action interactive fiction game.

Quote from the interview

There are a few main themes I keep in mind about when writing Chop Shop but the big one I think everyone understands is morality. What is right and wrong, and the various shades of grey in between, has been written about a thousand times in a thousand ways but it is continuously interesting to me in a changing world. What does it mean to be a bad person doing good things and a good person doing bad things? Is there a chance for redemption? What are the consequences? Race and class are also massive factors, made all the more complicated when we’re looking at sets of characters on either side of the PC’s life. I want to write black and other characters of colour make bad, questionable, and unredeemable decisions whilst also remaining aware of stereotypes and archetypes. I want them to be loud, messy, and rude, attributes that are always attached to minorities, but I also want them to be smart, calculating, and deceptive. I think a lot of people are scared to do so and we end up with plain, can-do-no-wrongers that lack any depth.

Read on for the full interview!

Can you tell me a bit about what you’re working on right now and your journey into interactive fiction? What inspired the game/story you’re currently writing?

I am currently working on the crime action interactive fiction Chop Shop. There are a mix of inspirations that went into Chop Shop but above all else I’d say the kicker was my circumstances at the time.

During covid I walked away from the WORST job I’ve ever had and moved back home, which I realised a while after was an extremely huge blessing. I had a major burnout and was processing what my ex-managers had put me and my colleagues through. So, in my freetime I was playing a lot of cyoa/ romance games (shoutout Love Island the game) and found a whole fandom that also enjoyed them. 

I made some friends, did art commissions, and wrote some fanfic here and there, yadda yadda. A close friend recommended I try out a very popular COG game at the time (🧛) and it all spiraled from there. I fell in love with the format, endless creativity, and community and never looked back.

I loved the Need For Speed games as a kid, the og Most Wanted, Carbon, and Underground 2 are, in my eyes, amongst the masterpieces of games from the 2000s. It got to the point I was going over to friends houses just to play on their PS2 lmao. I am also a Fast and Furious fiend (shock) and I will defend that god awful series till I die. Fast forward to being a teenager/ young adult I’ve become a massive fan of fictional crime shows. Breaking Bad will always be my first love, but I also love The Sopranos, Fargo, The Wire and more.

How has your identity, heritage/background, upbringing, or personal experiences influenced your storytelling or writing process? OR How does your work feature aspects of your identity / experience?

The real catalyst for Chop Shop was my previous job. A lot of the PC’s experiences are based off my own. A few examples I love sharing are how I had to make breakfast for my boss every morning and had to keep the office freezer stocked with a specific supermarket ice lolly because he ‘needed’ one every day at 3pm. I truly wish I was making this up because people think I’m crazy when I tell them. But I really was catering to a man-child because I was desperately trying to get my foot into a creative industry. Woof!!!

That said, the industry I wanted to work in was and still is extremely competitive. I came out of uni with a tonne of friends, but also a tonne of competition. It stung very badly to see my peers excel and surpass me when it came to careers but that’s just a part of becoming an adult. That life really was not for me and I’m glad I’m out of it now.

My mother is an extremely influential person in my life. Bits and pieces of her stick with me, not just in my writing but my every day. She’s worked in corporate all her life, from the early 80s and still to this day. She laughs about it now but she tells stories about the times she was laughed out of meetings or undermined by subordinates because she was a black woman in positions that were not occupied by minorities. It hurts to think about but I can only dream of having the type of strength she does.

Now that I think about it, Chop Shop is a massive fuck you to the past.

Are there any specific themes or messages you hope players take away from your work?

There are a few main themes I keep in mind about when writing Chop Shop but the big one I think everyone understands is morality. What is right and wrong, and the various shades of grey in between, has been written about a thousand times in a thousand ways but it is continuously interesting to me in a changing world. What does it mean to be a bad person doing good things and a good person doing bad things? Is there a chance for redemption? What are the consequences?

Race and class are also massive factors, made all the more complicated when we’re looking at sets of characters on either side of the PC’s life. I want to write black and other characters of colour make bad, questionable, and unredeemable decisions whilst also remaining aware of stereotypes and archetypes. I want them to be loud, messy, and rude, attributes that are always attached to minorities, but I also want them to be smart, calculating, and deceptive. I think a lot of people are scared to do so and we end up with plain, can-do-no-wrongers that lack any depth.

What does your writing process look like? Any rituals or habits? Any tips, tricks, philosophies or approaches that have worked very well for you?

I write way better outside of my bedroom. I know writing is supposed to be fun and a hobby but sometimes it’s… not. If I get stressed out in my room, it’s all a mess. The brain needs to be away from where I sleep to get work done. Last summer, when all the teachers were on holiday time, I was the only one in my department for weeks and it was the best writing stint I ever had haha.

Oh and I keep a huge spreadsheet. All the episode breakdowns, outlines, character details etc. It looks insane to anyone else but it is my prized baby.

Do you have favourite interactive fiction games, characters, scenes or authors that you’d like to recommend?

My goto game rec is always 180 Files: The Aegis Project. So quick and punchy, more narrative/plot than romance focused. The action sequences are fun and the interactions are so delicious, ugh. I love it. I’ve played it at least 20 times to get the different endings and it’s never not satisfying, just… chefs kiss. I’m also really enjoying Thicker Than right now AAHHH I NEED TO CATCH UP!!! 

Any books, music, movies etc. you’re obsessed with at the moment, or which changed your life (or perspectives on something)?

Not anything specific but I do have some books I’d like to recommend to my fellow black readers:

The Psychosis of Whiteness: Surviving the Insanity of a Racist World by Nicola Rollock

Black Skin, White Masks by Franz Fanon

The Strangers: Five Extraordinary Black Men and the Worlds That Made Them by Ekow Eshun

Black England: A Forgotten Georgian History by Gretchen Gerzina

The Hard Road To Renewal by Stuart Hall

Honestly I’d recommend anything by Stuart Hall lmao. RIP king, you would be shocked at the media literacy today.

This-or-that segment: (bold = Becky's pick)

Coffee or tea?

Early mornings or late nights?

City or countryside?

Angsty or Cozy romances? (Or enemies-to-lovers or best-friends-to-lovers?)  

Steady progress or frenzied binge-writing followed by periods of calm?

Summer or Winter?

First drafts or editing?

Introvert or extrovert?

Plotter or pantser?

Characters or plot first?

Becky’s custom “either-or” pairing: Driver or passenger?

[thydungeongal]

Hi, this might be a weird question, but if someone wants to get a proper groundwork of ttrpgs, really understand the medium and what it does, what games do you think they should play? Like which systems would be much checkouts to really GET what kinds of things happen in the space and what kind of games are out there?

I don't think there can be such a thing as a definitive list simply because the medium is so varied, but what I can give is a list of games that have had a massive effect on how I personally look at games. Mind you, I don't think you strictly need to play all of these games, although why not they're hella fun, because even reading them can mindblast you open:

Dungeons & Dragons, multiple editions. Ironically, even though D&D was one of my first games and it for a long time served as a template for what I expected games to be more or less like, coming back to it and exploring the history of the game after delving into a bunch of indie games that were doing completely different things was eye-opening. D&D is not only good to be aware of and keep track of because, for better and for worse, it ends up defining entire design movements (D&D 3e still has an effect on modern trad RPG design), but also because the game itself is a microcosm of how the changing design of a game can end up shaping play culture and the discourse around the game.

RuneQuest and other BRP games: RuneQuest was the first d100-based system but also very much a game clearly in conversation with early D&D, and it's neat to be able to look at two games from that same general period and see how games were already changing at that early a stage. Other BRP games like Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and Pendragon are very useful to look at in the historical context of being some of the very earliest examples of very traditional RPGs incorporating mechanics that tied into character psychology and personality in a way that almost bordered on genre emulation (Sanity, the alignment tracks, personality traits and passions).

Vampire: the Masquerade and other World of Darkness games: these games were revolutionary at the time they came out because while they were still very traditional in structure at least on a discursive level they presented a clear unambiguous break from the hobby's wargaming roots and towards roleplaying games as a form of collaborative storytelling. They also represent a shift in terms of who the game was marketed towards, with these games' success being in no small part due to the fact that they actively catered to women and queer folks at a time when that was still out of the ordinary.

The Shadow of Yesterday and a bunch of other stuff that came out of the Forge: the Forge was a website dedicated to talking about tabletop RPG design and it was basically a gathering ground for people who were really into the promise of RPGs as collaborative storytelling but had grown to see, through play, that Vampire: the Masquerade the System had a completely different idea of what kind of story it wanted to tell than the text implied. TSoY is just one of my favorite games that came out of that design movement and it is a game that really tells you what it's all about, and it is fun to trace its effects on modern game design (it has had a measurable effect on Apocalypse World and Blades in the Dark and thus a significant effect downstream from those two).

Apocalypse World and Monsterhearts. This is my duo of the best PbtA games out there: Apocalypse World for being the first and still almost unparalleled in how it just completely ignored expected ideas of what the act of play should look like and also accidentally became one of the most copied games in the world. Monsterhearts is a fantastic example of a game that builds on the strengths of Apocalypse World's framework while doing a completely different genre and also a great example of a textually queer game.

Dream Askew and Wanderhome. Dream Askew was the first Belonging without Belonging game, a framework of games that very much developed out of a diceless variant of the Powered by the Apocalypse, and the framework is very much defined by its tagline "no dice, no masters." The best I can describe them is as games where the traditional role of the GM is divided across the entire group and while there are game mechanics at play (usually taking the form of using tokens) those are also entirely in the hands of players and not arbitrated by dice rolls. These games thus act both as great examples of what GMless play can look like as well as what diceless play can look like.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy: with this one I have to admit to being personal friends with the people behind the game, but my friendship with these people actually blossomed out of a shared love for games and talking about them, and Eureka is not only in my opinion the best investigative RPG ever made, it is a fantastic piece of design that clearly tells you what it's about (I like games that are loud about what they expect you to do: the aforementioned TSoY and Apocalypse World are two others). What it also does very well is re-evaluate a lot of what has come before and synthesize them: yes, RPGs are shared stories, but they are also games. We want stories about heroes succeeding, but in games it is possible to fail; and while the game does build into itself a lot of systems to mitigate the chance of failure simply via playing the game (what a lot of games have tried to do inelegantly in the past with "Idea rolls" and other contrivances to force the characters on the path to success if they fail simply due to bad rolls) it also very openly says "hey, a story about the heroes failing is still a story. Not every story will have a happy ending." And I think that is great, because RPGs are games in addition to being little story factories, and some of the best story moments can come from those times when the game itself says "not today" to your perfectly planned narrative moment and instead tells a completely new exciting kind of story. Anyway, check out @anim-ttrpgs for where you can find and download Eureka, and follow along for more exciting stuff they've got cooking :)

This is not by any means an exhaustive list, but just an "off the top of my head" of some games that I think are neat and that have blasted my brain and altered the way I look at the medium. Anyway once you're done with those be sure to check out Rolemaster as well for the best comedy RPG ever made,

[communistkenobi]

you’re that post that’s like “being a star wars fan is so funny because star wars sucks”

also, could you elaborate on what star wars does wrong/why it is bad. what does it do right? i don’t watch these movies

I think if you wanted to calculate the total volume of content on the entire internet, I’m confident that at least 1% of it is devoted to litigating the question “why is star wars bad?”

For me at least it’s very similar to why I find Star Trek intriguing - it’s a very fun sci-fi franchise that devotes a lot of time and energy to exploring the politics of its own universe. The prequel trilogy (the trilogy made after the original 3 movies, and are also the ones where George Lucas had full creative control) is where the original meme of Star Wars sucking so bad comes from, because those movies are objectively awful (pacing, storytelling, editing, acting, etc, they are comprehensively bad in a way that is almost impressive) but they also set the political tenor for the rest of the canon. The line “so this is how democracy dies: with thunderous applause” is probably a good shorthand summary for what the prequels contribute politically to the franchise - the prequels are invested in telling a story about how a liberal democracy slides into fascism, essentially retelling the foundational history of the “modern” world coming out of World War II, but transplanting that in a fantasy space opera.

So a lot of the political substance in Star Wars is tethered to a set of movies that suck but provide the blueprint for how to “look at” and approach Star Wars storytelling politically. Which is probably the closest I would come to locating a “general” problem with Star Wars - a universe that constantly threatens to be interesting and often is, and then the rug is pulled out from under you due to either poor execution or the much more banal problem of creative leads having birdbrained political imaginations. Which is not a problem remotely unique to Star Wars, but I think this issue is particularly acute in this context given, again, that the franchise is so mired in the mythology of modern European history. 

The show Andor demonstrates this particularly well, treating this vision probably the most seriously out of any other show/movie etc since the prequels, but with that vision it imports the deeper philosophical problems of approaching political storytelling through the lens of Europe as the universal province of history. And now I’m just complaining about the philosophy of knowledge and historiography but Star Wars leads you to these discussions! Arguing about Star Wars is essentially just arguing about your own political commitments through the medium of a deeply stupid space opera. And speaking as a lifelong posting warrior I don’t think that’s true (or at least, not as true) when arguing about other movies or shows with people online. Like of course all debate is political on some level, but Star Wars is plainly and openly political (it is literally called Star Wars). Anyway that’s one reason why it sucks so bad and why I will never stop watching 

[sundayeleith]

Ok I need to talk about the origin change and MC's uselessness and not very neutral description in the demo. I'll talk about the rest of the updated demo and the positive stuff in a later post. Here I want to at least reiterate concerns and criticisms others already expressed, and that I haven't shared here yet. It is very important to put this out there since there is sadly no feedback survey and so the devs know that a lot of us are bothered by the change and why.

Edit : I made another post to talk about the positive stuff right here !

For that, I do hope the devs open a feedback survey for the demo V2.

That said. Do not send hate to the devs, nor be hateful or insulting towards them. Criticism should always be respectful to the effort put into the work people have done and the people being it, as well as civil. Nor me nor others in the fandom want to see the patreon backlash hate wave be recreated ever again.

Before I start, I want to say I respect RSS and their work. As a backer, I can attest they are working hard on this game and show proof of it each update (or at least talk about it). I know they are doing their best to give us the best experience possible and put this banger game out there for everyone to enjoy. I do hope the devs will take these feedbacks to heart while understanding it comes from a place of love ✨ 🫶

/!\ Minor spoiler warning for the updated demo /!\

At first the background change was a good surprised. I was hyped. Also the general hype about the update itself had a part to play in it. As I was playing, it bothered me more and more up until I talked about it with others.

Cutting the Hound origin for the Exiled was a bad idea. Let me explain.

First of all, RSS used the Hound in the marketing of the game for the past 2 years minimum, including for the KS. It was also still present in the demo V1 for 2 years. Almost everyone who made fan MCs used the 3 origins as a framework/blueprint/prompt to shape their characters and backstory around, if not simply assigning one of the 3 origins to their OCs. People got not only used to it but after that much time had the time to build intricate lore around their characters. Cutting it like this so abruptly upset and overwhelmed a lot of people who just saw their storytelling of 2 years being discarded. For a lot of people, me included, TS is a mean for escapism and comfort, and also linked to usual fandom creative hobbies (art, writing, rp, cosplay etc...). So I totally understand the emotionnal distress some people felt.

Second of all, no one was warned and I think that it was not the best move. The origins are put in the forefront and made seem important by the dev team (emphasis on "seem", cause it's not so far). For the reasons above, at least communicating on it and asking the community for feedbacks about this change would have been better (and if not asking the whole fandom, asking the KS backers could have been an option).

Third of all, this change is useless in the current state of the game because MC was unchanged. Not only lines for the alchemist backstory are also on the 2 other routes (prob an error/bug), but why present a survivalist origin if MC still cannot fight at all ? In the demo V1 and V2, MC seem to be an after thought in writing, which is not bad in itself if not for the origins being put in the spotlight that much only to be the most useless choice of the game. Aside a handful of lines being changed there's no difference in how MC acts or interract with the world. It's not that big of a deal tbh, but then why present the origins as if it's going to bring major changes to the game when it doesn't (at least for now) ? Maybe it becomes more relevant in the full game, but that is an aspect of the game that should be noticeable from the start with how important they make the origin seem to be. Also I think they should either fuse Exiled and Hound OR bring back the Hound and flesh them out more (that's my opinion tho).

Then I have two other points that bothers me about MC. Their helplessness no matter the origin and the fact they are assumed to be small and dainty. What do you mean alchemist and houd/exiled MC cannot fight and get the whooping of their lives against a Soulless ? In a world that unforgiving I assume for the Alchemist to use spells and at least try to defend themselves and for the Hound/Exiled (esp the Exiled tbh) to know how to keep their ground in a fight with a Soulless. If Mhin can kill a Soulless that easily despite them being average sized and looking not that strong, then MC sure can too. I get that Mhin needs to be introduced but it doesn't need to be because MC is useless as hell. They could jump in not to miss on the bounty. Or cause MC could be in a tight spot and despite being able to win Mhin jumps in. I'm sure there's other examples too. Now on the size markers many people complained about in the past being unchanged is a bit of a shame. It could be easily fixed by removing any mentions of MC's size (esp with Ais, but with Kuras too that would be nice) or akin to the pronoun choice menu let people chose between at least 3 sizes (small, average and tall) and make dialogue changes according to that choice. Now, it's easier said than done which is why the first option is more feasible and the one I would chose (also, less work).

These issues aren't "that big of a deal", but the one about MC's size is actually the worst one. I know not everyone is under 6 foot not skinny. Sure the descriptions matche me and my MC, but wasn't it the goal to be inclusive ? Seeing friend mutuals and fellow fandom members yet again not feel represented and acknowledged in a game they love when they already have so little representation is sad to say the least. I stand in solidarity with you guys, and your concerns about this are valid. I know that RSS didn't do that to be malicious, but it is time in 2025 to truly keep everyone in check in terms of inclusivity (again, no hate while doing so else it's just bullying)

[phantomarine]

Clam's Quick Tips for Starting Your Very First Webcomic

Howdy! Here are the three bits of advice I tend to give people who ask me about getting into webcomic-making. Maybe they can help you jump into the fray with a little less fear.

1) Make Your First Chapter a Pilot Episode

You will be told by webcomic veterans to start with a short, simple comic idea first - which is wise - but if all you can think about is your big magnum opus, then you might as well hop in, right? Otherwise you'll just be glancing back at the other cooler project forever.

But if you can't start with a small simple story, start on a small, simple part of that larger story. Your first chapter should be a snapshot of the main conflict - show us a simple scene with few characters, ease us in slowly, keep things clear and focus on emotion/impact/clarity. Get the audience to care by offering something easily digested, but full of promise.

Once you're done with that 'pilot' chapter, and you're feeling more comfortable with the whole comic process, you can open the gates and show us the larger world. At that point, you'll be way more ready.

2) Simplify Your Art Style For Your Own Sanity

Always try to make your webcomic's art style as simple as possible - the standard rule is to use only 75% of your artistic skill for every comic page you make. Otherwise you will burn out quickly and terribly.

But you also need to be PROUD of your art style. If you're really feeling itchy, add a couple bells and whistles to your style so you can look at the finished page and say "Yeah, looks cool." You'll find the right balance the more you draw.

Also, don't be afraid to change your art style as you go along. Ultimate consistency is often impossible in webcomics anyway - so embrace your desire to try new things, streamline your work, whatever you feel needs to happen to be happiest. Sometimes the coolest part of reading a webcomic is noticing that style change - so don't hesitate to embrace it!

3) Resist the Reboot! RESIST!

The curse/blessing of drawing the same things over and over is that you'll inevitably get better at drawing those things. The trouble comes when you look back at old stuff and start thinking "Damn, I could draw that way better now."

You must recognize that this feeling never goes away. Not after a hundred pages. Not after three hundred. Not after a thousand.

I think everyone should be allowed one soft reboot for their first webcomic. Redraw some panels that bother you. Change up some dialogue if it doesn't make sense with your new story ideas. Do maintenance, basically. One of the beauties of webcomics is that they can be easily edited, without reprinting a whole book or remaking a whole game.

But if the ultimate purpose of a webcomic is to tell a story, then constant reboots will just be retelling the same story - slightly better each time, but the same at its core. We've heard it before. Most audiences would rather you save your strength and just keep going, rather than circling back year after year and going "Wait wait wait! I'll do it better this time."

Reboot early, not often, and only when you absolutely must! You're a storyteller, and you're constantly getting better at telling your story. Don't be ashamed of it - look back how much ground you've covered, and keep walking!

---

That's a good start. Happy webcomicking - don't be afraid to jump in, but be prepared to learn a lot very quickly. And if this advice doesn't work for you or adhere to how you did it, that's absolutely fine - webcomics are diverse by nature, and so are their creation processes. Feel out what works best for you, and good luck!

[amatun28]

My Top best BTS members fic in my whole fanfic reading journey. ( ao3, YT, Wattpad, tumblr) [Part:01]

🌸These fanfics have my whole heart. The amount of happiness,emotion,nostalgia i felt its beyond unimaginable. I will cherise those fics until the end of my life. Thank you of all those writer who britten my day with their incredible talent and creativity. 🌸

🌺Long thread ( please read the review with patience)🌺

💐Author💐

1. Rafae's fiction on YT

My fanfic journey started with YT. I know many of us doesn't read yt fanfic, although we have solid reason not to do. Some of us also think yt fanfic means cringy type of fic. But trust me Rafae is a gem. Like she is truly exceptional. She has a strong aura that anyone can be captivated.

🍁Her stories🍁

◼Throne [ Taehyung fanfic ] by Rafae on YT

Genre: Royal au, arranged marriage, Angst (so much angst), smut, romance, fluff, happy ending. [completed]

Summary : A story of Royalty. A Periodic tale of three kingdoms. A tale of kings and Queens. " Throne" Is a story that had everything; Love, loyalty, friendship, betrayal, evilness, partition, pain, suffering, development, empowerment and devotion. A tale that takes the Romance to different level after passing through the stages of love. A tale of a Queen, more than a King. A tale of woman who proved that there is nothing stronger in this world than a broken woman. The Queen who teaches us to look in the eyes of demons and say Here I am standing, come and try to break me.

-Review:

[Must read] : The first thing I will say is it's not the typical type of fanfic people usually read, where the female lead is always weak or submitted to the male lead. This fanfic will change someone's perspective on women. And about the male lead, he is so caring and soft-spoken when it comes to his woman, sweet, with a strong moral compass and leadership like a full package. His character is so beautifully written that you will feel pain in your heart thinking, In real life, why do these kinds of men not exist? This story also has many different side characters, and each character has a different story, and each of them is so painfully beautiful. This series has 100 episodes. I had never seen any YT fanfic this long. Even the epi time is also very long, about 25-30 mins. Some of you will think that its 100-episode series might be boring, but trust me, not a single episode of this series is boring. Every episode is packed with suspense, emotion, and breathtaking plot twists that will leave you on the edge of your seat. And the best part? The storytelling is so vivid that it feels like watching a historical K-drama unfold right before your eyes. If you read the story, you will see the mention of 3 kingdoms that were actually from the Korean map that ruled ancient time Korea during the Three Kingdoms Period. So just go give it a chance; I must say you won't regret it. Also, the BGM of this series is like a full chef's kiss. 🤌

[Note: There are some grammatical mistakes in this series. The author had to upload one EP every Tuesday of the week. On YT after uploading the EP, she couldn't even edit the episode. Otherwise, all of the things are so perfect, so just dig in. ☺]

▪🍁[Jungkook fanfic]🍁

◼ [Reading between the lines] by anonymous on (ao3)

Genre: kinda enemies to lovers au,University au, slow burn, fluff, Smut, also jungkook is so sweet:( [completed ]

Summary: You're an art student beginning your final year at university, and the assigned partner for thesis project? Much to your dismay, it's Jeon Jungkook. You don't like him — he doesn't seem to try very hard, and besides, he's on the soccer team, and you don't really get along with athletes.

Thanks to a lack of available models and a shortage of studio space, you end up spending a large portion of your semester locked in a tiny closet with Jungkook, where you eventually discover he's nothing at all like you originally thought.

-Review:

Plz this is so good. Like so so so good.😭 you have to read this. The slow burn, the tension, the way their relationship grows. This kind of books will make your chest hurt (in a good way). And about Jungkook, i hopelessly inlove with his character. Also the pace of love-story was perfect like PERFECT. I will never forget the emotion and butterfly i felt reading this. Also the smut 👌💋. So just go and read this. A must read.

◼ Phycho by @moonchiiild_ on wattpad

Genre: Personality disorder au (reader), established relationship, romance, angst, happy ending [ completed]

Summary: You are wounded and broken. Laughing at scars was your habit, but tending your wounds was his speciality. Some may call Jeon Jungkook a perfect man to exist, but you knew your husband better than that; if you were his Bonnie, he is your Clyde. Psycho, maniac, insane. World called you many names, but your husband calls you his wife and stands beside you when no one dares. Jungkook is your possession, your medicine. The world may have rejected a bitch like you, but it takes only one person to snatch the monster out of you.

-Review:

Masterpiece the only word go to this series. This book is mix of suspense, romance. The first chapter of this book got me chokehold and there was no way escape of this. I just can't stop thinking about this. The characters are so good specially jungkook, this man is embodiment of all my fantasies here. After reading this story the only thing you will say that if i can't find any man like Jungkook in this book then i dont want any man. Like He is the STANDARD. Also there was so much angst on this book. But in the end its all worth it :(((

▪🍁[Taehyung fanfic]🍁

◼ Perpetual Rain by @NovainRose_ on wattpad

Genre: Slow brun, some fluff, angst, Smut, Reaper au, kinda time travel au?? [ completed ]

Summary: A troubled - soon to be - college girl is ravaged by uncontrollable hallucinations that she can't explain. Making an unexpected friendship with a stranger she met on the street but, he has secrets of his own. "Seriously, you've got me worried." His hands pressed into the tables brim, ready to get up at any second. "You barely even know me, why are you so worried?" You stared at him, irritated and confused. He was so persistent! "Is it bad for someone to care? Even if it's for a stranger?" Dark brown eyes narrowing and chest-nut hair cast to the side with a tilt of his head. "Just trust me." But, could she?

-Review:

I am whipped; I am just WHIPPED. It's such a beautifully written, deeply emotional journey filled with longing, love, and pain that lingers like the scent of the rain on a stormy night. This book still haunts me like a nightmare. The writing is so mesmerizing. Also, this book is kind of atmospheric. There is also a 2nd part of this book called" Timeless Snow". But this book is really a slow burn, like really, really slow burn. So don't get frustrated. Just go and read; trust me, you will love it. This book is one of my the must-read books.

This is my first time posting on tumblr. And these fanfics are very close to my heart. If you love these stories then plz show lot of love to the original author of these stories. At the end of the day, fanfic writers rely on positive reviews from readers. Its make the original author happy. Also, if you love the recommendation, then please tell me also.😌 So that maybe i will also make the part 2 of my favourite fanfics. 👀

[paperclipninja]

I think I'm in a minority and lordt knows I've been very wrong about stuff like this before, but I have zero concern that Good Omens will end with Aziraphale and Crowley being human. None. Not even one iota of worry about it happening.

Why?

Because Neil Gaiman is a really good storyteller. And he, as a really good storyteller, knows that would be an unsatisfying ending.

Obviously this is pure speculation on my part, but a really good storyteller doesn't go to the effort of constructing such an intricate story, in which the challenges and desires of having eternal life but not being able to share it with the one being you want to, are so carefully laid out only to have them end up mortal. Because then what? Crowley ends up back in hell anyway and maybe Aziraphale does too? Or they end up back where they started? Nah.

My guess is that it is not going to play out as a rom-com might (I mean, it's not a rom-com), or with anything particularly overt being shown between Aziraphale and Crowley, and any "it may not be the ending you want" is, in my mind, getting way out in front to manage expectations.

By the time season 3 airs we will have been consuming years of fanfic, fanart and fanon and of all people, Neil knows the way that begins to shift the expectations and hopes of a fandom. It's really easy to drift away from canon or forget the kind of show it actually is (and that's totally fine, gimme all the fics and art that take me to where I want my faves to be), but it also means that fandoms can end up "disappointed" that some of the fan thinking and creating didn't come to pass.

So mah point is, any comments from actors or creators about a season not being what we want- that doesn't mean it's going to be rubbish storytelling. It means that some of the things people are hoping for won't happen.

And until we see what actually plays out on our screen, I, for one, am going to keep immersing myself in the brilliant creativity of this fandom and just

EDIT TO ADD: also need to acknowledge that Terry Pratchett is also an incredible storyteller and these two had it all figured out nearly 20 years ago and one thing's for certain, and that is that neither author, or Neil in seeing through the vision they both had, is going to drop the ball at the last minute

[rippleclan]

RippleClan: Moon 91 (Aftermath Edition)

When Weevilsight won't leave the medicine den, her sisters force her on a walk.

[Image ID: Weevilsight, Wolfgaze, and Ravenweaver sit in the snow together. Wolfgaze and Ravenweaver groom Weevilsight, who sits disconnected from the world while she vents about all the grief and sorrow of recent moons, all stemming from their mother. Art by @unfortunatereader.]

(Weevilsight: 26, female, cleric, daring, deep StarClan bond)

(Wolfgaze: 26, female, codekeeper, thoughtful, connection to StarClan, great speaker)

(Ravenweaver: 26, female, artisan, den builder, very clever)

Washington provides a gentle and wise ear to Halibutdusk. He listens to Halibutdusk's grief and draws on his own recent losses to provide what little comfort he can.

[Image ID: Washington talks with Halibutdusk outside the medicine den. Halibutdusk sits, looking at their paws, while Washington lays beside him. Art by @smashgal.]

(Washington: 219, male, elder, nervous, good mediator)

(Halibutdusk: 83, nonbinary (they/them), warrior, gloomy, masterful storyteller, clever)

Vervaincough takes her grief and frustration out on Slushtrail.

[Image ID: There are two images that include Vervaincough and Slushtrail in the snow. In the first, Vervaincough yells at Slushtrail with tears falling down her cheeks, angry and hurt while Slushtrail listens like a good mediator. In the next, Slushtrail grooms Vervaincough's head and wraps her paws around her while Vervaincough leans in, continuing to cry. Art by @salt-clangen.]

(Vervaincough: 26, female, codekeeper, insecure, understands nature, good mediator)

(Slushtrail: 27, female, mediator, wise, clever, talented weaver)

Rattlepelt and Wildclaw share a nest in the nursery for the night.

[Image ID: A two-page comic showing Rattlepelt and Wildclaw in the nursery at night, curled around Midnightkit and Valleykit. The camp is tinted purple, but Rattlepelt and Wildclaw's eyes are bright. Rattlepelt wears her fox pelt with lavender woven into the fur and stuffed in the eye sockets. The pair have the following conversation, which ends in Wildclaw pulling Rattlepelt into the nest and the pair curling around their sons:

W: "Rattlepelt?"

W: "The kittens will get cold with just me in the nest, dear, come in."

R: "I... shouldn't."

W: "What's wrong now?"

R: "You know what it is..."

R: "Mousesong, then Carnationspeckle's kidnapping, then I get possessed and it leads to the death of a kit. And me and Mousesong are just like our little ones, all of them orphaned, and now..."

R: "It's me , isn't it? Why Trumpetspore's gone? I'm- I must be cursed, and now what will happen to the kittens? or my moms? Or you-"

-she gets yoinked-

W: "first off."

W: "my mate is not cursed. I'd know, having had an omen cat as kin."

R: "ough! What in Starclan's-"

W: "and second, I can protect myself."

W: "I can protect them, and I can protect you."

W: "But right now, they need their mama to also warm them up, no matter what circumstances led them to our care."

Art by @cappuccino-bear.]

(Wildclaw: 83, female, caretaker, fierce, trusted advisor, good fighter)

(Rattlepelt: 74, female, artisan, thoughtful, leather artist)

(Midnightkit: 0, male, kit, polite)

(Valleykit: 0, male, kit, quiet)

Surprise, everyone! I've been working with a few of my most vocal fans for a special moon update featuring proper art of your beloved cats! I am so grateful to everyone who agreed to draw a scene, especially since they had to keep some events secret for a while. I adore each piece. The individuality of each style is powerful and adds so much life to this. I promise happier moments ahead, even with the normal chaos of the Clans!

[kissboybyler]

it gets to me so much sometimes when i think that, in whichever fandom, the GA or just most people tend to ship two characters just because they are canon. Like mike and el, for instance, they are canon, they have kissing scenes and they dance at the ball and they…hug?! But what do they even talk about? What’s the music playing in the background? What’s the context of their interactions? Why, why do they love each other? Do they make each other better, do they find missing parts of themselves in the form of another person? Are there hints and tells and color-codes that just…exist to symbolise their love?

Why do we ship these characters? What’s is it about their love that is so strong? And don’t get me wrong, i also believe -like many other bylers/ fans of the show- that mike and el grew to love each other, to appreciate and kind of need each other. But not for the right reasons.

I mean, mike needs to be needed, to be able to help or even save another person, to feel loved and wanted. But he also needs to allow himself to be who he is, outside of “forced conformity” (“that’s what’s killing the kids” after all!)

El, on the other hand, needs to find who she is, but firstly she needs to have a safe place where she is allowed to kind of just exist and then blossom into her true self. And bumping into mike, who eventually grew to appreciate and embrace her, she felt safe for the first time. And alongside her, mike felt needed, like he could protect her and be there for her and make her happy.

But now el, who has established both meaningful familial relationships and friendships, needs to find out who she is. How can we expect her to grow when she’s in a relationship with the first person she met right after she broke out of the lab (her literal prison), who can’t even talk about any other part of her that he loves other than her powers?

And i’ve read many many other people write about this, about how in s4, when mike wasn’t with el he embraced his geeky, nerdy and weird self but when he finally reunited with el, he had to hide himself from her (as did she!). He just…couldn’t be himself around her.

But like, apart from the problems in their relationship, i really just don’t understand why people ship them. It’s just…mike cant be himself around el and el doesn’t have room to find herself when she’s with mike. It literally doesn’t make any mathematical sense.

And then they say we’re delusional for thinking, for proving, that there are astronomically higher chances for these two not to be endgame, for el to be single and for mike and will to get together. Because it makes sense…right? Like, el will be able to find herself outside of a relationship, she won’t be dictated by anyone but her own self, and mike and will… do i really have to elaborate? Like, in every single aspect of stranger things, from musical titles and colour-codes, parallels and loving, longing stares, hand touches, over-protectiveness, deep and meaningful understanding to posters and freaking funko-pops, interviews and good ol’ fashioned cinematography and storytelling… it all points to them, if you connect the dots.

And how, how is it possible that so many dots have been put into such perfect places, to make such a beautifully crafted imagery, just for all of this to be a coincidence? When, when has anything ever in stranger things been coincidental? Ever?

Edit: I’d just like to denote that, when i said “(mike) can’t even talk about any other part of her that he loves other than her powers” i didn’t mean that mike loves el JUST because she has powers, fuck no, BUT when the time was right for him to note all of the other aspects of her character that make her a remarkable person (ex. her selflessness, her compassion), he decided to focus on her powers. The very thing that she herself thought dictated her.

just wanted to make that super clear.

[kimbureh]

Okay, it's almost 8 years since Mad Max Fury Road premiered in cinemas, and 15 hours ago the trailer for the long announced Furiosa prequel has dropped. I'm not one for media hype, but I am pumped for this, and here is why:

there is a clear aesthetic continuity with Mad Max Fury Road: the color scheme, the bright eyes, the center frame. The look is referenced enough to be recognizeable, but it's not just a simple copy but adjusts it to the story: the color isn't *quite* as glaring, the center frame isn't adhered to as strictly as in mmfr

it's called HER Odyssey! Chris Hemsworth (who is there for some reason) asks Furiosa "do you have it in you to make it epic?"; this, my friends, is Nico Lathouris speaking. He's not just one of the writing credits of mmfr, he's also a master of ancient storytelling techniques, and he's telling us right to the face what he's about to do. Furiosa is an Odyssey with a female protagonist, and just as Odysseus in the Greek original, we can expect her to be a complex character, sometimes making questionable choices (she becomes Immortan's Imperator for a good reason!).

the religious references are just as numerous; she's called the darkest angel, the promo poster shows her with an halo (and the low angle shot of hers with a soft focus length?? Goddess). Does she rise from the ashes of this world to become a Godlike figure herself, just as Immortan Joe attempts to be, because it's either apotheosis or death? A guy like Lathouris, who knows the old canon so well, might have some very interesting ideas on that.

there are war boys! RIDING EPIC CARS!!

more references from mmfr: the shot of Max standing up from the trickling sand is reference (symbol of his pain & overcoming bondage), as well as the shot Nux driving his car looking at the audience through the windshield (absolute madness trying to follow his destiny bestowed to him by Immortan). I am curious to what degree Furiosa might go through Max's and Nux's arc, but with a twist???

the green place! VUVALINI!! SO MANY VUVALINI!!!!!!

"REMEMBER HER"

this is going to be epic in the most literal sense!!!

MARGARET SIXEL IS EDITING THIS!!!!! I want a three hour reel of her talking about her craft

[octobobble]

Hi. Thought about Thespius and Click Clack a bit too hard. Rambles under the read more

Hello. So.

This pairing is peak, I’m stating that right now, LoveStory is a REALLY FUCKING GOOD ship, there’s so much between them that’s incredible which is why I’m writing this because if I don’t tear into the seams of why Thespius and Click Clack work I think I may die.

First of all, just on the surface, they’re very well written and presented. A writer and his editor, having been working together since before ever becoming gods, and yet one struggles to confess and the other represses his feelings and simply refers to the other as his bestie.

The god of love is the one struggling to confess, which is really funny. This is your domain my guy. And then the god of storytelling, an editor, whose job is to dig into the finer details of a story and make it as good as it can be, can’t seem to notice that the other is stupid in love. It’s awesome.

However we are here for me to dig into it past that. I am pulling up my conspiracy board full of notes and photos because there’s so much symbolism packed into this one relationship.

First of all, Thespius. Thespius is the god of love and mirth, “a love for love and a passion for passion”, who cares so much about the art he makes and sees it all as creations born of love and passion. He ascended first of the two, and seems to be the only god during the game that retains a mostly human appearance, down to things that would likely be considered imperfections (he has a tooth gap!). The things he writes come from the heart, from love and passion, but he can’t bring them out on his own, so they go to Click Clack.

Click Clack is the god of storytelling, which is fascinating, because he’s not a writer. He’s an editor. A job that is often completely overlooked in the creative process and yet incredibly essential to a story. Thespius writes and Click Clack edits, making sure that the story Thespius wants to show the world can be told as well as possible. The fact that he’s commonly referred to as the god of teamwork also adds to this. He works with Thespius to make art.

Click Clack also has a pretty distinctly inhuman appearance. He’s nearly completely black and white, is small, round, and well. He looks like a cartoon wearing a goofy mask. He even tells you that it’s a mask if you insult him, no one knows what his true face is. He looks like an old timey cartoon, like the early days of Disney. Unlike Thespius, who lives in a tent in a field, Click Clack lives in a penthouse, he has his very own ivory tower in what’s basically the downtown of a city.

The story that you go through in Hobbyhoo is about getting them together, yes, but there’s insane symbolism packed in it all. Thespius, the god of love, the writer of the script that Click Clack is editing, is passive. He can’t get the courage to tell Click Clack how he feels, whether it’s his feelings or his issues with how his scripts are being changed. Click Clack, thinking that Thespius wants fame for his writing, is editing out all the love from the script. A story written by the god of love is being sanitized in order to be as marketable as possible. Thespius and Click Clack are a queer couple, Thespius is very visibly trans, Oh Partner Mine is a love story between two women, a character that symbolizes company executives quotes a statistic that comes from a real life statistic about queer rep in media.

Their story is inseparable from the real life struggles of queer art, Click Clack ignores his own feelings for Thespius and erases the queerness of the story for fame. In an attempt to help Thespius, he’s erasing the love in the story. Thespius, the original writer, isn’t brave enough to fight to keep the story queer, can’t find the confidence to confess his own feelings to Click Clack. It’s not until you make Click Clack realize that the love he was erasing from the story, the relationship he refused to let the two female leads have, mirrors the real life queer relationship that he’s been ignoring and denying between himself and Thespius, that he realizes what he’s done.

Their story, their LoveStory if you will, is about queer art. It’s about accepting your feelings, about how art is a group effort, about how you shouldn’t censor and sanitize what you want to write just for the sake of popularity. Art comes from the heart, from passion, from love, and you should never EVER scrub it down into something digestible and unchallenging for the sake of popularity. So go out there and make art, even if it’s weird, even if it’s queer. Make art, and make it out of love.

[thydungeongal]

Thank you for awnser my ask about games to try out, that was fantastic! Can I ask, what did you mean by "Vampire: the Masquerade the System had a completely different idea of what kind of story it wanted to tell than the text implied."? The only ttrpgs I've tried out so far are dnd 5e, call of cthulhu, and vampire the masquerade v5, so maybe I'm just missing the context, but it felt like the mechanics of vampire were pretty good at making you feel like a vampire?

Oh right, gotcha! So, I can't speak of newer editions of Vampire (although I do think V5 actually does a better job at this due to being much more focused in its design, at least based on my reading), but one issue with the original Vampire: the Masquerade was that it very much set itself up as a game that was supposed to be about the melodrama and politicking and angst of being a vampire, but what it as a system ended up being mostly about was combat and action. It also had an unfortunate tendency to patch over the fact that many of its actual systems were kind of haphazardly designed by going "remember, if the rules don't work you can ignore and change them," which is just asking the Storyteller to do design work for the designers.

And yeah that's pretty much it: Vampire: the Masquerade was set up as a game of gothic vampire melodrama; what it ended up being was a game where most of the rules weight was put towards playing The Avengers, but everyone is Blade.

Now a lot of that critique isn't of course unique to Vampire, because even these days pretty major RPG releases get away with telling their players "if you don't like these rules don't use them and actually good GMs know when not to use them, you're a good GM right? :)" and that sort of attitude was very much the norm at the time of the game's release, but it was also one of the critiques people at the Forge had for the game: if the game's rules need to be changed on the fly to get it to output the kind of story it's supposed to output, then the rules are bad at producing that type of story.