#Black Desert Character Creation

[cryptidcryptic]

Do i Like Boruto? No

Do i Like Battle Passes and micro transactions? Also No

But does the ability to make My own character in naruto world and have gut as my Mentor make up for it? With enough kicking people in the face with Dynamic entry

…maybe

[marsprincess889]

Basic themes of nakshatras

May edit this later, this is as far as I understand and have observed them, and I think it's pretty nice to see them simply.

Ashwini:

Newness, freshness, the unmanifest, speed, energy, vitality, instinct, healing, fast healing, unlimited energy, self-expression, selfishness, blocking outside noise, trusting yourself, self-empowerment, unfiltered actions.

Things that remind me of Ashwini: bees, the sun, horses, two white horses, golden deserts, horses gallopping, honey, long hair flying in the wind, apples.

Bharani:

Love, death, sex, the female, the feminine, limitations, the material, fate, destiny, coming into the body, struggling against limitations, struggling against fate, mind trapped in its own hell because of the inevitable, dealing with the harshness of life, harshness of mothers and mother nature, the hierarchy, privileges and deprivations, desire, going after your true desire, the immortality of the soul, adapting to changes, passion, tragic love, bravery, facing the truth, choicelessness, nessecity, revenge, violence, gatekeeping, reduction, denial of access, conquering your fate, everlasting beauty, immortality, eternal love.

Things that remind me of Bharani: hot pink and black, darkness, roses, the yoni, gateways, keyholes, caverns, boats, rivers, the damsel in distress, fantasy, high fantasy.

Krittika:

Adam, the main character, naming things, language, rationality, precision, sharpness, criticism, the poet, the "it" person, simplicity, cleanliness, expressing oneself, selectivity, the heat, the knowledge, the light, masculine ideals, stoicism.

Things that remind me of Krittika: knives, razors, lighers, sparks, fire, hearth, cooking.

Rohini:

Eve, sugar babies, growth, receptivity, enjoyment, pleasure, unrefined, doted on, subconcious, absorbtion, sharing, union, creation, the youngest daughter, naivete, feeling no shame.

Things that remind me of Rohini: sugar, stickiness, sweetness, heaviness, red, pink, flowers, the A.I(lol).

Mrigashira:

Distraction, realization, fickleness, adventure, running away, chasing, the hunt, excitement, softness, pleasure, altering conciousness, magic substances(iykwim), curiosity, fulfillment, insatiability, teasing.

Things that remind me of Mrigashira: silver threads, deer, green forests, green and blue, running in the woods, alcohol, the moon, Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Ardra:

Disillusion, crying, lamenting, awareness of others, awarness of other's expectations, hyper-awarness of everything, intellect, the rational mind, pressures from society, rebelling against society, anxiety, hunting.

Things that remind me of Ardra: tears, water, storms, technology, teenage angst, emo culture, the rain, sad songs, dogs.

Punarvasu:

Mercy, forgiveness, permission, freedom, flying, expansion, gentleness, regrowing, realigning, returning, home, unconditional love and nurture, celebration, peace, peacefulness, centering oneself, sunlight, warmth, fostering, taking care, being taken care of, luck, unlimited fertile space, shelter, genuine kindness, believing in humanity again, cycles, patterns, seeing the cycles and the patterns, prophecies, the oracle, openness, second (and third, fouth...) chances, a comeback.

Things that remind me of Punarvasu: staying at home, pets, plants, cats, gentle rain, a bow and arrows, a target.

Pushya:

Asceticism, routines, self-restraint, servitude, control, self-control, working, working on yourself, patience, simplicity, striving for perfection, nurturing, nourishment, quiet ambition, symmetry.

Things that remind me of Pushya: milk, milkmaids, country life, milking, symmetry, goats, sheep, agriculture.

Ashlesha:

Manipulation, abuse, poison, emotional abuse, blackmail, resorting to everything for safety, protection, pent up energy, the nervous system, purity, water, sensitivity, cleanliness, energetic build-up, tension, restraint, preservation, self-preservation, virginity, feminine tactics, being "mean" for protection, lying for safety, sensuality, mother issues, agitation.

Things that remind me of Ashlesha: the color white, transparent things, cats, poisoning, snow white, Sofia Coppola films, teenage girlhood, ties, strings, knots, snakes.

Magha:

Royalty, power, ancestry, family trees, history, the past, regality, honoring the past, honoring the elders, honoring the authority, religion, tradition, customs, confidence, ego.

Things that remind me of Magha: crowns, thrones, churches, goth culture, smoke, big hair(like the lion's mane).

Purva Phalguni:

Pleasure, enjoyment, being spoiled as the feminine, loving to spoil as the masculine, procreation, sex, leisure, art, holidays, parties, exclusivity, pride, charisma, sexual dispersion, love as a method of self-expression, admiration, directness, active pursuit of your passions, indulgence.

Things that remind me of Purva Phalguni: fruits, eating fruits topless, rose gold color, the "rizz"(lol), the phallus, dramaticism.

Uttara Phalguni:

Favors from friends, family and partners, contracts, beneficial agreements, the perfect wife, likeability, popularity, friendliness, appearing cool, stoicism, beneficial arrangements, gain through partnerships, self-expression through relationships, wife/girlrfiend material, harvest, family associations, marriage associations.

Things that remind me of Uttara Phalguni: the "chads", simplicity, genuine friends, loyal companions, family business, the perfect male stereotype, the "rich heiress running away" trope, wheat, gold, power couples.

Hasta:

The earth, the veiled feminine, manipulation, denial of access, materialism, cheating, everyday matters, empowerment of women, deception, skill, seeking knowledge, wanting to be in control, activism, street-smarts, manipulation of masses.

Things that remind me of Hasta: the hand, Goddess Persephone, skilled hands, thieves, easy money, fairies, witches, scammers.

Chitra:

Crafting, building, perspective, truth, law, gems, sacrifice for your craft, vanity, stereotypes, aesthetics, the truth in stereotypes, building based on the law and the truth, the surface of things, the appearance of things, the substance reflected in the vessel, gossip, cliques, tricks.

Things that remind me of Chitra: the god Hephestos, martian gods in general, jewelry, fashion, make-up, drama, pettiness, the coquette aesthetic, pranksters, Olivia Rodrigo(ig).

Swati:

Space, the cosmos, shifting realities, love, rebellion, alternate realities, possibilities, seeing beauty in everything, inspiration, art, the cosmic egg, creation of the world, creation of worlds, microcosm and macrocosm, freedom through love.

Things that remind me of Swati: video games, the wind, plants beggining to sprout, the sword, technology, the Sims.

Vishakha:

The lightning, snapping, splitting, joining opposites, compromise, marriage, repressed anger, repressed aggression, alter egos, passion, enthusiasm, standing up for yourself and others, repression and then expression, energy, love and hate.

Things that remind me of Vishakha: lighning bolts, Zeus, Thor and other lighning gods, superhero "Shazam", celebrations.

Anuradha:

Friendship, devotion, depth, loyalty, unconditional loyalty, bonds, the occult, sex with love, numbers, gatherings, friend groups, groups, gentleness, humbleness, discipline, seriousness, organizing society, social groups.

Things that remind me of Anuradha: the color burgundy, dim lights, bunnies, "Sex Education" (tv show), sci-fi (for some reason), "The Vampire Diaries" (and very similar teen shows), frat boys, cheerleaders.

Jyeshta:

The battlefield, war, hunger, thirst, insatiability, conquering, the underdog, street-smarts, competition, strategy, extreme independence, mind games, the art of war, survival, ruling, rising above, self-reliance, wisdom, becoming the authority, the eldest, dryness, trust issues, enemies, destroying enemies, outsmarting all enemies.

Things that remind me of Jyeshta: grandmothers, owls, eagles, dry places, flags, marching, chess.

Mula:

Horror, the abnormal, the truth, the core, the center, the absorbing darkness, the black hole, the roots, violence against falsehoods, seeking the truth, seeking the cause, seeking roots, uprooting, chaos, from chaos to order, the unchanging truth, taming beasts, holding to your truth.

Things that remind me of Mula: "Phanton of the Opera", "Twilight", final girls, horror movies, dark murky green, the wilderness.

Purva Ashadha:

Art, beauty, alliances, artistry, ideals, fighting for the ideal, discrimination, exclusivity, philosophies about beauty and art, passion for love and art, attachments, secrecy, luxury, vitality, vigor, going for victory.

Things that remind me of Purva Ashadha: the sea, seafoam, goddess Aphrodite, seashells, mermaids, sirens, fans (the ones you hold in your hand lol), Arwen from LotR.

Uttara Ashadha:

Victory, loneliness, individuality, government, empowerment, independence, being looked up to, composed self-expression, ease, simplicity but regality, confidence, self-assuredness, melancholy and hardships of aloneness but contentment, stoicism, invincibility, unapologetic behavior.

Things that remind me of Uttara Ashadha: earnest people, goddess Nike, mint color for some reason.

Shravana:

Connecting everything, secret knowledge, interest in everything, reading between the lines, subconcious access, extreme sensitivity, holding the humanity together, secret agencies, percieving what others can't percieve, saving humanity, navigating, receptivity, mysticism.

Things that remind me of Shravana: Superman, Geralt of Rivia, Aragorn, King arthur, pathways, footprints, ear, color blue, spies, astrology, outcasts, fringe societies.

Dhanishta:

Celebration, celebrities, fame, visibility, aggression, agitation, action, bringing people together, idols, propaganda, wealth from fame, that which attracts attention, public image, benefits and downsides of fame, openness and flashiness, branding.

Things that remind me of Dhanishta: supermodels, Princess Diana, dancing, rhythmic drums.

Shatabhisha:

Complexities, seeing everything, lurking in shadows, holding the knowledge, secrets, secrecy, hiding, technology, innovation, being ahead of your time, advising but manipulating, society, the collective, trends, the conciousness of masses, propaganda.

Things that remind me of Shatabhisha: midnight sky, stars, the seas, water reservoirs, the circle, the all-seeing eye of Sauron(lol), Lord of the Rings, rings, the movie "Stardust" (the book too), the evil advisor/black cardinal trope.

Purva Bhadrapada:

Notoriety, expansion, uncontrolled expansion, persmissiveness, growth to ruin unless restrained, fighting for your soul, the scapegoat, going against society, getting tested, the point of no return.

Things that remind me of Purva Bhadrapada: gangs, famous criminals, laziness, femme fatales, the grotesque, deserts, werewolves, the black sheep.

Uttara Bhadrapada:

Finding grace, hardships, working, inner strength, steeliness, resilience, patience, restraint, contol, self-restraint and self-control, bravery, honesty, stubbornness, fighting for your truth, perfect control, freedom through limitations, seeking a permanent foundation built on truth, working for the foundation, long-term goals, innocence, purity of soul, stillness, refinement, honor and glory.

Things that remind me of Uttara Bhadrapada: butterflies, clouds, baby blue color, Cinderella, warriors, knights, knight orders, ice, coldness, queens, ice-queen, dragons, water dragons, deep waters, deep sea and its creatures, wings.

Revati:

Ultimate freedom, creativity, wisdom, gentleness, compassion, guiding, herding, fun, laughter, mischief, lightnness, ease, finding peace, reaching the end, enjoying what you have, contentment, nurturing, open-mindedness, conclusions, gratefulness, freedom and free will, having choices, diversity, finding the truth, true wealth, parenthood, the guide, guidance, individuation.

Things that remind me of Revati: shepherds, herding, everything easy and light, the tricksters, the fool, jokes, Loki, The Joker, fish, comedy, the movie "A Fish Called Wanda", caring for everyone and everything, light and soft shades of green and blue.

[dvinaamesca]

💕 self-love time! talk about which ones of YOUR creations (edits, artworks, fanfics) you like the most then send to other creators to do the same 💕

OOoooo ok! <3 Thank you for this. Well, I have a few from both old artwork to screenshots~

These two are my fav. art I did. The first one was my very first digital artwork. This is my character back when I used to play Black Desert Online.

For screenshots, these are my most favorite I did:

I like to do crazy lightings, actions and put style on to my screenshots. I tend to focus more on characters, instead of sceneries. One of my favorite thing to do after is editing. I just get so excited for the aftermath haha.

Can I tag: @annarielmidori @argo242 @grace-kami @meizze-art No pressure ladies~ And if anyone want to join? xD Talk about your fav. work.

[heedra]

current exalted characters im playing atm:

Prahma, Daughter of Ahlat (Chosen of Battles Sid): Godblooded daughter of the God of War and Cattle, born in Yu-Shan and prepped since an early age to play a pivotal role in the upcoming dynastic conflict. Kind of a bureau special project; what Black Ice Shadow is to the Deathlord threat but for the Realm Civil War. Secretly dreams of throwing it all away to go wander creation. Hangs out with her younger half-brother Hadi, who is a magic talking aurochs. Currently part of a Sidereal task force aiming to remove Champoor from the control of the Court of Shadows and put it back into Prasadi control.

Zymo The Roach (Marrow Aspect Liminal): A morbidly happy-go-lucky liminal created from the remains of a disgraced exalted hero (a fallen wolf, you might say...) who is heavily implied to have done it to herself. Has absolutely no memory of her original thread of life or pretty much anything that's happened to it until about two years ago, when she washed up on the beach as a near-mindless undead before forging a new bond with her current thread of life, a lapsed immaculate nun. Now working as a freelance salvager and 'acquisitions expert', it's traveling with a ragtag crew of colorful characters while getting caught up in some shady shit in Skullstone. Very fond of grafting weird shit onto herself.

Jiei, Prince of Strays (Casteless Lunar): Formerly a mortal immaculate priest before he Lunar exalted, his eventual exposure for this secret drove him out into a radically different lifestyle and he became a master thief in An-Teng. His antics eventually lead to him crossing paths and becoming beloathed rivals-and then enemies to lovers- with the Dusk Caste Abyssal Desert Fang Grim Devil Lioness . This ultimately lead to them running away to the far North and starting a family, but it's really fucking hard to live an unassuming mortal life when you are both demigods with huge amounts of baggage from your respective checkered pasts. His main animal shape is a hairless cat.

Meteor Dream (Anklok Ochilike): From a Gunstar Campaign (scifi Battlestar Galactica AU where the exalted host lost the Primordial War and fled Creation on Autocthon). An ace voidfighter pilot for the Gunstar Defence Line. Coming from a race of semi-immortal dinosaur guys who retain their memories across each reincarnation, Meat has never recovered from the pain of seeing the Conquered Sun turn on His followers and has devoted the rest of their countless lives to the goal of putting Him out of His misery. Overwhelmed with the futility of this goal over many, many lifetimes of trying, they may or may not have recently invited an extremely dangerous Cronenbergian entity into their mind and body to try and finish the job for good. Uh-oh!

[raylazuko]

Genshin Spoilers

Okay okay lemme cook for a second.

Anyone else find the blood purity and relations shit weird?

Like what we know now is that Caribert died at age 8 in the creation of the loom of fate. So therefore Caribert has no heir and was also regarded as an illegitimate child by Clothar and that his mother is of Mondstandt origin. So he is not pureblood which is why he was turned into a hillichurl.

We can make assumptions that Clothar had no other children with this woman or if he did, they are still monsters and not able to repoduce, so therefore there are no halfblood heirs of Clothar.

Next I have to talk about race and geography since I’m such a nerd about this crap. So many characters should have darker complexions based on how much sun they get (Sumeru desert, Natlan, and Liyue, PLAYABLE character not just NPCs.) Like if Mualani looks dark compared to 90% of the cast, we have a problem.

So let’s assume Teyvat is a globe and it’s laid out on a flat map for us to see. Let’s also assume that the climate is similar to earth. Let’s assume the equator is around the center so like above most of Liyue and Sumeru. Parts of Mondstandt being based on Italy, it should have a medeterranean climate, therefore melanin, but I digress. Okay so the Sumeru deserts and Natlan are close to the equator. Inazuma would be closer to the South Pole and has a harsh climate hence people not getting sun. (This is also ignoring places like Fontaine which is based on France, where yes, Black people exist in real life, but I digress). The only playable characters with dark(er) skin as well as NPCs are from Natlan and Sumeru (and also Xinyan for some reason).

We also know from Dainsleif, Halfdan, and the Sinners, that they use Norse names. Also Khaenri’ah being underground would mean they got little to no natural light. So it’s safe to assume pureblood Khaenriahs are white as fuck.

With this knowledge, wtf is going on with Kaeya?

We also have to examine how this curse works. If all the non pure bloods were turned into monsters, it’s safe to assume they can’t reproduce. Also judging by Kaeya very clearly being a child in the past and growing up with Diluc, it’s safe to assume that the modern Khaenri’ahns have a normal lifespan (unless being halfblood is what dictates that). It may have diminished or weakened over time, throughout the generations. We don’t know the exact mechanics but we can assume that Kaeya has a normal lifespan. I know Hoyo is gonna try to say he’s pureblood and not explain stuff but logically, no. When he sees Dain he comments “you’re a pureblood Khaenri’ahn” implying that, he, Kaeya, is not that. Also there’s the Sumeru trip when he was young. Assuming that his father is the one with the Alberich surname, which makes sense judging by how surnames usually work, we can assume that Kaeya’s mother was the one who isn’t Khaenri’ahn.

We can assume that the only Khaenrians who could reproduce from that original cursed generation were the ones who retained human form (pure bloods). We can also assume that Kaeya is a descendent of one of Clothar’s pure blood children. He probably had an affair with Caribert’s mother out of wedlock. We can also assume that more blood mixing naturally occurred over time. So either Kaeya’s family has been mixed for awhile and it’s no big deal, or more likely, Kaeya’s father had an affair with Kaeya’s mother out of wedlock. Judging by how dark he is compared to the majority of characters, his Indian inspired outfit for his in-game skin, the trade trip to Sumeru, when he was young, and the geographical proximity, it’s safe to assume that Kaeya’s mother is probably Sumerian (and likely from the desert and Eremite affiliated). I could go deeper into what I think may have happened but for sake of brevity, it’s very possible and likely that one reason Kaeya was sent as a spy and to Mondstandt and not made an heir to the clan has to do with the fact that he’s an illegitimate child.

Okay, another additional note. Ragnvindr is a Norse name, make of that information what you will.

[alraunedrow]

Desert na'vi appearance

Like I said earlier I've been working on my clan for a year and a half-ish

Disclaimer: I have a few posts on my insta as a proof that I didn't steal from anyone my concepts

So here is their transformation history 😅:

1.

I've created Sha'h (my tsahik) right after I've heard about ash na'vi and decided to hype a bit (you can't blame me 🤣)

So that's why their first concept was a bit.. weird?!

The look the you see wasn't real, they imitated like a completely new appearance by applying a clay (black and grey) on their skin - as the sign they were married (only their partner could see them without clay)

Proof:

2. And their real look didn't changed that much since then

Proof:

(The same post, it's just a carousel of photos)

3. After that doodles I drowned.. like dived in with all my body in this fandom and in creation of my clan

I've opened the biology books from the school time (I'm not kidding, you'll see it in later posts)

In this time their tails were still small and had a piece of hair on the end of it (they shaved it and placed a piece on metal jewellery there)

Yeah, I heard the rumors about ash na'vi being bad guys - so my "ash" na'vi were against Eywa as well (shaved their kuru, their tails and wore metal - which is a big nono to na'vi)

But the time pass I dived more into biology and less into Mary Sue and came with an idea - give them a CHUNKY TAIL - as a storage for nutrients

And this was the final part, I was satisfied with this results

(And practiced to draw the movie characters as well😅)

(Old concept of completely different character but from the same tribe)

Proof:

[strayheartless]

Saw something on Twitter that asked what the point of Genesis was; whether people liked his character or tolerated him. They suggested that he was badly used as an interesting character and I just want to throw my two Gil in here.

To me Genesis is perfectly used in Crisis core but you have to understand what his role is in mythology/alagorical sense to truely appreciate him. I am not trying to be pretentious when I say that I’m genuinely meaning it.

Genesis isn’t just the Loveless obsessed mini boss. There is actual depth to his character. However, his characterisation confuses a lot of people because it’s different from others.

Genesis at the core of his characterisation (and goddess knows it would inflate his ego if his character had been made that self aware.) acts as one of the fates. He is prophet, death bringer and actualiser. He recites the prophesy [Loveless] and brings about the events of FFvii.

Loveless cannot be read as anything other than a prophesy. It just can’t. You just need to listen to all of the lines that are vocalised to know that:

“When the war of the beast brings about worlds end, the goddess descends from the sky, wings of light and dark spread afar she guides us to bliss her gift everlasting.”

Arguably this stanza references the war in Wuti and the creation of Genesis, Angeal and Sephiroth. “Wings of dark and light” references quite literally their own singular mutations that spring forth as a black wing (Genesis) and a white wing (Angeal and Sephiroth). It then goes on to highlight their ascension into their life stream. This is simply the prologue.

The mistake everyone makes is assuming that the poem is simply talking about the three firsts. It’s not. It is dually talking about the trinity and Seph, cloud and Zack.

“Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess. We seek it thus and take to the sky. Ripples from on the waters surface the wandering soul knows no rest.”

This part of Act one refers to both Sephiroth and Cloud. Sephiroth is the one in CC who is wandering lost without a home nor a family. His friends have deserted him, and he is alone. By FFvii this is Cloud. He quite literally cannot catch a brake.

The “ripples from the waters surface” surface is the reflection of the two stories. It is the distortion of Sephiroths identity as the hero he has been trained to be into the monster he becomes. It is also the distortion of clouds own identity as his mind is broken and takes on someone else’s identity.

“Three friends go to battle, one is captured, one flies away, the one that is left becomes a hero”

Captured =Angeal and Zack

flies away = Genesis and Sephiroth

Becomes a hero = Sephiroth and Cloud

Angeal is captured more or less in modeoheim and dies. While Zack is quite literally is captured by Hojo with Cloud and dies as a result of that captivity. Arguably Zack was never free.

Genesis was the one who flew away from Sinra and from Nibleheim. He fled before he can behold the consequences of his actions. He his arguably the lynch pin for every major development in crisis core. Had he not challenged Sephiroth; had he not gotten hurt and been unable to heal then nothing that transpired would have happened. Had Genesis not revolted; had he not taunted Sephiroth the plot would never have come to the conclusion it did.

Sephiroth is also the one who flies away in therms of the main FFvii plot because he disappears after Nibleheim, he is the antagonist in a very similar way to Gen in CC. He appears every now and then to fuck up Clouds day and had he not been hurt by Cloud non of what happens in FFvii would transpire because it is that moment that puts Cloud at the forefront of Sephs mind. It is that moment that interests Hojo enough to experiment on Cloud and connect him to Sephiroth via the J-cells.

And then there is the hero left behind. Simply put, Genesis and Angeal leave Sephiroth to become the hero. They make villains of themselves and Leave Shinras golden boy behind to clean up their mess. And when sephiroth dies Shinra immortalises him by reporting that he died a hero. We know this because Aeirth literally states it in FFvii when cloud asked her if she knows who he is and she answers that he was a war hero that died five years previous.

Cloud by comparison is the one left by ALL of them to become a hero. Zack is dead, Sephiroth is now the villain, Genesis and Angeal own deaths impact so much of Clouds own story that they doubly place a burden of expectation upon him. Cloud literally carried all of their dreams and Honour around with him as he uses the Buster sword.

But I digress. Without analysing the entire play (at least the parts we have) you can see from what I have looked at above that Loveless isn’t just some poem; It’s a prophesy.

And Genesis being the one to speak this Prophesy is significant because he is quite literally the lynch pin for all of it. Like I said, had he not been hurt then events would have progressed differently.

I’m not saying he is the most important character of the story. He’s absolutely not; that is Cloud. But he’s not unimportant, nor is he just there. He is one of the most interesting plot devices FFvii has in my opinion.

Because he is quite literally the mouth piece of Minerva. He is a fate of the gods. He is past present and future, and he serves as the narrator at the beginning of the Shakespeare play to profess “two houses both alike in dignity.”

Genesis isn’t nothing. He is a walking Oman of death and destiny.

((Please remember this is my opinion and if you disagree I’d love to know but blessed don’t be rude. I like discussing but I really hate being yelled at.))

[iodrawsandtalks]

A long-ass testimonial as a player of Honkai: Star Rail. please read if you have the time. I wish all honkai content creators would bear to understand this

goin through exhaustion rn but thats just normal and not something id complain about. Anyways when this game released in summer 2023, I was just as hyped as everybody else. I had started playing since the last closed beta where I had gotten bailu and mained qingque cuz she felt so real for being lazy on the job plus i LOVED playing hard and winning big.

I had a fun time later when the game ACTUALLY did release though I had to say goodbye to my bailu who I replaced with Clara and mained Seele who I knew from playing Honkai Impact for quite a while. I felt like i fit in with every other HI3/HSR player, running high spd seele with bronya and taking my silver wolf to every Simulated Universe fight, and laughing about getting rolled by the blue gorilla that hates when people use skills. I laughed at the launch memes everyone else was laughing at and usually was the first person to beat new bosses fights and stories when they came out.

I've realized that just because you think you fit in with people, doesn't mean they'll act like you do fit. They watch you trip, and struggle, and when the thing you like starts slinging venom at you, they let you fall. They laugh when you get hurt and protect what hurt you. Now when I started this game, as a black guy I was aware dumb, racist things were gonna pop up, as we know with genshin impact with the whole ass glass bottle floating around calling desert explorers/fighters "sand-lickers", and Honkai Impact's one black character being one who hates her dark skin and bleaches it consistently with makeup. She's also the only character to never get special outfit effects. Naturally, I did not bat an eye at the dark skin lightning guy having the SHACKLE BREAKER and SWIFT HARVEST SKILLS.

as we may know im a lore guy who thinks a lot. there is no "character reference" or wordplay that holds up here. This is dumb associations made to dark skinned individuals for doing slave work(harvesting.) and being held in chains(shackle). Anyways somehow even though this eluded me, I found it odd that the one dark skinned character in the roster was the bad one. People would make all kinds of excuses but never show anything concrete. Arlan himself is lacking the skill point mechanic which literally bars him from an entire simulated universe path. see my notes on him here . Point is this got worse as time went on, to a point where this fan that was still crazy hyped after the Xianzhou arc hype was watching every promotional video for the next region. Penacony, and got hit with the revelation that their next region was going to be based on the Jazz Age. Jazz is known throughout the world as one of the most widely celebrated creations of black people for the rest of the world, and the soul of Jazz, Funk, Pop, and many other types of music rest in black history, black stories, and black emotions. I'd rather not revisit the complete amalgation of this soul that is that dumb fucking region with the slave master and the incel-heaven slur slinger invading the quantum meta, but I should still add that the story is an incredibly half-assed take at introducing evil concepts like slavery and trying to add nuance to them. I played through so many routes where there was some implication of slavery benefitting a future society, and there was this one awful point i had to check out at where the player uses CLOCKWORK TO FIX THE MIND OF A DISCONTENT FREED SLAVE SO THEY SEEK THEIR MASTER AGAIN. There is no "makes sense in context" or "theres lore behind this" because that should be taken at face value. Their disgusting apparition of the Jazz Age should not be justified and glorified the way it is today. I believe in protecting the history of those who paved the way for me and I also would like to believe that I shouldn't have to fight to not deal with mockery within games or shows I enjoy. This whole experience I've had has tainted this game for me. I was listening through my fighting game playlist earlier and WHITE NIGHT came on. The first time I had heard it I thought it was amazing and wanted to make a cover of it and enter the 2024 fan art contest. But when I heard it for the most recent time, I wanted to vomit. This 'fun party' song was empty and felt like it was slinging lies of joy and entropy in my face. I couldn't celebrate the media that glorified excusing my people from society. And I really don't get WHY everyone else does. As somebody whose played a lot of mainstream games I've seen a crowd that acts woke to social issues and seemed to stand up in the face of injustice. I don't KNOW any internet culture so i thought activist = good person. recently ive seen and interacted with a lot of "activists" that were willing to watch this billion dollar company perpetuate racism, stereotypes and appropriation. This is usually because the company had given them a "complex" png with "emotions" that was "coded" to be made for them. and their character's emotions outrank real people's emotions in their interactions. these activists were more likely to listen to the billion dollar company's machinations of a white girl fairy princess or whatever their latest obsession was, than real people.

its been tiring and its been sickening. excuse me for being too real for a second but I AM SICK AND TIRED OF MENTALLY ILL WHITE PEOPLE ONLINE TELLING ME RACISM IS A CHARACTER TRAIT OR SOMETHING THAT CAN BE DONE RIGHT, OR SOMETHING THAT SPICES UP A NARRATIVE. SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP. what if we had characters that were abusers, huh? or pedophiles? and what if those characters never had to deal with consequences of their actions? and what if everybody was worshipping the writing team making these hero abusers, and hero pedophiles? would it suddenly make sense then?

can people stop hyping this awful shit up? Pick up a different game or something. stain their brand. Have an audience for your star rail content? can you draw like trees or something,..... instead? this is not a good game and it does not do good things. The developers are incels with a large cult following. They are not good people, they say the right things. stop feeding them. do something else. pick something else up. play something else. I know people may find their games and content dear to yall but if racism is worse to you than losing a game, boycott these rich, selfish snakes.

[sepublic]

Writers’ Post-Hoot!

            As the title suggests, we just had a Post-Hoot with multiple writers from the show! Those present included John Bailey Owen, Cissy Jones (Lilith), Sarah Nicole-Robles (Luz), Rebecca Bozza (ItsRebeccaRose), Mikki Crisostomo, Madeleine Hernandez, Zarch Marcus, Avi Roque (Raine), with Zelda Black as our cameraman! I took notes, including on some cancelled storylines involving characters such as Vee, Odalia, Edric, Eda, and Hooty!

         Firstly, Zach Marcus has been writing on the show since the developmental pilot. It was confirmed Barcus was not based on him (unlike Jerbo for JBO), but he did say Barcus was ‘his’ character. I believe it was confirmed that Kikimora’s alias Miki was a reference to writer Mikki Crisostomo, and we also learned that The First Day had to be rewritten within a day! Mikki revealed she got hired for the show because she wrote a violent sample script in which someone had their rib cage kicked out, which convinced Dana she had to be on TOH!

         The development pilot is very different from the show according to Zach; It had the classic blood smear moment (in which Luz draws herself and Amity together, gets a paper cut, and uses her blood to simulate a blush as improv), and alas will never be released. JBO also said there are three poems in the show that the fandom hasn’t found yet…?!

         Dana was watching and commented a few times, such as when Avi, Cissy, and Sarah were doing the classic “Then why were you so easy to curse?!” line, commenting “Legendary Cissy line”.

         In regards to cut Season 3 storylines, Zach mentioned that there are so many versions of Thanks to Them that they went through (Dana gave a comment giving approval for them to speak on concepts). He revealed there was a version where the kids would’ve piloted Abomaton mechs in the desert…?!

         (I wonder if this is related to Kikimora, who pilots an Abomaton herself and comes from the desert of Palm Stings. Would Amity have helped in the creation?)

         Mikki also revealed Hooty was a Big Bad at one point in the writing process?! He’d have had as many legs as rib bones, poking through, as well as smoke.

         Huntlow was acknowledged as a major goal by Mikki and Madeleine (who kept asking why can’t they be happy???), and Zach joked that Huntlow wasn’t canon but c’mon. We can thank Mikki for writing the haircut that Willow gave Hunter!!!

         Dana was glad to keep the Star Trek reference, since so many crew members are Trekkies. Emmy also alluded to a ‘bog setting’ where the kids fought ‘bog bodies’… Unfortunately, her internet connection wasn’t so great so she cut out a bit and I couldn’t make out everything. But does this mean Belos would’ve reanimated corpses in the graveyard for the kids to fight?! Or the Grimwalkers?!

         JBO liked doing Luz in the human realm, as it was a different vibe than usual; More melancholy but also creepy. He wanted to explore the idea of what if a kid DID go to Narnia, and how that would affect them afterwards, and he’s happy with how it turned out… Same JBO, same.

         Emmy revealed there was also going to be a storyline where Vee was uncomfortable with having Hunter in the house!!!

         Sarah mentioned a question in the chat about the other coven heads, which could’ve been my question actually… JBO says that there was a lot they wanted to do with them, he really likes Hettie in particular. He considered exploring what Darius did to achieve his Abomination transform, speculating it’d probably take a dark sacrifice to do that. In general they wanted to see the coven heads plot with and try to kill each other; Lots of intercoven drama according to Zach.

         Zach also praised those who designed the coven heads; He lamented how designers often visualize concepts submitted by writers as so much cooler than the writers think they can do justice when writing, once they receive them back.

         Zach Marcus was described as the pun man of the writers, and when asked about what Darius’ Penstagram, they all agreed upon Goo Daddy. He was torn between Darius being a luddite, or nonstop posting what he eats, with a reflection of him in something. The writers discussed stuff like a Darius skincare routine, and him getting up every morning like a Disney Princess with animals, except they’re Abominations (fanartists were encouraged to depict this).

         JBO said he would’ve liked to see more of young Terra, Zach wanted to see more of her and Faust! As a reminder, a previous Post-Hoot had him put forth the idea that they were exes until they messily broke up and Terra tore off Faust’s lips and kicked him out, hence him living at Hexside and being so strict as a means of regaining a sense of control in his life.

         Zach also joked about everyone dying in the original Season 3 plans, but they allegedly changed it to a happy ending because the pandemic meant people needed something uplifting! They were barely in the exploration for S3 when they received news of the shortening.

         They joked about Barcus episodes, and also made a point about limitations actually being pretty good for writing, as it encourages writers to cut out the fat and leave the most essential bits. They said it was fun seeing Dana write on spite, and she thinks about a lot of the stuff they do for the story as the mastermind.

         Zach revealed him and Dana disagree on Mattholomule’s name, with Zach insisting it’s Mattholomule; His only compromise is saying his last name is also Tholomule… So Mattholomule Tholomule canon??? Zach also wanted a character named Corvus.

         Eda was a ‘horn dog’ in OG scripts for TOH, breaking hearts and all that. There was an episode with a B-plot in which Eda went on a date with playboy merchant, just so she could get a deal on crow heads, but Disney didn’t want a ‘horny old lady’. Dana commented that it was jut Eda on a date, but Disney was being weird about it.

         The writers also mentioned that they considered ‘Mom Tholomule’ and ‘Dad Tholomule’ in what they called the racing episode (I presume Eda’s Requiem’s B-plot), and they planned Steve and Mattholomule being brothers from S1! Zach joked that if the Tholomule parents showed up, they’d have taken attention from everything, with fans losing interest for Lumity, Raeda, and Huntlow in favor of them.

         They brought up their weirdest failed episodes, such as a race (which might be what they meant regarding the Tholomule parents) as well as an episode where Eda and Odalia had beef. It’d have been based on the Rats! musical poster –the one that gave Raine stage fright- and would’ve had musical elements, but alas Dana doesn’t like musicals herself due to her own experiences with them (which might be the Doylist source for Raine’s own trauma as well now that I think of it).

         Odalia would’ve been one of those obsessive parents, entering an Abomination disguised as a child for the role. Edric would’ve been angry and formed a rivalry with this fake child, wanting to be Momma’s Boy, and it’d end with the fake child getting decapitated and their head sliding off as the big reveal.

         When asked about doing ‘Blaine’ (Belos-possessed Raine), Avi explained they didn’t need to watch Rhys to copy Belos’ inflections, having watched the show plenty. They were surprised about the Blaine development when they went in to voice Raine that day and were told about it!

         When asked about favorite characters to write, Zach said he loved Eda because he didn’t need to go into anyone’s headspace when writing her, it was basically just him talking. Madeleine brought up how Matthew Rhys would charm the entire zoom call with his recording, and Emmy mentioned how twice she wrote for a bloodcurdling scream only for a VA to give more of an Ahhhhh.

         Specifically, Edric would’ve had a more bloodcurdling scream when he broke through his body cast to hug Amity (Zach wrote that, Emmy did the art for it), with everyone agreeing he should be in pain. A ‘piercing scream’ was specified, though Sarah joked about how hard VAs worked, and said a bloodcurdling scream might be done for an Oscar nomination (doing such a scream is taxing due to multiple takes).

         Mikki loves writing Lilith, calling her a big dweeb; Madeline loves Hooty the most, as he’s a wild card and she loves writing those. One example she brought up was in Hollow Mind, when Hooty shut down the Owl House. Madeleine loves it when Hooty goes from zero to sixty in either direction, fully insane.

         JBO also liked Hooty best, as well as King! They referenced the B-plot from Adventures in the Elements, in which Hooty negotiates a drawn body for himself from King, which Emmy and JBO wrote. The actual sketch used in the episode was straight-up one of their drawings, I didn’t catch whose though. Hooty’s dialogue in Eda’s conversation with him (from Something Ventured, Someone Framed) was also written by JBO, with Emmy drawing the bit where his tongue reaches for a fly!

        In regards to writing advice, JBO said to just do stuff, it’s better than nothing; Emmy concurred, it’s still worth it to write it, even if nobody pays you for it. Zach added that for writers, one of their goals is to be more of a tool; Get what they’ve made into the hands of someone who can take it further, it’s collaborative storytelling and writers need to see it from that perspective. Likewise, they mentioned having people read what you’ve written, as they can notice stuff that’s missing that you hadn’t thought of/remembered. Zach hoped for a TOH art book, as he liked a lot of Emmy Cicierga’s visual jokes and hoped people could enjoy them! IIRC Emmy did that one meme of Ariel combining her fish tail with two legs as a solution, so that tracks.

         On a final note, there was a HUGE wave of people commenting about Gustholomule throughout the entire stream. It went unacknowledged alas, but the group also mentioned they couldn’t answer spoiler questions so...

[rovingotter]

I haven't yet seen anyone talk about the weirdly Christian-feeling symbolism in Scavenger's Reign. Especially in regards to Levi, the show's Christ-figure.

There's Levi's dual nature (a creation of both humans and the plant-life which seems to represent the collective, godlike consciousness of the planet itself). They are "born" immaculately, without sexual reproduction. They die at one point and are resurrected. And there's the way Kamen and Hollow's arch resolves, essentially being saved from the consequences of their sins (or Kamen's sins, if you're interpreting Hollow as more of a metaphor than a character per se) by a godlike, consciousness-expanding external force. And there is a purity to Levi, so of the world and yet so beyond it, that feels kind of Christlike.

I've also remarked on the moment of Kamen giving meat to Hollow for the first time feeling like Eve giving the forbidden fruit to Adam and this representing a fall from a state of sinlessness. The black goo that Kamen eats from Hollow's mouth, similarly, feels like almost a tangible representation of some kind of moral poison, and there are all these Bible stories about eating certain tainted/forbidden foods representing moral danger (Jesus being tempted in the desert, etc.)

Obviously Christianity isn't the only ideological framework to deal with concepts like salvation and rebirth and falls from grace, etc. but once I saw it there it caused this sort of...cognitive dissonance, because Scavengers Reign also feels like this very naturalistic show that is detached from the usual human narratives about morality and instead examines both human behavior and the natural environment through the neutral eye of a biologist. No good or evil, just cause and effect, and even illness and parasites and dysfunction and violence have their own strange beauty.

Then, BAM. Lesbian fungus-robot Jesus.

I have no idea if this was intentional, but the mystical elements here, especially in regard to Levi's resurrection, feel inescapable. Or are they?

It's like an optical illusion where you can see it either way, which is kind of neat. I think of Sam's story about the mysterious skull which "caused" his friend's death and Ursula's remarks about how we can't help but impose narratives onto events, even when there's usually a more mundane explanation.

[super-ion]

So I've spent quite a bit of mental energy the last couple days on character creation for an upcoming Pathfinder game (as I do). So of course, in true Char fashion I had to throw a drabble together to get into her head (directly inspired by a scene by @the-sword-lesbian for her character).

She's a half orc inventor with a fighter flavor. She's 6'6" and built like a tank. She's a nerd with special interests. Her dump stats are wis and cha.

***

They spot her in the back of the seedy tavern. She's hunched over a table surrounded by an array of incomprehensible tools. Half a meal sits forgotten on the edge of the table. Her brow is furrowed in concentration and she chews on her bottom lip as her fingers work at the clockwork before her.

The lead bounty hunter casts a look at the barkeep, who frowns and disappears into the kitchen. A few of the more observant patrons clear out and the remainder soon follow.

Not her though, she's too busy. She is absolutely completely focused at the task at hand.

She's big, she is half orc after all, but she has a roundness to her cheeks, a softness in her shoulders. She has a few faint scars, maybe broke her nose once, but that all might just be from lab accidents. She gives off the air of an academic type, some well fed student who got too many ideas about adventure in her head.

“Akhana Greystone?”

“Huh?” she replies, jumping slightly at the interruption.

She peers at them through light brown eyes, almost golden. One of the hunters, the newbie, decides the color reminds him of when there are storms high in the mountains and the river is fully saturated with the high desert silt.

Another of the hunters notes the ribbons woven into the messy braid of dark hair, bright pink and purple. She's brought in a few marks in her career and has never seen anything so frivolous.

This job is guaranteed easy money.

The mark makes an awkward smile at the three of them, not entirely sure who to address.

“Uh… yeah, Akhana. That's me,” she replies. “Y'all need any tinker work done or anythin? I'm kind of between jobs right now, but I'm not above a little bit o’ freelance if it keeps my belly full.”

She looks at them hopefully for a moment before her smile slips at their expressions.

The leader glances back at his more seasoned companion with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if this is the right person. She frowns dubiously as she nods.

“I had a pretty good gig goin’ for a spell there,” she nervously continues, starting to ramble as she returns her attention to her work. “Gunrunning and all that. Lotta time to be alone in my head to think about designs and it pays a might bit better’n working the forges. Hurts a lot less than the fightin’ ring too. But of course, somebody had ta go and ruin it. Jerk wanted a cut of the money, like we're some kind of criminal enterprise, if you can believe that! Okay, I mean, yeah, it's technically illegal and everything, but it's not like we we're doing anything wrong, ya know? Just gettin’ supplies out to good honest folk tryin’ ta eek out a living out in the wild. So what if some of those supplies just happened to be black powder weapons of dubious provenance? I tell ya what though, Ma ain't to happy about my face being on a wanted poster, her bein’ a former marshal ‘n all that…”

She trails off, perhaps realizing that she effectively just offered a confession to a trio of strangers. She looks around the room and seems surprised to find it empty. She squints at the three of the bounty hunters in turn, sizing them up.

“Aw heck,” she says. “You fella’s are here about the bounty, ain't ya?”

The leader gives a curt nod.

“Come in quietly,” he says. “Nobody has to get hurt. It'll be easier for all of us.”

She runs her tongue along one of her tusks, considering for a moment.

“Nah,” she says finally and returns to her work, slipping the last few gears and pieces of wires into the gauntlet.

The bounty hunters exchange a baffled glance.

“Ma'am-”

She holds up a finger to silence him. She clicks a mechanism shut and spins a dial, listening intently to some unknown response. She gives a quick nod, apparently satisfied, she starts packing up her tools.

The leader clears his throat.

“Ma'am, we're here for the bounty on your head-”

“Yeah, I know,” she interrupts. “I heard ya. Answer’s still no.”

Only after the last tool is carefully placed in its place does she uncurl herself from her hunched posture. As she squares her shoulders and cracks her neck, the hunters realize that what they mistook for softness is actually a healthy layer of padding over solid muscle.

The hunter on the left, the newbie, takes a nervous step back.

She slips the gauntlet on her wrists. Something clicks and whirrs. There's a spark and a tiny puff of blue smoke from the gauntlet.

She grins, her eyes filling with a manic sort of delight.

[wanderingmind867]

When The Silver Surfer returns from his quest for inner peace and enlightenment in space, he heads to Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum to visit one of his few earthly friends. Just as he arrives, he finds that Namor and The Hulk have already shown up at The Sanctum. He learns from Doctor Strange that they've all been brought together again by the machinations of one entity: Shuma-Gorath. The Defenders original disbandment was thanks to him. The Tribunal and The Elf with a Gun were all his puppets, beings of chaos designed to spread Shuma-Gorath's influence among the people of earth. They convinced the defenders to disband on his orders, since they were a threat to Shuma-Gorath's conquest of the planet earth. But now, he has finally managed to gain footholds on the planet earth, and only the defenders can stop him from bringing chaos and destruction to the land.

Although they successfully manage to prevent him from invading earth, they are unable to truly defeat him and he vows to return one day to take vengeance on them. To protect earth from threats such as this in the future, they agree to reform The Defenders again. Thus begins the epic story of the return of The Defenders.

Although The Defenders reform and manage to stay reformed for a while, at some point something totally baffling happens. They just vanished. They finished a mission, and left to got their separate ways for a while again. After leaving Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Namor, The Hulk and The Silver Surfer just vanish into thin air. At the same time, Doctor Strange is ambushed in his Sanctum and he, too begins to vanish.

For around a month, nobody noticed anything. The first people to become suspicious were the atlanteans. Their king hasn't been back in a month, and they don't know where he is. His kingdom is tearing itself apart, as all of Atlantis's enemies take this opportunity to invade. They eventually manage to overthrow Namorita and the rest of the current royal family and their court. Then they begin fighting amongst themselves, and Atlantis falls to ruin, as multiple different factions fight to control it.

Meanwhile, people who know the missing four defenders begin getting suspicious, and try to break into Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Characters like She-Hulk, Namorita, The Black Knight (Dane Whitman), etc manage to break into the Sanctum Sanctorum to find it completely deserted. Doctor Strange, Clea, Wong, all missing. The Sanctum looks exactly as it did before Doctor Strange vanished.

Luckily, this means that the book Doctor Strange was reading when he vanished is also still there. And this book offers some clues as to what might have happened to him. The book was rumoured to be possessed by a wild demon, so Strange was investigating it. There's only one problem: when he opened it, he accidentally freed the demon inside. It then used it's powers to banish Doctor Strange to a realm of his own design. It then went after the other three Defenders, and exiled them to seperate worlds of his own creation. They would never escape, and this demon could finally go back to menacing society.

This motley crew of Defenders allies soon decide to form a new, temporary team to search for the missing Defenders. But just as they're getting set to head out and investigate, something new happens: they begin to feel sleepy. Before long, they (alongside the rest of the New York City) fall into a deep slumber. And then, to make things even weirder: The New Defenders reappear.

[original-character-championship]

Bracket D Round 1

Poll 10

Pier Lombardi (@raybotonline) vs. Gil (@lektricfergus)

211. Pier Lombardi (@raybotonline)

he/him

Me and my friends have literally gone insane over this man multiple times. He is like my very own tumblr sexyman. He has been a fountain of memes since early 2020 and one of my friends has a jackbox tee-ko t shirt with him on it. In terms of character though he is the most guy of all time, hes divorced, he tried to make himself into a robot, he is like a small wet hamster in terms of personality, he has memory loss problems along with 50 other mental illnesses and he is 6'7''

Hes a tall white man wearing glasses with a scar over his eye, long black hair, and patchy stubble, hes wearing a salmon coloured turtleneck under a white lab coat and blue jeans, and he has a robotic arm and robotic leg.

212. Gil - Gilberta Maravilla Reyes Carillo (@lektricfergus)

she/her

it’s either Gil or Gilberta Maravilla Reyes Carillo and there is no in between. milf! long-haired butch woman! kinda sleazy! literally full of ghosts! chainsmokes in the desert!

has a whippet-greyhound-coyote-unidentifiable-canine mix named pez, because she had one (1) pez candy stuck to her fur when gil found her

 is very religious not in the sense that she is super committed to one religion but in the sense that she is kind of into all of them as a Ghost Treatment thing (she attracts ghosts and they possess her). played for laughs (she has a ton of religious symbol necklaces that are actually sorta sentimental value)

lanky and awkward and very laid-back! fun to be around if you don’t mind the smell of cigarette smoke. may steal your wallet if you look like you can spare it. altogether pretty swag and she’s in my brain a lot

latina. 6 feet tall even and skinny to the point of slight boniness. sandy skin weathered dark by years in the sun. dark brown eyes. a somewhat scraggly dark brown mullet reaching to her shoulders. wrinkles consistent with being in your fifties. likes to wear short sleeve button-down shirts tucked into jeans, as well as cowboy boots and her many religious necklaces.

(art by biracy)

[bitchalotl]

Subversions I need to see in fiction ASAP:

- Any godsdamned curves on Sci-fi architecture. Even better if it's accompanied by natural colors (I am done with the same obnoxious neon blue and magenta)

- Magic users wearing armor, the thicker the better.

- Warriors / fighers wearing robes, the bigger the better.

- Morally bankrupt monks, clerics, and paladins.

- Autistic dragons that hoard still life paintings or bubblegum boxes (literally anything other than gold or jewels)

- Assassin's and rogues with cheerful and sunny personalities, but not in an unhinged way! (Just regular tax-paying people that happen to kill for a living)

- Dark lords who wear any color other than black, have a castle/palace made of something that is not the blackest bricks possible and that use some magic/weapons that do not glow red, blue or green.

- Lawful neutral demons who treat the unholy actions like we do office jobs.

- Unhinged AF angels who can and will snap your legs for refusing the good message.

- Mentor figures who don't look like they should be at a nursing home.

- Inmortals who actually enjoy the time they have and do not have clinical depression.

- Powerful magic casters that do not look like twinks or like grandpa's straight out of the 1750's, we need more middle aged characters!!!

- Less pyromaniacs in fantasy and less bomb/gun freaks in sci-fi (where are the water magic menaces or the laser bitches at?)

- Monarchs and nobles with literally any title other than king/queen, emperor/empress and prince/princess (where are the margraves? The langraves? THE FUCKING ARCHDUKES!?)

- More women in armor, more men in dresses.

- More elves that wield axes and more dwarves that wield bows.

- MORE FOREST DWARVES AND MORE UNDERGROUND ELVES.

- High tech, advanced civilization orcs.

- Skies that are not blue, water that is not transparent and plants that are not green (you really made a whole different world and made it look exactly like ours?)

- Fantasy kingdoms with symbols that are not lions, eagles, or wolves.

- Villains that do not have snake, wolf, crow, raven or spider motifs.

- Deserts with sand that is not fucking beige.

- Pantheons in which gods live in harmony and like each other despite their differences.

- Fantasy religions not modeled after Christianity in terms of aesthetics and structure.

- The thirteen thing/person/object/place in a group is fine, normal, and not evil or cursed.

- Light as destruction and corruption, darkness as healing, and creation.

- Sci-fi settings where we can see the sun.

- Bright light and sunny skies with clear weather in depressing scenes. Heavy rain and shadows in happy scenes.

- Unwilling heroes in fantasy. (Destiny called and they hung up and blocked the number)

- Fantasy worlds with stars that are not the sun and are not yellow, or alone.

- Fantasy worlds with multiple moons (the tides are gonna be nasty AF)

- More female goddesses of war, death, fire and destruction. More male gods of life, fertility, peace, water, nature and creation.

- More orchestral music for sci-fi settings and more EDM for fantasy settings.

- Blood that is not red.

- Sadness represented with any color other than blue, same with joy and yellow and hate and red.

- Horrors beyong human comprehension that do not have tentacles or many eyes.

[ryttu3k]

Didn't you hear? Baldur's Gate 3 is really a dress-up game.

Image got Rather Shrunk, so full size here. Everyone has armour (their default outfits), and two lots of camp outfits - the ones they actually wear in camp, and the ones they wear out and about in the city. All those who attended the coronation (everyone but Lae'zel, who was waiting to get abducted, and Minsc, who I hadn't got yet) also had an outfit for that. And Tavias and Astarion had a colour change after Certain Events. Reject red and black!

Modded out the wazoo, check what I used beneath the cut.

Mods used

Body: Unique Tav (Tavias' full-body freckles), New Character Creation Presets WIP (Tavias' face, Elyon), Tav's Dadbod (Halsin and Minsc's bodies), No Abs (although it's not working on some? May be a clash with the Slim Male Body mod, which is no longer supported)

Hair: Bardic Hairstyles (Tavias), Gale's Wizardly Updo (...Gale, astonishingly), Romantic Long Hair for Wyll (I know this may shock you but it's for Wyll)

Accessories: Horns of Faerun (Tavias), Trips' Accessory Collection (Tavias' lip rings), Ghouls Custom Piercings (Shadowheart's earrings), Ghouls Vanilla Piercing Recolours (gold)

Outfits: Basket Full of Equipment (Karlach's camp outfit, Shadowheart's camp and civilian outfits), Astarion's Wardrobe (armour set), Draconic Sorcerer Gear (Tavias' armour), Citizen Outfits as Camp Clothes (Karlach, Wyll, Gale, Halsin, and Minsc's civilian outfits)

Dyes: Unlimited Dyeing (must-have!!), Extra Drake General (Tavias v1), Chromatic Dyes (Gale: Majesty), Dyes of Faerun (Tavias v2: Calimsham Fairytale, Wyll: Shining Stars, Karlach's camp outfit: Desert Sun), Extra Dyes for the Fashionable Folk of Faerun (Astarion v1: Decadence and Decay, Astarion v2: Mysticism, Karlach's armour and civvies: Blood and Divine Sweets, Halsin: Nature's Gifts ofc, Minsc: Coffee and Cream, all coronation outfits: Gilded Sentinel). Non-modded dyes include Feywild Green and Dun for Jaheira, Light Blue for Shadowheart, and Sinful Red and Bone White for Lae'zel.

To edit non-Tav/Durge characters, you'll need Appearance Edit Enhanced. I used it here on Astarion (eyeliner and earrings), Gale (extra earrings, sadly you cannot remove the Mystra earring), Shadowheart (short hair, earrings, different eyeliner), and Minsc (more piercings).

[satoshi-mochida]

‘Modern retro stealth action’ game Spy Drops announced for Switch, PC - Gematsu

Publisher Rainy Frog and developer Rainy Night Creations have announced “modern retro stealth action” game Spy Drops for Switch and PC (Steam).

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

Modern retro stealth action. Experience PlayStation generation, low-polygon, 3D stealth action updated with modern effects such as lighting and shadows, randomly generated levels, modern equipment, and head-to-head local multiplayer.

Story

An eco-terrorist organization is threatening to plunge the world into digital darkness, wiping out all digital records and sending the world back to the stone age. As a member of the counter terrorist Spy Drops team you are tasked with neutralizing the threat, but soon begin to question the mission objectives and uncover a deeper conspiracy.

Covert Black Ops

Dropped behind enemy lines, your covert ops are to infiltrate infrastructure and undertake secret ops that includes gathering intel, installing spy devices and rescuing prisoners.

Randomized Missions

Mission layouts are randomly generated producing a tense gameplay experience as you never know what is around the next corner. Everyone’s game will be different.

Tackle the Mission Your Way

Explore enemy bases room-by-room, choosing how to tackle each one. You can dodge, hack or shot cameras, knock out or kill guards, stick to the mission objective or explore further. Scout the area first with a drone, hide in lockers, or even use sponge boots to move around quieter. Stealth is always rewarded and you will earn more experience for not killing and remaining undetected. You select what equipment to take on each mission, choosing from a range of items and weapons such as drones, hacking devices, night vision googles, sniper rifles, taser guns, mine detectors and many more. New equipment is researched and added as the game progresses.

Dream Catcher

Accumulate Target Points by extracting intel from unconscious guards using the Dream Catcher. You cannot extract any intel from dead bodies so always avoid killing when possible.

Level Up

Gain experience to level up your stats including health, stamina, aiming accuracy and luck.

Spy Against Spy

Go up against a friend in local head-to-head multiplayer!

Key Features

Nostalgic, low-polygon, 3D stealth action.

Randomized mission layouts, enemies and items.

Modern effects including real time lighting and shadows, changing times of day and varying weather conditions.

Choose what equipment to take and how to tackle each mission.

Tense stealth action with enemies that can see your shadow and hear your footsteps.

Original character designs by acclaimed Japanese studio ArtePiazza.

An intriguing story of cyber terrorism set in modern-day, exploring the challenges of the world adapting to new resources and technologies including AI.

Go up against a friend in local head-to-head multiplayer with spy against spy!

Three distinctively different environments: Military base, jungle and desert, each with different areas, obstacles and challenges.

Elaborate boss fights!

Watch the announcement trailer below. Visit the official website here.

Announce Trailer