#I don't even want to get into early villager trading

[onebizarrekai]

I've updated my world all the way to 1.3.1 since I last made a post about beta minecraft… I think I neglected to mention that I've updated the game every time I ran out of things to do. things that have happened since then:

- upgraded my mob farm to get all the discs in 1.1 and went through like 50 discs before I got a single strad - world's worst sugarcane farm was so inefficient that I built a regular one behind it - almost lost my world when I updated to 1.2.1 because some corrupted chunks loaded in for some reason while I was looking for a cat and it took me 4 hours to realize I could just delete those chunks manually to recover it (which fortunately weren't important chunks). nobody on the internet provided this answer by the way. nothing bad has happened since then. I now make backups - built a custom tree above my portal and next to the tower (which was made taller when the build height increased) and it took forever - pet teleportation broke so badly in 1.2.5 I almost went insane - I had to travel like 500 blocks just to find cows. I do not want to recount the events that went into me taking it back. just know that it involved one of my sitting dogs teleporting to me of its own volition, me accidentally punching a cow and the dog trying to kill it - weird balcony things that had cactus on them before are now enclosed towers with nothing in them - new cactus farm (the big rectangular building) went through two renditions once I updated for more wood colors (if it looks questionable now it looked very bad before) - I made a much needed railway to my blaze/exp farm - that building at the bottom is a piston cocoa bean farm and it literally took me like a week to figure out how to build the exterior

[justpoliteconversations]

Apple Merchant [BOTW!Link x Isekai!Reader] (Part 6)

Plans are being made. And Link is facing his demons as well as he can.

Still taking time to inch my way back to full speed. Things are getting better though and I can feel my fingers itching to write more and more. Still riding the joy of pure indulgence with a feel good favorite. I can never stop myself from rambling in this one.

Part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Alternate Extras: Embrace

Masterlist

TW: Choosing not to display warnings. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise.

---

Finally back in Hateno after several weeks of long, uncomfortable (sand infested. lizalfos infested) travel along the coast (doing your standard business. gathering what supplies you could for Link), and you were ready to just slip into bed for the rest of your life. Maybe even retire early. Ensure you never have to see another damned lizalfos for as long as you live (you won't, but the thought is there).

But it was simply not to be. You'd barely crossed the gates into Hateno proper and already you were planning (reluctantly) an even longer trip into territories you'd never (well. not never. but not for long) thought to venture to. And honestly, you weren't looking forward to it.

And by the look on Skim's and Adino's faces, neither were they.

Not even a day after returning to your home village you'd broken the news to your guards that you were planning a trip towards Goron territory. Though, if you were lucky and utilized your resources wisely, you might never even have to set foot in that brimstone hellscape of a volcano (you hoped).

You'd thought once (some years ago), that maybe it would be a place you should visit. The Gorons were known to be friendly to travelers. The paths were littered with unclaimed mineral and gemstone deposits. And the infrastructure for travel was there thanks to the thriving tourism industry in the area.

It'd seemed like a wonderful idea when you'd started planning such a venture in your early days of merchanting. Back when you were still riding high from making your first small fortune and were still relatively unaware of the world at large. Of its challenges. Of its dangers.

That was until you started gathering information on the hazards in the area, and your opinion of the region took an immediate and drastic turn.

The high death rates associated with heatstroke, dehydration and smoke inhalation were concerning enough. But learning that the volcano occasionally erupted (killing dozens, even hundreds of travelers when it did), and was infested with talus' (over 40 confirmed sightings. nearly 20 unconfirmed). It was enough to put you off.

Skims and Adino knew this. You'd made it a point to explain to them why you wouldn't be heading that direction ever (but apparently not ever, because here you were. planning). No matter how much money could be made harvesting minerals or trading with the locals.

Not the produce trade though, despite what one would think coming from a land known for its lava lakes and frequent wildfires.

The volcanic soil was actually an excellent source of fertilizer (which you wanted. in bulk. as much as you could shove in your mindslate). Making the region around the volcano one of the more prosperous lands for growing crops and herbs. Even when compared to the more central settlements of Hyrule, right on the bread-belt of the land (if you were willing to risk the guardians, that is).

It was a region a farmer (and merchant) could make a fortune, if they were lucky enough to hit brown gold. And if one was willing to take staggering losses everytime the volcano blew its top. And there would be losses. There always was when mother nature got involved with the lives of mortals.

No. You had been eager to get into the fish and cloth (and sand) trade. So close to the volcano, magma deposits were unusually close to the surface in the surrounding lands. And while this created the most beautiful hotspring (entire lakes worth) tourist attractions, it also limited the amount of life-sustaining (and fish-sustaining) water sources in the area. Which, in turn, limited the number of local fisheries and livestock flocks the land could sustain.

The constant presence of ash and volcanic runoff also poisoned much of the water sources in the immediate areas around the mountian. Further adding to the lack of available water sources for fish and livestock (and people too, for that matter. Hence, the sand. A natural filtering agent for locals in the area) to live off of.

So. Fish and cloth (and sand). Those had been your plan a couple years ago. Until the reality of the territory's dangers made you reconsider. And later, dismiss the idea all together.

Knowing this, of course Skims questioned your sudden interest in the northeastern part of Hyrule. A territory you had said yourself was not worth the risk of death and revenue loss to expand your business ventures into.

You had been honest with them, of course (you were always honest with your most trusted guardsmen. when confronted, at least). Though not necessarily forthcoming with the details. Which, frankly, was par for the course as far as your more private dealings were concerned.

"I'm looking to acquire localized goods for an important client." You offered in way of an explanation, letting the things you hadn't said speak volumes. And, of course, Skims merely nodded. Still looking doubtful, but willing to accept your reasoning as your own without contest.

That was another thing you liked about him, other then his fierce loyalty and care. Easy going at the best of times, accepting at the worst. You never had to worry too much about Skims poking holes in your reasonings or explanations. You just needed to pay him, and he was willing to turn a blind eye to your eccentricities.

Adino, on the other hand.

"It's a waste of damned time no matter how important this so-called client of yours is. Just use the stable system instead of draggin' us along to that Goddess forsaken hellhole." Adino snapped, irritable still so soon after the previous trip (the bite a lizalfos nearly took out of his rear near Highland Stable not having helped his already sour attitude). Narrowing his eyes at you with suspicion.

Which was fair, honestly. In any other situation, letting the stable system deliver your desired product would have been the most efficient (and cheapest) way for such a limited and precise order. What would take several months of travel for a merchant (yourself included), the system could get delivered several weeks earlier. Maybe the same amount of time, or slightly longer than originally calculated, if the weather turned unfavorable or a blood moon cluttered up previously clear roads with monsters.

Without knowledge of your mindslate or the connection you have with Link (the previously mentioned client), it does sound like a bullshit reason to undertake such a dangerous journey out of the blue. Especially when there are safer and more cost efficient methods to achieve the same results (sort of). But the fact of the matter is that the system would not be quick enough to deliver your order before Link begun his journey towards Death Mountain.

(And it would be soon. Already there were rumors of the Zora Domain's endless rains easing at the boarders.)

Tally up the timeables, and getting the merchandise yourself was the only feasible way to get ahold of what you needed when you needed it. Where the stable system would require a two way trip to acquire your goods, you needed only one way to get it yourself (and add the slate's instant delivery to Link, and you're set). It was the only way to guarantee you'd meet the rapidly approaching deadline.

Also, you didn't trust the stable system to be as discerning as yourself when choosing suitable product. While you didn't doubt they would put forth their best efforts, you acknowledged that a delivery guild probably had limited knowledge of advanced spell craft and their associated counterfeits.

You couldn't afford to make any mistakes when it was The Hero of Hyrule's life you were working to secure.

Only the very best would do for Link, after all. Even if you had to put in the footwork to ensure it.

You smiled tiredly at Adino, noting how his thin brows were pulled into a deep frow. How his eyes flickered over your road-weary face and sagging posture with veiled intent. Searching and prying and worried. Lips pulled down in displeasure.

He was worried for you. Keeping secrets (something you'd seldom done so openly before. something you'd rarely done, period). Taking seemingly unnecessary risks (something you'd never done at all before this little proposal). All behaviors that were definite red flags. All behaviors that were concerning. Especially coming from someone like you (who you'd become).

And you loved that about Adino. How quietly observant and caring he was when he cared enough to try. Even if he acted like a prickly little cactus most of the time.

"Trust me. I wish I could just let the stables handle this." You'd begun, meeting Adino's (and Skims) gazes as you continued. Sighing. "But this is something I have to do myself. It's important to me."

Skims nodded, having already accepted your reasonings regardless. And slowly, reluctantly, Adino nodded too. Still looking as surly as ever, but willing to back down quietly so long as you were in possession enough of your thoughts to acknowledge the strangeness of your current plans.

"Thank you." And you meant that. Even as the next words hurt your very soul. Perhaps even more than the damned sand (yeah right). "I'll pay you triple if you agree to accompany me as my bodyguards." Skims' and Adino's eyes lit up at that, and you could practically see the rupee signs swimming within them. The bastards.

And somehow Red was suddenly there as well, looking just as bright-eyed and eager as she nodded along with the boys.

Your brow twitched. And Red grinned. Far too many teeth caged within blood red lips.

You sighed.

'Damnit, Link. Why do you cost me so much money.'

---

Sitting on the edge of the Zora Capital's Central Reservoir, Link held the slate in his cold-numbed hands. Looking out over the misty landscape laid out far below, cushioning the shining zora city in its translucent shroud.

The divine beast calmed at his back, as was the spirit still trapped within its confines (patient. kind. understanding. even in the face of death and heartbreak).

His fingers tightened on the slate's smooth edges at the reminder. Knuckles turning white from the pressure of his grip. The chilled ache of his bones a painful burn against his exposed flesh and skin.

His shoulders begun to shake. He wanted to sleep in his own bed, with his own pillow and his own blankets. He wanted to bathe in his shiny round bowl of a bath with his nice smelling soaps and hair cleansers.

He wanted to go home.

He was afraid to go home.

But no. That wasn't true. Not really. It wasn't that he was afraid to go home (to his home. to your home).

It was that he was ashamed. Ashamed of what he had lost. Ashamed of how he had failed.

Seeing Mipha's face (and that was her name. Mipha. the zora woman he may have once loved. not some nameless face peering out of her tomb with sad, accepting eyes) had finally made him understand the weight he carried upon his shoulders now. The burden of his past failings.

And he didn't know how to reconcile these feelings. Of who he was, and the pain he'd left in the wake of his death.

And who he was now, and his inability to grieve these people who had once meant so much to him. And who, in some ways, still did. Even if he couldn't remember why he felt as such. Even as the guilt tore him apart at the seams.

Far below, in the dark waters of the Domain's endless web of rivers. The flashing white of paper slips beneath a rising current. The ink fading into the darkness of the depths.

---

AM,

Thank you for everything you've done for me. Without you, I don't know if I'd have the strength to continue on. Knowing so much has been lost because of my failure.

I'm afraid of what I'll find if I remember who I used to be. I don't think I can be the man so many remember.

I don't want to be him. He's dead. I'm not him anymore. I'm me.

Is it selfish of me to just want to be the man I am now?

I'm sorry I couldn't be stronger for you and everyone who ever believed in me. I'm sorry I don't want to remember how to be strong.

I hope one day you can forgive me.

-Link

---

Back to the shadows to rest.

I forgot the tags before sleeping! Sorry Babies, I know you already found it, but I'll still tag you regardless!

Tagging: @littlepanda7 @2000babies

[khazadaimenu]

any outstanding thoughts on the day to day lives of Durin's line in the blue mountains? Specifically the childhood's of Kili and Fili?

Hey! Sorry I’m so slow with this. And thank you, it’s a really cool ask to receive!

I don't think I have any original thoughts, that haven't already been said somewhere. But it's still a joy to share, hope you like it!

I love thinking about what life was like in the Blue Mountains. I think certainly young princes grew up with less pressure than Thorin has. And less insulated from other races, from the realities of poverty and the like. Which means they grew up more or less unburdened by the grievances of the past and with a more open mind.

Their childhood consisted of: Training sessions with Dwalin Lessons with Balin Play time with Gimli, Ori and many other dwarf children Stories about the great deeds of the past, around the hearth or at bedtime Travelling dwarves bringing with them news of the wider world, some interesting curios, igniting a desire within them to see the world Obviously, Thorin's stories had a decisive effect in determining the young dwarves' futures. There was no other way they saw it, other than regaining Erebor. If not even for themselves, but for the sake of the older generation, Thorin, Dis, and others. Sort of on obligation they didn't even see as obligation, so ingrained it was in them growing up.

I also headcanon that Thorin decided at some point that Fili and Kili would be his heirs. Because he wanted to have a hand in raising his heirs, instead of the throne passing to someone who's never even known the old Erebor. I don't think Fili and Kili's father necessarily saw that as a good thing. He wanted to raise his sons with the right values, not fixated on gold or power, but how to live a simple life and be happy. Part of the reason Dis loved him so much, I think. And even though he passed away early, in an Orc skirmish, he managed to share his kindness and wisdom with his sons. Kili doesn't remember much of his father, being too young. But Fili feels a great deal of pressure to be a man his father would approve of. Which keeps his scales of values in balance. Hence him going against Thorin's wishes later on in the quest. And Kili grew up trying to be like Fili, so he feels the same way about many things.

They probably, unusually for dwarves, spent a lot of their days on the surface, learning to survive and hunt. But also playing. There might have been some bullying from the local Blue Mountain kids, because they were formally princes, but didn’t have anything to their name. And nobody believed they could ever retake the mountain. But as they grew and proved their worth and their family restored some of the wealth and lived more or less comfortably, that faded.

As they grew older, their responsibilities grew as well. There was helping Dis around the house/halls (depending on which version you prefer). Learning blacksmithing from Thorin and other dwarves. Travelling to the neighbouring villages of Men to see how trade is done and deals are made. Learning contracts from Balin.

When it comes to training, I think they were very competitive if pitted against one another in a task (quickest to get to the end of an obstacles course, anyone?), but also learned to work together and have each other’s backs, always. Which helped them immensely once they took up jobs as caravan guards.

Once they reached adolescence/young adulthood, Fili had this one summer where he changed a lot and suddenly became incredibly attractive to fellow dwarrowdams, and also would sometimes catch curious glances from women of Menfolk and hobbit lasses. Up to a certain age, he doesn't have a clue what that is all about and is just puzzled. Until one day it hits him, but that doesn't change how he treats people, although he does take care of his appearance and makes sure to look presentable always.

And Kíli had a summer of growth spurt where he shot up higher than Fili. But Fili still reminded him occasionally who the big brother is, in a friendly manner, nothing much, just ruffling his hair and play fighting. Kili also shows himself as a very romantic person, dreaming of adventure and a big love story one day. His head is full of ideas for the future and he doesn't have much passion for things like keeping surfaces tidy or brushing one's hair. But everyone's charmed by him and loves him nonetheless, for he wears his heart on his sleef.

That's it. Thanks again for sending this, it was like plunging into their world. I'm sorry it couldn't be sooner, the moment had to be right.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Omg I just finished reading svsss!!! And now you have a naruto au about it!!!

I think either way Houhua Uchiha is hilarious, but especially in that way of *what do you mean he's actually competent/dangerous?* from elite ninja. He's absolutely a sneaky coward.

If he gets noticed by Orochimaru I think Houhua entire.... *everything* will entice Orochimaru in a way that's like. Put it in a jar. I want to put my blorbo in situations! Especially with his .... lack? Weird relation with moral (I mean both of them).

I want to know more about his genin team. Especially his sensei. Like. I know he unplayed his skills, but also he alway somehow has exactly what the situation calls for on a mission. His mission reports would be weird as hell. "Successfully solved village dispute by realizing nearby village was messing for farmer Xs crops because of family dispute about prized cow, solved with better fence and different trade route."

Just. I love this au. <3

Another one falls to the scum villain agenda, let's go !!!

YEAHHH YOU GET IT! No matter how strong he gets or may be, Houhua continues to project the aura of a very scared genin. He has whatever the opposite of killing intent is, and it throws all of his opponents off

I think that Orochimaru and Houhua would be fucking amazing to watch interact w eachother actually— Houhua is so fucking scared of him, which is typical of people to act around Oro, but like. Orochimaru seeing past the layers (both real and carefully cultivated) of a coward to see the alarmingly smart little rat underneath.

Orochimaru is poking him with a stick

You know that one scene where Asuma like, tricks Shikamaru into playing some sort of strategy game? And realizes he's really smart? Or smthn like that? Ok so something similar to that for Orochimaru and Houhua could be fun.

Orochimaru somehow sniffed out that there's a LOT more to Houhua than there seems and he's got a bit of an eye on him now, just for funzies. Just as a little side project

(And then Houhua maybe says something incriminating about immortality bc he was an immortal cultivator, and Orochimaru is instantly right behind him breathing heavily over his shoulder)

I think that if Houhua ever tells anyone ab his past life, not that the system would let him, (tho considering the reincarnation in naruto, there might be a loop hole to exploit there?) I'd want it to be Orochimaru who he tells, just bc I think he'd be the most interesting character to get involved in that.

Like, other characters you might get the usual "omg no way" song and dance, maybe some hurt/comfort or whatever, and like that's fun! But Orochimaru you'd get him trying to fucking dissect the system. He's putting his plots on hold to try and figure out how to get this "system" to manifest. And if he can kill it. Or better yet: harness it's power

Oh shit Houhua's genin team, I didn't even think of that

I am suddenly struggling to think of any naruto characters who are Itachi and Houhua's age that I can throw into a team for him actually. Am I going to have to make some ocs for this? I hope not tbh, I like stuffing as many canon characters as I can everywhere

Oh god and who would their sensei be too

I can't use Itachi for the team bc he graduated early, do we even know if he was on a genin team or did he just go straight to ANBU? No but he'd have to take the chunin trials no matter what, so hmm

Yk what? I think it'd be funny if Houhua was on one of Kakashi's past teams Sarutobi tried to saddle him with, the ones he'd like fail on day 1 then dumped back into the system

I dont think the timeline on that would actually add up correctly, but it'd be really funny so I don't care actually

hear me out: Houhua was actually on the very first team Sarutobi tried to saddle Kakashi with. And at first, he's like "omg,,, isn't this Kakashi? did I stumble on a secret plot route???? Is this finally my chance to gain more character relevance points????"

But no. It's not. And Kakashi fails him and his team just like he would have anyways.

Possibly with even more ruthlessness, depending on if Houhua has interacted w him before that.

Hmmm ok so timeline.

Houhua and Itachi are both 13 during the massacre, Houhua was about to graduate, but the massacre and then taking care of Sasuke in the year that followed delayed his graduation, which also meant he got dropped from the team he was supposed to be on (whichever team it was)

So then he graduates fr a year or maybe more later, right around the time Sarutobi is starting to try and peer pressure Kakashi into taking a team.

Kakashi is given Houhua's team, makes eye contact w Houhua like once, then immediatley turns around and leaves without comment.

(This also adds tension between them later on when Kakashi eventually does take Sasuke on as a student. Plus tension between Kakashi and Sasuke, who would remember him as the sensei who failed Houhua + whatever else Houhua let slip, possibly about knowing Kakashi trained itachi)

No fucking clue who he gets saddled with in the end, but it'd be funny if his team gained some sort of reputation of being cursed bc they keep being passed around by sensei's who inevitably drop them for various reasons.

Who do u guys think would be fun to see on his team tho, I really can't think of anyone who's the right age so I'm struggling over here

LOVEEE THE IDEA OF HIM SOLVING CONFLICTS IN REALLY OUT OF NOWHERE WAYS THAT RESULT IN NO BLOODSHED AND 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 BETTER TRADE DEALS AND ROADS THATS SO FUNNY

Its not even that he he doesn't want to kill, he just thinks it's messy and will only lead to MORE problems they'd be called in to fix later down the line. This is actually the easy way, you know!!

(Somewhere far away but still watching through his crows, Itachi goes through several emotions as he watches Houhua peacefully solve more than one dispute when he was brought there specifically for murder. He's kind of going through a lot. Actually.)

(I like to think that if Houhua had been made aware of the root of the Uchiha Massacre, he could have fr helped think up a plot to get them all out of it. Unfortunatley everyone was under the impression he was a silly little untalented 13 year old. So that never happened.)

Houhua gets the nickname of "the beaurocrat nin" or smthn silly like that bc hes always resolving conflicts via the power of paperwork. The silly title only helps to make him seem more harmless, which gives him even more of an advantage in a fight when it comes to taking the enemy by surprise

[mllemaenad]

Do you have any takes on the NCR? I'm relatively new to Fallout, but most of what I know about it is either from the tv show or from your Fallout 4 posting from a few years back, neither of which gives me much of a look at what the NCR was like when it was still around and not blown up. And you generally have good takes on video game factions.

Oh – thank you! I don't know if I'll be able to maintain that reputation, but we'll see. :)

I also don't know what you've started playing or intend to play, so I'll try to keep my spoilers at least a little vague so I don't spoil anything particularly cool for you.

My feelings about the NCR are complicated. You see, they look a lot like us. To be more specific, they look a lot like 20th century Americans. I'm not American and the 20th century was a while ago now – but there's still a lot that's familiar and comfortable. Like watching an older film: some of the slang is a bit weird, and the phones are wrong, but you could have a sensible conversation with these people, you know?

Because of the whole "alternate history" thing, the pre-war world can feel a bit distant. I think the TV series contains the longest stint we've ever had there, although I guess that depends a bit on how long a person takes to slog through Operation Anchorage. You mostly pick up bits of history from old holotapes and terminals. The stories are interesting: sometimes funny and sometimes tragic. But they are very much from another world. A world with a much stronger commitment to poodle skirts and Bing Crosby than we have.

But the NCR? If you play all the games, you live through their rise and fall. I have walked my clueless Vault Dweller into the tiny village of Shady Sands, and been very pleased to find some people who don't want to kill me. I've played the tourist in Fallout 2, walking through the actual modern capital city of the New California Republic – a standout area in a game largely full of shanty towns (there's Vault City but ... Vault City is not a fun place).

And there's genuinely a lot here to celebrate. They are the survivors of a Vault-Tec experiment specifically designed to test how a lot of diverse and contentious groups could live together. I'm not saying there's no bigotry in the NCR, because there is, but it's not built into their ideology the way it is in some other factions. There's a Super Mutant serving among the NCR Rangers in Fallout 2, and a ghoul town was among the republic's founding members. They explicitly state that they welcome mutant immigrants.

They're coaxing agriculture back into the wasteland even in the original Fallout, and they later expand into industry. They've got trade and education (there's apparently a university in the LA Boneyard, a thing I am sad that we never got to see), and they've outlawed slavery. In a lot of ways the rise of the NCR is a testament to human resilience in the face of incredible adversity.

But. Of course there's a but.

They are trying to rebuild on old world principles. There is a reason they look a lot like 20th century Americans. And they have not solved old world problems. As early as Fallout 2 there's evidence of the use of really dodgy expansionist tactics, and by New Vegas you're holding your breath as you watch them. Their army is simultaneously uncomfortably large and stretched too thin. Their economy is in trouble, and too much wealth is concentrating in too few hands. And they're pushy in a way you'd really prefer a democracy not to be. They have innocent blood on their hands.

They remain the good karma choice compared to Caesar's Legion, sure, but "crucifixion, rampant misogyny and mass slavery" are really low hurdles to get over. Their choices are ... troubling.

So there's a lot to critique, too, but in a way that mostly makes me sad. It makes you ask – is this inevitable? Is every society destined to deteriorate like this? Fallout's core thesis is "war never changes", so I think to some extent the answer is yes. At least – there's no perfect system or hopeful beginning that guarantees things won't go wrong. You have to watch all the time, or you end up back at the mushroom cloud.

If I have a critique of the TV series as it stands, it's that the destruction of the NCR by Vault-Tec in a fit of pique is an excellent way to mourn the good in the NCR (the sight of a hole where Shady Sands used to be hurts, just as worrying about the fate of characters I loved who lived in NCR territory hurts), but it does little to explore the problems of a democracy setting itself up as a newborn empire.

With that said, I expect that criticism is unfair as the series had a lot of legwork to do, explaining the world to any newcomers and ... I mean, there's a time and a place for delving into 23rd century politics and that probably isn't it.

I expect that they'll deal with this more in later seasons, particularly as we are headed toward New Vegas, heart of the "guys, are we sure this is a good idea?" NCR question.

[self-loving-vampire]

Had a lot of fun playing Age of Empires 2 with @thirteen-jades and @cyberbun tonight. We did two maps against hard AI, which we now seem to be capable of consistently beating both individually and in equal teams.

The first was a nomad + regicide game, the three of us against 5 teamless AIs in a random multi-continent map.

What these settings mean is that all the players start without a base, but may build one wherever and whenever they wish. It's a bit of a balance between getting one built as soon as possible to get ahead economically and looking for a good spot that will have enough resources and favorable geography to be useful long-term.

And the regicide setting means each player has a king unit whose survival is linked to that player's. If the king dies, the player immediately loses.

I was playing Gurjaras (cavalry and camels), Jade was playing Armenians (infantry and naval), and Lottie was playing Huns (cavalry).

This one started with all three of us unfortunately spread apart too far to reinforce each other in the early game, but fortunately this was not an issue since we were all capable of taking care of ourselves, especially with the AI sometimes fighting itself rather than attacking our team.

As is often the case when I'm not just supporting my sisters I took down my closest opponent first through some rather extreme harassment with light cavalry, killing dozens and dozens of villagers until they finally surrendered once my elephants started breaking down their town.

Jade then took down an enemy by herself while Lottie and I contained the goth tide coming from the west (I added hand cannons to my composition to deal with them). After bringing down the enemy king's castle I dived him with light cavalry and killed him before he could escape to another castle, instantly taking them out.

Following this, I joined Jade in sieging the Poles to the south, building a ton of stables and pumping out lots of camels to counting their horses, on top of my discounted light cavalry to cover Jade's artillery and cause chaos. It was a lot of fun, even if my starting location ended up being kind of low on wood. I don't really need that much wood with Gurjaras anyway given some animals to garrison in my mills.

The second game was a bit more dangerous. We played in a pretty small open map in a 3v3 against hard AI. Both Jade and Lottie wanted to go for horse civilizations (Poles and Huns respectively) so I decided to add to the team bonus synergy with Mongols.

I started out by attacking the enemy closest to me (Goths, an infantry civ) with a scout rush. I got a bit of success with that before they started making a whole lot of discounted pikes. As I saw this coming, I had prepared a bunch of skirmishers to defend at home. This turned out to be a really good idea once they eventually counter-attacked with a good amount of spearmen.

At the same time, Jade got hit pretty hard by two of the AIs at once, with some of the aggression spilling over to Lottie as well. Unfortunately, the enemy attack was synchronized well enough that my units were busy defending. Besides, skirmishers are extremely ineffective against the Frankish knights that were attacking them, so I decided that the best way to help would be trusting them to survive and doing my best to swing the tempo back through light cavalry and horse archer raids.

This was a grand success, as my skirmishers kept their own army of skirmishers and spearmen distracted on the front while my horses went around and completely cleared their entire wood line and even a bunch of the farms, then also disrupted the enemy trade by shooting down all the caravans arriving at the market. The pressure was enough to completely break that opponent and cause the first surrender in the game.

With that done, I started to push back against the Frank player whose cavalry had been terrorizing my sisters early in the game, defeating their army and taking down a castle plus several production buildings. Around the same time, my allies overran the last enemy player (Koreans) with their own cavalry and forced them to abdicate, with the Franks following soon after thanks to Jade and Lottie sneaking into the back of their town with their own armies and completely destroying their economy.

It was fun enough that the other me is really excited to play more of the game herself as soon as possible.

[robynpsd]

Sketching a new Persona I got - I've been trying to collect this one for months!

She doesn't have a name yet, so I'll just call her XX for now. Her backstory:

XX grew up in a small village and quiet village. Her mother left when she was quite young—"Where's your ambition? How are you going to sit and rot in this town? Don't you want to do something with your life?!". But her father liked it here, in the quiet wilderness of Timefall Valley. So it seemed he would have to like it alone. He took work as the town photographer, an art he'd loved ever since he was a child himself. Intimate and serene moments were captured beautifully to be re-experienced at a glance. There was almost something magical about it, how easily a flat colored page could transport you into another time. Another place. A sentiment, even. His skill was indisputable. But, in a small town of a few thousand citizens, they only served to warm the walls of the local tourist shop—which, in these days, did not get any visitors at all. (Except for Aunt Jo). (We love Aunt Jo and her pot pies). This very fact had XX restless. Her father was a good man, and a talented man, and it made no sense to her whatsoever that all his work would sit here unseen—all while lifeless images are distributed to millions through global media and magazines. "Dad, just listen, please. Submit your work to the papers. If those crummy, half-baked photos can make it in, just imagine how they would react to yours!" Her father stood his ground to the day he died. He had passed in his sleep, which was surprising as he was still rather young. Without the resources to conduct a proper examination, the cause would remain unknown. XX barely left the house that entire summer, with only Aunt Jo coming around to keep her alive. "You're no good mopin' about here," she would say. "Pick up a hobby. Here." XX, buried under her blanket, felt a hard object thump against her arm before sloping itself onto the bed. She unborrowed herself to take a peek. Her father's camera. She stared at it for a long while. She didn't even know that Jo had left. Finally, as the sun began to set, she put on her father's jacket and left, camera in hand.

This is the story of a girl who learned early on that celebrity, greatness, and mass validation was necessary to lead a successful life. The story of a girl who felt ashamed and sad for her father, despite him being very happy himself. She would continue to pursue photography in his name, experiencing highs and lows of her career until the mass-adoption of videography, causing her trade to become criticized as "culturally irrelevant". Only then, with nothing left to gain, did she finally find it; her photography became a vessel of connection with the world. To sit quietly, silent in oneself. Unmoving. Perceiving. Experiencing everything in that moment—breath held—and only after the capture does the world begin to move again. The way her father must have felt, and loved, and lived. And this very thing brought her more fulfillment than anything the industry could ever give her.

[mythalsknickers]

Mythal’s Thoughts about Veilguard: D'Meta's Crossing & Return to the Ritual Site

A Beacon on the Edge

Welcome back to part three of my longer series regarding my thoughts as I progress through my second playthrough with my canon Rook, Part One and Part Two can be found here. In this section we will cover the quests following the return to the Veil jumper camp with Bellara. Beyond this point will be covering more of the game. So as the favorite witch of the wilds says.

The Spoilers of New must be preserved. No matter how exciting they are.

This is my spoiler warning for D'meta's Crossing and subsequent Quests including Harding's personal Arc. Please read at your own risk. Additionally I am adding a Trigger Warning for Body Horror, Blight Gore, NPC Non Companion Death. This is not a "Disney Game" or a "Disney-ified verison of Dragon Age" The blight in this game is in many way more disturbing than in previous installments. I advise caution. If you are sensitive to Body Horror, and Zombification please take care of yourself.

A Crossing of Blight

We return to the Veil Jumper camp and are greeted with grime news they have evacuated three Dalish Settlements and lost contact with a settlement known as D'meta's Crossing. Locationally speaking D'meta's Crossing is across the lake from the Veil Jumper camp, we don't know how far that is exactly. We do know it is a hub of trading for all the local dalish settlements and clans. D'Meta's Crossing is very early in the game, I would argue it is still Prologue because the world has not opened up yet, and the Vi'Revas (Solas' Eluvian) is still locked only sending you to Arlathan. We are greeted upon first look a deserted and quiet settlement. Up until you hop over a barricade you'd be forgiven for thinking this game is not dark, and lacking the typical darkness of a Dragon Age installment.

We are immediately greeted with the Blight devouring a village the likes of which we have not seen since Dragon Age: Origins and the very beginning of DA:2 in the case of Lothering which we did not even truly get to see. Ostagar was dark, but it was not a bustling village where the citizens could not escape. It is very apparent here more so than in Arlathan that the blight is quicker, and alive. Notably this comes from a dialogue with Harding where she says the blight is typically "...dead, and static but this is alive." This blight pulses, and has a heartbeat. It spawns darkspawn from the pools of just blight ooze.

You learn from blood magic addled villagers that lived, that they were to gather everyone in the center of town, and find the veil jumpers and bring them to the mayor. In addition to being under the influence of blood magic, the villagers that survived are blighted. Upon finding the Veil Jumpers you learn that they were used as the catalyst for the gods; Elgar'nan and Ghil'nain's ritual. D'meta's crossing was beautiful expansion on the unnerving feeling of the Blight being changed in Bellara's introduction quest, as it is unexpected and sudden. I know when I went in on my first playthrough I was expecting a Redcliffe Village situation, but to find that was very much not the case.

A Return to the Ritual

Our return to The Veil Jumper encampment is heralded by a raven that Scout Harding seems to recognize, and the well versed player recognizes her a moment later. Morrigan, reportedly an old colleague of Strife's Bioware I will sell my soul if you give us that lore. She offers her assistance as an Arcane Advisor and advises Rook very briefly to journey back to the Ritual Site and recover Solas' Lyrium dagger. Before we get into that, I do want to talk a little bit about Morrigan. In this iteration of her we get more of what I feel is a Mythal/Flemath influence in her wardrobe and how she speaks. Her words seem more deliberate and less scathing than usual, none of this is a bad thing in my humble opinion. As for her new outfit, I am personally a fan, I love the detail and layering work. It still maintains what I would call "The Morrigan" feel and vibe while also looking more substantial than her previous non formal wear outfits.

Our return to the ritual site is marked with a conversation with Harding and Neve about the regrets and what could have been done better, before heading in and meeting the antagonist of this quest. A Lyrium Ghoul. I have some questions as to what this is, and the how and why of it all. We have a chase to the end of the ruins, where we finally recover the dagger and something happens to Harding. It seems on first glance during the cutscene she is infected with a type of lyrium poisoning, before the cliff face gives way and Harding falls. However the anxiety of her impending death is short lived as she reappear emerging from a Lyrium vein claiming "Isatunoll" and the imagry around this brings me back to Descent and Shaper Valta when she was struck by the Titan.

It becomes clear as we enter phase two of fighting that Lyrium Ghoul, that Harding has gotten some kind of magic from the Lyrium dagger, and that is not necessarily a good thing, or a bad thing. It is only in the mission wrap up back in the lighthouse does the group (Neve, Harding, and Rook) toe around the idea of Harding being reconnected to a titan, which if it the case Harding would be our first dwarf that did not have to go deeper to the Titan to survive reconnection.

The Criticism of Mythal

This is finally the first time I have solid criticism of the game. Morrigan's sudden appearance is something I both love and hate. It is extremely on brand for the character. However with the lack of available information on how long the Veil Jumpers have been working in Arlathan, and the additional lack of information regarding Strife and Morrigan working together in the past, a little too nebulous for me. Additionally up until Veilguard, as far as we knew in Lore Arlathan was not habitable, or at very least welcoming to outsiders. Which begged the questions of how did the Veil Jumpers establish their foothold, and when was D'Meta's Crossing founded? While I was over joyed to see a permanent Dalish settlement, why was the mayor a human appearing man? None of these were quite explained at all and I doubt we will be going back to D'meta's crossing in the game but maybe it can be expanded on in an artbook or world of thedas book. Though I'd like to see some of this fleshed out in games.

[kichimiangra]

KAY. CEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I wanna collaborate! How do I unlock collaborative mode with you??

First you have to beat the main story in order to unlock New Game+. Once that's unlocked Start a NG+ save file. You can select one thing to carry over to the new save and although the next step sounds easier if you select to carry over your levels and skills you have to select to keep items and equipment for this to work. Once the NG+ has been started use the key item you got in the haunted house on the previous save (Holy Water) in the first tutorial dungeon before going to the boss. This will make it so the boss will cast a new spell called "Magna Aura". This will cause a debuff to be cast on you. You need this debuff to go on so dont kill the boss until you been afflicted. Once you have the debuff you can move on but fair warning: staying at an inn will cure the debuff so your going to have to grind low level low damage dealing enemies for gold early on because you'll need the money to heal with items from the shop to keep the debuff. This is going to be hard because from here the time is ticking as the debuff only lasts 12 hours of game play on the system clock so you won't have a lot of time to grind money. My recommendation is checking some speed runs and see if you can perform any sequence breaks to save time. I've never been able to actually perform one myself but I've seen it done on YouTube vids so I know it's possible. Either way you need to speed run to the final dungeon before the Magna Aura debuff wears off. This makes it so that the treasure chest that normally has the best sword in the game "Sol Del Sol" in it to drop the "Sol Del Luna" instead.

Now that you have the Sol Del Luna equip it. Normally once you enter the final dungeon you can't exit it so if you save in there your game is sorta softlocked but if you have the Sol Del Luna it let's you leave through the front door. I should have mentioned this earlier, but while speedrunning to the final dungeon you probably wouldn't have had time to do this but I'm going to stress this: DON'T START THE ZODIAK GAUNTLET UNTIL YOU'VE GOTTEN THE SOL DEL LUNA. DON'T EVEN GO IN THERE YET IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT SWORD EQUIPPED!! If you have the Sol Del Luna equipped now and you go to fight the 12 Zodiak bosses they'll each drop a gemstone ((except for the Cappricorn that will drop "Orange". This is a mistranslation of 'Citrine', (Citrino) as the English localization is based on the Spanish localization of the game so you SHOULD get 11 gemstones and an orange. This is normal.))

(you probably have to level grind but without the time limit you can take your time here)

Once you have the 12 gemstones go beat the final boss and start another NG+ where you keep your items and equipment. At the beginning of the game before your hometown gets burned down after the tutorial go to the fountain in the forest behind your house. If you have the gems a cutscene will play and the fountain will move showing the staircase to a secret dungeon. Go in but be warned saving is disabled inside so you have to do this in one fell swoop. There's an optional boss called Forest Guardia you gotta make sure not to miss or you have to do the whole thing over again. Afterwards it'll skip the tutorial and go straight to your village being on fire scene, except the villages won't be dead afterwards. Play the game normally up to the point where the princess you saved gives you her hankerchief and return to your hometown to start a trading quest. Again play the game normally but each town will now have 1 npc that will want to trade from another item in the quest chain. One completed the Sol Del Sol treasure box will instead be a Mimic. Kill it and it will drop a "Funny hat". Beat the last boss with the Funny Hat equipped. Do one more NG+ But this time select "Carry Over Acievements".

On this next NG+ you should have unlocked collaboration mode.

[amewinterswriting]

Ame Plays: Littlewood

A cute little life sim that's perfect if you like Stardew Valley but felt the pesky 'farming' bit was keeping you away from more interesting things.

You are the hero who vanquished the Dark Wizard and saved the world. The problem is, you can't remember any of it. Still, there's a town to rebuild and your trusty travel companions are by your side. Along the way, you can make new friends, pick up some new hobbies and maybe learn about what really happened in your past...

The good:

All characters who live in your town (except Dudley, the wise old mentor-type character who practically raised you) are romanceble regardless of gender.

There are canon queer 'default' romances between the villagers if you don't romance them.

Everyhing has clear lists of what you need to progress: I especially liked that in order to get particular travellers to visit, you need to sell certain items and it tells you exactly what you need to sell in your journal. Other games would make it a trial-and-error discovery process.

Absolutely everything about your town is decided by you - the position of houses, decor, paths, elevation, plants, etc. This can be edited at any time and destroying anything reimburses all the materials used to create it, meaning you are free to tinker and redesign with no penalty to progress.

The plot and characters are all nicely written with a surprising amount of depth.

A surprisingly good card game built-in - a simple trading card structure with a fair bit of strategy and anticipating opponent's plays.

No combat - the only 'dangers' just exhaust some energy and kick you out of an area if you are 'hit'. You mostly just have to avoid getting hit.

The bad

After marriage, your spouse just hangs out inside your home despite having their own and doesn't roam around outside or have dialogue about their interests/personality anymore.

A lot of the late game is dependent on random chance for acquiring the right items. At a certain point, you will be advancing time just to refresh the items available in the shops or areas. At this point, it starts to feel very grindy.

The last few achievements are literally just grinding for the sake of it. By this point in the game, you have more resources than you can ever use but you will still need to spend a few more hours mining and chopping trees if you want that achievement. This is more a case of 'when do you decide to stop playing?' - if you feel like you've achieved everything you want, you can absolutely call it quits earlier than this.

I thoroughly enjoyed the game while I was in the early/middle stages of it, but it felt like it just needed a little more to keep it interesting in the late game. Perhaps more interactions post-marriage - not just between yourself and your spouse, but also the budding romances we get a glimpse of after the wedding. Perhaps a set of community requests where your villagers want to add in more facilities or have noticed their neighbours would benefit from a new thing. Maybe a few more events - there's usually only about 3 a month, which makes 12 all year. It often feels like a long time before anything different happens to break up the grind. That said, it's a small indie game and I've sunk a good 54 hours into it, which is comparable to most JRPGs but at a quarter of the price, even if I had picked it up at full price (I actually picked it up as part of a Humble Bundle, but it also goes on sale very regularly). I've definitely gotten my value for money out of Littlewood and would recommend for a cozy, chill game.

[m--rtyr]

Confession I actually don't get mvd Garroth at all

Not one bit

He makes no sense, he is so confusing

He ran away and didn't want to become a lord and doesn't want to that that role, probably because his father was a tyrant and he doesn't want to end up like his father

So why is he now acting like a tyrant? Having others do legit everything for him instead of doing it himself. He has money to spare but everyone's legit dying due to a lack of food. Why can't he get them more food with that? The village should be thriving if he has all that money.

And actually everything confuses me about him, he so desperately wants to believe Zenix can be good and seems to care for him greatly yet he puts Zenix in harm's way.

He cares so deeply for Zenix but when it comes to Zane he was suddenly "evil since he was born".

He is so rude yet he is also, according to the wiki, too sweet to come up with insults.

Yet he is capable of saying Laurance should khs for turning into a shadowknight.

But he also acts like an ass throughout the entirety of mcd season 3. Like the biggest asshole I have ever seen. I despise him in season 3.

He makes no sense to me.

If any certified Garf lovers want to defend your mans, please feel free to do so, this is a discussion, i'm just explaining my perception on the evidence i have witnessed in my rewatch.

Since 'head guard' is mostly a made-up role for MCD, we don't really know what it... entails. We know he does do some work, but for all we know, Garroth's job could literally be 'telling people to do jobs'... but there's a line...

he pressured aph into BUILDING A BOAT, and then was like 'ohhh yeah also this fully grown man hasnt told me he needs help but i want you to help him by doing this task for him'... and it's just... She's not in a position to say no? But the dialogue options make it very clear that Aphmau doesn't want to do this, even if she agrees (the yes option is 'Uh... sure...')

In EARLY MCD, it does make sense why he has money and yet pd has no food, since they have NO TRADE AT ALL. It isn't until Brendan builds a dock and Paul shows up and stuff that they get any trade, and Garroth does immediately spend like 27 diamonds worth on seeds... so there's that, at least. But I feel like Jesson could've done more to establish that he really did put all of his money into his community, if he had a lot, because that would do a lot to show that he's given up the noble lifestyle in favour of living in a village community like a proper little guy.

Garroth putting Zenix into harms way is what's most bizarre to me. Because it isn't even just neglect of his safety, but also his well-being. After the boat explosion, when Zenix literally says to aphmau that he was on patrol in the area, like he was so close to being injured too (which is traumatising enough), and then talks about how the whole situation feels really familiar to him, and he's very clearly disturbed... And yet he is the sole person tasked with cleaning up the post-explosion beach... hm.

With the Zane thing, i will give him this, i do kinda get it... He saw Zane slowly turn into their father, a man who Garroth was already perceiving as evil, and for most of his life would've had the perception that his brother was not a good person. But he trusted Zenix... he thought Zenix was good, and then he was betrayed, and it was sudden, and there was no warning. He is able to go 'Zane was always evil' because he always saw Zane as evil, but he believed Zenix was good because that was how he saw him. People argue that pride isn't an accurate descriptor for Garroth, but if there's one thing Laurence does, it is read a bitch to death, and Garroth's perceptions of people are very heavily rooted in his perceptions of himself, and he does not like being wrong. He thought Zenix was one way, and he will not accept that he was not correct about that.

But... uh...

yeah no, Garroth is INCREDIBLY rude lol. it's kinda... a whole thing.

It's not really insults tho... moreso just... bigotry and being an asshole.

like telling Aph that he preferred when Laurence was blind because it was like 'having a lion with no teeth'. That... is rude... that's actually really rude lol. He also does the whole 'you're prettier when you smile' routine on Aph iirc, and generally just says things which arent *insults* but he is being a dick, undeniably.

im not sure how much of that we can blame on HIM vs Jesson tho...

[tobiasdrake]

Okay, Serious Bizniz time. To Watcher Island!

And by that I mean: Read me a story, Teaks.

They, too, require people to traverse waterfalls. I'm guessing they don't get much merchant traffic out here.

Do we know anything about the Docarri? Anything at all? Anyone? Okay.

Well, I found a piece of the Celestial Willow while we were back in Mooncradle so it's story time. Go on, Teaks. Tell me the story of my weird-ass hometown.

Then the Great Eagle shrieked "GOTCHA" and closed the door to the Forbidden Cavern, trapping the artisans there for all eternity. Thus was the rest of the world finally saved from the plague of skilled tradespeople.

Okay but for real, I'd be freaking out that this was a trap.

At this point, I would be full-on panicking. What do you mean, all they found were three vials and one of them cataclysmically reshaped the geography in a fit of cosmic fury?

Holy shit. You could not pay me to stay there a second longer.

And then Garl started stealing bits of it for his cooking. And it was delicious. We make no apologies.

"As if the magic had spoken directly to their minds."

Teaks, I really hope you're being poetic there. Because if you mean that literally, then the Celestial Willow compelled and enslaved these people to build the Great Eagle's city. Then worshipping the Willow and doing what the Great Eagle wants just... became the culture. Everyone grew up in this little town with no accessibility to the outside world and believed what they were taught to believe.

If that's how Mooncradle came into existence then this is straight-up cult shit. Did we grow up in a cult?

Okay but why tho. Solstice kids have real parents confirmed so. What. Does the Great Eagle kidnap us? To bring to his prison cult for warrior training?

So much of Mooncradle built itself. The people don't even have to open the vials. The vials uncork themselves. That they even are vials seems like it's just for show.

The Great Eagle just wanted these people to come here so they could build the infrastructure needed to raise the kidnapped children until they were old enough for Academy. Which was barely even our choice to attend in the first place because we were raised in a cult. What else were we going to do? We were Special Gifted Chosen Ones and there's only one career path for that in Mooncradle.

...Garl traded his eye for this.

If the third vial's going to uncork immediately after the second then why even bother putting them in two separate vials?

This is so fucked up. No wonder Moraine was so insistent on keeping us separate from normal people like Garl. That's how it works. The entire village is just the help. Their entire culture has no other purpose to exist than raising kidnapped Solstice children for the Academy.

Teaks, if you see me meandering towards the beach, it's because I might actually need to throw up in that bush over there. Holy shit. Ho-ly shit.

This is why Erlina and Brugaves were so mad. This is what they were mad about. We grew up in a fucking cult.

That still isn't a good reason to resurrect the Dweller of Strife. They're still the assholes here. But. Holy shit.

I. Can't. Even. I am legit having trouble organizing my thoughts because Mooncradle is a nursery cult for raising kidnapped children.

I mean. It is in the name. I don't even have it in me to be arrogant about it being Mooncradle, with the Forbidden Cavern sealed by lunar magic. It's just. Horrifying, is what it is.

I hate everything you've taught me and now I want to lay down on the sand and die.

Erlina and Bugraves were talking about how we deserve a normal life. That's what Moraine said too when he gave up, that he wants a chance at a normal life. But we aren't the ones being screwed here.

I mean. We are. We're stolen from our parents at an early age so we can be indoctrinated into a cult and spend our childhoods being shaped into soldiers, something that feels at the time like something we want to do but is in fact a cultural value instilled in us from our limited exposure to the world.

But the larger victims are the commonfolk who grew up isolated from the rest of the world, to serve the singular purpose of working in the background to cook for us and clean for us and raise us as children. An entire cult of servitude. A village of the help, who do everything for us, who only exist to sustain us, but "A Solstice Warrior does not associate with them."

It's a prison. Sealed behind a forbidden door only a Solstice Warrior may open. But nobody questions the bars of the cage. Because they were never taught that there is anything else to life.

I don't think what the Great Eagle did was a good thing. I recognize the value of Solstice Warriors in suppressing Dwellers. It's hard not to after seeing Wraith Island. But I don't think this was the right way to do it.

I think I want Mooncradle to change. But I don't know what I'd want it to change into. I don't think it's my place to decide.

I think I want the door of the Forbidden Cavern to stay open for everyone. I want to change the name of it so people are encouraged to use it. And I want my secret dock available to everyone. Maybe set up trade with Brisk and Mirth. Get some merchants coming through Mooncradle.

I also think, as Official Headmistress of Zenith Academy, that I am legally able to make those decisions. Pretty sure. Like, 85%.

I don't know what to do about the Great Eagle kidnapping children. I think I don't have enough knowledge to fully formulate an opinion on it. Right now, I just have bad vibes.

What I am certain of, is that it's late and Teaks just hit me with an emotional sledgehammer of a story. So I am going to find a nice bush to curl up under with my bedroll, and try not to lament how limited my options truly were all this time.

As to our mission, this changes nothing. We set out for the Docarri in the morning. I'll try to be my usual upbeat, narcissistic self by then.

[noobettes-little-box]

talkin about minecraft

hey hi it's me noobette hello!!

im gonna try writing something that longer than what i normally post because im kinda bored right now and kinda wanna talk alot about minecraft

so yea

minecraft!

you know it

if you don't what minecraft is somehow

what rock do you live under, and can i join you so you're not lonely

big 3d sandbox game about blocks that released in 2009, created by Notch, a guy i don't feel like talking about much.

i've never actually beat minecraft at all

i've been playing for like

6-8 years at this point

i've only ever played minecraft pocket edition and minecraft ps4 edition

it was the only game i played like a month after i got my tonsils taken out

back when i was like 5 or 6 i played ps3 edition but didnt understand the controls lol

anyways, minecraft has been in my life for over a third of it, and yet i have not beaten it

and i don't really know why

sure it could be that i prefer the calm of a creative world to the chaotic nature of survival

but if that's the case, then why would i create all these survival worlds

i don't think the issue is how i like to play the game, but how the game is played, if that makes sense.

this is more of an issue with newer versions of minecraft, which is a sentence that has been said hundreds of times, but it's true! new minecraft just removes the fun!!

back in the older days of minecraft you just needed diamonds, blaze rods, ender pearls, and about a stack of dirt, and you could go beat the ender dragon

it's mostly the same in the new version too but now everything is made more complicated

like early stages are mostly the same, punch tree, get wood, get stone, go mine, simple

but now instead of building a little mineshaft to dig down, you wanna fine a cave, and hope it goes all the way down to deepslate, if you ever want hope of finding diamonds

then if you want enchantments, you don't want to get an enchantment table, no, you want about 15 librarian villagers to get the stuff you want, which turns villagers into pretty much a necessity instead of a "ooh hehe im gonna build a little village for the little villagers teehee"

then for the nether

here, you now can get material better than diamonds! this is not a bad thing by itself, but it's so hard to get that there's no real reason to get it! you need to go collect a smithing template from one of the bastions in order to upgrade 1 piece of armor!

considering it's an achievement to upgrade a diamond hoe to netherite, and you will mostly want to upgrade the rest of your tools, thats 9 smithing templates and 9 netherite ingots!!

and to get one netherite ingot you need 4 ancient scraps!! which means you need to find 36 ancient debris blocks, which are really hard to find!!! so it's really not worth it to get netherite at all!! and with all the new biomes and structures, the fortresses are harder to find, making it harder to get the blaze rods!!

once you have the blaze rods theres 3 different ways to get ender pearls now. you can either hunt down endermen, barter with piglins, or trade with villagers!! the ones that are easiest are villagers or piglins!! this means villagers are even more of a "god i really fuckin need it" thing!

once you get the eyes of ender the end game is mostly just the same

im probably just being stupid, but i preferred it when you had to get stuff by yourself instead of just buying it from a villager

i know it's not necessary at all but if you're playing with other people they're going to be way ahead compared to you

in my opinion the most recent update that i've liked had been the aquatic update because it didn't make progression any easier or harder

all of this is probably why i've never really beaten minecraft. maybe i should go and make a world just to try playing it the way i want to and see if i can beat the game

if i do i will update you guys on this

okay yeah it was not that long but eh

[incaensio]

setting : early october in the year 74, around the seam. with : aspen barros @aspenxbarros

there's always been some moments it feels nothing can fill the day, no matter how many hours she spends in the woods. today is one of those days — after the games, there is no true need for her to spend half a day in the forest, even if she goes through gale's snares; without prim home (school has unfortunately started just a few weeks ago), staying at the capitol house is even more uncomfortable and, to make matters even worse, her mother has been away for the last two days, tending to a laboring new mother. and, of course, katniss prefers not to go around town. they don't speak, the two of them, even if they live just three houses apart, but she's awake enough to have watched peeta go to the bakery. it's best he can have that, then it will be almost like before everything. 

almost. the word runs through her head as she makes her way down to the seam, keeping her eyes on her feet as she purposefully quickens her step on the way through town. with lilian occupied with a single customer, prim gets a list of things to do: medicine delivery, quick healing visits, some house chores here and there. with the later done, katniss decides that if she can't fill her day in the woods, she can try to do it by crossing out the things in the list — she may not be a healer, but she has over ten years of watching her mother do the trade to be of some help. almost sticks in her head again as she finds one of the houses to visit, only to hear from its current occupants that the previous owners have moved away; apparently, mr. millet has moved to his new wife's house. they had gotten married just two weeks ago, not that katniss knew of that, nor her mother, it seems. marriages in the seam were one of the few joys shared amongst the happy couple and the community, and everyone got to know either through gossip or by observing — even katniss, who did not indulge in talking all that much, took notice of these things. all the way in the village, the only sort of neighboring activity she's come to know is haymitch's gruff stare as she drops by every two days, or running away from sight before peeta comes to his own house.

it's fine, she tells herself. the millet's new house is not so far, just some minutes more of walk. and she has wanted to fill her day out anyways. someone else also makes that route — katniss hears them before she sees them, rather, her. "aspen." it's not much of a greeting as it is a recognition. she's tried to avoid the people who worked with her father for years now, the few who had made out of the explosion in the mines that took heath's life, that is; it worked fine when they had their grief and their lives to deal with, just as she had hers. but she recalls aspen's bright smile, the way she had once helped katniss re-do her braids, and where the barros lived. "i heard daisy married buck." daisy, barros' neighbor of some houses down, and buck, the millet boy who had asked for some medical care (or the best the district had: her mother — which may mean this is a pretty bad idea, because katniss' healing is definitely not the best). "ya shift's done?"

[lunarbard]

I've been thinking about how to run a ttrpg campaign inspired by the structure of early (2001-2003) bionicle.

Not trying to replicate the precise details, mind. As cool as bionicle is aesthetically, I think this would work fine with just, humans living on an island. Normal villagers fill the role of matoran, and each village has an elder taking the role of a turaga. Then each PC would be a hero dedicated to one of the villages.

System shouldn't matter too much - though if you want to lean into the original elemental theme, you'll want a system that allows that (and maybe replace ice & rock to more clearly delineate character abilities - electricity/electromagnetism could be one). I don't think D&D-likes / other level-based systems would work too well to simulate the feel vs diegetic advancement by collecting equivalents to masks & such.

I think a pseudo-west marches hexcrawl would work pretty well for the style. You might not even to need a distinct map if the group isn't too familiar with bionicle; just overlay hexes on the mata nui map and start keying.

Each PC would start on a solo adventure as they wake up on the beach and explore the nearby area, eventually finding a village in need. They help out that village for a bit, get to know the people there, then start to venture out tryin to delve into what's going on, and likely finding the other villages & heroes along the way.

As an example of that sort of structure - once the hero of the Ta-koro equivalent has dealt with the local immediate threats, they head down to Onu-koro to find out the situation with an ore shortage, where they meet another hero and join them for that quest.

The core balance, I think, would be to present problems that require multiple heroes to deal with, while also keeping a matter of villages having small, single-hero problems that need to be dealt with (as well as the manner of general defense against whatever new evil threat is going on). So the PCs will want to group up to make problems easier, but will need to split off on their own more often than not to help their village.

To encourage helping villages - perhaps each village has resource tracks for vital things, and each village has special resources they produce and certain resources they require. See: Ta-Koro smiths need the Ore from Onu-Koro as an example. Each village should have two special connections with other villages, and ideally each should have some specialty independent from this trade all the heroes will want to support (like Le-Koro's Gukko riders).

Each village should also have a Hope resource that dwindles after attacks & long absences from their hero and rises when a hero aids them or just spends time with them. Ideally should encourage the PCs to seek out closer bonds with their villages.

For the dangers & foes, the basic structure of "some dark evil living under the world with minions they send out" works fine. But the details need some tweaking.

Combine krana & kraata into one miserable organic parasite. I'm actually tempted to keep "infected masks" as a core concept, especially if switching the denizens all to normal humanoids. Maybe all the masks are organic kraata/na, who alter their shape to replicate someone's face and look normal, just a bit creepy, unless given a close inspection.

Instead of new threats replacing old (infected rahi -> bohrok -> rahkshi), new threats compound on the old. So we start with corrupted beasts wearing these organic masks, add in mechanical monsters powered by weaker kraata/na who can deliver them (including to beasts to join the swarm), and finally a set of elites near campaign's end (each with a key to reach the final scourge of the island).

My preferred route for "how do you beat the evil" would be to take Mangaia and turn it into a large, central dungeon of sorts that the heroes can only access certain parts of with given keys/plot coupons, with some hard locks and some soft locks, like the first entry is hard locked behind a good amount of plot coupons (found in interesting locations all around the area) to open the dungeon in the first place, so the heroes have more incentive to grow familiar with the entire island. Later keys the party has to collect by responding to how the island changes - like maybe in the second wave of evil, our bohrok-equivalents change the landscape to reveal older ruins / open up other segments of Mangaia / make secondary nests in the island. The last set of keys to reach the chamber of the makuta equivalent would be the kraata/na granted to the elites, taking the krana hunt from the bohrok saga, and then, of course, a big confrontation with the great evil below.

[erdariel]

Also like some of those like "once you have an elytra" or "when you've got netherite" are very... it's always kinda strange to me to hear people talk about those as a casual easy-to-do things???

like, i get that for some people it is. but personally? i'm a very casual player, i don't really get around to playing minecraft (or anything for that matter) that often. i used to, when i was a child, but i just don't, anymore. it's not rare that several major updates go by without me playing. i play sometimes, it's fun to dabble in it now and then, but i'm not very good at it, plus i tend to play very cautiously because when i don't play a lot it's really frustrating to lose all my stuff. i don't have a lot of patience for very grindy things either. oh and i never learned how to do redstone more complicated than running a line directly from a button or lever to a piston or lamp or something

so let me tell you, i have never gotten an elytra. literally never. i'm not sure if i've ever had netherite either, and if i've had it it was on a server where a friend who's better in the game gave it to me. i've never had any sort of redstone-based farms or machines. i've never had a villager trading hall - partly because i couldn't be bothered to reset villagers until getting a trade i want and doing all the things with zombies and whatnot, but i think even if i had the patience for that sort of grinding, i just... wouldn't vibe with the typical trading hall setup, i'd probably let them be like, free range, you know?

so yeah. i'm very glad that the game is designed to be something that children can have fun with. because that ends up meaning that also casual players who aren't willing to sink hundreds of hours of practicing and grinding and whatever to have everything in the game at their fingertips can have fun with it. i'm glad they're designing challenges for early and mid-level players, because that means i can play them! (i've not gotten around to it yet, but i've been thinking of maybe making a new minecraft world and cheating myself some gear to go find a trial chamber to try that out; it seems fun, but i don't have the time and energy just now to do full-on playing and getting all the stuff the "legit" way)

it's just the sad truth I guess that most of the really active online community are the super skilled players for whom everything is easy, so they're the ones providing comments and feedback on new features, and the noobs like me don't necessarily have their voices heard as easily, and a lot of the really good players forget that we exist and we'd like to get to have fun with the game too

"Minecraft needs to be rebalanced! It's too easy to get mending! It's too easy once you have elytra! All the challenges and bosses are optional!"

Yes. That's the point. That's GOOD actually. My little brother needs to be able to play minecraft as much as I can. It's a sandbox game, not an RPG. You can create difficulty and add challenge and modify files! Those are features in the game and regularly adjusted for just that purpose. But the base game is meant to be accessible and universal.

Especially when a lot of "content" comes in the form of professionals, people who earn a living being good at the game and have hours a day to put into it, our perspective is skewed. I love the hermits, but any time they say a farm "only took two hours" to build? I cringe. When hypixel pvp creators talk about how lame netherite makes vanilla gameplay, I sigh. And when someone complains that it's too easy to cheese a mechanic or obtain a villager trade I kind of want to scream.

It's easy *for you*. It's boring *for you*. It's not that it needs to change drastically, you just need to approach it differently. You have a moral objection to how "easy" it is to get a mending villager? Make the rule for yourself that you can only get mending from the loot table. You think elytra take the fun out of travel? Don't use it.

And before you say "well can't they just use accessibility features to make it easier?" NO. That's not the point of those features. Accessibility features that disable quicktime events or remove puzzles aren't to make a game easier, they're to make a game PLAYABLE. Accessibility features in minecraft are to disable view bobbing, change the visual distortions, add directional subtitles....things that make the game playable to people who need them.

Basically, please chill the fuck out about minecraft being easy. If it's too easy and you can't come up with a solution for that, maybe it's just not a game you enjoy playing. Download a mod pack or go play something different.