#I'm basically playing the game blind and i want to experience it as close to the base game while still having a few features

[mothzarellaman]

Oh skyrim modding experts I beg of thee for assistance.

Basically: I'm going to be getting skyrim on my pc so I want to mod it to be playable. Planning on special edition and my goal is to play it as close to vanilla as possible besides one or two cosmetics. (I've barely started the main quest on a friend's xbox) Do people have any good beginner vanilla plus mods basically? I'm mostly looking for ones that add cloaks/capes but I think I found some, and more importantly: character customization that gets way more in depth without sacrificing the art style. Every thing I've found for character customization always makes everything feel more like plastic dolls than the actual art style. I'm hoping to avoid that. Anyone have any good reccomendations that are either the 'standard' for modded skyrim or help in those areas?

Thank you so much for your time!

[periwinkla]

Final NRMT poster with all panels! Print here <3 Did anyone notice... anything about the bottom right panel? It's not too obvious but I wanted it to at least be noticeable within the poster itself that something is... 'off' if you compared it with the other panels. And there's a reason. Honestly it's just about a silly headcanon of mine, and it is also a silly way for me to include it but... I'm silly myself. Under the cut, the hanakotoba notes for the flower panel... and other stuff. The other stuff isn't important really but it was funny for me.

Already talked about this in the flower panel post - but these are the main things I took into consideration when choosing the flowers:

3 sunflowers specifically mean 'I love you' - so I also added 3 chrysanthemums to complement them. By the by, among other things, sunflowers mean 'passion', 'love', 'adoration', 'I only have eyes for you' - while white chrysanthemums mean 'truth'. Red chrysanthemums signify 'love' but I opted against them in favor of the following flowers.

The small blue flowers are forget-me-nots, which, other than the obvious, mean 'true love' in hanakotoba. 

The pink flowers are Japanese primroses ('sakurasou' - they get their name because of their resemblance to cherry blossoms), which mean 'first love', 'longing', 'purity', 'youthful love', 'the beginning of youth and sadness'...

Also, here the nmweek24 tag on the blog to see the posts for the individual panels with additional info/behind the scenes: https://periwinkla.tumblr.com/tagged/nmweek24 note: there are a few minor adjustments I made for the final poster compared to the individual panels (you probably won't even be able to see them honestly) ---Sentimental story time--- The reason I wanted to do something special for nrmt week was because tomorrow (the 8th) will mark the day I first started playing AA1. And I'm so happy I got into it! Funny story: my first exposure to AA was the anime (almost 10 years ago!) I got to the end of the first 12ish episodes, obviously was very confused because it's not meant to be consumed by someone who didn't play the games, and promptly abandoned ship and forgot all about it. Completely. I even forgot I had watched it! until I got to Turnabout Goodbyes because I had a vague recollection of having seen the boat photo. But other than that, complete oblivion (my memory is quite terrible in general). Basically, last year I had finished Detective Pikachu 1 and wanted something similar because I usually play classic jrpgs and needed a change of pace... AA1 was my choice. As I mentioned, I remembered absolutely nothing from the anime (I had no idea Mia died, so, imagine the shock). I went completely blind till I finished with AJ and AAI1-2. Honestly, it's a beautiful experience when you play games without knowing anything about them. It feels like the good old days. I absolutely don't believe that study that says spoilers don't spoil the experience. Also I find it nice that I got into nrmt without outside prompt, because I find it funny that my brain needed to play through 6 games in order to see it. I seem to have prosciutto on my eyes (Italian idiom). In my defense I usually don't look for romance in stories and ship stuff unless it's very obvious. Nrmt comes too close to it to ignore. Ok, end of nostalgic sentimentality. ...And here's the 'other stuff': This print was the thing I said I had hidden 'in plain sight'. It has been on the print shop since... Thursday. 'It was there all along'-well more like half-along really <3

[a-bit-too-much-of-a-pokemon-fan]

Just beat my first Nuzlocke of Pokémon SV, specifically Violet. It was really fun, as I always hope for a Nuzlocke to be. Let's talk about it.

The difficulty is reasonable with my ruleset. I used level caps, so I never went into a Team Star base, Titan battle, or Gym battle with a Pokémon overlevelled (except for a couple times I accidentally made one go one level over right before the battle, fight me). I do use items in battle, which I had to rely somewhat heavily. I also used Terastyllization, which I know some Nuzlockers don't do.

The difficulty for me came more from the sheer lack of encounters you get. I count 36 including your starter (you can use the Team Star bases as encounters if you lure an aggressive Pokémon in from outside). Platinum, the first game I Nuzlocked, gives you 52 by my count, 33% more.

I had a total of 36 Pokémon, two of which were shiny clause'd in. I lost 12 over the whole run. Not bad.

The Elite Four is a real interesting case here for one reason: you have access to your boxes between fights. I made a unique team for each battle and ultimately used 16 Pokémon over the five battles. Did that make it easier? Oh yeah, definitely. Next time I will take in a team of six to take on the gauntlet.

Encounters had to be handled differently from past games, and I think I took a lazy and possibly cheap route. I basically entered a new area, saw my first Pokémon, decided if I wanted it, and if I didn't, re-positioned, charged in with my eyes closed, and took what I got. I might want to pick a stricter system next time.

TMs! I was disgruntled when I saw that TMs are single use only again, but when I actually played the game and found so many TMs just by exploring, I decided that the change was fine. I used a few TMs, which were helpful. I will say that crafting was more limited than my vanilla run because I was battling so far fewer wild Pokémon and just never got some materials.

The 400-Pokémon-strong regional dex comes in clutch. There were so many Pokémon to possibly encounter. It makes routing encounters more difficult but also means each playthrough will be that much more unique.

Grinding is so much less unpleasant than previous gens, oh god. Before I started hacking rare candies into my DS game runs (grinding is cringe, rare candies w/ level caps are based), grinding was absolutely miserable. There were really only a couple points in Violet where I had to stop my momentum to either grind out Tera raids or send a mon out to auto-battle for a while.

Mandatory Exp All is good here, actually. Cuts down majorly on grinding, and you can easily stay in level cap because you have access to your boxes at all times. Oops, my Skeledirge hit level cap way before the gym? Into the box he goes. Boom, easy.

Overall, I had a really good time and I'm looking forward to my next run down the line. I'll find ways to make it harder next time. I think I'll wipe almost immediately if I don't use any items, so maybe only 3 items per battle? Something like that.

I'm glad I chose to make my first ever run of Violet vanilla. It is so much fun catching all the Pokémon that Paldea has to offer, so I'm glad I didn't deprive myself of that just to do a blind Nuzlocke. I also got to experience the progression in my own way, for better or worse. If you got this far into this post and somehow still haven't played Scarlet or Violet at all, I highly recommend a vanilla run first before you Nuzlocke it.

Thanks for reading!

[mesaprotector]

Haven't posted about Elden Ring in a bit.

I've been off on vacation for two weeks, then sick for a week. I hadn't played since I finished the game but basically the only thing I could focus on while sick was farming every single item in the game. The Magma Blade was painful to get.

It occurred to me that I really avoided getting good at Elden Ring combat (except for some specific skills). One thing I'm going to do before the DLC is try to fix that. I guess I could post this on somewhere like Discord or Reddit that has a lot more PvP tryhards, but I honestly find those communities pretty unpleasant. So here goes.

I played the game blind. Well, mostly blind - I gradually caved and researched more once I got near the end. This meant my understanding of the game's mechanics was poor at best. I beat the game with effectively 23½ Vigor (25 with a permanent debuff I didn't know about), fat-rolled through almost every fight, and depended on summons and Torrent most of the time. The skills I did develop (strategic aggro, stealth, crossbow shots) were useless in most boss fights. My reasoning was "well, I'm not getting one-shot...".

I play with mouse and keyboard, and always have. I never owned a controller as a kid (I wouldn't have thought to ask my parents, and they wouldn't have bought me one if I had), and since I've grown up I've played games seldom enough that it was never a priority. I vaguely know how to use one thanks to trips to friend's houses, but I still find it a miserable experience. On my recent trip I went over to a friend's and started Stray, the game where you're an adorable cyberpunk cat. I got to the very first action sequence, and attempting to turn corners with the controller was useless, it felt like the floor was slippery ice. I plugged in my mouse and beat it first try.

Aiming with a mouse is just so natural for me. You don't need lock-on (which is a necessary evil for controllers, but is at least a little immersion-breaking). Horse combat, which most Elden Ring players think is clunky and difficult, becomes easy.

The main downside of keyboard and mouse* is that the default keybinds are quite awkward. Sprint and dodge are the same key (and can't be separated). Switching equipped items uses the ARROW KEYS which means one of your two hands needs to leave its position for a second. The pouch keybinds are obscure and I never used it my entire playthrough.

So, after 200+ hours in Elden Ring, I changed all my keybinds. Shift is now sprint/dodge; space is now jump; the mouse middle key is now heavy attack and mouse 4th button is now weapon skill. Definitely taking some getting used to and I expect a lot of silly deaths but I can already tell it's so much better.

(*some absolute genius said they used controller and mouse to play the game, which is definitely superior but too daring for me)

I played the majority of my run with the Treespear, which it turns out was a rare good decision on my part - it's one of the best Dex/Fai weapons - but the main reason it's so good is something I didn't know, which is that you can buff it with Order's Blade for crazy damage, one of only two split-damage weapons that's true for. I never used Order's Blade... it requires 13 Int and my character was dumb as rocks, and proud of it. Plus I kind of want to use something different on my next run.

So after farming everything in sight this past week and trying them out, I found a weapon I'd never looked twice at - the Guardian's Swordspear (Keen affinity). It only scales with Dex but can still be buffed; halberds are absolutely the #1 mounted weapon class; and it just feels natural. Still unsure on which weapon art I'll stick with but for now I have Piercing Fang. It's a quick running attack that has lovely synergy with Wrath of Gold.

And yes, I'm still going to use incantations on the next run - how can you be a Faith build and not? - but disallowing lock-on means I'll be focusing on close-up magic and buffs. Hitting soldiers from across the map is funny a couple of times, but it doesn't have nearly the visceral joy of getting the timing down on a Fortissax's Lightning Spear or a Catch Flame.

Dex/Fai is a weird combination because it feels it doesn't get a lot of balanced, merely "very good" weapons. You have unique weapons that are downright broken (Blasphemous Blade, Sacred Relic Sword, Envoy's Long Horn) plus ones that are situationally good but not a great primary choice (Godslayer's Greatsword, Black Knife, Vyke's War Spear). I'm hoping my new Swordspear strikes a happy medium and gets me up to scratch on dodging, spacing, timing, and everything else. I'm still never going to join the PvP scene - I just want to git gud for my own sake.

[skyplant]

Heyy! Here's my idea(I'm not the best at explaining but I'm trying): So after the fall both Mammon and Lilith died. (And in my headcannon, if Mammon were to die in war, The Brothers wouldn't be as close as they are now, they might even be cold towards each other) And the brothers one day, for once having an dinner together(they were arguing) Then a bright light BOOM, Mammon(from different reality) fell down in middle of the table. And he's like, "Oww- What did that witch do-" !Brothers reaction!

Lucifer

"Mammon-"

He's crying, not crying like a baby but crying

His immediate response is to wrap his arms around Mammon

This is the one moment he is willing to throw his pride away

He doesn't understand how or why this happened but he never wants to see his brother leave him again

Is sad that this isn't his Mammon, but at the time happy in another timeline he gets to be with Mammon

We aren't going to tell him he treats Mammon worse then crap

Lucifer watches Mammon from a distance ready to step in in case of an incident until Mammon is sent back

Lucifer is extremely sad when Mammon does go back as his pride mixed with guilt wouldn't let him properly interact with his brother

Mammon

One moment he's bickering with a witch, the next he's blind then afterwards his ass hurts, now LUCIFER is HUGGING HIM?!

Overall thinks he's in trouble until he sees all his brothers crying, and then he almost starts crying.

But ofcourse he didn't! The GREAT Mammon doesn't cry!

It takes Mammon a moment to figure out what's going on as well as asking Satan a few questions

And let me tell you MAMMON ALMOST DID CRY,

since in this timeline Satan's only memories of Mammon would be Lucifer's and not his own

Leviathan

This one-

HAHA- angst!

I personally headcannon that Mammon and Levi are actually really close, because why else would Levi give Mammon money all the time?

Levi is one that is sobbing like a baby, his brother, his best friend

Who he saw the life drain from, his big brother is right in front of him, right there-

The brother he failed to save, who he was to slow to save, that he couldn't- "Mammon? You- you're right- right here"

He immediately latches onto Mammon and won't let go until Mammon has to go back, and even then he doesn't want to

He feels like he was useless and so helpless- that both of them were helpless. Levi never wants to experience it again the pain the fall brought

He has to he must be with Mammon the entire time

Mammon is immediately dragged to Levi's room and is stuck watching anime and playing video games for his entire stay

Yep that was anti-colaptic

Satan

"No thanks, I don't know who you are or what's going on"

That's basically how Satan is with this whole dilemma

He doesn't like this "new person" and is the one who calls Barbatos to send him back

Though he is curious, he answers all of Mammon's questions and even asks some himself

Other than that Satan is completely hostile as Mammon probably was the one to teach Satan to control his temper in the original au

Mammon does manage to sneak away for a short period of time though to converse with Satan and teach him the basics of keeping his temper under control which Satan does appreciate it

Kind of

Asmodeuse

"Oh both of you shut up! As if you would-"

Asmo was yelling at Satan and Levi who in this au are two of the resident shut in's the other shut it's being Lucifer and Belphie

Another who starts balling like a baby

He follows Mammon around the whole time

Filling him in on little bits and pieces of what their timeline is like, though overall Mammon doesn't learn much from Asmo's constant yapping

Asmo would pamper Mammon the entire time

"Levi you can't keep him cooped up in here the whole time!"

And then another argument starts- yeah, that's how Mammon got away from them

Beelzebub

He cried, his beloved older brother

Beel missed Mammon so much

He knows he was no where near Mammon when it happened but he lost two of his siblings in the war, he feels so guilty

One of them he could of saved

The other he was no where near at the time

Make it right this time

Beel attends to every one of his older brothers needs

He doesn't want Mammon to be deprived of anything,

except time to himself- Mammon is being smothered with this very much needed but excessive love

Belphegor

Ahh yes our resident yandere

Belphie was asleep when Mammon first fell-

When Mammon was dropped onto the table, but the moment Belphegor heard his older brothers voice he woke up

Belphie wrapped himself around Mammon and refused to let go

Belphegor didn't want to leave Mammon alone at all he simply couldn't

After what happened last time, he simply cannot leave Mammon with LEVI of all people, no ofcourse not after what happened last time

Belphie refuses to leave Mammon alone for even a second

It's clear that after last time Mammon can't be left with anyone but Belphie and Beel

"Listen to Asmo, Levi. We all know YOU are the least fit to take care of Mammon"

When Mammon finally gets away from them, Belphegor is the first to go hunt- I mean look for him, as well as the first to find Mammon

"Satan, why are you with him"

Is extremely salty that Mammon went to ask Satan of all people for anything, when the twins would never refuse to give Mammon anything

[yannowhatigiveup]

A Blinded Kiss

I haven’t posted anything recently so I dug around in my WIPs to see if anything was even worth posting and I found this that I made a while ago. It certainly isn’t the best but it isn’t the worst out of all my other WIPs.

"Is this really necessary?" The bluenette asked, eyeing a blindfold given by her brotherly figure.

"Of course it is Pixie!" An older man with two-toned hair replied, way too over enthusiastic about the whole situation. "It's a great way to find your way around the manor”

"And it's a great family bonding experience too!" Another man in the room replied, even more enthusiastic than the first.

"Fine, I'll do it Jay" the blue-eyed girl huffed, twirling the blindfold between her fingers. "What are the rules again, Dick?"

Dick beamed at the girl before answering. "Well Mari, it's simple. Put the blindfold on, count to fifty, spin around and try to steal a hug from anyone in the manor"

"So I have to walk around the manor blindfolded and try to sneak up on you? You know that's impossible!" Marinette exclaimed, she would not go around the house looking like a touch-starved fool.

"That's exactly why we're doing it" Jason replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It'll last a long time."

After a few seconds, the blue-eyed girl sighed, giving in to both Jason and Dick. "Fine, if that's what makes you happy" Marinette wrapped the matte-black fabric tightly around her eyes, already struggling within the first few seconds. She began counting and she heard the two scuffling away, smiling while being able to tell which direction they went in. In the mean time, Marinette debated her options.

'Both Jason and Dick would be the ideal choices but they'll be able to hear me from a mile away. Tim would be the most logical one since he's half asleep, but where does he even go in this maze? God knows where Alfred is, Mr Wayne is scary. Damian-' She paused her train of thoughts, granted Marinette had only met him a few days ago but that didn't stop the crush she had heavily try to cease. 'He'd probably hear me from a mile away as well. This game is so unfair'

Soon enough, Marinette reached fifty and spun herself around, she used a bit too much force than needed so now not only was she blinded but she lost her sense of direction. Giving herself a minute to recover, the bluenette began to walk. Using her improved senses, thanks to the miraculous, Mari was slowly able to create a theoretical map in her mind, though it did take much more energy than she desired.

"Fighting an akuma is easier than this" The bluenette muttered as she hit her thigh along the corner of a wall.

Even though she was using her enhanced abilities, she'd pump into a corner or a wall every now and again, the amount of times increased when her energy was being used. After wondering a hall for what seemed like hours, the bluenette came to a staircase, one that she ever so carefully used to get to a higher floor. Once she did, she kept a hand on one of the walls, using it as a guide. Soon enough, her hand came to what felt like a doorframe. The door was closed she could tell but it was recent used due to the fact that the doorknob was warm. Making sure not to intrude, she knocked on said door, she almost missed the muffled 'come in' had she not been paying attention. Marinette opened the door, went in and quickly shut it behind her, taking a deep breath.

"Okay I hope you don't mind but which room is this and whose in the room? Dick and Jason thought it would be a good idea to walk around the manor blindfolded while trying to sneak up on them" The bluenette huffed, only to freeze when she heard a familiar chuckle.

"I've heard, you're in my room, It's Damian just to clarify" 'Sh-' "So, what task must be fulfilled to give you permission to take the blindfold off? I doubt you want to keep it on any longer" Marinette giggled.

"You're right, I would probably get lost of I continue. Um, I have to 'steal a hug' apparently"

"So you have to hug someone without them inspecting it" Damian came to that conclusion to which the bluenette nodded her head.

"Yeah that's basically it, hey do you have anywhere I could sit down? I'm getting tired..."

"Of course, my bed is five steps to your front and two steps to your right, make yourself comfortable" She wasn't sure how red she had gotten but she obliged anyway. Had she not been wearing the blindfold, she would've seen Damian smiling at her flustered state. Giving herself a moment to regain her energy, Marinette turned to where she presumed Damian was working at his desk. "Can I hug you? Jay never said I couldn't ask the person first. I-I won't if you don't want me to! I just wanted to ask so..."

She heard the boy thoughtfully hum before he made his way over to her. From what she could tell, Damian was now in front of Marinette, looming over her.

"Did Todd or Grayson say it had to be a hug?" Marinette tilted her head in confusion and thoughtfulness, that had never crossed her mind before.

"W-"

"What happens if I kiss you instead?"

The bluenette didn’t reply with words as she knew how terrible her words would be in her flustered state. But she wanted this, her heart longed for it in a way it never did for anyone else. Instead, she nodded, giving the green-eyed boy permission to do as he wished.

She felt his hand lightly tilt her chin up towards, where she presumed, his face was. Then he pressed his lips onto hers, his other had behind her head, tugging at the fabric around her eyes. Marinette felt bliss, she was glad that no one else would interrupt this moment. Shivers went down her spine as she felt Damian’s hands travel up from behind her neck and to wear the blindfold was knotted, gently tugging at the binding. She was glad that when her face was free from the fabric that comprised her vision, the first thing in her line of eyesight were Damian's deep emerald eyes, the shimmered the same way they had when she first laid eyes on him, she'd been enraptured ever since. The boy, however, was smirking as he noticed the pink that dusted her face. Without a moment passing, she threw herself the green-eyed boy, delivering a hug. As she pulled away, her hands cupped his face and she returned his embrace with one of her own. When she pulled away once more, she smiled in satisfaction at his flustered expression.

"When did you realise you had feelings for me?" Marinette asked softly, her forehead pressed against his trying to regain her breath.

"That's a very easy question" Damian stared lovingly into her eyes. "I fell the moment I saw you take down that Akuma three times your size" Her eyes widened.

"You know about me being Ladybug?"

"The same way you know I'm Robin"

They both smiled, creating a truce to not reveal anything.

"Well I better get going, see you later." She got up from the bed and opened the door, only to turn around and say "Je t'aime mon cœur" before exiting the room, leaving a blushing Damian.

Marinette walked back down the stairs, the piece of cloth in hand and small love-struck smile on her face. When she entered the main living room, she came face to face with the owner of the manor.

"Oh hello Mr Wayne"

"Hello Marinette, I see you managed to get the blindfold off" The older man gestured towards the piece of fabric in her hand. "And please, do call me Bruce. Who did you end up surprising with a hug then?"

She smiled brightly before replying. "Damian"

His usual formal demeanor broke for a moment but Bruce quickly picked the pieces back up. "He didn't attack you or injure you in any shape or form?"

Marinette decided to play the oblivious little girl. "No..? Why, does he do it often?" Her head titled in confusion.

"Nothing it doesn't matter" Bruce simply sighed and shook his head. "Also, there's something I'd like to discuss with you at dinner, if you don't mind"

"No not at all, I'll see you at dinner then?" Bruce nodded and left, leaving Marinette alone in the room, waiting for her honorary older brother and his brother to come in. Which they did but only after some time, it was hilarious to see them crouched down, talking to each other in hushed voices. They flinched as she cleared her throat, both slowly turning towards the sound to find a smug looking Marinette and a blindfold whipped around her finger.

"I win"

~~~

Most of the occupants at the table were either in an all out war or were about to be, except for Marinette and an exasperated Bruce Wayne.

"So Marinette" The eldest Wayne began, silencing the rest of the table. "I hope you don't mind me asking but when you were off searching for Jason, you mentioned attacks that have been occurring in Paris, is this true?"

No one failed to notice the girl flinch. "Yeah it's true"

"...how bad are the attacks? In your opinion"

"Well it depends on how strong the person's emotions are really. If their emotions are strong, then the Akuma is strong too"

"What's the strongest akuma that Paris has seen?" It was Tim who asked and memories of the event began swimming through her mind, she got rid of them with a shake of her head.

"The deadliest akuma Paris has experienced was an akuma called 'Syren'. She's a regular person but, as an akuma, she managed to kill around 2 million people. But don't worry! Ladybug's cure managed to bring them back to life"

"D-did... did you die, Pixie?" Jason asked, his anger mixed with worry was boiling over and luckily simmered after seeing her shake her head.

"Do you think the heroes of Paris would let heroes from the Justice League come over to help?"

Marinette contemplated for a moment, should she really risk the heroes getting akumatized? "I think they would but I wouldn't know"

Bruce nodded while Jason leaned over the table to talk closer to his honorary little-sister. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want to bother you"

"You're not a bother, Pixie" Jason smiled at the bluenette on the other side of the table. "You never are and you never will be"

~~~

Marinette returned to Paris a few days later, in the mean time, Bruce and the rest of the batfam were planning their visit to the City of Love. Soon enough, the vigilantes were boarded on the plane. Their flight to Paris was relatively silent. After a few hours, they landed and the vigilantes waited on the Eiffel Tower, only to find out there was a battle going on. Before they could engage in the fight, they were engulfed with magical ladybugs that seemed to fix anything destroyed. As they were mesmerized by the cure, a certain spotted-heroine wobbly landed on the platform. Batman was first to notice.

"Ladybug" His voice caused the others to turn around. "Thank you for allowing us into your city"

Ladybug nodded, not uttering a single word.

"We were hoping, with your permission of course, that we could help you be rid of Hawkmoth once and for good" Again, Ladybug didn't reply. "Ladybug?"

When the heroine didn't respond, Batman glanced at Nightwing and the rest of his sons, clearly something was wrong. Unexpectedly, Robin took his glove off, approached the Ladybug-themed hero and placed his hand onto her forehead.

"You have a fever" he stated, his hand trailing down her face to cup her cheek. His family all shot him weird looks. She tiredly blinked at the vigilante, recognising him as Robin and allowed herself to fall into his arms, detransforming while doing so, leaving a burning hot Marinette.

"Dami?" He hummed. "Take me home, please..." She drifted off to sleep, comforted in her lover's arms. He glanced at his family, holding the bluenette close.

"Pixie...is Ladybug?" Red Hood's voice was first.

"You didn't know?" Robin's voice mocking confusion, enraging Red Hood that his youngest brother knew something about his sister that he didn't. Even more so that his demon brother was holding said sister,

"We should take her back home" Dick went over to feel the girl's forehead. "She's burning"

"Tikki?" Robin asked and a red creature flew out from one of Mari's pockets, startling most of the people there.

"I'll try to heal her on the way, follow me"

The floating red creature flew down from the Eiffel Tower, Robin and Marinette close behind. After some hesitation, the others followed, they ended up on top of a bakery. One by one, they entered through the trapdoor on the balcony, finding both Damian with his mask off and a weak looking Marinette. Despite her enfeebled state, the bluenette greeted each vigilante, her gaze landed on Jason.

"It's just a fever, I'll be fine"

Jason removed his helmet and ran a hand through his hair before both settled on his hips. "You don't look fine"

"I promise I am" She wasn't convincing, not at all.

"Fine" Jason huffed, he could never truly say no to the girl he viewed as his little sister. "But since when were you two a thing" He pointed at the two, his gaze resting maliciously on Damian.

"It's all thanks to you, you know" Marinette smirked at Jason's confusion. Tim snickered as he seemed to catch on to what she was saying.

"Had you not organized that 'blindfolded game', I doubt we would be together at this moment" Damian supplied the information, clearly unfazed by the burning rage in the eyes of his older brother.

"Baby Bird's all grown up" The eldest Wayne son overdramatized wiping a fake tear, Batman sighed at his two eldest sons while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Get your fucking hands off her, Demon Brat!" Jason tried to lunge at Damian, only to be stopped by both Dick and Tim. Though his fury only grew when Marinette snuggled closer to the green-eyed boy, both smirked in victory over Jason's horrified appearance.

Marinette was now part of the family in more ways than one. Though they wish they had found out in better circumstances, they would be able to take down Hawkmoth once and for all, side by side, all together. And to think this all happened because of a silly blindfold game.

[ghirahims-trophyhusband]

💫 for literally anyone you feel like? I've been reading your answers to the asks for ghirahim, sepiroth and grigori and i've been finding them very interesting since i'm unfamiliar with all their sources. (@allhailknifeprincess)

send me a 💫 and I’ll tell you something about my f/o’s source or f/o’s character! Feel free to specify what f/o you want to learn abt

ooo nice! I'm glad it's been fun finding out about my F/O's! I'm big love energy for anything fantasy so at least they have that in common ghkjgd

For this ask, I'm gonna talk about my F/O who is also an OC of mine: Aldrich! :>

Aldrich (full title: Dread King Aldrich Coulstra (They/Them Non-Binary)) is inspired by the Dread Behemoth model from Final Fantasy XV!

Originally, Aldrich was just a gijinka of the Dread Behemoth (eg. a humanoid character with physical traits like that of their original animal forme. So, Aldrich has the 'whiskers' and tail of the Dread Behemoth). But then it morphed over time into Aldrich being an actual behemoth that takes on a human forme whenever they wanted.

I do have a set universe for Aldrich to exist in, which is FFXV naturally, where they act as a parental figure to Noctis: the main protagonist in FFXV. However, I'm not shy from adding them into othere universes for fun! Like finding an excuse to ship them with Ghirahim or even writing them into an alternate shipping universe I have for FFVII! It was also through the FFVII universe that i ended up giving them a sister called Sage Foxglove: who is also a Dread Behemoth. They and their sister are also, in all the Final Fantasy universes, gods and the creators of Behemoths as well! And so would very likely act as Summons if they were part of the game (a Summon is basically calling in a god, like Leviathan, Ramuh, or Ifrit, to help you with a difficult boss!).

The reason why Aldrich gets to exist in so many universes is because they did start out as a self insert and Behemoths are MAJOR comfort characters for me. I love them very much with the World of Final Fantasy, FFXIV and FFXV being my fav models! I wanted to experiment more at the time with my designs so I played around with the idea of giving Aldrich long hair, muscular build (which is a given for a Behemoth tbh), and a beard. Then I ended up going OH NO THEY'RE HOT and so they became a F/O because all I could think was this whenever I looked at them lmao

Finally, small fun fact: Aldrich is actually completely blind in their right eye! This was due to their right eye being forced closed by a birth defect, so their brain just went 'oh? we're not using this eye? OK cool I guess we don't need it then lol' and cut off all functions to the eye.

[rrasado]

• Gambler's Thrill •

(This is just an old scenario I sent to my friend where MC is good at gambling. Basically they're based off of Yumeko from Kakegurui. Keep in mind I'm in no way shape or form a writer excuse my crackfic😅)

"MC-chaaaan!"

Judging by the honorifics I knew right away that it was Levi so I yelled a short come in and there stood the self proclaimed yucky otaku in all his glory.

"Did ya need something Levi?"

Said boy nodded vigorously and pulled me off my bed.

"Me and the others are doing a game night in the living room right now! You should come to you know, hehe seeing as you're doing nothing"

The curious look I gave him urged him to continue.

"We usually have game nights like these every month! It'd probs be more fun if you tagged along"

"So game as in uh... video games?"

"Gah! I wish that were the case cause if it was then I'd win every time! but it's just mostly card games and what not, and there's the occasional betting that surprise surprise Mammon wins every time"

My face lit up at the mention of card games, it's nothing to brag but I REALLY enjoy card games, especially Blind Man's Bluff.

"Sure I'll go with"

He instantly grabbed my hand and dragged me towards the House of Lamentation's living room. The brothers were already playing and judging by Asmo's expression, he was losing. Sweat was forming on the side of his face while Mammon on the other hand was grinning, widening by the second.

"hAHA! I WIN AGAIN! sweet sweet grimm come to papa!"

He bent over the table to grab the stack of grimm on Asmo's side, said demon was sobbing in the corner after loosing so much money. I leaned over the couch to get a better view, eyeing the giant stack of grimm next to Mammon.

"Good evening MC, are you joining us tonight?"

Satan looked at me with curiosity, I nodded in response seeing as I'm more focused on the next match between Mammon and Lucifer. Satan nodded and turned his attention back to the game.

As the game progressed I was sure Lucifer had the upper hand but one move from Mammon turned the whole round to his favor, in rare moments like these do I see the Avatar of Pride in distress, I mean if you bet 1,000,000 grimm you'd also be stressing how to win it back.

Lucifer sighed in defeat as mammon placed a Queen of Hearts.

"Hmm.. it seems you've won again Mammon, I wouldn't be surprised seeing as you ARE the Avatar Of Greed"

Satan was humming happily beside me seeing as Lucifer lost to Mammon. Mammon for the umpteenth time bent over the table to grab the new stack of grimm from Lucifer's side of the table.

"HAHA! Gah if I keep this up I might as well destroy the Devildom economy! HA!"

Laughing obnoxiously as he added the new stack of grimm to his side. I left my spot behind the couch and walked over to the other side.

"Hey Mammon! Can I play a round with you?"

He stopped laughing and eyed me as if I grew another head, I felt a tap on my shoulder to see Levi give a nervous laugh.

"Uhhh MC... I know I was the one who invited you but I think you shouldn't gamble with Mammon of all people"

I pat his shoulder assuring him I know what I'm doing, he let out a huff and just sat down.

"Yes MC darling, we wouldn't want you going bankrupt after one gamble with Mammon... he is the Avatar of Greed you know"

Beel was hovering over Asmo, mouth stuffed with food, nodding in agreement. I gave them an assuring smile and turned back to Mammon who was counting grimm by stack.

I coughed to get his attention and he looked back up at me.

"A'right MC tell you what, I'll play a round with ya, but that doesn't mean I'll go easy on ya!"

"Sure as long as I get to play I'm happy"

I sat down in front of him as we began to place our bets.

"Since you challenged The Great Mammon! I'll let you place your bet first"

Feeling brave tonight I placed every grimm I had on the table amounting to...

"3 million grimm"

The brothers simultaneously looked at me with wide eyes. I even herd Beel's food drop to the floor and I glanced at the now Awake Belphie.

"MC... surely you know who you're up against correct?"

I felt the slight concern in Lucifer's voice as I smiled at him and assured him I know exactly what I'm getting into. Mammon's grin widened at the prospect of earning such large amounts of grimm in one round. He let out a chuckle and placed his own bet on the table

"Y'never cease to amaze me MC! HAHA! Y'know what! I'll bet your amount two fold"

Brimming with confidence Mammon placed twice my amount on the table all the while still giddy at himself.

"So, shall we begin?"

-Time Skip-

"H...how in the..."

Mammon sat there in absolute disbelief. His eyes widening at the sight of the royal flush in front if him. He'd be lying if he said he was the only skocked. Belphie almost fell off the couch as Levi quickly pulled out his D.D.D posting a status update on his social media

"LMAO! The Great Avatar Of Greed got his ass handed to him by A human in a round of poker!"

Mammon grabbed the edges of the table, his sweat dripping on to the playing card in his hand. Not once in his existence was he beaten in a gamble. He even used every dirty trick in the book! And yet here he was experiencing his first ever crushing defeat. Heck! Lucifer would've spilled his wine if it weren't for his reflexes. But the one who was the most shocked besides Mammon was the cynical fourth brother of wrath.

"Guys... you don't understand"

All heads turned to Satan as he spoke up after recovering from his shock.

"Mammon was playing dirty and yet...MC....still won"

Mammon flinched at the fact that he was exposed. He gingerly glanced at MC only to see her smiling without a care. Beel closed his mouth and softly asked the girl,

"M-MC...how?"

Despite the lack of words in his question, said human seemed to understand and explained.

"Honestly...when I realized Mammon was using underhanded tricks, I wasn't the least bit surprised....Because let's be real here, how could've he maintained his win streak for so long?"

Mammon was at a loss for words,he watched his 6 million grimm being taken by MC's hand beaming happily. Lucifer regained his composure and sat down his wine glass.

"W-well... I guess this goes to show that no matter how good you are there will always be someone... better"

The brothers went silent when they herd a small giggle erupt from the victorious girl, the giggle turned into full on laughter as she clutched her stomach. When she calmed down she looked at Mammon with absolute delight,

"Mammon... why don't we play again"

A million thoughts ran through his head as he herd her offer. Was she mocking him? Is she really that confident in her skill?

"You know... I don't care if you cheat at this point, Iv'e played against people slyer than you before,and you know what..."

He nervously looked up and let out a small what at the girl.

"It just makes the risk all the more interesting... enough to get me high on it"

Now that Mammon was looking clearly at MC, he saw that what he coined as confidence earlier was something much, much more than that. She was oozing with unwavering pride, pride that could even rival Lucifer's, pride that... when you experience first hand is almost terrifying.

Mammon did a double take on her face as he noticed her expression wasn't her usual calm one... it was replaced with something else entirely, replaced with someone who enjoys and gets high with thrill, the thrill of the very thing he was proud of...the thrill...of gambling.

"So.. how 'bout it Mammon"

The smirk on her face growing with each second...Mammon was frozen in his spot, all the brothers in the same state.

"Let's play again"

(Excuse me while I cringe at this insomnia induced crackfic and crappy sketch I did a few months ago that I did to go with the fic)

[mewmewnyaart]

I'm not very good at drawing horror and blood but I recently have been getting into OFF lately so I figured I'd try to draw batter to pratice lighting and shadows

I also made my own au where batter and hugo switch places but I doubt anyone would like it or even read it heck I couldn't even get a single like on any of my posts

But here I go anyway :

So common belief that the world of OFF isnt real and that its all happening inside Hugo's head because hugo is in a comma and that the batter resembles the father and the queen resembles the mother

And that the guardians are the boy's immune system and organs that are intolerant to the drug liquid plastic that is being experimented on hugo

The mother was always a working woman and never gave hugo attention while the dad was a straight forward and loving man (I also have a personal theory that he's religious)

The mother wants hugo to live but the father wants to let the boy die because he's tired of seeing his own child in pain everyday

Ok now that I have that out of the way here's my au:

In this au its the father that ends up in a comma and hugo is the one who tries to save him from dying

Backstory to how the dad ended up in a comma:

Hugo in this au is healthy and lives a normal life the father was once a baseball player (as a hobby) so hugo got inspired by his dad and started to take baseball classes at his school

One day the dad was dropping hugo off for baseball practice and while waving goodbye while slowly moving out of the parking lot a reckless older student who wasn't looking quickly backs up his truck hitting the father and sending him into a comma

Ok now for the characters:

We enter the game as hugo and we are greeted by the judge and we start our journey of "purifying" the world just like batter

The enemies represent different family members who dislike or or even hate the father and the father's phobias or fears as well as microbes or poisons in the father's system

Then we have other characters like pets,neighbors,friends who are good guys or people who side with hugo in the this au

Also the puzzles would changed in this au

Hugo is a child and the father would probably play alot with hugo and his games since the mother was always busy ,so instead of floating boxes we'd get more complicated versions of kids puzzles like connect the dots or fill in the shapes etc.

Now for who each character represents and then I'll move on to what the goal of the game is or what Hugo's mission is:

Hugo= he represents the son in real life but he also resembles a new antibiotic that's being experimented on the father

The judge = in real he's the family house cat named milk ingame he's a guide but I have my own head canon

so alot of people tend to draw batter with his eyes closed some draw 4 eyes some draw no eyes at all

I like to think that the father irl has bad eye sight or sensitive eyes so he wears special glasses but will not wear any glasses when at home because he doesn't like to so he will walk around with his eyes closed

So milk will guide him throughout the house by purring or meowing at him

As for the smile the judge has on his face hugo likes the movie Alice in wonderland over and over so the image of the Cheshire cat would be embedded in the dad's memory which is why the judge appears that way

He views the judge as someone who is helpful

The queen = the queen is his wife however they start to have alot of problems and arguments before the father fell in a comma

And the relatives try to convince her to turn off the life support and move on with life

Dedan= irl he's the father's brother in law with a snappy attitude and he hates the father alot and even objected in thier wedding day he will do anything to hurt the father or cause trouble

The father sees his brother in law nothing more than a all bark no bite a big mouth

Japhet= in real life is the lady that lives next door (yes I KNOW japhet is male but he's based off if her in the father's head)

She's is very controlling person who enjoys gossip and can't mind her own business always sticking her nose where she can as well as pushing everyone around she does everything she can to get attention and impress people and she's flirted with the father mutiple times but she's ignored her every time

She has very loud and noisy birds and has killed thier other family cat Venice saying that she did it as self defense (Venice is Valerie basically)

The father views her as a parasite

Enoch= he resembles another dad that takes his kid to baseball practice but is in bad terms with the mother and will constantly pick on hugo for fun

He assumes if the father approaches him its because his wife told him to do so

and will constantly say that his child and wife are happy ,living a life with no problems thinking that he's got life figured out

Even though its clear that his son isn't enjoying baseball at all, is quite over wieght as well as his wife ignores him all the time not to mention he's constantly eating meaning that he has some sort of food addiction it seems he sees no irony in his life at all

The father sees him as an irresponsible over wieght person who's always lying to himself and to blind to see the truth thinking that his life is ok when it's clearly not

Zacharie = irl he's the father's best friend since middle school and they've known each other for years he was the best man at the wedding he's bisexual and in a relationship with a girl named sweetie (please don't hate me batterie shippers QWQ!) He used to crush on the father and even confessed to him on the wedding day he was heartbroken but accepted that the relationship was never gonna happen and was even mad at his best friend but realized it was wrong of him to feel that way

He eventually moves on

He likes to bring and buy alot stuff and show them to his best pal later somegimes illegal stuff (he even brought weed over one time oh boy) he's like an uncle to hugo and is always happy to help and defend his best friend no matter what

He views him as a brother and family member aswell as a very optimistic chill dude and will jokingly refer to him as "the merchant"

Sugar: irl she's zacharie's gf (before her he had 2 toxic exes and she helped him out of those toxic relationships) she and the father don't really talk all that much so he knows little to absolutely nothing about her aside from the fact that she likes to talk funny sometimes and is really into dolls and aliens and a slight addiction to eating pixie straws (straws filled with powered candy or sugar)

He views her as a silent person nothing much

The elsens= they are the people that the father meets/sees/interacts with everyday/every once in a while but don't have much of a connection with (you know like a co worker you have small talk with or barely ever see)

Now for the plot :

After the father enters a comma the son starts to go from school to the hospital (they're very close to each other and you can say hugo is 5-7 years old and ) and visits his dad everyday and calls out to him hoping it'd wake him up

The mother scolds him for running off without super vision and that his dad won't wake up if he keeps calling him that whatever he does is useless that his father will remain to be a lifeless bag of meat on a bed

Hugo doesn't give up ignoring his mother's words

She realizes that hugo has an obsession with his unconscious father that is affecting his studies along with his social life

Zacharie doesn't make this any better because he offers to pick up hugo after school to prevent him from getting abducted or lost along with his jokes all the time

She slowly starts to Contemplate turning off the life support machine wondering if it would fix everything

Hugo hasn't been paying attention in class and thier marriage has been having a issues lately her family never liked or accepted him she sees zacharie and others as annoying and problems bringers and maybe they'd have less expenses if hugo didn't have to go to baseball pratice every day not to mention he'd less likely get hurt if he stopped playing

Everyone else started to convince her to turn off life support they discuss this next to the unconscious father

She prevents zacharie from seeing hugo and locks out any other connections the fatehr has

finally she becomes convinced however there's 1 barrier preventing her from doing that.....Hugo

The only person who truly gives hugo attention and love is his father without his father he'd feel lost and scared his mother is always working and doesn't give him much attention

Everyone tells him to give up on his dad and move on but hugo stands his ground

Alot of the arguments and conversations happen in the hospital room next to the father so he hears everything in his comma which leads to the creation of the world of OFF in his head

Therefore we play as hugo through out the game (dressed in a baseball outfit) solving puzzles and fighting enemies "purifying" the world

Not much changes the boss battles the add ons etc. Will remain the same in this au

Maybe there will be more rubber duck /duck/ bird themed stuff in this au aside from the pedalos (ex:move the boxes to make them look like a duck idk lol)

However the final boss will change

Canonly batter is stopped by the judge but in this au the judge sides with hugo because its the queen (the mother) who is trying to turn the switch off and hugo is trying to prevent that

So instead of the judge stopping hugo

Hugo will meet the queen, she will tell him to halt and not bother going any further that her intentions will not change hugo will begin to tell her off everything she's done wrong she will respond saying that she's doing it for thier sake (Hugo's and her's) but hugo calls her out and tells her its not true and she loses her patience with him leading to a boss fight if hugo wins then she will refer to him as "my little sweetheart" and fade into dust

"The room" will also change instead of hugo it'll be his dad (the batter)chained to a wall (basically a prisoner in his own mind) hugo will take 1 step forward activating a trap causing him to plummet down a tube and fall unconscious for a few minutes

When he wakes up he sees the queen and all the guardians standing before him the queen states that he can give up or die trying then she speaks to the puppeteer (the player) the you are given 2 options

1.aide with the queen

2.side with hugo

If you side with the queen you will have the guardians ok your side then Hugo's appearance will change as well he will appear to have a large head with a huge gaping mouth a baby rattle and apron and speech bubbles that say "wah wah" "whine whine" (stating that his mother sees him as a cry baby)

If you defeat hugo then the switch is immediately turned off and it gives 1 out of the 2 bad endings this ending is called "check mate" as a reference to a queen from chess

If you side with hugo then you will be defeated but you won't get a game over yet instead the queen will give you 1 last chance

Then you are given 3 options

1."surrender" 2."gasp for help" 3."cry"

If you choose surrender then you will get the 2nd bad ending in which in life support is turned off the father dies hugo becomes lonely with his mother busy all the time (and not allowing him out side the house and not trusting people) which leads to hugo growing up cold,plain and unloving

At some point there's a scene where adult hugo stares at his old mother laying on the kitchen floor in pain for a few minutes instead of helping her immediately indicating that he doesn't care

If you choose "gasp for help" then you will get the good ending "aye batta batta,strike!" In which hugo will call for help (while in deep pain from the fight) after a few calls judge,zacharie,sugar and a few elsens will come to the rescue and revive you fighting by your side allowing you to defeat the queen and guardians

Everything slowly starts to go back and the father wakes up from his comma everyone in the room stares in shock but hugo had the biggest smile on his face while standing next to his dad's bed "did...I miss something?"

"...daddy *breaks into tears*"

The 3rd ending called "better late than never" is triggered when you choose "cry"

Hugo will cry very loudly

The mother changes her mind and doesn't turn off life support but hugo stops visiting his dad and similar to the 2nd bad ending hugo grows up to be cold and unloving 13-16 years later hugo visits his father again and he finally wakes up from his comma and is discharged from the hospital after 1 year of rehabilitation therapy

By now the mother had remarried and the father missed his son's childhood so now he has to relive his life

However hugo meets a girl who is a complete opposite to him at work and church (rainbow hair,optimistic,enjoys music of various kinds,loves cute things,baking,jokes,and artist etc.) And is forced to work with her as well as she tries to get Hugo's attention so he asks his father for advice on how to get rid of this woman which leads to alot stuff going on and hugo allowing how to love and live life leading him to falling in love with the girl and becoming a new man

(This is personally my favorite ending lol and I MIGHT write fanfic of it on wattpad or here idk tbh )

Anyway this my OFF au I GUESS the name can change to the ON au or OFF/ON au lmao idk

Reblogs and feed back is appreciated

PLEASE DONT STEAL MY AU i worked hard on this thing spent 5 hours to write it all

Heh I sat this as of anyone is even gonna read whatever I dount it'll get noticed at all

[storm-driver]

hello! i've been interested in reading your fic about ventus and roxas for a long time, and i promise i'm going to once finals have passed. but i'm just curious: can you give a basic synopsis of about it's about? i've heard there's lots of plot twists and really cool lore behind it, so no spoilers for the big things. but i really REALLY need to know more until i can read it myself!

sure, no problem! i get that it’s finals season right now so there’s no pressure to try to read it now, especially since your education is WAY more important than a fanfic. believe me, i have no idea how i’m managing consistent updates what with my senior year coming to a close and i’m gonna have to start looking for a job.

“Atone and Repay” was originally written just days after Kingdom Hearts III’s release on the 29th of January (I got the game a bit early so I had finished it before everyone else). It was a one-shot that involved an in-depth look at Roxas’ archetype as a overly empathetic and passionate person rather than the angry smol boy that most fics seem to portray him as. 

I wanted to explore a side of the franchise that it’s only just begun to dip into: where the drastically different “masters” of the Keyblade interact with each other on a more personal level. Aqua was gonna be my choice from the very beginning because of her unique level as the only Keyblade Master among all the trios who had surplus years of experience in addition to her journeys. Riku comes close, but to be honest, I thought it was be immensely awkward to pair him and Roxas up considering their rough history. 

It was also gonna be a fill-in to possibly explain some of the stuff that happened with Aqua’s Keyblade. As of the end of Kingdom Hearts III, we only know that she relinquished Eraqus’ Keyblade for the grave that she, Ventus and Terra made for him. We don’t know if she ever found hers. Because Ienzo (at the time, Zexion) was told about the Chamber of Repose in the bottom of the castle, it made sense to me for him to be the center of this plot point. And at the same time, addressing the experiments that he and the other apprentices did before they became Nobodies.

The latter half the chapter… believe it or not, I don’t actually have any memory of writing it. I stayed up really late that night and well into the morning writing it so I could get it out as soon as possible. And little known fact about me: I have terrible memory issues correlating to how much sleep I get. I read it over and I can see what I was trying to do before I must’ve passed out. But anyways, the latter half of the first chapter brought Roxas to meeting with Terra and Ventus where he could be faced with the question if he truly wanted to keep wielding the Keyblade. How that plays out, I’ll let you ponder. 

But while that’s happening I did bring up some plot points having to do with Ventus and his memory loss, as well as the ridiculous trials he’s had to surpass to even get to where he is, dealing with whatever happened in Union X, his first heart-shattering experience, the 4-years of training under Eraqus, the second heart-shattering and subsequent dozen year sleep inside someone else’s body and his revival and reaction to everything that happened in Kingdom Hearts III. It’s a royal mess, but I think it hits home enough that you might get a bit misty-eyed, as I’ve been told by some of the people that have read it.

And this is all just for the first chapter. There’s currently seven chapters, well more on their way in the coming months. One thing to keep in mind is that the story is very much centered around Roxas and Ventus and how they two work with each other in the fallout of KH3 and the little twists that I myself and putting them through. It is a completely original plot that I’ve written myself, with the help of a few friends, notably Ventel (@wayward-wingblades) and Comet (@blinding-comet). It’s canon-compliant as much as it can be. Because Union X is still updating as I write it, at one point or another, it’s gonna skew. Unless I somehow managed to predict Union X perfectly. I probably didn’t. The update where we found out what Ventus’ original Keyblade was (the Missing Ache), that came out when Chapter 5 was being written, a day before I posted it. So do bear in mind, if you’re reading this at a later date where more details have been released, you’re not likely going to be able to relate them to the story. I’ll put in notes where the fic starts to diverge from the legit canon. But until that happens, we’re canon-compliant, baby ;)

[ugrush-the-merciful]

The Shopping Pitfall

One thing I've learned while playing a homebrew DnD game with a bunch of broke, overworked adults is that you don't need to spend a lot of money to play Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, there are books and miniatures and props and maps, but almost every gameplay scenario can be directed by one's own imagination, as long as you've got a charismatic DM and a bit of scratch paper. We've navigated whole towns of NPCs and complex, trap-filled lairs with nothing more than question-and-answer and some used plastic army men.

Having said that, some basic provisions will make the game much easier to follow. For instance, at least one person in the group should get their hands on The Player's Handbook. Much of what you'll glean from it will end up on your character sheet or your notebook, but navigating the items, spells, and traits of character management is challenging without a hard copy. No need to buy more than one, pass it around! WOTC will never know you didn't buy one for every player! A rulebook of some sort will be required, whether it's an online, searchable DB, or a condensed rulebook from WOTC, or the full-fat Dungeon Master's Guide, a viewable copy of the rules will help the DM referee and lay down the law. I've been lucky to play with a group that does not, by and large, want to spend time splitting hairs or can-I-do-this-while-grappled and so on; even so I'll be keeping a rulebook close. Finally, it's pretty difficult to play without some dice, and while you *could* get by with a single set of polyhedrals, it's much more convenient for everyone to have their own. A DM is likely to need additional d6's, d8's, and d10's if he or she is going to efficiently roll for damage once the action starts.

You would think with this much experience, I would be immune to the allure of a DnD shopping spree. Alas, you would be mistaken, and already I've fallen into the trap of attempting to buy competency when I should be working on the salient details of my little universe.

Can you blame me, though? It's never been easier to buy!

You're only ever one click away from dozens of modules and expansions, hundreds of accessories and minis, and literally thousands of dice. Dice for days. Everyone's making dice, because everyone wants in on Dungeons & Dragons. Wallets beware; no matter your level of play or interest, online retailers have you covered. Want a custom notebook, complete with character sheet? A polymer dice jail to punish unlucky dice rolls? A fully-custom 3D-printed miniature? A coffee mug with your character's stats on the side? A giant bag of holding to store your literal thousand dice? There's something for everyone!

What can I say, I'm only human, and I actually love the physical props available these days. I have every intention of making an in-universe World's Fair advertising flyer for each player. We're going full tactile on this.

But like Sagan said, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe”, and I haven't gotten there yet. My first real purchasing mistake was in trying to decide what kind of starter kit to spring for. Money is always tight in the Ugrush lair, so the cost difference of the "Essentials Kit" versus the "Starter Kit" blinded me to the pitfalls. I bought the former, and got a handy condensed rule book, a set of dice, a starter adventure module, and some pre-printed - and filled-in - character sheets for same. No blank sheets, no hex maps, no status markers, and only a digital code for a printable DM screen - the one physical item it seemed like every version of starter kit came with.

Whoops.

So I'm out $18, but I can take the hit. I seek out a screen, and get a bit more lucky with the "Wilderness Kit", which in addition to a 4-panel hardback screen, comes with some nice status cards and a lot of hex grid dry-erase panels for unscripted encounters.

Then my PCs start drafting characters for me to preview, and oh boy. Carl has spent so long as an NPC that he's fully committed to being a Fair participant / retailer as an Arcane Artificer. Does he care that it's a low magic setting where such magical artistry is likely to be frowned-upon in light of new-fangled technology? No, and that's fine and good for him etc. But shouldn't he care that it's not in my player's handbook and, so far as my knowledge base is concerned, may as well be a made-up class? Well If I told him that, he very well might, but I am gripped by cowardice and we soldier on. Nor can Leah, fresh off of playing the reluctant adult in a party of misfits, resist the siren call of the Swashbuckler - another expansion class.

This is how Wizards Of the Coast gets what they're owed. I'd be a bad DM for not knowing how these classes work, and a worse one for disallowing them for same! We're only starting at level 3, surely there are only so many tricks these crafty PCs can throw! But there's only one way to be sure.

One copy of Xanathar's Guide to Everything, please!

[oumakokichi]

First of all i'm gonna say that i really enjoy your blog and reading everything you have to say about the game i check this blog almost daily even! So i wanted to ask your opinion about something if that's okay? People say that the characters in this game feel less close than in other games so i wanted to ask how you feel about that? Ty!

Thank you anon! I’m really gladif I’ve been able to write stuff that’s enjoyable! And of course it’s okay—I reallyenjoy answering people’s questions here, so don’t hesitate to ask away!

Hmm… I wonder if you mean “lessclose” as in people feel less close to the cast themselves or as in thecharacters feel less close to each other than characters in previous DR games?The answer can probably change a bit depending on which one you mean.

If it’s the former, it’sprobably just a matter of personal preference! I personally wound up getting alot more attached to the ndrv3 cast than any other DR cast prior to this,mostly because I personally feel they’re a lot more fleshed out and developedin a lot of ways.

I think for each person the experienceis probably going to be different; most people have their particular favoriteDR game already and the DR cast that’s the most important to them. With ndrv3,it probably just depends on whether the characters themselves will personallyappeal to the individual playing it—and I’m sure that being able to actuallyplay the localization and seeing each character’s FTEs and bonus mode scenesfully translated will probably help a lot of people feel closer to thecharacters.

After all, the more informationthere is, the easier it is to get a fuller picture of things. If people feel alittle more removed from the ndrv3 cast currently I’d say lack of fullytranslated information is probably the biggest reason for that. But I know alot of FTEs have been translated already! Comun, Jess, and I, as well as awhole bunch of other people in the fandom, have been handling FTE translationsfor most of the characters so far (I still have Tenko’s and Miu’s to go), andNina (hajimikimo) provided full translations for all the love hotel scenes!

I feel like if people read someof those, they’ll warm up to the cast a lot quicker. Ndrv3 has a reallymemorable cast of characters, in my opinion, as well as a pretty wild plot fromstart to finish. After seeing what all the characters go through and how somany of them (especially the survivors) develop along the way, I think mostpeople won’t be able to help feeling at least a little bit attached by then.

However, if you meant “lessclose” as in the latter, with the characters feeling less close as a group thanin other games… well, there’s a reason for that, actually. This will betouching on spoilers from this point on, but basically, ndrv3 is the first gamein the main franchise where the characters didn’t used to all know each otherbeforehand. At least, not as far as we know, but even if their prologue selvesdid know each other, it’s pretty much a moot point because they’re all “differentpeople” now.

Unlike dr1 or sdr2, there’s nopast history between the ndrv3 characters. They didn’t used to be classmateswith one another, they didn’t have their memories about each other inparticular wiped. Unlike the past two games, there aren’t really any indicationsto believe that their ages might be older than what they assume in-game; thendrv3 cast are probably the closest to being actual high schoolers in a killinggame than any other DR cast before this.

Not only that, but ndrv3 playsa lot with the expectations we as players have from previous DR games. Thecharacters try to cooperate, work together, and ultimately spout a lot ofreally blindly optimistic platitudes about how “there’s no way the killing gamewill continue,” “they’ll definitely get out if they all work together,” etc.And this blind optimism gets subverted and called out heavily by the narrative(usually with Ouma as a mouthpiece).

There’s no reason for any ofthem to openly trust one another when they’ve known each other for such a shortamount of time. The only reason Saihara latches on to characters like Kaede andMomota as much as he does and in such a short amount of time as he does islikely due to his anxiety and insecurities making him a highly dependentperson. As someone who was supposed to be “weaker than anyone,” Saihara doestend to latch on and trust people pretty quickly, even when his job as adetective requires him to doubt andsuspect people all around him. It’s an interesting juxtaposition.

As for the rest of the groupthough, even the characters who claim to trust everyone implicitly are usuallylying about it. Kaede, despite how much she wanted to trust everyone and worktogether with them, ultimately relied on a plan where she worked alone andtrusted no one. Amami, who wanted to open up to the others, couldn’t even trustanything about himself in the end, and also worked alone. And Momota, who spokemore than anyone about relying on people and supporting one another, couldn’tbring himself to tell anyone in the group that he was dying, or evencommunicate with Saihara properly after the two of them had their falling outin Chapter 4.

The ndrv3 cast is supposed tofeel considerably less close as a group because ndrv3 in general deals so muchwith doubt, suspicion, and paranoia. The killing game breeds these things andmakes it impossible to really, fully trust others, no matter how much you mightwant to.

Ouma often emphatically remindsthe other characters of this, and despite how much the initial urge is to arguewith him because it sounds like he’s being antagonistic for no reason—he’sright, actually. It’s not realistic or doable to just believe in everyoneblindly; even someone who might call themselves your friend could very well behiding secrets from you. As long as the group continued to buy into such optimisticplatitudes, the killing game would keep continuing, and this gets very specificallyaddressed in Chapter 6.

Kiibo, without his inner voicefor the first time, acknowledges the fact that no matter how much they mightall talk about being friends and cooperating and how “no one’s going to dieagain,” there’s every reason to believe the killing game is actually going tokeep continuing. And he’s willing to literally demolish the entire school if itmeans ending the killing game for good, even if it requires ending everyoneelse’s lives.

This sort of hardline approachis a common theme of ndrv3. Doubting and suspecting others is necessary, notonly for Saihara, but for the whole group—just as trusting others, to somedegree, is also necessary. There’s a definite middle ground between the two, ablending of “truth” and “lies,” and an acknowledgment of the fact that neitherof those things is the “correct” answer necessarily.

Basically, the ndrv3 cast feela lot less close with one another because there’s no pre-written backstorybetween them all (again, as far as we know), and also because… well, they’reall lying to each other on some level. Where dr1 and sdr2 have the underlyingsort of optimistic theme of “we all used to be friends, we’re all friends now,we’ll stop this killing game and overcome it by cooperating together,” thatsort of approach doesn’t work in ndrv3—it’s subverted completely. The idea ofblind trust and cooperation is itself the problem, and that’s exactly why it’snecessary for the characters to doubt everything in the end, even their ownmemories, backstories, talents, etc.

Anyway, this was a really funquestion to write about! Thank you so much for asking, anon, and I hope I couldclear things up for you!