#ITS LIKE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DND AND LARPING

[saiintvalentiine]

staring with large and intense eyes at your Worse Person AU. How did (nice) Wifies get to Unstableverse. What does uu being LARP entail. I am invested. Also,,Wifies wearing a turtleneck to hide the collar from other people,, not being quite free but freer than he’s ever been when he’s in unstable..

sorry I had to like. . . actually do my job. ew.

I am staring back with my own large eyes. we are united in big eye-dom.

I think nice Wifies gets onto UU because Parrot asks, and the overseer (who is a beautiful evil woman in my head bc I love beautiful evil women) decides it's a good chance for popularity. The idea is that the overseer is as obsessed with fame, but is willing to do more intense things for it. So Parrot asks, and the collar gets a few upgrade for long-range use, and Wifies gets sent out.

UU as a LARP is kinda my favorite idea ever b/c to me its like. Spoke, Wemmbu, and Parrot found this weird world with all these problems, and the world doesn't hurt them or anything, it's just weird. So they told their friends, who came to see it, and from there they began talking like "oh wouldn't it be cool if x happened and then y" and they decided. Well. Why not? So they started factions and stuff to try and understand the server while also being able to LARP and have fun in a way that's more structured than their usual LS antics. LS is fun and has it's moments of structure, but this is more organized and that can be really attractive. It's like the difference between unplanned interblog RP vs a DnD session if that makes sense???? So they're all playing to "win" over each other, but they're never trying to actually really hurt seriously. This also helps explain why some of the plot points just kinda stop being relevant; they're just friends LARPing, so sometimes things don't work. JamatoP had stuff to do, so he gets axed from Spoke's story and Spoke makes it sound like they had a horrible breakup. Clown has time off so he joins suddenly and gets a huge arc in Parrot's videos before fucking off back to LS. Things like that !!!

My current explanation of the collar is this: it's made using materials off of Guardians for their electric properties, like their fins and scales. There's a spike in the back inner part that connects directly to Wifies's spine through the neck, and the overseer sends electric signals through it to override Wifies and make him do things, along with just being able to shock him badly in general for punishment purposes. It's probably a little difficult to hide, so big turtlenecks are necessary, though when it's visible its. . . kinda beautiful? It glitters like scales and is waterproof from it's Guardian origins. This is also why it messes with the voidwalker part of him— whatever Guardians are, I don't think they're quite natural. Their strange magic-not magic conflicts with void magic.

[halluciniwaynia]

one thing that kind of bugs me whenever ppl talk about hylics 2 “perfecting” jrpg combat and arguing that viewpoint from a purely mechanical perspective (hp, the meat system, the lack of weaknesses, etc) is that most ppl don’t give credit to the system for being as insanely streamlined as it is. simplicity in rpgs goes a long way to immersion when the rpg mechanics aren’t so removed from the characters and the overall pacing of the story. the biggest complaint many people have with old school jrpgs is not actually focusing on how “grindy” they are but rather how the bells and whistles of their core systems bog down down the actual experience and take away from the idea that your characters are growing in an organic and natural way. that is what breaks immersion and what pivots away from the core gameplay loop interacting with the game in a meaningful way.

Because, at the end of the day, people have always been roleplaying in games to some degree. DnD is perhaps the most famous example but LARPing and other forms of role-based play have been around for millennia with humanity in some shape and have always served as a method of telling a story and immersion in its most basal form. The many micro-managing elements of many jRPGSs have always served as a stop-gap between a rock and a hard place for more strategy based games and games that simply use units to tell some kind of cohesive narrative, and when said micro-managing elements become detrimental to the immersion of a player and the ease at which they can engage with the world, that’s when you start getting problems.

Simply put, hylics 2’s simple JRPG elements have never “redefined” combat. The game is simply not asking the player to engage with the combat as a means to its own end. In Hylics 2, every battle is a kind of spectacle, some kind of obstacle yes, but the limited enemy encounters streamline the pace of the game’s functions and how the player is interacting with the world around them. In its most basal form, Hylics 2 is using turn based combat to take players from setpiece to setpiece, contextualizing much of the game’s world within its mechanics as the terms “role” and “play” can be split apart and discussed in their most prescriptivist senses.

I think a good way to put this analysis into a bit more perspective is to compare Hylics 2 to Ultrakill, but placing them both on different ends of the same scale. While both are heavily stylized indie games with a unique artstyle and musical soundtracks, Ultrakill takes the maximalist approach with its gameplay loop and sense of immersive entanglement with its world, barraging the player with noisy and overwhelming stimulus to simulate the same kind of terror being experienced by the creatures within the game, while Hylics 2 does the opposite. It’s minimalist approach to sensory white noise comes from the abstraction of symbols, the lack of crystal clear visual cues and symbols often associated with games of its ilk, or even just the world in general. The game is meticulously designed such that (just like ultrakill is) it evokes the same kind of immersion in a slower, more deliberate way. Getting into the world of Hylics 2 is done via a drip feeding of barely legible (at first) information until the bigger picture finally arrives at the end and the lights, sounds, artwork and world finally come together in something that is halfway understood just as the characters in game experience it.

tldr I like the combat in hylics 2 it feels like real life. if I punch and kill a guy there is no respawning

[gorogues]

Hey :o) I've been mulling for a while on a possible (possible) "Rogues play DnD" fic (where business is slow and/or dangerous and they have to lie low a while, so Piper suggests he run a campaign and helps the others make characters, because "it's good for cohesion and teamwork, Len" and also "you get to loot and have fun with no real-life consequences"). I'm going with a vague, mostly pre-52 version of Hartley, James, Len, Lisa, Mark, Mick, Roscoe and Digger, btw.

So I have my own ideas about the classes and races of the characters they'd want to play, running the gamut between "character is nothing like its player" and "character is basically a fantasy version of the player"), but I'd love to hear your thoughts about it - and your mutuals/followers! What would fit them? What wouldn't, but they'd find hilarious (and make work somehow)?

tl;dn - DnD Rogues. Go nuts :o)

(GAH I forgot Sam but he's there too!)

Hi, fun concept! I have to admit that I know very little about DnD, so am not much help in assigning classes or races, unfortunately! But I can suggest who might be more likely to play someone similar or different from themselves. Sam in particular would go with something very different; this is a guy who LARPed as a cowboy, had some lulz pretending to be a heroic Mirror Master, and thought it'd be fun to play a random joe in a leadership class. His Black Lantern incarnation -- which wasn't him, but was based on his memories -- said that he became the Mirror Master because he hated who he was. So I definitely think he'd want to be someone very different and possibly unexpected. And James likes disguising himself and playing around with different identities and gender, so he'd also be quite open to playing someone very different from himself…it'd all be part of the performance.

I think Len and Roscoe would be likely to play someone mostly like their own selves, or perhaps someone more like who they aspire to be. Roscoe has literally been other people, but he's kind of rigid in his thinking and has struggled hard to be what his parents wanted from him (and truthfully he's probably told himself that's what he wants too, even if it isn't). Mick would probably choose someone quietly steadfast, the strong and silent type, since he often seeks tranquility to escape the chaos of his own thoughts. He'd likely be open to any class/gender/race so long as it fit that archetype.

It might be a cheap `n easy answer, but I suspect Mark would want to be a wizard because he's not hugely imaginative and would enjoy the gravitas of being some kind of powerful Gandalf type. In practice he'd probably come across as an unintentional ham. And I don't know what class or race Digger would be -- he might enjoy the challenge of something unexpected or ridiculous -- but am pretty sure his character would end up a drunken lout because that's just how he rolls. No pun intended :]

With Hartley I go back and forth on whether he'd go with the obvious bard archetype he genuinely enjoys being or try something entirely different to have a new experience…not sure, really. I don't know what class Lisa would play, but I think she'd want to have a female character because she's in a crowd of guys (not that they'd all necessarily pick male characters) and I think she'd want to assert her identity amongst them.

Not sure if this helps!

Anyone else have some input?

[talesfromthebandgeekmafia]

Ducknerva really has me legitimately considering writing fanfiction for the first time since I was 8

[yikesharringrove]

We’re Us

A little commishy for my bxtch @thinger-strang.

Read on Ao3

This shit is SOFT

-

“Dustin, we all saw that fireball hit you,” Will said accusatorily, gesturing to the red bean bag on the ground at Dustin’s feet.

“Okay, first of all, you’re supposed to call a pause of play before using my real name,” Dustin said, all in one breath. “And second of all, the fireball only hit my lute, therefore I sustained no physical damage.” Dustin gestured to the cereal box that was taped to a jump rope, slung over his shoulder like it was a prized instrument.

“No, it didn’t. We all saw it hit your shoulder. You’d lose that arm at least, and take probably, like, fifty damage points.” Lucas pretended to aim a bow and arrow at Dustin while he spoke.

Dustin was getting dangerously close to huffy territory.

“Fine. Whatever. I’ll take the stupid damage points. Can we resume play yet?”

Everyone nodded, and they fell right back into battle.

It wasn’t often they took the game off the DnD board, but the weather was perfect, summer beginning to make itself known a little earlier than usual, giving them April days that were clear and perfect and made for the best LARP sessions known to Indiana.

Will aimed a fireball at Max, and launched it right as she darted out of the way. It sailed past her, missing her left hand by less than an inch, and she laughed wildly, raising her pool noodle sword and aiming blow after blow at him.

The bean bag hit the fence and went spiraling awkwardly into the small alley between the house and the old wooden fence

It was Will’s last fireball, and he hurried to retrieve any he could reach, dodging as best as he could around Max’s wild sword-wielding.

She tended to wallop them as hard as she could, somehow knocking the wind out of them with her soft excuse for a sword.

Will scrambled to pick up his bean bag from the overgrown grass and curling weeds, catching his breath quickly in the alley where he couldn’t be seen.

And then a sound drew his attention away from the battle.

It was a soft sound. He wouldn’t have heard it if the rest of the party had been so quietly focused on battling one another less than twenty feet away.

But he did hear it, and his head whipped around to find the source of it.

Steve and Billy.

Against the house.

Kissing.

It was like time stood still.

Like Will had been hit by one of Mage El’s freezing bombs.

Steve had Billy pushed up against the side of the house, their bodies pressed flush together.

Steve was clearly propping up Billy with his body, Billy’s mobility cane, the one he had let them cover in stickers, was laying forgotten on the ground.

Billy’s arms were wrapped around Steve’s shoulders, his hands curled in the fabric of Steve’s t-shirt. Steve had his arms wrapped around Billy’s waist, half holding him close, half not letting him fall without his cane.

They were kissing like they were trying to devour one another, and Will realized that the sound he had heard was a moan.

It wasn’t like seeing Lucas and Max kiss, or Mike or El, or even Nancy and Jonathan.

Seeing Billy and Steve,

Will knew he shouldn’t be seeing them.

He knew this was wrong, and people said two boys kissing was foul and bad.

But this didn’t look anything but, well, loving.

The way Steve was making sure Billy didn’t fall while they kissed, the way sometimes they would pull back and smile, their faces never moving more than a few inches away from one another.

One of Billy’s rough hands left its place clawed in Steve’s t-shirt, reaching forward to brush one thumb clumsily down his cheek.

They pulled back from one another, smiling stupidly, still staring into each other’s eyes.

Billy brushed his thumb down Steve’s cheek again, and Steve moved like he was nuzzling into the touch, turning his head to the right, pressing a kiss to Billy’s rough, scarred palm.

It made Will feel like he was floating in space with nothing keeping him down.

Steve pressed a kiss to Billy’s cheek, then his nose, then his other cheek, and Billy’s cheeks flushed and he giggled, a sound that was so foreign to Billy Hargrove it almost made Will rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing the right person.

And Billy smiled, so calmly and easily.

It made his whole face change. He looked like a completely different person.

And Will realized, he’s never actually seen Billy smile like this.

The only times he’d come close, we tight tiny things that never reached his eyes and were dropped within a second or two.

This was a genuine smile, full of genuine happiness, and god -

They’re in love.

They’re two boys, and they’re standing right in front of Will and they’re in love.

They went back to kissing, moving their heads slowly side to side, their mouths opening and closing and Will was so aware of having never kissed anyone before.

“Will, seriously! I’ve been yelling for you-”

Mike stopped talking the second he rounded the house.

He was stalk still, his mouth hanging open like a dead fish at what he saw.

Will’s heart was thundering against his ribcage, and he tried to push Mike back towards the game, pleading quietly at him to move.

And then the rest of the group was joining them. Faces mirroring Mike’s dead fish expression as they stared, open-mouthed, at Steve and Billy.

Will had his back to them, but in the quiet, he could hear. He could hear the soft sounds and the moans, and even the giggles that made his face go hot and his stomach do a whole gymnastics routine inside of him.

Will was staring at each of his friends in turn, pleading with them to just turn right around, and continue on with play as nothing had ever interrupted their battle.

Like they haven’t just stumbled on a huge and dangerous secret.

He went as far as to push Lucas, gently shoving him backward saying go! Go! Under his breath.

The last thing he needed was for Steve and Billy to notice them here. To realize what they had seen. What they know.

And then-

“What the fuck?”

Billy and Steve broke apart, looking towards the entrance of the alley, and seeing all six of the party, staring at them.

Max had been the one to speak, and she was looking at Billy oddly, almost like she didn’t know who he was.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She asked, her voice quavering slightly.

Billy looked like he wanted to ground to swallow him right up.

Steve scrambled for the forgotten cane, keeping one hand on Billy’s elbow as he crouched down.

The movement made Will’s stomach flop over.

It was practiced.

Once Billy was standing on his own with the cane, Steve approached the kids calmly, his hands raised up like they were all wild animals that might attack at any moment.

“Look, I know how this looks, and you guys can’t-”

“It looks like, you guys were making out .” Dustin’s tone was hollow, and he looked as struck dumb as the rest of them.

“I know, and I mean, yeah. We were, but you need to listen -”

“Steve.”

Steve whipped right around when he heard the murmur.

Billy was standing slumped over against the house, one scarred, shaking hand covering his face, the other clutched so tightly to his cane his knuckles were white.

“Bill, I’m here, okay? I’m not going anywhere. You’re okay.” Steve rushed to Billy’s side, holding onto his elbow again, brushing his fingers softly through Billy’s short hair, winding his fingers through the wild curls that were just long enough to form. “I’ll deal with this. It’s okay. They’re not going to tell.” Steve glared at the kids when he said that, as if daring them to argue.

Billy kinda, fell forward, leaning against Steve once again, his face going into Steve’s neck.

Steve didn’t react, still brushing his fingers through sandy blond curls.

“You all know what could happen to us if people found out?”

Nobody answered him.

Truth is, they did know.

They knew the stories about young men being beaten nearly to death. Being run out of town or put in the hospital over nothing but a rumor.

Being gay wasn’t something that was tolerated in Hawkins.

Hell, Will himself has been pushed around and called queer as long as he could remember.

Even by his own father.

“We won’t tell anyone.” Will felt like how Billy looked. Like he was shaking apart right in front of them. “I promise. We won’t. Not anyone.” He could barely get the words out. It was like his jaw had locked up with the rest of his bones.

He thinks it would kill him if anything happened to Billy and Steve over this. They needed to keep them safe.

He needed to keep them safe.

“Yeah. I promise,” El parroted. Steve beamed at them.

Will knew El had been very confused the first time she heard about Ryan Anderson, the high school sophomore that had been humiliated and beaten so badly his family had to leave town six years ago.

She didn’t understand how a boy that liked to kiss other boys was something that merited violence.

Hopper had surprised them all by saying that it didn’t, but some people felt like it did.

Who you kiss doesn’t matter as much as who you are. If you’re a good person, it’s all just extra fodder. But some people like to they’re better than anyone that’s different than they are.

El had called those people bad and that was the end of it.

“Billy, I won’t tell.” Max didn’t take her eyes off Billy while she spoke. “I swear. I’ll never tell anyone. Not even mom.”

Billy’s hand flexed on the handle of the cane, and his knees gave a wobble. Steve kept him upright, leaning over to murmur into his ear.

Will could just barely make out the words I’ve got you.

“I promise, too.” Dustin’s cereal box/lute was forgotten on the grass at his feet. “The party protects each other. It’s one of our laws.”

“Yeah, we stick together. This isn’t different.” Max gave Lucas a watery smile when he spoke up in turn.

Mike was quiet.

It was well-known how much he disliked both Steve and Billy.

All of the kids had some trouble trusting Billy after everything that had happened last summer. Billy didn’t seem to blame them. He kept to himself, even when he moved from his cold room in the military hospital into the Byers’ spare bedroom seven months ago, he was like a ghost moving through the house.

Only Steve could make him come out of his shell in those early days. Only Steve could make Billy join them for dinner and movie nights, take slow walks around the yard with his walker, and later with his cane. Only Steve could make Billy’s shoulders relax from their defensive position up around his ears, and now, it was finally dawning on everyone why.

The kids mostly left him alone, only Max and El bridging the gap and actually speaking to him. Max had been determined to see Billy through his recovery, glaring at him and watching like a ginger hawk while he did his physical therapy, practicing his grip and moving buttons from one bowl to another.

El would sometimes talk to Billy in a hushed voice. She would get him on his own and hush words like Papa and Mama and bad and Billy would have to retreat to his bedroom for slowly decreasing amounts of time.

Nobody but Joyce and Hopper knew what she saw in Billy’s head. They were just informed that he wouldn't be returning home after his two-month stint in the military hospital. Max hard clenched her jaw and nodded jerkily and nobody dared ask any further questions.

He and Will traded a lot of good mornings and tended to generally avoid eye contact when they came across one another in the house.

But none of them hated him, they were just a little weary.

Mike, on the other hand, had some unexplained vendetta against both Billy and Steve and Will found himself willing Mike to be kind in this moment. To not see this as some power over them, or something.

“Okay,” he said slowly. “Dustin’s right. We protect each other.”

Steve gave them a smile that was so dazzling and bright, it almost gave off its own light.

His eyes were shining and he gave a watery laugh.

“They really meant it when they said children are the future.”

“Who said?” El asked him.

“I don’t know, actually. Just people, I guess.” Steve shrugged, jostling Billy who was still nestled in his shoulder. “Look, seriously guys, thank you. I can’t even imagine how I would’ve felt if-nevermind.” He cut himself off quickly, shaking his head. “It just means a lot. To both of us.” Steve smiled at them one last time, this time much softer and thoughtful. “You’re good kids.”

Nobody said anything else. They didn’t know what to say to Steve.

“I came back here to get my fireballs. I, uh, I got ‘em.”

Everyone looked back at Will, and, almost like they were coming out of a trance, began picking their makeshift weapons back off the grass, and chattering idly as they went back to the yard in order to continue their battle.

Will lingered for a second, looking over his shoulder at Steve and Billy, who were still wound together.

They were talking softly, and Will was pleased to see Billy lift his head back up, still looking pale and nervous, but smiling at Steve.

He leaned back down and planted a kiss on Steve’s neck, right above the edge of his t-shirt.

Will felt his face go hot, and tugged himself away, going back to the game.

It wasn’t until well after dinner, when everyone else had gone home, that they spoke about it again.

Will. Will! Do you copy? Over.

The static rasping of Mike’s voice through the walkie-talkie was coming from under Will’s bed where he had stashed it.

He quickly turned down the volume dial on the side before answering.

“Yeah, Mike. I copy. Over.”

“We need to talk about today,” Mike said through the walkie. “I mean, did you have any idea? Over.”

“No. I didn’t,” Will said, truthfully. Finding out had made a lot of things clunk into place, but that doesn’t mean Will knew. “Over.”

“It’s just, neither of them seem the type. You know? Over.”

Something about that statement didn’t sit too right with Will.

Before he could respond another voice crackled through the channel.

“This is gold leader joining the conversation to let Mike know he’s being a dick. Over.”

Will laughed. Trust Dustin to listen in on the conversation and come forward to defend Steve.

“Lucas, do you copy, too? Over.” Will waited a moment after he asked.

“Yeah, I copy. I wanted to hear what you all were saying first. I don’t really know what to think about all this. Over.”

“I don’t think there’s much to think about. Steve seems happy. Billy too, I guess. Over,” said Dustin.

Will’s heart swelled with a pride he didn’t quite understand at Dustin’s words.

Outside in the hall, the phone rang.

Will heard his mom scramble to pick it up, calling softly down the hall for Billy, and the unmistakable thumping of Billy and his cane coming to take the call.

He heard his mom scrape a chair over for him and retreat to her room, giving him some privacy.

“It’s just scary, you know? Like, something really bad could happen to them if anyone else found out.” Will thought for a second. “You think anyone else knows? Over.”

“Robin. She was making comments to Steve a few days ago about his secret relationship and I kept asking him about it until he punched me in the arm. She knows. Over.”

“I’m just confused,” Mike sighed down the line. “Steve dated my sister for like, a year. And Billy is always disgusting and flirting with my mom. Or at least, he would do that. You know, before. Over.”

“Yeah, that’s just Billy being Billy,” Max chimed in.

“You have to say over when you’re finished. Over.”

“ Fine, dickheads. Over.”

“That makes sense, but Steve and Nancy doesn’t. Over.”

“Lucas, it doesn’t have to make sense. David Bowie says he likes guys and girls. Billy has, like, three different magazines where he says that. Over.”

“Max is right. We don’t have to understand any of this. They seem happy, and good together, and that doesn’t really concern us. Over.” Will was hoping he could speed through the rest of this conversation. He could hear Billy in the hall, shifting and murmuring something Will couldn’t make out but was dying to overhear.

He had a feeling he knew who was calling.

“But, now it does concern us. We know. And as we’ve previously established, the more people that know, the more danger they could be in. Over .” Dustin almost sounded as though he might cry.

“Then, we can’t talk about it. Not unless we know for a fact that we aren’t going to be overheard. And maybe we should give them codenames. Only call them something like Han and Leia when there’s a chance of someone listening in. Over.”

“I like Lucas’s codename idea, but I’d rather die than call them Han and Leia. Over.”

“Okay, Mike, it was the first thing that came into my head! What, you think you have a better idea? Over.”

“I don’t know. Harold and Maude? Over.”

“That’s stupid, Mike. Clearly, they’re Bert and Ernie. Over.”

Will snorted at Max’s suggestion. He heard Billy coughing wildly in the hall. He listened carefully to him until it died down and he knew it wasn’t a bad one.

“I think we’ve come to an agreement. If we need further discussion, codenames: Bert and Ernie. Okay, my mom wants me to spend time with her tonight. So this is gold leader, signing off. Over and out.”

“I’m going too. Over and out,” Mike said.

“Over and out,” said El, not surprising any of them that she was listening in. She did that a lot. Simply listen to her own walkie, and when asked why she didn’t say anything would shrug and go nothing to add. They only asked that she sign off so that they knew she got whatever information they had discussed.

Everyone followed with their own sign-offs, and Will twisted the top knob on his walkie, shutting it off.

There was a moment of silence out in the hall, and then three beats on Will’s door.

He found Billy on the other side, slumped in the chair under the phone, his cheeks going red.

“Can’t get up,” he grunted. “Can’t reach the hook.”

Will didn’t say anything, nodding quickly and avoiding eye contact as he took the phone, placing it carefully back on the hook.

Billy got stuck in chairs fairly often.

His core muscles had been slashed up worse than anything else, and sometimes he just needed a good pull up.

Will took hold of his wrist, leaning his body weight backward to yank Billy to standing.

Billy kept his weight heavily on his cane, patting Will once on the upper arm in thanks.

“You guys know Steve has one of your little walkie-talkies, right?”

“ What ?”

Will genuinely didn’t know that.

“Dustin gave him one. I don’t know when, but he’s got it.”

“So, uh, so he heard. Everything.”

“And relayed it all to me through an embarrassing amount of tears, by the sounds of it.”

But Will could see that Billy’s eyes were brighter than usual in the dark, and suddenly Will remembered that there had been a wet spot on Billy’s sleeve.

“Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I mean, well, you’re good kids. All of you.” Billy patted him on the shoulder again. “I was shitting myself out there when you found us. Thought for sure one a’ yous would go squealing.”

“Maybe we would’ve. Before.”

“Never thought I’d be grateful for nearly being turned inside-out.”

“And I never thought I’d be grateful for being found dead in the water, but here we are.”

“Yeah, shit’s pretty weird if you stop and think about it for a few minutes. Near-death experiences really put your sexuality in perspective.”

“Is that why you two started dating? Perspective?”

Billy huffed a breath, looking up towards the ceiling. He coughed twice, and Will could pretty much hear his lungs rattle and crackle.

“Yeah. ‘S why we started dating. Both of us kinda realized there’s no sense in feeling like shit about the things that can actually make you feel not like shit.”

“So, you’re in love? Both of you?”

Billy’s cheeks were flooded with color, the deep red spreading all the way back to the tips of his ears.

“I think so. We’re both a little too fucked in the head to say it, but,” he shrugged lamely, not bothering to finish his thought, and looking anywhere but at Will.

He gets it, though.

Fucked up parents make for fucked up kids.

Will considered himself the luckiest person on Earth, and any kinda parallel universe, that he had his mom to stop, and later heal, all the damage his dad had caused.

“Well, I’m glad that you have it. Both of you. I mean, we saw you guys. And after everything, it's good that you’re happy.” And Will meant it.

Even before last summer, he had never seen Billy look the way he did when he was kissing Steve. Look that calm, and relaxed, and that goddamn happy. It really meant something.

Especially to Will.

Because he had never thought of someone looking that happy when they kissed someone else.

He had never thought of a boy looking that happy when he kissed another boy.

Billy surveyed Will for a moment, still leaning heavily on his cane in the hallway.

Will had the suspicion that Billy could see right through him.

“He came to visit me a lot when I was in the hospital. Steve, I mean. I don’t know why he did. It’s not like we were friends or anything. But one of those days, when I was barely awake he started talking about everything that happened those couple days.” Billy shifted closer to the wall, bracing himself with one hand as he lowered himself back into the chair. “The Russians. I don’t know what he’s told you kids, but it wasn’t pretty.”

“He hasn’t said anything. I mean, we all saw how he looked after, so we figured maybe he got in a fight.”

Billy chewed on his bottom lip.

“Look, you gotta swear not to tell any of the others this, but, uh, it was a bit more than a fight.”

Billy was giving him a meaningful look and something churned around in Will’s stomach.

“Torture?”

Billy gave a tiny, shaky nod.

“He started talking about it. Said after that, he started thinkin’ about shit different. Said he thought he was gonna die down there and that nothing would change without him. It was heavy, and I was mostly feeling the same way, and I think that’s why he told me. Knew that I could get it. After that he kept visiting, and I noticed that I didn’t hurt as much when he was there. Or maybe I did, but having him there, squinting at the t.v. ‘cause he can’t see worth a’ shit, or making some stupid comment about a nurse on the floor just made it easier. He makes a lotta shit easier.”

“I think that’s what it should be like. I don’t think love should make things harder.” Will thought of his mom and dad, and how different she acted with Hopper.

Like she didn’t hurt as much when he was there.

“It was hard in the beginning. I mean, before we got together. I thought that he didn’t feel the same way, you know? That I was just being an idiot, feeling like that for my best friend. But then he told me. He’s always been a lot braver than people give him credit for. Anyway, he told me, and it should’ve been fucking terrifying. And I was scared of people finding out. Still am, but it’s like, even if we get run outta town, and everyone we care about turns against us, it’ll be fine because we’re not just me an’ him, we’re us .”

Billy blinked quickly, almost as if he was surprised by his own words.

They clanged around in Will’s head.

We’re not just me an’ him, we’re us.

“You don’t have to be scared, though. I mean, of people finding out. Of turning against you both. We won’t let that happen. Not about something like this.”

Billy gave him a weak smile.

“I guess it makes sense. I mean, you all took me in after killing half the town. Tracks that you wouldn’t throw me out for. Being gay.”

“There are worse things to be than gay.”

“Psycho killer not one of them?”

Will gave Billy as unimpressed of a stare as he could muster.

“That wasn’t you. You forget, I know what it was like to have him controlling me. I know what it’s like to not do anything to stop him, even when you are fighting with everything you’ve got. I nearly killed my mom. I even might have, if I’d been stronger. You fought against him, and in the end, you won. I never could’ve done that.”

Billy just stared at the wall slightly above Will’s left shoulder.

“I killed people, too. When he had me. Led a whole group of people right into a trap. And it still scares me what he did. But I know that it wasn’t me that did it. It wasn’t you that did any of that, Billy.”

“I tell myself that. Hell, Steve tells me that about every five minutes. Just hard to watch yourself doing that awful shit and not be able to tell your body to knock it off.”

Will didn’t know how to respond, so he didn’t.

Billy was right. It was a nightmare watching yourself hurt people around you, feeling like you were in the backseat, screaming at yourself to stop.

But Billy had done what Will couldn’t’ve.

Right at that last moment, he stood up to the thing controlling his every move.

Stood up to that horrific flesh monster, adn died rather than let it kill El.

El, who he didn’t even know.

And then Billy’s bedroom door down the hall opened slowly, and Steve poked his head into the hall, swearing under his breath when he saw someone in the hall with Billy and trying to duck out of sight, knocking the back of his head into the doorframe and swearing again.

Billy laughed, a low wheezy laugh that ended in a short coughing fit.

“Real fuckin’ subtle, Harrington,” he choked out.

The door opened once more and Steve stepped out into the hallway, trying to look casual.

“I didn’t realize it was you there, Will. How’s it goin’?”

Billy laughed again, and gestured for Steve to come and help him stand up.

Steve did so quickly, smiling warmly at Billy when he had righted him on his feet, and keeping hold of Billy’s arm.

“Why are you sneakin’ in my window like some kinda perv?”

“Because I wanted to talk. I have a lot of emotions today.” Steve turned to address Will. “You kids are gonna be the death of me. And I mean that in the nicest way I possibly can.”

“Yeah, well. You guys are family.” Will shrugged, feeling very awkward when both Steve and Billy. Looked as though their eyes were overbright. Will panicked, trying to think of an exit strategy before he saw either of them cry.

He had seen them both in too many intimate moments today.

“Um, I’m pretty tired, so I think I’m gonna go to bed. Let me know if you need, uh, help tomorrow. You know, heading of my mom or anything.”

Will turned on his heel and slipped back into his own bedroom.

“Alright, Bert. It’s been a long day and I’m gonna need some help getting into bed. My legs have gone totally stiff.”

“Oh, in no way am I Bert! I’m totally Ernie. You’re Bert. Think about it: you’re surly, and rude, and-”

“Gonna dump you if you don’t shut up and help me go to bed.”

“Spoken like a true Bert.”

[olinnordenn]

I am Marco Diaz

Introduction

My kidlet discovered SVTFOE in 2020. In an attempt to spend some quality time together I started watching the show with them. It was early in season two when I started and after two episodes each night before bed we finished the series in about a month.  I then went back to see what I missed.  Between episodes we’d talk about what we liked with the animation and story, what we thought could have been better, and tried to guess what would happen next.

Realization

My mother has a habit of sending old photos from when I was a kid. You would think it’s because she wants to brighten my day but really my parents are trying to purge my childhood home of anything they no longer need. In one of these pictures I'm around 13 years old and sitting on the floor of my room. I'm making a weird face but look like a generally happy kid in my signature deep red sweatshirt, dark blue jeans, and styling a haircut that was pretty standard for back-in-the-day. If you look close you can even see a mole on one of my cheeks.

Overall this is the Marco look other than I don't share the character's Mexican heritage. Instead I have the type of skin that can get a sunburn in a rainstorm.

Growing up I kept my room very clean. True to form, the photo shows everything on my bookshelf well organized and in its right place. I'm kind of proud looking back at this. My mom likes to tell stories like how I once put notes on my laundry piles so I could tell which one was clean and which one was dirty. Very Marco.

Thinking back to what I did as an early teenager, it was everything Marco did pre-Star, just swap out strip-mall karate for Boy Scouts & backyard sports (we didn't have any dojo's nearby back then). I cooked for myself, watched karate movies, helped my mother with housework, and for the most part I took on any responsibilities that came my way. Like Marco, I even had two friends like Alfonzo and Ferguson who I played DnD with.

More important than all this, I had many of the same qualities.  Am I working hard enough to be the best I can be? Should I do more than nod at that girl and risk embarrassing myself?  All the issues he had at the beginning of the series (more than I have time to mention here), I had them too. If it wasn't for a classmate telling me we were going out in middle school and the same girl telling me we were going out again senior year of high school I likely never would have even dated back then. I was selfless to the point of making myself miserable, always playing it safe, and locking up my own feelings (even ones about who I liked) to avoid making anyone else feel uncomfortable.

This continued into sophomore year of college. It wasn’t until I met the teacher who became a role-model for how I wanted to live my life that I changed. Instead of talking about grades, a few times a week we talked about family, dreams, feelings. He was a loving, compassionate man who was confident just being himself.  I wouldn’t say he was a best friend, more like an Eclipsa who  helping me figure out who I wanted to be.

After college my family expected that I would keep living at home, maybe find a crappy job, stay safe. However my mentor gave me one last gift when school ended. He set me on a path that led me to NYC. Although scared of failure, like Marco I was organized and planned for every contingency. What got me through the change, knowing that if I pull this off I could do anything.

Looking back I wonder what would have been different if I had met my best friend when I was 14 like Marco did.  How much farther could I have gone if I had someone to help me figure myself out with at a younger age?

My Star

I was 23 years old and I found myself in the basement of a Brooklyn storage building that hosted a LARPing group. It might have been weird but after a few events I was certain that I had finally found people I could be myself around. Also exciting for me, a few weeks earlier I got into a potentially awesome relationship. I had met a young brunette who was falling hard for me. She wasn’t exactly Jackie but she did have some Jackie like qualities. I was broke, worked a crappy job, but after a few failed relationships in and after college it looked like having someone meaningful in my life was finally possible.

There in that basement I waited for the next game to start. Looking out into the crowd I noticed that a young woman had entered the room and was being introduced to people. She wore a wide smile, loose fitting blouse & skirt, and on her feet Birkenstocks. Her extremely long blonde hair flowed like a halo with a glow that lit up the room. Yes she was beautiful but her most appealing feature, she looked truly happy just being there in the moment meeting people. It was at that instant, that first time I saw my Star, that I knew she was the one I would marry.

Shortly after, her boyfriend introduced me to her. (Yes, the boyfriend played a character in the LARP with horns.  And YES he used fire magic. Total Tom. 100% not joking.) Smiling at each other, my Star and I instantly became friends. Over time I found that we shared a ton of interests, she was my intellectual equal, was incredibly easy for me to talk to, and she had the ability to spread an infectious happiness whenever she was surrounded by friends.

I don't remember when exactly she became my best friend but it didn't take long. Eventually we would talk about our current relationships and what was not right since there was a lot missing for both of us. Like in SVTFOE, I learned that trying to help someone you like find happiness in a relationship with someone else can be VERY uncomfortable. In the end it took exactly one year to the day from when we met to when we had our photo booth moment.  It was then that we talked each other into, in the nicest ways possible, ending our Jackie and Tom relationships. Within a few months of those breakups we nervously admitted that we had to be a couple and we’ve been together since.  Also like Star, my Star was from a different kingdom (we’ll call it Boston) so I too picked up my life and moved out there to be with her.

For those that don't know what LARPing is, it involves running around in the woods, fighting "monsters", and saving the world. Together we were aces at it. She played a spell caster while I was a warrior and we became well known for working as a team and always having each other's backs. We did this for over a decade only stopping when both of us had reached as far in the game as we could go, effectively running virtual kingdoms, and ruling courts of knights & squires that were friends of ours both in and out of game.  Part of our fun was also always working to make sure everyone involved had the opportunity to enjoy themselves. In all ways we had won.  

At the end of SVTFOE, Marco admits that he fell for Star right from the beginning. I've seen fans complain about how this didn't make any sense but I completely disagree. Love at first sight happens but it can be a long confusing path from awkward introductions to togetherness much like it was for Star and Marco.  I waited until the day we were married before I told my Star of the prophesy I came up with that first instant I saw her.

Art

I took a few art classes back in high school and accidentally ended up an art major. It is a long story but basically I didn't get into my first major choice. Rolling with the punches I gave it a try and the weird part, I liked it.

In college I fully embraced my Marco-like organization and focus qualities. Other students were into parties, weed, and other young adult activities. I just painted and focused on making myself better. Sophomore year I transferred to a traditional art school and finished with a BFA, the school’s painting prize, and several scholastic accolades.

What school did not prepare me for was making a living. I was in NYC, trying to connect to the art community but no matter what I tried I did not like any of the people I met. Looking back I did not have enough drama in my life to be interesting to them and their unnecessary drama did not interest me. On top of that NYC can be fantastic but being in the city with no money is depressing! After about two years I gave up on making art as my profession. My Star and I spent a long time talking about ideas and I eventually ended up with an IT help desk job at a museum.

Fast forward to 2020, I’m managing a software development team. A lot of what I do is helping people use IT to make their jobs easier. Very different from where I started but those Marco-like organization and focus skills made it work. Looking back it was the right decision and I'm happy knowing how many people & businesses I've helped during my career but there is some truth that my personality type would likely be much happier doing something else.

On top of my own art experience, I have a budding young artist at home. My youngest started drawing at two and it just comes naturally to them. As soon as they could write the drawings turned into stories and short comics. For fun we would draw together in my old sketchbooks, each taking one side of the same page. Now a teenager, we talk about animation software and the best outfits for their crew of characters. As I’m getting older I’m thinking, how can I help them be prepared for following their dream as well as make a living?

Beach Day

I remember the day I introduced my Star to my grandmother. By this point my grandma was frail and forgetting words was common. She came up to my Star carrying a picture of herself from when she was maybe in her 30s. Holding up the black and white photo all my grandmother could only get out a few words, "This is when I was."

The scary part of growing as a person, we don't stay the same. I am not the same Marco I was 20, 10, even 2 years ago. Neither is my Star. What used to make us happy has changed. On top of that our own bodies are forcing changes on us whether we like it or not.

Near the end of the series Star needs to know why the future isn't as perfect as she thought it would be. Looking for an answer she visits Father Time and asks him why. As Star leaves, too far away for her to hear, he says to himself, "Too bad the hardest times are still ahead." This line sticks with me. I keep thinking that he wasn’t just talking about the climatic end of the show, he was talking about the rest of their lives.  This applies to our lives as well.

The episode ends with Star and Marco having a conversation about making their own happiness no matter what happens. My Star and I talk about this too.  With everything changing all the time it’s not always perfect but we try.  

Ever After

My 12 year old (now 13) didn't get it. Having never been in love they don't understand why at the very end of SVTFOE I get upset. In the last scene the two main characters are together and about to start their ever after. We should be happy for them but all I want to do is warn them about how hard the rest of their lives are going to be together.

You'll experience the happiness of laying in the grass with your love, warmed by the midday sun. You'll know what it’s like holding your newborn, watching them discover life. You'll make holiday dinners for friends and family not just to show them how much you care but to fill your own heart knowing you've made them happy.

You'll have someone to debate all the big decisions, someone you can trust with anything. You are going to be told that you both have made a difference in someone else's world. You'll know that you are a shining example of true love to others.

But even with all that, nothing prepares you for that job that tries to steal your soul. The exhaustion of babies that keep you both up every night for months. The despair when your young child screams and thrashes at you until all you can do is put them down and walk away. The fear when mysterious pains send the two of you to the emergency room at 2 AM. The heartbreak that comes from holding a baby the size of your palm as they take their only breaths. All the times where there is nothing you do can break your best friend out of their crippling depression. Listening to your own kids tell you that they don't want to be your friend. Knowing that you've both spent years so deep in the rat race that you've sure you have missed something, you just don't know what.

Worse yet, you are going to have friends who just laid down to take a nap and never wake up. You'll lose parents because they refused help fighting their own demons. Worst of all, some day you are going to lose each other.  Not only do you have to think about it, you have to be a responsible adult and plan for it.

Those are the big things.  In ever after even the little issues will drive you crazy.  I still try to keep my living space organized while my Star would rather live in Star’s closet full of secrets.  That alone continues to causes soooo much stress.

Thank You

2020 was  a rough year. Our country was politically imploding, we were living in a pandemic lockdown, and I hit a certain birthday that officially qualifies me as old. After my youngest and I finished the series I went online to see if more seasons were planned. This brought me to the beautiful concept artwork on Daron Nefcy's personal web page. From there I listened to interviews where she spoke about storytelling and her experiences as an artist. Eventually I found this whole community who also loved this show.

Where I find happiness in all this is knowing that a group of ordinary people, who all have their own hopes, fears, and dreams, got together and created something extraordinary. In the end they have inspired not just a legion of fans, they have inspired me and for this I say thank you.  Thank you for giving me a story about a magical teenage princess and her best friend that somehow I feel that I can relate too.  Fighting monsters, done that.  Falling in love with my best friend, check.  Save the world and cleave dimensions?  If dong it in a LARP counts, done that too.

My Star is still my best friend.  If you are looking for your own Star or Marco, whether you're 14 or 24 or 34, I hope that my personal story with this show helps you with your journey.

One final word on Art, during the lockdown I started painting again. It didn’t stick so instead I tried doing some writing as a creative outlet.  So far that one seems to be scratching that creative itch that I’ve ignored for far too long. -

This is my entry for the r/StarVStheForcesofEvil, June 2021 Writing Contest.  The subject for this contest was Reflection and the suggestion was writing about what made the show special to you.  Hopefully you all have a story like this too.  Before you ask, yes.  That is the photo my mom sent of me on the left.  On the right is one of the few pictures I have of my Star from back when we used to LARP.  -

One final note, unlike Marco I do not wear a fanny pack because that is totally dorky...except when I go running...or when I have no pockets.  And I only have my phone in it...and maybe some money...and a snack.  But totally nothing else...maybe.

[savrenim]

omg i can't believe you replied-- i'm so starstruck right now! and wow, your reply is so long, like i said i would have been perfectly happy if you'd just said: "no" but you actually put in the effort to write such a long reply?? so thank you. alright now: i had no idea about ur original book, and I am so excited to read Opus I will buy it as soon as I can. 'm really excited for it now too, lol! will recommend it to all of my friends. running out space will add more on another ask

ok its me again. hi! i want to read honestly everything you said you'll write in your list of projects, but mostly Opus and witch-queen! actually sounds amazing! i will definitly try out ur book, esp if it's free-- and i have NO doubts that lots of other people will too! i'd buy it. and thank you-- for being so nice to your readers and writing projects that have literally make all the difference in people's lives and still carrying on even though there's not a lot of response. --carried on--

thank you for offering a bit of closure for itfmlam and all in all just being an amazing person. thank you thank you thank you! i... don't know what to say anymore, i'm not very good with words but, yeah. thank you. (and i expect that i WILL love opus-- gay and ploitics and Seers - yes! - all sound like they make a wonderful novel!)

yeah the tumblr ask system is ridiculous but also it is very fun to receive a bunch of asks in a row because The Ask System Is Ridiculous, it's almost a big "DnD joke sending Sending and running out of the 25 words because you don't plan your message ahead of time and keep babbling so keep re-casting the spell" sort of mood and I love it

I am really really glad that there is Someone out there who will give Opus a try which if you've read a beating heart of stone you've already met Saes and Luka which abhos is already so funny because, like. they're both in character for their circumstances but Saes will appear so different in the novel bc her circumstances are that different in the novel but I am. so, so excited about it. there are just so many tiny things that I love. it has The Gay. it has Enemies To Ride Or Die BFFs Speedrun. it has both Actual Intricate Fun Backroom Deals Backstabbing Politics and also Dramatic Duels To Settle Things a la “You know, I can hear you thinking that our government is fucked up and archaic. You can say it to my face.” “I was trying to be polite.” “You are forgetting one very very important detail. We have the defense of ‘we will beat you in a fistfight, therefore we are right and you are wrong.’” “Your government is incredibly convenient to me in particular and also fucked up and archaic.” it has 'so many of these characters are sassy little shits' as evidenced by the previous dialogue. it has 'if I've done this right it will start out feeling like okay fast-paced fun action and then you get like ten chapters in and PSYCHE there are Feelings shit just got Real'. it has such a weird fun civilization and culture that I made from scratch with a conlang where pronouns are not gendered but instead assigned by the speaker to the person that they're talking about based on the amount of respect the speaker has for that person and New Fun Verb Moods like not you've heard of the indicative but consider: the aggressive-indicative. it has the red/blue/gold system. it has an actual really cool looking cover that I commissioned from a friend bc they do that, they do the art thing professionally, so even though this is a self-published and ebook-free-I'll-probably-set-up-a-paperback-on-lulu-or-something-which-obvi-isn't-free-but'll-be-the-cheapest-it-can sort of deal it looks really cool and looks real and makes me feel like a real writer. and you just. aaaaah. have no idea how excited it makes me to hear that There Is An Audience Outside My Friends Who Have Had To Live With Me Ranting About This Nonstop For Four Years That Is Willing To Read This.

(also thrilled that someone will give witch-queen a try, it's weird and so few people like 2nd person writing but it is definitely a project that I am very excited about. given that it's probably going to be under 20k words it is also the sort of thing that will be finished very quickly the moment that I sit down to actually write it. the premise is intensely funny to me bc it is 1000% my reaction to watching an old B-list movie again that was a fave as a kid that I will probably admit to what said movie was on my patreon eventually but not out here in public and then finding in Wikipedia that it had a whole knock-off franchise except they totally in between movies 1 and 2 fridged the main love interest off-screen not even for angst just to I guess replace her with a new love interest and I was like. okay. what if. what if I write a revenge piece of fiction. where you have someone in her exact setup except then instead of being fridged offscreen through sheer spite and genre-savviness you have this queen who is just. aggressively avoiding the attempts of the narrative to assassinate her via refusing to participate in tropes that would end up with her dead and actually being scarily competent and it's weird but I also love it as a concept and do somewhat miss writing in 2nd person, I used to do it all the time when I worked at gay theater camp and wrote hundreds of thousands of words of character sheets for larps and anyways I'm ranting but witch-queen is fun and I'm ridiculous and self-indulgent enough and stubborn enough to bring it into the world)

and!! yeah!! very glad to have been able to answer!! I try to answer all of my asks, especially because they are currently at a Very Reasonable Volume, I am super grateful to receive them and so long as I have time I try to answer!!

[poetdreamerfool]

2021 Freestyle series #6 | coming to america // nerd shit 🤓 🖖🏿👨🏿‍🎓🧪📖| poet.dreamer.fool *off the top

in that cypher I’m the warrior in a garden smoke a whole garden grind hard need my stash like Harden begging your pardon don’t pinc yourself I’m real I got DnD for my larping

in america Race don’t got no finish line learned early on someone elses light don’t diminish mine and suffering while black man that shit lemon lime by design all the time

divine no nazareth be on blocks so hazardous walking like I’m bulletproof at war vibe like a pacificst there really ain’t matching this like that last sock

yall all talk small talk table salt not even a pillar only fuck with med grade exotic no reggie miller grape ape the wraps I’m a gorilla who iller?

I seek improvement and amusement I’m crusin to the top while others is snoozin red or blue pill which one is you choosin?

I am a savage don’t need a life that’s lavish bust still give me the cabbage I’m complex and I contain multitudes my pain is a muse words so smooth its like theyre animated cartoon me and a microphone is like ahab with his harpoon

its just me and the elephant in the room who wins mind moves like Lupins my blunt had 4 triplets and 2 twins seeking beauty deeper than skin let the adventure begin

I’ll be home by two or I’ll be on the news I gots to pay my dues took my heart off my sleeve and put it back in my chest right next to the zoo I got nothing to lose I got nothing to prove

telepathic but my thoughts in traffic your magnum opus is my average every beat gets smashed ravaged write my poems hair pin trigger automatic autodidact autocratic with self expression I’m an addict and I don;t want no help some pain is supposed to he felt I’m a king I wear my tux pelt what’s the difference between a house of mirrors and looking glass self? I ask myself

[charterandbarter]

I have seen some TMA/TAZ crossovers floating around (thank you @inkedinserendipity btw). I have never seen a TAZ but uh that eye imagery! If y’all will permit I would like to throw in my own two, angsts cents hahaha man I need sleep.

MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR BOTH PODCASTS AHEAD

Alright, premise time:

What if that Hunger was all the Entities fused together? What if John was replaced by Jon & Jonah?

let’s say tma post canon is a bit like this: jon and martin make their way to the panopticon. jonah magnus is there, the heart of the world like the bastard he is. You have the key who opened the Door, and the bitch who twisted it into the lock. In the ensuing confrontation, jon opens the door again, drags every Entity kicking and screaming into its maw, and locks it for good with him on the other side.

But the thing is, he doesn’t go alone.

What’s an Archive without an Archivist? What use is a living chronicle of fear if there’s no beating, squishy, pitifully human heart to experience it? The Entities are always hungry, and as much as Jon’s performed beautifully before the Change, he’s sorta not the right,,,flavor of fear the Entities need. Getting the sum of human suffering shoved into your head can put a damper on the little terrors, yknow.

(so many jons. Jonny sims why must you do this to me)

ANYWAY! I will insert a readmore later maybe, when it is not 2am in my timezone & my brain allows! Apologies for you mobile people.

SPOILER WARNING FOR TMA AND TAZ: BALANCE

There’s two people who could fill the “squishy fear generation machine” role by the time Jon and Martin make it to the Panopticon. And Martin’s just made friends with the personification of backdoors.

Jon gets to say goodbye before Martin and Helen go. Maybe he has time to let Martin Know all the infinite ways he loves him. It still hurts.

Jon and Jonah fall through the door. The Entities swallow them whole.

it’s not really like Jekyll and Hyde, nor is it like Jon and Daisy trapped in the Buried. It’s just...hatred. Hatred, self-loathing, despair, and the regret of a thousand hopes shattered to stardust. By the time Jon and Jonah go through the door Jon’s compiled quite the Archive, but even all that suffering has a limit. When the stories finally run dry, they turn on themselves, on their only remaining humans left, until the difference between jon and jonah and the fears is nothing but so much churning stomach acid. A feedback loop of misery.

They cannot die. They can’t remember why. There is only yawning dread, and the desperate desire to fill it.

Martin Blackwood‘s plane is safe, of course. The Door will stay shut. But not every world has that luxury.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They were supposed to get more time.

(how does it feel, Jonah Magnus, to be the Archivist? How does it feel to Know that the suffering of millions, including your own, is all your fault? how does it feel to remember the years of gaslighting, abuse, manipulation, and coercion that you inflicted, just because you were afraid of something as small as Death? how does it feel to hate yourself? how does it feel to commune with your fucking god?)

they tear through worlds and yank at the reins that keep them together, even as the two people holding those reins scream in mutually shared/felt agony. It’s hell, and it goes on forever.

When it comes time to play chess, it is Elias standing before Merle in a crisp, black suit. When Merle asks if the Hunger is his friend, it is Jon’s voice that chuckles before answering. And when They call existence horrible, who’s to say which person is actually talking anymore?

(As Merle dies, They notice the blossoms in Merle’s beard look like chamomile flowers. Something deep inside Them aches. It’s been a long time since They’ve had a cup of tea).

(I’ve only heard Merle Highchurch speak once, but in that one time he said life was about the joy you choose before insulting an elder god to his face. This man has Martin Blackwood/Absolute King™ energy don’t change my mind)

“Kiss my ass, you sanctimonious bastard.” Merle Highchurch says.

“Huh,” For a moment, a shiny burn scar glows through the fire licking Their hand, “I feel sad.”

Merle dies. The ache grows.

(For Them--The Archive, The Archivist, Jon--Merle is an anchor. For Jonah—and he Knows, now, he was Jonah Magnus, former king of the world—Merle’s a warning eons too late.)

I don’t know enough about taz balance to work out the rest of the details, unfortunately. I do know the image of Hunger!Jonah Magnus (no longer bound to Jon after an Arms Outstretched 2.0 moment) getting FUCKED UP by the Tres Horny Boyz delights me.

Really, though, Hunger!Jonah can enjoy his immortality trapped in Lucretia’s barrier-bubble-thing like the blind goldfish he is. But by the deities above and below Jon and Merle sitting on the beach looking out into the sunset is near and dear to my heart.

Perhaps it would be appropriate if Jon dissolved into the waves. There are worse ways to die than with a friend at your side and memories of chamomile tea. I’m sure Jon would think it’s more than he deserves, and yeah TMA is a tragedy so maybe it does fit the bittersweet but cathartic ending we’re expecting in canon.

However, I am a] a sap, and b] of the mind that if you can pick, learning to live well is better than hoping to die well. So here’s an alternative for my fellow saps:

When the dust settles, there’s one more refugee that the Bureau takes in. He’s pretty skinny even for a human, and his scars are weird as fuck, but hey everyone in the world just went through a multiplanar apocalypse so who are they to judge? He’s quick. Quiet. Has a strange accent, and loves to read. Maybe Angus Mcdonald likes him. If so, then he can’t be that bad.

(The moonbase libraries aren’t anything like the Archives. Jon can’t tell if that’s good or bad yet, but he has time to figure it out. It’s...nice, to read something for fun again.)

It takes a long while to grow from a level 1 to a level 17 caster, but Jon has time. He can--not recover, exactly, but settle into himself. Learn how to be, without being of use.

Does Jon become an Aberrant Mind!sorcerer with eyes that still inspire paranoia? Or a Conjuration Wizard that can summon tape recorders? Who the fuck knows. He certainly doesn’t! What a blessing—he doesn’t Know!

Jonathan Sims made it out alive. With enough work, perhaps he won’t regret it.

(Maybe this world has therapists. There’s a bone lady shooting fireworks floating around, surely a therapist won’t call him crazy if he tells them the truth, right?)

tl;dr: let Jon get adopted by the Tres Horny Boyz at the end of Story & Song while Jonah Magnus dissolves into seafoam, please. One day Jon brings Martin to the taz!plane via permanent Gate spell so they can have a kickass honeymoon on the literal moon. Martin brings a dog. The base goes bonkers. Everyone is crying. Let the survivors of the tma!plane LARP their DnD dreams.

[ladybanshee19]

South Park AUs

So I feel like making several South Park AUs, each one based in a different tabletop RPGs. The first one is based in Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. The second one is based in Pathfinder, in the official campaign setting. The third one is based in the Chronicles of Darkness aka the New World of Darkness 2nd Edition. And the fourth and final one is based on Princess the Hopeful, a fanmade mod for Chronicles of Darkness. All four of them will include a story, designs and character sheets (and I’m putting them at the maximum level 20 simply because I can). This post will just give you an idea of what to expect from each AU. I’ll make individual posts going into more detail on each one. Also worth noting is that all four of these AUs will feature both Creek (Craig and Tweek) and Style (Stan and Kyle) my two South Park OTPs.

An Ancient Rivalry DnD 5e Forgotten Realms AU The human city-state of Kupa Keep is in a crisis. Its ruler, Grand Wizard Eric Cartman, is more interested in setting a petty grudge with the wood elf tribe of Larnion than he is in actually doing his job. The people are suffering, leaving a party consisting of: the barbarian warrior Tweek Tweak, his rogue boyfriend Craig Tucker and their friends, Token Black, a cleric of Lathander and Clyde Donovan, who recently obtained power as a warlock from a demon out of desperation, to save the city from its tyrannical, sociopathic ruler, with the help of Butters the Merciful, a paladin of Ilmater and the mysterious Princess Kenny. Meanwhile, the leader of the Larnion tribe, Sylvan Lord Kyle Broflovski and his human vassal, the ranger Stan Marshwalker, must contend with protecting their home and people from the Grand Wizard, as several secrets from the past begin to surface once again.

Note: This particular AU is inspired by the boys’ Fighters of Zaron LARP game from SOT but takes its own direction to better fit into the setting of the Forgotten realms

Come Hell or High Water Pathfinder AU Trouble always seems to find you, wherever you are in the world of Golarion. In the elvan kingdom of Kyonin, elf druid Kyle’s hope for a normal life is shattered when a human oracle named Tweek from Andoran tells him he’s destined to stop a great evil. In the nation of Cheliax, a country infamous for its mandatory devil worship among other things, a wizard noble Eric Cartman has dreams of glory, a desire to rule over all of Golarion with Cheliax as its capital. To do this, he seeks out the darkest and most dangerous of Golarion’s secrets. Tweek tells Kyle that this is the evil he must stop. Fortunately, he’s not alone. In addition to Tweek, Kyle also finds help in other residents of Andoran: the ranger, Stan, the magus Kenny, the sorcerer Craig, the barbarian Clyde, the bard Jimmy, the paladin Butters and Token, a cleric of the goddess Sarenrae. With these companions at his side, Kyle must venture forth to stop the Chelish wizard from unleashing Golarion’s greatest evils again, while not letting his growing sense of self-righteousness consume his heart at the expense of everything else.

Note: This AU is also slightly inspired by the LARP game from SOT as well, but with a few more changes as well as some influence from Phone Destroyer, specifically Craig and Clyde’s classes. Tweek’s class was also inspired by a post I saw floating around about how Tweek could be a seer with how often his paranoia turns out to be justified (can’t remember where I found it, sorry).

The South Park Chronicle The World of Darkness is full of many things, and nothing is as it seems. I, your humble Storyteller, will guide you though the many chapters of this chronicle. Here, you will meet Stan Marsh, recently Embraced as one of the Kindred, a vampire who must not only work to maintain the delicate balance between his fading humanity and the Beast within him that drives him to kill and feed, but also to maintain the Masquerade, to keep the secrets of vampires hidden from mortals. You will meet Tweek Tweak, who recently discovered that he is one of the Forsaken, a werewolf who must work to protect the mortal realm from both vengeful spirits and the Pure, werewolves who wish to return humanity to the Stone Age in order to reunite the spirit world and the mortal world. You will meet Craig Tucker, who awakened as a Mage which grants him the power to protect the Sleepers from the Seers of the Throne and other magical threats, so long as he can keep his pride in check. You will meet Butters Stotch, a Promethean created from a corpse and Azoth the Divine Fire who must now embark on a journey to become human, which sadly is easier said than done when existence itself hates you. You will meet Kyle Broflovski, who was whisked away by the True Fae to their home realm of Arcadia and remade to serve one of them but managed to return to the real world to discover that the world didn’t miss him in his absence and that some of the True Fae’s changes were permanent. You will meet Kenny McCormick who died protecting his beloved sister Karen only for a Geist who calls itself Mysterion to offer him a chance to cheat death and return as a Sin-Eater, where he discovers he must use his newfound abilities to protect mortals and help ghosts who are unable to pass on, even though he’d rather look for his sister who went missing after he died and came back. Finally, you will meet Eric Cartman, who discovered in a dream that he was a monster at heart in more ways than one, a Beast who must sow nightmares among mortals to sate his soul’s unique hunger, a duty he’s all to willing to embrace. You will also see their paths cross, bonds form and watch as they struggle to make it in the World of Darkness.

Note: This one won’t be out for a long time. I’m still trying to get my hands on a few other source books, some of which aren’t even out yet at the time of this post (sidelong glance at Changeling the Lost and Geist the Sin-Eaters).

Nobles Unite Princess the Hopeful AU Darkness is everywhere and only the Nobility can stop it. The Nobility in this case, meaning Princes and Princesses, men and women armed with the power of the Light and the magic in their very beings. Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, Craig Tucker, Clyde Donovan, Tweek Tweak, Token Black, Jimmy Valmer, Butters Stotch, Wendy Testaburger, Bebe Stevens, Heidi Turner, Nicole Daniels and Annie Knitts all discover that they possess this power and pledge their allegiance to the Radiant Queens, the Queens of Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Swords so that they may help them in their mission to fight the Darkness and its minions. However, another Blossoms and discovers this power as well, Eric Cartman who instead pledges his allegiance to the Queen of Mirrors, one of the three Twilight Queens, who tells him that he’s the True Heir, destined to restore the Kingdom to its former glory, a “mission” that brings him into conflict with other Nobles and other devotees of Mirrors who were told the exact same thing.

Note: Given that Princess has a rather idealistic setting, especially by World of Darkness standards and compared to the canon South Park universe, I figured this would be an interesting challenge.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more coming soon. Character sheets and pictures will be posted here. The stories will be posted on Archive of our Own.

[cordeliasgoode-blog]

Gaming Before

A pretending diversion (at times spelled pretending amusement; contracted RPG) is a diversion in which players expect the jobs of characters in an anecdotal setting. Players assume liability for showcasing these jobs inside an account, either through exacting acting, or through a procedure of organized basic leadership with respect to character advancement. Moves made inside numerous amusements succeed or fizzle as per a formal arrangement of principles and rules.

There are a few types of pretending amusements. The first structure, now and then called the tabletop pretending diversion (TRPG), is led through talk, while in real life pretending (LARP), players physically play out their characters' activities. In both of these structures, an arranger called an amusement ace (GM) normally settles on the standards and setting to be utilized, while going about as the official; every one of different players assumes the job of a solitary character.

A few assortments of RPG likewise exist in electronic media, for example, multiplayer content based Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) and their illustrations based successors, enormously multiplayer online pretending recreations (MMORPGs). Pretending recreations likewise incorporate single-player pretending computer games in which players control a character, or group of characters, who undertake(s) journeys, and may incorporate player capacities that advance utilizing factual mechanics. These electronic recreations here and there offer settings and principles with tabletop RPGs, however underscore character progression more than synergistic narrating.

This kind of diversion is entrenched, so some RPG-related amusement frames, for example, exchanging/collectible card recreations (CCGs) and wargames, may not be incorporated under the definition. Some measure of pretending movement might be available in such recreations, however it isn't the essential core interest. The term pretending amusement is likewise once in a while used to portray diversions including pretend reproduction and activities utilized in educating, preparing, and scholastic research.

Reason

The two creators and significant distributers of tabletop pretending recreations believe them to be a type of intelligent and community oriented narrating. Occasions, characters, and account structure give a feeling of a story experience, and the diversion need not have a firmly characterized storyline. Intelligence is the urgent distinction between pretending recreations and customary fiction. While a watcher of a TV program is an aloof onlooker, a player in a pretending diversion settles on decisions that influence the story. Such pretending amusements expand a more established convention of narrating recreations where a little gathering of companions team up to make a story.

While basic types of pretending exist in customary youngsters' rounds of pretend, pretending diversions include a dimension of complexity and tirelessness to this essential thought with augmentations, for example, amusement facilitators and standards of collaboration. Members in a pretending amusement will create explicit characters and a continuous plot. A reliable arrangement of standards and a pretty much sensible battle setting in amusements helps suspension of mistrust. The dimension of authenticity in diversions ranges from simply enough interior consistency to set up a conceivable story or sound test up to out and out reenactments of certifiable procedures.

Assortments

Pretending amusements are played in a wide assortment of organizations running from talking about character collaboration in tabletop structure to physically carrying on characters in LARP to playing characters for all intents and purposes in advanced media. There is likewise an extraordinary assortment of frameworks of standards and amusement settings. Diversions that accentuate plot and character association over amusement mechanics and battle in some cases favor the name narrating amusement. These sorts of diversions will in general limit or out and out wipe out the utilization of bones or other randomizing components. A few recreations are played with characters made before the diversion by the GM, as opposed to those made by the players. This sort of diversion is ordinarily played at gaming shows, or in independent amusements that don't shape some portion of a battle.

A gathering playing a tabletop RPG. The GM is at left utilizing a cardboard screen to conceal dice moves from the players.

Tabletop and pen-and-paper (PnP) RPGs are led through talk in a little party. The GM depicts the diversion world and its occupants. Different players depict the planned activities of their characters, and the GM portrays the results. A few results are dictated by the amusement framework, and some are picked by the GM.

This is the arrangement in which pretending diversions were first promoted. The first economically accessible RPG, Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), was enlivened by dream writing and the wargaming pastime and was distributed in 1974. The prominence of D&D prompted the introduction of the tabletop pretending amusement industry, which distributes diversions with a wide range of topics, standards, and styles of play. The ubiquity of tabletop diversions has diminished since the advanced arrivals of online MMO RPGs.

This arrangement is frequently alluded to just as a pretending amusement. To recognize this type of RPG from different organizations, the retronyms tabletop pretending amusement or pen and paper pretending diversion are now and again utilized, however neither a table nor pen and paper are carefully important.

Live activity

A dream LARP gathering

A LARP is played progressively like improvisational theater. Members showcase their characters' activities as opposed to depicting them, and the genuine condition is utilized to speak to the fanciful setting of the diversion world. Players are regularly costumed as their characters and utilize suitable props, and the scene might be enriched to look like the anecdotal setting. Some cutting edge pretending diversions use shake paper-scissors or correlation of ascribes to determine clashes emblematically, while different LARPs utilize physical battle with mimicked arms, for example, airsoft firearms or froth weapons.

LARPs differ in size from a bunch of players to a few thousand, and in span from a few hours to a few days. Since the quantity of players in a LARP is generally bigger than in a tabletop pretending diversion, and the players might connect in isolated physical spaces, there is ordinarily less of an accentuation on firmly keeping up a story or legitimately engaging the players, and amusement sessions are regularly overseen in an increasingly appropriated way.

Electronic media

An explorer finds a teleportation entryway while investigating a cell in the pretending computer game Falcon's Eye.

Tabletop pretending amusements have been converted into an assortment of electronic configurations. As right on time as 1974, a similar year as the arrival of Dungeons and Dragons, unlicensed adaptations of it were created on centralized server college frameworks under titles, for example, dnd and Dungeon. These early PC RPGs affected all of electronic gaming, just as producing the pretending computer game type. A few creators isolate advanced pretending diversions into two interweaved gatherings: single player amusements utilizing RPG-style mechanics, and multiplayer recreations consolidating social collaboration.

Single-player

Single player pretending computer games structure an inexactly characterized class of PC and comfort diversions with starting points in pretending amusements, for example, Dungeons and Dragons, on which they base quite a bit of their wording, settings, and diversion mechanics. This interpretation changes the experience of the amusement, giving a visual portrayal of the world however accentuating factual character advancement over shared, intuitive narrating.

Multiplayer

Run of the mill MUD interface for God Wars II.

Online content based pretending recreations include numerous players utilizing some sort of content based interface and an Internet association with play a RPG. Recreations played in a continuous manner incorporate MUDs, MUSHes, and different assortments of MU*. Amusements played in a turn-based style incorporate play-via mail recreations and play-by-post diversions.

Hugely multiplayer online pretending diversions (MMORPGs) join the vast scale social communication and constant universe of MUDs with realistic interfaces. Most MMORPGs don't effectively advance in-character pretending, anyway players can utilize the recreations' correspondence capacities to pretend insofar as different players coordinate. Most of players in MMORPGs don't take part in pretend in this sense.

PC helped gaming can be utilized to add components of PC gaming to face to face tabletop pretending, where PCs are utilized for record-keeping and now and then to determine battle, while the members for the most part settle on choices concerning character connection.

One regular element of numerous RPGs is the job of gamemaster, a member who has extraordinary obligations to show the anecdotal setting, parley the aftereffects of character activities, and keep up the story flow.[31] In tabletop and no frills RPGs the GM plays out these obligations face to face. In video RPGs a considerable lot of the elements of a GM are satisfied by the amusement motor. Anyway some multi-player video RPGs likewise take into account a member to take on a GM job through a visual interface called a GM toolbox, yet with capacities constrained by the accessible innovation.