#It's been this AND that. This one's not secret this one's a sidequest.

[bonefall]

This is unrelated to the blog's subject, but I'm SUPER hyped about this upcoming indie game called Critter Cove and I've got some super cool news; I got to give the devs some critter designs to show up as Townies you can invite to live in your town!

This isn't even all of them-- in total I've made well over 40 designs that they're gonna pick and choose from. These ones are just some of my favorites.

This character creator is CRAZY good. It's hard to find animals you can't make. Cow, squid, human, raptor, duck, I was even able to make a half-decent Anomalocaris up there. The ones that are difficult to make, like giraffes, horses, and insects, are actually planned to be added in soon.

Critter Cove plays like a mix between Animal Crossing and Subnautica. You sail around to collect scrap from the remains of sunken ruins, rebuild a rundown town on a polluted island, and make it appealing for both residents and visitors. There's also a plan to add a museum feature, dozens of islands, fishing mechanics, and even co-op in the future.

(but co-op will only come if the game's enough of a hit, which is why I'm shamelessly plugging it lmaoo)

It's launching into Early Access on September 10th, but it's got a VERY generous free demo which is only supposed to be "the first two hours" of the game...

...and I'm clocking 61.

(yes everyone this is part of the reason why ive been quiet lately. its a good game, man. i cant help it. im going coconuts.)

Progression stops when you re-build the cafe, but you can keep playing, sailing around, running quests, and doing some simple gardening. Your progress rolls over into Early Access too, so you don't have to worry about losing your townies, clothes, structures, etc.

For all my designs I've got a free key, but it's gonna be launching somewhere in the 20 - 30 USD price range. I can't recommend the demo enough, but even just wishlisting it on Steam boosts their metrics and gets them in front of more people!

[crossgartered]

hhhhhhhh octopath traveler...

[livvyofthelake]

this post (from january). was about percy jackson. re: sidequest from january.

protagonists need to stop having moms that are cooler than them it’s going to tear the fabric of society one of these days

[felassan]

Just some info I noted down from today's video in text form, under a cut due to what some peeps may consider spoilers, and length.

This video took place well into the game, meaning the beats in it are later in the storyline.

At least part of Davrin’s personal arc involves rescuing the griffons. In an earlier part of his arc you are introduced to his nemesis, the Gloom Howler, a creature that has been hunting and stalking Wardens for quite some time. It has kidnapped a bunch of non-Assan griffons and Davrin has been trying to track it down. In the quest shown in the video, he has found a lead and wants to go and track it down and get the griffons back from the Cauldron (a secret Grey Warden redoubt that was attacked). Davrin wonders what the Wardens were hiding inside the Cauldron, as he has no idea. When the party reaches the Cauldron, they find that something large tore down the gate. The party needs to find a way inside and help Davrin investigate.

Davrin prefers a Direct approach in dialogue. Tough dialogue choices can gain approval from him

The bond between a griffon and a Warden moving as one and having unity between them is called “turlum”. Davrin and Assan don’t yet have this

Grey Wardens: Lancit, Remi, Landon, Quincy, Miriel, Fisher, Greta, Beckett, Flynn (an apprentice physician, whose mentor is called Oskar). I think Flynn’s pronouns are they/them. We will do quests with Flynn including A Cabin in the Blight. They were treating patients and became low on medical supplies. Their mentor Oskar has some and lives in a cabin outside the village. Flynn asks Rook to tell Oskar they could use his help if Rook sees him when they are out there. Flynn is local to Lavendel and saw the Blight surge through their home.

A Grey Warden merchant / quartermaster is called Holden. The little girl seen with Davrin in the release date trailer is called Mila.

If you do content in an area it helps you discover more shortcuts, giving you more flexibility in how you navigate between different remaining missions and quests

Each exploration space has its own story to tell. The quests and sidequests there are narratively relevant and also contribute to a meta story/meta narrative about that space. In Hossberg / Lavendel the aim is to get to the center of the Blighty stuff that has been going on there

Another Warden sidequest called Lives Spared seems to involve some missing Wardens who haven’t checked in in a while

Rook inherits the Lighthouse willingly or unwillingly from Solas. It’s located in the Fade and is where Solas was able to start planning his rebellion against the elven gods millennia ago

The Lighthouse shapes itself around your personality. Companions’ rooms there shape themselves around the companions as they live there and go through their arcs. A glowing light above the entrance to a companion’s room indicates that they are ready to talk to us

Hossberg is a later game area. Hossberg Wetlands are dark swamps and the area has almost completely been consumed by the Blight, making it a lot more dangerous than before. As a zone it’s quite contiguous and has lots of branching paths and different areas to explore. The Grey Wardens set up shop in an outpost/fortress (this is only one of their bases) there called Grey Hold in the small town of Lavendel, which used to be a beautiful place full of life and flowers. The Blight has had a serious effect on Lavendel, but the residents are still there and trying to make the most of it. There are plenty of opportunities to help the residents.

The Wardens have noticed that something strange is going on; the Blight is not behaving as it should or as they would expect, or like it has done historically. A codex entry pops up called “An Improved Blight”. (basically we are getting Blight dialled up to eleven) Rook is there to work with the Wardens, help them out, and help them find the answer to their question about the Blight. In their outpost the Wardens have built up a small fighting force to hold off the darkspawn. They understand the stakes of the gods being released and want to help you but they have other priorities, so increasing their power allows them to contribute more meaningfully to your fight against the elven gods. The Blight has changed. It’s become a lot more organic, a lot more alive. Once a slow-moving wall, it now has almost-sentience and almost-thought behind it. This has something to do with the released Blighted elven gods.

Something bad happened to a place called D’Meta’s Crossing, it’s no longer standing.

It sounds like Weisshaupt has fallen.

Merchant shops can be upgraded, doing so unlocks new items.

The Crossroads is a location in the Fade that contains a number of eluvians, allowing you to travel across Thedas in a matter of minutes. At the point the video takes place, the Crossroads are under assault by the elven gods. It’s now a dangerous place.

The big eluvian in the Lighthouse is called the Vir Revas. (that could translate as Way/Path of Freedom). It’s the central focus point of the Lighthouse and it takes you to Solas’ pocket area of the Crossroads, which looks different to what we’ve seen in Trespasser. “A path has emerged from the mists of the Fade that leads to a gathering point where all eluvians meet – the Crossroads”. We will spend a lot of time travelling through the Crossroads as we go from area to area. At one point, it was also a space that served as Solas’ main base of operations and training ground for his rebellion against the elven gods. As we go through it we will find fragments of the past, things that Solas did previously that will give us insight into him as a character, and also into the elven gods and their motivations. If you go exploring in the Crossroads there are opportunities to relive some of the memories Solas had during his rebellion. We will actually get to take part in this ancient rebellion.

The Crossroads as a realm reflects the waking world. It’s a mix/ amalgamation of all the real world spaces that are tied to it, in this case for example Hossberg and other mountainous regions that exist in the game. The architecture around the eluvians here very clearly reflects where they lead. The first time you go to any of the new regions in the world you traverse the Crossroads to get there. After that you can fast travel if you want. But exploring the Crossroads is recommended because some of the deepest secrets lie within

There is a mysterious spirit in the Crossroads called The Caretaker who was there before Solas was. They started to help Solas with his rebellion and also to turn the area into a safe haven for spirits, as Solas loves spirits. In the video we see them piloting a boat through the air to transport Rook somewhere. Because the gods are assaulting the Crossroads, it’s no longer the safe haven it once was. Rook works with the Caretaker through a lot of ancillary content to rebuild it into a safe home for spirits.

There is an area in the Crossroads called Beacon Island

The darkspawns’ different looks is very intentional. Their new look is in part because Ghilan’nain, described here as "the god of monsters", has always been focused on using the Blight essentially as a crafting material, a way to alter life itself. she’s been enhancing and changing the darkspawn as part of her army. She uses Blight like a medium to sculpt and warp the darkspawn to do her bidding and suit her purposes. The idea is that the Blight and the darkspawn are an organic weapon. Instead of making swords and armor, the darkspawn use the Blight to augment themselves, effectively defeat you and give the gods the world that they desire. The darkspawn aren’t just coming out of nowhere. They emerge from Blight pools, like the Blight is spawning them. Part of Ghil’s attempts to turn this into an army for the gods is to use them for overwhelming force. Hurlock Blighters have disgusting growths on their backs that they throw, making them function like grenadiers as they rip off these pieces of themselves and throw them at you - these then explode as Blight – this kind of enemy design for the darkspawn is supposed to lean into the idea that the Blight is organic and disgusting. In places there are Blight boils throughout the area, and if Rook doesn’t destroy them during combat ghouls will continue to emerge from them.

It sounds like in terms of ‘factions of enemies’ and their designs, we have the darkspawn which use overwhelming force tactics, the Venatori which focus on magical power, and the Antaam which focus on physical strength

Zipline traversal is in

Each mage’s (Neve, Bellara, Emmrich) healing ability is thematically appropriate to them

I think Davrin’s special exploration ability, or one of them, is called Blight Hunter. (one of the ones Rook can channel through the dagger when that companion isn’t there). This summons Assan from above to destroy Blight Abscesses. He seems to have another as well that Rook can also use via the dagger called Griffon Strike. In the video Rook uses this one to destroy a mechanism that was keeping a load of wood suspended in the air from a beam.

We see Rook also using the dagger to "charge beam" and destroy what looked like a thick tendril of organic Blight across the ground, and to destroy a ‘wall’ of blight abscesses that was blocking the way. At one point in the video Rook comments that the dagger is vibrating, "like a song in a wine glass"

When companions go ahead to meet you at quests they’re invested in, they won’t complete them without you, but they do get things ready. If you start doing those quests and don’t have them in your party, they will move ahead of you and wait for you at the next point.

[ddwcaph-game]

The Narrativium Update Has Arrived!

Retcon the narrative to your heart's content in the latest update to...

Dear Diary, We Created a Plot Hole! is written as a love letter to all the kids-at-heart out there, who’d like to revisit their childhood and reimagine it as one big fantasy adventure.

If you like episodic shows and stories with a deeper overarching narrative, then this story is just for you!

🌌 【Play it here!】 🌌

~ 608,000 total wordcount (including code) ~ 99,000 additional words (including code) ~ New average playthrough of 129,000 words! (up from 115k)

14 New Secrets/Variations to Discover, 25 New Trinkets to collect, 9 New Sidequests, 4 New Achievements!

6 New Character Traits, 12 New Ancestry Passives, 2 New Phobias, 4 New Status Effects!

Revamped Heritage Passives!

Retcon the narrative and your choices with the new Narrativium Points mechanic!

Revamped Health & Intimidation Stats, Traits and EXP System!

Revamped Chapter 1 Twin Fight Scene!

Added new Sleepover Branch!

Updated bestfriend scenes!

Crush sidequests can now be declined!

You can now change what your MC calls certain characters via the diary!

Added more backstory details about MC's dad, and you can now choose his home country if MC is Half-Filipino!

Increased save slots to 20!

New and improved gender and pronoun options!

Updated diary entries!

Updated content warnings to include themes that will appear in future chapters!

Fixed missing background music!

Tons of new choices, edits, adjustments, and additional flavor text/variations/characterization details!

Roselyna is now approximately 20% more huggable!

The Trinkets & Secrets Guide has also been updated!

If you encounter any errors, or have any questions or feedback, feel free to send me an ask. The complete change log for the update is almost 400 lines long, so I hope it was worth the wait! 😊

[pizzarpg]

things we made for the pizza tower rpg

-

Noisette Cafe

there was going to be the Noisette Cafe acting as a shop where you could buy extras, such as music tracks.

Reanimated Sprites

sprites were getting reanimated to have a more "pizza tower" feel.

Early Game Pizzahead Fight

pizzahead was going to have a "unwinnable" fight, where he would throw away and separate the party at the end.

Forkington & Fencer

two new characters that were set to appear were Forkington, a timid young and clumsy Forknight who wields a spoon (they ran out of forks) and Fencer, his mistreating mentor, who vows revenge on peppino. Forkington's bandana design ended up the one used.

Anton

anton was part of the game as a secret sidequest. he would have been a party member for the duration of the sidequest, having a Partner Attack with peppino called "Destruction Zone".

this is also where i made siqequest portraits, to differ them from the main game's story.

Chapter Title Cards

title cards were also here to act as chapter intros.

RPGsonas

an equivalent to pizzasonas, RPGsonas acted the same. they would give you a rare item upon interaction. most of them were simply my friends

Massacre Mode

massacre mode was an unlockable extra gamemode. you would play as only pizza horror/massacre peppino, changing up the gameplay to an action-rpg more akin to zelda.

New logo

self explanatory.

Misc.

mr stick, who would have acted as a shopkeeper with overpriced items.

vigilante, a party member. he was supposed to have his own chapter.

peppino clone, a mini boss.

unique overworld abilites: peppino could pick up and throw objects and gustavo could jump.

peppino & gustavo battle animations.

again, i'm very sorry.

[leesmustardgarden]

Gardener/Botanist Reader Headcanons

P x (gn) reader

A/N: Completely self indulgent. I love plants, flowers, mushrooms— any sort of flora mystical or otherwise. I think, considering how much was delegated to the puppets the need for gardeners would be less and less. That aside, people are stubborn when it comes to art and caring for such plants is, in my opinion, nothing short of art.

Warnings: Game spoilers just all around, P and Gemini are a little stupid in this one (I am very fond of them), Lots of bouncing around concepts, tell me if I need to add more

The art of gardening was dying amongst the people of Krat, despite its rich ecosystem and peculiar plants, as it had been delegated instead to the Puppets of the city

When the puppet frenzy set in, almost all of the knowledge gained from Krat’s flora died with its people and with its puppets

Except you had survived, taken in by Antonia in the hotel, and offered her your services as thanks for the safety and security the Hotel provided

You were close with Antonia, saw her almost as a peculiar aunt. In turn she was fond of you and loved to share any of Krat’s secrets during the few times she could muster the strength to visit the gardens or you took a break and stepped inside.

When P first came by and stopped at the inner gardens, you gave him a once over before bluntly telling him not to mess about the bushes. You weren’t otherwise perturbed by his presence.

One of the few things Antonia seemed to hesitate speaking about was Gepetto, and so you had your reservations about a puppet made by him. He seemed… nice, though. Polite. Definitely very sweet.

He had come to check out the puppet dummies Eugenié was talking about, and was intrigued by you.

You kept him coming back to the garden, but most times he’d make an excuse about wanting to try out a new weapon of sorts. Not that he needed to make one— as long as he didn’t out right hurt the plants you didn’t mind.

Honestly avoids touching the plants incase some complication arises and they die or something. Doesn’t want to disappoint you, the silly guy.

Every subsequent visit comes with his awkward (albeit endearing) attempt to get to know you, and what starts off as a tentative friendship blooms into mutual pining.

P is a quiet visitor when he’s in the gardens, content to ask a question and hear you ramble on for however long you want to.

That doesn’t mean he won’t indulge your questions.

He’ll spend just as long recounting his adventures in Krat if you ask for it, sheepish and sweet as he censors the more… unsavoury moments of his journey.

In game, your character gives a bit of exposition to the flora of Krat. You tell him the certain conditions some plants thrive in, talk about the weather conditions in relation to that, etc. but you also talk about the meanings of each one. It’s from you he learns to communicate through flora.

More than that though, when you mention something specific of certain flora, it becomes a little sidequest for him. He’ll take back a little piece of it to show you and you start trading him items every time he does.

Not wanting it to be a one-sided thing, you give him pressed flower charms, amulets, floral accessories, and even some shiny things you’d picked up like quartz.

The greatest reward is maybe like a little gardener costume. To match with you, you know.

And listen, whatever you give P, he treasures. If you gave him a spare gardening uniform he’d wear that the whole way throughout Krat he’m so silly.

There’s a lot of clumsy and endearing gestures from his end.

One time he accidentally misunderstands you and makes a bouquet asking for your hand in marriage and you about have a heart attack.

You explain both the message and meaning of the bouquet to him, and while he isn’t fussed or embarrassed at his mistake he makes note of it

As he progressively becomes more human, his expressions more lively and his voice more open, your relationship develops further.

His own interest in flora flourishes. He starts trying to record the plants he comes across somehow— either by learning how to draw or asking Venigni to make some sort of camera.

He often thinks of you when he finds a peculiar plant, wondering if it would be ok to take it to you. If he had the means to just take record of it instead he’d show that to you

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t get you flowers still though. He’ll pick out flowers while weighing in his mind if it’d disrupt the ecosystem too much, and once he has them he does his best to arrange them in a pretty manner.

Gemini actually helps him here, giving him ideas for things like the wrapping, telling him to do things like use newspapers or something of the like to bundle them up

At some point the two idiots genuinely consider breaking into an arts and crafts shop because Gemini thinks it might be a good idea, and P just doesn’t know enough to argue that it isn’t

“I mean, the shop is closed down right? Nobody would mind if we just stole a ribbon… or two! Nobody’s using them anyways!” — Gemini

When he regains Carlo’s memories, he feels a little embarrassed about that and refuses to ever mention it again. Gemini makes fun of both of them somehow without being ashamed

When even Gemini fails at figuring out how to decorate flowers, P goes to the other Hotel inhabitants

Sophia’s got such a lovely eye for them, and knows how to arrange a bouquet beautifully and loves to help, and Antonia finds the whole thing adorable and loves to tease P lightly but offers genuinely good advice

Polendina is the perfect butler of course, so he knows his bouquets and is happy to help with them, and while he’s seen metal more than he’s seen flowers at the factory, Pulcinella is just as good

God forbid he asks Eugenié or Venigni though. They might be great at what they do but they’ll put together the most foul colour arrangements known to man.

Eugenié finds out about one (1) poisonous plant and decides it’s a great idea to make a whole bouquet of them. Venigni just picks out the flowers he likes the most, or the ones that match with his outfit, without… really knowing how to match it to his outfit.

I don’t even want to bring up Geppetto. Man would probably sit P down and spend hours agonizing over the arrangement of the petals and pollen like the little control freak he is.

But it gives P a nice break from Krat’s troubles, and your joy at the bouquet makes it worth it every single time

By the end of it, the flowers spill into the hotel, spotting the place with life and colour that makes it feel like maybe the world isn’t as dead and gone as it might be

[gravidwithlore]

Here's the whole dang polycule! I wanted a sort of official reference for myself to keep track of everybody's design (at least at the start of their story and pre-pregnancy for Brone) and decided to put them together in a handy height chart. Backstories, etc down below

Brone

He/Him, mtf, bi/demisexual

Age: 42

Class: Rogue

(Accidentally forgot his og 5 o'clock shadow oops)

Orphaned at 8 by raiders destroying his village, Brone has had a hard life. Forgotten by the other refugees of his village, abused by the orphanages, starving and homeless on the streets. Around 16-17 he decided to join a mercenary company, already with a few scars of his own battles on the streets, he quickly earning a reputation as gruff and stand-offish. Due to the fact that he's been binding since he was young and he lives in a fantasy world where magic T potions are cheap and widely available, nobody (alive, at least) knew he was trans until he went into labor, and gave birth to his son, Wulf, while ferrying Melian, Jiyan, and Rhiannon through the dangerous Wandering Woods. Deeply anxious and Depressed™️, he doesn't do the best job of taking care of himself, it doesn't help that he's still in the scarcity mindset he had to live by in his teenage years. Technically human, but descended from giants (specifially storm giants, its part of where the Anxiety comes from), he is not aware of this until later on.

Brendan

He/Him, cis, pansexual

Age: 38

Class: Barbarian/Artificer

(Accidentally forgot to add freckles)

Brendan also lost his parents, who had been blacksmiths and taught him the trade, but while he was in his 20's. His little sister, with a desire to become an adventurer, convinced him to go on a journey to avenge their parents/get info about their death. He reluctantly agreed, and for the next few years absolutely hated it. He had gotten separated from his sister, kept prisoner, and forced into labor once his captors found out about his smithing talents. While his sister got a little sidetracked, living out a true adventurers fantasy (getting distracted by sidequests and forming her own adventuring party), Brendan was in his own personal hell, his passion for smithing turned against him, as he tried to calculate and plan his escape. Eventually, he escaped and helped free the other prisoners, and reunited with his sister. Afterwards they stop to rest in the village, where the rest will eventually arrive a few years later, and Brendan tells her he's had enough and settles down to be the villages blacksmith, and reclaims his passion on his own terms. Also mostly human, he may be a tall boy, but he is descended from dwarves (he got that dwarven swagger and metalworking autism).

Rhiannon

She/Her, mtf, bisexual

Age: 32

Class: Wizard (Bladesinger)/Fighter

Rhiannon comes from a long line of warriors, specifically monster hunters. Somewhere down the line, the family reached some sort of truce with most of monster kind, but the warrior/hunter spirit never really left. They were totally cool when she came out as trans, and a little confused when she was interested in academics just as much as she was in combat. But her family ultimately disapproves of her choice to take over the abandoned farm left to the family by a distant relative. No matter how much she explains how tired she is of adventuring, of traveling all the time, of constantly being on alert for any sign of a fight; her family refuses to get it. She's been traveling/in a relationship with Melian and Jiyan for several years, and has grown closer to them than she ever was with her own family. Surprisingly, the only one in the polycule who's 100% human.

Jiyan

He/Him, cis, pansexual

Age: 34

Class: Bard

Jiyan is your typical flirty twink himbo bard, and also, so much more. Part of a semi-secret order of bards, whose entire mission is to find and neutralize cursed and evil musical instruments. Well they focus on all cursed objects, but specialize mostly in musical instruments. Met Rhiannon and Melian on one of his missions to find and secure one such instrument, and has been with them (adventuring, but also in an open relationship) ever since. Most of their adventures in the past few years have actually been in service to his mission and his order, since neither of them really had their own agenda while adventuring. Some of his stupidity/flirting/general bard-ness is overplayed, serving the dual purpose of letting people underestimate him until it's too late and helping him resist the psychic damage many cursed instruments give off. Doesn't entirely understand Rhiannons desire to quit adventuring and live the farm life, but he supports her all the way. He'll of course still be called out on missions, but it might be nice to have a base to come back to that isn't just full of other bards. Half-elf.

Melian

They/Them, nonbinary, asexual

Age: ??? (they're an elf idk)

Class: Cleric/Druid

Melian was mostly raised in the forest by an order of druidic healers who rever the circle of Life and Death. Melian was much more drawn to the Life aspect of things, and was taught how to assist Life in all the ways it might need their assistance, from midwifery to gardening to fighting as a last resort. They always felt that though they themselves are a part of Life, they were more of an outside observer who sometimes lends a helping hand. Because of this, their social skills are a little lacking, at least when they leave the forest they call home and mingle with the rest of the world. Rhiannon is the first person, outside of their forest, that they felt like they can be themselves around without undue judgement. It takes them a little but longer to open up to Jiyan when the pair meet him, but eventually they grow to be comfortable around him as well. Is excited to help with Rhiannons farm, in fact they immediately told her they would be in charge of seeds, planting, landscaping, etc. May be planning a few plant experiments as well. 100% elf (but not the insufferable kind).

[kazoosandfannypacks]

Did some Cygnet Scholar AU designs with this dollmaker by @elequinoa!

First one is the Enchanted Forest au I'm working on, in which Hope grows up as the crown princess of Misthaven, spending her whole life preparing to take the crown someday, but when, by some miracle, her grandmother gives birth to a son (and, by the laws of their kingdom, passes the right to rule onto him,) she sets her sights on the nearest kingdom with an eligible crown prince her age: Prince Gideon, the son of Queen Belle. The only flaw in this plan? Prince Gideon's father is the powerful sorcerer Rumplestiltskin, longtime enemy of her father, and their kingdoms have ceased all trade and communication since before Princess Hope was even born. But, when Hope sets her mind to something, there’s little anyone can do to stop her, and she sneaks out of her castle on a secret diplomatic mission: to win the heart of Prince Gideon and find a place to rule on the throne of her father’s sworn enemy.

 "What did you say your name was?" Gideon asked.  "Hope," she said, then rolled her eyes a little, "Princess Hope. Of…."  "Misthaven," Gideon finished when she hesitated, "I was unaware you were in attendance this evening."  "And you are?" Hope asked, though he could tell she already knew.  "Prince Gideon," he said, with as much regality as he could, "of, well, here." He shrugged and gestured to the castle behind them, and heard her laugh a little.  "I guess someone's been studying interkingdom relations," she said.  "And from what I've heard," Gideon crossed his arms, "Misthaveners haven't been welcome in this kingdom since your father took the throne."

Second is my ouat s7 rewrite in which Henry leads a quest of the next generation of heroes through the Enchanted Forest. Joining him are Hope, Gideon, and Robin Mills, along with CJ (Neal Nolan, aka Charming Junior) and Charlotte (oc, Snow and Charming's third child, a month older than Hope.) Hope's goal in this journey is to figure out her place in these stories she grew up hearing about, as well as honing her magical abilities. Gideon's sidequest, however, is to find a way to separate his father from the Dark One dagger, and maybe get to the bottom of the vivid nightmares he's been having.

"You ready for the Enchanted Forest?" Gideon asked. "The real question is," Hope said, with a smile, "is the Enchanted Forest ready for us?"

Third one's just for fun. It's the Hope Was Raised As A Pirate By Captain Hook AU that I came up with while working on these (not to be confused with my other two Hope is Pirate Adjacent AUs.)

Gideon had always been scared when talking to girls, and the fact that this one had a sword to his neck wasn't helping. "Now what?" Gideon asked. "Awww, that's cute." The blonde smiled. "Is this your first kidnapping? Let me explain, darling. This is the part where I bring you back to the ship." "And then?" "And then my father will handle things from there," she said, a twinkle in her crystal blue eyes, "but I should warn you, he always has such a temper when I bring a boy home with me. This time's different, though, of course." "And why's that?" "Didn't I tell you, Gideon?" she asked, then smiled as she watched the fear fall across his face, "that's right, I know who you are, Prince Gideon." "So you're taking me for ransom?" "Ransom?" she said, with half a giggle, "Captain Hook and his crew have never been in this business for ransom. We're more about the revenge business— and your family still has a score to settle."

🌷 cygnet scholar fics so far 🌻 #cygnet scholar

[polwigle]

ok, having been minimally prompted, i will now elaborate on my tags from this post, specifically that I think Raven's actual bodhi blastia isn't his heart, but the handle of his knife; first elaborating on why it's not his heart, then explaining why it is his knife, featuring Professor Sicily

There's no way Raven uses his heart as his everyday-use bodhi blastia, both for practical reasons and for the sake of plausible deniability.

The practical reason is that, as his heart is powered by his life force, using it for anything other than Not Dying takes a visible toll on him. The only arte he does use it for is his first mystic, Blast Heart, and doing that leaves him so winded that there's an entire secret mission dedicated to exploiting the opening it creates!

The other thing is, his heart being blastia-powered is a secret to everybody, so even if it weren't a health hazard to overuse, doing so would still raise questions! He's obviously not a Krityan, so he must have some other visible blastia he uses. Even Estelle has a decoy blastia bracelet, despite using her CotFM powers for her artes — and given how quick Yuri and Rita were to notice her blastia going unused, if Raven wasn't using his visible blastia for his artes, it would not have gone unmentioned.

Also Professor Sicily literally comments on it in the second part of his sidequest.

So if he's not using his heart, what's his real blastia? The exact same sidequest highlights it with a conspicuous glow, right before Raven learns the "Vacance" skill.

Given the placement of the glow (and how distant Raven is from the camera in this scene), it's either coming from his knife handle or his belt buckle. And while either one of those options would be a perfectly valid headcanon, I lean towards it being his knife.

Mostly because if his knife has a blastia embedded in its handle, that explains why his subweapons are all Just the Blades, with visible exposed tangs (the bit with the two dots/holes they all have where a handle should be; presumably they're secured in the handle with two pins).

In conclusion, Raven's actual bodhi blastia is probably this conspicuously elaborate tasselled knife handle! (Or his belt buckle, idk, I'm not here to die on that hill, but it's not his poor ailing heart!)

[mercurialmalcontent]

Spoiler-free DA:TV Review

tl;dr -- I thought it was fantastic.

When I found out we were really for real getting a new Dragon Age game, I was interested but not excited. It had been ten years since DAI released and I'd made my peace with us never getting another one years ago, so my reaction was oh, that's cool, maybe I'll get it on sale later. As release came closer and I saw more about the game I got more interested, enough so that when I suddenly had some spare cash I decided I'd get it on release after all.

I ended up barely able to put it down for two solid weeks.

The Dragon Age writing team wove together all the many, many story threads they spun out over the previous three games into one glorious tapestry. None of the story felt like it came out of nowhere or any sort of gotchya, but that it was carefully and expertly crafted into what unfolded before my eyes.

The story is also focused in a way that Origins and DAI were not. No more meandering aimlessly around a map or ultimately pointless fetch quests; every sidequest ties into the story and has direct results… as do your decisions. There will be things that come back to haunt you, because all hard decisions have consequences, after all.

The rest is under a cut for length.

On a character level, for once I didn't feel like any of the companions were extraenous. They're all integral in their areas of expertise and, as far as I could tell in one lengthy playthrough, all have a lot of reactivity to one another (and apparently other non-companion NPCs). It's worth switching your party up regularly and going back to base after every quest to see who's chatting with who and who has new things to say to you. I'm absolutely certain I missed a ton of stuff because I'd get so caught up in questing and exploring and didn't return to base often in early game.

For the player character, Rook is less of a blank slate than the Inquisitor or HoF, but more of one than Hawke. They very much have a base personality suited to someone who can build trust and lead a team, but you have a lot of flexibility in how to express that. Mimir, for example, I played as largely stoic and decisive with a few places he was pushed into a snarling rage, but when he independently acted a little goofy and awkward after building up some trust with his team, it still made sense -- after all, how is he going to build trust if he can't unclench once in a while? I played into that in his more vulnerable moments and it worked really well for me.

I was also delighted that his background came into play far, far more frequently than I could have guessed. I chose Mourn Watch because it sounded interesting, but I had my doubts about how tied into the story it would really be. However, I got quite a few Mourn Watch-specific responses and a TON of dialogue whenever anything to do with their domain came up. Mimir was able to talk shop extensively with the Mourn Watch companion and it felt like they understood each other on a deeper level, especially coming from a culture considered weird and creepy by most of Thedas. (Some players may still find Nevarran customs weird and creepy, but personally I thought they handled death in an interesting and respectful way.)

Rook's race also plays a part in how they participate in conversations. Mimir is an elf, and while I got the occassional elf-specific option, he would often indepedently speak from an elvish perspective in relevant conversations. I really enjoyed him feeling like a part of the world without me having to make it happen.

As far as the moment-to-moment gameplay goes, I had a great time. Maps were fun to traverse, with multiple levels and full of (relatively simple but still satisfying) puzzles to get to hidden areas and secret chests. There are some jumping puzzles, but they're pretty forgiving (if you almost-but-don't-quite make a jump, Rook will grab on and haul themself up) and there's no fall damage; any fall that would have killed you just respawns you where you jumped. Maybe this takes the 'stakes' out for some people, but I'm glad they cut out the annoyance.

The combat is fast and fun, if a little frantic once the game starts throwing five to ten enemies at you at once. (I recommend playing with a controller if you can.) I went straight Adventurer (normal) difficulty and only had to use a revive a handful of times, but there's a lot of customization so you can tweak things to get gameplay you prefer. (There's also a wealth of other accessibility options too; the fixed point always on screen saved me from constant motion sickness.) If you don't want to change difficulties but still struggle, check your build; you can redo your point allocation for free any time outside of combat. I started having a hard time with my scattershot choices at around level 20, but when I refunded my points and went straight for a specialization before branching out, I was suddenly hitting a lot harder.

While I do have my nitpicks, they're pretty inconsequential. I only have two real gripes -- one is that it's not entirely clear when you're going to a one-time-only map. Unfortunately these maps are also littered with treasure and codex entries that you'll miss forever if you skip them. Being on an ostensibly time-sensitive mission but knowing you're going to miss a bunch of stuff if you don't explore is a buzzkill.

The other is more petty but still really annoyed me, and that's that enemies can block your attacks even when you're standing directly behind them. I thought maybe I was reading the screen wrong until J watched me play a bit and asked, "Uh, why was he able to block you from behind??" Good question! I grumbled "This doesn't happen in Elden Ring" far too often.

I'll be playing the game again at least a couple more times; I'm really interested in seeing how the story feels from the perspective of other races and factions, and I always have a good time in taking a closer look at how the story falls into place once I know how it plays out.

[pinky-in-blankets]

Tadc ✨️ Sidequests ✨️

-----

It's a dangerous secret..

Route: Sos!Au

[Part 1] [Part 2: You are here.]

-----

Junip had been doing his own sort of investigation on the odd happenings around the game.. but not the kind others would expect.

One of the individuals trapped here, Scribbles- had caught his attention. She was rather loud and annoying.. and often bothered him with her nonsense. But.. he didn't exactly hate her company.

The thing about Scribbles though- is that something odd would happen whenever She was around. She'd tend to get quiet randomly, her face would get distorted for a moment whenever someone would get a lead on the murder, and she'd always avoid questions or give vague answers when confronted..

Something was definitely off about her. But it's impossible for her to be the killer- She just got here! Still.. it's a bit odd.. with the way she's been acting, she has to be hiding SOMETHING.

So a bit of investigation wouldn't hurt... would it?

So far nothing seemed far out of the ordinary. Her gear.. her sleeping bag nest thing she sleeps in- Even her backup scarf. All pretty harmless things. But after a bit of messing around in the mess known as her bed- Junip noticed something hidden beneath the blankets.. a Book? A sketchbook from the looks of it.

Once he had managed to sneak into Scribbles Tent, he decided to do a little snooping. She shouldn't be back for a while anyways since she had went off with Pomni & Caine to follow a lead pointing to Jax this time. Since she was smitten with him she's bound to linger.

It's not like it's her diary or anything so it wouldn't hurt to peak a little. He didn't know she liked to draw.

It all seemed harmless enough and didn't seem to be of much bother- Untill noticed something. Hold on.. half of these pages have little corners folded onto eachother.. the pages were sticking.

He flipped through the pictures, letting out a snort at the ridiculous faces she would draw and the sketches of the others.. and quite a few of Jax. Someone has a crush, obviously. But hey, that's not his business. Oh man.. there are even some sketches of him. His eyes aren't that big.

One was Scribbles Handwriting.. the other was someone elses... and what it said made Junip get VERY concerned..!

After a bit of careful separation, there was a bit of Green goo on the pages. Plus the paper inside wasn't sized correctly- like it was just stuck inside the book. There was also some writing on the pages.. two different handwritings.

'They're getting too Close to figuring things out. I thought you said you can handle it.'

'I-Im trying.. Please-! Just give me one More chance..! Please don't make me-'

'I've give you plenty of chances- and yet they still manage to get closer. I'm sorry, but I can't get caught now. it's time for you to do what I brought here you for.'

'Please don't- I..!'

' Do you understand?'

'....Yes.. as you command. I will remove them.'

' Good girl.'

"R-Remove them!?"

Junip's face grew paler- if that was even possible. Remove them!? Scribbles.. Is in cahoots with the killer!? What's going on!?

Judging by the frantic and messy Handwriting, Scribbles was clearly in distress when she was writing.. but- the fact that it suddenly changed to a more neater and proper Handwriting was unnerving.

And she's alone with Pomni & Caine RIGHT NOW.

Hold on. She said she was going to Remove them.

Oh no.

OH NO NO NONO NO-! HES GOT TO WARN THEM!!

He wasted no time. With the sketchbook underneath his arm he burst from Scribbles tent and started off running towards the last place he saw them heading.

He just prayed he wasn't too late...!

---

Song of sorrow Au belongs to @snuffydoo

[miminmimikyu]

Episode 7-8: so, one day after drinking that coffee + espresso abomination Dal thinks diving into a Borg transwarp conduit to save travel time is a good idea. And later starts admitting that he has a tendency to forget about everything else when there’s an important mission to focus on. Who does that remind me of?

So the death racing episode that disabled Zero is simultaneously a breather episode lmao

Of course the Kazon Maje wasn’t the big bad in this episode, that would ask for some unprecedented competence from them :’D love how so far they’ve been relegated to “child abductors for a despotic slaver” and now “doing kidnapping for a rogue ai that’s channeling world’s worst tutor”. Not even that really, this Maje pretty much is forced into an “NPC who makes you do a racing sidequest on pain of death” role.

Ohh I really love the personality swaps in the holograms! The voice acting is so good! Brett Gray’s version of Zero was so spot I had to go back a bit just to listen if it wasn’t actually Angus Imrie imitating Brett Gray’s voice @_@ Same for Angus Imrie’s Dal!! Rylee Alazraqui’s Jankom shouting at the Doc and Jason Mantzoukas’ Rok Takh being so sweet and innocent are so funny! Also, taking the Gwyn hologram out is such a convenient way to prevent Murf’s personality from talking

only just realising the Maj’el - Majel Barett name connection!!

Ovidia IV is so pretty and the designs of the corporeal non-corporeal aliens are so cool but it’s a trap it’s a trap it’s a trap, it’s giving me Star Trek TOS vibes of “Faustian bargain aliens” or “planet with a death ritual masquerading as a incredible party”.

After watching the whole episode, setting aside the scenes on Voyager-A, episode 8 really really felt so much like a TOS episode with a modern twist to me! It had the uncanny idyllic planet, the race of telepaths enthralled by their senses, the weird euphoric call to death, culty death festival, the inability to leave once you’ve made The Choice.. but then it has the emotional arc you see in NuTrek and also includes a beautiful, thrilling scene flying on top of the Nazamon (very Discovery). And obviously without the gruesome deaths and madness that would have accompanied a TOS episode. (Ok maybe TOS deaths aren’t that gruesome compared to Disco/Pic//SNw but when I was 9-10 and watching TOS repeats with my dad on Sunday afternoons against my will it was terrifying so that’s what in my brain now). And despite the weird vibes they weren’t actually bad people, just dangerously secretive.

Zero’s arc is also so interesting. Their desire to obtain corporeal body is such a contrast from S1 Zero, who waxed lyrical about life with other Medusans, how they miss it and how it’s like nothing the others can imagine. It figures that now they’re liberated from being a living torture device and have had time to spend so much time enjoying freedom with their corporeal friends, they are able to put into words something might be missing. The joy on their face and in their voice after the transfiguration was so sweet! Also I like these shots through Zero’s cracked visor

I think it’s also an interesting juxtaposition that the previous episode, which ended in Zero performing a self-sacrificial, disabling manoeuvre, started with the gang diving into a Borg transwarp conduit and Zero voicing discomfort (fear) at that. Zero did stop talking less about their Medusan physiology post-Borg encounter (also after injuring Gwyn?) iirc. There was that fear of hurting others just by being Medusan. But this episode talks about fear being an essential aspect of life (ok. corporeal life i guess). Also interesting that Prodigy is framing the corporeal/non-corporeal thing as a binary. I hope it's going to delve a little deeper into that and go a little more complex. I can't wait to see if Zero’s new body lasts and what its possible deterioration will mean for Zero and their feelings about living as a Medusan among humanoids.

Another thing that I like about this episode is that the gang only cares that Zero was properly informed about what choice they were making and that they were safe during the process. They are sure that Zero knows what’s best for Zero.

Poor Gwyn can't catch a break, even her hologram is traumatised now.

Can’t believe how strong this first half of the season is already. If season 1 is anything to go by it’s going to be a hell of a two parter for the midseason finale!!!!!

(I’m still in doubt about the Entity being a time-displaced Chakotay, because in the second message it called Janeway “Janeway” and not “Kathryn” or “Captain” or “Admiral”. Even if he was trying to hide his identity for timey wimey reasons I can’t imagine he’d call her just Janeway and not “vice admiral Kathryn Janeway” or some other more businesslike title.)

Oh no these posts are getting so long OTL

[skyward-floored]

Do share, Tarrey Town grudge?

@th3only-one also asked about this, so I shall share:

So be me, wandering around Hyrule as Link, ignoring most of the sidequests in the populated areas because I liked to stick to the woods and wild spots of Hyrule (and I was on a Mission to find all those shrines so by golly I was gonna). I'd just found Akkala, and as fall is my favorite season, I'd decided it was my new favorite region and was exploring like mad, enjoying the foliage and scenery (less so the powerful monsters but everything comes at a price).

So I'm wandering around this lake, looking for shrines, poking around for bugs and stuff, and I see there's this weird tall island thing in the middle of it, with what looks like a land bridge and everything. Sweet! There must be a shrine up there!

I slowly work my way around the lake, avoid getting killed by the guardian that's down there, swim across some water, realize there's a road up there I could've been following that maybe would've resulted in less near-death experiences, but I like to follow the lay of the land, and make it to the top.

And find no shrine :/

...but I DO find a goddess statue!

I was so puzzled at finding it, I spent a long while trying to figure out why there was this little desolate spot with a goddess statue just plunked among these rocks in this little pool. I wandered around a little more, found the great fairy nearby, and came to the COMPLETELY LOGICAL CONCLUSION, that obviously this is a little secret spot for travelers! There's no town anywhere in Akkala, so obviously this is supposed to be a place for travelers to stop and pray (and the developers put a fairy fountain there for player convenience).

I was so charmed by it. It became my favorite goddess statue to visit, I'd make detours there all the time so I could use up spirit orbs, and sometimes I'd just go there and chill for a while, and find flowers or listen to rain or whatever. It became my special little spot.

Eventually, I started cracking down on sidequests I'd been goofing off on, like giving Bolson all that wood, and other stuff like that. Hudson says he's going to start on a town somewhere in Akkala? Neat! That'll be interesting. I think nothing of it.

Until I go to visit my goddess statue spot, and find there is is a guy there. Hammering my rocks. With a mallet.

HUDSON IS BUILDING A TOWN. IN MY SECRET SPOT.

HE CAN'T DO THIS!!!

Despite how I try and get him to leave (I whacked him with all sorts of stuff, no dice), he stays. Maybe if I do what he wants he'll leave? Maybe he's just gathering materials here and will move somewhere else?

Nope.

Hudson does not leave. More people join him. Soon enough to my dismay there's a house in my spot, and another one, and people and animals and suddenly my spot is Tarrey Town. My beautiful, quiet spot in the wilderness is now nothing but a victim to the continuous march of urban sprawl.

...So yes, I have a mild grudge against Tarrey Town.

[ddwcaph-game]

Ask Guidelines Update

Now that I've cleared my ask backlog from the latest update, I've added the following to the FAQ:

To ensure a better response time from me, PLEASE LIMIT CHARACTER-RELATED ASKS TO 2 CHARACTERS. I might include other characters to my answer if I feel like it, but this will help me a lot in lightening my mental load when it comes to unanswered asks. I figure this is much better than restricting those kinds of asks entirely. I hope you understand!

Again, please keep in mind that I have trouble answering "favorite" asks in general unless it's something I've already established. It's not something I enjoy answering, and it'd be much easier for me to answer if a character would like something, rather than asking what their favorites are.

What's in the Next Update?

Anyway, before I decide how I'm going forward with Chapter 6, I’m also planning a smaller update later:

Extra ancestry flavor text

New NP option to ask Julie/Robert to pick you up even if your MC isn’t short

An entirely new discoverable secret for Tito Nestor that can help you with your sidequest

[T-Rex Tooth Replica] Souvenir will now give extra Max NP on successful Intimidation checks

Certain customization choices in the prologue are no longer considered NP choices.

A super special surprise!

The majority also seem in favor of the new Alternate Musical Scenes, so I might include that in the next update as well.

I'm also considering on reworking the [Five-Year-Old MC's Wish] Sidequests and change it to some sort of "bucket list" instead, so it's less restrictive to certain playstyles. Instead of specific objectives, you need to complete an X amount of goals (from a list of objectives based on your traits that you can do repeatedly), and you will gain additional EXP and NP for every milestone you achieve.

For example, MCs with the [Sweet Tooth] Trait will have "Eat sweets or desserts" as one of their goals. If you have a very high Manipulative stat, increasing/decreasing your Manipulative stat might also be one of your goals depending on your other traits.

I know it's hard to do with a mostly linear narrative, but I'm trying to add more emergent gameplay/mechanics to the story, so that you always feel like you're progressing towards something, and so that different playthroughs feel more unique to each other.

Bug Fixes

On another note, I just fixed a bunch of bugs (I fixed the first two secretly earlier):

Fixed certain clubs displaying incorrectly in the About Me section.

Fixed a bug in JM Sr.'s diary entry when a certain secret has been discovered.

Separated relative height choice in the prologue and moved to Chapter 2 to fix a bug with Dwarf/Halfling/Gnome/Goblin MCs being able to pick the [Tall-Blooded] Trait.

Minor edits/typo correction.

Roselyna is now approximately 2% more huggable!

[getvalentined]

More Pokémon Holy/Meteor stuff. Nero's little profile isn't here because I have a whole picture of him on the same vein as Vincent's that I'd like to finish eventually. I am missing a handful of characters that would be in the "game," most notably the title's Professor (for which I am still torn between two options and may never settle) as well as Grimoire and Veld, who are both in the story but not technically integral to the main storyline(s).

There's a lot more than this bouncing around in my head but it's a lot so I'll stop with these and the notes below unless people are interested in something specific not covered here. (If so, drop me an ask and I'll happily answer! I love talking about my needlessly complicated crossover AUs, but they are so needlessly complicated that I don't generally just infodump about them.)

Other notes under the cut!

Cloud is the player character; the starting age for a Pokémon Journey in the Midgar region is 14, and he was 16 at the time of the accident, making him 21 during the main story. The storyline reflects this, as Cloud is much older than a standard protag for this series, but he's been out of the world recovering for long enough that he's still got a unique sort of naïveté. (Tifa would probably be the female protag but Cloud is the default here sorry.)

Sephiroth is the main "rival" in Pokémon Meteor, Genesis is the "rival" in Pokémon Holy, although they both appear in both titles and serve the same overall function for the narrative. They are not antagonists.

The Legendary for Meteor is "Jenosynthe," a reference to Jenova Synthesis; Holy has "Omegaia," which is a reference to Omega and to Gaia/Minerva. They have particular connections to Sephiroth and Genesis respectively, and Grimoire's contribution to the plot allows the player to obtain the other title's Legendary post-game.

The Midgar region is the only one to have "Variant" gyms, which focus on regional variants rather than a specific type. This is a new, secondary path with badges that can be mixed and matched with standard type-based gyms to reach the required number of badges to take on the League.

Other gym leaders: Kunsel (Psychic, he battles blindfolded), Reno and Rude (Electric), Yuffie (Hisuian variant), Rosso (Fighting*), Sonon (undecided on his gym but he's here), Weiss (Ground, because I love a stupid reference), and Chadley (secret unlockable Shiny variant gym, only accessible if you beat all the other gyms on both paths, bestows the Shiny charm), as well as others. *Veld's gym used to be Fighting-type but Tseng converted it when he took over following Veld's retirement, allowing Rosso to move out of her previous position with the League and set up a new one.

Other members of Team Helletic: Azul, Rayleigh, Gillian and Angeal (the "multi-generational multi-battle"), Sebastian and Essai (who are under the control of Something), and Shears, as well as others. Hollander was a member until the incident five years ago, which is implied to have led to his death.

Other important NPCs: Cid (the fast travel guy, may work with the Professor), Barret (runs the Pokémon breeding center), Cait Sith (a navi system that shows up through a specific set of sidequests and is revealed to be Reeve's at the end), Shelke (appears in the same sidequests as Cait Sith), Dio (runs a facility for fast EV training), and Johnny (nobody knows why he's here but he sure is), as well as others.