#NPCs have such facial blindness

[laspocelliere]

Day Twenty-Seven: “Sole”

“You make a terrible cobbler,” the young artisan groused.

The woman he’d recruited to help him barely cracked a smile, but he could feel her amusement, and it annoyed him all the more. She’d seemed like a likely pair of hands when he’d spotted her coming into town, and there were few people more willing to do grunt work than the adventurers that were suddenly roaming thick and fast through all the nearby villages. While business wasn’t necessarily booming since the Calamity, folk always had a need for shoes, and he’d thought taking on some assistance in exchange for a bit of honest coin wouldn’t go amiss.

If he’d had any inkling on how much basic instruction she’d require, though, he may have let her pass by.

“You’re going to break the soles if you keep trying to hammer them in like that,” he lectured gruffly, taking the shoe out of her hands with a little more force than strictly necessary. “By the Twelve, I should have just let you gather supplies in the forest instead, if I thought you’d  be any better at defending yourself with a weapon than you are with a hammer.”

The look she shot him was difficult to interpret, but he was too annoyed to focus on it for long. He tried to be as understanding as possible these days, but ye gods, maybe all that talk about her kind only being good for one thing had been more accurate than he’d originally thought.

“You’re done,” he told her roughly, holding up the shoe she’d been attempting to work on with a sharp, appraising eye. In honesty, it wasn’t half bad – he’d seen worse from apprentices who wanted to learn the trade – but she held tools like a woman who didn’t know the first thing about a trade, and the way she carried herself had all the trappings of one of them “proper young ladies” who’d grown tired of needlepoint and thought she’d give a life of adventuring a try. That was, of course, until she found herself a man on the road within a few moons and settled down right back where she’d started from. He’d seen her like a hundred times.

“Your coin,” he said, handing her a small bag, which she pocketed without counting it – odd, that, and more proof that she was used to having a steady flow of gil without worrying about where it came from, proving his point. 

She thanked him quietly, with a voice softer than he’d have thought, and with a genuine honesty to it that took him a little off-guard. There was that look in her eyes again, something that stuck in the back of his mind. This adventurer knew more than she was letting on, and it was going to bother him, he knew, long after she was gone.

“Look here,” he told his friend a few moments later, back from the market with warm buns and cider for them both. “Them adventurers are all the same. I tried to get that girl to lend a hand while you were busy, and she nearly snapped this thing clean in half.”

For a moment, his companion looked confused, looking from the shoe in hand, to the retreating back of the adventurer down the pathway towards the village’s exit. Suddenly, understanding dawned on his face, bright and shocked, nearly enough to drop the lunch he’d brought them.

“You…that’s the Warrior of Light!”

“What?” Spinning in place, the artisan turned sharply to search out the woman’s retreating back. The expression she’d pinned him with, and the unknown quality behind her dark eyes, all suddenly fell into place with a dull, heavy thud that made his stomach twist.

“Mate, that’s something you can tell your grandchildren! You met the Warrior of Light! You better keep that shoe.”

“...Gods…I told her she couldn’t defend herself…” He gripped the shoe in his hand like a relic from a fairy tale, feeling like he’d been doused with cold water as the woman disappeared over the slope leading away from the village.

“The Warrior of Light…” A story for the grandchildren indeed.

Perhaps with a few careful edits first.

[cripplecharacters]

Debated on whether I wanted to resend but here goes nothing.

This is Margo, my OC. She is currently being developed into a Stardew Valley mod. I don't wish to spoil too much, but she fought in The War and was injured. She now has facial + body scarring and a cane. I'm still writing the story, but so far, she has two plots: A, which is her learning to open up and accept the player. And B, which is her trying to find a hobby with the help of other NPC characters.

I'm mainly sending an ask in for feedback on her design. As of now, her torn lip has been edited to show her gums instead of all teeth. Otherwise, nothing has changed. Thank you!

Side question: How should her facial difference and cane be addressed, if at all?

[Image description: two pixel drawings. The first one shows the full body of the character; she has light tan skin, a burn scar on her face, and long red hair. She's holding a cane. The second drawing shows multiple versions of the character's portrait with various facial expressions.]

Hey!

She looks good! I especially like the top right one, very cute :)

I think my only concern would be re: her right eye - is she meant to have corneal scarring or a traumatic cataract? I'm asking since it looks like she has corneal blindness, but that's rarely caused by an injury like that (it's mostly a vitamin deficiency/parasitic thing). It's not impossible that she'd have it from a burn, but I want to make sure you're not confusing the two (since I see that a lot) and these two conditions do have different symptoms (outside of blindness).

If you're willing to address her disability then I think it would be a good idea. I'm not sure what kind of narration you're going for, but it wouldn't be ableist for the player character to simply Acknowledge that she has burns on her face (e.g., before the player learns her actual name, the placeholder could be "red-haired woman with a burn" since these are just her most visible characteristics). It also wouldn't be out of place if the player character wondered "what happened" - I know we (disabled people) all hate this question, but I don't think it's weird for someone to just think that in their head when they see someone (thought crime isn't real, etc.). As long as the player character isn't going around harassing her asking why she's disabled as the first thing they do (unless I guess it'd be to show that the player is ableist and has a lot to learn?) it should be ok.

If you want the characters to discuss "what happened" in the actual dialogue, it'd be preferably after they actually develop a relationship. I don't think it's weird to ask one's friend about their disability (as opposed to demand that information). Depending on Margo's personality and/or feelings toward the player she could either explain the whole story in great detail, leave it at "during the War, a building caught on fire, I was in it; it took them three months to put me back together but at least I'm finally back home, isn't modern medicine incredible?", or simply decline to answer that. All three are valid options; it's not like her character arc will fall apart if the player doesn't know what happened. She's visibly a burn survivor, there's hardly any mystery as to what's going on. Not everyone wants to talk about the origin of their disability, even (sometimes especially) to people they're close to - sometimes it's PTSD, sometimes it's the fact that they're tired of being asked that.

Her cane is more straightforward since in her case, her main "thing to address" are her burns and the cane would probably fall under that for most players. If you want you can have the player character compliment the design of her cane* or how well built it is, especially earlier on when it would be more awkward to just go straight to discussing her actual disability.

*Real life (not writing) tip: Not everyone likes that, please don't randomly compliment real strangers' mobility aids, especially if they're undecorated or without anything else that would imply they want to bring attention to it. A lot of people (myself included) will think you're being condescending.

Other than that, there's no reason to ignore her burns or cane; e.g. if the player visits her at home before going out she can mention that she needs to grab her cane, or put a pressure sleeve on before leaving, maybe on some days she's not available to talk to because she has physical therapy scheduled at that time, etc. As long as she has other character traits that have nothing to do with her disability (which it sounds like she already does) it should all be good.

I also like the plot B she's involved in - I wish this wasn't the case, but so many characters with facial differences don't have any damn hobbies ("obsessing over revenge for making them disabled" doesn't count) and almost never seem to have casual friends, so this is cool to see!

Hope this helps,

mod Sasza

[muffinlance]

After reading the tags on your latest post I was wondering if it would be possible for you to make a brief overview of the iffy tropes/details your sensitivity reader helped you pick up on? Of course it wouldn't replace doing research ourselves, but I'd love to hear about it regardless!

Have not run it by them yet because it is in no fit state for human consumption at this point; the tropes are just from reading their blog + others on Tumblr + general Internet research including the excellent "blind people walk you through normal activities from their perspective" videos on YouTube. But off the top of my head:

Face touching. Where the blind person gropes someone's face to see? Sighted people made that up. I rewrote a chapter in Towards the Sun when I realized that one. Which makes sense, because why would a blind person be any more inclined to run their hands all up in your facial juices. Eww.

Negating blindness with magic and pretty much ignoring the blindness henceforth. Which is why Zuko isn't going to learn to see with firebending. There are very interesting discussions on how Toph herself fits and doesn't fit into this trope; finding them is left as an exercise for the reader.

Token blind character, AKA only having one blind person in the narrative who represents All Blind People. Going to have a few blind NPCs running around, with various levels of sight and accommodations, to thoroughly negate this one.

Being Depressed and/or Overly Inspirational about the blindness. AKA character devotes a large chunk of the story to bemoaning their blindness, with bonus inspirational "overcoming" at the end. Think about how it would feel if the majority of characters like you spent vast word counts hating the thing that makes them like you. And then solving it, in a way you can't, so they don't have to have the tragic fate of Being Like You. ...So Zuko is not getting cured, and he's also not wasting much time wallowing in an angst puddle.

Etc.

Basically, I want this to be a story that low vision folks can read and go "that was fun and less offensive than 70% of actual media representations", and sighted people can go "that was fun and hopefully I internalized some positive things that will make me less likely to grab a blind person's arm and forcibly Help Them Cross The Road, Try To Pet Their Dog (and Get Huffy When Asked to Please Not), or Call People Out On Not Being Blind Because They Don't Fit The Stereotypes".

[sketchmre]

do you have a favorite piece of venture maidens fanart you've drawn???

This is a great question! Honestly, I've been wanting to make a environmental piece with whimsy, food, and fashion, for like.. 2 years? when thats done it will probably be my favorite piece LMAO but for the time being? let me go through my venture maidens folder

read more break because im going to be going on and on

This applies to most aspects of my life, but I don't really have a top "favorite" thing in most areas! I mean, Madoka Magica Rebellion is my favorite movie (very closely rivaled by Coraline), but that's an outlier. In every other case, I have a collection of my favorites with one coming out on top depending on how I'm feeling that day.

It's also influenced by eras, I think. I don't want to compare my most recent art to my venture maiden 2020 art, because I've improved and will prefer my newer style. However, there's still a sense of nostalgia and homeliness to some of my old art that can bring it above the rest, you know?

Going through my venture maiden campaign 1 folder, here's probably my favorites:

These two are from 9/3/20 ("sawYEAH.png") and 11/23/22 ("arent you tired of being nice.png"). I think Sawyeh's relatively simple design has always lend itself well to gesture drawing, especially with the relatively simple silhouette shape. Theyre just fun :) I like them a lot.

I don't know if I'd rank a lot of my campaign 1 art among my favorites, not because I think less of the campaign but because a lot of that time period was me feeling my way into an art style. I see it as the time period after I started feeling confident in my art, but before I kind of became the "unique facial features and color jitter" artist.

For fun (and food), here's some of my unposted campaign 1 stuff.

10/23/20 and 10/27/20 (gidget and vlad, back when i was drawing in paint tool sai!)

1/2/21, 1/5/21, 6/18/21 || 1/6/21 (put out of order because i like this image composition more).

Here's some 2020 (and 2019, apparently?) photoshop files! I like some more than others. None of them have previews since they're photoshop files, so I'm opening them blind in krita. Note the layers/colors may seem off, it's probably because the clipping masks and editing layers break between programs.

8/12/19, 8/21/20, 8/31/20 || 9/5/20 || 10/23/20, 10/23/20, 10/28/20 || 11/4/20

From 10/21/20, technically in 2020 but close to 2021. I think it's unique because it starts to show a shift to more.. unique concepts, I guess? It was of a water elemental who uses an ice mask to mimic having a face. It's cool, I should revisit it.

3/17/21, 3/18/21

I think that's pretty much it for the art while campaign 1 was going on. Here's some post-campaign 1 stuff from 2023 that maybeee got put on the discord?

8/16/23, 8/25/23.

GREAT now I'm moving on to campaign 2.

My favorite? My favorite piece of artwork so far? It's of a one-off npc, the garlic princess. I was studying old strawberry shortcake designs for her. It was a lot of fun.

9/10/23

My other favorites? Probably any art of Tandy

1/2/23 || 1/2/23

I also really enjoy these unfinished sketches: the first being a wildes-influenced lu, inspired by butterflies and gemstones; the second being Toni and a Wyrd sister ("thats no angel.png"); the third being halloween outfit designs; and the fourth being aoife and toni going clubbing in the wildes;

7/11/21, 10/11/22, 9/2/23 || 1/26/24

As for unposted sketches? Oh boy, I've got a lot more for this campaign. So much that I have reached the image limit per post, whoops. I'll add them in a reblog.

[ragsy]

Hey congrats do the whole list for Kenny

🔫🔫🔫

Oh, pvp enabled, OKAY LET'S GOOOOO

are they associated with a certain color? what color do they wear the most?

not really sure, actually! i've only drawn him a handful of times and only one of those times was colored in, so i haven't quite figured out his color palette yet. desaturated purple comes to mind when i think on it, though

what sort of music would they like? have you thought about what genres or bands do they lean towards? do they have a favorite song?

His music taste is what i can only describe as "my real life father's mp3 player on shuffle" which is. Not anything that anyone on here has any frame of reference for!! But that would include, but isn't limited to: Cat Stevens, Manu Chao, Sheryl Crow, Third Eye Blind, Fatboy Slim, Fleetwood Mac, Traffic, Green Day, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Shpongle.

weapon of choice? any particular reason they chose their weapon?

Uuhhhh technically his character sheet lists his weapon as his walking stick, (it only does 1 damage) (he never uses it as a weapon, he has never once in his history on a monster hunting team hit anything with his walking stick)

The rest under here 👇

how crafty/resourceful are they?

Middlingly average, for the most part. He's much better at navigating problems than actually solving them; he'll look towards his team members if something needs fixed.

how do they typically dress? does their wardrobe lean more towards practicality or aesthetics?

Sweaters, slacks, polo shirts, sneakers. Retired guy in american suburbia swag.

how do they wear their hair? do they care a lot how their hair looks?

he keeps it somewhat short, but he doesn't really care how it looks anymore. he's grateful to still have most of it, so he just kinda lets it do what it wants. he also used to have a well-maintained goatee before his time in the Other Place, but since returning to the real world, he's only done the bare minimum of keeping his facial hair mostly trim.

favorite animal? why?

not a huge animal guy, honestly! he finds the presence of birds to be extremely reassuring, though. 

do they have a nickname? who gave it to them? if it's not derived from their real name, what's the story behind it?

i guess kenny is technically a nickname (he always introduces himself as kenneth, and everyone else always decides "oh this man is a kenny actually"), but he's much more of a giver of nicknames than anything else

favorite food? least favorite? are they a picky eater? do they have any dietary restrictions?

always a big fan of fresh baked goods, especially blueberry muffins. he has some challenges with eating these days-- after having spent five years in the Other Place not needing to eat or sleep, stuff tastes weird to him now. He's got a mental list of safe foods, but he tries not to be a bother when other people are cooking, so he'll try his best with what's available to him.

if they wear jewelry, what kind? do they prefer silver or gold? do they have a favorite gem?

gold wedding band :( (deadwife trope)

what do they have in common with you? how are they different? would you get along with them?

i gave him my fear of being forgotten and love for terrible dad jokes, what else could he need?

we're actually more different than alike, i think. he's just lived an extremely different life than me; he's a 65 year old heterosexual retired dentist who has been married and has a daughter who is my age. i am literally none of those things. but i think we would get along really well; he's based heavily on some of my own extended family who i already like fairly well, lol

how long have they been around? do you know their birthday? is their birthday the day you made them or another day? what do they think of celebrating birthdays?

i've had him as a character since... roughly 2020? but he was extremely different in that iteration (a haunting-the-narrative NPC in the motw campaign i ran and have since completed). his current iteration came about earlier this year when i rewrote him from the ground up to be a motw player character. also his birthday is march 17th, 1959 and birthdays are... complicated. if someone tried to throw him a party he would be GRATEFUL, and he would offer to celebrate someone else's birthday with them, but he doesn't know how to think of his own birthday anymore. he spent ages being extremely unmoored from the passage of time, you know? makes it hard

what languages do they speak? how fluently?

fluent in english (his first language), more than a little bit of mandarin (from his grandparents) and spanish (he had some patients who only spoke spanish; he always made an effort to be able to directly communicate with them whenever possible). the latter two are largely forgotten from disuse, though

are they any good with numbers?

he's actually pretty good with numbers, but it doesn't come up very often anymore. he's itching for the day that someone comes to him for help with their taxes

how big or small is their family? who did they live with growing up? do they live with anyone now?

very, very small. he was his parents' only child, he had a language barrier between him and one set of grandparents, and he never knew the other set. his late wife had a big family, who he has since fallen out of contact with (with the exception of his beloved nephew charlie). he has one daughter, who he is trying to reconnect with. he currently lives alone.

do they have any pets? what do they call their pets?

no pets, and he would never ever ever consider franklin the potted plant to be a pet. that's his TRAUMA BONDED BEST FRIEND

how did they spend their summers/free time as a child?

wildly unsafe summer camps of the 1960s/1970s. here you go child, have some lead paint to play with

their opinion on lying, stealing, and killing?

top three things to make kenny disappointed in you

are they quick to anger? what sets them off?

very, very slow to anger. will ALWAYS give someone the benefit of the doubt, but if they really are in the wrong, he will bottle it up for as long as possible. when he finally breaks, it's hysterical and venomous. he generally hates being angry more than he hates the things that *make* him angry

if applicable, can they drive? if they have their own, what color is their vehicle? is the inside neat and tidy, or a mess?

he's got a royal blue toyota prius :]

it's pretty tidy inside, for the most part. gotta make sure there's space for passengers inside, it's not a large vehicle to begin with!!

their favorite place to be?

alice's house, with everyone else there with him

do they sleep well at night?

HA, no, lmao

5 years not needing to sleep will fuck up your sleep schedule once you finally have to again. he wakes up at odd hours, falls asleep at even odder ones, and has crazy weird dreams (which he then has to write down in his dream journal before he can go back to sleep again)

how would you describe their voice? can they sing?

quick and flighty, like he has to get his words out as fast as he can before something stops him. he stammers a lot. he's not a great singer by any means, but he's not immune to singing along to a favorite tune in the car or in the kitchen.

do they have any creative hobbies? (art, writing, music, etc)

he tried out a lot of different hobbies while trying to adjust once his daughter moved out, but none of them stuck. he tries to augment his dream journal with drawings whenever possible, so i guess that counts? 

how good/bad is their hearing? what about their eyesight?

hearing is actually pretty good for his age; eyesight isn't great though. he's been a glasses wearer since the second grade, and it's only gotten worse as he's aged

how do they move? are they clumsy? light on their feet? do they use mobility aids?

he's not quick by any means, but he can get around just fine. he has a chronically bad knee from a car crash earlier in his life that was exacerbated by an injury during an encounter with the lighthouse keeper. he walks with a cane on days when he needs extra support.

if applicable, do they have a favorite sport? do they play any sports or prefer to watch?

he understands the appeal of sports, but was never very athletic and never really got into watching them. he'll still tune into the olympics though, just to see what crazy things they're doing with spheres and gravity in athletics these days

how do they show that they care about someone? how do they express that they don't like someone?

He cares a lot about most people he meets, so it is generally easier to tell when he *doesn't* like someone; his warm, inviting manner turns curt and closed. 

are they associated with any particular element (air, earth, fire, water)?

Air, probably? I've no grounds for this, it just feels right

do they smell like anything notable?

Uuuuuuuuuh i dunno, come give uncle kenny a whiff and tell me what you think

do they like receiving gifts? giving gifts? what is their ideal gift?

He LOVES giving and receiving gifts, he eats that shit up, but if he's the only one receiving and not giving anyone anything he starts to feel really guilty about it. His ideal gift is something small yet thoughtful. He's going to be thinking about the magic walking cane that Charlie gave him forEVER

do they have any habits that aren't particularly self-destructive, just maybe odd?

He carries around a potted plant like his life depends on it, he's removed the doors from every room and cabinet in his apartment, and he hesitates before passing though any sort of entryway

if applicable, how would your other characters describe them? i mean specifically the people around them.

Mark's the only other one who has met him, and he would describe him as "uh. Nice, i guess? He talks too much, and he's kinda weird like he's on a different planet than everyone else, but he seems... harmless."

how would your character describe themselves? it doesn't have to line up with how they really are.

"Who, me? Ah, I'm just some kook who got lost once, haha!"

do they ever return home?

He's tried. That house isn't really home anymore; home feels more like the people he's with nowadays.

[faaun]

i want to be a machine learning engineer but some of u guys r making it embarrassing actually. long but IMO important explanation below. We have bigger issues to deal w and better things to focus on.

like our planet is dying and the commercialisation of massive AI models and training the models themselves releases like hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions. and this includes very "nonessential" models that don't tend to contribute much to society (re: new fancy image generation toy). but u have decided your new career path is "AI artist" (glorified prompt-writer?) .

and just as bad, some of you have decided the biggest issue w AI is those people, the glorified prompt writers!! you draw more attention to it instead of focusing on the real problems behind AI and the ethics of training models! about the harm it causes to the planet, about web-scraping limitations basically not existing (stolen art falls under this domain), copyright laws to do with AI, the way facial recognition deals with race, about the boundaries between letting AI learn and develop in an "unbiased" way vs preventing sociopolitical damage at the cost of (potentially) further progress.

conversely, there is nowhere NEAR enough focus about how AI can help us overcome some of our fundamental problems. i love machine learning bc i find it - specifically the maths behind it - fascinating and i believe one day it could help us make very cool advancements, as it already has. i think the mathematical architectures and processes behind creating new deep learning models are beautiful. i also know the damage capitalists will inevitably do - they always wield powerful, beautiful new tools as weapons.

AND HERE YOU ARE FALLING FOR IT! it's very frustrating to watch!! if you're angry on behalf of artists, i'm begging you to protect the rights of artists and be mad at greedy companies instead of villanising a tool that can help us immensely! learn about AI ethics, learn about how it is present in our lives, what we should try to stop, what we should promote.

if you "boycott AI" as a whole with no desire to gain more literacy on the topic other than "steals art therefore bad", you will have to be against your translate app, your search engine, your email spam filter, almost everything on your phone that categorises anything (i.e. pretty much all of your search functions), NPC enemies in games, your medical diagnostic tools, your phone's face unlock, your maps app, online banking, accessibility tools that help blind and deaf people, new advancements in genetic sequencing and protein folding and treating cancer and modelling new solutions in physics and so on and so on.

the issue isn't all AI as a whole. the issue is A) how companies are using it and B) how a lot of you guys are getting mad at the concept of AI instead of responding to A.

[cruelsister-moved2]

have u seen that ‘diverse’ stardew valley mod but for any of the romanceable characters diversity mostly seems to mean they are wearing more makeup or have dyed hair..and like for the original one romanceable black character they literally just made her wear more makeup. stuck a hijab on the overworked stay at home mom who is married to the like us army war criminal vibes dude who yells at her etc. oh also the lady called sandy who lives in the desert is muslim as well. some of them are just recoloured skin and nothing else so theres a guy with like bright yellow hair and then like really grey looking skin like there are a couple of really cute designs but a lot of them just look so bad. oh and they made the character who lives in a trailer a trans woman and u can choose from a design with boobs or a design with a flat chest ?! and its a visual-only mod so they have tried to like show that shes trans through her appearance by changing her facial structure and giving her thinner hair um yeah..  and most of them have multiple options so u have to sit and choose like do u want this character to be fat or have a hearing aid etc which just feels so artificial genuinely just make new NPCs? i would rather have one #diverse npc with an interesting storyline etc than a guy they stuck dark sunglasses on to show hes blind and then he continues to like work in a forge im sorry girl thats dangerousss

[rob3rtruth3er4ordblog]

Video Game Review: Ori and the Will of the Wisp

While art is subjective, one would have a difficult time finding many, if any, negative things to say about Moon Studio’s Ori and the Blind Forest. With a heart breaking and heartwarming story, tight controls, satisfyingly challenging platforming, gorgeous graphics, and one of the best gaming soundtracks this generation, Ori and the Blind Forest made a mark. And when making a sequel to such a feat, it would seem easy or even wise to recreate what was already done. And while Moon Studios did not try to fix what was not broken, new parts were added to make a sequel that, while not surpassing its predecessor, is equally as epic and emotionally grabbing.

Whether you’re a new player or returning, the atmosphere of Ori and the Will of the Wisp, just as its predecessor, is an immediate standout. Before even beginning the game, the start screen alone conveys the tone perfectly with bright and warm colors with the calming sound of trees accompanied by an empowering, beautiful, and a yet haunting score. Players are then introduced to Ori, along with other returning characters Naru, Gumo, and the owlet briefly introduced in Blind Forest, who is now known as Ku. The story centers around Ku and Ori’s quest to save her when the two are separated during a storm. From there, a journey of rescue, terror, courage, love, and family are put in motion. And yet again, the storytelling is top-notch.

Impactful storytelling in Will of the Wisp, as with Blind Forest, has more to do with what surrounds the characters than the characters themselves. Don’t get me wrong, the characters are great. However, just as in Blind Forest, none of the main characters speak. Their emotions are conveyed through facial and body expression. But along with character actions, the atmosphere, such as the color scheme, level design, and music are just as crucial to conveying how characters are feeling, and just how on edge players should feel during certain sections. For instance, while still a tough area, like many are in Will of the Wisp, the calming music along with the popping bright blue and pink colors of the Luma Pools are much more inviting than the darker and more bleak colorway of the Mouldwood Depths. The music In the Mouldwood Depths represents this as well. While the area can be tough with more terrifying enemies than an area like the Luma Pools, instead of presenting fear, the music represents sadness for the forest as the decay and destruction are laid bare while traversing its landscape. But even with another great story with rich themes, it would all be for nothing if the gameplay was not solid. And fortunately, Will of the Wisp builds on what was done in Bind Forest.

Like its predecessor, the Metroidvania style format returns. Players will once again start off with minimal skills while acquiring more overtime to defeat tougher enemies, and reach areas in the map previously locked away due to not having the ability needed to reach it. Players will acquire the primary skills necessary to progress by collecting them from trees located throughout the game, just as in Blind forest. Other skills this time around, such as attack damage increases, damage reduction, and enemy orb drop rates are acquired by NPCs (non-player character), with some also able to be found throughout the map as well. I do not have any strong feelings towards this change either positively or negatively, as it did not have much of an impact either way from my experience. Many of the acquired NPC skills are shards players can equip, which are different than the energy usage skills that are more integral to progression. By the end of my, 17-hour playthrough I was still missing 10 out of 31 shards. While Some are useful, such as being able to hang onto walls, or jumping twice in mid-air, none of them were really game-changing. However, the addition of NPCs does make the world feel even more alive due to the interactions players will have with them. NPCs offer side quest, which is also new to the game.

One significant change returning players may be mixed on is the move to an autosave system. Previously, players were able to save the game wherever they choose as long as they still had the energy to spare. Energy, just like in Will of the Wisp, is also used to fill up the health bar and still used for energy attacks. This time around, the game automatically saves for you. While not being a major plus or minus, I’m still not sure how I feel about this choice. Honestly, there were several occasions where it was useful. Previously in Blind Forest, I would sometimes forget to save right before a tricky platforming section to have to start farther back because I forgot about the save mechanic. Forgetting to do so always added an extra level of frustration, but it was also welcomed. Just like its tight and responsive controls that always make me feel like I mistimed a jump or an enemy attack instead of blaming the game itself, having to save the game myself also made me feel that sort of responsibility; Especially during sections in a Blind Forest when I was not sure to use the last bit of energy on a particular attack to defeat an enemy(s) or save not knowing how difficult an upcoming section would be. Having an autosave mechanic took away an aspect of the game that I did find myself missing at times. But with trial and error being a big part of the gameplay, for a lot of players, and even a few times during my playthrough, the autosave feature can be useful.

Making a worthy sequel to such a critically acclaimed piece of art is tough. But Moon Studios once again delivered a fantastic game that will pull on many emotions of its players. The tremendous and yet simple story of love, family, and courage is an impactful rollercoaster ride. And the addictive tight and responsive gameplay from the opening jump along with the feel of progression and discovery is enough for Will of the Wisp to be a worthy sequel. While some decisions may have a mixed response, while not progressing the series forward, are not anything game-breaking, while still providing yet another fantastic experience in Moon Studio’s epic franchise.

8.5/10

[moontheoretist]

I didn’t expect to love Anthem, BUT I REALLY DO OMG!

My third impressions are the ones I wanna you all to pay attention to the most!

My first impressions of Anthem: 

- Starting Javelin is pretty easy to pilot, so I should be fine! - I do not understand what people talk to me! Too many things happens! I cannot play and pay attention to communication as I need to read subtitles too! Also NPC stop talking so quickly! I do not know what you said from hearing alone! - I cannot follow NPC facial expressions while simultaneously reading the subtitles :/ Why they are so low? - HUD is killing me. Abilities and my weapons are placed in the right corner of the screen, exactly in my blind spot! A place I never look at! - I have no idea what is where in the menu. It’s pretty but so non intuitive. - I switched Javelin and OMG EVERYTHING IS AN ANARCHY! What I am doing? What they are doing? What is happening? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! - I cannot with those keybindings! Should have changed them like I usually do in every game I play! I have my favorite set of keybindings. My second impressions of Anthem:

- Next day Anthem seemed a little less alien and weird than the first day I played. That was nice, but it may be also due to the fact that I changed sensitivity settings, so I feel that game listens to me more now. - I made subtitles LARGE so now I can technically follow them during convos with NPC and see NPC’s facial expressions (though I still feel bad I missed some facial expressions from the time I met Owen :/). - Damn, I really do like Owen! I wanna make his dream come true! Though I also wanna meet Faye again! She made a really good impression on me! - I finally figured out how to customize the colors of my Javelin!

My third impression of Anthem:

- I really want to play Anthem today, but Windows thinks that Anthem is from unknown publisher and I got a popup that “administrator stopped me from using this app for my own safety”! Had to disable admin security in registry to play. - I changed keybindings! Bring it on Anthem! Finally the control I so craved! - I managed to friggin kill swarms of Scars and at least 6 tank ones of them ALONE! Keybindings change EVERYTHING. (Ops, now evade means sprint in my dictionary. It’s actually very useful on the battlefield if you wanna get those hearts and ammo quickly xD I dunno why I do not use sprint instead xD) - I still wish there were romances in this game though. I really do like Zoe and Lucky Jak. I wanna ask them out! They are so cool! D: (Yeah I know Zoe has a kid, but she didn’t say anything about husband yet and even if she has one, maybe they are open to polyamory or something? Headcanons!) - Also Yarrow’s story about his friend who never came back home once, you know the one we pay respect during the mission A Favor to Ask, makes me all giddy, because it sounds as if they were friends and lovers. I dunno how you, but it’s my headcanon now. You do not like it? Not my problem! - ... DID YOU JUST FLIRT WITH ME, SAYRNA? OMG! OMG! ARE YOU FLIRTING WITH ME, SAYRNA?! I am so happy! TOT

(Sayrna: Has anyone ever told you that you’ve got amazing eyes?)

- She said my eyes remind her of korox and you know what? I think it’s cute. I do not know how korox looks like, but I do not care! FLIRT WITH ME MORE!

(Sayrna: Yeah. I got a soft spot for korox. I know it’s crazy because I’m a Regulator and we’re supposed to be all business. (Chuckles). Right?)

- I love how Arcanists in Anthem can have literal brawl in the bar over disagreement about theories, like... it’s so natural. They are like the children of joke and nerd stereotypes, but fused and overall better and AGH! I love it! - I also love Matthias Sumner! His story is so interesting! AGH! love him! LET ME DATE HIM! I WANNA DATE HIM OK?! Matthias, give me a kiiissss!

- “My cousin got hit, but on the bright side I got to per baby korox!” Sayrna is such a dork! I love her! Tell me more stories! *listens with hearts in her eyes to every weird or impossible story she tells* Marry me, please. - “If Sentinel’s don’t adapt, the fort won’t be around much longer to protect”. I love you Brin, but your ideology is more rebellious than you think xD - AH! So that’s how KOROX looks like! ... I still find Sayrna’s flirting very effective. I may be this type of pokemon who is weak against weirdness :D

- TESILAR ADVENTURE. For real. Sayrna. MARRY ME, GODDAMMIT! <3 I remind her of the tesilar and I dunno how it looks, but I am all on in this! - Beware Fort Tarsis and especially the bar. It’s cursed. Also, DA reference!

(Max: [Last owner of the bar] Took over, changed the name to “The Black Emporium”. Two months later, hit by lightning. Inside the fort. Sentinels found him fried to a crisp and fused to his chair in the back room).

- “You know how I love all cute animals, right? Damn, I forgot to be professional again”. I hope that I am this person who is responsible for you forgetting to act professional, Sayrna :D Also, baby saurian story! <3 More! Tell me more! <3 - “You ask good questions. That’s why I like you. I-I mean as a customer. Of the store”. Do not you even dare to think that I didn’t notice your stutter there! <3 - But my favorite quote is Zoe’s. My wife will make it into history books and I will support her, no matter the outcome <3 <3

(Zoe: If she actually brings a korox into the fort, it’ll be one for the history books).

- Matthias told me that I always give him inspiration! ToT Marry me! (Sadly I do not have screenshot with his exact quote :/

- I really didn’t thought that I can love Owen more and then BAM, this!

- How can I not love him? HOW? 

 - I still love Owen as my Cypher, but goddammit I'm going to meet Faye!

- For the past 3 days I was going to sleep imagining fanfictions in which my character gains some cypher-like abilities thanks to exposure to either a relic or Anthem of Creation and together with Owen figures a way for her Javelin to support her newfound abilities and help her focus despite multiple signals, literally going against this story about Cypher who wanted to Fly, and YOU TELL ME NOW that IT’S POSSIBLE TO BE CYPHER AND A PILOT? That it’s not some impossible dream which some want to achieve? I AM IN! LET ME IN!

(Owen: All right. Hey, considering that Monitor is both lancer and cypher, we could probably use a very fabulous cypher-javelin pilot combo of our own).

- JUST LET OWEN BECOME A FREELANCER, GODDAMMIT! You have a tech which highlights Cypher abilities so you can also make a tech which helps them channel it during piloting a Javelin, so they could use them to their advantage!

[fate-weaver]

Looking for Contacts: Eadwine Wolfheart (Mateus/Crystal DC)

The Basics ––– –

NAME: Eadwine Philomena Wolfheart

AGE: Adult (23~ Summers)

RACE/CLAN: Hyur, Highlander

GENDER: Female

SEXUALITY: Demiromantic, Bisexual

MARITAL STATUS: Single

Physical Appearance ––– –

HAIR: Shoulder length auburn locks that spend most of their time tied up in a ponytail. Any hairstyle is acceptable that keeps it out of her mouth and face.

EYES: Pale Green, Pistachio

HEIGHT: 5’9”

BUILD: Wide shouldered and brawny; Eadwine has the physique of someone who has seen a lifetime of heavy lifting and labor.

DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Facial tattoos frame her eyes; only partially completed, the outlines of crescent moons stand out as fresh ink. Freckles, scars and the occasional burn cover Eadwine’s body, she’s seen her fair share of sun and fighting.

COMMON ACCESSORIES: Heirloom Tarot Deck, Gilded - Her first deck, gifted to her by her mother, Eadwine carries this deck in a velvet pouch wherever she goes. Occasionally she will decorate her hair with hawk feathers for ceremonial purposes.

Personal ––– –

PROFESSION: Fateweaver, Priestess of Nymeia, Adventurer.

HOBBIES: Sparring, gathering materials (woodworking & blacksmithng), studying astrology

RESIDENCE: None, frequents Inns and Taverns across Eorzea. Most commonly found around Ul’dah’s Quicksand.

BIRTHPLACE: The Peaks, Gyr Abania

PATRON DEITY: Nymeia, The Spinner

FEARS: Blindness, Atelophobia, Yarzon, being abandoned by family

Relationships

SPOUSE: none

CHILDREN: none

PARENTS: Raina & Ogmund Wolfheart; A Fateweaver and Clan Patron that oversee Caer Valar, a holding in the Peaks of Gyr Abania.

SIBLINGS: Two brothers and one sister, all younger (NPCs)

OTHER RELATIVES: Armes Wolfheart, the first Fateweaver; Matron of the Wolfheart line. (Great-great grandmother, deceased)

PETS: Alfsigr - work chocobo

Traits

extroverted / introverted / in between

disorganised / organised / in between

close minded / open-minded / in between

calm / anxious / in between

disagreeable / agreeable / in between

cautious / reckless / in between

patient / impatient / in between

outspoken / reserved / in between

leader / follower / in between

empathetic / unempathetic / in between

optimistic / pessimistic / in between

traditional / modern / in between

hard-working / lazy / in between

cultured / un-cultured / in between

loyal / disloyal / in between

faithful / unfaithful / in between

Additional Information

SMOKING HABIT: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

DRUGS: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

ALCOHOL: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

RP hooks/OOC stuff:

RP Hooks

Fateweaver: (personal headcanon) A reclusive sect of Oracles that only live among the mountain dwelling clans of Highlanders in Gyr Abania. The most notable are of the Wolfheart Clan, known for using many forms of divination (tarot, runes, and pendulum) in sync with their own ability to ‘see’ possible futures. A talent akin to the Echo, it only develops in select individuals; however, the Sight is hereditary, and is typically passed on from mother to daughter. While outsiders may see this type of Sight as a blessing, Fateweavers lose their natural vision over time, eventually going completely blind. Never forget that each gift has a price..

Readings / Priestess of Nymeia: As an Oracle of Nymeia, Eadwine offers simple card readings to those that ask. More in-depth readings or consultations can be arranged by letter or by happening upon the Fateweaver while she nurses a flagon of something strong in the Quicksand’s lounge. (or in any other public setting) Like other Priestesses she can confer blessings or heal wounds, and does so at nearby temples weekly.

Blade for Hire: Eadwine will sell her sword arm for extra gil when pressed. Make her a good enough offer and you’ll have a loyal companion with the ability to heal minor wounds, provide defense, and the uncanny ability to sense danger. A welcome addition to most adventuring parties or persons needing a bodyguard.

Resourceful: In her spare time, and to make gil in her new home of Ul’dah, Eadwine has taken up botany and mining. She collects trade supplies to sell at the Markets as well as to private craftsman. Commission her to do some gathering for you and save yourself the trouble!

New to the City-States: Eadwine led a relatively sheltered life in the mountains. Only knowing her family and the other clans they shared land with, she has some trouble navigating the intracicies of city-life. Choosing to leave Gyr Abania after coming of age, Eadwine has found herself in -slightly- over her head. Some may notice her naivety, and others will take advantage; which will your character be?

Looking For

Enemies, friends, competition, and more! Overall looking for plot but if you take some interest in Eadwine and have an idea, feel free to approach me with it. ICly she is still settling into life in Ul’dah and will likely be looking for ways to establish herself with a Free Company or another means of making gil.

I’m also interested in doing IC tarot readings and material gathering! (botany/mining/fishing) DM me for more info~

Availability

I live in the Eastern Standard Time Zone (UTC - 5) but likely to be online at odd hours with a tendency to be on at night or early morning. what is sleep?

I prefer in-game or discord rp, and will be up for RP as long as I’m online and don’t have the ‘busy’ icon up!

Contact Me: Discord (hierophant#6079) or PM me here on tumblr. Feel free to approach in-game! Eadwine Wolfheart - Mateus

Style/Preference Notes

I lean towards paragraph response and dialogue, though I’m working on short and quick sentences! While I appreciate ERP, it just isn’t for me, and if it does come up in a scene I prefer it to have a reasonable build-up. In a private RP setting I’m willing to do some lore breaking with explanation!

Themes: Will RP most anything with the exception of r*pe, and death of my character. Darker Themes welcome (crime, drug use, espionage, injury….. etc)

[robobrainmurdermysterytheatre]

Fallout 4 Mod List!

I promised a very nice Anon a mod list! These are all the mods I have!

I’m going to sort these by the Categories Nexus Mod Manager has set up just to make it easier for my brain and hopefully someone else’s. I left out anything that was a compatibility patch (I have several of those). Every mod should be linked back to its page on The Nexus! 

Modders are amazing! They’re out here doing the lord’s work for FREE infinitely and continually improving this game. 

Ammo

Commonwealth Vendors Stock Nuka World Ammo

Animation

Idle Hands - Male Idle Flavor and Dialogue Customization - lets you change your character’s idle animations!

Armour

Armorsmith Extended

Captain America Power Armor

Commonwealth Survivalist Gear

CROSS Pre-War Cybernetics

CROSS Chosen of Atom

CROSS Courser Strigidae

CROSS Mojave Manhunter

Dark Drifter Outfits

Eli’s Armouor Collection Remade

Eli’s Armour Compendium

Graphic T-Shirts with Leg Armor

Leg Armor for CC T-Shirts Fix - don’t use the above mod without this!

Kellogg’s Metal Armor Arm Piece

Mac Pack - this has some different styles of Maccready’s outfit its neat

Piper’s Armored Trench Coat

Audio - Music

Main Theme Remix Replacer - Dubstep Remix (If you want to just listen to it on YouTube because it’s lit, click here)

Bug Fixes

Keep Commonwealth Radiant Quests Within the Commonwealth

Buildings

Spectacle Island Bridge

Cheats and God Items

Get All the Starcores because fuck looking for those things every time

Clothing

Alternate Hancock Outfit Standalone (Colonial Duster Retexture)

Boston Jacket Fatigues

Crimsomrider’s Accessories

CROSS Brotherhood Recon

Danse’s Wearable Holotags

Femshepping’s Wasteland Drifter Outfits

FO4 Piercings

MASH very cool mix n match of vanilla outfits and some cool hats

Minutemen Beret

Nuka Cola Collector Armored - makes armor wearable over the CC Nuka Cola outfits

Minutemen Reskin and Standalone - Minutemen uniforms!

Simple Clothing - MC Cloth

The Wandering Scavver Clothing

TheKite’s Handmaiden

Wasteland Fashion - Bandanas and Blindfolds

Companions

Amazing Follower Tweaks

Danse Dialogue Overhaul to make him stfu about the Brotherhood post blind betrayal also my sole calls him ‘hon’ when talking to him and it’s the cutest thing 10/10

Danse Idle Comments Fix same as the other one! ty for fixing him, modders!

Crafting - Home

Build All the Beds

Children Chairs

Choo Choo Ch’Boogie - trains, planes and BOATS!

CREAtive Clutter

Do it Yourshelf - Clutter for shelves and bookcases

OCDecorator - Static loot - any droppable object can become static

Old World’s Containers and Decoration

Ponds - With Placeable Water

Gameplay Effects and Changes

Crafting Highlight Fix

Sofa Surfer - Sleeping on Couches

Useable Cigarettes

Hair, Face and Body

KS Hairdos

KS Hairdos Vanilla Match Retexture - if you get the one above get this so they don’t look like wigs lmao

LooksMenu Body Tattoos

Lots More Facial Hair

Lots More Male Hairstyles

Makeup for Men

NWM Warrior Crest Hairstyles

Ponytail Hairstyles by Azar

WX Hair Colors

Immersion

Mors Sit Anywhere (and Wait)

Player Head Tracking

Models and Textures

Alternative Human Eyes

Automatron Decals and Prints

Automatron Robot Faction Paint Jobs

Cathymeow’s Fun Eyes (Standalone)

Ghastly - Ghoul Eyes Texture - Hancock Eye Glow

MMP4APA - Minuteman Paint for ALL Power Armors

NPC

Kid in a Fridge - Peabody Family Settlers - so Billly and fam can come live on your settlements!

NPCs Travel - this mod is LIT it adds patrolling NPCs both friendly and hostile - you can customize which ones and how many to your liking, it DOESN’T mess up the random encounter spawns from what I’ve experienced. Very cool.

Overhauls

RSE Elements Vol. 2 - Advanced Needs (Survival Mode Replacer) - word of warning in default mode of this mod you have to push a button to pee/poop and oh my god that was awful but you CAN turn it off lmao. I use it mostly to eat/drink up all the food I hoard and for the need to sleep for immersion. There’s also a slider for damage modifiers you can use to simulate the damage modifier of Suvival Mode or when you get to the point where you one-shot everything if that isn’t fun anymore just turn your damage modifier down. Second word of caution is whoever made this mod has some really, really NSFW other mods that uhhhh have some upsetting elements so don’t go chasing their other mods for ‘immersion’ like I did unless you’re prepared for some stuff that sounds, I’ll be honest, r*pey. Like I hesitated to include this one because I didn’t want anyone to accidentally do what I did, but I thought I would with a big ol’ fuckin warning because it’s really good at what it does, and what this one mod does is benign.

Looks Menu Customization Compendium

Player Homes

Nuka-World Fizztop Grille Workshop

Bobbi’s Place Player Home

Player Settlement

Place Everywhere

Signs of the Times - Posters

Snappy HouseKit

Better Settlers

Gruffydd’s Signs and Posters

User Interface

Mod Configuration Menu

LooksMenu

Visuals and Graphics

CROSS Crit Gore-verhaul - instead of ash piles you get cool vaporized skeletons and some other things which is neat but not for the faint of heart

Weather

Fallout 4 Seasons - is under a diff completely unrelated category in my NMM but it should go here probably

NAC - Natural and Atmospheric Commonwealth - I’m glad this is the last one because I just need to talk about his mod for a second. It’s fucking amazing. The weathers are real. It’s lightweight. You can change SO MUCH visually in the game for personal preference or screenshots - it’s like an Instagram filter for Fallout with extras lol. There are some cool visual effects for chems, radiation, underwater, when you get hit etc. You don’t have to fuck around to customize it - there’s a holotape menu and you just click and change it and if you don’t like it go back and change it. Make your shit beautiful with NAC! That’s my plug for this mod, it’s one of my faves.

[thiskryptonite]

Love

I thought for a moment that maybe there was a man beneath the beast, that I could learn to love the thing that haunted my steps and eroded my mind. I thought that I could escape, that I could be free. I thought that I could outrun myself, I thought that maybe, I belonged.

Tagging: August Knight, Cassandra (NPC), Elfain (NPC)

Timeframe: September 2014 - February 2015

Word Count: 3230

Notes: August arranges to fall in league with a coven he believes might have an elusive cipher for his mother’s grimoire. Unexpectedly, August finds himself considering leaving his current life behind and pledging himself to the coven, but things don’t go according to plan.

It was late afternoon by the time August got in from the night before, the stench of his deeds stuck to him now like the matted, blood-soaked hair that stuck to Cassandra’s face as he poured dirt over her still corpse. He didn’t know how it happened. He didn’t know how they’d gone wrong. Nobody was ever supposed to get hurt, especially not her. It had been her idea to break-in, she’d been the one who told him of the collection hoarded by the local coven. Her coven.

He’d never killed anyone before, not directly anyways, not like that. But had he really had any choice?

In the back of his mind, Aunt Lisa whispered: you always had a choice, boy.  

14 hours previously.

“Don’t be such a wanker, Gus,” she had a way of saying his name in a manner that took the edge off, she was carefree, wild, resilient. Her coven had a reputation for old ways, and it was that reputation that had drawn him to her company. Selfishly at first. He’d hoped that she could lead him to knowledge regarding his mother’s grimoire, and she had, but now the young witch was beginning to get cold feet.

They had gotten as far as the vault before August’s stomach had begun to churn, these people had been strangers to him, and truthfully, they weren’t supposed to be anything but another in a series of supernatural that would further him along towards his goal. Finding a coven that would speak to him on blood magic, on the old ways had taken years, and what he’d expected was what his aunt had raised him on.

But the truth was they were kind, normal, functioning people with different views on magic and the dark arts. While corruption had sprung up among them in the past, most recently Cassandra’s mother, but the coven did not succumb to the wild inclinations that the worst of the practitioners had given the practice over the centuries.

And despite what August might have thought would happen, they welcomed him in and after spending the last six months with them there was even talk of being claimed by them.

But then Cassandra told him of the cipher that her family kept locked away with other dangerous artifacts.

“Do it Gus.” He should have told her months ago that he hated that name.

“Do it!”

There was the muffled sound of a minute explosion as red static crackled around and dust filled the chamber, August turned away from it, but Cassandra had caught bits of fragmented dirt in her eyes.

“Fucking – a little warning might have been nice. Dick.” Cassandra dropped the muffled spell she’d placed around them and pushed past as the energy dissipated. August let out a small, exasperated sigh before he followed her, trying still to shake off his hesitation. This is why he was here.

Now she was just in his way.

Except that only a few hours ago she’d whispered across his chest: I love you from between half lidded eyes that needed to just stay for a few moments longer, to delay the falling sun from bringing forth the night. He thought that he should tell her then: I’ve changed my mind, or I love you too. But he said neither, instead he whispered back: we should go soon.

The vault had walls of books with pages older than anything he’d seen, absently they reminded him of the library in his childhood home, except these grimoires did not have anything censored out by his aunt. His fingers grazed the edges of the spine of a book, its bindings seemingly made from the strong white curvature of real bone. His fingers, electrified at the contact, like a current running beneath his skin it was invigorating but before he could seize the rest of the book Cassandra grasped his hand.

“Don’t touch that one.”

Cassandra had said the same thing about some old CDs she’d forgotten to tuck away on another afternoon when he’d snuck into her room. They were sprawled across the top of the stereo as if the idea that someone might see them wasn’t the most offensive thing in the world. But he’d teased her because of the Spice World record that was sitting neatly on the stack, the disk still in the player.

Cassandra had laughed and made fun of August’s freckles before wrestling the plastic case from his hand, and then they kissed, landing on her bed and laughing in unison. Afterwards she’d asked him if he was really planning to stay, and for some reason, August had said yes, because the truth was harder for him to get out. The truth was it didn’t, and his confirmation only seemed to dishearten her.

August asked why. She should be happy he was staying, right? Even if it was a lie.

“That belonged to a witch in the 15th century, our coven betrayed her and turned her over to the humans that were persecuting us at the time.” Cassandra was bothered, but she released his hand and kept looking through the stacks, she had her own reasons for wanting to enter this place. The cipher was to be a boon that they’d both share, none of these treasures were August’s to take. She’d been sure to let him know.

August moved towards some of the artifacts that were arranged nearer the entrance, his senses fully drawn though the overwhelming presence within the chambers was more than he’d ever felt in one location. When August was sure Cassandra was fully preoccupied, he set his sights higher and climbed the stone steps to the upper landing. Silently through hushed breaths he wove a spell to shroud his actions, he was a shadow climbing the wall, he was a specter in the peripherals, should she call to him, August would appear.

“My grandmother had it last,” Cassandra said as she showed him the photo of the diadem that had been in her families’ possession since a time long before the founding of their already ancient coven. “She was supposed to pass it on to my mother, but she never did. It’s in the vault, it has to be.” August asked immediately what made this object so special, but it was said to allow someone of her bloodline to pass through to the Otherworld and confer there as a Seer would, but just as a Seer they would suffer the physical repercussions of the act. It was what had killed her grandmother, though the woman had only used it a small handful of times throughout her life, she’d refused to entrust it to Cassandra’s mom.

“Maybe it’s better off there? Sounds pretty risky.” August said, “you could end up blind, or deaf, or paralyzed if you even tried.” She hated being told what to do.

They sat then in the back of a local haunt, a backroom in a café that they had spelled to keep their secrets contained. She leaned forward, and her knee brushed against his as her eyes went alight, Cassandra had been waiting for someone like him, and August had known from the moment they met that he had found his in. “Fuck that it’s mine. My gran died before she came of age, she wanted me to have it I know that. It’s my stupid dad keeping it from me, if it were up to him I’d have married Jean already and already be on my way to giving him the grandkids he’s always wanted.” She reached forward and grabbed August’s hand as he let out a sigh, pretending that this wasn’t something he wanted any part of.

“Please, will you help me.” She’d asked before August’s thumb moved across her hand and he whispered back, “Of course.”

Then there it was, the diadem. Useless to him, but there was a fae who had an interest in seeing the diadem brought to the Otherworld where witchkind could no longer use it. It looked far grander than the picture allowed, a simple tiara to the untrained eye, it was fixed with gems of a fantastic range of colours, hues of red and gold and silver and blues that shimmered with a light that was almost irreverent.

Then it was in his hands, under his jacket and he was moving down the stairs to see what progress Cassandra had made on the cipher.

“I just feel like I never got the chance to know her, she was this whole other person, and looking back even – it was fucked up.” August was drunk because Cassandra had insisted on taking him out, she’d said it was hazing but really, she just hated being cooped up under her father’s watch. “I don’t know, my dad killed my mom, and now he’s dead too.” He winced at the memory of bones breaking against the kitchen floor, at the sound of heavy boots that landed outside his door, the man he’d later hired to break into his father’s prison cell.

“Did your mom try to imprison you within an urn and channel your life essence to fuel her magic forever?” Cassandra asked pointedly, to which August smirked, why was it easier to compare scars than simply show them? She wasn’t the first person he’d met whose past was like whiteboard waiting to be wiped out, but Cassandra was the first who August felt he could relate to. Or could understand. Or maybe even be understood. It wasn’t a romantic feeling, it was just nice to have someone he could talk to.  “Nah, guess you win.”

August felt something was off from the moment his feet landed from the last step to the base of the stairs, a presence crackled in the air that sent chills up his spine. Cassandra stood in front of the book case, a vacant expression on her face, it was not that she was being spoken through, but that she was spoke with such an ethereal tone that August thought it could not possibly have been her.

“You… are, such a delight.” Came Cassandra said as she began to close the distance between the two of them, her posture had shifted, her facial expressions, even the way her clothes clung to her body had changed in some way. August could sense her magic within her, but it was changed like her very chemistry had shifted. He took a step back and his foot hit the stairs. “What’s wrong, Gus? You seem distressed.” A yowl in the shadows and a black cat shot from the dark between them. A familiar.

“Who are you? What have you done to Cass?” August asked, standing his ground as a static crackled across his body, his eyes fixed as his pupils wavered slightly. He hadn’t recovered fully from entering this tomb and whomever was inhabiting his girlfriend’s body, felt much stronger than him.

“Foolish boy,” She whispered before she was suddenly only a breath away from him, she’d moved through the air as if it was nothing, as if she was air. “My daughter believed me gone, but I was here, and I was also in her, I should really thank you. You were kind enough to reunite us,” Cassandra patted her chest where her heart should have been, “now she can sleep. Forever.”

August felt a strike across his face before he slid across the room, he moved to stand but he was gripped by his neck telekinetically and hoisted off the ground.  “Cass,” August whispered, his hazel eyes almost pleading, but there was nobody there, just dark eyes and a smile that could pull the flesh off his face. She stood across the room with her palm outstretched, grinning as she left him there, fixed and stagnant before she used her other hand to outstretch his limbs, further and then further.

August cried out in pain as he felt the force of her own sick form of medieval torture. He struggled out a few words and the ground where she stood shifted, suddenly Cassandra suck into the floor up to her knees before it quickly solidified. August hit the floor again but scrambled to his feet and ducked behind the nearest book case, flames engulfed the tomes as she roared with laughter. She was toying with him.

His eyes were on the exit when he broke for it, but before he could get through the crumbled opening a field forced him back, again she laughed as he fell for her obvious trap. She would not allow August to leave so easily, and if he was backed into a corner then she wasn’t giving him any other option. He’d have to try and separate them, himself.

You always have a choice, foolish boy.

August had never played the part of hero before, but for Cassandra he was willing to try.

“August Knight, of the Knight Coven?” Efrain asked, his long beard encircled his mouth and though it may have once been a strong, solid colour it had faded in wisps and at its edges. Its frazzled and greyed edges made the man look older still than he was, but the deep circles beneath his eyes, the hunger that lurked behind, it all told him one thing: darkness.

“No sir, I was never claimed.” It was a tired question.

To Efrain’s right stood his eldest child, until the seventh on the end was Cassandra, August could tell immediately she had no interest in attending this – whatever it was. August had been caught trying to enter their library and while it wouldn’t have been out of the question for Efrain to take the hands of an unclaimed witch who dared to try and steal knowledge from his coven. He showed mercy in the light of what August’s aunt had always called charisma.

He was simply a misguided witch, one whose coven had shunned the darkness of their past, a past he wholly embraced. And Efrain decided then to allow the young man to stay, permitted he earn his keep, and proved himself worthy.

The older witch brought forth each of his children, and at last when he called forth Cassandra he said, “and this, my youngest, she’s to be married this spring to Jean,” he gestured towards one of his inner circle, a witch who did not appear to be more than a decade younger than Efrain himself.

“Sorry for the trouble,” August offered, a greeting that apparently caught her off guard, to everyone in the chambers it must have appeared that he’d simply apologized again for the breaking and entering. But to her, he’d seen how miserable she was to be gathered in this place, with all these people, including the man that, in less than a year, she’d be made to marry.

August managed around the room enough times to trace the outline for a binding, though he was now having a hard time keeping the elder witch within Cassandra contained. She was stronger than he, and her familiar was lurking around the bookshelves somewhere, he was little more than an unclaimed witch with power he had stolen from elsewhere, and he was fading.

She stood within a runed circle as chains bound either arm and forced them apart, the chains connected through the now broken floor of the vault, static crackled along the chain and across the woman’s skin, weaving its way through her. He was trying to force the woman within back so Cassandra could come forward, but it wasn’t enough and with a fwoosh as the air was sucked towards the center of the room where Cassandra was bound, the circle vanished and the power he’d put forth vanished, all that remained was a few residual cracks that still clung to the air.

August fell shortly afterwards, his back near resting on his feet as he tried to keep it straight, deep breaths shook him as a thick film of sweat matted his hair and made his clothes cling to him. She closed the distance between them calmly, shushing him as she did, the struggle was over Cassandra told him,

You don’t need to fight anymore. Your mother wanted this life for you, too. I know how hard it must have been for you – growing up the way you did. Half human, half witch. It’s no wonder Lisa hated you when you look just like your father.

“Fuck you!” It was cliché, but it was all he could muster. August kept his eyes trained on the woman. She wanted to see him beg, to break, she wanted to know that she could get to him, here and now, looking like the ghost of Cassandra. But she did not know him, and frankly, he’d been through worse.

He threw the nearest thing he could find and missed the woman by a mile, she smirked before a residual smash as the book collided with a brittle porcelain urn. There was a boom that sounded something like a gunshot that immediately followed, August smiled, expecting to see Cassandra’s face looking back at him, but there was just the vacant ghost of the smirk her mother had left behind before forcefully fleeing her daughter’s cerebellum.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

August had never met this fae before, but word of mouth had brought them together. The fae’s deal had been simple, they would ensure that August made it in front of the court, that August would get the opportunity to join the coven, and August would need to retrieve one simple artifact. A diadem of fae origin, that was all that the witch would be told.

He’d fled the vault with the corpse, August didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t been able to leave it behind, though dawn was fast approaching and Cassandra’s absence from her chambers would be noticed. August told himself that she deserved better than being abandoned in the dark, among the things that had claimed her. The truth was too hard for him to say, but the evidence was in the shallow grave at the bottom of a hill: he’d killed her.

“And what of the diadem?”

The fae asked, having observed the shallow burial from a distance.

“Here. Take it.”

August passed it off, feeling wholly spiteful over the entire exchange. The fae only seemed amused, but elated when their fingers closed around the diadem, naturally, August had to ask what they intended to do with it.

The fae laughed and refused to tell the insolent child anything, August had done his part, and the fae had done theirs. Enraged, August demanded to know, that everything he’d gone through to obtain it, he’d still been left short of what he’d really been after. Mournfully, the fae told him.

“It was mine first to give, and so it was mine by rights to take back.”

For the first time in seven days, August checked his phone. He’d spent the last week in some pit in Vegas, he was in the dark, and then there was light again. There was a witch, one from Cassandra’s coven that had escaped with the cipher from the vault previously, if he could find him, then August could at last unlock the secrets of his mother’s grimoire. Absently, the words of Kassandra echoed in his mind: Your mother wanted this life for you, too

[ihavealavalamp]

ALL OF THEM. NOW

1. A favorite character you have played. - YOU CAN NOT POSSIBLY THINK THAT I DONT LOVE ALL MY CHARACTERS EQUALLY I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH YOU CANT MAKE ME CHOOSE

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played. - r.....ruby...... and all your characters honestly.. also monty played by jaye in daga boys will always have a special place in my heart cause hes just a Ride of a character, chas played by nick is my fucking Friend, and i could keep going honestly i love everyones characters so much you dont understand

3. Your favorite side quest. - i think a lot about the werewolf shenanigans in aurum. i’ll never forget it. 

4. Your current campaign. - im in so many fuckign campaigns rn please god dont make me list them

5. Favorite NPC. - sheila.... all of huli’s friends in flying plague, literally every npc in best intentions (emphasis on astarielle and marlon who make me think a Lot), everyone in story of the stars, and Uhhhh cat does a Real good depiction of ellar in the murder HDSDHS

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc). - i wasnt even fuckin There but the death of elaris. i think abt that a lot. also poetry killing bear was Top Ten Anime Moments

7. Your favorite downtime activity. - depends on the character! most times i cant really think of much though hgfhgf

8. Your favorite fight/encounter. - the poetry vs bear duel was Iconic, and every encounter in best intentions is so fuckin Good cause milo makes some real terrifying monsters like jesus CHRIST.. also in daga boys when walter and the gang were escaping Lich Court. iconic.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D. - i like that it keeps me social and interacting with friends! i have problems with isolating myself but planning d&d stuff keeps me from doing that frequently Thank God.. also i love roleplaying and having a character that grows and interacts with others! i also really love some good ol combat.. i honestly love pretty much every aspect of d&d im very easy to please

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most. - i dont know if i have a favorite! i think lots are real good! but enemy i hate the most has gotta be those fuckin magical huge centipedes milo sent after us in best intentions. FUCK those things.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play? - i play pretty frequently! im in a Lot of campaigns rn so im able to play things pretty much whenever i have the time to do so. 

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from. - “you really pulled the nose on that one” is Iconic, it was from the first session of daga boys in which a trap activated by pulling the nose of a statue just. kept going off. like they kept pulling the nose Knowing it’d go off. and god i could write so many more but it would make this way too long GDHJDS

13. Introduce your current party. - im in so fucking many campaigns!!!!! but the last two i played i guess.... in best intentions dmed by milo we’ve got gwen the life domain cleric and delwyn the berserker barbarian played by simone and kiara! theyre two dwarf wives on their honeymoon and they got caught up in this ghfhgf,, and my character is silbryn! the fiend warlock we all know and love! and marlon, the dmpc who is generally cryptic and kinda terrifying sometimes but i love him anyways. and then in story of the stars, dmed by krissie! it’s a warrior cats campaign because we’re VALID and the party is orchidpaw played by cat who is aiming for being the leader but has a tenancy to be a bit loudspoken, and my character, songpaw, who is the medicine cat apprentice who tries to be mature but his short temper can get the best of him sometimes. and simone plays bo, a big ol mom cat! i love them.

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed. - TOO MANY I CAN NOT

15. Do you have snacks during game times? - when we’re playing online i dont bc i dont want to make Crunching Noises, but in irl sessions i just eat whatever’s there if anything is there. ya know. im so tired.

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer? - both! i prefer irl greatly though... im a very Expressive person and my characters are like 75% facial expressions and body language gfhfghgf

17. What are some house rules that your group has? - i can not actually think of any rn ghfghfg

18. Does your party keep any pets? - ya!! lots of familiars.. u know how it be

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions? - hfghf i know some people i play with do, but i personally do not!

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing? - my friends were playing it cause theyre a bunch of NERDS. and it’s been like two years now i think! i started near the end of highschool!

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done? - CONSTANTLY MY CHARACTERS ARE SUCH DUMBASSES BUT I GOTTA BE IN CHARACTER!

22. What color was your first dragon? - first dragon we took down was a young green dragon in daga boys!

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns? - original campaigns, mostly! i do play in a curse of strahd and a ravnica campaign though!

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game? - I HAVE TO DO SO MUCH AS A DM otherwise i will Fall Apart. as for pcs, i jsut go in blind and do what my character would do in that moment HJDSKJD

For DMs

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for? - mainly not acknowledge certain things that are important hgfhgf but other than that ive been lucky to have players that dont really do things that throw me off too much

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters. - the marley scene in weltschmerz i am still SO HAPPY with that... also in underground orchestra when iris explored ellar’s house.... Classic.

27. Do you allow homebrew content? - yeah!! as long as the player runs it by me first then im usually good with pretty much anything as long as it isnt game breaking gfhgfh

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party? - very often i like to Talk and i usually have quite a few reoccurring npcs that either stick with the party or are consistent in their appearances gfhgf (velki in weltz, ellar in uo, ivory in harbingers)

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions? - I LIKE BOTH.... im a simple man

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos? - i have good players in both my campaigns!! but i guess it depends!

For Players

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race? - i LOVE ME SOME CHARISMA CASTERS.... warlocks, sorcerers, and bards are just Fun babey!!! and tieflings, aasimars, and aarakocra are Fun and friends

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?) - im almost Always a caster ghfhgf... glass cannon babey

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory? - it always takes me a While to fully flesh out a backstory, but usually listening to music is what gives me ideas and inspiration for it!

34. Do you tend pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor? - flavor, usually! i try to pick things that would be in character for the one im playing!

35. How much roleplay do you like to do? - lots...... im a simple man

there you go, thanks ya fuckin heathen

[shadowtigers]

Skyrim SE mod list

I was asked if I could put together a list of the mods I’m currently using for Skyrim Special Edition. It turned out to be pretty long, so I thought I would post it up here (sorry the list is pretty out of order). List is under the link- Mods marked with a + I currently have installed, mods marked with a - are sitting inactive in my mod organizer. I included some of the armor/clothing mods I use but due to there being so many I left out like maybe over 100 something. (I did not mark them, but I do have a decent amount of mods merged.)

+Vixxen Enb or Silent Skies Enb w. new skin shaders for enb +Reshade -edited version of skyshade 3

+Witcher Leather pants 1.12 (converted to SE) +Seashells SSE +Lock Overhaul - Ordinator Version +Unread Books Glow SSE (ESL version) +SC - TW3Hairdos (converted to SE for personal use) +EFF - Extensible Follower Framework +SV Interiors v. 1 (Personal interior overhaul) +Darkend +Lucien - Fully Voiced Follower ver.1.1.0 +Northborn Scars-720-1-3 +KXHairs se 1.2 +KL-Kyron armor for sam 1.4 (SkyrimSE) +KL-Daren armor for sam v1.4 (SkyrimSE) +Geralt Wolf Armor v1.2 (SkyrimSE) +Geralt Ursine Armor v1.2 (SkyrimSE) +RS Children Patch Compendium -Katixas Ciderhouse Restaurant - SSE Conversion +Bau Pet Supplies for SSE +The Solitude Arena SSE +Fair Skin Complexion for UNP v9.2 Optimised +ETHEREAL CLOUDS - Special Edition +Readable Shadowmarks +Crimson Nirnroot Quest Markers +Zim's Immersive Artifacts V1.3.1_SE -Spectraverse - Magic of the Magna-Ge -Smooth Sky mesh - SSE -Passive Weapon Enchantment Recharging - Enchanted Weapons Recharge Over Time -Northern Marsh Bridges SE -Morthal Overhaul II -Fuz Ro D-oh - Silent Voice -Designs of the Nords -Comfy Dwemer Beds +aMidianBorn stormcloak officer armour +aMidianBorn imperial light and studded +aMidianBorn Book of Silence - Creatures +Everec Outfit (converted for SE) +Ulags Legacy (converted for SE) +WitchWood Guardian SE armor +Wraiths- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- oblivion undead- ghost) +Wild Penguins +Squirrels- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- rodents - ESO) +Seals and Sea Lions- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons) +Peacocks- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- animals- birds) +Old Gods of the Hunt- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(Mihail immersive add-ons- Forsworn- Wild Hunt- Witcher) +Nix-Creatures- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons - morrowind- ESO) +Musk Ox- Mihail Monsters and Animals(SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- megafauna) +Mournful Aegis - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons - hammerfell - ESO) +Mammoth Expansion - Elements of Skyrim pt.2 (SSE) (Mihail immersive add-ons) +Leather Backpack - Special Edition +Iron Golem -Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- arena atronach- dark souls) +Ice Titans- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons- giant- witcher) +Ice Golem- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons- atronach- arena) +Hummingbirds- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons - animals) +House Cats- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons - pets- witcher) +Giant Snakes - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons -eso -reptiles) +Farm Animals - Hearthfire Edition SE -Dust Effects by HHaleyy +Dugongs and Manatees - Mihail Monsters and Animals (sse) (mihail immersive add-ons - megafauna - sealife) +Ducks and Swans for Skyrim SE +Cyrodilic Minotaurs - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons -cyrodiil -oblivion) +Crystal Golems -Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons -blackreach- dark souls) +Coral Atronachs- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- golem- nereid) +Classic Ghosts - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons- oblivion- undead) -Cake O'Clock - Hearthfire Bakery SSE +Boars and Daggerbacks- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons- oblivion- eso) +Bears of Cyrodiil - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons - oblivion) +Aurorans- Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE)(mihail immersive add-ons -oblivion daedra -meridia) +Aurochs and Wild Horses - Mihail Monsters and Animals (SSE) (mihail immersive add-ons- bull- megafauna) +The Eloquent Reader - True Scholar SE Edition +Ren Hair 3 males (converted to SE) +Power Stones of Skyrim - Special Edition +Pick up books simple SE +Mikan Eyes SSE +Male & Fem Jewelry mod +GKX Barrels and Crates-18105-1-0 +Whiterun Stonefloor 1.2 -Water pumps for player homes +Vath Firehall SE ver1 +Underwater Treasures SSE +The Well Dressed Mage-3825-1-0SE +Survival Gear Redux v1.0 - UNP - SOS -Steampunk outfit -SSELODGenX v2 +Spartacus Armor +Simple Outfits for Men (converted to SE) +RavenOnMyShoulder -Pauldrons 1.61 +Nioh YB (converted to SE) +Native Accessories 2 (converted to SE) +Master of Beasts 4k +Lumberjacked SSE +Left Hand Rings Modified SE +Kyoe BanginBrows Standalone by Shiva182 +KS Cazy Hair +King's Font-8363-1-00 +KD Cirlets by zzjay main file +kalilies hair (converted to SE) +k9 armor (converted to SE) +Improved closefaced helmets +Imperial Physician - SE +Howitzer's Hair for Men SSE +Hidden Treasures SSE +Hashire - A Truly Unique Horse +Geralt Wolf Armor v1.0 (SkyrimSE) +Geralt Ursine Armor v1.0 (SkyrimSE) +Gallery of Armor +Freshly Ground SSE +Eyes of Aber By Aberin Converted to SSE +Equippable_Pipes_v1.3_17072017 +El Men's Underwear +Dolmen Ruins - ESO Dark Anchors +deadly trio armor +Dizona Body Wolf Armor SE v1 +dark messiah armor pack (converted for SE) +Common Clothes (by FranklinZunge for SSE) +Cherry's Eyes +Budy wolf companion +Beware of the Swamp - Poisonblooms +Bandolier - Bags and Pouches Classic +Zenithar Workshop SE +Witcher Armour and Shields SSE port +Vlindrel Hall TNF SSE Port +Verdant (grass) 1.5 SSE Edition +Ultimate Assortment by FavoredSoul-SSE +The Honey Spirit - Liquor Shop in Solitude SSE +The Golden Hen Restaurant SSE +TDN Equipable Horns SE -Summerset Isle +STWardrobeSEv.1 (a personal mod of refitted misc stuff) +STFollowers -Sounds of Skyrim Complete SE +Snakestone follower SE v2 +Sky Haven Temple - Gardens +saLa Hair +RE6 Chris Redfield follower- (converted for SE) +Proudspire Manor TNF SE +Pierced Ears - Earrings SE +Persian Armor (converted for SE) +Patch for Verdant grass +Ophelia Accessories +Older Theo Follower SE +new style Eyelashes 2048X2048 HD +Meeko Reborn SE +Leo Follower SAM +LeanWolf's Better-Shaped Weapons - All in One Installer +kiki Followers (converted for SE) +kiki Followers 2 (converted for SE) +Julien Christophe - Priest of Mara (converted to SE) +ImoMegane Glasses SE +Hoth follower +Honeyside TNF - By Goatk +Hjerim TNF Beds Plus +Grandmaster Ursine Armour - Special Edition +ST Followers SE +Gannicus Modular Armor SE +FurArmorSetSE(FrostFall Aware) +Facial Piercings SSE +Eye Normal Map Fix SSE -ESO Skyshards +DreamBurrows Regal Huntsman Armor - SSE +Companions and Followers SE +Brutish Argonian Males (all in one) SE +Breezehome TNF Eli -SE +Bohan follower SE v1 2 +Berserk Judeau Armor SE -Become a Bard +Beasts of Tamriel +Bandanas of Skyrim +Ashara SSE Princes of the Woods for UNP and male +ArP Rufas Follower 1.6 converted for SE +Armor of Yngol SSE +Armor of Intrigue for SE - Modular Male Armor from The Witcher 2 +Alec the blind blade - a follower mod -A Smile HD SE +XxAwesome_PotionsxX SSE +true brows special edition +The Eyes Of Beauty - Player +SVBeardsSE v.2.1 +KS Hairdos SSE +KijikoHairCCSE +Hoamaii Iron Armor SE +Beards +Clockwork (SSE) +Inhabitants of Skyrim - NPC Overhaul +Hot Male Housecarls full pack Version 2.2 +FollowerLivePackage +Legacy of the Dragonborn SSE patches +Hearthfire multiple adoptions - Now with custom home support for kids and spouse +Windhelm Lighthouse V1.3 +Windhelm Exterior Altered Fixed 1.0 +Windhelm Bridge Overhaul Fixed 1.0 +Windhelm Bridge Overhaul - Patch for Windhelm Exterior Altered ESP 1.0 +Remove Interior Fog- ELFX Patch +Remove Interior Fog +Man Those Borders SSE +Travellers of Skyrim - Travelers SSE -Kaidan version 2 +INIGO +Hearth Craft +Dynamic Things - Woodpiles and Barrels and More Oh My +Unlimited Bookshelves +Interesting Npc's +Andromeda - Unique Standing Stones of Skyrim +Cutting Room Floor +SGHair 350 SE +ApachiiSkyHairMale v 1 2 Optimized +ApachiiSkyHairFemale v 1 5 Optimized +ApachiiSkyHair v 1 6 Full optimized +Apachii Divine Elegance Store +Shezrie's Old Hroldan Town Ver 2.2 SE +NarrativeLoot Complete-12812-1-0 +More Interesting Loot v5_7 +Unique Uniques SE +Dawnguard and Clan Volkihar Epilogues +Namira for Good Guys +Boethiah for Good Guys +Solitude and Temple Frescoes SSE +Fossil Mining - with Legacy support +Oblivion Artifact Pack SE +Artifacts - The Tournament of the Ten Bloods [SSE] +Royal Armory V2.2 +Heavy Armory - New Weapons +Thane Weapons Reborn +pit fight dlc SE +pit fighter SE +Skyrim Underground SSE +Snazzy Furniture and Clutter Overhaul +VIGILANT SE +Wyrmstooth +Unslaad SE +Moon and Star +Qaxe's Questorium for SSE +Dark Brotherhood for Good Guys +Thieves Guild For Good Guys - Taking Care of Business Redux +Amulets of Skyrim SSE +BadGremlins Hunt Collection +Cloaks of Skyrim SSE +Artifacts of Skyrim +Morrowloot Special Edition +The Wheels of Lull +Helgen Reborn SSE Version 106 With bsa file +Falskaar +The Forgotten City +The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal SE +The Gray Cowl of Nocturnal SSE - HD pack +Skyrims Unique Treasures +Moonpath to Elsweyr SSE +Legacy of the Dragonborn SSE patches new 415 +Legacy of the Dragonborn SSE +Relic Hunter (Legacy and ASLAL addon) +Legacy of the Dragonborn Patch - Immersive College of Winterhold +Forgotten Dungeons (SSE) +Hammet's Dungeon Packs for SE +The Paarthurnax Dilemma +Carriage Stops of Skyrim +Tavern Games - Mini Games in Skyrim +Missives 4.0 SSE +The Ruins +Skyrim Reborn - Whiterun Hold +Provincial Courier Service +Whiterun Valley +Riften - Thief Edition v1_31(converted for SE) +Beyond Skyrim Bruma SE 1.3.3 +Beyond Skyrim - Bruma SE +Immersive College of Winterhold +Immersive Laundry +Realistic Water Two +JK's Skyrim SE Realistic Water Two Patch +JK's Skyrim - Dawn of Skyrim - Patch +Alpine Forest of Whiterun Valley +The Autumn of Whiterun v1.3.1 - NO LANTERNS +T'Skyrim - Riverwood (Addon for JK's Skyrim) +DoS Director's Cut SSE v1.2 +JK's Skyrim +JK's Skyrim SE Thunderchild Patch +Palaces and Castles Enhanced SSE Patches +Palaces and Castles Enhanced SSE +Distinct Interiors SE v3 +Solitude Expansion +Books of Skyrim SE +T'Skyrim - True Weapons +Immersive Armors +Immersive Weapons +Eli's Breezehome Overhaul BETA 1.6 +EEKs Whiterun Interiors SSE v1.3 +Vivid Weathers - Definitive Edition +Vivid Weathers - TrueStorms Patch +True Storms Special Edition - Thunder Rain and Weather Redone +Lightning During Storms +Obsidian Mountain Fogs +Realistic Needs and Diseases All-In-One for USSEP +Realistic Needs and Diseases (USSEP) for Beyond Skyrim +Tentapalooza for Campfire +Campfire 1.11SE Release +Jaxonz Positioner Converted (With almost full functionality) +More Growable Plants SE +Flora Respawn Fix +Flora Respawn Fix SE for Beyond Skyrim +QUASIPC - 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RDO (converted to SE) +UNP Female Body Renewal +SAM Light +Enhanced Character Edit skse 210 +XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended 4.20 +T'Skyrim - True Skyrim +st overhaul SE (personal npc overhaul) +Halos Poser +Expressive Facial Animation -Female Edition- +Expressive Facial Animation -Male Edition- +FNIS Patch +Fores New Idles in Skyrim SE - FNIS SE +FNIS Spells SE 7.0-3038-7-0 +SkyUI +Display Enemy Level skse 210 +Immersive HUD - iHUD Special Edition +XLod v2 (generated Lod) +Gotobed espfe SKSE 210 +Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch +Magic Casting Animations Overhaul SSE +PCA 1hm Overhaul_SSE +Pretty Combat Animations SSE 1.376 +Skyrim Skill Uncapper +First Person Horse Riding SSE +Better Jumping SE SKSE 210 +360 Walk and Run Plus +Achievements Mods Enabler +PapyrusUtil SE - Modders Scripting Utility Functions skse 210 +UIExtensions +SSE Engine Fixes (skse64 plugin) SKSE 2.10 +SKSE Scripts 2.10 *DLC: Dawnguard *DLC: Dragonborn *DLC: HearthFires

[glux2]

Idea for a Social system in a WRPG

You enter to character creation and you’re asked to choose if your character is male or female, the only difference between the default models shown is the male character has a bulge in his crotch.

As you adjust the model there are no gender specific restrictions, you can go wild, meaning you can adjust breast size even if you chose male or give beards to females, as an example.

As you adjust your character, the game keeps a hidden tally of masculine or feminine traits, for example, wide hips, bigger busts or long hair gives you feminine points, while broad shoulders, square jaws or facial hair gives you masculine points.

When you finish your character, the hidden tally puts your character in “masculine”, “feminine” or “Androgynous” on a scale depending your final result, again this is hidden from the player.

Depending where on the scale you land, NPCs will assume your gender upon meeting, prompting options for you to react to this and change dialogue trees, allowing you to Take offense to their assumption, politely correcting them, affirming they gendered you correctly or dodge the issue for a neutral pronoun.

Like, let’s say you made a wide hipped, long haired pretty boy character and his ranking lands him in feminine, a NPC my greet the character like this:

“ Good Evening miss, I was told you would come by, What can i do for you?”

And you’d have options like:

“Are you blind?! im a man!” (take offense) “young mister will do, actually” (polite correct) “Good evening, where can a girl get a good deal?” (reinforce their gendering) “I would rather not be called miss or anything of the sort, just [Name]” (neutral)

If on the scale you land on the Androgynous area, then NPCs would hilariously fumble in their dialogue as they struggle to not use gendering words around you.

Some NPCs would always know what gender option you choose and upon meeting them they will address you as that, but just like other NPCs you’d have the option to take Offense, reafirm or go neutral, depending the character it changes their dialogue trees. 

[theplagueraven]

My entry for an NPC contest. Details under the cut/on the link in the image!

STATS Name: Father(?)/Lantern Xavier Gender: Male Current Age: 56 Birthday: October 25th Form: Bipedal, Bump nose Known Upgrades: Brow Changer | Full Facial Fur | Teeth | Longer Teeth | Long Horn (cracked) | Sinister Horns | Slit Pupil | Colored Sclera* | Naked Rabbit Ears (torn) | Scars** | Wrybone Disease | Long Claws | Webbed Wings | Tattered Webbed Wings | Whip Tail | Dagger Tail Tip | Unlimited Colors (and all previous) | Stripes | Same Sized Limbs Quirks: Stern, blunt, harsh, quiet, tired, short-tempered, forgiving, kind EXTRAS Friends: Dr. F (if only because he has to visit him so often) Enemies: A particular distaste to Azoth because he's gotten away with knowing dark magic. Family: None. Can barely even remember them. Accessories: Priest's robe, stole, Chii'Falla symbol necklace. EXTRAS *Colored sclera - Doesn't cover entire eye technically. Much like many animals, if the eye is turned left or right some white is visible around the edges. With his magic glands missing, this is especially visible. **Scars - Torn ears and shredded wings from past fights, along with cracked long horn. Claws on feet have been worn dull over the years. Due to wrybone and removed magic glands, he's sickly and chronically tired, often seen with a pained slouch, and never seen without dark circles around his eyes. Fire | Level: Intermediate Earth | Level: Intermediate Light | Level:  Basic (Intermediate?) Dark | Level: Advanced PAST Xavier was a troubled child growing up. Always getting in fights, running away from home at a young age, and getting involved with some less than favorable groups. He was overall someone you did not want to run into, fully capable of killing and perhaps even doing so a time or two, though his connections kept him out of trouble. By his 20s, he had gained an appetite for more forbidden tastes, and he found an underground way of learning the banned dark magic. The power delicious and his want insatiable, he poured his efforts into learning these dark arts. He got away with it for quite some time too, until in his late 30s he was caught due to his developing crescent tail tip which he failed to hide from prying eyes, and he was quickly disciplined in the most horrific--though appropriate--way possible: Xavier's magic glands were removed by King Suraci Zenith himself. Cast away and miserable, the now magic-blind Xavier was shunned from society, crawling from place to place trying to find some new connection to the world that didn't make sense anymore. He grew sickly, eventually developing Wrybone disease, among many other passing diseases that made him incapable of working, provided had he even been accepted anywhere due to his missing glands. Near giving up, he at long last stumbled into a place he never thought he would enter: Luxhallow, a church of the goddess Chii'Falla. Though wary of him at first, the Lantern saints of the small church took him in, nursing Xavier back to health to the best of their abilities. In turn, he was taught of the goddess and her light. Desperate and dying despite the best efforts of the Lanterns and local doctors who were willing to touch him, he began to dabble in the belief of this great goddess, figuring it was his last chance at redemption before he faded away. As time went on, his faith grew stronger and stronger, until it was his dedication to Luxhallow that gave him a reason to live. Eventually, he cast away the sins of his past and instead dedicated his life to the service of Chii'Falla, having now seen her light, its brightness banishing the darkness that had seeped into his world. It is said that it's because of his belief and his ascension in the ranks of the Luxhallow church that has kept him alive. Despite many wyngrew wasting away from removed magic glands within a decade of the removal, Xavier has survived nearly 20 years without them, all while also suffering from the chronic wrybone condition. He claims that the light of Chii'Falla has healed him enough to keep going, that the goddess herself has helped him repent and serve diligently. Despite only dabbling in light magic many years ago and being incapable of truly learning and using light magic, he's been blessed with the removal of his dreaded dark crescent tail, which has since slowly formed into the light-aligned dagger tail, as he believes, a testament from the goddess herself that he's truly changed his ways. Nowadays, he resides within the small town of Wynsiph, preferring the quiet village over the bustling large cities, where to this day he fears retribution for his past. He dedicates every healthy moment he can spare to teaching wyngrew about his savior: the great goddess Chii'Falla. PERSONALITY Xavier retains much of his old gruffness, but behind his somewhat terrifying exterior, he's grown to be quite soft and caring under it all. He's not always the best at showing that he's kind and gentle, but really, nowadays he's a scrawny old marshmallow. Once you break that tough exterior, one can find a deeply caring man who only wants to make the world better in any way he can with his limited abilities as a cripple. Though wynglings can get on his nerves sometimes since he's unable to wrangle them because of his condition, he firmly believes it's never too early to lead people to the light. Never too late either, and he uses his own story as a testament to even the most hopeless of wyngrew who stumble through his doors to show that, yes, quite literally anyone can be forgiven for their transgressions, if only they can allow themselves to accept the light. You will be hard-pressed to find a wyngro with a greater respect for the goddess and the Luxhallow church. Though he will gladly tell the story of his missing glands to people who ask--seeing it as an excellent teaching opportunity--he's prone to being particularly bitter and wrathful for those who harass him for it and his inability to use magic. He has little patience for those who seek to torment him over his past. He has a sharp eye for those who can be taught, versus those who only want to vex him.