#a sorta defense mechanism maybe?

[spookymarkers]

Do y'all think dusknoir is able to open his stomach mouth all the way? I couldn't stop thinking about this until I drew it.

[hey-august]

B, G, K, R, S, Y For the alphabet!

I absolutely love your head canons for buggy!!! 💗

Sorry if this is a lot!

Ahhh, thank you!! Sorry for the delay with these! I had Too Much Fun writing them out! (NSFW Alphabet here)

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

For Buggy himself, he’s most apt to admit that he likes his hands. They’re the hands of a pirate and a performer. Calloused and agile. Plus he has a thing for nail care and finds it soothing to apply a layer of lacquer in whatever color he’s feeling at the moment. The pop of color really stands out when his hand is wrapped around a thick cock. Or digging into a dripping hole. Fuck, and seeing how many fingers he can fit? Yup, definitely a favorite of his. For his partner, it’s their smile. Aw, sweet. Of course he loves to make them laugh. To see their joy radiate up to their eyes. Even the sad, somber smile they offer the clown in his moments of vulnerability brings him a bit of peace. But there are two specific smiles that knock Buggy head over hills. That pump blood to his cock and leave him feral. First, is the soft breathy smile that slips out when his partner is on top. When his partner pauses to let Buggy’s dick nestle into place, they let out the most dreamy sigh and smile. And Buggy is in heaven. The second smile is when their face is coated in cum. Pearls clinging to their eyelashes, dripping down their cheeks, mixing with the spit on their outstretched tongue. The moment they risk getting jizz in their eyes, just to look up at Buggy and smile gratefully, all he wants to do is paint them again.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Buggy the Clown is a goofy fucker. He never stops talking. He always has shit to say. At first, it was a defense mechanism. All the humor and shenanigans kept the real feelings away. How could things get serious if he treated everything like a joke? If people saw a clown, then he’d give them a clown. “Lick it like a candy apple.” “Fuck, you could swallow swords in my show with a throat like that.” “C’mon, I wanna see you juggle these balls in your mouth.” (“I may not be a lion tamer, but I am pussy tamer.”) It dies down over time, but never goes away entirely. Buggy will never pass up an opportunity to invite his partner to the circus tent in his pants.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Mirror sex results in the best performances. Buggy rarely feels more like a star than when he’s watching his own lewd faces in the mirror while getting fucked. And Buggy is more than happy to take a backstage position when his partner is in the spotlight. Watching himself disappear into his partner, telling them to keep their eyes open, to move so he has a better view of the show - it strokes his ego hard and fast. But back to Buggy bent over in front of the mirror and drooling. There was one time his partner pushed the clown’s face against the cold silver and said to give himself a little kiss. What. The. Fuck. Licking and kissing the mirror and getting it dirty with spit and tears gave Buggy the most mind-blanking orgasm he’s ever had. In that moment, which stretched into eternity, he was a filthy fuck doll and more than okay with it.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Yes, but hear me out. Buggy’s interest in experimenting is driven by his image. Pirates swap stories and Buggy has all the best stories. Of course he does, he’s the greatest. And he’s done soooo many things. Really! Getting his dick sucked in a crowded restaurant - check. Stealing a chick from her boyfriend and fucking her in the bar bathroom - check. Then getting a blowjob from the boyfriend - check. Believe it or not, they all had a threesome afterwards and it lasted for days. Look, he still has the rope marks to prove it. Did that all happen? Abso-fucking-lutely. Really? Well…yeah. Sorta. Maybe some of it happened after the told the story. Buggy is a big believer in turning lies into truth. So yeah, Buggy will take risks to live in the reality he creates over stale beer. But he’s also down to experiment so he has more shit to talk about and prove he’s the best.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

If he could, Buggy would go until he passes out. How long that takes depends on how stressed he is, if he actually did any work during the day, how much he’s had to drink, and how good of a dicking it is. But this guy will hump and grind until he’s teary and whining. Until his balls are so empty that there’s almost nothing left to release except a few pathetic drops of mostly-clear liquid. Hands grabbing at the sheets and his partner, practically begging for more while his pretty eyes can’t stay open for more than a second. No, no, no, no, no, he swears he can keep going. Please, please don’t stop.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

There are ups and downs, but let’s talk about the ups. There are times when Buggy is revved and ready to go at a moment’s notice. His pupils dilate and his pants get tight when his partner is near. Any chance he gets, Buggy is whispering (loudly) in their ear about finding somewhere more secluded. If they do slink away, it’s a quickie that’s composed of a handful of sloppy thrusts and the pirate is satiated for all of a few minutes before he’s groping their ass again. It’s a problem, really. For everyone with eyes and ears.

[hughiecampbelle]

Succession Preference: Giving Them The Silent Treatment

Requested: hi hi! I've been loving succession, I think Tom and Kendall are my favorite characters <3 Could I request a preference for the siblings (+ Tom or Greg if you're comfortable, totally understand if you don't wanna add them) making it up to their S/O after an argument? Maybe their S/O has given them the silent treatment and they wanna fix things?? Or something like that, it's totally up to you <3 - @meltingsandwhich

A/N: Shai!!!! I love this idea!!!! Thank you for requesting!! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

Connor would want to rip his hair out. The thought of you being angry and hurt enough to give him the silent treatment kills him. Forgotten and ignored as a child, the silent treatment doesn't sit well with him. It reminds him too much of his father, ripping open old wounds. He gives you the space you need, but eventually it becomes too much. He has to talk to you and he needs you to talk to him, to acknowledge him. He apologizes profusely, desperately, the people pleaser in him coming to life. You're still upset, but you realize immediately what you've done. You did what Logan has been doing to him his entire life. You apologize, too, putting into words why you were so upset. Your relationship isn't perfect, especially after a fight, but you know you cannot do that to him again. You have to talk it out, you have to address things, you have to break the cycle. Connor is more than happy to do so, hating the long stretch of silence.

Kendall, I think, would be just as petty at first. When you stare at him, mouth closed, anger radiating out of you, he realizes what you're doing and tries to beat you at your own game. He can only last a few minutes before his own insecurities devour him. Why aren't you talking to him? Is it over? Did one fight murder your whole relationship? He can't listen to the quiet anymore, finding any way to fill it. He screams and yells and begs, but you're stubborn. One too many times he has broken his promise to you, he has broken your heart. As far as you're concerned he deserves to suffer. You want him to. Not forever, not forever, but in this moment? It's all you want. He kicks furniture and makes a mess, yelling, angry, hurt. You can't keep it in anymore and you stat yelling, crying, telling him all your pain. Everything he's put you through. He promises to do better, to be better, that this will never happen again. You're not sure if you believe him. You're not sure you'll ever believe him again.

Shiv sorta pretends nothing happened. She asks you if you want to order in for dinner after a few days of not speaking. You can't believe it. It makes you even angrier, causing you to give her the silent treatment. By not speaking, you're forcing her to address it. You just stare at her as she goes through the drawer of menus. What? Are you seriously still mad? This frustrates her, causing her to become defensive. You're being irrational. You're being insecure. Funny, you say, you're starting to sound like your father. That hits hard. The fights you have are volatile and downright cruel. Afterwards you have to nurse your wounds, you take a few days, before going to one another. There isn't necessarily an apology spoken from either of you, but it's as close as you're going to get. You go back to normal after that. You're sure one of your fights will be the downfall of your relationship one day, but that day isn't this one. You know Shiv doesn't mean it, and neither do you, it's just the kind of thing you were raised to do: go for the throat.

Roman feels incredibly anxious when you give him the silent treatment. He can't stand it. He tries to fill the silence with jokes, but it doesn't work. His one defense mechanism isn't working nor is it appropriate. When is it ever? You break him down with your blank stare. He feels jittery and nervous and nauseous. Finally, he asks you what's wrong. Is this about our fight? Fuckin- seriously? He can't believe you're still upset. Of course I am, you say. He senses your frustration and he braces for the worst, flinching when you step closer. You explain to him, yet again, that though you're upset, you would never dare hurt him. He kinda wishes you would, at least then it would be all over and you wouldn't have to talk about it. You don't care that it makes him uncomfortable, you don't care if he squirms the whole time, you are going to address what's wrong in your relationship. He's not sure where to start, relying on you. You make up by talking it out in a serious manner, so that he understands.

Bonus! Tom is a big gift giver after an argument. Though he didn't grow up with money, he's quickly learned that if you throw enough of it at a problem, it'll go away. He knows you typically get quiet after a fight so he lets you be. In the morning he'll have something expensive and thoughtless wrapped up in a bow. You've learned that there's typically a double meaning to what he gets you and it often leaves you more hurt than you already were. You don't want something that cost a lot of money, you don't want something wrapped in a bow, presented to you like it's a million fucking dollars, you want him to change. You want to stop having the same arguments over and over again because, though he promises you he'll be better, he never is. That's what you want. You know if you said this though, it would fly right over his head. He doesn't want to change. He likes himself just the way he is. That's what you can't stand, that's why you go silent.

Bonus! Greg is pretty much oblivious to your silent treatment. He thinks, after your fight, which is less of a fight and more like a tense conversation when it comes to Greg, that everything is cool. Everything is going to go back to normal. He comes home after work talking about how Rome punched him in the arm and he thinks he's getting somewhere with Mencken when you ignore him. Sore throat? Are you coming down with something? No Greg, you say, frustrated, you're still mad at him. Oh. He didn't think you would be. He thought you got all you needed out when you were talking to him. You have to explain that the conversation you were having was actually a fight, that he participated in it, and he said some pretty hurtful things. Oh. He apologizes, but there's always a "but" in there with an excuse. That's what you're talking about. He's learned from the best at Waystar how not to take accountability.

[glass-noodle]

I like to imagine MerConnor gifting Hank one of his beautiful, shimmery scales. 💕

also

MerConnor in a seashell bra 😆

HHHH that’s so cute 😭😭😭 From what I’ve read most fish don’t seem to shed their scales unless they’re sick or injured (although a couple of species seem to do it as a defense mechanism)? Maybe Connor’s lost a couple during captivity and he’s kept a few of the healthier-looking ones…or maybe his species just sheds normally. Regardless, Hank would probably be a bit confused/concerned if Connor gifted him one and he just sees the bald patch on his tail lol. Like, “did this just come off by itself? You okay? You better not have picked this off just for me.” (He’d still keep it though. Probably tucked away in his wallet)

ALSO, this is how I picture Connor’s scales in my head. A deep, gorgeous, shimmery blue with purple and teal shifts 🥺

(this is getting long so I’m putting the rest under a read more lol):

Sort of on the topic of seashell bras, I do like to imagine merpeople wearing pearls, shells, precious metals and stones, and bits of sea glass. Sorta like these but with a few less chains and more netting/rope:

(^ RK brothers core)

^ An excerpt from an RK brothers backstory comic I drew a while ago that I’ve been too shy to post lol. Amanda’s the head of their clan so I headcanon her to be the most decked out in jewels and pearls and shells (although I’d even add more accessories now that I’m looking at it again). I should draw Connor/the RK brothers rocking mer jewelry sometime though! 😩

[3point14a]

loon defense post because ive been thinking about him so much it like physically hurts

People rip on him a lot for being 1) being sorta cringy with his use of words and way of speaking 2) too attached to usagi 3) being too shy and sort of useless 4) not taking the HINT with usagi

And i say!!! guys lets put ourselves in his shoes please god

At the start of the series we learn that Freddy is new, and so he doesn't know where anything is, and he presumibly came in later than all the other people since everyone already had seats and such when he gets introduced, its not the first day for everyone, he got in a little later.

Then, Loon arrives to THE COUNTRY or at the very least the school in episode FIFTEEN. at the same time town does the event announcement, he's the first "international competitor", he has a weight on his shoulders and knows absolutely no one but usagi. And it's past the point of fraternizing at this point, if people are as competitive about this event as lets say Meg is, then trying to talk to people would probably be seen as trying to get info or get intel or do something regarding the competition instead of just... Wanting to get more used to the completely new enviroment you are in.

And, I know his use of japanese is butchered at best and just straight up nonsense at worst, but that's a fault of the writers and not a thing in-universe. In-character both he and usagi are japanese, but he uses a LOT more japanese words and expressions without seeminly thinking about it, he is STILL on the process of going full spanish, bilingual or not it is hard to stay 100% in it, and he defaults to words in his native language or just straight up small exclamations he lets out without thinking. He's not mechanically 100% in spanish he's doing that thing where you think in one language and translate stuff as it comes out of your mouth.

Given all of that its NORMAL that he clings so much to the one girl who he knows and who speaks his language, he is in a completely new country with a new language and he has ONE person who can give him sense of normalcy, and it's clear they both care about eachother. People love to make usagi fully uninterested in all that regards Loon, but she did sign him into her team without asking, she did get super exited to see him and they do have a history, it's unfair to say it's onesided because despite the nature of their feelings being different, they still very clearly deeply care for eachother.

I would also be shy and useless if i was stuck in a completely new country and culture, we do see him act more confidently with Usagi but he probably got overwhelmed by how talkative (?) and sociable culture is in latam. Strangers carry themselves in a completely different way than he's been used to and that's intimidating! his spanish isn't 100% perfect and natural sounding either so that also makes it scary! I would also be shy and useless.

and on the topic of Loon's feelings towards usagi, i have 2 possible routes to take with it:

Can't kids have crushes anymore???? is being silly a crime in this economy??? it's realisticcccc he's young, he's discovering stuff, him being unable to say how he feels upfront is reasonable given that if Usagi takes negatively to it, he would be left completely on his own. He has no other connections and the posibility of ruining that is SCARYYYY. It's not as much as spineless cowardice but a genuine conflict of his feelings vs the posibility of his one stable connection being severed because of it. Besides everyone treats it as a crime but Usagi literally does not mind or does not realize, not once has that girl been uncomfortable around Loon, he's just like that and it doesn't seem to break any boundary at all

Am i crazy to say maybe it wasn't a crush at all? It's hard to interpret feelings and crushes in general, and its WORSE when you're a teenager. He hadn't seen his friend in years and when he had the chance to be with her he clinged and had that ovewhelming urge to just stay by her side. Now that he is actually next to her he can hug her and hold her and she is his BEST FRIEND and seeing her again just sparked a lot of really intense feelings that he assumed meant he had a crush. Idk i feel like that'd be nice to explore...

and yeah thats it loon fnafhs they could never make me hate you

[wordy-little-witch]

My brain is all over the place so I'm gonna mix n match my stuff with the only common theme being Buggy and hyperfixation.

But like. Age regression. Not the funky cool supernatural kind in fiction, the coping mechanism (I like the fiction ones too tho but for this, it's coping mechs)

Just. Buggy and Shanks both having had a frankly RIDICULOUS amount of childhood trauma and both turning to different methods to cope. Buggy got introduced to age regression both bc he already kinda sorta did t involuntarily without KNOWING and then when he brought on some people to his crew with experience in psychology and therapy for whatever reason.

He got dragged to self care hours, kicking and screaming at first and then more willingly. Turns out the "off vibes" were actually severe psychological distress, PTSD, etc. Who knew? Anyway yeah.

Cabaji, Mohji and Ritchie were the ones who were first aware of Buggy's "fuzzy episodes" as he called it. Was hard not to be in close quarters on a tiny ass ship holding three nearly grown men and a growing lion. As the crew grew, even when they got the Big Top, they were still mostly aware of things. Ritchie in particular always seemed to just... Know when Buggy was blurred out and needed a hand. Or to have smth to cuddle and pet.

Mohji actually brings it up in HIS therapy sessions without naming names. Just "hey how can I help with [x,y,z]?" There's some hums and haws before finally herspist is like "sounds like it could be anything, so I can't definitively say. Keep doing whatever has worked so far, I guess,but take care of yourself too. Maybe recommend your friend talk to a professional, like me or one of the other doctors."

Buggy is vehemently against it for a good while until he finally reaches a point that he's getting frustrated. He's scared and mad and decides he'll ACTUALLY consider it - then during one of his own sessions, he gets triggered into a panic attack, which spirals due to exhaustion into him just... clicking out. Surprise. Looks like it's happening whether he wants it or not.

Through this and subsequent meetings and experimenting, he gets told that what he's doing is a blend of regression and dissociation. They decide to try to separate thebtwo to see if maybe they can turn this from a defense to a decompression method.

Buggy still can count on one hand the number of people he trusts to know this - but it does help. He's doing... a lot better actually, with this. It doesn't fix everything, but it DOES help him stay steady enough to work on the things that need fixing. Cabaji, Mohji, Ritchie, and later Alvida are also finding themselves enjoying the time they spend together when Buggy wants or needs company. They also start picking up on some smaller things about Buggy that have turned the odd quirks and strange habits into smth more, start getting puzzle pieces to the bigger picture.

They secretly start a hit list but that's for another time.

Impel Down was an absolute hot mess, and the recovering from that and the subsequent summit war was not pretty. Just when things started coasting again on slightly smoother waters, Crocodile and Mihawk show up with the instatement of the Cross Guild.

Might just make a tag specifically for my agere stuff bc Buggy is my little blorbo and I shamelessly project on him so I may throw all my clown themed thought here

[the-ultimate-tsbs-kin]

☆TSBS Kin Memories!☆

Foxy

- Dated Puppet

- First getting a crush on Puppet and denying it

- Half Hispanic

- Had a tail (like FC's but more worn out)

- House husband (sorta- I did work, but I did all the housework too)

- Straight (apparently have to clarify that-)

- Lowkey hated Monty (so did Puppet)

Castor

- With Pollux (by earthling standards, both platonic and romantically, but we didn't say things like "date")

- Extremely close bond with Pollux, neither of us ever felt anything remotely close to it with anyone else than with each other

- Pollux loved cuddling and all sorts of physical affection - I did too, but she usually initiated them

- Didn't have the same feelings for Lunar

- Being Gemini felt warm and just... extremely close, in a good way- hard to phrase

- Astrals had a different language, but we knew all the earthly languages so we could communicate with whoever we needed to

- Pollux loved flower jewelry and loved making them for me, so I usually always had a little crown or bracelet or something

- Had telekinesis (idk if that's mentioned or shown on the shows-)

Ruin

- Very flamboyant and fruity, just for fun

- Aroace

- Flirted with anyone and everyone just for their reactions (it was also a great defense mechanism!)

- Me and Bloodmoon weren't dating, but we had- something going on

- Don't know if I really had my own personality because I was almost always acting for my benefit

Killcode

- Very flexible

- Liked to climb up walls on all fours to scare people

- Regularly went on hunts with Bloodmoon

- Actually adored Bloodmoon, who was also very fond of me (I was almost as close to them as they are with each other)

- Had to deal with Bloodmoon throwing tantrums a lot

- Wasn't really fond of Eclipse, I tried to give him the same amount of care and understanding as Bloodmoon but he wasn't taking it so I gave up

- I could not change the smile on my face- it was stuck like that

- Fsr, Bloodmoon was in his newer model in my memories- maybe they were always like that?

Sun

- Had a big thing with Moon, very longstanding, very committed relationship! (Totally wasn't built on trauma-)

- When Eclipse first formed, he had a thing for Moon fsr and only started antagonising us after Moon rejected him

- Had OCD (not my cleaning protocol, I did little rituals for certain things). The main thing I can remember is the lights- before going to bed, I had to switch them on and off a certain amount of times and with certain intervals between switches before it was safe to leave them off. I also had a little mantra I said when I did it. Moon used to be really annoyed by it and I got self conscious and tried to force myself not to do it. Then when he came back after the whole thing with Nexus, he noticed I was still suppressing it and he helped me feel safe enough to do it again <3

- My rays did actually retract with certain emotions. If I got anxious or uncomfortable, they'd go in more. I could technically control it but it happened subconsciously. They didn't spin though

- Wasn't straight- don't remember what I was, but definitely not straight

- Very feminine

- Also house husband

- Always wanted kids

Lunar

- Still hate Eclipse, he unsettles me to no end

- Biggest crush on Gemini and Earth

- Pansexual and ambiamorous

- Actually did enjoy being small

- Age regressed sometimes

- Definitely a femboy

- Loved Earth's hair- very very soft and fluffy >w<

- LIVED off of nutella and ice cream

- Very emotional, never fully got my powers in check :(

[chemzee]

Soooo... Morgan... Oh Morgan.

This guy was hell to design at first: I had so many attempts to capture the vibe I wanted to go with him and for a long time, I wasn't satisfied with the way he looked. But now I can say I'm definitely very satisfied with it (maybe not with the clothes but it´s easy to fix).

ofc I still gotta think about like his patronus n wand and whatnot

Just how I created Melly for sake of Cassandra's character development, so did I create Morgan for Daniel's development.

What crossed my mind was "Now that Daniel has high chances of joining NOTME now (if he didn't join it already) , given everything, he might get more and more isolated from his friends. So how about I give him a friend there, around his age? A genuine,healthy friendship with no ulterior motives?... Except I'll give that friend a tragic fate."

I wanted Morgan to be an oddball among NOTME members of sort, like despite believing in their cause he feels out of place/different to most members, but I went a lil too hard and an oddball part. :"D

Other than that, I always wanted to have a character who's sorta very unceremonious about more macabre topics and is rather calm about concept of death or the idea of dying in general, as a defense mechanism at least. Rest of my characters with death motifs (almost an entirety of DSAA cast + other ocs) were outwardly very sensitive about death/the fact they are going to die, so I wanted to go in opposite direction, explore a different grief coping mechanism.

[myfairkatiecat]

Kate Wetherall, Katherine Pulitzer, and your Keefe boy :)

Aaaaaahh yes yes yes these are really good ones ahdkdhsnbdjshssj

Kate Wetherall:

Ok so. The reason I say she works best as a part of a dynamic is because while she’s awesome on her own, she is MOST compelling with the rest of the mysterious Benedict society!!!the four of them together are so special to me

Also I’m a Kate apologist, she’s never done anything wrong and I stand by it :)

(And yeah if you see the way I write Kate you may see me projecting. It might have something to do with me being in sixth grade when I first read the books and going “omg we have the same name!!!”)

Katherine Pulitzer:

Look I relate to this girl SO MUCH you don’t even understand 😭

And the fandom has a tendency to villainize her or make her seem problematic simply for being complex, which… is a problem I’ve been seeing a lot of lately, actually.

I love her SO MUCH. She’s kinda scary but also she’s me

AND FINALLY

Keefe Sencen:

Once again flattered by your interest in hearing me talk abut my interests that you don’t share 🥹

Okay look. I LOVE KEEFE. And I initially colored in “they’ve never done anything wrong” cause I have tendency to be a Keefe apologist, but if I’m being real here he’s definitely done stuff wrong 😭 @phtalogreenpoison has heard me talk about his character in detail and knows EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Why the tiny scribble on “too much screen time”? Well…….it’s technically true. He does get too much screen time, and for not being the MC, he’s started getting a lot of his POV in Sophie’s story. However, I EAT IT UP cause I’m a pretty standard basic Keefe girlie. So while I understand the side of the fandom that’s beginning to want more of some other characters, and I think that’s soooo valid, I also am totally eating up all the Keefe screen time. SO EXCITED for the Keefe book that’s coming out this fall. I love this boy. So much.

Also would I marry him irl?? uhhhhhhh if Sophie didn’t exist then YES he’s mine. But I’m a girl’s girl and he belongs to Sophie <3 they’re so cute together, too!!

Somebody is gonna come at me for saying he’s deeper than he seems cause we actually get quite a bit of insight into his character depth, but I think even what we do see doesn’t fully cover it. Keefe is more open with his friends than he’s ever been with anyone else… but he definitely has a LOT of defense mechanisms in place, which is why he has that cool-kid-doesn’t-care-doesn’t-work-only-flirts vibe going on in the first book, and the first time we REALLY get slapped in the face with “haha you knew he had a facade but here have a GUT PUNCH” is the quote in the beginning of book three when Sophie suggests they stop by Keefe’s house and he just sorta looks down and says “I…don’t bring friends home.”

Like. We knew his parents sucked. But something about seeing him vulnerable like that. Ahdkfhdjshdjdshs

I think the mischief making and flirting is also a real aspect of his personality, but a lot of the sorta bad-boy-ish reputation he’s got going on at school in the beginning books is a front to cover his ✨issues✨ and I don’t think we even see the full depth of how much the reveal of his mother as a villain and her constant attempts to make him “embrace the change” and have a “legacy” tied to her evil thoughts impact him. We know it’s hard for him and we totally see that, but even in Keefe’s POV he avoids thinking about it, and… honestly it’s up to us fanfic writers to really delve into that angst. Shannon sorta tells us it sucks for him, but doesn’t really show us (not fully, at least) cause Sophie is the main character, not him.

And do I project my issues on him? …maybe a little…his particular brand of the “using humor to cover up my problems” trope hits very close to home for me. I deflect with humor in the exact same flippant way, and just like with Keefe, sometimes it works and sometimes it gets me in trouble with my friends when I need to be serious.

(Yes I want to carry Keefe in a hand a like a tiny dog. Not elaborating.)

Wasn’t sure whether or not to say he gets done dirty by the fans. Historically, this fandom is head over heels in love with him, but right now there’s been a bit of a turn towards combating Fitz hate (another character that often gets pitted against Keefe unjustly bc of shipping discourse) with Keefe hate and saying he’s problematic when he’s really just complex.

So yeah I’m not normal about Keefe at all, if you couldn’t tell.

I managed to talk for a very long time about him

You can tell where the brain bees are buzzing rn can’t you

[rametarin]

An interesting twist for an RPG.

One of the things that make melee users potentially greater than magic based attackers is simply: You never run out of knife or sword or rock/dirt to throw. Stamina and number of turns you can attack isn't typically a thing in tabletop.

But what if it was? What if it used semi-realistic mechanics (semi, quasi, demi, maybe sorta) to indicate, okay, we see you are capable of a thing, but you're going to get fatigued and tired if you take x-many turns of attack over x-many turns.

Else there's no reason why a very strong dude couldn't chop down a thousand men in a day. That same man couldn't spend all day chopping wood or pumpkins, much less the dynamically dodging, blocking, moving people.

What if, like many other things you could purchase to level up, another turn you could attack before you're depleted and exhausted? So end-game fighters would be killing magnitudes more men than a normal man could.

Suddenly the action economy and the total net times you can attack means melee-rs have a point they can be exhausted, not unlike Vancian spellcasters.

It would mean defensive styles could reward play by exhausting attackers. And, it'd mean more opportunities for enchantments that empower adventurers. Spells that cause a sword or hammer to move as though the wielder were stronger, as if under its own power. Spells that restore stamina, like HP. Enchants (temporary, permanent) that increase and enhance stamina.

Ironically, the greatest godmode in that game is simply to have infinite melee attacks like a normal D&D player.

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Okay, I’m really sorry, but I am unhealthily obsessed with this. If I’m being annoying, please let me know, and I will stop. But I love this so much.

It’s really interesting that Sahota has a bird tattoo, because birds represent freedom, but he doesn’t seem to be free. He doesn’t want to be doing this, and I can’t decide if he actually likes Vic or just respects him out of fear. I assume fear, because he says “Who do you think I learned it from” when asked if Vic would want him to do this. He has done a lot of black ops, which is part of the reason he is so desensitized, and also part of the reason he is proud of Hunter for not tapping out-- in black ops it is seen as a good thing to not stop; at least that’s what I’ve found from my sources. 

Kaius is really interesting because he analyzes what is going on around him, but he also picks and chooses what he wants to pay attention to. What actually matters. Also, he kicks during the fight with Sahota rather than punches, which is really interesting, because usually kicking is done when you are unsure about your skills, because legs have a longer range then arms.

Jericho doesn’t hit first, and he doesn’t want to hurt Sahota, and he hacks so he can fight against stuff without hurting anyone. It is already mentioned that he is the most empathetic person in the group, but I think he is also a logical person, even moreso than Kaius. He thinks before he acts, and when he does act, he goes all in. He reminds me a bit of a character in a Douglas E. Richards book.

Joy seems to be the most empathetic after Jericho, but she likes weapons. Guns are a distance weapon, and therefore help to stay separated from the death. She doesn’t seem to want to fight, getting the fight done as soon as possible. I’m assuming she wanted to go first as well.

Benji is amazing, and my favorite, so I’ll probably have the most thoughts on him. The sleight of hand tricks are amazing to me, especially considering he doesn’t have sleeves, which makes it harder. Not impossible, mind you. Musicals being his coping method is great, because that’s how I cope with stuff. His talking to get himself out of situations is pretty great, and on brand for a theatre kid. A tongue as shiny as the Chrysler Building and twice as valuable. 

Hunter is my second favorite, I love his hair! Lots of people say that black is a protection method, a way to shield yourself from the world, but I think it’s the opposite for Hunter. I think his bright hair is a way to protect himself; people aren’t paying attention to him anymore, they’re paying attention to his hair. Also, the tech in his head is really interesting. I think that maybe when people are annoyed their shade gets darker and when they’re amused their shade gets lighter?

please don't be sorry I am incredibly delighted at all your comments and analyses 😭😭❤️❤️❤️

You put a lot of thought into this and I LOVE it. Pretty on point with your delves into the characters (particularly Sahota, which is impressive considering he hasn't gotten much in way of bio or screentime)

You're super right about Jericho and Kaius in terms of logic. Kaius is the stereotypical 'analytical logic minded' guy, but Jericho is waaaay better at judging people's intentions, which is far more helpful in an everyday situation

The guns thing with Joy too! I had that thought, but couldn't figure out how to put it into words, so I'm glad you could 😂

Benji usually wore a coat when he was starting out with sleight of hand, but he's learned quite a few tricks since then

And Hunter's hair? 100% lol. It's a unique sorta defense mechanism for him

Again, thank you! Stuff like this does wonders for my motivation to work on a story, and I really appreciate it 😄❤️❤️❤️

[purplekoop]

I just had a somewhat troubling War Bots thought relating to two gentlemen in the Control category who've both been difficult to bring to a satisfying level in terms of kit concepts.

The first is Lyonn, the fourth bot in the role, who I've mentioned exclusively by name and no other descriptor. His main trait is that he has a sticky bomb launcher style weapon, making him the cast's definitive trap master and an area denial powerhouse, who struggles in more direct fights due to lacking a means of self defense up close. On top of that, he actually *does* have a design, though slightly outdated in terms of weapon design and missing a few details. Aside from that, it's been a personal favorite of mine for a while. The main holdup was that he's lacked a good accessory, something to complement his fairly flexible main weapon. An idea I had was some kind of melee weapon he would swap to for close-range defense, but this kind of stance change mechanic felt fairly arbitrary and not super cohesive to his overall gameplan, but I couldn't think of anything useful without being redundant with either his other abilities or the rest of the cast.

The second is a more familiar name *and* face, Martinet. He was made so the Control lineup had a character that could control space in a way other than by threatening raw damage, and so his defining ability, the Laser Tripwire, was made so he can make it more risky to cross a pathway unopposed. That's... kinda it though. His weird charge pistol, chargeable bomb stolen shamelessly from Splatoon, and slide ability are all pretty much filler, I'll be blunt. They all sorta fit his theme, but that theme doesn't really inform a gameplan.

So... I had an unfortunate thought. If I have a character I like who lacks an accessory to bring the kit together, and an ability I like but on a character without much else, then... I feel like that means one of them may have to be shelved.

My best idea right now is to give Lyonn the tripwire ability, making him the cast's ultimate trapmaster, while Martinet is demoted to NPC, likely as some sort of mission mode administrator, dealing mission intel to the team and that sort of thing. He still could join the roster again later, and he may still keep his slot he has now, but it'd require him getting more to his kit than I have ideas for at the moment. He's a fun character, but I'm just stumped on what kind of weapon would give him the strongly defined role a War Bots character needs. If this was a bigger cast with less specifically defined characters like Overwatch, then I'd be less concerned, but as-is he's just too flimsy of a character conceptually.

I like War Bots characters to be easy to explain with just a phrase or maybe a sentence. All-rounder duelist. Big AOE rocket guy. Frontline high-damage juggernaut. Frail but flexible utility provider. Mobile close-range healer. Not only does it help communicate what a character does quickly, but it helps me make sure they all have their unique roles that nobody else really fills, which is important when trying to maintain an efficiently small cast. Martinet just isn't like that, he's supposed to be the "intel guy" but only does that because of one ability, which lets him know when someone walks through one specific hallway-sized space. None of his other abilities really play off this mechanic. He just kinda has a little bit of a bunch of things aside from any sort of defensive sustain. He can move okay. He's got some burst damage and AOE damage. It's just such a flaccid set of abilities compared to the other characters. at least to me.

So that's my 2 AM ramble for the day, I would appreciate input one way or the other, but I'm hesitantly set on Martinet being benched in favor of this guy I haven't even shown yet. I don't really wanna sideline Martinet, if there's a way to make the secret agent man work then I wanna do it, but it might take some more creative thinking.

[gracefireheart]

Lil' poll time that's for the TF2 x PMD [Pokemon Mystery Dungeon] AU I'm trying to develop some more, 'cause I'm a bit torn which (sub or not) legendary trio to pick out for the Mann brothers be.

Pics of each of the (sub) legendary trios for reference and some side notes (+ some extra side notes unrelated to the Mann brothers) below the keep reading line:

Also, the left one would be Redmond, middle one would be Blutarch, and the right one would be Gray.

^ Entei - Suicune - Raikou ^

^ Regirock - Regice - Registeel ^

^ Mesprit - Azelf - Uxie ^

^ Groudon - Kyogre - Rayquaza ^

^ Palkia - Dialga - Giratina ^

^ Reshiram - Zekrom - Kyurem ^

^ Yveltal - Xerneas - Zygarde ^

I don't have much notes for Entei, Suicune and Raikou choice other than that Olivia would either be an Eevee or a Jolteon.

Same with the Regi trio, I just thought it would be neat that Gray was a Registeel, steel being related to metal which would then be related to robots (or mechanical pokemon), and [Regi]steel is also super effective against both [Regi]rock and [Reg]ice. No clue what Olivia could be here.

Mesprit has dominion over Emotions, Azelf has dominion over Willpower, and Uxie has dominion over Knowledge. Which also means that Mesprit can manipulate your emotions, Azelf can control you like a puppet, and Uxie can steal your memories if you anger them. Do with that info what you will. Also, no clue what Olivia could be here.

Groudon, Kyogre and Rayquaza are pretty basic imo. One for the land, another for the ocean, and the last for the sky *shrug*. I guess Olivia could be a Latias or a Jirachi.

Palkia, the lord of Space. Dialga, the lord of Time. And Giratina, the lord of the Distortion World. Olivia would definitely be a Shaymin.

Reshiram (Truth / Yang), Zekrom (Ideals / Yin), and Kyurem (Inbetween Truth and Ideal / Wuji) have lore that goes kinda deep tbh. Well, moreso for Reshiram and Zekrom, as they were once one dragon that split into two when some twin brothers started to fight. One sought out truth, while the other sought out ideals. Meanwhile, Kyurem is maybe the leftovers of Reshiram and Zekrom splitting up, and is sorta gray area between truth and ideals ig. Oh, and Olivia could be a Victini, the victory pokemon.

And then we have Yveltal, Xerneas, and Zygarde, which represents the destruction, life, and *reads the wiki* monitoring the ecosystem? Something like that. Also, Olivia would be a Core Zygarde while Gray would be a 50% Forme Zygarde.

Now, besides the Mann brothers, I've got quite a few things I would like to figure out before I draw this AU some more. Such as:

Who were the TF2 squad before The Fortress Guild was formed? Were some of them in separate teams before they created this big team/guild? Were some of them explorers and others not? So on and so forth. I was thinking about them being first Team Offense, Team Defense, and Team Support before they formed The Fortress Guild, but idk o(-( I'll figure it out.

I probably won't have a BLU version of the TF2 squad, mostly 'cause I wanna add the Classics into this AU, which are sorta BLU team but also not.

Speaking of the Classics, I'll also be figuring out what theme to go for for them. As I'd either want them all to be Gen 1 pokemon, or pokemon with a mega evolution, or pokemon that has a Hisuian form or are from Hisui. Tldr; old or powerful pokemon :)

I sadly have absolutely no clue how to put Saxton (and Bidwell) into this AU orz Sorry

[bonniebbunz]

So, for context, I fucking LOVE Undertale. I am a firm believer that everyone should experience it at some point, it is a life-changing game.

That being said, let me get into a gripe I have about the gameplay aspect of the game, something I’ve affectionately dubbed:

The ATK Problem

Aka. Why Pacifist is, mechanically, the WORST route in Undertale.

Undertale’s whole gimmick is that nobody has to die. You can get through the entire game without killing a monster.

So, presuming you’re following this wildly advertised gimmick and don’t want to kill a monster, what is the benefit of improving your attack stat?

“Well, to fight Asgore, right? He can’t be spared, and ACTing eventually stops working.” Yes! And no! Asgore DOES alleviate this problem by making you fight! But if you’re playing True Pacifist, you wouldn’t need to fight him at all. So, back to my point, what’s the benefit improving your attack?

“To spare monsters, maybe? If your attack stat is high enough, monsters will spare you if their HP gets too low.” Yes again! And no again! If you’re doing pacifist, especially on your first playthrough, you’re not going to be FIGHTing monsters anyway, for fear of killing them. And even then, there’s the Bandage. It’s your starting item, and any speedrunner knows that while you’re wearing it, you can always flee from monsters, which is infinitely quicker than sparing. So once again, I ask: why increase your attack?

And I’ll give you the answer: you don’t. If you’re playing pacifist and sparing every monster, if the weapon doesn’t have a viable passive effect, then it’s no better than the stick. In neutral or genocide, you have to make a choice: do I want the high damage of the Ballet Shoes? Or would I prefer the increased invincibility frames that the Torn Notebook gives me? In pacifist, you choose the notebook every time. The healing effect and easier-to-time Burnt Pan, or the high-difficulty-high-damage Empty Gun? In pacifist, only the passive of the pan matters. It hinders the gameplay part of the gameplay by inadvertently offering the player less choices. Deltarune has a similar problem: do you want the high-damage Mecha Saber, or the defense-increasing Rubber Sword? In pacifist, the Rubber Sword is always the correct choice, and is better than any other weapon that can be offered.

Let’s divert to an Undertale fangame now, and debatably my favorite Undertale or Deltarune fangame, Deltatraveler. In this game, chapter bosses are mandatory to fight, and give you an option to spare them after for the true pacifists among us. This completely fixes the attack problem. Now, you have to choose: do I want the Toy Knife, or the Cracked Bat, for more damage but being harder to use? I could buff Noelle’s attack by giving her a weapon, but she won’t be able to cast her ice spells for that damage. Maybe I should take the best of both words and give her the Permacicle, so she has a noticeable physical attack without terribly hindering her magic? It gives the player so many more options while still allowing them to spare the monster at the end if they’re against violence, improving the overall experience.

So, how do we fix this in Undertale without changing the game too much? Simple. Toriel, Papyrus, and Undyne cannot be spared. They must be beaten through violence.

Toriel would probably have to do something other than missing you when your HP gets low, like she could see you’re not doing well and usher you back upstairs to bed without the player able to do anything, sorta like Papyrus. Once she’s defeated, you can let her talk like normal to spare her, or attack her at any point for the kill. Papyrus is pretty much the same as normal: he goes into his “stalemate” speech when you defeat him, and you can spare or kill like normal. Undyne could damn you when she falls, but as you spare her, she can get back up and you’ll automatically run instead of doing it manually, happening each time she re-engages and you spare again. Mettaton, I feel, wouldn’t need this, due to his ratings mechanic. You would still be presented with the choice to kill or spare at the end of his fight where all his limbs are gone, as he dramatically begs you to show some MERCY. If you do, he comments that “maybe humanity isn’t as bad as we monsters have made it out to be,” which could also give reason why the monsters would come help you near the end of true pacifist, even if you just ran: their idol gave them all that hope.

Does this problem ruin Undertale? God, no. Undertale was never about the gameplay to that much of an extent. Undertale was always about the heart, the dialogue and the charming characters. The battles are fun too, and an essential part of the game, but I feel that a few changes to avoid the attack problem could’ve made it that much more fun.

[hermesserpent-stuff]

Tobacco Beetle AU (part 2 villains)

HUrrah i got through a lot of the villains. some that I haven't talked a ton about, like Graveyard, Tombstone, and Poseidon. I am so pleased and so ahh

Villains (?)

What is it to be a villain in a world that has turned its back on you?

Name: Phineas Mason

Aka: Tinkerer

Powers: semi-resistant to electricity. More than a normal person. 

Toolkit: an entire secret lab to work on underground weapons

Age: ?? Maybe 4... He wont tell anyone for sure.

Height: 5' 7'

Weakness: not good at fighting.

Backstory: weapons creator who had a bit of a name for himself in New York. And then he got a kid and had to start worrying more and more about the number of heroes and eyes on New York. And so he decided to move down south. He creates weapons in Richsten and operates a technology repair shop. 

Name: Adrian Toomes 

Aka: Falcon  (this world’s vulture)

Powers: none. But he is very smart

Toolkit: operational wings. Not attached to his arms. These help him adjust the speed and direction of his flight pack

Age: 50

Height: 5’ 7” ish

Weakness: Old. Quick to anger

Backstory: He is an older inventor whose work has been stolen from him over and over and other ideas have failed multiple times. He is tired and done. Osborn takes his glider design and this was his breaking point. He is now bent on revenge and Baccy is bent on getting him to calm down and not let his life be determined by wanting revenge on someone who could care less

Name: L. Thompson Lincoln

Aka: Tombstone/ The Big Man

Powers: Thick skin caused by an “accident”

Toolkit: He has a crime “empire”. Since the city is small it’s more of a fiefdom

Age: 27

Height: 6’ 2”

Weakness: mOrAls. Oops. Not in love with fight rings or drugs being sold to children. Also not a fan of people under 18 working for him. Dan sorta is an exception in his crime network rather than the rule. 

Backstory: Tombstone has always been involved with crime, using fighting as a defense mechanism to both get people off of him and to keep people from messing with him. He does not like people having power over him. Often such people used their power against him, so he slowly made it his goal to gain more and more control over time, so no one can control him like that again. At one point there was a minor crime boss that got him trapped in a chemical vat that was meant as a root protector for crops. The boss had been fearful of his growing ambitions. He was doused in it and his skin grew thicker, almost impenetrable. He broke out and killed the man, taking over that gang. 

He killed the last crime lord in Richsten (because it was dived into 6 or 7 gangs before) and takes over, cleaning up the disorganization and reorganizing everything to his liking. It has been seven years since that. He also has a legal business that he runs which is a towing, removal, and repair company: Sea Shore Towing 

He is not sure what to think of Baccy. She causes a slowly growing number of people to turn from crime and she ruins many operations by showing up. But also the atmosphere of the dying city is lightening and she seems able to handle the slowly encroaching villains that keep popping up. Not to mention the ghosts.

Baccy can't go in his office. He keeps it too cold for her to be able to without falling asleep within minutes. He has no idea that's the case. She leaves notes on his window to ‘threaten’ him. Like cut-out letter ransom notes. Most of them are lighthearted notes. He leaves some in reply on occasion when a playful mood strikes him on the roof with a signal for her to know to check. He just thinks she is not willing to face him head-on. 

Also Tombstone+symbiote: Graveyard

Aka: Graveyard

Powers: Being a symbiote? So the ability to form shapes from symbiote material. Enhances the strength of the host. Can form a suit around the host, but Tombstone tends to not do this. 

Extra-

Can read the surface emotions/thoughts of people the host touches.

Makes the host impenetrable to possession by ghosts or demons. Its host is its host, back off!!

Toolkit: … being a symbiote? And Tombstone. 

Weakness: Fire. Loud noises.

Backstory: Graveyard is an alien captured by AIM when one of their experimental rockets hit an astroid during reentry. It was experimented heavily upon and lived in deep hunger and agony for years. Eventually, it was able to escape its container during a move and consumed everyone on the submarine it was on. The submarine ran aground and Tombstone’s company is brought in to examine and clean it off the beach. Tomby comes to investigate the wreckage himself and the symbiote slips out and latches on, intent at first on feasting, sure this is another scientist. And then as it digs, it finds a mind different from the scientist. Just as calculating and organized, but the morals are new and the memories of pain convince it to still. Tombstone lets it stay if it promises to put a halt on eating people. SHEILD sweeps in and marks the wreck as their property and asks if anything was found on the ship that could explain the clean-licked bones. Tombstone shrugs, and says he barely had the time to look at the thing to figure out removal logistics. Wishes them luck, cause he really would rather flesh-eating stuff not be loose in his city, and really they should have come faster if they knew it was an AIM ship before, does SHEILD know how to run a tight ship? 

Graveyard is enormously pleased to not be in pain anymore and to be safe. It also happens to love the cold, thriving in it.

They are a decent match

Name: Norman Osborn

Aka: Green Goblin 

Powers: Enhanced strength and mobility.

Toolkit: bombs, glider, funny hat. Sick earrings. 

Age: 31

Height: 5’ 6” ish /as goblin in heeled boots: 5’ 7” ish 

Weakness: Mocking. He mocks but is bad at being mocked in return. Especially as Norman by children like Quentin. 

Backstory: Norman Osborn dragged his father's company back from the brink and has fought for everything he has. Scheming, cheating, blackmailing. Whatever he has to do. And now his eyes are on the underbelly of Richsten, hoping to take it for his own. He takes globulin green, originally conceptualized as something to strengthen weakened animals (or people like his daughter)  

Speaking of his daughter. He is terribly distressed at her ‘weakness’ and heart for fantasy. He wants her to focus on more serious subjects like the hard sciences. He keeps her at home and hates the excursions brought about by Martha. Strongly dislikes Martha. But he likes Gwynn. Wishes he had a son like him. So he allows the friendships to continue. Quentin is banned though.

Name: Otto Octavius 

Aka: Land Octopus (this world’s Doctor Octopus)

Powers: Four arms attached to his back. He also communes with technology through Electro. This can be good and bad. 

Toolkit: his arms.

Age: 22

Height: 5’ 1”

Weakness: He has five voices aside from his own in his head. He can get overwhelmed if they all get distracted by something different. He gets better at blocking out his arms and Electro, but in tiredness and extreme panic, he struggles. Without his arms, he is physically weak.

Backstory: Otto was working towards getting his doctorate at the local university: Spartan University. Unfortunately, the person in charge of approving his doctoral research fails him, cheating him out of his doctorate. The person who does this is  Doug, the son of the chancellor, who was paid off by Osborn to do this. 

During this time he is working with his arms in a lab at the school, a lab funded by Agrioscorp. After finding out that he is not passing and not getting his doctorate this semester, he is working in the lab and then there is an accident that frees the AIs of his arms and merges his brain with Electro. He breaks out into the city, determined to destroy the university. And maybe the city. Or take over the city. Hard for him to be sure what he wants, given that his arms are slowly developing slight personalities and that Electro’s subconscious also bumps up against him. 

Name: Maximilian “Max” Dillan

Aka: Electro

Powers: generates and controls electricity, can become pure electricity to travel through wires if he is emotional enough or on purpose after some training. Has a mental connection with Otto.

Also, able to sense ghosts and demons, and other supernatural beings nearby. Can see them when these entities are too weak to be seen by others and talks to them. A lot of people think he is just talking to himself. Otto also thinks this for a bit, not believing in ghosts

Toolkit: determination and a desire to live. 

Age: 25

Height: 5’ 8”

Weakness: Water. 

Backstory: Electro has been working as a repairman around the university as a way to help pay for college. He goes only part-time, with two or three classes a semester. He is trying to make his life better than that of his father’s to drank himself to death when he was 7 or his mother who vanished off the face of the earth after talking to the air for a month when he was 9. He was raised by his maternal grandmother from 9 onwards. She died when he was 23. He wants to be a mechanical engineer and is clawing his way to the degree slowly. 

Then while doing repairs in the university labs, he is electrocuted and knocked into a vat of electric eels that they were experimenting with in the hopes of finding a renewable energy resource. The world explodes into pain and electricity. When he wakes up, he is fully electric and has a metal link to Otto. 

Now he has a beef with the unsafe working conditions of the university and running around with Otto who is trying to find a workable cure. He is in danger, as elements of the city and the world beyond see him as a potential source of renewable energy. He'd much rather not be captured and forced to generate energy for people who don't care about his well-being. 

Name: real name lost to time

Aka: Poseidon

Powers: Similar to Hydroman but spooky. Possesses the ability to transform his whole body into salt water. He can control every droplet that comprises his body. 

Toolkit: Water. And being a ghost

Age: ???

Height: ????

Weakness: Holy water. Certain symbols. Buckets. 

Backstory: A diver who drown many many years ago off the coast near Richsten. His ghost now haunts the waters and tries to drown people. Rises from the waters when the right conditions are met. Those conditions? Unknown. Has to be banished back to the water. The people that he drowns become possessed and shamble like zombies to try and grab other people and hold them still so he can drown them too. But when vanished people return to themselves, slightly worse for wear. 

Name: Sally Stevenson

Aka: Viper

Powers: enhanced strength and enhanced sense of smell.

Toolkit: Venom in her mouth, and in the claws on her arms and shoes. The venom paralyzes people for a few moments in which she can attack. Like the fusroda in Skyrim only impact enemies for a few moments before they recover.

Age: 23

Height: 5’ 6”

Weakness: Not well trained in fighting. Relies mostly on her venom and intimidation to accomplish her goals.

Backstory: TBD

Oh and a doc for edits in the future that has everything:

[tarotcard0]

A while back I asked if anyone knew of any (Video Game) RPGs with Party Building similar to Final Fantasy 1, or Dragon Quest 3.

Someone suggested Etrian Odyssey. What makes me upset about making this post is that they seemed pretty excited to suggest that game to someone who had not played it.

I absolutely hated Etrian Odyssey.

I started the game up multiple times, building and rebuilding my party to find out what worked, what didn't, which classes I liked, how big of a team I should go with etc.

I can't remember how many times I hit New Game to test a different loadout, but one thing that happened was that in earlier runs I cast myself as a Protector, but in later runs I cast myself as a Landsknecht instead.

From my experience, Protectors are supposed to be Tanks, according to the in-game description, but as far as I can tell, their high HP / Vitality comes largely from level-ups, meaning that near the beginning of the game, they're no better at tanking than a Landsknecht, and a Landsknecht kills enemies faster.

Landsknechts are also the only class that can wield Axes. Axes are my favorite medieval weapon, so they were the obvious backup choice for me. Unfortunately choosing Axes was a mistake.

In terms of abilities, a Landsknecht's Axes have "Attack a dude, but ostensibly stronger" "Attack a dude, but with a chance to stun." and "Attack a dude, but with a chance to silence."

Meanwhile, a Landsknecht's swords have "Attack a dude while moving first" "Attack 3 dudes at once" "Attack randomly chosen dudes 2-4 times" and one each of Magical Sword Slashes of the elements Fire, Ice, and Lightning.

So, Axe Wielders kinda-sorta have the ability to cause status ailments, which isn't great because the better solution is always to solve the problem permanently, meanwhile Sword Wielders have multiple forms of Crowd Control, and control over the Elemental Triangle. Ostensibly, Axe Wielders are better at single target damage, but remember; Sword Wielders have an attack that hits multiple times at the cost of hitting randomly chosen Targets, but if there's only one Target they can randomly choose, it's not gonna be a Target for very long.

A sword wielding Landsknecht could potentially solo the entire dungeon.

Giving me a huge list of choices like this, then effectively telling me that there's a "right" way to play is... shitty.

"You want a Protector on your team? Maybe wait until everyone else is level 3 first. How about a Landsknecht for now?"

"You want to use Axes? Axes are lame! Now Swords; Swords are cool. You should use Swords."

the whole thing reeks of a D&D campaign where the DM is choosing classes for the players.

"You want to be an Acrobat? Well, we've already got a fighter, but you could try playing as a Bard, or a Cleric, or a Paladin. We don't have a healer yet, after all."

I've played Dragon Quest 3, of course, so I'm no stranger to certain classes simply being a "wrong" choice, but Etrian is also really mean-spirited on top of it all. Using the D&D analogy again, the DM is an asshole.

In the game's defense, my first run was only such a disaster because I ignored the game's advice to bring at least a party of 5. Bringing a party of 3 wasn't exactly healthy for my action economy. But even a full party of 6 would struggle against some of the games harsher events or... "Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens" - Wow, they really wanted that to spell FOE.

The game goes on and on about how dangerous the Dungeon is. How many people have died exploring it among other things. And I appreciate that the game is at least honest in that regard, that it's dangerous mechanically, instead of just in the lore. But it goes too far.

For example, on the very first floor, there's an event where you come across a field a flowers the DM suggests you can rest in. But anyone familiar with Wizard Of Oz will very likely recognize the setpiece as a trap. For the majority of my runs, I just said "No"... Which caused my team to back away, and then I remembered I need to map the entire first floor, so I went back in to do that and the event was simply gone. On my very last run, I decided "Eh, fuck it. I just saved. Worst that happens is I die and lose a bit of progress." so I clicked "Yes"... and a bunch of Venomflies spawned in and left me as the standing-room-only member of my party (I got a couple of lucky crits and miraculously won). Not only is poison damage outrageously high compared to other JRPGs, but Venomflies don't even appear until your like halfway through the game's second floor!

The dungeon isn't just "Dangerous" - It's so absurdly dangerous that it becomes a parody of itself! No one would realistically be able to make it through this. And frankly, "The adventuring party rests in a forest clearing, only to be accosted by monsters that aren't even native to the area resulting in a party wipe (except for the team's only lady, of course)" is something I expect to see in a poorly written anime porn.

At the start of floor 3[sic] I found an alcove I could examine, and when I did... A snake bit me, and I lost 5 HP or something. That's it. It was relatively minor, but after that moment I just... stopped interacting with the game's events. I just said "No" to everything after that, and even started skipping text. Whatever the DM was selling, I wasn't buying it. The risk was never worth the potential reward. So I simply ignored every event moving forward, and sadly, it was the best decision I made the whole game.

It also made the game really boring.

The game was stripped down to its barest of bare parts. I drew a map, and I fought monsters, and nothing else.

"But TarotCard0, isn't that how you played Dragon Quest 2?" Dragon Quest 2 was charming and adorable, shut up.

The last thing I remember was my one and only attempt at fighting the first boss. An NPC told me that the boss was "Beyond this door" so I did the logical thing; I healed to full and opened the door, expecting to fight a boss. When a fight didn't start immediately, I made a B-line to where I thought the boss would be.

... Apparently by "Beyond this door" what she meant was "2 floors down" and despite descending multiple flights of stairs, it never occurred to me that it was a bad Idea to keep going. I was pretty sick at this point of using magic tethers to heal at the Inn and go back to the start of the dungeon making baby steps of progress until we were too injured to continue and repeating the process over and over, but apparently that's what I was supposed to be doing, because by the time I actually reached the first boss I was severely underleveled (if its damage output is anything to go by).

The game offers to save Map Data on death, but it's in the player's best interest to refuse that so they have an excuse to re-map those areas. More steps = More encounters = More EXP. But I was exhausted. I didn't have the energy to grind enough to take on the boss. I just didn't want to play anymore.

And so, Like a player at a D&D Table with an abusive DM, I eventually realized that the pain of playing the game wasn't worth the opportunity of playing the game, and dropped it like a rock. But only after hours and hours, days and days of convincing myself that it would be worth it, that the DM wasn't toxic, that because this was the first time in so long that I've found a game like this that I can't quit. Until it was finally to much.