#also my building is old and if there's a mouse in mine

[brothersgrimmsnarl]

I love Stardew Valley. I live with a funky little shadow being who makes me food sometimes. We have two dogs and two cats. One of my three different colored chickens lays eggs that are made into a kind of mayonnaise humans can't eat but my roommate loves it and uses half as moisturizer. I brought the local doctor pickles for his birthday and took him to see a movie that he absolutely adored and I bought him sorbet as a movie snack and he loved it. This game is full of wonder and joy and beauty in the small things and next Halloween equivalent I'm going as a jester because the funny little mouse who set up a little shop in an old dilapidated house in the woods sold me a little jingly hat and the very spiritual lady who works down at the saloon told me I could use her sewing machine to make clothes. There's a dwarf who sells things in the entrance to the mines and they are my friend and I can understand them because the librarian/museum curator gave me a book that taught me dwarf language and also he gave me a big teddy bear and a geode that looks like a galaxy and a crystal that makes pretty bell tones when I hit it. There is a fruit that increases my stamina and all I had to do was give the sweetest fruit in the world that I grew myself to a statue in a hidden part of the woods. There is a bear who taught me the value of berries so now they're worth more when sold and that bear can use a phone somehow and called me just to double down on their thanks to me for bringing them maple syrup. I have two different farms and one is on a tropical island and the island's parrot population is coordinated enough to build things. My grandpa's ghost told me he is proud of me. There is a wizard who lives in the woods and sometimes he sends me jewels in the mail. I can see and understand little nature spirits and they help me harvest my crops. I can speak to fish.

[writing-reference-redux]

Christmas prompts!

60 ideas for writers and artists!

Either choose your own prompt, or ask your followers to choose for you by sending you a character or ship and the number or emoji. Also, let people know if you welcome combos (combining two prompts into a single story or art piece)!

🎅 - That isn't really Santa... is it?

🪓 - Let's cut our own tree this year!

🛒 - What do you mean I bought too many decorations?

🎄 - Time to trim the tree!

🧯 - This whole season is a fire hazard

📋 - The gift list just gets longer and longer

💸 - Too broke this year

🧶 - Made with love

🔄 - The gift of the Magi

✂️ - The ups and downs of wrapping gifts

👔 - What to get for the person who has everything?

🛍️ - Yes, I'm done shopping. No, you can't see what I got you.

🎁 - The perfect gift doesn't exi...

🧦 - I actually love the socks you gave me!

🎀 - I'm your gift this year

😈 - The naughty list

😇 - The nice list

👥 - First Christmas together

💋 - Meet me under the mistletoe

💔 - Holiday heartbreak

❤️‍🩹 - Holiday heart-mending

🛏️ - Getting festive between the sheets

💍 - A holiday proposal

❄️ - Walking in a winter wonderland

🌨️ - Too much #$%& snow

🥶 - I hate to tell you, but the heater is broken

🧤 - Your hands are so cold!

🧣 - Don't forget to bundle up!

⛄️ - Do you want to build a snowman?

🛷 - Zooming down the hill

⛷️ - Skiing lessons

⛸️ - You've really never gone ice skating before?

🩼 - Sorry you fell on the ice! I'll take care of the Holiday prep!

🤒 - I can't be sick on Christmas!

🔥 - Warming up by the fire

☕️ - A cozy coffee shop and good company

🍗 - First time making Christmas dinner

🍪 - Baking together is... an adventure

🍽️ - Let's just go out for Christmas dinner this year

📺 - Getting comfy to watch a Christmas flick

🍿 - Want to go see that new holiday movie?

💬 - Texting you my love this year

📝 - Composing the yearly Holiday letter

📫 - A card from a friend

🏠 - There's no place like home for the holidays

✈️ - Why do we have to fly there? The airport is packed!

🚗 - We'll just drive home this year

⏪️ - Remembering holidays past

🕯️ - I'll leave a candle in the window

📖 - A good book on Christmas Eve

🐁 - Not a creature was stirring, except for a mouse

🔔 - It's a wonderful life redux

🎤 - Christmas karaoke time!

💃🏼 - Who says you can't dance to Christmas music?

🎼 - We're going caroling (whether you want to or not)

📻 - Too many Christmas songs... can't take it much longer...

🥳 - New Years party shenanigans

🍾 - Tell me your resolutions, I'll tell you mine

😚 - A kiss to ring in the New Year

🎵 - Bringing back the old tradition of songfics

[moonbiscuitsims]

More Stardew NPC sims: (mouse hat vendor, travelling merchant, the witch, bookseller)

The witch:

The travelling merchant:

The mouse hat vendor:

The bookseller (new patch):

Here are the in-game references:

I gave some of them names, the witch is called Dominique, Travelling merchant is called Charlotte , Mouse vendor is still just "mouse hat vendor" haven't decided yet, Bookseller is Jude. So my witch sim is gonna be mischievous and evil (though nothing too bad), mainly cause that's how I perceive her but also cause I wanted the save to have someone I could be "bad" with. I might make the henchman later but not really sure if I want to rn. The bookseller is actually one of my favourites he's this weird kooky hippie old man with a kind of playful spirit who sells books and has a hot air balloon I mean how could I not make him? He gives me Doc Emmet Brown vibes but maybe less crazy. Though he is the type that eats raw garlic and does yoga in the rain so maybe he is also a little eccentric. The mouse is so cute I love how they turned out, and I'm happy with the travelling merchant too. Honestly I thought I'd enjoy making these kinds of characters less, and I left them till last, as they're barely even interactable/in-depth and don't have portraits but it was actually way more freeing to make them in fact, I wanted and do my take on them and I'm really looking forward to building their lots too. About the cc: I don't know if I'll do any lookbook/cc lists for my stardew characters for this save, it's mostly just a personal project for now but I'll consider it if anyone really wants. Also WCIF friendly 100%, let me know if there's a cc thing you would like for your game. Some of the content is just from sims packs. I swear to Yoba I'll try to upload some of the main characters/bachelors/bachelorettes too💜it's just that I took a lot of those off the gallery and have seen so many people do them and mine aren't that much better lol and also didn't really remember how much I've changed them.

🍄You can see all my other Stardew stuff (sims and builds) here🍄

🍄Simdew valley pixel art CC set 🍄

[2deadkat]

If you've read them, thoughts on the Geronimo Stilton Kingdom of Fantasy books?

Okay I have a bit of a weird but fond history with that series, I’ve only seen the first two books so I’m not all that qualified to talk about it in-depth.

But I’ll tell you my history first, I used to carry the first kingdom of fantasy book everywhere I went on family trips. I treated that thing like the holy grail and just speed through every page imaginable, I’ll tell you this I really like the presentation of the series.

Especially with its own script and all the doors to the different kingdoms. That’s one thing the franchise in general is good at. Also I had an old friend of an older sibling of mine who used to share that book with me…and I vividly remember her telling me the pages with each world door being scented so while I carried that book everywhere I was practically a book sniffer 💀. To this very day I still don’t know if it’s true each door was scented or if it was merely a childhood lie…

Now my thoughts on it despite only officially “reading” two and skimming through the rest of it with a friend at a bookstore (bestie shout out if you’re reading this ✌️), the whole idea of it is really interesting and it’s fitting for someone like Geronimo. I like the world building of the series, and it’s basically a collection of every fantasy world trope ever in an endearing way. I can’t get over the fact that he enters the world illegally every time by drugging himself on chamomile tea and getting knocked out while his sister of the seven roses just gets actual passes 😭 but power to him for capitalising on his drug trips because I was actually so shocked when I found there were 14 of them…I’m not implying that they’re bad but it’s not just a series for me and I’m just shocked that there’s this many of them, I’d personally stop at three books but I can respect the fact that it has its own lore going on.

Geronimo gets more power and respect as a character but I’ll never get over the fact that there are actual humanoids existing in another plane…also I heard it’s more batshit insane in the untranslated Italian books which is…wow, respect.

I was really obsessed with the dragon king and the whole dragon world and I would keep rereading that section every time <3 I swear I used to read that Beowulf part specifically with all the dragon facts. I was a huge dragon kid back then.

Okay a bit of gross trivia: Going through my old copy of the book, it literally has the sweat stains of kid me’s hand on the exact page of that illustration because I admire his whole design and deal so much…to this very day it is still the coolest dragon design I’ve ever seen.

So overall, it’s really interesting, I like the whole world they’re going for, but it’s not for me to consume as a full series entirely. And even if I do start again with the other books I don’t have the childhood wonder anymore to dive into it like kid me used to…so unfortunately I don’t have the same attachment a bunch of other people might’ve grew up with…

Sorry, guess I’m more interested in a mouse version of the Office…or parks and recreation 😔 but the first book holds dear to me with its immersive world building and recently I just found it lying in one of my family’s house’s many book shelves so I am thankful for that.

Also man I forgot how some of these spreads go hard…

[fantomyoshi]

Hey everyone! If you're interested in knowing me more, read this! 👀

(UPDATED. It's a pretty long read!)

23y old ~ She/Her

November gang let's gooooo!

Bday 22/11

I'm a chill and friendly Canadian 🇨🇦 girl. I love playing games and meeting new friends! I can be shy when meeting new people, but I open up eventually. I can be very outgoing and talkative, I love memes and seeing other people's art! I am in no way confrontational but I'll do my best to protect my friends!

I do YouTube videos on Mario Kart, but I hope to expand those videos to more content!

Main OCs you'd expect to see often:

Nirvana (Sculk Iron Golem)

Nerus (Pillager, has 3 dragons, Volt, Quill and Fang)

Wallam (Wandering Trader)

Puff (Warden)

~~

What I enjoy:

Games: Mario Kart, Minecraft, Dragons, Dinosaur games (Ark, Paleo Pines)

I love sugar. I have a big sweet tooth and sweets are definitely a weakness of mine! I also have a cat named Helios. He's just a big goofball but I love him nonetheless! I like to draw, talk and just chill around.

What I don't like:

Rude people, Art thieves, AI art (It's lazy AF), people using my OCs as their own (yes it happened).

~~

I am a SFW Artist (⚠️ Mild Blood and Gore included), so you can expect varieties of Arts unless I'm in a phase of, for example, Dinosaurs, then there's gonna be more posts of these for a while.

I'm a self-taught artist, meaning I've learn everything I draw by using little to no references. I don't use skeletons or bases to draw. I can get heavily inspired by looking at one drawing! I've started at age 4, starting with dinosaurs!

I draw using Clip Studio Paint on my PC and traditionally using my hands! I once used a mouse to draw until I got my drawing tablet in 2022!

~~

What you can expect I draw:

Illagers, Villagers, Dragons, Dinosaurs, Yoshi's, Humans, Iron Golems, Wardens and maybe more!

☄️ I can also do random lore dumps about OCs of mines!

~~

About my OCs

My characters were all created for fun and for story purposes.

- If you'd like to use my characters in your story, go ahead! Please send me a link to it because I'd be very curious to see how you write them up 👀

- You can use my characters for pretty much anything. From being friends or enemies with your characters, to just having a small cameo! If you'd like to pair (ship) one with a character you'd think they'd fit with, I'll allow it, as long it does not go to the border of sexual behavior.

- If shipping OCs together, I'll allow you to replace their current pairing and affiliation. There's a few OCs that will remain unavailable even with this knowledge. *Ritu/Shuteye must be kept paired. Puff the Warden, and any children are unavailable to ship with your OCs.

- Do not use my characters if it's only for hate speech/hurtful criticism. My characters are made for fun and not for someone to use as punching bags.

- Respect the story and lore of my characters. If you use Nerus, he keeps his dragons, home and Trident with him.

- If you use my OCs, note that none of what happens in your story is canon to their lore. If you want this to be canon in any way, an Alternate Universe is made for that.

~~

More

Requests ✅

You can ask me questions! ✅ (Or my OCs)

Fanart ✅

Art Collabs ✅

Art Trades ✅

RP (Roleplay) ✅

RPs I can do: Adventure, Fantasy, Serious/Drama, Multiverse (this can also fuse our worlds together). I will also add Dark themes, simply the tension building interests me! These can all be done with any of the things we like!

I DON'T do the following in RPs: Fetishism, Sexual themes, Extreme violence, Child abuse (Hell Naw)

Usually I do Roleplays on my Discord, but I suppose I can make them here on certain occasions!

[legend-of-voltron-rewrite]

(This is just a few random questions I think abt when i find an author i like-)

What other media/hobbies do you indulge in? What's some of your biggest interests? (Other than voltron ofc) Is there another Fandom you'd write for? Favorite childhood show(s)?

Big question, favorite volron paladin? Favorite character in voltron? (No limitations- you could answer bii-bob-bi tbh. hes a fantastic choice)

BIGGER QUESTION!! What inspired you to write this rewrite and how do you motivate yourself to continue?

That's all! Hope you're having a lovely day! :)

Hello!

-

I'm very big into anime - I started watching them when I was eleven and never stopped. I watch other animated shows (Western), which I'll list in a later segment.

I'm also into manga, though not comics, (never really knew why, just couldn't get into it). Games, too, mainly RPGs, though I have been into FPS co-op as of late.

Don't judge me: K-Pop. I only really interact/watch content for one group, (will come up later), but I used to juggle between many groups.

As for hobbies other than writing: I'm big into art. Took classes for them and everything. Though this may have been obvious from early chapters of book one.

I've tried to get into making animatics, but I ended up stopping half-way through everytime I started. I like voice acting, though I've only ever done it once for someone I'm no longer friends with haha.

I used to be big into baking, but was never good at it. I'm much better at cooking, though mainly Asian dishes, (due to heritage and such).

My biggest interests... I'll keep it limited to five, else this segment would be much longer.

One Piece, (generic but it's popular for a reason), is a favourite of mine. The writing, world building, characters, relationships, messages, themes - I love it all. Definitely a high reccomendation.

Gravity Falls, because it's just that good? Even the weakest episode would be considered top tier if it was in another series. Dipper and Mabel's relationship is everything to me, and Stan was the uncle I always wanted. Love him.

Fullmetal Alchemist, mostly MangaHood, but the 2003 anime adaptation is great too. It's honestly of the best written works I've ever interacted with, and it makes perfect sense that it's highly rated.

SHINee, the K-Pop group I mentioned before. I'd call them standards for the industry, but then nobody would be able to share the stage with them. I'm a Shawol for life baby!

Finally, Katekyou Hitman Reborn. This was the first fandom I wrote fics for, back on my WattPad days, and I still love it to this day. I wish for the fandom to be revived so I may read the trashy fanfics I once adored and now hide my face in shame to.

Other fandoms I write for: Fairy Tail, though I haven't touched the AU I started in months. My Hero Academia, though only through my Tumblr page @my-rewrite-academia. I've been working on a Persona 5 fanfiction behind the scenes for a while, though I haven't progressed past chapter three.

I have an alt AO3 account, where I've written for MHA, Kuroko No Basket, Persona 5, SuperM, and the Banana Bus Squad (Vanoss and Friends).

My old WattPad has mostly Katekyou Hitman Reborn, and a sprinkle of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Neither of the previous two shall be linked, as I honestly just want to leave behind those fixs behind, considering I wrote them when I was thirteen and nothing made sense.

My favourite childhood show(s): Spongebob, Mr. Maker (only British kids will understand), Pokemon, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Also Sonic Boom, though that was exclusive to my teen years than childhood. The How To Train Your Dragon shows were also a favourite of mine, including Riders and Defenders of Berk.

If movies count, then How To Train Your Dragon, Shrek, Megamind, and Scary Movie(s). Scary Movie(s) sound like a weird thing, and it was. I was in the room with my older siblings when they put it on and never bothered to leave.

-

Now the Voltron-related segment!

Favourite Paladin: Keith. I hope it's not entirely obvious in my writing, as I wish to treat every character equally, but he is my favourite. I relate to him a lot and he ticks a lot of my boxes.

Favourite character: Keith, again. Other than Keith, however, it's Coran, the Gorgeous Man. He's always so jolly despite the heartbreak he's been through, and the writers were able to balance his comedy so well.

(Apart from the Voltron Show where they were clearly running out of ideas and/or time and made him more annoying than funny.)

-

BIGGEST QUESTIONS:

"What inspired me to write this rewrite–" (first half)

I actually started writing it in 2021, where I went on a three-year break due to losing motivation and my interest dwindling, at the time anyway. I was initially inspired to write it when I grew more and more frustrated with how canon handled many things.

As with many teen shows, I began to wonder if it would be handled better had it been intended for a more mature audience. It didn't help that I read the fanfics before I watched the show, so I had a certain level of expectations that weren't quite met.

I won't blame the writers, as it's usually just two or three people higher-up who make all the decisions. I was disappointed in DreamWorks, not the team behind it who have no choice but to follow orders.

But, yeah. The turning point, what really pushed me into starting and publishing the rewrite, was when I started thinking about how I'd handle each character and each arc. How I'd write different relationships, how I'd write each theme.

From there, I decided to put my money where my mouth was, so to speak.

It was a terrible start, really. When I first started writing it, I only had a vague idea of how I'd go about it. When I came back to the rewrite, the first thing I did was create a proper plan, else it'd just end up like the show - disappointing and missing so much.

I can remember, when I started, I just wanted to write a better story, which is a terrible mindset. This idea that the only thing that mattered was being better than the show is a toxic one.

My mindset is a lot better, of course. I've grown up since then, and spite-writing is something of the past. Maybe there are things I'm displeased with in canon, but I don't allow that spite to control me.

Rather, I feel more enthused, viewing it as more like adding onto what canon missed - filling in scenes rather than being better.

So, consider this a PSA to authors who spitewrite - get out of your minds. It feels much better to write if done with good intentions rather than negative. Words come easier and it doesn't feel like a chore.

-

"–and how do you motivate yourself to continue?"

Keeping a schedule, first and foremost. It differs from person to person, but having a set schedule of every '—day' helps a lot. It urges me to write, and the pressure helps me more than debilitates.

Of course, others may disagree. For others, having a strict schedule may feel constricting and thus hinder creativity, but it's helpful to me. This idea of, 'I have to do this', 'if not now then when?', helps me a lot.

It's also my longest fic to date, so to stop now would feel like a large disservice to both me and to the people who read each new chapter.

Then there's you! I'm not kidding, either. Comments, now more than ever, are usually so rare.

I once saw a post about an author discovering a discord server where their fic, (which had very little comments), was being heavily dicussed, and people had nothing but praise for it. When they asked why they didn't comment, they said that they didn't feel the need to, or that it would be embarrassing. That they never knew what to comment, despite the praise they had for it.

The author then decided to abandon the work upon finding this out. Because we don't get anything from posting our works. All we ask for is some form of praise or acknowledgement, and comments are just that.

Even if it's [<33] or [This is good!] or even [please update], we appreciate it all. Honestly, the only time I refuse to comment, rather than simply forgetting, is when an author holds fics hostage. The whole, 'I want x-many comments or else I won't update'. At that point, I lose any respect they had.

Comments are our lifeline, yet the idea of asking for comments feels like tabboo. As if we're less for leaving even a small note of, 'comment please', feels like it's asking for too much.

So to have a repeat commenter, to have you, is everything to me! If all else fails, if I can't find the motivation, I often think about those people who subscribed, who have my fic bookmarked, who comment on each update, and I think about how there are people who get excited with each update, who want to know what's going to happen next, who want to see this fic to its end.

It may sound corny, but my biggest motivation really is my readers, and those repeat comments give me life. It helps in ways that I never realised could.

-

And that is the end of the AMA/Q&A segment!! Thank you for sending this, stay tuned for the next update, have a great day, and look both ways before crossing the road!

[theflippedpages]

The Chiseled Catastrophe - 0 (EtN + MCYT)

(This is the start of my new hyperfixation fanfiction. Blocky YouTubers are stuffed into a death-game escape room and have to try and escape while their friends die around them. How fun. :D)

(Also, if there's any other old fics ya'll want me to update, let me know! I got nothing else to do but write this summer break, so I might as well!)

-----------

Episode 0 - The Wax Seal

-----------

"Hello?"

"Hey, Tim," Grian's familiar voice crackled on the other side of the line, "I know you're busy with real-life duties, but I thought I should mention…" 

"Yeah?"

"...Tumble Town blew up.” And quickly added, “It’s not a joke, I swear on my life." 

Jimmy had been planning to take a couple of days off from Empires, but never once had he opened up Minecraft so fast. 

Before he could click onto the world, he spotted his web camera clutching the edge of his monitor, and he was instantly reminded of his duty as a content creator. Running a hand through his slightly damp hair and ruffling it to partially dampen his bedhead, he pulled up his recording software and sighed. 

"I was honestly planning to take a couple of days off of Minecraft to get creativity again, but," he raised his phone, "one of my friends just gave me quite a call… telling me that Tumble Town… blew up." He forced a chuckle as he began to record his screen. "Now, this could all be another bad prank to get me back into Empires… or all my months of work are actually gone."

Jimmy didn't force an emotion for a camera this time as his eyes shifted to the small sheriff plushie sitting on his desk. His heart was racing much more than usual, and he couldn't stop his eyes from blurring. He bit down on his cheek. It's just a game, Jimmy. It's just a game. He told himself, his mouse once again hovering over the 'Empires SMP' slot. It's not life or death. It's just something you do for fun. It's not actually life-threatening. In fact, this would be a great thumbnail and title. 

Blowing out his held-up breath, he clicked in and logged on. The world spawned in little sections as the white sky –wait, white?– filled his screen. Loading in doesn't usually take long… there must've been a ton to update. While he waited for it to load, he paused his recording and casually checked who was online. Some of the Empires' creators were there; himself, Joey, Scott, Marytn, Lizzie, and Joel; as well as some of the Hermitcraft players from the concluded crossover; Grian, Mumbo, Tango, and Ren. Though they had stopped recording about the ‘rift between the two servers’, the players were still interested and intrigued by the buildings and often came to visit off-camera. That's why he hadn't found it strange that Grian had been the one to call him, as he and Scar usually helped tidy and terraform the place when Jimmy was off recording 'lore' with the members of Empires. 

The name tags were less of his worry as he saw a new one join. 'Time_Is_Up joined the game.' He glanced over at his recording software, making sure it was paused. The worst thing I could do is ruin the magic of someone else's lore by showing a camera account. He looked back at the game, noticing the chat light up. 

SmallishBeans: who's that? Smajor1995: I thought it was a camera acc. InTheLittleWood: same here!

Jimmy's eyes narrowed. Was this also part of the story? No.. Someone usually mentions if they're adding an account in our group chat…

SolidarityGaming: you mean this isn't any of ours? LDShadowLady: nope, not mine Mumbo: I thought it belonged to one of the Empires members. Grian: I don't have an account named like that SolidarityGaming: Surely this isn't another ‘Xornoth’ thing, is it, Scott Smajor1995: it's not me this time, I swear!

Either someone is playing a strange prank or… wait, my empire!  He dragged his mouse down to check on the progress of his chunks loading in, reaching over to continue the recording and slipping in his headphones. Once he saw Tumble Town fully come into view Jimmy's heart nearly stopped. 

The once-thriving Wild West town now lay in ruins, its wooden structures engulfed in roaring flames that billowed smoke into the air, and deep craters dug into the red sand below. This town, which had once epitomized the rugged spirit of the frontier, was now a ghostly landscape of destruction. And to his surprise, the sky was still white…

Jimmy, the ‘Sheriff’ who had dedicated months to building up the town and establishing law and order, walked through the chaos with heavy steps. His heart weighed as heavily as the town's buildings, now reduced to smoldering piles of debris. The saloon, wagon, and jail that had once echoed with lively chatter and the jokes of his friends were reduced to ash and charred wood.

Jimmy remembered the countless evenings he'd spent on the top of the sandy crater, looking out over Tumble Town with a sense of pride. He recalled the laughter of Scott as he flirted with him, Joel playing by the TNT wagon, and the harmony that had thrived in this rustic settlement. As he walked, he stumbled upon the charred remains of the large train Scar had built, the ornate timepiece forever frozen in time at the very moment when chaos erupted. The destruction was surreal and heart-wrenching.

“Jimmy!” He instantly recognized the voice as it loudened with each yell. “Jim!” A pair of wings were flying above him, pulling back to land. “Jimmy, what happened here?” It was Scott. “Did your stash of TNT go off? Did someone…” His head moved in a circle as he took in the immense amount of damage. “...Spawn 10 Withers here? Why is Tumble Town so destroyed?” 

“I… I don’t know.” Jimmy admitted, turning to face him. “Grian called me, saying Tumble Town blew up. So I logged in… and…” He looked back into the mesa. “It’s all… gone.” The tragedy left Jimmy with a profound sense of loss. His duties as sheriff had been rendered powerless against the unstoppable flames that devoured the wooden structures. He couldn't help but feel responsible, wondering if there was more he could have done to prevent this disaster.

Smajor1995: Grian, could you come to Tumble Town pls Grian: sure

Jimmy heard the yelling of his fellow Britishman as the brunette landed beside him and Scott. “Grian, how did you know Tumble Town was destroyed?” Scott began asking before Jimmy could even say hello. “Did you see anyone or anything that blew up?” 

“No, no,” Grian shook his head, “I was actually here to steal some gunpowder for fireworks. But when I came by… your TNT wagon was lit up, and it caused a bit of a large crater. I thought it was just a silly mistake, and I turned to leave with my two stacks, but I heard more explosions…” He sighed. “And when I looked back again… there was TNT everywhere, and it was flying, and there was just… so much smoke.” 

“Could you catch any name tag?” 

“Yeah, actually, I think I saw-” Grian’s voice withered as he checked the chat. The messages flew quickly in succession.

Tango: Guys, I got a letter Grian: What letter?  Mumbo: I got one too Smajor1995: you mean, your internet bill?  Tango: no, no, like an invitation Tango: It’s like Minecraft themed RenDog: as I as well

“If you’d like, Sheriff, you could stay in my Inn back in Chromia for now,” Scott flirted, hoping to lighten the mood. Jimmy would usually push the woo away with a laugh and an assurance he’d do it on his own, but now, accepted it with a kind nod. 

“That would actually be very nice, Scott. The more I look at this, the more I feel absolutely enraged.” Jimmy tried to keep his eyes away from the destruction and toward the chat, but the flames and smoke distracted him quickly. “I’m just going to diffuse the fire… I don’t want it to expand and destroy more than it already has.” The blonde slowly trudged toward the fire as Grian monitored the lines on the screen, curious about the conversation.

Mumbo: I thought it was something from Mojang Tango: That’s what I’m thinking Grian: ooh, if it's from Mojang, have fun Mumbo: Grian, check if you got one too, the letter says 10 members Tango: 10 members from ALL over Minecraft, i don’t think they’d invite all from hermitcraft  RenDog: the letter doesn’t say ‘all’ though Mumbo: Wait, it says we shouldn’t talk about this… Tango: oh RenDog: pretend this never happened, guys. there was no letter.

Grian laughed. 

Grian: Letter? What letter? 

And the chat fell silent again as a few people began to sign off. 

Smajor1995: Btw, Jimmy’s place has been blown up, does anyone know who did it? LDShadowLady: like, in roleplay, or actuality?  Grian: Tumble Town was absolutely destroyed  JoeyGraceffa: no way

Grian frowned. 

LDShadowLady: oh my, Jimmy do you need resources to rebuild? SmallishBeans: we’d love to help, Jim Smajor1995: I’m gonna get him to stay in Chromia for now InTheLittleWood: who would do such a thing?

〰〰〰〰〰

Grian's room was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from the glow of his computer screen. The sounds of the faraway flicker of fire from the destroyed Tumble Town was an eerie, yet peaceful sound to listen to, paired with the quiet hum of the Minecraft soundtrack. But then, amidst the digital noise, he heard it – a gentle chime, like a distant doorbell. His head snapped up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Nobody ever rang his doorbell while he was gaming, and he wasn't expecting any visitors.

Pushing himself away from the desk, he rose from his gaming chair and padded softly across the room. The brunette reached the door, hand on the knob, ready to fling it open with a playful grin. However, when he swung the door wide, he found no one there. Instead, a simple envelope lay on the welcome mat, just inches from the threshold. He bent down, plucking it from the ground.

Is this the letter they were all talking about? The Minecraft one?

Examining the envelope, he noticed that it was old-fashioned, sealed with a wax stamp that bore an intricate design. His curiosity piqued, he carefully broke the seal and withdrew the letter from within. Grian's eyes scanned the handwritten words on the paper, and his brows furrowed with surprise as he read the unexpected message.

Dear Charles (Grian),

You are cordially invited to a Minecraft-themed party that promises to be an unforgettable experience. As you know very well through your years of continuous playing, Minecraft is a world of endless possibilities, and this event aims to bring that pixelated adventure to life. We've prepared a world full of surprises.

The location of the event is a remote area, isolated from the hustle and bustle of the city, surrounded by dense woods. Don't worry; it's far from the distractions of everyday life. You will also not be allowed to vlog through any other means, as this is meant for you and the 9 other invitees. 

This also means that this invitation cannot be talked about to anyone, whether they be of relevance to Minecraft or not. If we find out that this has been discussed, your offer will be rescinded and all your Minecraft accounts erased. I'm sure you wouldn't want that… and neither would your other invitees.

The environment may challenge your understanding of the real world and the digital realm. But remember, it's all in the spirit of fun and adventure.

Don't let the absence of exits concern you; the event will run through the night and into the early morning, with all food and hospitalities cared for and on the house. 

We understand this invitation might seem strange, but rest assured, it's all about transporting you into the Minecraft universe and creating lasting memories. We kindly request that you bring a sense of adventure and a willingness to embrace the unexpected.

Please be prepared for a night filled with enigmatic challenges, engaging experiences, and the thrill of the unknown. It would be recommended you dress up as your player skin to be recognizable to others. 

We look forward to your presence at the Minecraft-themed adventure. The date will be revealed shortly, and your transportation will also be taken care of.

 It will be an event to remember, and we hope you will leave with stories to share.

"Grian?? Oh, is he AFK?" He could hear Jimmy from his computer back in his room. He slipped the letter back into its casing and walked back upstairs. 

"Sorry, sorry, I'm back now," he blurted out, dropping the envelope beside his desk. "What's going on?" 

"Jimmy's 'bout to continue recording, we were hoping you could hide?" Scott asked, looking back at the still nametag of Jimmy's that had disappeared into the wooden ruins. 

"Oh, yes, sure." Grian was quick to murmur. "I actually think I might just head off right now." 

"Okay, yeah, have a good rest of your day then," Scott spoke as he crafted new rockets with the help of the half-broken gunpowder farm. He had to make his entrance in style, after all. How else was he going to take the spotlight in Jimmy's video?

Once he saw the brunette's name tag flicker out, Scott muted his mic and flew himself a distance over. He still kept himself within earshot of Jimmy's mic so he wouldn't create dead space in his recording. 

Speaking of, I have to start my video soon, if I plan on benefiting from Jimmy's destroyed empire. After all, this is a huge event. I have to get the first scoop before everyone else knows about it. Scott turned on his recording software and tested his mic before waiting in silence. He knew that there would be dead space in his video, but he didn't mind, seeing as he'd have to record himself in Chromia first so it didn't seem suspicious... And then get a message from Jimmy. But he can work out the kinks later once Jimmy's done with his initial panic. 

Grian said he knew who it was… While he heard the Sheriff mumbling about all his hard work gone, Scott's mind couldn't help but wonder who could've done something like this or why someone would do it if it wasn't for any story-based arc. Surely someone would've let Jimmy know before destroying his entire empire… it wasn't even a prank that could be fixed easily. Scott focused on Jimmy's words as they grew farther and farther away. 

"Oh my gosh, Norman!" Scott's eyes widened. Norman? Oh god, is he okay?

"Thank god you're safe!"

And Scott breathed out a heavy sigh. Even if it's just a few pixels, a pet in Minecraft is still a pet. 

"I better tell someone about this… who could've done such a thing! I've been nothing but nice to everyone– even if they call me a toy." 

SolidarityGaming: Is anyone nearby? Please come to my empire.

Scott took this as his cue.

Smajor1995: Anything for you, sheriff. I'm on my way.

He could hear the blonde's flustered sigh, and he couldn't help but grin at that awaited reaction. He instantly shot a couple of rockets into the sky, pulling back from the mesa only to fly in the direction of it, landing close to where he last saw Jimmy. 

"Scott, I'm so glad you're here!" 

Scott made a long motion of looking around the destroyed empire. "Jimmy, I thought this was something sweet, what on earth happened to Tumble Town?!"

"I'm asking you the same thing! I took a couple of days off, and went back to see everything in ruins!" 

"Gosh… maybe it was a stray lightning strike on TNT?" The cyan-haired tried to reason. "Maybe someone brought flint and steel a bit too close to your saloon?"

"Scott, there is barely a half-stack of TNT in Tumble Town. All my stock for trading is all in the form of gunpowder!" Jimmy grew more and more upset with each sentence. "And last I played Minecraft, gunpowder doesn't explode unless it's in a creeper, in TNT or fireworks! And two out of three of those can't create a disaster this big!" 

"Listen… being here is only going to get you further upset. Let's get you to Chromia where you can spend the night. Next morning, I'll call up the other empires and we can discuss what just happened." 

Jimmy hesitated for a moment. Scott didn't know whether it was a show for the camera or not. "Yeah… yeah, okay. I'll just… gather a couple of my belongings." 

Scott nodded, turning to fly back to the top of the crater. "Good, and make sure you grab everything valuable to you."

"Tumble Town is valuable to me." 

At that, Scott nearly broke character. This wasn't the 'Sheriff Solidarity' speaking, it was Jimmy. There was actual emotion in that short sentence. "You'll be okay, Jim. We'll find out who did it." He assured gently, slipping back into his actor-self. 

The cyan-haired didn't have to wait for long as Jimmy came back holding an Enderchest and his sheriff badge in his offhand. "Let's go." 

[deebormzone]

Deeborm's Big New Year's Gamer Post!

Happy New Year!

Will it be a happy new year? Probably not. But as the Greek philosophers once wrote:

pls rember that wen u feel scare or frigten never forget ttimes wen u feeled happy wen day is dark alway rember happy day

And in the spirit of those wise words, here's some good stuff I've enjoyed recently, as well as some stuff to look forward to in the year to come.

Yet Another Steam Sale

It's been a long time since these sales have been anything special, but for Gamers like me, they're still good opportunities to scan for bargains.

I mainly look for indie games on deep discounts. Bonus points if they're relaxing. I'm an old man now, and if something on screen moves too quickly I panic and drop my mouse.

Wilmot Works it Out

The perfect game for me. You play as a happy square who puts jigsaw puzzles together and then has a cup of tea. I think there may soon be a too-close-to-home subplot about how Wilmot needs to go touch grass, but for now I am safe.

Webfishing

It's Animal Crossing but for fishing only. Also allows the player to talk to freaks online while doing the fishing. Very relaxing, and there's progression! Unfortunately fishing is dull so I can only do this for 5 minutes at a time.

Atlyss

I was pretty skeptical of this one despite hearing about how good an action RPG it is, but then it went on sale and I gave up trying to avoid it. Movement is fast and fluid! But you have to use that speed to skillfully avoid enemies. Harder than expected! Maybe I picked a bad class (rogue?).

Grindstone

I love Match-3 games! But it feels like nobody really makes them nowadays. The most popular one lately is, what, Huniepop? And I'm not usually about that life.

Grindstone isn't a Match-3 but it's close. It has the player drawing a line through colors of enemies, and then you get a bunch of points. Satisfying, but I wish they didn't use so much toilet humor. I hate that shit, literally.

Robo Quest

As part of my endless quest to find a Borderlands game that doesn't have Borderlands humor (see: toilet), I picked up this one. Great so far; despite the action it's fast and fun. Roguelites are favorites of mine since in those, even failure has its benefits.

Additional Gaming (Non-Steam Sale) (Real)

Palworld

I finally got an upgraded computer, so I can finally play this one!

I think I've finally grown out of Pokemon. It just feels dopey these days, and I suspect that's because it always was, I just never cared until now. But the disease (Pokerus?) still festers within me.

Thus, Palworld. It's been doing very well for itself lately! It's not really a Pokemon successor, but it does a lot of stuff with the concept that Pokemon won't do, and I don't mean the factory farming or automatic weaponry. Having your Pals use their powers to help with building and cooking really adds to the team-building feel of the game, while also reducing the tedium of base building.

Fallout 4

As part of my endless quest to find a Borderlands game that doesn't have Borderlands humor (see: toilet), here's Fallout again. I love the series but I've played it exhaustively. To keep things fresh, I'm trying the ultra hard Survival Mode, which should last about 10 more minutes before a roach kills me and I give up.

Against the Storm

This roguelike town-builder has had a bunch of updates since I played it last. For one thing, it's now possible to beat the game. I think.

There are also a bunch of new resources, like "tea". But it's not for drinking - the only use for tea is something called "treatment" at the "Tea Doctor". I don't know what that means, but the people in my settlement love it so much that I win games due to accumulated happiness. Until proven otherwise, I'll assume the Doctor pours it directly onto people's heads.

The Game Awards 2024

I got tricked into watching TGA again this year. I know it's going to be mostly crap, but I fall for it every time anyway. Fortunately they got the top shelf Muppets to attend this time.

I don't really care about the awards themselves. I'm mostly in it for the reveals. But there were some good ones!

Dog Game 2 is frankly astonishing. Team Clover's revival also means Viewtiful Joe could be back on the table as well, but I won't get greedy. This game will do for now, and I look forward to its release in 2035.

Project Century is also interesting. I don't know if it's Yakuza or what, but it sure looks like it. LaD Ishin was a lot of fun in its historical setting, and this could be similar.

It's a lot of fun seeing Balatro nominated for Game of the Year at the Game Awards (and elsewhere). The game industry nowadays is made of billion dollar projects worked on by thousands of people, all of whom get laid off five minutes before release. And this year, sitting next to them at the pinnacle of the medium, is one guy with a deck of cards.

The most dramatic depiction of this is the Game Awards GOTY medley, which is always a highlight of the show.

Nowadays the Game Awards gets more viewers than the Super Bowl, and here on the world stage is the main theme - and only song - from Balatro being played by full orchestra right next to fucking Elden Ring. That poor solo dev must feel like he's in a permanent, waking dream.

My one complaint about Balatro is that it means my beloved UFO 50, probably my own GOTY, got snubbed in every indie category. Mossmouth worked on that gargantuan collection for years and years, and deserved better. I hope it shows up again for a console release - it'd be perfect on Switch.

The Future Of Gameing

There's some good stuff coming up soon.

Firstly is Dog Game 2 (pirate edition). This will be short for an RGG game but I'm down for anything the studio puts out.

One day later is Civilization 7, which is currently PC Gamer's Most Anticipated Game.

This is actually a very big deal for me. I grew up playing Civ 2, back when you would earn fabulous AMVs for building world wonders.

And lately I've been playing a LOT of Civilization. It's the perfect old man game.

Of course Civ 7 screwed up the whole series formula and is going to be a lot more expensive, but that's true of any new installment of anything. It's possible the changes to core systems could actually make a more enjoyable game.

Also the playable leaders are getting real crazy. You get to be Machiavelli.

He claimed that his experience and reading of history showed him that politics has always involved deception, treachery, and crime. He advised rulers to engage in evil when political necessity requires it, and argued specifically that successful reformers of states should not be blamed for killing other leaders who could block change.

Speaking of which, the Switch 2 is likely to release this year.

I'm not too excited about having to buy another console. Nintendo hasn't been great lately - probably because they're getting ready for Switch 2 - so they'd need some solid launch titles to grab me. It would take either

A new 3d Mario AND a new 3d Zelda

or

Smash

In Closinge

This might be the year I get back to work on my own game, Evil Justice.

Right now, it's a story with 146,000 words, with about a four-hour playtime. I think it's the most successful project I've ever had!

But between the effort required and my demanding job, I've fallen off. Lately, though, I've been feeling some of that old drive... fingers crossed.

That's all for now. I hope everyone has a very good 2025! If I've learned anything, it's that self-esteem is the key, so make sure to treat yourself like a friend.

[popculturebuffet]

Christmas in July: Bob the Builder: Christmas To Remember: the Movie: A Rope of Sand (Comission by LacheyV)

... i'm probably going to hell for that gag. Also Merry Christmas in July all you happy people. Christmas in July snowballs on with Lachey once again having me look at a show for young children. In the absence of Thomas, he'll be back later this year, we're instead looking at Bob the Builder.

Bob the Builder.. is not a franchise I had a ton of experince with but unlike thomas at least knew the theme song, as it was around a lot and I'd ocasinally see maybe a minute while flicking channels but never really stopped to watch it like I would with say Backyardigans or Lazytown. Granted Lazytown is just plain dope while also being insane so that helps it a bit. Point is I knew it existed, had good character design, got a reboot with character design that looks...

Yeah i'm staying far far away from that. After american carol i've had enough deep seated trauma for one year.

No we're looking at the OG which I was shocked to learn was british.. which in hindsight the term "builder" shoudl've given it away but unlike wanker or bloody it's not a term really used in the us. It still sounds neat enough to get a past.

Bob the Builder follows Bob, his common law wife Wendy and his variety of construction equipment/childrne that are alive because he and his brother discovered a fallen star as a kid and each took a piece. He also gave a piece to a local farmer, who tore it in half to use a bit on his tractor and the other bit to turn a scarecrow into his fully living son.

Look you have your bob the builder head canons and I have mine okay?

Point is it was a roaring sucess here and overseas and i'm covering it because about 70% of Lachey's hyperfixations are on old childrne's show. The man narrates the mr men books to me in his spare time and it is delgihtful, i'm not knocking any of this. Unlike my first attempt at doing a preschool show with mickey mouse's clubhouse, he tends to find ones that still have some charm.. or are batshit insane. usually both.

So we've come to the Bob the Builder Christmas special which involves child abandonment, cougars, manequin murder, non sentient jet planes and of course the secret origin of Sir Elton John. Join me under the cut for all of this and Mambo No 5.

The special follows the residents of ... (checks wikipedia) bobsville.. .did.. did he buy the town? It has a mayor... but then again so does Schitt's Creek so i'm saying he bought the town. The town gets ready for christmas in this small english town.. or american presumibly in both the US series an the upcoming film I completely forgot about but given who it's starring

The special is an hour long and has a tangle of plots that all intersect fairly well for the most part. The main throughline is bob getting a message from his brother tom. Tom looks exactly like him, which isn't unusual as A) it was easy to reuse the bob sculpt and they also do so for one of the rockstars in local band Lennie and the Lasers and B) there were five of him int he music video Bob did for his version of Mambo No 5

Now you may think that's a joke I told but no, this.. this is real. You can find it here. Now you may be asking why a children's show decided to put a song about Lou Bega banging as many women as possible on their children's album and making it about building instead, while having 5 bobs in the video and having his child/cememnt mixer Dizzy wear a boa and eye lashes and take the place of the women in the video despite being a children

Also wendy's right there. Use the actual adult for the video girl if you have to do that bit. There's also a video where bob sings the theme song while dressed up like ali g at one point

Point is tom's a coming with his dog whose name I forgot. But whose not coming with him is his Scooter Scoot, who also sounds like a children but is being left in the wilderness because Tom is a terrible father. Seriously Tom is kind to his machines, and his main conflict is the mayor , who we'll get to, keeps piling jobs on him but he's just too nice to tell her "The Weed of Crime Bears Bitter Fruit You Old Hag!", so he can't get around to getting his live in girlfriend and various childrne presents. The most Sir Toppham Hat gave his trains is some pretty lights and not putting Henry in the tunnel ever again. Tom has just ONE and abandons her to do his job while he's gone. I get it at FIRST, as you really can't take a sled/scooter on a boat, but he later gets a private plane, we'll get to that, with another power machine on board and can't bother to bring his child along. #JUSTICE4SCOOTS

As I mentioned there's a new mayor in town the er.. mayor. Look if Powerpuff Girls can get away with it, I think Bob the Builder also gets a pass. It's just science. Point is there's a new mayor. The old mayor was in the classic episode

She shows up in a few episodes after this and then never again, being replaced as mayor, looking at wikipedia by her sidekick for the episode and actual recurring character Mr. Bently. His job is to mostly go THIS IS MOST UNORTHADOX at Banger, a long haired unwashed young man who is roadie for Lennie and the Lasers, a local rock group with worldwide acclaim and a certain Rocket Man on the key boards. Banger is the best just having a jolly rocking attidue. Also the mayor wants a banger if you get my meaning...

Seriously it's a runner the Mayor is really into banger despite being a decade or two younger.. and i'm here for it. Let the mayor get it.

What she won't get.. is that bob needs a break, making a playful joke about him taking a tea break and piling more shit on constantly. I was forgiving a little as I figured we'd have her realize she was overworking him.. but nope. She gets to overworking Banger instead and just.. never cottons on while Bob's workaholic tendenices will have to be handled with an intervention down the road. The bulk of bob in this special is just him being too polite to say

While nothing gets resolved and it's easily the weakest part of it

Thankfully the other subplots fair better, as Spud, who came to life from that metorite I mentioned.. because not even wikipedia knows how he came to life in canon

He's as human as any of us though... in that he fucks up a lot. Judging from this that's just his lot in life.. showing up, fucking up the day and feeling bad about it, in this case because santa's coming. So he first fucks up the clocktower, then murders a manequin in the basement and dresses up to replace it. Good on his dad whose also a farmer for not carring he's in a dress though. I mean it's the basic decent thing to do, but I get it wasn't that common a thing in 2003. Also yes murders: he dances with the manequin but before he can do a sex to it in a reverse pearl situation, he accidentlyt akes an arm off and hides her body in the closet. How many have you killed Spud? HOW MANY.. HOW MA...

Meanwhile Lennie and the Lasers are preparing but OH NO LENNIE HAS A COLD. Luckily while his band prepares, their keyboardest colabs with Rollie, Bob's steamroller who he gave permission to go see the band and then got to see them recording because Lennie is a peach and also possibly Rivers Cumo. Their Keyboardest? Elton John. I must've gone to the bathrom when the sentient steam roller showed up in rocket man, curse my active bladder.

You can probably see where this is going: Elton John is unsure of himself, Rollie encourages him and when Lennie goes down right before the show, and he performs Crocodile Rock... suprisingly not cleaned up like Mambo No 5 for kids. It dosen't really need much but it is fun to hear it all.

So yeah the special has a lot going on.. but it works. It's an hour long, we still get plenty of bob doing builder things, and all the plots have room to breathe.

They also come together nicely in the climax: Lennie lends Wendy his plane and they go get Tom when he can't come because reindeer got stuck in a hole. yes really. It's a great sequenc eand all and the arctic bits are beauitfully animated, especially sicne they had to make an entire winter wonder land just for this one special. Tom never shows up again as does scoots. MAYBE CHILD SERVICE CAME FOR YOUR NEGLIGENT ASS TOM. Also dizzy sees santa on the way home.

So at the concert, Elton John performs, Banger prepares to bang her.. honor, and tom shows up as santa because bob does that every year. it's a sweet ending.. if a bit aburbt as we just get a bunch of photos afterwords of the party.

As a whole.. I really enjoyed this special. It sounds kind of insane when I retell it because it is. Murders were had, banging was done off screen, planes that are not sentient because they don't hav ea metor chunk won't take children, it's great. But ther'es also a lot of charm to it too: the series is warm, earnest and looks gorgeous, using plastic stop motion that looks like clay... I coudln't figure out quite what they used, may be something similar to aardman but it looks spiffy.

This special is nuts.. but damn if it isn't cute. It's charming, has a lot going on and dosen't wear out it's welcome despite being an hour long, quadruple the length of a normal episode from the looks of it. It's fun, breezy and very british. While I do think Scoots needs a new home, I also think this special needs a look as on it's own merit it's warm and charming, and on the merit of being hilarous. .it succeds. Mostly by being kind of nuts, but in a fun way. Check this one out soon as you can and thanks for reading about bob the builder man.

[calextheneko]

Season of the Villains: The Forgotten One

Ok, going to admit it's pretty depressing that the idea I came up with to talk about villains all month and the series only has two posts. Will have to try again next year. Just, health has been a real struggle to do anything and most of the time I lay around just wishing the pain would stop.

But enough about real life things that suck. Time to get to fictional things that suck in a fun way!

So a bit of background before I introduce this villain. I'm a Forever GM when it comes to things like DnD and Pathfinder. Anyway after having run a lengthy Pathfinder campaign we were in the mood for something different. And not DnD of any edition cause it would be the same thing. Basically, we wanted to run a campaign in a setting that wasn't swords and sorcery. I wanted to run Mouse Guard, which I should have just used my GM override to say that's what they're playing. The rest of the party wanted to play Star Wars d20. So... Anyway, I bargained with them, and agreed to GM Star Wars under three conditions.

I got four sessions of Mouse Guard before we began Star Wars and they had to give it an honest chance. Lo and behold, even the guy who considered himself to manly to play Mouse Guard (lol at the fact that he's any kind of manly) admitted he enjoyed the game a lot and it was really good. So yay, if the game group had continued might have gotten a full campaign down the line but there were some problems with the group I can go over another time, mainly centering around two players who really hated each other that led to me just yeeting this group out the window eventually.

2. I would GM Star Wars, but I refused to set it in the modern era. If I was going to do Star Wars, I wanted to do the Old Republic. I found the setting infinitely more interesting than the modern era stuff and I really love that even the Sith Empire has a bit of nuance to it.

3. We're doing a primarily Sith campaign, because I wanted to do a campaign that involved Sith politics and power plays and not just 'You are destined to go defeat the bad guy.' I did say that after a certain point in the campaign they'd be given the freedom to leave the empire if they want and go see out the Republic to become jedi instead if that was what they wanted or become bounty hunters or anything, but the campaign was starting with all the force users as acolytes in the Sith Empire and the non-force users as mercs who had work in the Empire or were there for some other reason.

Anyway, that campaign is a heck of a story, but we're not here to recount the entire thing today, but instead talk about a villain meant to be a one off character who wound up taking the role of Main Villain for the entire campaign after a party member made some... Less than smart choices.

Introducing the Forgotten One

"I am the Forgotten One. My knowledge of the force and technology made me too dangerous to my people to be allowed to live but too valuable to kill. Instead, I was stripped of my name and identity and trapped in this prison for an eternity."

I sadly don't have any art for this guy.

BUT ANYWAY! When the party made a trip to Illum as part of their questline to build their lightsbabers. Or in the bounty hunter's case to get a crystal to power up his sniper rifle. They discover an old factory for mining crystals that has a strange structure built from force crystals, that turns out to be a powerful weapon that could be set to self-destruct and take out the planet. A bit of arguing here... See... The Star Wars party only had three people.

The Sith: Goal, become a Sith Lord, get a Dark Assembly set, master sith politics.

The Jedi: Despite being a sith campaign one person insisted no rolling a jedi. I allowed it under the condition he be flexible with his character since this was a sith campaign. After their original master is killed in the first section I also had them gain a new master through a holocron, someone who believed in balance in the force in life, and was willing to train them only under the condition they work together. His idea was that the light vs dark battles were tearing the article apart, and if he could train a jedi and a stih who could work as a team it would mean there was hope for peace for the galaxy if he could prove the two weren't incompatible. The Jedi will be the one ruining this guy's dreams and making all the bad decisions.

The Bounty Hunter: Non force user, wound up involved in the plot for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and having a kill order put out on them with the rest of the party's original mentor when he was killed off at the start of the game by a sith lord named Darth Umbra trying to make a power play for the Dark Council by eliminating "traitors" and "heretics" within the empire. Naturally said traitors and heretics were always found among the people who opposed her ascension.

Sith tried to set the thing to blow the planet up because knew about another research time that was researching force crystals and to see if there was a way to make force based technology that non force users could use. Jedi got super upset about this and wanted to undo it but I pointed out he didn't know in character the sith had sabotaged the Force Crystal Engine. Meanwhile unknown to them both the Bounty Hunter had witnessed the sabotage and already warned the researchers about it so they could fix it. Ah, such a healthy party dynamic this is.

But that's beside the point, on Illis, they found a Rakata Mind Prison. Now anyone familiar with the Rakata know that they're bad news, and Mind Prisons are bad. Anything inside a mind prison is SUPER BAD NEWS. Especially when the thing inside is a Rakata Force Ghost.

And so enter the Forgotten One. No one in the party is smart enough to pass their knowledge check to recognize what they're looking at so the Jedi touches it and his mind is ripped out of his body and transported inside where he meets the Forgotten One, who immediately assaults the Jedi's mental self so that he can try to steal his body. This ultimately fails because... And get this... The sith, despite how much he hated the jedi out of character realized something was wrong when the jedi completely stopped moving after touching the mind prison, and went inside the mind prison on purpose to back him up. Together they were able to stop the Forgotten One from taking over the jedi's body.

So... The Forgotten One changes his tone, talks about how he was robbed of his identity by the other rakata who feared him for his knowledge. Leaves out A LOT of information about the actual why and how he was imprisoned. It wouldn't fit the narrative of trying to make himself out as a victim. And claims that he's basically gone insane after being stuck in this void for years and that he knew it was wrong but tried to take the jedi's body because he was driven to desperation to get out of this void and see the world again.

And he makes an offer to both the sith and the jedi.

"I know secrets of the force that are all but forgotten to both the jedi and the sith." This should have been a red flag that he was already able to probe the jedi's mind for enough information to find out some things about the jedi and sith and current world that he should have had no way of knowing and show that he wasn't trustworthy as was literally already chowing down on the jedi's memories for information from the battle they had before the sith rescued him.

Anyway... The rakata offers a deal.

"Take me with you. Let me ride as a passenger in the back of your mind just so that I might see the galaxy again through your eyes. I just don't want to be stuck here. In exchange I'll grant you access to all the secrets of the force I know. I can make you more powerful that you dreamed possible."

NOW! Here's the fun part. This whole force ghost Rakata thing was intended as a trap for the sith. Tempt him with the dark power he wants to become a mighty sith lord and get him possessed.

But here's the thing about the Rakata. They went so hard dark side they basically made the sith look like cuddly puppies. Want to know why Tatooine is a desert and the Sand People hate outsiders and technology? Because the Sand People were slaves to the Rakata, tried to fight back with tech, and rather than come down to the planet in person and put the rebellion down, the Rakata decided to glass the entire planet turning it all into a desert and just leave. The Sand People now live in fear of the outsiders bringing in outside technology and bringing back the wrath of the Rakata who this time will not stop at just leaving the place a desert.

It's wroth noting, that all Rakata who were still alive and active and not ghosts or inside mind prisons also got severed from the force. It's unclear why at least from the old republic games. I'm sure there's a novel spin off that explains it. But it seems to be that they went so hard dark side they broke the balance of the force to the point the force just severed their entire species as a result to stop them from using those dark powers.

So... Rakata are bad news. Rakata in Mind Prisons are even worst news.

So anyway, the party fails their knowledge checks. Seriously, none of you invested points in Int? And don't recognize what a Rakata is and the level of threat they're facing. But the sith listens to this and recognizes this as a clear Faustian bargain. And is like, yeah I'm not letting a ghost into my body that's just asking trouble for down the line. And so he refuses and since the Forgotten One has already been defeated inside the Mind Prison and can't take their bodies by force now I'm like and that's the end of that character.

And then the jedi asks a stupid question.

"Will these powers make me stronger than the sith?"

Me Mentally Out of Character: Wait is he really considering this?

The Forgotten One In Character "Of course, you'd be the strongest force user alive."

Jedi "But is this going to be dark side stuff, I don't want to use the dark side."

The Forgotten One "Light and dark are such naive ways of looking at the Force. The Force is the Force. Light and dark are illusions you come up with. It is a tool and what matters is how you use the tool."

RED FLAG WARNING! Surely there's no way after the Forgotten One dodges the question about dark side powers that the jedi would

Jedi "I accept."

Me Mentally: *gears grinding to a halt as I realize I now have to rework the entire campaign storyline to deal with the jedi being possessed by an evil Rakata force ghost because he wants to be stronger than the sith character due to their out of character rivalry.

So... The Forgotten One enters the Jedi's mind and rides in the back of his head, and they all leave the Mind Prison. The Forgotten One is now free from his prison. The Sith checks out what the jedi looks like under Force Vision and discovers two auras... And the second one a super heavy dark side aura that something about it is wrong that it makes even the dark side heavy sith uncomfortable to examine it.

SO YAY! Mistakes have been made!

Now that we got to how the Forgotten One got released... Let's talk about his goals and abilities.

The Forgotten One was imprisoned instead of destroyed because his knowledge was considered too important too destroy and thus they couldn't just kill him. But there was also a secondary reason. They didn't want this guy returning to the force either. Also, it turns out that he tried to take over the Infinite Empire (The Rakata Empire that ruled the entire galaxy, same one that glassed Tatooine) through the use of forbidden force techniques and slaying all rivals. Through a great battle with many other Rakata and they finally managed to trap him in a mind prison and left it on Ilum where they thought no one would ever find it and hoped that the need ever arose to consult him about his knowledge because he was considered that dangerous.

Why is he dangerous? Well... KOTOR2 fans are going to appreciate this one. He ate people. Not their literal bodies. But like the Exile and Darth Nihilus he possessed the ability to consume people through the force, absorbing their power and making himself more powerful. This was how he became such a large scale threat by consuming more and more Rakata in the past.

And of course, he still has that power now. He's patient. He's waited thousands of years in his prison so he's patient enough to wait for the right time to tempt the jedi further. Waits for the jedi to be in a dire situation where the risk of character death exist. The player is kind of a wimp and freaks out anytime their character is actually challenged in combat, complaining about the CR being too high forgetting that combat is supposed to challenge them not be a cakewalk. I adjusted the CR to fit the strength of the party rather than their level. Anyway... When the jedi feels threatened and fears for his life in a battle against an apprentice of Darth Umbra (who you may remember as the original big bad at the start of the campaign) the ghost offers to save the jedi. Asks to be unleashed just for a few minutes so he can win the battle.

RED FLAG

The jedi agrees. The Force Ghost takes complete control of the jedi's body, makes a single gesture and the sith apprentice just falls to the ground and stops moving. Then the Forgotten One surrenders the body back to the Jedi, knowing now is not the time to make the power play to take control for real. And instead pretend he's keeping his part of the deal.

As for the body of the now defeated sith. It's still very much alive. It's breathing. Pulse is normal but slow as if they were asleep. They basically come off as asleep or comatose. Until the party sith checks out what the enemy sith looks like under force vision. And he learns two things. The enemy sith is just gone as far as the force is concerned. There's no aura at all. The body is alive, but the force that should run through all things is just gone. And the sith is naturally disturbed by the fact someone could basically just do the Star Wars equivalent of eating someone's soul, and do it so effortlessly. Then he checks force vision on the jedi and the Rakata again, and find that the Rakata aura has grown bigger. The Rakata didn't give the power he consumed to the jedi. He kept it for himself.

This would become a running theme, anytime the Forgotten One was allowed to let lose. His methods were cruel and the fates he gave arguably worse than death. When interrogating someone for information, he forcefully entered their mind and forced them to relive their worst most traumatic memories, with injuries from the day that traumatized then reappearing on their body as they rexperienced the memories till they broke and told him everything he wanted to know. And of course, he ate a lot more people, growing stronger and stronger... Until the Forgotten One's Aura looked like a massive dark aura surrounding the jedi with what appeared to resemble marinette strings as part of his aura running from his aura to the jedi's aura. It's pretty clear at this point he believes and treats the jedi as his puppet. Also every time the jedi unleashes the Forgotten One he gets a dark side point. You'd think this would be enough to make him realize the guy isn't his friend. BUT NOOOOOPE! And since the Forgotten One is inside of him he can't clearly examine its aura and see what is happening, and the Forgotten One has at this point began secretly influencing his mind with me making secret rolls for things so that the jedi would be blind to the darkness growing inside of him.

And here's the thing about how the Rakata worked manually. It could attempt to take over the jedi's body, manipulate his mind or force him to do something. If it did so the jedi got a will save. But the more people the Forgotten One consumed the higher the DC became to resist him. And... Each dark side point the jedi gained gave him a stacking -2 penalty to his will save. The Forgotten One is playing the long game, and allowing the jedi to think he's in control. When the Forgotten One tries to come out in a battle under the justification of 'self-defense' and the jedi doesn't want him to he makes a will save to suppress the rakata. He thinks he made his save because wisdom is his best stat and will his best save. In reality, the Rakata is pretending to lose to his willpower to give the jedi the illusion he's in control. By this point the Rakata has become so powerful because the jedi refuses to stop letting him off the leash, and as a result the jedi has been tainted by so many dark side points it's virtually impossible to make the save with anything other than a nat 20. All he had to do was STOP LETTING IT EAT PEOPLE and he wouldn't have had those dark side points or had the DC shoot so high up.

So we've talked a bit about the Forgotten One, and how he's gaining power and manipulating the jedi, but not his end goal. So what is it he wants? Well, he sees in the modern day (Well Old Republic era) that the Rakata are basically gone from the galaxy as a force. So, he wants to complete what he originally started. Become the ruler of the Infinite Empire that rules the entire galaxy. So his plans are basically to ride out the jedi until he's ready to take the body for himself so he has a body, infect others with a dark side mind control plague to become his followers, create a new Infinite Empire under his control and conquer the entire galaxy and become the sole all powerful rulers.

So world conquest. A basic, but always fun goal for a villain to have. And once he conquered the entire galaxy he would then turn his attention to outside the galaxy.

Also, I mentioned a Dark Side Mind Control Plague. So anyway, the sith and the bounty hunter recognize that this ghost is a problem and needs to be dealt with. And so outright tell the jedi this and that if he won't get rid of it they will. Which means the force ghost here this.

So what does the Forgotten One do? Well at this point he's powerfule enough to split his essence in two. Remember the body of the sith apprentice to Umbra? The party had it in their med bay for the entire campaign. One night while the party is asleep he splits a part of himself off and has it use the escape pod to run off in that sith's body since it's completely empty and nothing there to fight back. Doesn't need as much power to manipulate it so can basically keep it as a secondary body he can operate remotely while keeping the jedi as his main body. But if the jedi dies he has a secondary body with his essence installed in it to immediately travel to and make his main host.

Now... The Sith and Bounty Hunter are having none of this once they realize what happened. They track the escape pod and realize it was picked up by a space station. As they had been building a power base for a war with Umbra they had built up several pirate connections to use in place of lacking a proper Sith Empire Armada. So they sent their pirates to lock down the space station and make sure no one gets in or out until they can get there to deal with the escaped force ghost.

The jedi misses a session and we have an excuse he's gone for special training. So, the sith and the bounty hunter take this chance to go to the space station themselves while the jedi is away and they won't be observed by the Forgotten Run. Things are strange when they get there, and the station is literally on fire.

First off, they find the body of the sith apprentice. And this time it's not only empty but the body is dead again. They correctly deduce that it moved on to another host. But they run into a problem.

Force Zombies.

Basically a bunch of the random citizens of the colony act as if they're in a daze and don't understand anything said to them. But then all start trying to kill the party. And despite the fact they should have all been non force users, they were throwing out things like Force Lighting.

And when the party examines them on Force Vision, finds basically a little seed of darkness planted in them that matches the Forgotten One's Aura.

Dark Side Force Mind Control Plague.

The party meets up with the resistance inside the station still fighting back, and is told not to go to sleep. Because when you sleep is when it gets you and you change. The leader of the resistance helps them track down the current host body, who is inhabiting the body of a small girl and building some kind of antennae that the party figured out would actually allow him to extend his force powers to broadcast them to far away planets and influence them from afar to repeat what he's doing here.

Party kills the host body even though it's a little girl as basically learns the hard way these people are already dead. They're just hallowed out shells to be used as puppets by the Forgotten One. Then they destroy the antennae and make sure it's destroyed to a point it can never be rebuilt.

At that point, the Sith, who is now a Sith Lord with some political standing, forcefully recruits all the survivors of the event into his power base. To which there is surprisingly little push back from.

RED FLAG!

He thought it was because they were grateful. In reality, it was because the little girl was not the real host body. It was the leader of the resistance who was. But also knew they wouldn't leave till they thought they had destroyed the secondary Host Body and so created a cover story. In addition, the reason people change when they fall asleep is they've already been infected with the mind control plague. Once they're asleep they lose the ability to fight back being unconscious making it the opportune time to take over. So, the secondary Host Body AND a bunch of infected civilians join the Sith's power base.

And naturally, they start to secretly spread the infection among as many people as possible. Considering multiple stations on different planets each with their own population and them not limiting the plague to just the sith's power base. It's not long before they have millions or even billions infected. But, they keep the mind plague inert, waiting for the opportune time to activate it. After all, if they activate it right away, the party will realize they failed. Better to activate it when they have enough people to recreate the Infinite Empire in numbers. But this time, the empire shall become a single person who has complete control of all the bodies and minds of its members.

So how does this go for the jedi? Well the Forgotten One knows the sith and bounty hunter will tell the jedi what happened. So before that can happen, he tells the jedi that he needs to tell him something, about the atrocities committed by the rest of the party. He shows the party gunning and cutting down civilians at the colony including children. But edits the vision he shows the jedi to leave out the part they were all puppets to make it look like they just killed random innocent people. Something that would be even out of character for the sith but

Jedi: Ok I believe you.

Wow, I almost feel bad at this point cause he's making it too easy for this villain to just take over. The Forgotten One then explains that all he wanted to do was create a secondary host body and hide it somewhere away from the party and that's all he did. Just hide. A blatant lie. But he points out the party was planning to try to find a way to destroy him, which was true because he's freaking ridiculously over the top evil, and so he had only made a spare body as a safety measure and definitely hadn't done anything evil or questionable with it.

Jedi: Ok I believe you.

The party and the jedi meet up again, and the party tells the jedi what really happened. He refuses to listen to them because the party sith is a sith and therefore he can't trust him. No instead he's going to trust the obviously evil dark side force ghost inside his head. Even after at this point having caught it in a lie multiple times about various things it said it was doing or not doing.

So... Anyway the party encounters actual jedis at one point who freak out upon seeing the party jedi because they've never felt so much darkness before. The jedi insists he's light sided and a jedi. With the amount of dark side points he has being in the teens... That's laughable. Might have even hit twenty. Jedi demand if he's really a jedi that he disarm and come with them to be healed of whatever darkness is in them, ghost isn't having any of that, and fully take control of the jedi's body to defeat and consume all of the jedi.

So you know you'd think at this point it would be really obvious he needs to get rid of this thing. But no, that's not that makes him finally decide to get rid of it. It was the amount of darkside points. See, in order to be consider a fallen jedi your dark side points have to exceed your wisdom score. Since he had been pumping wisdom all campaign he was able to get like 20 dark side points without turning. That means 20 times he committed an evil action beyond redemption. This isn't even counting the times he did something screwed up like shoot an unarmed party member who he randomly decided was evil cause said party member killed an enemy unit that was fleeing to get reinforcements in which I let things slide and often with the "I'll withhold the dark point you should get with this action if you stop arguing about it." So he honestly should have already fallen but I was lenient when I really shouldn't have been.

But he finds himself in a troubling situation. His dark side points are now equal to his ridiculously high wisdom score. This means a single dark side will render him as fallen and block out all the light goodies he wanted. So... He finally... FINALLY! Considers that maybe it might be time to get rid of the ghost. Purely for meta reasons of not wanting to ruin his light side build instead of the 50 million in character reasons he has.

Luckily, I had a whole redemption plot planned where he could get rid of the ghost. The party was advised to go to Voss for healing. Now, he was told the ghost was so ingrained into him removing the Forgotten One would permanently de-power him. Chasing power is what got him into this mess. He had to be willing to take a loss of power in the form of -2 con in order to get rid of it. Then, he would have to do a ritual where he would enter his own mindscape, be confronted by his internal demons before finally facing off against the Force Ghost itself and trying to kill it in his mind to be rid of it.

There were a couple of fun twists planned here. One of them, was that if he killed the Forgotten One inside of him, the Forgotten One would survive by making Darth Umbra its main host. She was of course attacking the party's power base and occasionally capturing people and the backup body had used this as a chance to infect her. So the two villains competing for main villain would have become one.

The other twist, was I told the jedi he could get weaker for doing the ritual. What I didn't tell him is he would also get stronger. I had a reward for him, where he would learn a special Force Shield technique that would effectively make him immune to all mind effects. It was also going to be very important in the ending... Because he would have been able to use the Force Shield on the Forgotten One in whatever host body they were in, trapping it there and cutting it off from its connection to all the people it had mind controlled and made into part of him, saving them and trapping teh Forgotten One in a body he can't escape from thus killing the body would kill him.

Now it's very important I didn't tell him about this reward in advance. The point was he had to be willing to let go of power to complete the ritual and defeat the Forgotten One. He had to believe there was no reward beyond being free of the ghost. As a result, if I had told him about the Mind Shield in advance he would have known he was getting an awesome new power and had that be his motivation instead.

Anyway... This is where our Jedi's story ends. Because he's stupid.

He's told he will not survive his mindscape alone and quickly be overwhelmed by his personal demons unless he brings friends with him that he can trust. His other issue in this campaign is refusing to trust his fellow party members even when they're helping him despite him acting more evil than the sith. Also I'm not spending 6 hours running a solo adventure for him. The entire party gets to come.

He refuses to bring the party. Is told both in and out of character if he goes into the mindscape alone he will die. Literally told over ten times counting both in and out of characters being told.

But he says he can't trusts the party so goes in alone, and dies. And then gets mad at me for not balancing the encounters right and I'm like no the encounters for balanced fine. For the entire party to be there. You went in solo to take on a dungeon intended for the entire group despite being told it would get you killed.

So, the jedi's spirit is destroyed. The Forgotten One takes full control of his body and steals the party's starship and flies off to finish his plans.

He would later return as the final boss after Darth Umbra was defeated, revealing that he had been using Umbra as a pawn after her infection to rebuild the antennae on an old Rakata station after the party destroyed the last one.

The party and the Forgotten One fight, and with all the power it absorbed over the cmapaign while living in the jedi, and then even more power absorbed once it had the body to itself to be free to do what it wants it's a powerful foe that would put the entire dark council to shame. The party is now facing a threat that is on par with the Emperor itself.

Somehow, the party turns the tables, and starts to squeak out a win. But the Forgotten One then warns them. It's still connected to everyone that it infected including the ones that the mind plague is inert in. If the party strikes him down, his final actions will be to activate all the inert mind plagues joining everyone with him so that billions of people die, including people the party cares about and much of their own power base if they strike him down.

The party considers briefly, but decides that they have to do it despite the cost. Because those people are already basically dead if he lives as soon as he decides to activate the inert mind plague and chooses to strike him down. Sure enough, true to his word, billions throughout the galaxy instantly drop dead. But the nightmare is finally over.

The party blames the deaths on Darth Umbra, and the super weapon she was building. Which was only a half lie since the super weapon was the force antennae that would allow him to project his powers to a much greater range. And they are forced to dispose of the body of the jedi that the Forgotten One had been riding in, putting the body of their former friend to rest even if he never treated them like friends.

But though the Forgotten One is dead, the impact he left on the galaxy will never heal. Billions dead. Several traumatized, and entire worlds with their infrastructure in tatters things to the people in charge of running things dropping dead. The party has won a victory, but one that came at a heavy cost.

And all because a single jedi refused to turn away from power.

[bookworm-2692]

hmm you already answered 1 in your tags. so 19 and 4, perhaps, for the mcyt ask game

thank you for the ask!!! :D

19: Have you picked up any vocabulary from mcyts?

Hmm, that's a tricky one? Like. Probably, because I was twelve when I started watching. But it's hard to know specifically. I have started using -ificate, but that's currently more a conscious effort because it's fun to say rather than normal so far. I do remember back in the day feeling like I was picking up vocab but now I can't remember it. "Hadjah!" is also fun to say. I am honestly more aware of picking up vocab from a specific friend of mine, but like. I've probably picked up mcyt vocab because I've watched so much over the years.

4: Do you play minecraft yourself? If yes, for how long have you been playing it?

Well, I don't regularly play these days, but I have played in the past. My account was created in March 2012... so that means my cubito is twelve years old now. My cubito is half my age. My brother got minecraft in Dec 2011, so me and my sister also shared his account for a few months until my sister and I got our accounts, and back then we played a LOT together. I remember not really understanding much, and trying to plan my house down to the block on grid paper while waiting for my turn to play minecraft. I tried to create two portal rooms in my basement because I didn't understand the nether and the end and didn't know you couldn't just build the end portal in your basement.

Friends at school would also play pocket edition minecraft so I joined in but bemoaned that the functionality was worse than computer minecraft. Bedrock minecraft in my head is still like 2012 pocket edition, even though I know it can't be true. A lot of minecraft in the early years and then from 2014 I probably stopped playing as much, and in 2016 when my Mindcrack interest died (because Mindcrack basically had died, and ZPM was all I was watching until it got abandonned), I also lost interest in playing minecraft too (and my friend had gotten me into danganronpa and then zero escape and then I just had other interests).

And then just before whenever the nether update happened again (2019??) I got nostalgic and opened it again and made a minecraft server with my siblings and friends again and it was great fun but then the server stopped working for people outside my network which was frustrating so then that stopped after only a few months and I didn't play any minecraft again for a few years and then I re-entered mcyt fandom in June 2022 with Double Life and I've watched SO MANY videos since then but not played much minecraft.

I opened a new world one day to open it to LAN so I could play with two friends but then one of them, her java edition looked like bedrock and she couldn't find the multiplayer window, and the other one could open multiplayer but her minecraft couldn't find my LAN world. so we instead played new single player worlds for a few hours, and then a couple of times over the next weeks I opened it and did small amounts, but then I haven't touched it in another year or so.

So like. Yes I've had minecraft for half my life now (which is WILD to realise) but I don't play frequently like at all. I would love to play but with a full time job + sportsball 1 + sportsball 2 i don't actually have much free time, and what I do have i instead spend on reading fic or watching videos or cross-stitching while watching a vod or playing dnd with my friends etc. playing minecraft would eat up so much time and i dont think i could just play like ten minutes at a time. plus i currently dont have a desk. or a mouse. so i'd be playing on a laptop on mousepad. which i've *done* but. Oh wait I did also play some MCCI briefly, but got bored on account of doing badly on account of playing with a trackpad and thus having terrible movement. and also being bad at pvp.

so i guess the short answers to those questions are "no" and "for twelve years" which are incongruous answers without the long explanation. and i'm now noticing just how long, so i shall be nice and add paragraphs for you.

[artsy-hobbitses]

Hi! Really big fan of your art. Really love the dynamism (I don't know if that's a word? Sorry ^^;) of your Humanformers and how their designs are all so different!

I'm trying to get back into drawing (I used to draw so much as a kid, really fell off the wagon when I went into college), and I was wondering... how do you deal with the frustration of pieces not turning out the way you picture them? I get so discouraged sometimes when my skills just aren't quite up to snuff for what my brain wants to do. How do you stay motivated to keep at it?

Hello hello and thank you very much for your kind words!

Honestly you’ve got to find a way to love the process, to just see something come to life in your hands even though it’s imperfect. Embrace that imperfection as a reflection of who you are and your development as an artist at that point—a lot of old art before you get to a point where you’re happy does mirror a part of you and your influences at that period, like a little time-back machine.

Keep drawing even though you’re not ‘there yet’. Give your art a little story and narrative so the technical aspects of it are not all you have to go on. I know a lot of local artist friends who just draw things without a story or narrative, and when they cannot get it ‘right’, it inevitably feels harsher because the critic in you will see it as ‘hollow’.

You not being able to 100% put the things in your head on paper is actually a good thing—you’re already able to visualise, your body naturally needs to play catch-up with your head.

So asides giving it a little story or narrative, look to people and IP which inspire you for reference. I keep telling people this—if you’re not at a point where you can freely draw without reference, use a reference—hell, trace if you have to (practice only) to build muscle memory.

Finding a core group of art friends who mutually support each other is also invaluable. I started out a 14-year-old with shitty but determined and lovingly-made MSPaint and Mouse Neopet doodles, I can’t imagine how my progress would have been if I didn’t have a little group on the site who were genuinely charmed at what I managed to accomplish with the roughest of tools and kept cheering me on (I was entering those damn Beauty Contests and I did not care that other pieces were prettier the mine).

Last of all, remember the audience you’re drawing for first and foremost—you. Draw what you love, draw self-indulgent shit, because the best way to motivate yourself is “I WANT IT THAT WAY” and actually clawing to get it that way. There’s a running joke that so many fan artists get good at anatomy because “I NEED to see X and Y DOING THIS THING”, it’s that simple/silly and that’s the energy you need to embrace.

My first year college lecturer told students about my portfolio project something along the lines of “She’s not technically sound, but you can see that she LOVES what she’s doing, and that’s the kind of passion you need”.

So keep drawing to build muscle memory and storytelling to give even rough art a soul, and embrace that imperfection as just a snapshot in time. Of course you can do better, everyone can, but use that as a motivator, more of a “HELL YES IM GONNA DO THAT” instead of a “Why can’t I do that”. It’s a matter of perspective too!

[manasurge]

GW2 30 Day Challenge

6. Favourite Elite spec?

(I couldn't find any fancy pics of my own to use, so instead have a couple angles of mirage cloak glitching out and turning the Mirage into an eternal swirling and glowing vortex. These are old screenshots before the Aurene mounts were released as well since I use those for my main) It's... Mirage!! (surprising to absolutely no one who knows me). I just LOVE being invulnerable and hard to hit, plus all the mobility that comes with the spec and the SUPER fast gameplay (I love very fast inputs and reactions, which makes playing slower classes difficult for me bc I'm impatient and spam click abilities lkdjflsf). Being able to jaunt/blink everywhere, shadowstep, clone+phantasm distractions, and evasion hax dodging (mirage cloak my beloved) made dodging part of my rotation, making me really dumb with a lot of other classes bc I instinctively want to dodge all the time due to muscle memory. Also fun fact: Mirage/Mesmer was the first spec that I used a 80-boost on, and I was able to learn it just fine! (and even became my favourite!) so boosting a class to learn it is totally okay in my opinion!! Just do cozy open world map comp to ease your way into it and it'll be cherry!

Granted I also don't exactly play the class as intended. While I have 3 builds for her (guess I should say my main, Vespaura), I tend to just use her power build (since Mirage is moreso meant for Condi and boons or w/e, which I have builds for and also never use lol). I think this build I like to use was originally made for the Labyrinth (tagging everything with GS), but I tweaked it a bit with other preferences since it has pretty good survivability and is an absolute monster when I attack huge groups of mobs (Greatsword lasers are the best invention and it NEVER gets old. Also the amount of laser ricochet gets me pretty high damage and looks absolutely bonkers on my side (what a lightshow!), plus my lasers are HOMING lasers, which means they will automatically hit any enemies in the vicinity around me and helps out if I don't notice them from a different angle, allowing me to re-orient myself. I also don't have to worry too too much about aim bc of this too! (oh yeah, and especially with relics being a thing now. Mabon relic has been pretty neat so far cuz I can take advantage of that boost being used to hit all those targets!). Though power GS does fall a bit against single targets, but that's fine! (I sort of have the daggers for that at least!). I also play with a trackpad, which is a funny thing to tell ppl, especially when playing a class like Mirage, lol. I just hate using a mouse and only have it for certain games that force me to use it. I just don't want carpel tunnel and my wrist is more relaxed this way (never had problems! so far at least). I just love playing at ranged with non-ranged weapons (Greatswords, daggers. Mine actually has all 3 types of blades (very lesbian of her) bc she has a sword as well. I literally gave her both of Caithe's weapons askjflfj. I'm so glad that I can give my Mirage daggers now!! much more fun than another sword/axe!). It's just so much fun, and I CAN'T WAIT to see what rifle is gonna be like!! I just love ranged classes bc stacking ALWAYS gets me killed constantly... so yeah I'm the annoying person who doesn't like stacking bc I'd rather not be dead!!!!! (I'm sorry I just HATE stacking. I can't see SHIT and it's just so much visual noise for me!! let me breathe!!) and plus I revive everyone in fights thanks to invulnerabilities allowing me to rez through attacks. You're welcome!!! (I rez so many people during metas and other fights) I also just love Mesmer in a class in general bc it's unique in comparison to a lot of other fantasy classes, and I just adore the concept and the aesthetics (flamboyant fancy dramatic magic user? HELL YEAH. Literally the gayest magic user ever and I'm eating it up). I also love the ability to make clones and all the pretty butterflies, and phantasms and all that! I know a lot of ppl don't like clones/phantasms, but they save my ass every time and I appreciate them very much.

[steamed-cogs]

Steamworld Build thoughts so far

I am pretty sure I'm in the tutorial still? Haven't gotten to the mines yet. This game might be one of the harder ones for me, personally. I've never been good with keyboard and mouse controls, and while I am able to use a controller (thank God), it's clear this game was made for PC; it's more of a struggle for me to learn to navigate around. There's also a lot to keep track of already and I've barely started lol Some quick thoughts:

"make voices steambot gibberish" Y E S god bless they know what the people (me) want

"choose destination: Tumbleton" huh?? we gonna see Tumbleton again??? let's goo

points VECTRON VECTRON

Astrid too precious, her little static gasp so cute

my town is so ugly but everything is connected and functional

damn there's just metal tumbleweed full of money

this is bringing some Steamworld Dig world-building into question for me, like am I hearing a dog barking in the town? There's dogs? Are they steam dogs or bio dogs? Is that a drive-in movie theatre? With cars? They're empty and don't look like the size for steambots, so I assume they might be old human cars from Before. Still they've got a movie playing? They have projectors? Projectors need electricity, don't they? Did we go from Cranky just naming this thing one bot (Rusty) got 'electricity' to entire steambot towns having access to it in... however long there is between Dig 1 and 2? Am I missing something?

[deeisace]

Bollocks, I forgot nail varnish remover again

Tomorrow, post-laundry food shop, I'll set an alarm

Right now I'm composing an email to the estate agent/building management, to ask them to ask him downstairs to direct his complaints to their office or the landlord instead of me, because I'm making myself ill, really I actually am, by worrying so much (and also holding it for hours to go at work, instead of using my own bathroom, because of the floorboards creaking) - I can't do anything more, I shouldn't even be going to the severe trouble I am doing, and I certainly shouldn't be taking extra time at work and sitting in the rain for an hour because I don't want to go home

It is his home, too, of course, but I don't think his complaints are reasonable any longer, and this is just a normal part of living in the same building as other humans. That's how it goes. I don't want my health to suffer because you can't sleep. It's very hard for me to say this, because I am a naturally apologetic person, but it is not fair, now, really, and it's not my problem, either! I live here too, I have to go to work at that time and I have to be able use the bathroom in my own bloody flat. It's not fair to expect me to creep around like a mouse with nerves in my own home, I don't think. Not that I wasn't already doing that anyway! It's just the floorboards creak, I can't do anything about it, learn to put up with it, like I do with the four flats that border mine, like everyone else in this creaky old house does, and have done for years.

I can't say any more, I can't make any more accommodations for this, I am not and have never been a noisy neighbour, I am not out to get you or "doing petty things to annoy [him] back like childish points scoring" (that's from the letter I got this morning), it's just that the floors creak in old houses and fire doors are heavy. That's all.

That's fair enough, isn't it? To ask that he complains to the landlord/agents instead of to me?

So anyway, the estate agent people are coming on Tuesday about something else (not sure what, possibly that the whole building's doorbells haven't worked since a month or two from when they were installed, pre-covid), and they said on my phone call to them this morning that they will look at the floorboards at the same time.

[savagesneversleepnyc]

THE EL WAY?!

DAVE was one of the GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS, an elite squad who could ski and shoot guns and get buck should they deploy. No human may have lived of any higher caliber of fortitude in SANDY’s eyes.

A gun toting right wing REAGAN ERA believer, who like him believed in the value of teaching troubled kids. They held court at the far end of HAZEN and would build many stupendous things of metal, wood, clay and vellum. The room seemed boundless with its collage of NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE adverts blown like graffiti upon the white cinder block walls. The film STYLE WARS played on PBS one evening in the 80’s. He was like a child attempting to frame the infamy of real and tough folk he came up with. The reason the soldiers came back from WARS and were alienated.. They felt already discarded and would be forgotten completely if not for profound effort to define a flawed cause and life. As generations spilled over like a champagne cascade of the toxic slurry of society fed to the VETS and the rest of US.

The poisonous reasoning mechanism that made HUNTS POINT, BROWNSVILLE and OZONE PARK places of conflagration. Like desperate creatures under feet trying to run from the stomping of loud heels or thunderous pounds on the door as the tenement burns….

DAVE was from COLORADO and BARRE… We watched LIVING ON A PRAYER debut on MTV vs THE BEASTIE BOYS. (I don’t think anyone wins a popularity contest.. )

We also would watch a spritely young upstart charge his team back to back to the SUPER BOWL atop HIDEAWAY ACHES at the DEAD END of the CUL DE SAC,.

As they all whipped up a frenzy not once but twice, I saw this young man fall upon his ambition and sword as a titan not yet bold enough to clutch the crown… SOME TIME LATER, when his face was facing mine we smiled as he turned and jumped in some forgettable car.. ED McCAFFREY towered to the sky as I popped into the VENATION glass veiled BROWN PALACE lobby…, I’d soil myself in TOIL and TREACHERY and a very real and perilous game of cat and mouse I would play there…

BUT no place of haves and FECES could my eyes perceive when old boy took the championship 3 times in a campaign repeated by PAYTON and other who’s balls are cast of cold rolled GRID IRON… we RIOT’d in the streets and VIC got on the cover of the ROCKY for looting.., the corny cellphone store people who payed him played him KNOW MIND, and chuckled at the awkward, kindly giant from PROVO looked like he was actually working while digging for records online…

The FIRST LOSS is the most real. Do we ever win instantly at anything?

We cannot crawl before being prone. Like a tad pole from the creek to frog legs on lilly pads in spring. The legs are not formed in utero but in motion toward failure and finality.. But time and space is kind to keep off too many pigeons, rats and wombats, so they proliferate and marry PIGS who sing so great…

To rise is to fall as

the LION and the BALL

the SHARK and the FISH

the MOUTH to the NIPPLE

the YANG to the YIN

As THE EL WAY

WE SAY IS A PUNCH IN THE FACE

FOLLOWED BY A SAVAGE GRIN

FOR THE WIN.

John Elway is probably a dude a great many people volley BIG OPIONS on and I only say that he LOST, HE WON, HE is a man who I shook hands with once and I think that is probably GOOD LUCK.

PEOPLE of huge tasks are often of huge asks from the world. The action hero’s and athletes who are shown to be quite human and flawed are not the fault of the people and legacy that surround them.

WE forget too quick to be kind in remembering our on own faults and cracks that we allow ILL intent into our SAFEs to TRESPASS and erect STATUES OF LIBERTY to pass…

5:18am HOD SANDY DESK 8.2.24.00004