#and finds ways to make every character shine even if not in stats

[fortune-maiden]

I am so torn on Fire Emblem Engage

some aspects of it look really cool but it just doesn’t feel like the Fire Emblem series I fell in love with

[riaki]

sick days ! gojo x reader ‧˚ - take a soda break…!

the rain outside your window is incessant.

it slides down the foggy glass panes in small rivulets that merge together and break apart, like the people outside on different paths of life. a sea of umbrellas moves like liquid in the streets below; a school of fish in a rainy city, under those fluorescent neons that shine like vibrant coral in the puddles of rain on the concrete.

there’s beauty even in the humid showers of tokyo, reflected in the broken lights and flickering signs; those food stalls full of warm life and fancy clothing stores that you always go in just to not buy anything, and best of all— the vending machines that dot the map.

watching raindrops race was one of your favorite hobbies as a kid. even now, you find yourself absentmindedly tracking the movements; the erratic nature of the blurry droplets as they slide down the glass makes you wonder if there’s hidden ridges on the panels that guide those watery paths.

your train of thought is rudely interrupted by another bout of coughing; that dry, itching feeling in your throat that you just can’t get rid of. drinking water to quell the cough has the same effect as telling your study buddy to stay focused for longer than five minutes. gojo is playing something on his phone again; a rhythm game, by the way he curses under his breath every time his fingers stutter and miss a beat.

you cover your mouth with your elbow, trying to expel the ghost dust that makes your breath hitch every time you try to speak, and he glances up at you, shifting in his seat. his lanky legs are cramped beneath the desktop; his frame doesn’t fit in your room. he has to duck when he enters, lest he hit his head like the first time he came over. like you, he has his head resting in his elbows. unlike you, he isn't ill with a fever so hot it burns cold and the stuffiness in your voice, and he also isn't studying.

"you sure you still wanna be reviewing? this exam doesn't really matter, y'know." gojo remarks, peering up at you from his arm pillow. "you should probably take a break, ’cus you look like shit."

he grins cheekily, pushing a pile of his papers and notes to the edge of the desk, where eraser shavings and broken bits of lead from when he couldn't solve a math problem are crammed. there's scratches and ink stains on the desk, a reminder of how you'd accidentally scribbled past the page’s edge in a sickness induced delirium. it’ll leave permanent marks; at this point you’re convinced you’re writing yourself a secret letter to the future. have you confessed to gojo yet? that’s what it’ll say. right now, it just says something unintelligible.

hopefully you’re still literate in the future, but you’re half-convinced you’re getting dumber every moment you spend caged in with this dunce of a genius.

you lean back in your chair, pulling your knee up to your chest. your pencil falls to the desk with a faint clack, soft yellow lamplight washing your faces warm as gojo scoots closer and peers over your shoulder at your progress. he has a pandora’s box of knowledge in that blue-tinted brain of his; he just refuses to apply it. it’s cocky, spoiled ego in the finest. you should hate him for it.

he snickers. "you're dumb."

"you missed forty-three notes." you countered, shooting him a glare as you point at the disappointed looking character next to a review of the stats from the song he was playing on his phone. gojo grimaces, pulling back like a sad little dog, floppy white hair covering his eyes.

"i was playing with my thumbs."

you ignore him, leaning against the wooden desk before hiding your face in your elbows again and letting out a long sigh. your hot breath curls up in the confines of your body, making you recoil slightly; uncomfortably. heat is the last thing you need with the fever you’re pretty sure you’re running.

"i hate being sick. and i hate studying. can we please give up?" you complained, glancing up at him out of the corner of your eye. your hair obscures your vision, so you can only see a faint glint of amusement in his azure irises as he studies you for a moment before scooting his chair back and standing up. without another word, he leaves the room.

wow. okay.

a moment of silence passes as you sit there, lamenting over your runny nose and the way you sound like you're about to cough a lung up every time you breathe, until you hear the soft sounds of his feet padding on the floorboards coupled with what you presume is ice clinking against glass, signaling his return. you lift your head, blinking blearily. each time you breathe in through your nose, your nostrils burn like dry ice pressed against your skin, only adding to your misery. the dreary weather outside isn't helping much, either.

the cold glass leaves a dark stain on the table, an uneven circle of condensation that soothes the aching in your fingers when your sick skin makes contact. gojo pops the can open, and you watch as he picks the glass up, tilting it to the side to pour the soda in.

“why are you holding it like that?” you asked curiously, a small yawn escaping your lips as you lean against the table. he glances down at you, a cheeky, tiny smile gracing his lips. the sound of bubbles fizzling and popping fills the cozy, cramped room; that cool, sweet liquid seems like the only thing that’ll cure your nasty cough.

“pouring it like this prevents the bubbles from escaping. you like it fizzy, don’t you?” he grins.

condensation clings to his fingers like morning dew upon flower petals as he sets the glass down. you watch the ice cubes bobble about in the soda, clinking against the cup like a mini wind chime. you’re sore from sitting in the same place with terrible posture for three hours, and there’s an ache between your fingers from gripping your pencil tight while you write.

you take a sip from the glass, letting out a contented sigh as the refreshing liquid drains down your scratchy throat. it’s not lemon honey tea for a cold, but it certainly helps. next to you, gojo takes his seat again, grabbing the throw blanket on your bed and tossing it over his legs before he grabs his pencil again. he’s using one of those short pencils, shaved down to a stub from months of use. you always offer him a mechanical pencil, but he refuses.

you sit there, waiting for him to get back to work before you realize he’s staring at you, legs crossed beneath the fuzzy blanket.

you frowned, shifting to face him as you lean against the desk. “what?”

“you’ll take care of me if i get sick too, right?” he tilts his head, like a curious bird.

“why would you get sick?”

you’re too relate to react when he makes a mad grab for your glass of soda, holding it out of your reach. a few droplets spill out and spatter onto your notebook, forcing a sigh from your lips.

“gojo…” you groaned, rubbing your temple with your fingers and praying for strength.

he just smirks, taking a lengthy sip. you watch his adam’s apple bob as a bit of condensation builds on his chin and trickles down his throat.

“you know what? i dont feel like studying either.” he announces, setting the glass back down on the wooden table with a loud thunk.

“so? what do you wanna do?” you huffed petulantly.

“download project sekai, and we can do a co-op live.”

“…you’re kidding.”

[tavyliasin]

Fandom Essay - Body Positivity and Validation

Good timezone darlings~ Lia is back at it again with some examination of BG3 Fandom and some more of the wonderful things we can find within it. This time we are talking about representation of different physical features. If you feel this might be a little much for you, either in regards to your relationship to your body or any potential dysphoria, please feel free to skip it. Second disclaimer that I will be mentioning trans and nonbinary people here from the perspective of a Cis person - this is absolutely not my right to speak for or over anyone so I thoroughly welcome the voices of those with lived experiences to join in the comments with their input, but I also did not want to leave the topic out of the discussion and you may just see why as we get into it~ So on with today's long title:

How FanWorks Can Be Important To Self Acceptance And Body Positivity - The Next "Callout Essay" from TavyliaSin (Who is calling herself out with these too) ((there are reasons it feels targeted I know where to aim)) (((but honestly it's fine it's all positive I promise)))

Today we will be discussing: body types, disability representation (only a little though, this one may need a full post of its own), body size, gender (and gender euphoria), scars and "imperfections", visible ageing. This will be through the lens of both the canon inclusion and everything we see in mods, edits, and fan creations of all kinds. As usual I will use sub headers and encourage anyone to skip what makes them uncomfortable, as well as to join the discussion~ so let's begin, shall we?

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What Does Body Positivity Mean?

Let's start off with the simple one. Body positivity doesn't mean promoting any one body type as the ideal or as better than any others, it is about being positive about the mortal flesh vessels we inhabit and all of their features. A lot of people can find this difficult, to love oneself or even just accept oneself, especially in a highly critical society. But that is where representation and even fan creations can step in - by being vocal and loud about appreciating features that people may feel negative about in themselves, we can help build up confidence and self worth, as well as reminding all of us that we do not have to look a certain way to be desirable and desired~

How Does This Relate To Baldur's Gate 3?

On the surface, we do have a lot of characters with more conventionally accepted body types in the main cast and romance characters, though it is worth noting that the base models were updated to be less "Hollywood muscles" on a couple of characters, which made more sense to the character stats and backstories (unless Gale was working out every day in his tower, he's not that much like a bodybuilder physique).

But aside from this, when you look closer, there's also an awful lot to appreciate in the standard character designs. A lot of these are things which fans pick up on and adore, despite how they may be features that people are actively bullied for or that are seen as undesirable by beauty standards. Those "beauty standards" can get in the trash too, but I'll use it here to point out the things we are shining a positive light on in the face of those societal values~ Karlach - Our tall queen, strong and muscular and not particularly feminine with her tattoos, piercings, and hairstyle. But she is adored for all of those things, even her broken horn is an important feature, alongside the glowing heart and fire that have some in the game view her as monstrous until they look closer and know her. Astarion - His laugh lines. Gods don't we love those? The wrinkles in his face are experience, and of course he has those signs of exhaustion in his eyes that make him so much more relatable to many of us. Lae'zel - This might feel like cheating as she's not human, and is less human-like than most of the other characters, but in a way that is also an important one. She's still desirable and treated as such in the romances, as well as very much adored by the fans. Gale - The little signs of ageing and stress mark Gale's face, and even the hints of greying in his hair are picked up on and chewed on by those who love him most. Wyll - More on him later but honestly is he not the poster boy for physical acceptance? Not only do we have his initial appearance with the stone eye but with one choice his entire body is completely changed and part of his story is arguably learning to live with this and how his new look is likely going to be seen as everything he ever feared. Halsin - Are we cheating with BIG TALL MUSCLE MOUNTAIN because many people find this attractive to start with? Maybe, but again he has clear signs of ageing, as well as very obvious facial scarring. His look might easily be described as fearsome, and yet his personality couldn't be further from it. Raphael - Hello there lovers of older men, who look at each one of those wrinkles and his brow lines and start sweating a bit more. I'm with you, he's gorgeous because of those signs of aging, not despite them. Abdirak - Our real poster boy for scars and visible wounds. Features which have long been given only to villainous characters in fiction (particularly that aimed at younger audiences) and yes he is one of the most violent characters, but he is also immediately deeply sympathetic to the player. So we are no longer equating scars/visual difference with pure evil. In general we have a lot of features that are not overly smoothed out or homogenised to fit certain standards. We have different nose shapes, visible pores, scars, acne marks, wrinkles, greying hair, moles, freckles, body hair, and a lot of variety across face shapes and features. It makes the characters feel more real, more relatable, and seeing features closer to our own can be comforting and validating in a lot of ways. Of course there are more examples, and far more we could say about each one of these and all the things that make them unique that we love about them, but we would be here all day and there are other topics to cover!

What About The Player Characters?

So we do have a range of fantasy races, many of which arguably don't represent real humans at all, and we do also lack variation in body types in the standard game. But we also have player characters with shorter statures with the dwarves, halflings and gnomes. Beyond just being part of the lore and story, there is some representation here for similar body types in real life. I can't say a lot on this as I neither have personal experience nor do I personally know anyone who could speak on how they feel about these races in comparison to lived experiences, but it would be equally unfair to leave the point out of the conversation - please do add something in the comments if you have the knowledge and emotional bandwidth to spare, I would love to hear about your experiences and opinions! Aside from this we have a wide range of skin tones (though my own is too close to plain paper to be able to tell you if this is anywhere near adequate so please feel free to weigh in with lived experience here) as well as scars and other features in the character creation. There's also vitiligo pigmentation, which is not only representing the condition but also normalising it to those who aren't familiar and making some rather beautiful options for our characters in my opinion. Even in the hair styles there are a couple of options featuring thinner hair or baldness patterns. There are less options for textured hairstyles and the facial features are equally limited, but there are some truly gorgeous mods out there which I'll mention later.

Player Characters And Gender

Another caveat to please weigh in with your lived experiences, but this one is one that I've seen friends enjoy and it was really wonderful to see that delight. Being able to select pronouns, genitals, body type, and voice all independently of each other is something which is so vastly meaningful to a lot of players. To some it might just be "oh cool I get to choose what my character looks like naked", but to a nonbinary friend of mine... Well, they were sending me happy, joyful, and what can only be described as "delightfully shouty" messages when they were in character creation. To paraphrase, and to tone it down just a little, it went something like this:

"Wait you mean I can have a character look and exist the way I want to be? I can actually have myself represented on screen, and nobody will misgender me, and nobody will decline a romance based on any of this?!"

Maybe it seems silly but I got tearful to see them just absolutely losing it over having these options. They've been stuck with binary options in most fantasy RPGs for so long... Of course there's still things that could be improved, there always will be, but that joy? Priceless. It meant something in that moment and I hope it will continue to mean something to a lot more people in many moments to come. Of course there are still flaws - the faces and bodies are still gender matched, and it isn't possible for people to refine the size and shape of player character chests. In some ways really what we have is the bare minimum, a start that needs to go further, but seeing as there have been precious few games in the genre to even reach this low bar it is good to recognise it, to say "this brought people joy and is worth the effort to make it happen", and to say "please go further because there is genuine interest."

What About Mods?

This is where we can see a lot more of that positivity flourishing. There are countless options, from having more hairstyles and hair types, to face shapes and features, all the way to body types and adding in top surgery scars. Giving the game the ability to be modded, and potentially even encouraging and supporting it, means we can see so much more of that body positivity and representation. Having a hero who shares your features, seeing romances play out where the characters are valued in every way just as they are. Being able to mod softer and wider body types to the Origin characters too, taking the form away from the bodybuilder/model physique and far closer to more average - and undeniably still devastatingly attractive - body types. Seeing the trans-Origin character headcanons portrayed too, that's just so utterly divine~ (There is a lot to be said about parallels to LGBTQIA+ experiences in the Origin storylines, too, so feel free to comment on those at the end if you would like to) To all of you out there making mods, and sharing the characters you've created using other peoples' mods - thank you! I adore seeing all of these, as well as people's happiness in sharing and using them too~

I don't even use mods, honestly darlings I'm not the best with tech at times and as I'm spending vastly more hours writing than playing it's likely not as worth it for me - especially when people share the modded content for us all to enjoy in videos and screenshots. But I love how many there are, that they exist, and all the ways they give people joy and euphoria to see their own body types and/or body types they find to be desirable~

But Wasn't This Post About Fandom and Fan Creations?

It was - and is! Because after all of the content you can get in the base game and in the modded version, what comes after is where the fans go with it from there.

That's truly where we get the most body positivity and joy. Headcanons leave the head and pour onto the page. We see characters reimagined a hundred times, each with their own twist, their own enthusiasm both from the creator and from fans just eating up every piece that comes out. There's so much variety there seems to be almost anything you could wish for with almost any character, and I can guarantee you that if there's something you'd like to see and aren't seeing out there, there will be an artist willing to work on the idea (most likely on commission basis, we do prefer to ensure our artists can eat after all, but there may be some willing to just adopt ideas to draw as their own too). This even extends to cosplay, with gender-swapped characters, as well as the one thing I will always be vocal about in cosplay - everyone should be allowed to wear the character costumes they love regardless of body types or how well their body/face matches the original character. Though this does come with the caveat that skin should never be darkened to match a character's look (if that character has a natural type skin tone, obviously green etc is not an issue) - just be your own version of the character if you adore them enough to put the costume together.

And your work?...

Thank you for asking Lia, let me answer that one for you. Of course, take it away, Lia! Ahem silliness aside, there is something you might or might not have noticed in my writing. I don't do a lot of body-type description. You can imagine whatever you like as you read - Gale with a soft tummy to snuggle? Yes please! Or you can imagine him with sculped abs, or a more slender frame - whatever brings you the most joy to read. This is especially true for anything I do with gender neutral character fics (usually "character x Reader"/2nd person pieces) - I try to stay away from any specific gendered features and focus on actions and sensations which can be common to any body.

How Does This All Add Up To Body Positivity?

Simple, love - by sharing and making all of these works we are saying "these features are beautiful, we love them, we want to see more of them as we fall head over heels time and time again". It might not seem like a lot, but the mind is both powerful and very easily open to suggestion. If a person keeps seeing negative things about a feature they have (eg, as a mild example body hair on women/feminine people) they will internalise that and wish to change themselves (eg, waxing/shaving/etc). In the case of a bit of body hair that might not seem drastic, but it still changes how someone feels about themselves. At the end of the day, the more we love ourselves the easier it is to look after ourselves and be happy in the mortal flesh vessels we pilot around this terribly strange universe~ For my part, I have seen my body shape which I had struggled with shown time and time again as "wow look at this character who looks this way, they are amazing! I love this feature, and that feature, and the way the artist made sure to include this particular thing-" Every time I see that, every time I see parts of myself I struggle with being applauded and appreciated, I feel a little brighter. A little more comfortable. A little more like I am allowed to dress it up nicely and spend time and care to feel good about it. I also feel less shame for old scars, for every part of myself that has made me look at the mirror with unkind eyes. Confidence is not a single brick, it's many that need to be built carefully with the right cement. If it is chipped away at too many times, even by little self-deprecating "jokes", it will erode. It will crack. It will wear away piece by piece instead of building up. And before anyone decides to try equating weight and health, darling this is not the place. If you truly care about someone's wellbeing, leave their health to the private discussions they have with their doctors, and remember that looking after oneself is far easier from a place of loving oneself. If you care about a thing, you want to look after it. If you see a thing as already broken, you're less likely to be cautious in how you handle it.

Where does this essay end?

Well, I believe that would be here. With the endless gratitude for every creator out there bringing us mods, images, fiction, art, cosplay, content of all of these wonderful characters in every incredible variation that we can think of. I encourage those of you who are feeling lower in confidence about yourselves to really look at the fan responses to these creations - the excitement and desire for every body type, every feature, everything that we might see of ourselves and dislike there are so many people out there seeing those exact same features we have and feeling nothing but attraction, desire, love, adoration, and praise~ We are often our own worst critics, but not one of those characters would ever reject us, neither are we rejecting any of our favourites when we see them on the screen. I certainly hope to see more games bringing us this variety, and going further too. There is power in fiction and fan-works, and it is helpful to recognise it too.

Apologies if this one felt too long, rambling, or like I lost my point - it was done over 3 days and I'm rather tired~ I have other essays coming in the next few weeks too, and I really would love to hear your opinions on any of them~

As a final note - please do add your own views and experiences on the topic! I can only offer my own as a disabled white cisgender asexual/bisexual/panromantic woman with too much time on her hands~ I neither wish to ignore experiences outside of my own nor speak over them. All I can offer is what I see, what I hear, and of course my endless love to all of you~ That, my very dear darlings, is never in doubt. I love you just the way you are, because of who you are, and will see the beauty in everything that makes up the sum of your wonderful selves~

[foundry-fabrications]

System Spotlight: Ironsworn

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first ever System Spotlight! Before we begin, let me explain a little about what this is and what to expect.

This is a series I've wanted to do for a while where I talk about RPGs other than D&D, their mechanics, and my overall thoughts on them. There are thousands of wonderful RPGs out there and I want to shine a spotlight on some of the ones I feel could use more love or just give my two cents on ones that are already popular.

This won't be a regular weekly series or anything like that, but I do want to write these so there's less of a gap between content posts. I also want to use them as a sort of primer/101 for future projects made for those systems. I'm known for 5th edition and it's likely the system you fine folk are most familiar with so I want to give you the basics of whatever system I'm working with so the associated project makes some sense. And hey, if even one of you takes in interest in a game I talk about then that's a win in my book.

I would also like to preface that I have not actually played every game I will be talking about in this series, though I have read about them and gone through whatever core rules they have at the very least. I will state whether or not I have played in each post for transparency and so you can judge my opinions accordingly.

Anyway, that's enough preamble, let's Undertake a Journey and talk about Ironsworn!

Are you the Forever GM and never get to play? Are you in-between games or groups and want something to scratch that RPG itch? Perhaps you want to try GMing your own game but don't want the pressure of other players. You're not alone! Turns out there is a huge community for the solo play of RPGs and I am fascinated by it. People have been finding ways to play RPGs by themselves for years and there are lots of tools to let people do just that (I'll get to those at some point), but recently there has been a certain game that has become very popular that is built for just such a method of play.

Created by the wonderful Shawn Tomkin, Ironsworn is game built from the ground up to be solo or co-op and entirely GMless, though you can play traditionally if you wish. It's based on the Powered by the Apocalypse system and is more narrative than mechanics focused unlike a lot of other RPGs, especially games like D&D. Basically, the mechanics are designed to be in service of the story. Speaking of mechanics, let's talk about ‘em!

Dice

Starting with dice, Ironsworn uses a d6 and two d10s for everything. The d6 is your Action Die and acts like a d20 in other systems. The two d10s are your Challenge Dice, which set the difficulty of whatever it is you're trying to roll for.

When you roll to do something, you roll the d6 and d10s together adding your relevant stat and any bonuses you have to the d6. If your action die is over both challenge dice, you get a Strong Hit. If it's only over one of the challenge dice, it's a Weak Hit. But if it's under both of the challenge dice then it's a Miss. Now, if both of the challenge dice are the same, you either have a Strong Hit or Miss with a Match. Matches are like crits in other games, making your Strong Hit or Miss way better or way worse for you.

Moves

So how do you actually do stuff? Like most PbtA games, you make Moves, each with their own mechanics that tell you how to resolve them. For example, let's look at a common move: Gather Information.

For this example, we roll our dice and get a 3 on the Action Die and a 4 and an 8 on the Challenge Dice. We'll say our character has a 2 for Wits and no other bonuses, bringing our Action Die total to 5. This would be a Weak Hit, revealing some troubling information and giving us +1 Momentum (we'll get to momentum in a bit). Pretty simple, right? Whatever you want to do, there's a move for it.

Momentum

Now, about momentum. Momentum is a really cool mechanic that gives you some much needed control over your dice when you really need it. Most moves give you momentum when you succeed, up to a max of 10. When you roll, you can burn your momentum to cancel out any challenge die that is less than your momentum, letting you turn a Miss into a Weak Hit or a Weak Hit into a Strong Hit. Your momentum then gets reset back down to 2 so you always have a little.

Characters

Ok, let's talk character creation! Characters in Ironsworn have 5 stats: Edge, Heart, Iron, Shadow, and Wits. Edge is your quickness and is for ranged combat; Heart is your courage and charisma; Iron is your strength, constitution, and is for melee combat; Shadow is your sneakiness and cunning; Wits is your intelligence and wisdom. You set your stats with a stat array, putting one number for each stat: 3, 2, 2, 1, 1. They even have alternate arrays with higher and lower numbers to make the game easier or harder, which is cool. Your stats will never change during a game so be sure to choose wisely.

Health, Spirit, and Supply

Characters have 3 meters to represent their status: Health, Spirit, and Supply. They each start at 5 and can be increased or decreased by failing moves or taking damage. Health and Spirit are pretty self explanatory, representing your overall physical health and stress levels. Supply is a little different. You don't have equipment, money, or resources in Ironsworn so Supply is used as an abstract representation of how prepared you are during your adventures.

Assets

Now it's time to pick your assets. Assets represent your skills and traits, giving you bonuses to certain things and letting you make new moves. There are 4 asset types: Companions, Paths, Combat Talents, and Rituals. Companions are pretty self explanatory. Paths are your background, skills, and training. Combat Talents let you do special moves with whatever weapon you wield. Finally, Rituals are how you perform big magic in the world of Ironsworn. You get any 3 assets of your choice when you create your character and you can get more through character progression. Assets can also be upgraded, unlocking new abilities and benefits.

Iron Vows

So how does character progression work? In Ironsworn, you earn experience by completing quests, or Vows as they're called. When you take on a quest, you literally swear on iron that you will do whatever it is you set out to do, hence the name of the game. But should you forsake your vow, there are consequences. You always start a game with a background vow, which is basically your personal quest and what drives your character, and an immediate vow to get the story going.

Once you complete a vow, you get experience based on how dangerous it was. Experience can be spent on upgrading your assets or buying entirely new ones.

Combat in Ironsworn

So how does combat work in Ironsworn? Well, a bit like everything else, using moves and with a greater focus on the narrative instead of the nitty gritty details. To be honest, I still have trouble wrapping my head around combat coming from a background of the crunchy, tactical style combat of D&D.

Basically, when you enter combat you Enter the Fray and roll to see who is in control of the situation. Whether or not you are in control determines what moves you can make. Rolling well means you gain or maintain control and you can mark progress towards ending the encounter and claiming victory, whatever that looks like for you. I know my explanation is probably woefully inept at best, so I encourage you to check out Matt Risby’s explanation and example. He does a much better job than I ever could.

The Oracles

Now that you have your version of the Ironlands, you need people, places, and things to populate it with. For that, we turn the the Oracle tables. The oracles are d100 tables filed with words and descriptors to help you flesh out your world and spark inspiration when you're not sure what to do next. There is even a dedicated move called Ask the Oracle, which many other moves reference to help you out if you're not sure what their results might mean for your character.

But what if you need to generate something? For example, say we just entered a new settlement and we want see what it's like and what might be going on there. For that, we turn to the Settlement Oracle tables. We roll a 45 so our settlement is named after a creature. Then we roll and 97, giving us the name Dragonshadow. Now let's see what's going on in Dragonshadow. We roll a 65, giving us “families in conflict”. Squabbling nobles perhaps? But I think you get the idea. There's 19 oracles in Ironsworn and you're even encouraged to make your own.

The Ironlands

Now that the basics are out of the way, where are we? Welcome to the Ironlands! The Ironlands are a low fantasy, low magic, viking-esque setting that honestly reminds me a lot of Westeros from Game of Thrones. It's a harsh, unforgiving land that has made it's people tough and hearty, people who have already dealt with great hardship after a cataclysm drove them from their homeland, or The Old World.

But the best part is that the Ironlands are yours to create. Alongside character creation you create your own version of the Ironlands based on a series of prompts. The basics remain the same as above but the details are up to you. You determine what drove the Ironlanders from their home, how society works, are there monsters or magic, what horror lurk in the dark, and so much more. And if you don't like one of the prompts, change it! Make up whatever you want, it's your world!

Hacks (or Homebrew)

But what if you aren't a fan of the Ironlands period? Perhaps you want something a little more fantastical or even high tech? Then hack it! There's an entire section in the game that encourages you to rework the game to suit whatever needs you have. Don't like the setting? Make up a new one! Want new equipment or backgrounds? Rename the existing assets or make new ones! Don't want to do the work yourself? There are dozens of hacks and hundreds of custom assets created by the community, most of which are free! Whatever flavor you want Ironsworn to be, it can be with a little tweaking.

Ironsworn: Starforged

Now I can't talk about Ironsworn without talking about it's sister game, Starforged. Starforged is a new version of the game with updated and expanded rules in a new sci-fi setting known as the Forge. All the basics are still there with only minor changes so if you've played one you can jump right into the other without much issue. Everything I've said before goes for Starforged as well so if fantasy isn't your bag maybe give it a go instead!

My Thoughts

I'll just come right out and say it, I fucking love Ironsworn. But sadly I've yet to actually sit down and start a game to experience it for myself, which is honestly a crime. It's completely changed my perspective of what an RPG can be and has really opened my eyes to the incredibly wide world of solo play, which I will be delving into further. I have nothing but nice things to say about the game, its creator Shawn, and its incredible community.

To get into specifics, the biggest thing I love is the simplicity of Ironsworn as a system and how easy it is to expand on it. The fact that you're actively encouraged to customize it is amazing too. The layout of the book is clean, simple, and explains things very well. It even includes examples of play. I love momentum as a mechanic, I think it's a brilliant way help keep the story moving and I would love to try and come up with something like it for other systems. And while low fantasy isn't my bag, I can appreciate it for what it is and I can always customize it to suit my tastes.

But the best part about Ironsworn is its completely free! You can download everything you need to play on the website at https://www.ironswornrpg.com/. Starforged on the other hand is paid, which you can get a pdf of on DriveThruRPG for 20 bucks, which is more than reasonable in my opinion. But should you get a physical copy, you get a pdf for free!

If you're not sold on the game just yet, or just want to see it in action, I highly encourage you to check out Me, Myself, and Die Season 2 (season 1 not required), The Bad Spot podcast, and Errant Adventures podcast. MM&D S2 is just Ironsworn while both The Bad Spot and Errant Adventures do both Ironsworn and Starforged. All of them are fantastic live play shows that are well worth your time in my humble opinion.

If you're still with me, thanks for listening to me ramble about a game I love for a bit. I know it's different than my usual content but different is good and I've wanted to do this for a long time so I appreciate you sticking around while I experiment. Let me know what y'all think, about this as a thing I do now, if you're familiar with Ironsworn, and what other games you'd like me to look at. I have one hell of a list already but I bet y'all have some gems I don't know about and it will help me gauge interest. Anyway, that's all for now. As always, stay safe, don't forget to love each other, and I'll see you again soon.

[kunosoura]

Top 5 FE units (here interpreted to mean “purely in terms of gameplay”)

Seth. It has entertained me for close to 20 years now that in a series that prides itself on how it gives you a wide variety of units and tries to encourage you to come up with a balanced and well built army, one game gives you literally the best unit in the game in the prologue operating at full capacity and capable of soloing the game.

Jill FE10. There’s nothing like being one of the only decent units in a roster of trash to really make an otherwise-good-at-best unit shine.

Lysithea, essentially infinite use warp goes crazy and that’s on top of already arguably being the best combat mage in the game, I hope more games in the future use the Gaiden/Echoes/3h magic systems

Rafiel, dancing four units a turn is an all timer crazy game design choice, what were they thinking etc (even if it’s balanced out by the endgame making you face like 100 units per map)

Maybe an oddball choice but Echidna, as a representative for every other time the games give you prepromotes in the mid-late game and they’re actually competent units that can immediately find a spot in your deployment list

Top 5 female fe units painfully shafted by shit balancing with heavily gendered stat points

Marisa. Eternally cool design, interesting character, statistically inferior in every significant way to Joshua who joins way earlier and in a way more ready to use state. You can’t even cope and say she’s decent as an assassin because luck doesn’t factor into crit rate in fe8.

Sophia. All time Nadir of FE gameplay design. Joins near the end of the fucking game at level one with worse averages than Every other mage so she isn’t even an Est. She’s literally just there to be a liability on the desert map. Holy fuck.

Lyn. Honestly so much of FE7 feels straight disrespectful to her. The bar to clear here was Celica man holy fuck.

Wendy. What if we made an armor unit that had no bulk and did no damage. Maybe the platonic example of “we made her worse than her niche competition because she’s a girl”. Fir is also a good example from 6, maybe a very subdued one in that she’s not terrible or unusable, just mechanically inferior to the male competition in the ways that matter.

Karla. Honestly similarly to Sophia she doesn’t feel like a unit you’re supposed to take seriously at all. I mean, hidden behind bringing a bad unit you won’t use along the whole game and getting him strong enough to face her in an arena but not so strong you’ll kill her, and then she’s worse even than the other pre promote swordmaster you get earlier at higher level for less effort? I guess Karel is technically optional, but still.

I thought of a good chunk of examples from Tellius but most of those were honestly more about how tellius hated a lot of unit types. Micaiah is maybe the series’ least impressive lord but how much of that is that she’s a girl and how much of it is the fact that she’s in a game that fucking hates mages.

[starlightandetherealshadows]

"For Memento Mori..I’ve been rewatching Game of Thrones and I have more ideas for MC HEHEHE idk idk I just think MC should have the option of going a bit mad queen and becoming a powerful and scary badass if they so desire. IDK IDK 🤷🏾‍♀️"

Can we have a scary BA MC who isn't crazy? Dare I say, whose even nice? In media it feels like anyone who is capable of BA is this rough, mean, or at best morally grey character and kind characters are depicted as weak and/or naive. Personally I think characters who are good people but with an edge are SUPER COOL! Like a character who will hold open a door for people and then knock out 25 guys later. Someone can defuse a bomb then later volunteer at a soup kitchen. It's not that I dislike moral complexity and levels of grey within a character but it feels like that's all that's ever done anymore. A knight in shining armor every now and then wouldn't hurt!

...... Okay I ranted for too long, what was I asking? Oh yeah, can we be scary and BA but still be generally seen as kind and chill by those who know us?

Hi lovebug!

Yes you can!!! That’s where the sanity stat comes into play. If MC is in the middle on the sanity scale, they can still be scary and badass but in a more controlled way where MC has impulse control and knows the “time and place”. They can absolutely still be kind and gentle to their loved ones!

If you’re on the high or low side of the sanity scale…idk about that one but you can certainly try to hold it together 🦦

However, just keep in mind that MC is a morally complex character, as is everyone. No one is going to be the knight in shining armor, not even the RO. It’s not something I find fun or interesting to write 😭😭😭

That’s not to say you can’t be kind, you absolutely can! But I’m not sure if everything you’re talking about will apply to this MC. They’ve been though mass amounts of trauma with no support systems or healthy coping mechanisms, and their life is going to get worse before it gets better, so I can’t promise that it’ll be easy for MC to have that “kind and chill” demeanor, at least for a while. Give it time.

I hope this makes sense, I have such a bad headache rn ksbdksjskjd

[my-current-obsession]

I see a lot of people saying that the royals (mostly Alfred, but I’ve seen a fair bit of complaining about all the others too) are statistically bad in Engage. I have to wonder, what difficulty is this based off of? On my Hard playthrough most of the royals were my best units, and Alfred in particular was amazing. Ivy and Celine were probably the weakest two - Ivy due to being a bit slow and having AWFUL dex and luck, and Celine just lacking power due to splitting her attention between strength and magic.

Is it just Maddening that they’re specifically bad for? I have not (and will not) played that mode in any FE but my impression is very much that Maddening mode is a different experience and you’re basically forced to play a certain way to win. That’s probably even more true here since fixed growths are in play, so you can’t count on RNG to give you good units. You have to find the ones that the game wants you to use, and stick with them.

For me, one of the biggest joys of FE has always been the RNG of it all - I love the random growths meaning different characters shine (and suck) each run, which encourages you to give different units a try. I love that, at least on Normal and Hard, you have enough breathing room to basically play how you want - favor the units of your choice, reclass whoever into whichever classes you fancy, etc - and doing so MIGHT make your life harder but probably won’t doom your entire run. The versatility and random nature of your units growths makes strategy & combat in this game infinitely more appealing and adds to its replayability.

Like I LOVE Persona games and Stella Glow (which gameplay wise is fairly similar to FE) but in those games the characters are what they are, and the stats on level-up are set in stone. Once you’ve done ONE run and know what works, Complacent Gaming kicks in and you repeat the exact same steps in future runs. In FE even if you use the same characters in the same classes, their performance WILL vary based on how blessed or cursed the RNG has been for them.

If Maddening IS as difficult and particular as I’m assuming, and basically every unit’s viability is determined from the moment you get them and you HAVE to play a specific way to win... is it really right to judge units based on that specific difficulty? Like, sure, so-and-so SUCKS on Maddening, but so does EVERYONE except this specific handful of units and if you use anyone else you’re just hurting yourself.

I feel like we should be judging characters based off a difficulty where everyone is at least VIABLE from the beginning, but judging how likely they are to REMAIN that way based on their growths/classes/personal skills/etc.

To put it another way, what would a tier list of a Maddening run look like? My impression is that it has two, maybe 3 categories of who you can actually use, who gets benched immediately, and MAYBE a middle category of who exists to fill a spot on the team and take a few hits/deal a smidge of damage for just a little while until someone better comes along to replace them. Meanwhile on Normal and Hard you can have a full spectrum of who on average is statistically the best through the worst, with everything in between. And considering several “unusable” units on Maddening are at least GOOD or even better on a normal or hard run, can you really call them bad? At the very least CLARIFY you mean they’re bad on Maddening specifically instead of in general.

[abyssaldissonance]

Some Infinity Nikki Critiques so far:

In no particular order

Dark skin could have slightly lighter palms and soles. (Also Shining Nikki).

New tutorials should be at the top of the list to look through, not in the middle. Once they are read AND the player has exited from the screen, they should go in their intended order when reviewed again later.

HUD could have a quicker/easier way to look at Blings, Gems, Diamonds, and other currencies, such as clicking or pressing a button for them to show on screen for a couple seconds before fading away, or letting players toggle on/off permanent currency stats (and maybe choose which ones they want displayed).

Pear-Pal Apps should be rearranged how players want similar to apps on a real phone. Every new app I get makes me mis-click the ones I got used to.

When Exiting Realm with backspace, it should take you to the Realm menu. Realm menu should also exit with backspace. That way I can press backspace twice quickly and exit to the world, or I can press backspace once and enter a new Realm quickly to optimize my Vital Energy spending. It' a little annoying to backspace and be in the world only to go back into the Realms.

Combat / Purification by itself feels bland. I liked the fight with Bouldy, especially the Dark Realm, but I think there should be at least one or two more combat outfit/abilities such as:

Pushing ability (wind?) where you can push Esselings away from you in case you are surrounded. The items that we are given to "stun" them don't feel very intuitive to use, I might as well just spam the Purify button. I imagine in my mind a straight line or cone ability right in front of Nikki, and when leveled up it can become a circular whirlwind. Maybe a puffy green dress for a windy theme, or vines and leaves that whip around. Weaker, multi-targeting projectiles: Possibly shoot three projectiles that lock on to Esselings, but take 3 hits to destroy them. I imagine a rose-themed or thorn-like outfit. Possibly switch between combat outfits with middle mouse button.

I'm not a huge fan of forced limitations (daily limitation of Wish Bottles capped at 500, monthly limitation of tranquility traded for resonance crystals, etc).

Photos would be nice if I could pause real-time in addition to Nikki. There are a couple shots of flying on top of the giant pigeon that I would love to get, and I have a difficult time getting some poses with Nikki's eyes half closed beside taking 50 photos and praying. This is mostly frivolous day-dreaming though. The photography sections is really quite nice. You can "upgrade" it to get more poses, lighting, etc.

Slightly Better Early Outfits for Styling Battle would be nice. I additionally dislike that it takes up / replaces my Outfit Slot 1 after a Styling Battle. The early items you get don't match very well unless you exclusively use the ability outfits. Thankfully those are easy enough to level up. It'd just be nice to have more cohesive outfits early on, even if they're simple/plain. To be fair, this has always been a silly issue with Nikki (and other) games. Really hate it replaces my actual Outfit slot though.

Bike. Bad. It goes forward fast, which is nice. But turning kind of sucks and I feel much more inclined to either fast-travel or just hoof it so I can collect materials along the way. I don't think there's a whole lot they could do about it except maybe make turning just slightly easier/faster.

I could just be missing it but: Lore Database. There is a "folklore guide" but its a collection of minigames. I've read a bunch of the notes/books they have throughout the game, and I can't seem to find anywhere this information is stored. It'd just be nice to have. Aditionally, we could have a database of certain characters and terminologies. I know tons of games do this but I think of Star Ocean and Brave Fencer Musashi which had a sort of compendium of characters, artifacts, locations, and other lore.

Some Menus dont Exit w ESC key. I don't know if it's an oversight or not, but I would really like Every menu/screen etc to be able to close with ESC key. Evolution, Courses, Store, Wishes, Factions so far I have to manually click the arrow.

Positives For Me:

The Fish are categorized by weight rather than how many individual fish, so you're not catching "1" fish, you're catching "1.7 grams" of fish. It's a really small thing but I like that it's grams of fish instead of individual fish.

The Gacha / Resonance doesnt feel as predatory as most. I've definitely spent money on other games etc, but I really don't like feeling like I should have to throw MORE money at a game series I already have high VIP in (Love & Shining Nikki). I Get that this is their version of making money with nigh-indefinite content updates (I hope/assume by being a longer-term nikki fan and seeing how they do things), so I hope acquiring outfits will be easier in-game this way as well as I hope the amount of time between events won't be as daunting as Shining Global.

Layering Clothes feels nice. We can do this in the Nikki games already, but if you wear boots with trousers (or other clothing combinations), sometimes they clip through. So far, if you wear certain layers of clothes, they get tucked or folded in a way that makes it look good. There's still some clipping issues but they're usually a super weird and ugly combination of clothes to begin with that, aesthetically wouldn't be very likely to get paired up.

Mild Critique: Sometimes the top of the boots or some sleeves get "cut off" in order to make the look work. I think it could be done a little better, but I appreciate that they're trying very hard not to make things clip.

Material Components are really neat! They're unique in super cute and fun ways. I love the idea of having different outfits for different tasks. I love that the flora and fauna designs are based off clothing materials, such as stocking-like stripes on goats or buttons inside pinecones.

Mild Critique: I wish the material components were matched a tiny bit better to the clothing that require them. It was weird making a white dress out of red fruit, or using "knit-moths" to make leather "dad" shoes. I think a tiny bit more thought could make this make a little more sense. There ARE some good clothing vs material choices, though.

Time Skip is so helpful. I'm SO glad they implemented it. Certain animals or events happen at certain times of day and you can either time skip in the Pear-Pal menu, or if you arrive at a certain event, you can time skip on the spot. It makes things so much smoother.

Photo Mode is so good and fun. I enjoy taking photos, I like seeing other people's photos, it has lots of nice features.

The Environment is easy to navigate in a fun way. When I see a super tall building or a super low canyon, I can find viable ways to get to where I want to. Steps/natural staircases are placed strategically to help encourage exploration without hindrance besides extremely obvious edge-of-the-map boundaries.

Despite my critiques, I genuinely love the game itself so far.

I'm still hoping beautiful outfits won't be limited to Resonance, and likewise hope Resonance isn't too difficult to acquire because that's a huge turn off for me.

I'm already stretched between Nikki games and I already spend much less than I used to. Yeah, yeah, you don't have to spend money in any of the games, but it does suck that it feels like you have to wait a whole year or even two just to acquire a complete set, and that's if you budget solely around a handful of sets, let alone if you actually want to proceed with having high enough ranks to acquire more diamonds to afford more sets. So I hope Infinity Nikki won't be quite the same.

[theoddshq]

ETHELIA WILDBLOOM (elle fanning fc) the odds are in your favor! Please report to your nearest Capitol Agent to be prepped for the 74th Annual Hunger Games!   

OOC

Alias/Age/Pronouns/Timezones: lexi/23/she/her/est Triggers: [REDACTED] If you had to describe your muse as a canon Hunger Games character, or mix, who would you compare them to and why? i think ethelia is veryyyyyy primrose coded but if prim was from the capitol. ethelia is very kind hearted and has a good spirit which also makes me think tigris coded in the same way? i think she also knows the capitol isn’t great, but has a very “there’s nothing i can do to change it” so she just kind of…. does it!!! it’s her first year as an escort and first time out of the capitol so i think she will just be in for a rude awakening when she sees what’s actually going on! also throwing effie in for the whole escort of it all!!

BASICS

[ELLE FANNING, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER] The 74th Annual Hunger Games are upon us and here comes ETHELIA WILDBLOOM! A DISTRICT 6 ESCORT. Word around The Capitol is that they’re CHARISMATIC AND SYMPATHETIC but can also be NAIVE AND PRIVILEGED. According to sources, they’re 23 and were once described as pastels adorned on the finest silks, golden hair brushed through a brand new golden comb, & never being afraid inside capitol walls. What a character! As always, may the odds be ever in their favor!

BIO

When Ethelia Mignonette Wildbloom was born, the sun was shining, the air was crisp, and and not even the slightest cry came from the babe. She was but a delicate creature from the moment she was born, unbeknownst to the world she lived in, the life she would live. She was one of the lucky ones, born to a former Peacekeeper general turned politician and Academy professor. Her father was older, one to start a family much later in life and it was a surprise at all that they were able to have Ethelia. The child was doted on by both parents, but their careers took much of their time.

It never made Ethelia feel particularly lonely, though. No, because the young girl had a knack for always finding something to do. Nannies taught her how to sew and braid hair, tutors taught her second languages, books filled a chunk of time but it never took long for her eyes to cross, and with a warm smile, she learned that almost anybody would be her friend. 

The Academy was always the plan for Ethelia. With family members known to be educators, it just seemed like that next logical step for her. Her grades in school were always near perfect, but that was usually due to dumb luck or good old fashioned cheating. Her acceptance into the Academy was celebrated, but quick into her higher education, she realized she was in over her head. She wasn’t as bright as the rest, no matter how much she tried to keep up with them. Cheating wasn’t an option as the Academy as that would end in consequential catastrophe. Dumb luck got her to year two, but once the low marks started coming in, she had no choice but to flunk out. 

She wasn’t a genius and she wasn’t particularly all that fashionable around the Capitol, other than wearing whatever was in trend at that current moment. Ethelia spent the next years, basically jumping from career to career. First, she was a seamstress. Then a travel agent. By the time she had messed up legal papers as her last stint as a receptionist, her parents all but forced her to be an escort after her father pulled some strings. In theory, it sounded grand! Ethelia adored the games every year and who wouldn’t want to orchestrate how the tributes were portrayed? It felt the perfect fit for her few skills: she was from the Capitol (check), she had an overbearingly cheery personality (check), and…. Well, that should be enough, right?

STATS

Deceive - 2 Fight - 0 Lore (knowledge) - 2 Notice - 1 Physique - 2 Provoke - 0 Rapport - 3 Resourcefulness - 1 Stealth - 3 Will - 1

EXTRAS

https://www.pinterest.com/ratgurl666/lovely-as-she/

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2xQkOjESbP1cul5Q97IF12?si=da4ceaacc74d47c8

[noparg]

Curse of the Dead Gods - Preview (March 2020)

Roguelikes are a popular genre and every year we see several newcomers, with Curse of the Dead Gods being one of the newest additions to the roster. It receives inspiration from other roguelikes such as Darkest Dungeon or Slay the Spire, adding its own spin on the formula by being a top-down hack and slasher.

Currently, as of the day of writing this preview, Curse of the Dead Gods is in version 0.17.2 of Early Access, having been released the 3rd of March and the latest update being that of the 18th of March, which added several quality of life and balance changes.

Despite being in Early Access, it is clearly visible that Curse of the Dead Gods is quite a solid game, it more than shines by itself; having beautiful graphics and slick, fast-paced gameplay. A letdown though, is the current lack of soundtrack, but this will probably be solved in future updates. The “story” involves your character being a treasure hunter, who upon trying to loot the temple, gets trapped and cursed inside. Quite a standard roguelike story.

Curse of the Dead Gods distinguishes itself from other games in the genre by doing everything it does really, really, well. The combat requires skill without being completely unforgiving for new players. The difficulty progression is noticeable but fair, instead of sudden spikes in challenge, the player will encounter subtle changes to enemy damage, health, etc.

Along the way, the main mechanic of the game comes into play: curses. These can vary, going from some which can be mixed, and those that are plain miserable, the latter being usually quite strong. The resource that measures whether you receive a curse is called corruption, if your meter reaches 100 (or 120 if you have one of the starting blessings equipped), you receive one. Corruption can be obtained from several sources: getting hit by certain enemies, offering blood in altars (explained later on) and healing at the blood fountain.

Over the course of the game you improve yourself as well, particularly your stats, weapons and relics, but all this coming at a cost, of course. Whenever you find an altar you can choose between offering gold or blood. The first is as straightforward as it gets: you obtain gold as you progress through the levels and can choose to spend it. The second though, is more interesting. Offering blood means you gain an amount of corruption, making you get cursed sooner. With this mechanic in place, even if you have no money can still decide to purchase at an altar, but doing so may land you one of the worse curses. A similar thing happens with blood fountains, these allow you to heal a flat rate of health at the cost of another flat rate of corruption (these may vary depending on the blessings you carry).

These risk-reward mechanics make the player think and decide whether the thing paid for is worth the possible drawback, keeping them on their toes. This also happens with the combat, you can choose to play it safe, or rely on your timing to dodge or parry enemy attacks, which is not as easy as it sounds since it relies on you waiting till the last second.

On top of this, dodging is not completely reliable since it requires stamina, of which you have a limited amount. That said, stamina is recoverable by dodging at the last second, which reimburses the point spent. The problem here is that stamina is also used for combo finishers on your main weapon and any attack with the two handed one, forcing you to choose between dealing more damage and being able to protect yourself.

There are several types of weapons depending on the category, main hand, off hand and two handed. For main hand weapons you can find machetes, maces, macanas and claws. For offhand, shields, revolvers and daggers. Lastly, for two hand weapons you can find dark swords, lances, bows and hammers.

There are also relics, these may be obtained the same way as weapons, from random drops or bought in altars. These relics offer buffs varying in power, from more healing to flat stats, completely based on rng and tend to make or break a run.

Currently there isn’t much variation for any of the items, the pools being rather limited. Same is the case for enemies, currently 6 different ones in the 3rd dungeon. You can see every variation with a few runs. This being a potential drawback for players

On the topic of runs, the standard length of one is about 15 to 30 minutes depending on the speed you play at and the dungeon you chose, as these vary in length. Bosses appear depending on the dungeon as well, the longer the dungeon the more bosses there is, all of them being always the same and in order.

Conclusion

Curse of the Dead Gods is a really worthwhile game even in Early Access. It has great replay value taking into account the skill ceiling is quite high. The graphics are quite impressive as well being very polished. The only letdowns is the current lack of soundtrack, but this is probable to change soon, likewise more enemies and items are scheduled to be added on future updates.

Personal opinion

As mentioned in the review, CotDG is a really good game and worth your time. While playing it I had a great amount of fun. It keeps the balance between being challenging but still telling you “you can do it, go!” In just a few runs, I saw my skill noticeably improve, every enemy shines when they are about to attack, you just need to seize the opportunity and get used to the timing. My only qualms are how lacking the variety of enemies and items is, but as mentioned, this will be addressed in later updates. As a nitpick, before the current version the colors for curses used to be a grayish yellow, instead of the current purple, which I preferred due to the effect on the eyes.

[thetoxicgamer]

Diablo 3’s final season goes out with a bang, answering every request

In order to commemorate the 12-year journey of the Blizzard RPG game, Diablo 3 Season 29 is going all-out. The Diablo 3 Season 29 patch notes go all-out in responding to just about every community request for quality-of-life improvements and balance changes imaginable to craft what promises to be among the most exciting and competitive seasons yet. The season is pitched as Diablo 3's final one, with the team shifting its focus to Diablo 4 seasons after its release. Blizzard’s preliminary Diablo 3 Season 29 PTR patch notes are here, and they give us a look at all the upcoming changes that have been made. Diablo 3 season 28 was already one of the best the game had seen – its last couple of years really shining as the team left to care for it in its twilight era experiment with pushing the limits – and Season 29 looks to follow on from that in style. While that season’s Altar of Rites made for one of the most ridiculous, high-octane seasons ever, Season 29 is instead looking to lean more into interesting competitive changes and community-led balance tweaks. Chief among these is the addition of an official ‘solo self-found’ mode, a complete rework of the game’s Paragon system, and some extremely welcome quality-of-life improvements. The SSF (solo self-found) option has been long requested by players, essentially allowing you to mark yourself as someone who only plays alone with no player trading, meaning you’re entirely reliant on gear you find yourself. With how powerful both multiplayer generally and the ability to trade for high-tier drops is in Diablo 3, giving players who choose to go completely solo their own set of leaderboards is a great boon, and something we’d love to see Diablo 4 include as well. The way Diablo 3 Paragon points work is also changing in Season 29. Previously, the system was almost devoid of any real decision-making, and instead offered basically infinite scaling that meant whoever played for the longest and reached the highest Paragon level would be the strongest player, due to the endless drip-feed of points to your character’s main stat. In Diablo 3 Season 29, you’ll have just 800 Paragon points to spend. That might sound like a lot, but don’t worry – you’ll get there faster than most players can hit the Diablo 4 max level cap. You now have 200 points for each of the four categories, and have complete freedom to distribute them however you want within those, putting all 200 into any single stat bonus should you choose to. Of course, there’s also a new seasonal theme – this almost pales in comparison to the magnitude of some of the changes to core systems, but it does pose some intriguing design questions. Diablo 3 Season 29’s theme is ‘Visions of Enmity’ – Diabolical Fissures that open up while in the open world and lead you into the aforementioned Visions of Enmity, where incredibly dangerous encounters promise rich rewards. These Visions of Enmity can chain together, with fissures inside fissures, and will also feature enemies with all-new monster affixes that can reduce your movement speed and cooldown reduction, cut your healing, or even steal away your character’s main resource. Given that Diablo 3’s open world has traditionally been almost entirely forgotten in favor of Greater Rift farming nowadays, having a genuine reason to go back out there regularly is quite exciting. Speaking of Greater Rifts, the mainstay of the Diablo 3 endgame also gets some love. Some of the least popular monster types have been pulled out in favor of more fun options to fight, while three of the most hated map types – Corvus, Ice Caves, and Spider Caves – have been removed from the Greater Rift rotation entirely, to the joy of us all. Some of the quieter zones have also seen a bump in monster density to make them more appealing. There’s also a number of fun and smart class balance changes in Diablo 3 Season 29. The Crusader gets some love, introducing a Legendary bonus letting you call down Fist of the Heavens automatically as you ride around on your War Horse. Perhaps the all-time most famous build, the GoD Demon Hunter, gets a five-second buffer, meaning you’ll no longer have to risk a repetitive strain injury mashing keys to keep your Momentum buffs up. To round us off, the Witch Doctor’s ridiculous Angry Chicken build even gets some love – promising the ability to fashion a full swarm of plucky cluckers that bound around, seeking out enemies and exploding for huge damage. It probably still won’t be topping those Greater Rift leaderboards, but it’s the kind of delightful change that makes me genuinely look forward to picking up a class I haven’t touched in a while. Diablo 3 Season 29 start date The Diablo 3 Season 29 PTR start date is Tuesday August 15, 2023, and it runs for two weeks, ending on August 29, 2023. That means we can expect the season proper to start in early September, so it’s likely that the Diablo 3 Season 29 start date will be September 5 or September 12, 2023. There’s a lot going on in the ARPG space right now, with the announcement of Titan Quest 2, the reveal of Path of Exile 2, the run-up to the Last Epoch full release, and of course the ongoing first season of Diablo 4. However, if you’ve ever thought about revisiting Diablo 3, when better than to join in than for its last full rodeo before the game moves into repeating old seasons from Season 30 onwards. Diablo community manager Adam ‘PezRadar’ also confirms that the Season 28 Altar of Rites, which won’t be present for this season, will return as a permanent addition to the core game and all future seasons after this. For all its lows and highs over the years, I can’t think of a better way to see off Diablo 3 than this. We’ve got the best Diablo 3 builds if you’re ready to join for one last ride, or you can check out more of the best games like Diablo if you’re after something new. Read the full article

[zhoras-bitch]

Overall, you are on point. Obviously, interactive fiction requires a lot of planning and revision. Even classic fiction writers regularly come back and rewrite earlier chapters of their stories for continuity reasons. And an interactive story with branching, meaningful choices, different mechanics etc.? It's no surprise that RC writers struggle to pull off a series finale.

I think one of the most shining examples of how detrimental RC model can be to the quality of the story right now is SOTCN. If you read the 2-3 chapters once every 2 months, it seems fine, but if you binge read the story now, the plot holes are incredibly obvious. For example, there is a scene in the beginning of season 1 with Amen talking to one of the hunters which seems to clearly suggest they don't know Remmao and his students are dark mages... Until the last update where we find out that no, apparently they knew Remmao was a mage all along. It’s so clear the author only had a very rough outline of the characters, plot points and ideas when the series began. This is why authors come back and rewrite things as the story develops. But RC model doesn't allow for such revisions, resulting in the issues we see.

Some additional thoughts.

Firstly, RC authors are expected to do a lot of work. There are the normal things that you'd expect, like researching the topic, creating the outline of the story and actually writing the chapters for every update, but they also manage the visual aspect of the story (finding references, interacting with the art team, making decisions as to how to allocate resources like the number of cut scenes etc.) AND they do the work of a game designer (figuring out the mechanics, the branching, doing the math). Game designer is actually it's own job with a skillset very different from a traditional writer! Of course, RC mechanics are way more simple, but it's still a lot of work that requires a diverse set of skills.

RC model does allow for a lot of creative freedom, but that too is a double-edged sword. RC writers have very strong voices and distinct styles. However, when the author is weaker in some areas, they don't have anyone to make up for it. You can see each of the author's strengths and weaknesses very clearly. For example, Jester (MB, LOTW & Psi), who is one of my favourite writers, has interesting worlbuilding, captivating plots, great romance... but his stories are very linear, more like a traditional book than an interactive game. Outside of the LI you choose, there is not much branching in the story up until the very end. Then you have Alexander Tepish (SIF, LFOS, LSE), also one of my favourites, who is a great game designer. His stories is where you have to think about the stats, which will affect the story, and there is a lot of different dialogue you can get depending on what you choose, which is super fun! But his characters are overall pretty one-dimensional, and his writing style is dry and plain.

Furthermore, you are not wrong, at least a few RC authors don't have a background in writing, nor in game development, as we know from their interviews. It's not necessarily crucial... but combined with the magnitude and diversity of their responsibilities, lack of editorial oversight, inability to come back and change something once you figure out the ropes... I'm sure you get why the quality of the stories can vary so much.

On an unrelated note, I wanted to add my two cents and say that visual novels are a recent genre, but not that recent. Like, compared to traditional fiction, they sure are, but RC is far from the first interactive story game. For example, my gateway to RC was through otome games (Japanese interactive fiction games targeted towards women), and those were around since the 1990s. Some of them have very linear plots similar to traditional novels, but others actually incorporate surprisingly complex mechanics more similar to quest games, not even close to anything RC has ever attempted. Level of branching and number of endings varies too. That being sad, the existence of these games won't help you much if you've never played them and have no background in game development, which, as we established, a lot of RC writers don't.

Why I Think RC Has Trouble Sticking Their Landings

(Or, a pantser talks about structure and DLS for like 8 paragraphs)

My short answer: Because these stories are first drafts

Longer answer: ⬇️

1) (Lack of) Developmental editing

RC's model has its authors write long stories 2-4 chapters at a time. As much as the authors might perfect these chapters, they have no way to change something later on if they realize a scene no longer matches the big picture. An author may revise and make a batch of 4 flawless chapters, but it still doesn't mean they will fit the story seamlessly.

Developmental editing, according to this article, "involves feedback on the big picture of a […] writing piece. A developmental editor will critique structural elements like the plot, characters, theme, and organization of ideas." They also say that this kind of editing is recommended after the first or second draft.

So this type of revision would help an author make sure every character has its place (too many LIs and uneven LI screentime could be fixed), that characterization is consistent, that the plot is clear and moving at a good pacing, etc.

In DLS, for example, things that might be revised after a developmental editing: Leo's introduction scenes not matching his characterization later on, the Leo/Vlad rivalry that seems a bit strange in hindsight, more prominent role and scenes for Sandra, a more consistent progression in Noe/Laia and Ezel/Laia routes, fairer distribution of LI scenes (🫠), Laia's character motivations, the plot mysteries might be revealed to the reader a bit earlier, etc.

But these stories are arguably first drafts that will never be revised holistically (like Choices stories are/used to be, as far as I'm aware), so problems that only become clear once you're further along might not be fixed satisfactorily (or at all).

What sort of problems? Well...

2) Structure, part I

So the visual novel medium is fairly recent, right? Choose Your Own Adventure stories have existed for a while, but, I'm pretty sure, not in the scale of RC stories. 3 seasons demand a lot of story. And the thing is, I'm not sure there is a lot of guidance out there regarding story structure for interactive stories? Not that I've found, at least.

This is a problem, I think, because even if these authors follow the existing material on story structure (Save the Cat, Hero's Journey, Classic 3 Act, Seven-Point Structure, etc.), they will have to do the work of adapting it for a visual novel that A) has 3 seasons as a default, and B) 3 seasons of more or less equal length.

Look, it absolutely can be done! But my point is, I think it's generally uncharted territory and requires a lot of problem-solving. It's not just figuring what must happen in this story for it to be satisfying, it's also deciding when each thing must happen in a way that fits the requirements of three seasons and their finales, which must all fit together, but also be individually exciting and balance setup and payoff. And there is no way to go back and fix it if you realize you messed up the pacing somewhere! Not to mention…

3) Structure, part II: Routes

Not only do they have to figure out plot and structure (without being able to revise the finished story as a whole), but they also need to figure out and balance at least 4 different dynamics. As in, when it gets established, how to keep those dynamics fresh even after they get together, and how to synchronize MC's development with that relationship and its milestones. And again, it's not like there is a manual or a right answer. You have to write and fix afterwards — except they can't 😀. So if an author realizes later on that x couple needed a scene earlier on, or that they rushed things, or any other problem, there is nothing to be done except maybe add more scenes that might stand out from whatever they're trying to correct.

A tiny example of this problem in DLS would be Leo and Laia telling Derya that they're dating, which is clearly a correction of the scene in 4x02 where Laia called him "a friend" because "[she] thought it went against local customs to make a show of pre-marital relationships". In 2019 Istanbul. It would just make more sense if she had just called him her boyfriend in the first place.

4) Authors

I'll admit I'm least informed about this one, but based on a few interviews I've read with the authors, it seems some of them have never written fiction or visual novels before…? I could be wrong! But! Imagine being new to this medium and having to figure all of that ⬆️ out, with the limitations that RC's model brings. I'm not sure how much training and/or assistance they get in this entire process. It just seems a lot for one person.

And I have no answers for any of this, by the way! I don't work there, I don't know how the company works or how it doesn't. This is just my tentative opinion based on my limited experience with writing. It's extremely hard, and I genuinely cannot imagine trying to do any of that ⬆️ in the first place, but especially if I had to get it right on the first try.

Every writing advice on Earth recommends multiple drafts on longform writing because it's impossible to make your story the best it can be on the first attempt. So I think the RC endings often being unsatisfying might be, mainly, a consequence of that.

[less-than-three-3]

my shin megami tensei retrospective (after nocturne)

For the past 2 years I’ve gotten into and fallen in love with SMT, starting with Nocturne (yes I did start with the remaster I know I’m a sinner) and pretty much playing every game available on the 3DS and Switch (besides Devil Survivor). I don’t aim to do a like armchair dev game design analysis thing here, but I do want to just talk about and think about what sucked me into these games, what didn’t really land, and why I would or wouldn’t recommend them. There will probably be spoilers so this is the warning, but I’ll keep it fairly lean since there are so many different endings of all these games anyways.

What I’ll just get out of the way first is that I have not played (nor do I really have the desire to) persona, but I’ve watched plenty of people play them from my friends to internet funnymen. I know there’s like some beef between persona and smt fans for some reasons or another and I just like am not interested in that either. I really don’t care for social sim/visual novel stuff and high school tropes and all that jazz, so I know I will not really enjoy the parts of the game that are not the combat. But it’s just not for me, I got nothing really that much against persona. Just a disclaimer for the rest of this piece.

The combat and constant evolution and team building is probably the main aspect of SMT that keeps me drawn in. This is an entirely uncontroversial take as I know plenty of people go “you play SMT for the master class gameplay and just accept the rest as ok”. I’ll come back to that claim specifically in a bit, but I want to really emphasize about how great the gameplay loop is.

First and foremost is demon fusion and negotiation. You like pokemon evolution? You like the constant feeling of growth and strength? You like little mothmen calling you a dipshit? The persistent cycle of leveling up, fusing demons, and learning new skills makes for incredibly addicting progression as you power up. At every step of the way I would be looking at my compendium and planning my next fusions and how to fuse them or who I am willing to turn into fodder for the new guy. Demons naturally falling off and being harder to level is a genius way to encourage that kind of loop, even though later in the game you usually can unlock a power to just keep up your old demons stat-wise (especially useful for support abilities). It does usually slow down by the endgame as leveling becomes a little harder and demons become more sparse but I never really find that to be much of a hindrance because at that point I am just trying to get to the finish line anyways. Negotiations are a great mechanic for giving each demon personality and silly bits, even though it can sometimes sort of be a crapshoot for what the right answer is, but I never feel bad for missing out a recruitment because you lose nothing and can just try again in the next encounter. 

The pace of the game fits this very well, you’re never stopped in your tracks for particularly extended periods of time usually, and even if you are I never felt like it was nearly as grueling as in, say, some other games. This does mean that many people won’t really find the plot and characters particularly mindblowing since, though that doesn’t mean the stories are generally put on the backburner, there just isn’t that much time spent building it all explicitly. In a post-souls, botw, etc. world, I think people can generally accept that a game’s world and characters can be pretty well built even if they don’t have a movie’s worth of cutscenes. The plots of the games aren’t or shouldn’t be barebones or minimal in any way, I just mean that not having 30 minutes of cutscenes between dungeons and 10 different activities to do before the next combat segment really helps make the gameplay loop shine.

And what good is the teambuilding if the combat doesn’t work? Luckily, Press Turn is an insanely satisfying and punishing combat mechanic rewarding knowledge and strategy while also being able to severely punish thoughtless or mashing (or unlucky) players. It’s slightly deeper than type advantages in like Pokemon or a weapon triangle or something because you can not only gain turns but very easily lose turns, but still simple enough that you can brute force your way through many encounters and some bosses. But some bosses can be very mean, in good ways and bad ways, and having that extra little aspect to play with means boss design can get really interesting. Or they can Almighty spam. 

It doesn’t really seem like it adds that much but I think Press Turn (or rather, the lack thereof) is pretty much the reason I really didn’t get into Soul Hackers and thus didn’t finish it though I gave it a good shot. Even if the overall strategy might be similar, I felt that the lack of Press Turn (in addition to the rest of the game being a little antiquated) was really noticeable, even if I couldn’t exactly articulate why. Strange Journey Redux is a similar kind of example, though it does have Demon Co-Op which was an acceptable change of pace to me, though I definitely still would have just preferred a Press Turn game.

The dungeon crawling is another pretty well known aspect of these games, and I can totally get why. They aren’t like “puzzles at literally every turn” kind of dungeons, but they are generally pretty interesting to explore and map out. Some puzzles can go fuck themselves (teleporters and the wind puzzle from 5...) but overall they are incredibly well designed. They just weren’t what drew me into the game per se. Just a neat aspect that I think easily gets really overlooked in the era of open world games and hallways. If you want interesting areas to scope out in a dungeon crawler, SMT is pretty good for that.

SMT, of course, has also a reputation for being hard as nails. And I agree, there’s a lot of really fucking tough bosses and dungeons to get through no matter which game. But, unless you are SMT4 Minotaur/Medusa or Mem Aleph or SMT5 Shiva (ok that one’s a superboss but still), it never felt like a bad kind of challenge. You can figure out what you’re doing wrong, what you’re lacking either in terms of strategy, team comp/moves, or equipment. And if you’re around the level you should be you can get through it. I wouldn’t really say it’s casual-unfriendly, though it is sort of why I can hesitate to recommend the series to those less familiar with turn based combat, just demanding of your full attention and proper planning. 

The little changes between the games do a lot to keep these aspects fresh too. The Magatamas in 3 and the Aogami essences in 5 give you a lot of freedom for building the protag, for example. Smirk is possibly the best addition (and worst removal?) to the series in my opinion though, even if it was a little overtuned in 4, but in both 4 and Apocalypse it not only made hitting weaknesses/crits even more satisfying, but with Smirk’s immunity to crits and statuses there is an extra layer to planning when to do your big damage turns instead of just wailing on the opponent every single turn. It also makes some bosses fucking tough (looking at you, Minotaur), and can very very easily turn the tides of a battle one way or the other. It’s such a cool mechanic that I am a little sad that it is locked on the 3DS when they didn’t bring it back for 5. 

Another thing that I think 4 and Apocalypse excelled at was actually the story. Yeah, the thing that everyone says is mid. I know a lot of true diehard SMT fans say Nocturne is the best but I don’t really get it. I think in Nocturne, the Reasons are interesting moreso than the Law and Chaos dichotomy that is usually present but at the same time all of the alignment reps are just kind of psycho (which, sure, understandable given the circumstances) and I just feel like siding with the sane person who wants to make the world back to normal is really the thing that makes most sense. I felt like maybe people just consider the Nocturne story as the best philosophically but I didn’t really care for it as a device for driving my decisions and investment in the plot. Strange Journey Redux was fine? Nothing too much to write home about it’s pretty much even more straightforward than Nocturne. 

4′s Law/Chaos/Neutral may not have been exactly the deepest things in the world, but I felt like the characters were all at least charming, and it has by far the most unique setting and worldbuilding out of the bunch. Its incorporation into Apocalypse is what really sets it apart. Playing the events from an entirely different point of view, as someone living in wasted Tokyo instead of the Samurai coming down from above to save the world, on top of having some of the best characters, genuinely tense, emotional, and interesting scenes and plot points easily makes the duology my favorite of the bunch. YHVH being the most creative and interesting boss out of them all also helped.

On the other side of the pond is 5 which, I mean, sure is a plot? I never really ever cared for any of the school portion, and actively felt like a specific major plot point at school and the resulting events were absolutely absurd and avoidable and just... fucking stupid. But I kind of like the alignment reps a little? More than most people online, I think. I don’t really know how to say it but I just never really felt wowed by a lot of the plot points even towards the end, and like I said above the entire first like third was just pointless. So if this was your first or 2nd SMT game I can totally get why you would be like “yeah the story is just ok but...”

And this is kind of why I find it hard to actively recommend this series to everyone I know. It’s a series that sucks me in for so long and I just want to keep going back, but it’s also a series that I think has some aspects that can turn people off. It just so happens to hit all my buttons and avoids all the bullshit I actually don’t like (and also I have 3DS so I can play the best one). In the end, if you’re a JRPG fan I could not recommend SMT enough. If you liked Persona, I will hesitate before mentioning it, because it is missing some parts that you probably liked from those games? And even the games that are trying to be more like Persona just kind of end up being like... SMT5. But hey, maybe you’ll fall in love with the pace of the gameplay loop more than in Persona. Just maybe get a 3DS with those games before eshop fully shuts down.

[sailor-peeking]

A Mini D&D Guide For Eddie Munson Fans! (Aka how to do the d&d thing)

So you found yourself writing a character who's playing D&D and you've never played a session in your entire life.

Here are the basics as told by a me! (A DM🤘)

[other players feel free to add stuff I may have left out in the comments PLEASE!]

First! A campaign is a complete story told together as a group. However, every time you play is not it's own campaign. If your story takes up multiple games to complete those individual games are called sessions!

I personally as a DM find it best when my characters have notebooks for longer campaigns to take notes.

Let's start with the positions! The hard part.

There are two main positions you can be you can be the dungeon master (DM for short) or you can be a player.

The dungeon master: is kind of like a guide! They're there to assist the players in telling a full story. The dungeon master is not the players enemy. If the players die the DM does not win. The two positions are friends in the endeavor. Dungeon master usually have multiple characters to play these are called NPCS aka not player characters (very similar to video games. Think the villagers from Minecraft) these are there to help your player characters along OR be there for you or enemy. Note: your villain is an NPC. But that still doesn't make your DM your enemy.

The second position is

Your Players: these is everyone else in the group! Your player will have classes and levels and races. PAUSE.

"But sailor if they're people of course they have races!" Yes they do have that but a race is considered your species [for example : elf, half elves, gnome, dwarf, Goliath, and half orc] each race has their own stats I won't get into those here because there were too many to cover but you can do research on your own a good resource if you're just beginning is the website D&D beyond!

Your class is another important part of your character that decides what you can do there are magic classes and non magical ones and it's good to have a wide variety in your group. [For example the hellfire club has: a Bard (Dustin) who are very persuasive and usually kind of fun and energetic music tends to play a big part of them as a character, a paladin (Mike) like a knight in shining armor they're kind of like you're really cool police friend, your ranger (Lucas) warriors of nature! And several more! Barbarian, cleric, mage, rogue, etc.

Now that you've done all of that reading! (Good job kiddo!) Here's the easy part dice. For the sake of simplicity we will be using 5e rule (5th edition) instead of the historically correct 1e rules because stranger things doesn't use those rules.

You have several dice in a set

D20 - helps you determine if you can perform a task that you would like! The bigger the number the higher your success the lower the number the more likely you fail. If you get it 20 you automatically succeed. If you get a one you automatically fail. In your stats you will get modifiers here's where you do a little math and add up when you roll.

Your other dice- can be used for damage! Usually a specific attack or spell that does damage will have you roll a certain die. (Usually, a D4, D6, or D10 or sometimes several for bigger attacks)

D2???- And of course to help you make decisions there is your two-sided die aka a COIN! Some die come with a cute coin piece that goes with the set but I personally have a trusty quarter.

Together as characters with the help of your DM and dice you will go on adventures and face encounters.

An encounter: are simply just fights and battles that you may face! To get out of them you must fight or use your magic abilities to take over an enemy. Or maybe even persuade them to your side.

So you've face every encounter your DM has thrown your way and faced off the big bad guy!

Congrat! you've come to the end of your campaign and feels like you've won. In a way you kind of have! But just because you 'win' doesn't mean that your DM has lost you have won as a group in telling a story. You have successfully done... "the D&D thing!!!"

[dinandgone]

Fic Recommendations Pt 7:

Hi 👋, well it’s that time of the week again, and I’d like to say a big thank you for 300 followers 🥳🎊🎉 I love every single one of ya 💛. But in celebration I’d like to focus on some amazing creators on here. So without further ado here are some of the writers whose works I’ve been loving recently. Please go and show them all the love they deserve! 💕

Please note: A few of these fics are 18+ so naturally if you are a child the door is there ➡️🚪, please close it on your way out, thanking you. And as always individual warnings are on the fics themselves.

Sweet Like Candy(Oneshot) ~(Javier Peña Fem!Reader) by @1800-fight-me - If you frequent my fic recs then y’all know that her blog is one of my favourites, all of her writing is top tier and oh this fic didn’t fall short. Written by my darling Jo, this fic has a little bit of everything, from angst to 🔥spiciness🔥, and I’ve said it once but I’ll say it again I am here for it ALL. It’s one of my favourite Javi tropes and Jo has just done it so beautifully well like she always does. You can find her main masterlist here.

You were my new dream(and you were mine) (Oneshot)~ (Din Djarin x Fem!Reader) by @keeper0fthestars - Oh man this fic 🥺. Where do I start? I stumbled across this on my tl, read the title and the little summary and thought “oooh I’ll read this later”. I came back to it, read it and oh my. It’s one of the most beautiful things I have read in my life. The writing is phenomenal. The setting, the descriptions, the characters that are layered with emotion and a depth that just makes it feel so real, it genuinely feels like you’re there seeing all of it play out and that’s so difficult to do really well in writing and I was just blown away, the talent shines through every sentence. You can find her main masterlist here.

Well, This Is Awkward(Series)~ (Dave York x Fem!Reader) by @pedro-pascal-love - Have I recommended this fic before? Yes. Yes I have. Am I going to recommend it again? Um YES. Yes I am. I have been following this fic since it began in December, and the last chapter was posted last week. And oh my what a finale, it was… so so good. It was everything and MORE. I was well and truly sent on a whirlwind of emotions from stat to finish. You can find her main masterlist here.

Sinking Ships(Oneshot)~ (Din Djarin x Fem!Reader) by @omgreally - Okay this. THIS. I honestly don’t know why it doesn’t have more notes because it’s a piece of writing that I didn’t know I needed. It’s just so sweet 🥺 and it honestly just filled a space in my heart that I didn’t know needed filling. It just shows a side of Din that I haven’t really seen explored before and it’s just written so well. You can find her main masterlist here.

The Cabin(Part of the Forest Ranger Frankie AU) ~(ForestRanger!Frankie Morales x Fem!Reader) by @the-ginger-hedge-witch - oof this fic got me good, it got me real good. The way she writes Frankie is just amazing, the way his character is just so loving ugh 😩 I can’t , and don’t even get me started on the 🔥 spice🔥, god if I died after reading that I’d die happy I’ll tell you that. You can find her main masterlist here.

Harder to Hold(Series) ~(Jack ‘Whiskey’ Daniels x Fem!Reader) by @brandyllyn - first of all I am obsessed with this fic, the way it’s flipped the enemies to lovers trope is just 😗🤌. The way they write Jack’s character is just so perfectly in depth and it just fits him so well. And the most recent chapter, I was a fool to assume I was ready to read it because oh boy it was good and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to be developed further. You can find their main masterlist here.

Kiss the Scars(Oneshot) ~(Din Djarin x Fem!MandalorianReader) by @second-stars-totheright - okay so how I missed this when it came out I don’t have a fucking clue because it’s one of the most beautifully amazing things I’ve read on here and it genuinely made me cry. Honestly the way Stars writes is always amazing but the way she wrote the vulnerability in this is so fantastically detailed and I loved every single word of it. You can find her main masterlist here. (Please go through these links because Tumblr have decided to be a dick and shadowban the lovely stars and I’m determined to make sure her work is seen- her main blog is @rattlethe-stars )

Nocturne(Oneshot)~ (Laszlo Kreizler x Fem!Reader) by @clints-lucky-arrow - honestly I think Mack has brightened my month with all the fabulous writing she’s posted, it’s never ending talent and I’m picking up everything she’s putting down. Ah my heart wasn’t ready for this 🥺😩This fic was just lovely and Mack always writes so beautifully, the characters the imagery all rolled up into one big skilfully amazing package. Thank you my darling for blessing us with all this writing. You can find her main masterlist here.

[corvoda]

Hi I ran his Twitter account, I'm about to dump everything i got about that hunk of scrap metal (most affectionate thing i can call him)

(art by Birbteef)

Simple background, i joined blaseball at the end of Season 11, and picked favorites based on names alone at first, and being a Firefighters fan, picked Joshua Butt as my fav. Season 12 rolls around and Joshy is the first player to die, lucky me, so i needed a new fav. Suddenly the stars align and they all shine upon this weirdo; Kennedy Rodgers.

I prefer Nonhuman characters. I got into blaseball because it was weird, so i am drawn towards the weird players.

I have a soft spot for clockwork themes thanks to Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, my fav game ever. Kennedy Rodgers is a "clockwork automaton made of mostly gears and various time-telling instruments".

I'm an absolute SUCKER for Underdogs, and Season 12 made him the SHINING EXAMPLE of one.

During Earlsiesta, Season 12, Rodgers gained the Under Over modification as part of the Seasonal Reading.

This is the first blessing the Reader has EVER given out. Curry Aliciakeyes got "Over Under", which did the exact opposite, so it was actually a Curse. Under Over activates at the start of EVERY GAME, whether he's actually playing or not. It's pretty fitting for a robot, especially with this text at the start of every single game. He really wanted to make himself be known, even if he's just cheering from the dugout.

And then During the Season 12 elections, the Chicago Firefighters received the Organ Replacements blessing, which increased Rodgers' pitching from 1.5-Stars to 2.5-Stars. Only 2.5, boosted by 20% in most cases thanks to his ability, yeah, but still only 2.5. Look at him, he's shit.

So season 13 rolls around and he gets to show off his new shoes. We expect a decent showing, how's he do?

ONLY THE BEST SEASON OF HIS ENTIRE GODDAMN CAREER.

2.5 FUCKING STAR PITCHER

That was better than Jaylen Hotdogfingers. Better W/L Ratio than Gabriel Griffith, who had a 1.9 ERA that season. KRod's wasn't that far off. Polkadot Patterson was at 13/7 with a 2.10. he was up there with some of the greats.

It didn't last long, he went back to being Average soon after this, but he was always much better than youd expect by just looking at him. Under Over carried him hard, and the Sim's team-win-estimation didn't account for it either. If a game was estimated to be a close fight and Krod was pitching, you better bet on Krod every time.

____________________________

Lets stop talking stats for a moment and talk about him as a person.

He originally played for the Wild Wings, and joined the Firefighters after the wing's season 7 championship. Firefighters were meant to trade 3 players with the wings, but due to some classic Sim shenanigans we only got 2, Krod and Jose Haley. Jose died almost immediately after joining the Firefighters so Krod was suddenly here from out of country all on his own, in a place he's actually never been before (i dont think the wings/ffs ever had a game together up to that point due to how Divisions worked). He was really shy, and joined as the weakest pitcher in the FFs rotation.

He's often seen as one of the most Optimistic players on the team. He knew he wasn't good but he didn't let it get to him much. He took every loss as a learning opportunity. He wanted to improve himself in any way possible but i don't think he wanted the fame of being a good player. He played along side Burke Gonzales, so he knew what it could be like. Staying an underdog was the perfect spot for him. His endless Curiosity and Creativity meant even in the worst of times he'd try to find a bright side and cheer others up, and wanted to teach others everything he knew. He was a real Info-dumper kinda guy. It takes something REALLY bad to put him in a bad mood.

SUN HEIST.

Hopefully i have this story correct, but this is how i understand it went down.

The Wild Wings ballpark is called the Bucket. What do they put in a Bucket? Chicken? Wrong. it's a Sun.

Deep down in the pits of the Bucket there is a Sun. Not THE Sun, but A Sun. The Bucket was built to contain that stolen sun. A lot of things at the Bucket use this old sun as a power source. Fast Forward many years, Season 11, and Tot Fox does that thing where the actual Sun (we'll call it Sol) collapses into a black hole. Sunbeams obviously in a panic. Sol isnt dead tho, it's stuck inside. It calls out to Sandy Crossing and tells her to get the Wings to help, they'd know what to do. A few of the older wings players are like;

"oh ya, so we have this old sun in our basement. it's kinda a big deal, we don't tell many people about it, especially not you guys since we figured you wouldn't like that. We have a place for Sol if you need it, but you need to get it first."

They do this whole mission, sending Brock Watson into the black hole to rescue Sol. It's heavily condensed, small, and very weak. they rush it to the Bucket asap, and they feed The Bucket's Old Sun to Sol. The two combine into one and Sol is saved, and kept in the bucket for safe keeping.

There was a short period of time when the Bucket's old sun was just gone, eaten by Sol, so a lot of Bucket's Tech stopped working until the sun fusion finished. And that included poor K-Rod, all the way in Chicago, who had no idea of this Old Sun business. He was left in the dark about how he was powered. He was awake, doing his usual routine, making a watch, prepping for the next fire call, when he suddenly drops dead for a few hours. Everyone in the firehouse is in a panic because nobody knew how to fix K-Rod better than K-Rod himself. Eventually the Sun fusion is completed in Mexico and K-Rod wakes up, terrified and confused.

It takes a shockingly long time to hear anything from the Wild Wings about what caused this, since the Wings were still stressed over letting the Old Sun get eaten, and that whole thing about Brock going into a black hole. They hadn't even considered K-Rod until a bit later. Burke Gonzales travels all the way up to Chicago to check on K-Rod and explain the whole thing. Kennedy is incredibly upset about this whole thing, for a good number of reasons. The fact that they forgot about him, the fact that they never told him about the one thing keeping him alive, the fact that multiple wings knew about it and nobody thought he should be included in that info, and possibly also the fact that he's a firefighter now and his primary power source is A SUN!? THE FIREFIGHTERS' ENEMY NUMBER ONE?!

He has a very rough relationship with the Wings now. Mexico is still his home, and they're his home team, but He's from Chicago. Chicago is his home now. He still kinda felt like an outsider in Chicago tho, he was still fairly new to the team, and was a pretty solitary guy, so he didn't have any really close friends, just friendly work acquaintances. He looks back at CDMX in rose-tinted goggles nowadays. He only wants to remember the good old times he had there, but refuses to go back, and his love for his old team is more bitter than sweet now. He misses them a lot.

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At the end of Season 14, Firefighters get a new player. Thanks to a deal with the Lovers, they land an absolute Jackpot of a player. Gabriel Fucking Griffith.

Gabriel is the opposite of K-Rod in every conceivable way. He's got a massive ego, he's a gloat, he's loud and bombastic, wanting all focus on him at all times. He can Pitch, he can Run, he can Bat, he can Catch, he puts his blaseball career first, firefighting second, and on top of all of that, he actually has the reputation to back it up.

K-Rod keeps his distance from this guy. He keeps his eye on him to learn some new tricks for himself, but he can't stand the attitude. Especially Gabriel's destructive anger management after losing a game. Their occasional talks are friendly, and K-Rod does slowly try to teach him that winning isn't everything. Even a Pro can learn from their Losses. The best thing to do is to keep moving forward and keep trying your best. That's all anyone can ask for in the end. Blaseball is hell, and he shouldn't make it harder for himself than he needs to, especially as Firefighters. Just find a way to enjoy it. That's been K-Rod's way of going about it up to this point. Gabe really appreciated the pep talks. They slowly started to get along.

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Ohohohohhoo season 19

Season 19 is when the game got turned Upside Down. Winning was now Losing, and Losing was now Winning. And you know who this hurt the most? Gabriel? You'd think but no, it was actually Kennedy.

The one thing K-Rod focused on was his improvement. He put a very large chunk of his regular free time to trying to find ways to improve himself, and knowing that all he had to do was try his best. Suddenly that's no longer a positive thing. All that effort he's put into himself is not just wasted, its a Hindrance to the team. His Under Over skill, which makes him play better, is now actively hurting the team. It feels like the game is tearing him apart piece by piece with every game he plays. Shockingly, the one person who's not upset by this is Gabriel.

Gabe sits down with K-Rod and gives him a mirror of the speech K-Rod had given him before. They don't have a choice other than to try their best, so why not keep doing it? This season sucks for everyone, not just K-Rod, so he shouldn't take anything personally. It's a learning opportunity on how to adapt to weird changes. The Tokyo Lift had that Hype-Train thing going on that season and were the best team in the league. Nothing made any sense. They should just have fun. That's all that mattered, its why people watched the games. It's why Gabe acts so bombastic. Everyone likes to see the players have fun. Learn to put on a show.

Somehow, Tokyo managed to make the playoffs, despite the Wins=Lose thing. and in the playoffs, the Wins=Lose thing did not apply. Firefighters, the worst team in the Wild High Division (best? We won a lot and that's bad), managed to make it into the playoffs as a Wildcard, facing off against the Tokyo Lift round 1. It was obvious the Lift were going to wipe the floor with us. They had max Hype-train, meaning their home games gave them such a massive advantage that it was barely a fair game. Two of the 3 games were played in Tokyo. One of which was against the Firefighters best pitcher, Lou Roseheart, and one of them against our pitcher who just suffered a major peanut allergy, and had become one of our worst players, Caleb Alvarado.

Game one, despite her best efforts, Lou Roseheart, our best pitcher, let 10.7 runs go. a 10.7 to 1 score. There was no way Caleb could win in those same conditions. Kennedy, luckily, was the pitcher who pitched the game held at the Firehouse. Wing's won their Season 7 championships as the Wildcard team and he was the worst on the team back then. Now here he is, Wildcarded back into the postseason, worst team in the division, and he's got one last chance to finally shine. To make the world know his name.

0-6. He pitched a Shutout. Half of those innings without his Under Over skill in effect. He simply refused to let them win. Sure, the Lift didn't have their ridiculous advantage in that game, and Firefighters didn't win that set. Lift went on to win all of Season 19. But it wasn't about that. It was growth. Spite. Not Spite for the Lift, but for Blaseball as a whole. Fuck this game and everything it stands for. He's here to try his best and support his friends. That's all he's here for. And he is having fun doing it.

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That's the end of his story. He ended up being Faxed into the shadows in season 21, and due to his low Star total, never came back out. The closest thing we have to anything after that is Anastasia Isarobot. She was a player in the Shadows of the Firefighters since season 16. the common story for her was that she was made by K-Rod and Fran Beans of the Wing. K-Rod and Fran were friends, and she didn't know about the Sun Heist stuff either, so the two of them kept in contact. K-Rod wanted to make a robot of his own, one he could keep out of Blaseball. One who could live their own life. Anastasia (Staj) was like a daughter to him. When fall-ball happened, Staj was dropped to the Wings, but K-Rod never came back. Staj was, also, the best player in the entire ILB.

Maybe all the improvement K-Rod tried to apply to himself carried over into her construction. He didn't want her to play Blaseball and now here she is, forced to play, better than her dad ever could be. And she gets snuffed out in Season 1, by the same book that caused all the hell they were in before. She never had a chance. She might go through the same hell as Jaylen Hotdogfingers. The worst fate that any player could ever endure.

And then they were all released. Thats it. Krod, Staj, everyone, finally set free. it's so sudden. I can only wish them the best. I love all these players more than you could possibly imagine. I actually drove myself to tears writing this whole thing. When i was running K-Rod's Twitter account, I wrote him a lot like myself, because he already kinda was like me. But in the end he became something much more, he became the kinda guy i wanted to be. Its very weird to look up to a guy I practically helped write, but i really do.

I had only a passive interest in Robot characters prior to Blaseball, but now here i am, V-Tubing as a Robot on the internet, with a new fascination in old computers and engineering. I even have a drawing of Staj on my office wall at work, in the same way you'd hang up a picture of your own kid.

I'll never be the same. @fintenciate im @ing you here because im sure this post will kill you as much as it kills me.

I've been sad about Blaseball lately

You should tell me about your Blaseball blorbo, especially if they aren't one that's well known. I mean, I wouldn't mind if you want to tell me why you like Jessica Telephone or Mike Townsend or PolkaDot Patterson anyway. But I especially want to hear if you have a guy (gn) that's constantly rotating in your mind.