#and i gotta finish the party designs for my game

[she-anemone]

opened up rpgmaker for 30 whole minutes today. game mastery here I come!!

[maydaymadier]

Tagged by @joycrispy

Rules: Make a new post and post your latest/most recent line from your WIP and tag as many people as there are words.

Okay, the 'active' wip has been on the back-burner a bit since the 5e campaign I'm running is about to wrap the current arc so we're gonna have bits and pieces from a few different things.

This is actually the follow-up to something I wrote and then decided 'No, there's more, I need to write a sequel.' So the original is called Fox in the Hen House, the current project is The Quickest Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach. I will say that this is a vampire project where everyone is trying to communicate but no one wants to change. A tagline I wrote for the series: Vampirism as self-destruction. Love as consumption. Eat his heart to keep it close to yours.

LINE from the wip:

"What am I supposed to say to that?  What do you want to hear?  That I have a problem?  Do you think I don’t fucking know that?  This was never a problem for you before."

TAGGING PEOPLE: @shaylogic @doccystrangelove @liquid-fire-hazard @renaissaniccatherine @vigothebloodprince

DND STUFF!! Bc I'm excited about it and wanna show people

So there's a 20-card fortune-telling deck in my campaign setting and I'd like to get all 20 done soon-ish, I've already made one, card 4, The Vestibule, they would all be in this style. Doing a minimalist/lineless thing so I don't get stuck designing the individual details of things for 5 million years.

This was the response my wizard got to her Divination spell when asked if she would ever see her deceased friend again (whose ghost she saw recently)

Rings forged from the same metal have a habit of finding each other.

And if we're sticking to art things for a bit I did a test line-up of the party I play a paladin in (Reverence, tiefling redemption paladin), to get a better idea of everyone's relative heights and to see how all the colors and shapes look next to each other. I've been meaning to come up with proper designs for these characters for ages.

[dr-spectre]

Guess what game I just finished!!!

I dont have a lot to say on this because I think over the past 20 years people have already said enough.

But... MY GOD! The level of variety, creativity, and fresh ideas each chapter brings holy SHITTTT!!! One moment you're going underground with a cute goomba girl, then you're fighting a dragon, then you're playing a World 1-1 recreation with BOWSER! Then you're playing as Peach who has this deeply emotional and sad relationship with an AI (Tec is the goat, I love that ai. Top 10 ai in fiction idc), then you're doing a tournament arc AND THEN YOU'RE DOING A TRAIN MYSTERY OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

The combat is really fun and charming, THE DIALOGUE IS SO WELL WRITTEN AND I LAUGHED MULTIPLEEEEE TIMES!!! I love the characters, I love the world, I love the art style, i love most of the boss fights, the music is banging (I played with the original ost), God there's so much to love.

I will say, the final chapter of this game did kinda drag on, and there's so many points where I was thinking "okay NOW I get to fight the final boss!" And it takes another hour to get to them.... there's so many obvious signs of padding (copy and pasted hallways, a trash "pick the right door" puzzle, etc.)

I also didn't like how when you swapped partners that counts as a turn, i feel like you should be able to swap without wasting a turn because it would help with the flow of combat and make using Goombella's tattle less of a fucking pain...

Also....

VIVIAN IS SO FUCKING CUTE!!! I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!! SHE'S MY FAVOURITE PARTNER BY FARRRRR!!!!! Goombella is really cute too and she has amazing dialogue. I love the storyline of Admiral Bobbery too and that stuff made me cry... but...EEEEE I LOVE VIVIAN!!!!

GOD I JUST WANNA HUG HER!!! I WANNA PINCH HER CHUBBY CHEEKS!!! I WANNA RUB HER BELLY!!!! Nintendo I need a plushie of her yesterday. Come on. Please... I need one...

I shall leave my partner rankings as well, i wonder if I got any hot takes or not...

6. Flurrie.

No. Just... no I don't like her. Her design creeps me out, I don't give a shit about her moves. I never used her. Get her away from me.

5. Goombella.

Although very cute I found her more of a hindrance and i kept going, "ugh I gotta swap to her to get the tattle..." At least her design and personality are cute. Plus, she's more useful than that creepy ass Flurrie....

4. Koops.

I like him! He helped me out a LOTTT in the final battle, his later moves that you can unlock make him pretty damn good. Although I am jealous that this wimp has a girlfriend....

3. Admiral Bobbey.

Honestly I think the reason why he might be this high is because of his story. I really felt bad for him... his design is also killer, I LOVEEEE Bob-ombs so much!

2. Mini-Yoshi.

The fact that you can name him is really funny to me idk why. He's got some very helpful moves and his ability to help you move faster in the overworld is really nice. I like how he calls you Gonzalez too. What a fun character man.

1. Vivian.

I already said why I like her earlier but I'll go on further.

I LOVE HER STORYLINE TOO!!! I LOVE HER DESIGN!!! I LOVE HOW SHE'S TRANS AND THE REMAKE DIDN'T GET RID OF IT LIKE HOW THE ORIGINAL NORTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN RELEASES OF THE GAMECUBE VERSION GOT RID OF IT!!!

God.... I love her. I wanna kiss her on the cheek. She's so cute. Her moveset too is fire!.... wait..

Also btw I didn't know that this RATTTT was an optional party member... oops...

[eirikrjs]

A Personal Party Problem

(This is the kind of post that would have been part of an ask or multiple asks in normal times)

One disappointment for me (and maybe only me) in SMT5/V overall is finding it difficult to round out a favorite but practical demon team. I like to use demons with personal significance and my ideal party would then be Cu Chulainn / Odin / Michael:

Cu Chulainn: his story made myth 'click' for me, among other things.

Odin: I was born on a Wednesday; Odin and Norse myth helped ease me into myth in general, with credit due to Final Fantasy's version as well.

Michael: I was also born on Michaelmas

I've been using Cu Chulainn and Michael since I got them in my Vengeance playthroughs. But the third?

It should be Odin, but the Ultra design assures my favorite deity is dead to me in SMT. I've accepted that Rune Odin will never exist again. Maybe it was always a hallucination?

Halphas might seem obvious, but I dislike that he's attuned for ailments.

Both Satan and Lucifer I found underwhelming in Vengeance.

Mithras, but it's always bothered me he's a Tyrant.

Zaou Gongen, but his cloth wraps look terrible on the new model because they're entirely stiff.

Look, it's entirely nitpicky, but as the 3D demon roster only keeps growing, I think being selective keeps things focused. Thus, Nocturne remains the only game where I can make my ideal party, aesthetics and all. Here's the ones who should be the obvious fill-ins, but they currently don't exist in 3D:

Stolas, the ultimate cute mascot for the occult and a reminder of why I find the silliness of Christian occultism so compelling.

Lham Dearg, my other go-to in SMT4

Bael, literally my face on the Internet. Maybe in SMT6 or Persona 6? Likely to show up first in Dx2.

Until then, I guess I'll continue using my Repel-all Mad Gasser. Almost finished my Vengeance platinum. Just gotta beat Canon Of Creation one more time (I'm doing so on Hard/Godborn just for the heck of it).

[tunabesimpin]

TUNA CONGRATS ON THE MILESTONE!!! I MIGHT HAVE ACCIDENTALLY SENT AN ASK BEFORE I FINISHED TYPING-

you can crucify me and like stab me for that I don’t mind-

Omg your art has this cute bouncy quality to it, I love love love it!!!!! It’s so cute??? But also has this paintery quality to it, I totes dig it!!!!

Tuna’s overblot design? Pogging-

You’re super cool and I am high key shivering in my boots typing this out to you-

Erm for the event can I get Ceru Marple?

Fav thing to do in the summer would be reading a good book in the shade. It’s an excellent time to read, with the sunlight warming their skin.

What they would do at the party? Beach volleyball sounds super fun! They’ll love to play~ whoever’s on the opposite team is going to get destroyed/j

Their Favourite colour is light blue!

Ceru plans to wear swimming trunks and a jacket over it. Y’all gotta pay for the midriff/j

They’ll bring along sunscreen, and a cooler bag full of cold drinks! Well, perhaps some interesting potions mixed within…

Can I bring you as a plus one/j

Most likely I’ll bring Grim! Convinced him with tuna, what else-

THANK YOU SO MUCH ANS CONGRATS ON THE MILESTONE!!’n

--- The sun was harsh, but Ceru was prepared! Quickly setting up under one of the breach umbrellas they were quick to get their sunscreen and jacket ready. After setting up the volleyball net with Leona, Tuna trotted over to see Ceru. "Hey!!! I'm so glad you could make it!!! When I got your RSVP I was so happy!" The smile on Tuna's face seemed to stretch for miles. Leona yelled out from the makeshift volleyball court "Come on we don't have all day, are you two playing or not?" After a nod of agreement from Ceru and Grim, the two followed after Tuna to the court. "Alright!" Tuna exclaimed "It'll be me, Ceru and Grim VS Leona and Ruggie!" With a smug grin Leona questioned "What? you guys get a third and we don't? seems a bit unfair doesn't it... Well whatever, we'll still win against you pipsqueaks" The trio grimaced at the snide remark but readied themselves on their side of the net. "You're gonna eat those words Leona!" Tuna wailed as they set the ball. The game was heating up! Players running about the field and tumbling through the sand. Tuna performed a few exaggerated shots, yelling 'ROLLING THUNDER' after some rolls. Leona retorted with a hard spike, but Ceru was able to catch the ball! However, the pure strength behind the shot sent the ball flying up high. Tuna and Grim both reach for the ball, but end up missing the receive! Depth perception be damned this ball was gone! Point for Leona & Ruggie. The game went on plenty, but it was quite an easy win for the two opposing jocks. I mean they do play Magift and train constantly, it should be no surprise. Ceru, Tuna and Grim collapse to the sand a sigh of defeat resonates through the air. "Welp..." Tuna sighed but gave a light hearted chuckle "Don't worry team! We'll win the next one for sure!" "THE NEXT ONE?!" Grim and Ceru exclaim, not understanding Tuna's never ending energy. ---

AAAA THANK YOUUUUU SO SO MUCH FOR UR KIND WORDS AAAAA IM GLAD U ENJOY MY ART AND EVERYHTING AAAA <3 I APPRECIATE IT ALL SM TOT <3 & dw!!! I don';t see any extra/ double asks so ur all good! ALSO YESS I HAD SM FUN DOIN THE OVERBLOT IT WAS QUITE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I NORMALLY DO SO IM GLAD U LIKED IT SO!

Ceru is so pretty aaauughh!!! My heart!!! I wasn't sure of their pronouns or anything so i kept it gender neutral i hope thats ok!!! I wanted us to win so badly but bro ain't no way against the savanaha claw duo LMAOOOO I'm sure after all that exercise tho a nice book and drink to relax with will feel much more gratifying!!!

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR COMING TO THE PARTY AAAA

[allthingsfangirl101]

The Star of Our Story–Keys

"Popping today and not in a good way. Sales for Free City 2 continue to slip with numerous reports of bugs in the code and lagging online play."

I looked away from my makeshift desk at Millie's kitchen table to see Keys and Millie watching the news. Ever since Keys streamed Guy finding Keys' and Millie's build in Free City, everything in the news has been about Soonami's fall from grace.

When Keys first started working at Soonami, Antwan needed a new graphic designer. Keys recommended me. A week later, we were working at Soonami together. I didn't know much about Millie. Keys met her at college and they seemed to instantly click.

He talked about building a game with her and often asked my opinion on designs. I sent him a couple, but I'm not sure if he ever used them. He used to talk about their game every time we talked. A few months before he started working at Soonami, he stopped talking about it. The one time I brought it up, he instantly brushed it off. I didn't bring it up again.

A few weeks ago, he asked me about one of the NPCs I helped design. I looked into Blue Shirt Guy and noticed something was off about him. Keys and I looked more into it and eventually discovered that Guy's AI had changed.

"Embattled Soonami game founder Antwan Hovachelik finds himself in the crosshairs."

"Crosshairs," Keys chuckled. "He's in the crosshairs and embattled."

"We're too busy to gloat," Millie sighed.

"I'm a victim! I'm a victim!" Antwan yelled to the camera.

"Victim," I scoffed. "Yeah right."

Keys and I shared a glance. I looked away, going back to working on one of our new characters.

"Speaking of busy," Mouser said, "we just doubled the amount of unique visitors we can handle. It's amazing. Who'd have thought that so many people would just wanna watch video game characters instead of shoot at them?"

Keys and Millie stared at him for a second, holding back their laughs. "Oh yeah," Keys chuckled, "we did."

"Yeah," Millie giggled. "You know, you're pretty cute when you brag."

My breath got stuck in my throat when Millie patted his shoulder and walked away. I looked over when I felt someone staring at me. Mouser was watching me, nothing but pity on his face.

Mouser was the only one who knew about my feelings for Keys. I never told him. He just knew. A couple of months before Millie's venture, Keys, Mouser, and I were at an office party. Keys was talking to another graphic designer and I was having one too many beers. Mouser just walked up to me and told me he knew about Keys and me.

                              ~•~

"But seriously," he laughed as he poured himself another drink, "how long have you been in love with your best friend, Y/N?"

"I don't know what you mean," I scoffed, finishing my drink.

"Come on, Y/N," Mouser sighed. "It's not like I'm going to tell him. But I figured it might be nice to have someone to vent to."

"I'm fine," I brushed off. I started to walk away but stopped. "You promise you won't tell him?"

"Of course," Mouser promised.

                              ~•~

"Anyone else want a coffee?" I asked, standing up. "I suddenly am dying for anything with caffeine and foam."

"Not your usual?" Mouser asked. I looked over at him and glared. "Medium coffee, cream, two sugars?"

"Sometimes you just want something fluffy," I said through my teeth. I grabbed my wallet and left Millie's apartment. I slowly walked down the street to the coffee shop Keys and I grew up going to.

"Y/N, wait up."

"Leave me alone, Mouser."

"Come on, Y/N," he sighed. He gently grabbed my wrist and spun me around. "You gotta talk about this."

"No, I don't," I said, pulling my wrist out of his hand.

"You and Keys. . ." He started.

"There's nothing to talk about," I cut him off quickly. I wrapped my arms around myself and took a shaky breath.

"Y/N," he started again.

"Please," I cut him off again. "I don't want to talk about this, Mouser."

"Alright," he said, putting his hands up in defense. "At least let me help you carry four coffees back to the apartment."

We started walking down the street, but I could feel Mouser continually glancing at me.

"Besides," I sighed, "it's not like he would ever have feelings for me."

"Why not?"

"Because we've known each other since we were little," I explained, "which means he's seen me through my awkward stage, through every stupid crush, through every heartbreak. Why would he want me?"

"Because you've known each other since you were little," Mouser shrugged, throwing my words back at me. "I've seen how he is with you, Y/N. He's protective, but that's not a surprise. You guys have so many inside jokes, it's actually annoying."

"Why would he want me?" I asked again, this time under my breath. "I don't understand coding. I don't understand AI. I don't get all of this programming. All I do is design characters. You guys are the ones who program and create them. The point is I'm not like you guys. . . I'm not Millie."

"Y/N," Mouser sighed. "I've said this over and over again. Keys does not have feelings for Millie. They're just friends."

"I should just leave."

"What?" Mouser grabbed my wrist again and stopped me. "Y/N, you can't just leave. Don't you think that's a little irrational?"

"What's the point of me sitting on the sidelines for Keys' and Millie's love story when I know I'm just a supporting character?"

"What if you're not 'just a supporting character'? What if you're actually the star of the love story?"

"I'm not," I scoffed. "Besides, it's not like anyone would care if I left."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeah," I scoffed, "I'm sure about that."

"Why don't you ask him if he would care?"

I turned around to see Keys standing behind us. By the look on his face, I could tell he had heard way more than I wish he had.

"Keys," I stuttered. "It wasn't what it sounded like. . . I mean, I can explain. . ."

"I'll let you guys talk," Mouser said, looking between the two of us. He cleared his throat before walking back to Millie's apartment. I crossed my arms over my chest, no idea what I could say or how this would go.

"How much did you hear?" I finally asked.

"I followed you guys from Millie's apartment."

"So, everything?" I asked.

"Yes," he said softly. I looked away, not wanting to see the look on his face.

"You don't have to say anything," I said, looking at my feet. "In fact, let's just pretend that I didn't say anything. Let's pretend that. . ."

"How could you think I wouldn't care if you left?" He cut me off. "Y/N, look at me."

Suddenly, his feet came into view. He used his finger to slowly lift my chin until I was looking at him.

"Mouser was right," he whispered, still holding my face.

"What do you mean?" I asked under my breath. I gasped when he leaned down and pressed his lips delicately to mine. I was so shocked, I could barely kiss him back. When I finally wrapped my head around what was happening, I slowly started to kiss him back. We broke apart, neither one of us being able to breathe.

"How could you think you were 'just a supporting character' in my love story?" Keys asked, his voice soft. "You're clearly the star of it."

[cvbullshit]

I just realized that I'm getting busy again in art related sections and other stuff

I gotta make shit for a game

Gonna do a drawing collab with Alicia

Gotta make a new design for Ballora

Has the urge to draw Mafiafell and Dream

I wanna go to my friend's play, whenever that is

I need to plan a party on March 9th

I gotta draw or type up a special surprise relating to CV Dust and Geno

I wanna draw up different animatics

I wanna make more art in general

Not to mention all the other stuff I started and have yet to finish

*fandub Eggman dying noises*

[brekkie-e]

I will probably be pretty quiet on here till I finish the game. But preliminary thoughts:

Insane how much my favorite character line up has shifted since EA. I will not go anywhere without Shadowheart and Wyll now. Karlach as well. I dont even remember who Gale is. Astarion might only be in my party because I feel legally obligated to include him.

I might have to change my years long plan to romance Epi with Astarion because Wyll is 1. A good man™️ and 2. Their narratives are accidentally perfect foils. It's emotionally destroying me.

I came here expecting Karlach to be my Larian assigned girlfriend, and somehow I left commited body and soul to My Wife, Shadowheart.

Mutli-classing Bard and Sorcerer is everything I dreamed of.

Magic items + the right builds make for god tier game play.

On a character design level, I find great joy knowing tieflings are spiked EVERYWHERE. I mean it sounds uncomfy but gotta love the uniqueness.

[pikespendragon67]

Work today was also...a thing, so for now I'll destress by talking about my current interests to see if folks wanna talk about them! Gonna list them individually

Anime seasonals:

Vampire Dies in No Time: It's fun knowing the seiyuu for this. Some jokes are hit or miss (such is the fate of comedies), and I like when it touches on more heartfelt moments. Usually watch the newest episode during my lunch breaks on Mondays

Vinland Saga: God seeing Thorfinn's character development is fucking beautiful. Canute's slowly becoming one of my favorite characters.

Revenger: Originally got into this for Teppa (if you know, you know), and I like the seiyuu cast, but it's...boring, I think? Either that or I've watched too many anime to really get hyped for this kind of stuff. Not wacky or bloody enough to keep my interest, so it's just background noise for Thursday lunches

Urusei Yatsura: Same with Vampire. I would have this as my lunch break anime if HiDive had a pop out player/mini player/whatever it's called

Hero Academia: HOOOOOOOOO DARK ARC SO GOOOOOOOOOD.

Trigun Stampede: Love how expressive the 3D animation is, and some of the new elements surprised me. I still miss Millie, and wish we had more time to really explore character dynamics/world building

Nier Automata: "hm not sure how they'd cover all the endings-IS THAT REPLICANT"

To Your Eternity just ended its second season last week. I didn't cry like I did with the first season, but this arc had a nice conclusion. ...Rushed a bit with the "where are they now?" part, but eh

Then I'm currently going through Iruma during the lunch breaks where a seasonal anime doesn't air. Pretty charming so far. I tried getting back into watching '98 Trigun, but I lost my place and I don't feel like starting all the way from episode 1 again. If HiDive allowed it, I'd probably watch the rest of Big O or Moribito next. I thiiiink after Iruma I'll have to figure out what to watch next.

Games:

SO HELP ME I WILL GET THROUGH OCTOPATH 2-

Nah but for real, I always think I have enough time to play it on my Switch during my lunch break, but nope. Hour's too short I say. I just finished recruiting all 8 party members and I'm currently in the middle of Throne's chapter 2/intel digging. I like the spruced up mechanics like the day/night cycle, but god I wish we could change party members on the fly to make level grinding easier.

The game collecting spark rose again as I got reminded of the eShop closing on March 27th. I have a few titles I say I need for the sake of having them before it's too late, but eh, nothing so incredibly urgent that I gotta have it now (already got those games. Thanks 2020 Pikes for getting me into this hobby). I almost got 999 on DS, but I already have that on PS4 (I feel iffy getting the same game on different consoles unless it's like a remake for a game that's old) & I've already gotten some other games.

Paranormasight's really got me interested. I'm not really one for horror media, but I absolutely love the character designs

And then I've just been plushie collecting, too

so ye

[overgrownmoon]

tag game!!!

tagged by @nosongunsung11 !!!

share your wallpaper: my lock screen is a group photo of a bunch of my friends at a party, and my home screen is a selfie of my n my bf in front of a space shuttle!

last song you listened to: better in the morning by birdtalker

currently reading: i constantly have like 5 different books in progress at the same time, i can never just pick one at a time. some of them include entangled life by merlin sheldrake and japanese design by patricia j graham

last movie you watched: fuck i think it was puss in boots the last wish. 1 braincell

craving: chocolate,,, and cock

what are you wearing right now: p'jammies

how tall are you: i am 5'1" i am SMALL

piercings: on my ears i have 2 lobes and my cartilage pierced, theyre still healing tho

tattoos: not yet! but!! me n my mom are gonna go and get quotes soon!!!

glasses? contacts?: both! i swap between them depending on how I feel/how lazy i am.

last drink: woter

last show: me n my bf were watching castlevania together before the end of the semester we gotta finish it

favorite color: i fucking love pink and i will never apologize

current obsession: been obsessing over hollow knight for the past year, also getting into rain world

unrelated obsession: gamefreak may be shitting the bed big time rn but i fucking love pokemon, i never outgrew it i love them little dudes

any pets: a cat named daisy and a dog named red!

do you have a crush on anyone: ,my bf? of course. obsessed w he

favorite fictional characters: hornet, the hollow knight, little ghost, medic tf2, link and zelda (do not separate them), jessie james and meowth (DO NOT SEPARATE THEM), and all of the blorbos that live in my head :)

last place you traveled: johnson space center in houston!

im not gonna tag anyone bc honestly idk who to tag, but if you see this feel free to participate!

[thechindividual]

Finished my 5e campaign of 79 sessions today!

After 3 years of playing about twice a month, we wrapped up our 5e campaign today. 

“Ulmark Chronicles” started the PCs on 1st level, following a hook from “Storm King’s Thunder”. I intended to run the full adventure, but due to a combination of less-than-great module design, my player’s amazing plans, and my relentless urge to just build and write my own stuff, we left that plan behind pretty fast. 

What followed was a series of adventures investigating the dangerous plans of fire giants, the return of ghastly undead from beyond an ashen threshold, meeting a forgotten nation shielded by a magical storm, and making deals with devils. 

The campaign and players/characters After 79 sessions, the PCs ended the campaign at 15th level, having succeeded at stopping Iymrith the greatwyrm (gotta keep some stuff from the SKT roots!) from releasing an ancient and destructive evil. This success was made possible through the earlier mentioned infernal bargain. One PC had one final day to spend with the party, before she was called to the Nine Hells. The rest of the party can still be called to service by a mistress of Baator.  All in all, the ending was bittersweet, but from a narrative point of view very satisfying. 

We started the campaign with (excluding me as the DM) 5 players, went up to 6 for a bit, then back to 5, and wrapped up with 4 players and characters. The party composition for the finale was:

a changeling wizard, who had grown fond of the world outside of the Feywild

a human barbarian/fighter, host to an abyssal spirit with links to Yeenoghu

a human druid, tasked to investigate the strange behavior of the giants in her quest to become an archdruid

a tiefling cleric, with blood ties to an archdevil of the Nine Hells

What worked well I liked how I could mine every PC’s background for stuff to use in the campaign. By the end of the campaign, I got to use at least something from everyone’s past and weave it into the main plot. Granted, some PC backgrounds played a larger part than others, but I guess that’s how it is sometimes.

I’m also glad with the cast of NPCs I got to introduce, and how the PCs interacted with them. By the end of the campaign, the PCs had made many friends and foes, and it was fun to see their reactions every time a familiar face returned. 

Last but not least, I’m pleased with how the BBEG of the campaign was presented throughout the story. Iymrith in this campaign became way more than she was in SKT-as-written, and I’m glad the party got to interact with her in various settings. She kicked their ass a few times, but in the end the party was victorious and ended her sinister plans.

What I would do different next time For a next long-term campaign, I would definitely want to structure it in a way that allows for more downtime in between “chapters”. This campaign lasted in-game for 8 months, which is a very short time for PCs to go from overcompetent villagers to dragon-slaying demigods. That is on me for presenting challenges that seem so urgent the players and their PCs don’t feel like they can take a lot of time off. Every day they rest could be a day the BBEG brings the apocalypse closer. Add to that 5e doesn’t really have any good downtime activity systems in my opinion, but that’s a rant on it’s own.  So, my next long-term project would definitely scale things down a bit, and allow for more room to “breathe” in between adventures. 

Also, the first part of this campaign had the PCs level pretty fast. I use milestone leveling, and I feel like I started out way too generous. This didn’t give players enough time to get used to their cool new toys, and added to the “zero to hero in less than a year” problem caused by the fast pace of the story. I’m still a big fan of milestones, but I will definitely tone the leveling speed down in future campaigns.

So, what is next? For now, it’s time to enjoy the fact we succesfully finished a campaign and bask in the proverbial afterglow. Sooner or later, I will definitely want to run something again, but I’m not sure what. I am pretty sure it will be a non-5e game though. That’s mostly because I’ve been playing and running 5e for the past 6 years (wrapped up 3 full campaigns in that time, still running a livestreamed Eberron game and playing in one other campaign), and it’s time to leave the pizza of the TTRPG buffet for what it is and taste something else this restaurant has to offer.  

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! If you have any questions about this campaign, about running (and finishing) a 5e/TTRPG campaign in general, or something else, just let me know!

[wispythreads]

THE CLINIC

(full disclosure even though I'd rather not have this count

Oh yeah I can eat and game at the same time nothing can possibly go wrong :)

*walks straight into a bouquet of grenades in the Cloud*

...

I had an audience and I didn't want them to be bored waiting on me to finish my food first, my first death in the Sierra Madre. It was stupid and easy to spot when I went through and was actually paying attention to the game.)

Dean has been taking out the Ghost People pretty easily, and has been actually decapitating a few, so I don't even have to run over and slice off their heads myself sometimes. Thanks, buddy!

Alright this was pretty easy to figure out last time, we'll just have the Hologram patrol the first floor and then go up to the second floor after-

I can't find the right terminal. He's just standing and watching the stairway I need to go up when I use this terminal to get him onto the first floor.

...

ok guess I'm dodging and weaving between doorways when he's got his back turned let's go-

AHHH HE SAW ME *Ducks into a doorway, shuts the door, dives behind desk* just gotta wait here until he- *Dean walks out through the doorway, gunshots go off* DEAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING GET BACK HERE

This happened twice. Dean picked a fight with a Hologram after warning me that attacking them wouldn't do anything and was predictably knocked out. Twice.

To give him some credit though he did only do that when I triggered the security into going all Red Destroyer mode, so I guess it was more out of a 'companion is being attacked help them now' kind of goal.

Survived that, have the Assassin's Armor now which is pretty cool, and Christine has joined the party!

Now that I'm playing my comfort build that is more designed around speech/intelligence based skills, it was easier to actually communicate with her and get her backstory. I did manage this the first time around with my action-build, but, y'know, had to rely on mentats and magazines.

Also she had an interaction with God, which I didn't see last time around! Not a pleasant one as he was. Well. being him and it came across as threatening enough that she reflexively went into a fighting stance. But still neat to see.

Gang is all gathered at the fountain now! Next time will be setting them up in their right spots. Probably will start with Dog/God like last time and hopefully get some more experience to level up with before helping Christine.

Starting Lvl: 1* Current Lvl: 5 (Citizen) Death Counter: 2

[softlittleheartsandsparkles]

how do you start a hobby like the one you do? I'm scared to try something like that and mess it all up...

If this is more like psychological fear, I'd say just take it slow... Like my first one I've ever done was really rough. (It was a seahorse who's body portions weren't right... He was huge compared to the piece of aida I was working on. I was suppose to have room for 3. >.> he was a big boy. There wasn't room for three. lol) I think when you try something new, and your learning a new skill, it's better to just do the activity as a journey/experience rather than trying to focus on it looking "perfect". Like think about a MMO or something were your doing a quest, your new to the game. The experience is finding the item the npc requested, it doesn't matter how you go to it or how long it took you to find the item, you return the quest & You had the experience that makes you wanna keep playing. Crafts to me are similar, only you have no npc on the other end waiting. It's easy to criticize what your doing, or even become paralyzed with fear and not try it because your worried about it not looking right. But I think sometimes reframing the thought as rather then this is a artsy- craftsy, I gotta be good at this sorta thought. Just think of it as this is just an experience, and I wanna see where it goes. My first project as I mentioned was pretty rough, but I really liked cross stitch. (I love looking at peoples finished works) and cause I have some experience doing other crafts (drawing, painting) I do try to use the thing I mentioned before which is try to recognize when I'm new to something, I'm *new*, so I try to remind myself I'm not going to be as good as someone who's been doing cross stitch for 10 years, or someone who was taught as a wee one & there now a fully grown adult in whatever stage of life. Its not fair to compare myself or hold myself to those standards. I'm also not actually comparing myself properly cause I can't see there original (first) works. Why compare myself to someone who's mastered something - and me someone whos a novice. Thats not fair to either party & it also puts unnecessary stress no one else is applying to me. What I do instead is pick out aspects I like about cross stitch & try to notice when I feel confident/happy. I also find noticing how cross stitch makes me feel (the activity) really makes it more benfictional compared to just being 'oh i'm sorta better at it now". & what I mean by feel is I mean like, for me cross stitch helps me tap into that mindful/relaxed feeling. I find it enjoyable, even the ripping up stitches aspect. (meaning I don't view this as a 'ugh. *hates this aspect of the craft so much I'll abandon it*' aspect.) I also like that its a hobby I can pick up a lot and keep adding too it, compared to like drawing where there's a point when you feel like you gotta stop, or in water color, a point to where the paper is like 'no more water please!' 'Oi! I don't think you heard me, anymore water and i'm about to no longer be paper!' xD Sorry I started rambling. I'd say if your nervous, just try it, you can find really easy (small) freebies online, DMC, kofi, there's designers who will offer out freebies for different holidays. (Shannon Christines does really nice easy looking freebies for holidays. Just the pattern, you have to get the supplies yourself.) Viewing stuff as an experience or journey has helped me a lot more, rather then tips like: trying to ignore my feelings/attempt to push thru them. Cause it can affirm your fears or hesitant if you do "mess" up or you are unhappy with how you finished. If I can pick and pull apart aspects I like even if my first project wasn't the "best", and that leaves me feeling satisfied or even better it helps me create a goal, or drives my interest to keep trying. I like that a lot more. :3

[almostjollyprince]

100ish Days of Productivity: Getting through the week!

Day 2/100 - Jan 3 2024 Did my time at work writing code with one of the mid-level developers. We got a fair bit of the functionality tied to yesterday's work up and running. Because of some of the code merges, we did encounter some issues but nothing that we couldn't resolve. Also took the opportunity to write up my evaluation and get that sent over to the bossman. After work, I snuck in an hour of gaming. My current zen game of choice is Powerwash Simulator. Gotta clean that boat! Other efforts in the evening included studying some music theory (very basic stuff. I know nothing about writing music so every little bit helps) and certification studies. I also worked on designing some character tokens for one of my tabletop campaigns and various puzzles the party will encounter for the next session.

Day 3/100 - Jan 4 2024 Another day, another story. Half the team was out for various reasons so as the most senior team member present at the office it was a lot of support work to let the juniors grow. Everyone's got a vision for how they want the site to look but it's very easy to get lost in the weeds in terms of making the front end look nice, especially since we have a couple of perfectionists. I don't mind the effort, but there's a time and place for everything and we had to make sure that we had something to show by tomorrow. You can have the most beautiful web page in existence but it's all meaningless if none of the functionality works. Some buttons got remapped and components were consolidated so now there's a clear flow. Hopefully the project lead will be happy with the results when he gets in tomorrow. Oh, and surprise interview at the end of the day. After work, I cleaned up the boat a little more in Powerwash Sim. I finalized my puzzles for the tabletop campaign and started preparing a map for the players. Talked with a buddy about Palworld (it comes out later this month, supposedly). Will I play? I haven't decided yet. 'Pokemon but with Guns' isn't necessarily a new concept, but the development team involved hasn't always come through with their promises. I don't want something like "No Man's Sky on Launch Day" levels of disappointment for a game this hyped up.

Day 4/100 - Jan 5 2024 TGIF. Roads were a nightmare. Thankfully got to work in one piece. The project lead likes the current progress we have, but there's no time to really do any more coding because we have more interviews scheduled for today. Between working with IT to resolve some weird issues and the interviews, the workday went pretty quick. I also got some certification studying in, so that was nice. After work, I've finished designing the map and selecting the audio to use for the session. I'm all set to give my players a 'welcome back where you left off' sorta vibe. I like the campaigns I run (all homebrew) because I have such amazing players who all work together to overcome whatever I throw at them. What matters to me most is that the players have fun, but they'll have to work for their wins. Balancing the encounters is tough, but I have yet to be told that my battle encounters are 'unfair'. When I told my players I was using this 100 days of productivity to better flesh out the campaigns, they were... reasonably terrified. After all, if I was able to create a compelling, continuous story over the course of several years in my spare time, imagine the sort of damage I could do if I set aside some time every day to properly handle the details instead of having to improvise something that the players did (not that I have any problems with this, I'm usually pretty good at anticipating what my players will do to have a contingency plan). I also crammed in some extra studying to make up for not doing so yesterday. I'm... hoping to be all set by around early March for the certification exam.

[ultraericthered]

Anime Update V2 47

Wolf’s Rain - After taking a week off from this show I got to watch the extra four episodes that make up its true finale as a sort of Easter special. And I gotta say that I don’t think I have that many words that can do it justice. It’s everything you could’ve asked for a conclusion to this anime story to be and even exceeds what you might’ve been expecting to see. It’s uncompromisingly bleak, brutal, and dark, with emotional character deaths one after another the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Sailor Moon. But it’s all for the purpose of strengthening the story’s message about faith in a higher spiritual calling and how we all seek our own Paradise even in the face of all life’s challenges. And the very end of the final episode was beautiful. 

Hunter x Hunter - After being unable to defeat Razor and his crew at the sports challenge event, the main party ditches some members and looks for new ones to do it over with now that they know the nature of the game. Then an unexpected plot twist that the opening totally spoiled would happen ahead of time: Hisoka joins the party! Which leads to intrigue with Killua knowing that Hisoka’s lying about stuff and withholding some critical information about the Spiders and why he’s really here, but Hisoka knows he knows and is already well prepared to erase his digital prints and throw the kids off his trail. And Bisky is feigning having a crush on Hisoka? Damn, that’s wacky!

Fruits Basket - As was set up, Shigure finally got to play Dad for Tohru in the parent-teacher conference, and he was as awful at it as you’d expect. But the real focus went to Yuki and (in another surprise entrance) Ayame taking on their abusive mother. It wasn’t very pleasant. Having to put up with the mother and her demeaning of Yuki, self-aggrandizing and playing the victim was excruciating, though that’s by design of the writing. And thankfully, this series doesn’t do what Assassination Classroom did and hastily rewrite the abuser and how she and her child interact so soon after they’d established the abuse story, or Heaven forbid what Your Lie In April did regarding its abusive mother-abused son relationship - it takes a more mature direction with Yuki, after finding the courage to speak his mind and defy his mother to her face, starting to realize how small, fragile, and ultimately not too threatening or significant his mom now seems to him and truly always was, and it’s made clear that the mom’s love for her sons is very much in there but it would not be easy to bring it out to the forefront and magically make her a better person, and so Yuki doesn’t try, focusing on himself instead.

Date A Live S4 - Surprisingly uneventful episode for the most part, with the Spirits making Valentines chocolates for Shido and testing his heart so that he isn’t won over by Kurumi’s alluring tactics. Except for one part where, out of nowhere, Nibelcolle, the clone-creating girl from DEM, shows up at Shido’s window and...kills him, I guess? But then he wakes up like nothing happened. It’s never even spoken of afterwards! Did Kurumi do some off-screen time meddling here!?

Re:ZERO - Finishing Arc 2 made one thing very clear to me - I’m lowkey in love with this series and really not even due to the Isekai elements even if those are better handled than most Isekai. It’s due to these characters. I adore Subaru, he’s gotten legit laughs out of me more times than I can count. Emilia and Puck were super likable and endearing from the get-go, I eagerly await seeing more of Reinhart, Felt, and Old Man Rom, and now with this arc we’ve added Rem, Ram, Beatrice and Roswaal to the fold. Put these guys in any situation and I’d follow them anywhere. And thus my watch goes on!

Symphogear G - Best way to describe this one is Hibiki VS Miku. A lot of other action and fighting went on as well, but the fight between the two dear gal pals was the main draw. Poor Kirika and Shirabe seem at a loss for where to take their very lives at this point, Maria’s going semi-mad while Nastassja is dying, and Dr. Ver continues to be a hamtastic menace who’s now made the Abyssal Ruins rise from the sea so he can summon the Three Great Powers or some shit. And in response, Chris readies to make a desperate play. Chris, no!

MAR - Next match was Jack VS Candace, who was already revealed to be more perky and lovestruck than she seemed to be when she had her mask on but now makes clear that she’s a straight up sadomasochist! I think this was the first truly good fight for Jack, as the way he pulled victory from the jaws of certain defeat was very impressive and even if he didn’t win per say (it was a double KO, a draw), he proved he really has become more capable than before.

Gintama - Another double story episode. The first segment about the Kappa-like Amantu was pretty meh, but the second one about Gin’s search for a fan and how he randomly gets caught in the crossfire of some big, action-packed fight between two factions over a “FAN” (I dare not spoil what it really is) had me howling over its total lunacy.

AND

Moriarty The Patriot - Early into the “The Two Detectives” two-parter, a thought struck me: I would gladly watch a whole show about this version of Sherlock Holmes AND a whole show about this version of Professor Moriarty, and this anime is generous enough to kind of give me both in a single package. The episodes themselves were excellent, being your traditional “Murder On The ___ Express” setup, including the famous “catch me if you can, Mr. Holmes” scene, and showing us Sherlock and Liam working together to solve a case and prove Watson’s innocence (between The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles and this, why are modern Japanese adaptations of Sherlock Holmes so mean to Watson?) How Liam ultimately enables the guilty party to be caught was surprising in how bastardly and underhanded it was, but his reasoning for doing it even when he didn’t need to got an “aaaww” out of me. And then not only is the Holmes-Watson team back together, but we end with the Queen herself tasking one of her agents to a case: f**king Mycroft Holmes!

[capesandshapes]

All You Had to Do Was Stay (Post Reveal/ Pre Relationship) (1/4)

Thanks to LNC for the title!

Summary:

Three years ago, Marinette revealed her identity to him. Three years ago, he promised to wait in a hotel room for her. Three years ago, she opened the door to find it empty.

Now she's expected to play nice with him, since she's the maid of honor and he's unfortunately the best man. But old habits die hard, and old feelings die harder.

"This is a wedding, not a death march, Marinette."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Things that need to be done before Alya Cesaire could marry Nino Lahiffe:

1. Designs combining both Martinique culture and Réunion style needed to be made for the whole wedding party. Everyone should get to have a say in what they wear.

2. The video of Alya dancing overenthusiastically to the cupid shuffle needed to be removed from Lila Rossi’s Instagram, lest Nino’s nana see and wonder what type of woman he’s marrying.

3. The cake tasting needed to be had. Marinette needed to make sure that her parents didn’t go overboard and keep the couple for the whole night. Even if Alya was practically their daughter. Even if they begged. Even if papa cried.

4. A totally unique and unreplicable combination Bachelor and Bachelorette party needed to be planned.

And, lastly… The most difficult of all:

5. Marinette somehow needed to be able to stand in a room with Nino’s best man, Adrien, and hold a conversation for more than five minutes. Even if, three years ago, he found out her identity, left Paris, and broke her heart.

“Easy,” Marinette groaned, sinking further into her barstool as she closed her notes app, her head touching the counter of the bar. She’d already crossed off the top two of the list items, and yet…

“I’m not asking for a miracle,” Alya began, obviously knowing what she was thinking about. She was the one to ask Marinette out that night, wanting to find out her progress… and also to check in on her wellbeing. It was obvious that she felt bad, she knew how things went between the two and how Marinette originally thought they would go. But she couldn’t just ask Nino not to have Adrien be his best man. “Five minutes, that’s all I’m asking. Just five minutes in a room together. You quickly plan the bachelorette party, since we know that you’re far too organized not to, give him the run down, and then leave. Back to your life, back to doing whatever it is you do now.”

“Sit at home. Alone,” Marinette supplied.

Alya grimaced. “It’s for the best that Luka got married, Marinette. You couldn’t keep playing that game. All that kiss and tell was gonna kill you some day.”

Marinette groaned, somehow sinking further into the wood of the bar. Anymore and she’d become part of the grain.

“Plus, Juleka’s in a better mood with you now,” Alya said, obviously looking at the other young woman as she undoubtedly danced on the floor with Rose. Marinette’s habit of coming back to Paris and making out with her brother had obviously put a strain on their relationship, even if Luka insisted that things weren’t committal and he was totally fine with only seeing her twice a year. “Who knows, maybe Nino will have a handsome cousin and you’ll fall madly in love.”

Marinette raised the side of her head to cast Alya a glare from one eye.

Alya didn’t falter. “So, he’s back. After spending three years in New York, Milan, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. I get it, it’s life changing, it’s world ending, it’s all the things you don’t want and more—especially after how things ended,” Marinette groaned, Alya carried on, “but, you know who else is back? Max, Rose, unfortunately Lila, and Kim. Good old Kim. All your friends, everyone who you’ve known for years, everyone who has missed you as you flitted in and out of Paris! Sure, you found out that Adrien was Chat Noir, went to his hotel room, thought you were finally going to get together, and then opened the door to find it empty—but you know, life happens! And when you least expect it, it keeps going on and on and on and on!”

Marinette turned her face back to the wood.

“I really did try to get Nino to change his mind,” Alya said flatly. “I begged.” Marinette doubted it, but…

“Why couldn’t he just stay in New York?” Marinette mumbled.

“Because Nino is his best friend.”

“Why couldn’t Nino go to New York,” Marinette said, “or Adrien done a zoom call for the wedding.”

Alya snorted. “Okay, that’s it,” she said, grabbing Marinette’s arm. “Adrien’s landing today, nothing’s going to stop it, you just have to clear your head and power on.” She leaned into Marinette’s view as her friend finally turned her head, insistently stating, “you were Ladybug for god’s sake. Even if no one else knows it, you do. I do. You gotta suit up, lovebug, and face the day, lest another evil butterfly come flying by.” Never mind the fact that there hadn’t been an Akuma in years.

Not since Gabriel Agreste was arrested.

Marinette rolled her eyes, finally lifting herself off the bar.

“There’s my girl,” Alya said. “Now, finish your dirty shirley, order another drink, and come do karaoke with me. I’m a hundred percent certain that I saw Say You’ll Be There on the song list, and you know that I’ve been singing Spice Girls since I was in diapers.”

--------------------------

Marinette stumbled into her apartment at one am. Not drunk, she didn’t get drunk, not out in public at bars. In friends’ apartments, maybe. She was still a bit tipsy which was, in its own way, dangerous. But she could fight through it, maybe.

Kicking off her heels, she looked at it, the studio she called home and had once been so proud of a few years back, the same studio she’d lived in ever since she was a fashion design student. The same one in which she’d left Chat knocking on her balcony door when she struggled to stay asleep, and eventually relented to let him in time and time again before he knew who she was.

“Someday, I’m going to move,” she grumbled, beginning to pull the bobby pins from her hair. She wouldn’t, of course, not for a long time. Rent-controlled apartments were rare, and while she pretended that the history that practically stained her hardwood floors was something she would rather forget, she was a nostalgic young woman. She’d be there for at least another five years, or until she was finally well and truly over Chat.

Five years would probably come first.

She passed by the photos washi taped to her walls, the ones where fourteen-year-old kids gave toothy smiles and eighteen-year-old young women gave winks while leaning into blond young men. If she was so concerned about history, she’d have to get rid of those first.

She sighed, finally removing the last bobby pin from her hair and letting it fall down her back, placing the black pin in one of the many bowls around her apartment placed for that very reason. Adrien would be in Paris by then, she was sure. He was probably sound asleep in the Agreste mansion.

“Welcome home, kitty,” she said sarcastically, beginning to climb the steps to her lofted bedroom, a space that was not unlike her childhood room.

This wasn’t how she expected things to be.

Of course, this wasn’t how anyone expected things to be. If you asked anyone, they told you how the story ended. Ladybug and Chat Noir finally got together, they were hiding in Paris somewhere, they were in love. They probably had kids, a dog, a hamster—normal jobs and normal lives. That was what the people of Paris wanted. She thought that that was the ending they would get.

She thought that when she went to the hotel room that night, he would be there. She thought that he was happy to know who she was. She thought that he loved her.

She thought wrong.

Marinette always thought wrong.

She thought she could get over him. She thought making out with Luka was a solution, one that she could keep trying every time she went to Paris. She thought that she would miss Adrien more than Chat, the promise of love more than sitting in her bed and watching subtitled anime while he mouthed the English translations.

By now, she thought she’d be waking up to someone else. That maybe she’d have a steady life, someone to wrap their arms around her in the morning.

Adulthood hits hard.

“Adrien Agreste,” she said, flopping back in her bed and pulling open her phone. She wasn’t above social media stalking.

There he was. Gold hair, tanned skin, too many muscles to know what to do with. Landed in Paris four hours ago, his Instagram posted a picture of him with his arm around Nino. His eyes were still kind, his smile still flawless. Her heart still pounded.

“Jerk,” she muttered, letting her phone fall down beside her. “I didn’t need you anyway,” except for all those times she did. Like when she put the earrings back in the box and said goodbye to one of her closest friends. She could have used him then.

She could have used him a lot of times.

Her eyes stayed glued to the ceiling, her chest rising and falling with every breath. There was no sound, no doting kwami, no laughter from her parents, and no Alya playing with her hair. Just her.

“Now I’m going to see you and fall in love with you all over again,” she said, wishing she could steel herself against the inevitable.