#classic style games

[vxmpire-vxlle]

[fisheito]

follow the vice captain! grow flowing locks for maximum chivalry and knighthood!

[bl00dfroma-fairy]

[banjotheturtle]

Yes obviously lolita is minimal JANICE!! Definitely not maximalist how could I be so foolish JANICE!!

[juney-blues]

i think gamers dismissed the notion of keeping score in non-arcadey titles too easily i think. some games are a lot funner if you try to play them with score in mind

[mothinflamesdoodles]

[anim-ttrpgs]

Edge Hedge Arena, a New Game from A.N.I.M.!

I've been having a very troubling week and couldn't sleep hardly at all a few days ago, when let to me doing freaking nothing in bed until I came up with a game based on a conversation/fun idea in the A.N.I.M. TTRPG Book Club discord server.

Edge Hedge Arena is not really a TTRPG, more of a short competitive party game, and it's about Sonic the Hedgehog recolor OCs. I can't get too in detail because the rules text of the game is so short that giving too much away in this post would preclude you actually having to download it (it's free!), but I can promise you it is an actual playtested game and not just some vague improv prompts.

You search "[your name] the Hedgehog" on google images or deviantart, select one of the numerous sonic OCs that will likely come up, give them stats by following the criteria set out by the game, and then battle them against those of your friends!

It gets really, really funny. You can download it now on itch.io for name-your-own-price, or $0! It only takes 3 people and about half an hour to play!

Not to worry, this game has not delayed or interrupted the production of our other games, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy and Silk&Dagger: A Sensible Drow RPG, i just rapid-fired it off last friday because i knew that it would be a simple and short enough game that I could get it fully written and playtested without much interruption to our team's usual workflow, and I was right.

[vaguely-concerned]

I must admit it exhausts me a bit when people compare the interactions between the companions in da2 and veilguard and complain that the veilguard crew don't argue viciously enough or don't have enough fundamental unbridgeable ideological differences. like yeah it's almost like dragon age 2 is a game specifically about implacable human discord in all its forms and that's the theme the companions also build up under and provide a lens to look at. and perhaps. just maybe. veilguard is doing something different and also interesting thematically if you look at it for what it actually is, and its companions are playing into those themes instead (come become beside me my friend none of us have this figured out but at least we have each other along the way. you must struggle with who you are. despite the high high stakes on paper, veilguard (sometimes to its detriment, often to its advantage once you realize this is what it's doing) is really not that interested in outward conflict, between ideas or groups or individuals -- most of the real meat and potatoes is in the internal struggle of the characters with themselves and their identities, the ways they've been changed and also stay the same, it's weirdly deeply trans all the way to the depths of the narrative that way, as well as fundamentally being about trauma recovery. again, what you're ultimately fighting is not actually in the realm of elgar'nan and ghilan'nain at all, it's on the level of solas' despair and his regret over what he's done and who he's become).

tl;dr why are we pitting two bad bitches against each other etc. they're literally both pretty and I love them

[rtrlowh]

Spirited Away - 千と千尋の神隠し🌸

[biblically-accurate-dca]

super disorganized sketch page because i do what i want

[vxmpire-vxlle]

The boys.

[auroralovegoodsblog]

Favorite pair of shoes🫶🏻

[kerosnes]

I’m feeling unnaturally joyous I think something’s wrong with me

[numnum-num]

Buster Crabbe, Olympic Gold Metalist 1932, Actor

[hualianisms]

TGCF Audio Drama Ep 12 pt 2: XL gambles himself in exchange for one night of HC's company

[context: see part 1 translation. basically, after the Gambler's Den dice-throwing scene, SQX & LQQ need a distraction to investigate Ghost City, so XL gambles against HC to cause a distraction. XL asked for HC to accompany him for one night as the prize if XL wins. HC has just agreed.]

HC: Alright.

Ghosts: (shocked) Chengzhu agreed!

HC: However, what this gege seeks is of considerable value. It's also my first time.* Accordingly, the stake you bet on must also not be arbitrary.

XL: Of course, it cannot be arbitrary.

HC: However, there's a small matter gege must be reminded of. The last thing gege has on his person, he has already lost to me yesterday.

XL: Ah… Yes indeed. Please wait. I will search again. …Um… I…. Here… (searches his sleeves and pockets and finds nothing)

Ghost 1: I say, Daozhang, if you really have nothing to gamble with, why not just use your clothes to gamble with? Every time you lose one round, take off one layer of clothes!

HC to ghost 1: Shut up.

Ghost maiden: Daozhang, what is that which you're wearing on your neck?

XL: (takes out the necklace of HC's ashes) Are you referring this?

Ghost maiden: This ring looks like a really amazing treasure.

XL's thoughts: This is what San Lang gave me…

HC: This gege, do you wish to bet on this ring, and gamble with me in a game of victory or defeat?

XL: …I can't do that.

HC: Oh? Why not?

XL: This item is far too precious, it cannot be carelessly handled and disposed of.

HC: It's been given to you, so it's yours to do with as you please. Why can't it be carelessly handled?

XL: That's all the more reason I can't. This is the kind of gift I do not accept. If I do accept it, then of course I must treasure it, only then I can be worthy of the sincere intentions behind it. How can I possibly use it to gamble, and squander it away frivolously?

Ghosts: So that's how it is, there's even these sincere intentions behind the gift!

Ghost Maiden: But this can't be used, that can't be used, then Daozhang, what do you have left?

XL: (Sheepishly) …It seems… The only thing left is me.

HC: Alright.

XL: (blinks) …What?

HC: You.

Ghost maiden 1: Wonderful! If you lose, you can sell yourself and come here to wash clothes and fold bedsheets for old Chengzhu, serve tea and pour water for him!

Ghosts: What a great idea! Yeah! Yeah!

SQX: You'd better not agree. This bet has no winning odds!

XL: Alright, I will place my bet!

HC: (chuckles) Great.

Ghosts: Xiao Daozhang, you will definitely lose!

SQX: (gloomily) This time, we're really done for!

XL to SQX: Don't worry. This time I might not lose. You guys, go quickly [to investigate Ghost City].

[Translation notes:]

*This line is likely also innuendo (subtextually). the CN line here literally means "It's also the first time for me", which on the surface mean HC's first time accepting such a request. But the subtext seems to imply it can also mean HC's first time (sexually). The ghosts clearly interpreted the sexual meaning as they were gossiping later in this episode that "Someone wants to gamble for Chengzhu's 初夜!" 初夜 refers to "wedding night" i.e. the first night of a marriage where the marriage is expected to be consummated for the first time.

Essentially HC is saying, since XL wants something of such great value' (HC's company; subtext implying HC's first time), then XL must also give something of equal value i.e. "You". I interpret it as HC deliberately trying to leverage the value/rarity of XL's request as an excuse to get something just as intimate from XL in return. The way HC said "You." was so slow and seductive hahaha

Bonus: there's also a part later in this episode where the ghosts are gossiping and hilariously misinterpreted. A ghost said "I heard that Chengzhu's brother wants to gamble him and steal away his wedding night" (aka first time) 😭 As that line is from the uncensored revised novel, I assume MXTX wrote it to make fun of how censorship wants to turn hualian into just Very Good Bros.