#cos one player follows me on tumblr

[sleepymccoy]

I'm committing to the ruin cos it scratches me the best! But how much can I put in a one shot?

Story so far,

A dragon has been sitting on the ruin for millenia but was felled a few weeks ago! So, archeologists are checking it out. The group are a team a physically disabled lady has put together to go into the ruin on her behalf.

The story for the ruin I have is; tens of thousands of years ago a civilisation lived here. They had magic and stuff, but also had some technology. Not miraculous like aeor in critical role, more in looking for a way to offer my players a Furby or a toaster. So, dragon landed and killed some area of the city but others were able to flee. The area they're exploring was a "flee" zone, so there's few bodies and not a tonne of high valuables. Cos of the fucking ages of time that's passed there's no fabric left, but there's some clasps and metals and bits and pieces of clues. Ancient structures that you can imagine being a kitchen or a toilet. This society will be very keen on voice activated Alexa type tech, hence Clippy

They will take an unexplored tunnel that the dragon hasn't done much damage to. I'm thinking it's going to be a shopping centre so there's loads of stores. Even if most of the stuff is gone/decayed they'll find some stuff! Things they can run into;

Clippy who tries to help them but is treating them like tourists in a bustling city, no archeologists in a ruin

A black ooze slime that spawned from mouldy food millenia ago and has been eating bugs since

Another adventuring party? Maybe just one guy who fell in a hole and has been wandering here for two days not finding the way out

An invisible stalker (tracking hound but it's a scary ghost) that's trying to get into a box in a room. this box contains an extra dimensional hideyhole and a dead guy who's was hiding from the stalker (this is a combat scenario)

A flooded area with ??? Monster of some kind. Back up combat scenario.

An appliance store with some still working items, all voice activated and noisy. I need more ideas for this store or it won't be fun and I won't use it

A room with tech that gives you a long rest in one minute - will be spooky (straight stolen from critical role, love it)

I need some cool items for them to find to return with. I don't want weapons, this isn't a war outpost it's a city. So like, what's the most powerful thing I can buy now? Mobile phone. Microwave. A fridge. A car. Helicopter

Okay, new list of cool loot that their benefactor might be interested in

Arcane portable microwave

The pods that give you a long rest in a minute

DIY portalling doors, give yourself a permanent shortcut. Or just straight up the portal gun

Mobile phones that work on magic so it's okay that there's no network (candy crush gets introduced to dnd)

Instant freezer

Ghost sucking gun like in ghostbusters

Jet pack

VR headset! That's like preset with what this society think a good holiday is (very dangerous and stressful scenarios I think, these guys were thrill seekers)

Tricorder from star trek, just an all round summary of physical health

Memory eraser thing from men in black (I've never watched it, worth the time?)

Haha, the point of view gun from hitchhiker's!! That's going in

Hand held tractor beam

A camping set up that springs into being comfy

Okay, I really like the idea of them finding an armoury with three guns but one is ghost sucking, one is portals, and one is the point of view gun. That's gonna happen. Maybe it's four and one is the tractor beam. Cute.

Dnd high level one shot ideas for a group that like to create chaotic, RP heavy characters. I need help. Other suggestions welcome too!!

Part of the consideration is my bf is joining for the first time and he's used to calmer more serious dnd but likes the sound of how my friends play, so I'm trying to give them something they can make truly batshit crazy

[gatheredfates]

Hi everyone! It's been a hot minute since I did a Compendium update, but I promise I'm not dead. For those who don't know, I got a new job! That meant pretty much the entirety of October was spent wrapping up my old job, going to my new site and trying to learn the new one. I'm on break in approximately two weeks, yay! ☃️

These updates will take on a wintery/Starlight theme to celebrate the season, much like All Saints. I hope you enjoy.

Additionally, myself and the lovely folks at SEAFLOOR are having a Catch up (for) Starlight Challenge! You should join us if you're interested. ❄️

However, without further the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives.

LARGE SCALE

The Help Lines—We are a community-based discord to be used to play the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. We host almost all content including DRS and BA, Raiding, Deep Dungeons, Blue Mage and more. Our mission is to create a welcoming space for any individual in need of assistance to reach out and accomplish their FFXIV goals in a toxicity-free environment.

The Aether Entertainer—Founded in 2021 on Aether, The Aether Entertainer is player-made virtual magazine covering music, theatre, art, current events, and Eorzean popular culture.

LORE

Final Flowery XIV—Compiled by ann0yance(bsky)/@sa8oteur, this guide explores the various flowers in XIV, comparing them to their real-world equivalents and meanings.

On Elementals, Accountability and Criticism—An essay written by @morgana96 that explores the lore of elementals and their place in Gridania (and beyond)!

MISC

Vanilla Gpose Tips by Winterdeepelegy—A how-to guide on effectively utilising the vanilla gpose tools to create visually stunning screenshots, written by @winterdeepelegy.

WoL Reference Sheet—Created by @coldshrugs, a handy WoL reference sheet you can build in Canva!

NA GPOSE Studio/Themed Housing Directory—A player-made repository of North American Gpose studios and themed houses!

CHANGELOG

The Scholar's of Nym—The link has been modified at the request of the owner.

Skystone Co.—Has been removed at the request of its owner.

UI Macro Menus—The link has been modified to accurately reflect the bookmark.

Have you thought about joining our Tumblr Community? You can find it here!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document. 🦌

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for initiating pvp in my d&d game?

[tw: fictional cannibalism]

so, this is kind of about something that i ALMOST did but backed out of, but i regret not doing it because i think it couldve been good both strategically and for roleplay fodder, but the reason i backed out was because i was worried it would be an asshole move. there's been other similar stuff that i did actually commit to, so i'll talk about that too.

for context, I'm playing Curse of Strahd with an internet group who i dont really know very well outside of dnd. ive played with all the people in the group before, but just in oneshots. we dont really chat much outside the game.

my character is a dhampir barabarian who is chaotic evil because she. uh. well she eats people. she's the only evil PC in the party, and i've been very conscious of that fact because i dont want to be That Player that completely ruins everyone else's fun by being a rampaging murderhobo. (for those who dont know CoS is a horror campaign that has a lot of fucked up violent stuff in it, so this is not extremely out of place for the setting. one of the other party members is also undead, but hes good-aligned.)

some of the stuff that has actually happened has included my character sneaking away from the party to feed on a random villager (she was followed by another party member) and also trying to eat the corpse of a guy we let die in order to save ourselves. i dont think this was assholey of me because the "pvp" in those situations amounted to slapfights and ic arguing, which i think was good roleplay. i also recently attacked a party member during combat, because my character was raging (heightened emotional state) and he basically triggered her while they were fighting side by side so she lashed out at him. the attack was a bite (potential max damage of like 6) rather than with her weapon (potential max damage of 14) but it missed anyway.

which brings me to the thing i didnt do, but wish i did.

basically, we were fighting some vampire spawn and it wasnt looking good for us. our frontline fighters (myself included) were low on hp, our cleric was being menaced by Strahd himself, and our warlock was unconscious. iirc there were two spawn left to kill when i realized i could do something beneficial to myself with no MECHANICAL cost to the party, but i was worried (ooc) that doing this would have unexpected consequences or make the other players not want to play with me anymore.

our unconscious warlock had been stabilized with Spare the Dying, so he was unconscious but not making death saving throws. being a dhampir, my character has the ability to bite a humanoid and regain hp equal to the damage caused. i hadnt been able to use this ability on these enemies, because it doesnt work on undead. but our warlock is laid out all unconscious and looking like a snack... if i had bitten him, it would have automatically been a critical hit and done double damage, therefore also healing me more, and although it would have caused him to lose two death saving throws, he was technically stable at that point. idk. the dm might have ruled that taking new damage would have restarted death saving throws, but i dont know that for sure. it seemed like a very slim chance that doing this would have resulted in the character's death, but i didnt want to take the chance because i KNOW that would have for sure made me the asshole.

tell me, tumblr. did i do the right thing by choosing not to attack my fallen camrade even though it would have healed my character? would i have been the asshole for initiating that kind of pvp without asking the other player first?

[katkat030]

I remember you mentioning “The Watchers”, who are they? Can you tell me some lore behind them?

This is a rabbit hole that I don’t fully have time to go down myself right now but there’s a gold mine of information here and it can be split into about 3 parts.

From what I know:

There’s the original Watcher lore which is canon to Grian’s Evolution SMP, which started in 2017 and ended just over a year later. My knowledge of the SMP is mostly second hand, but the premise of it was to run through all updates of minecraft in order from the earliest version (buggy, grainy, fairly difficult to survive) to the more recent ones (transitioning bit by bit into the game we know today)

Evo smp and watcher lore is really concisely explained in a tumblr post here.

from the Evo wiki: Grian's final episode of the server was of the dragon fight, where he joined The Watchers when everyone jumped through the portal after killing the dragon. His joining of the Watchers had a modified end screen poem, where a text color representing Grian and additional text mentioning some of the other Evo members was added in. if you follow the link to The Watchers you’ll get more information on what exactly they are!

Grian talked about Evo and the watchers briefly in a podcast a good few years back (co-run by the same person who voices the Hermitcraft recap actually, Pixlriffs!) - when he joined Hermitcraft in Season 6, it's my understanding that his version of watcher lore ended with Evo. Canonically, Hermitcraft!Grian isn’t influenced by them at all. This isn’t the case in fan lore, which I’ll touch on later. There happen to be some incredibly interesting example of a what-if-they-do-follow/influence/kidnap/affect-him by talented writers, so if you want fanfic recommendations just ask :3

Where it gets really interesting is that creator Martyn, ign InTheLittleWood, decided to continue a version of watcher lore. This "eyesandears" (<- tumblr tag for it. Will contain spoilers) watcher lore is only canon to his interpretation of the series, and isn’t a server-wide thing that others incorporate into their videos. This runs throughout the life series and includes cryptic poems/rhymes, elaborate reasonings for why canonical events took place, Jimmy’s canary curse, who remembers the events of previous seasons and so on.

Note that the life series isn’t scripted, and has very loose guidelines for how players should act besides adhering to the rules. Martyn therefore has the story adapt as the series evolves (pun unintended), and a great example of this was his stream after limited life (life series iteration number 4) ended. He’s also on tumblr, because of course. This is his vod - I don’t have the time to go through it again myself. It contains lots of spoilers, but if you hang around in the fandom long enough you’ll begin to recognise the winners of each season and a few key events/alliances/betrayals/plot points regardless. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

As far as I know, none of the other life series creators really know much about this or keep this in mind when the life series is going. It doesn’t influence them, nor does Martyn seem to go out of his way to incorporate huge amounts of it into his own pov. The lore adapts to what the players do, not the other way around.

There’s also the fanon (fan canon) watcher lore which is incredibly well (and quickly!) covered by Ezzriin, I’ll link that video here - this is more important for understanding why Grian’s depicted the way he is (and exactly what that usually entails).

The links I’ve included explain things better and more concisely than I can. Martyn’s 2 hour vod may take some time to get through, but I recommend at least checking out the others! :)

[kemendin]

So my friend sent me a post that was like ‘every day I wake up and think about him’ followed by some screenshots of Gale and then ‘my husband’

Said friend was like ‘you’

So firstly, a) I feel called out because YEAH PRETTY MUCH and b) one of the screenshots was literally mine, one of my Gale portraits, so doubly YEAH

So there is no denial here at all, guilty as charged etc, EXCEPT then I sort of tilted my head and went ‘okay but not the husband part, I don’t think like that’

Gale is not my husband, he’s DHAMARI’S husband. None of the characters I ship are MINE in that way, they are with my OCs, not with me.

I’ve literally never thought of a character this way, and I’m only now consciously realising how much I see it around tumblr and how removed I am from that mindset lol. I’m guessinnnggg it’s an aro/ace thing on my part? But now I’m sorta curious if non-aro/ace folks also experience ships through that lens of distance, and on the flipside if the ‘THAT’S MY SPOUSE’ mentality is born of an attraction for a character felt by a real person, or filtered through a self-insert OC, or if the two often co-exist, etc etc

This is all just convoluted idle musing on my part, I’m just like ‘oh, huh, I don’t really do that’. Certainly there are elements of myself in my OCs but when it comes to shipping it is literally never ME involved. I am but the humble player smushing some interesting barbie dolls together, peering down into their enclosure to see what they do, I am never PART of the dynamic. It’s just interesting!

[invisiblefoxfire]

Listen up, fellow queers and token straights, we're not gonna whine about the lack of new media during the strike and we're not gonna waiver in our support of the strikers.

In the meantime, we are going to recommend to each other more already-existing media than any of us could ever watch given several lifetimes to do it in.

I'll go first. Here are just a few of the creators I care about and want you to support.

FREE TO WATCH:

Filmjoy: This YouTube channel (Movies with Mikey, Deep Dive, etc.) makes incredibly well-produced video essays on film and occasionally TV and games. The channel's focus is on positivity and finding things to love about everything. And YouTube doesn't promote that sort of thing anymore, so the channel's creators (one of whom has multiple sclerosis) are running out of money and close to losing their house. Binge these genuinely incredible video essays with adblock turned off or, better yet, sign up to their Patreon and binge them with adblock on. Seriously, I love this channel so much, and if they don't get a boost in income soon, they're going to have to stop making videos. And I want more videos. Seriously, even watch the videos about things you haven't seen. They've persuaded me to watch loads of stuff I never would have watched otherwise and they're very good about not spoiling things (and giving spoiler warnings when needed).

AyeForScotland on Twitch: This is Tumblr's very own very handsome pro-Scottish-independence @ayeforscotland who has an incredible accent and plays loads of interesting games. He's going for Partner on Twitch now, which he has already earned but been denied due to an absurd technicality regarding whether viewers being linked to the channel directly from Tumblr integration. Go follow him now if he's not live, and when he goes live, go to Twitch and manually click on his name to watch the stream, since that's apparently the best way to get him the boost he needs. He sometimes has @thebibliosphere on as a guest (DOUBLE SCOTTISH ACCENTS HELL YES) and you can watch archives of many of his streams on his YouTube Channel.

Africa Everyday: This YouTube channel is run by Babatunde, a Nigerian man who shares his life and culture, makes cooking videos, and generally is a pleasure to watch and listen to. Seriously he's one of the kindest human beings I've ever spoken with. The money he earns from the channel goes towards helping his family and his community.

CHEAP AND WORTH PAYING FOR:

Dropout.tv: You simply will not find better comedy entertainment for the money. A monthly or yearly subscription is just a few dollars a month and gives you access to countless hours of top-quality entertainment from a company that started their own streaming service rather than cater to YouTube's algorithm. This is the place that started as College Humor, but if you haven't seen them in a while, you really need to check it back out. They're incredibly inclusive in their casting and theming and the production values are insane. I recommend starting with Game Changer, a show which has made me laugh so hard I choked and almost threw up. They also have Dimension 20 (or D20), the highest-quality DnD series out there, with custom-made sets and minis, usually with a focus on sheer comedy rather than drama (most of the cast members are comedy writers or comedians) - but it WILL and I mean WILL make you cry now and then. The currently in-progress season of D20 is called Dungeons and Drag Queens and the players are four literal actual fucking drag queens including Bob the Drag Queen and friends? You need to be watching this. If you have any doubts about whether Dropout is worth it or don't have any money, you can watch many full episodes for free on the CollegeHumor YouTube channel, although they have to censor the swears on there.

Nebula: Remember Lindsay Ellis? She left YouTube because of [too many reasons to list] but it turns out she's still active, she's just on Nebula now. Nebula is the co-op of streaming sites. Users sign up for a low monthly fee and the income is distributed among the creators, weighted according to how many views they get. The videos are uncensored and ad-free and contain lots of stuff that later needs to be edited out of YouTube videos to avoid copyright strikes. They've got FilmJoy on there (remember them from the start of this list?), Philosophy Tube (@theabigailthorn), Jacob Geller, Extra Credits, and loads and loads of other stuff on all different sorts of topics. Many of these channels also have YouTube channels that contain most of their content if you can't afford a Nebula subscription, but Nebula supports them more and gives them more creative freedom.

I'm gonna stop here for now but I'll add more in reblogs as the strike continues.

I hereby invite all of you to ruin my notifications until the strike is over. Reblog this, add your recommendations (especially ones that most people might not know about), and pass it on. There will not be a single complaint about lack of things to watch while the strike is ongoing.

(Why yes I am looking for more things to watch too. I've already seen all of the above. Bring it on.)

(And if you have a few dollars to spare, support the strikers directly at the Entertainment Community Fund.)

[mirror-lock]

Hi, I'm Kaiya.

Nice to meet you all, Tumblr! I'm a writer, editor, game designer, and performer in the indie TTRPG space.

You might know me as the creator of Her Odyssey, a solo journaling game where you follow the journey of a wanderer trying to find her way home - or find a new home. Built on the Caltrop Core system by Titanomachy RPG, this contemplative game is played with just a deck of cards, a handful of d4s, and a place to record your journal entries. Her Odyssey has received almost six thousand downloads and is coming to print with all-new art on May 5th!

Or perhaps you've heard of one of my other indie TTRPGs:

Pearl & Provenance, a two-player game about two nameless demigods fleeing the ruin of their old world and creating a new one together

Galatea, a solo journaling game about a living masterpiece struggling to live up to their creator's unrealistic expectations of perfection

Untitled Moth Game, a solo journaling game about a cursed were-moth seeking to rescue her true love (written as a present for cassimothwin)

You, Beyond the Pale, a solo journaling game about being a monster living alone in the wild, bewildered by a world full of mortals

DIY Identity, a one-page two-player game about missed paths in life. Must be played in an IKEA store.

The Traitor Princess, a one-page multi-player game about coping with upheaval and subliminating emotions. Must be played while donating your clothes.

I've also created my own SRD, Aspire, for both experienced and first-time game designers alike to write TTRPGs with! Aspire is built from the design principles that went into my first few games and is set up to provide a framework for narrative-driven RPGs with turning points that change both the stakes and the rules.

And if you're more on the D&D side of things, you may know me as the player of Lilissen, the secretive and frail half-elf from Curse of Strahd: Twice Bitten. Twice Bitten was a 100% Rules-As-Written Curse of Strahd campaign, played by five former CoS DMs and DMed by DragnaCarta, best known for his popular Curse of Strahd: Reloaded guides. The campaign is fully complete as of February 2022 and can be found on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts.

You can find all my games on my Itch page, and you can find more about everything I do (including voice acting, interviews, TTRPG design advice, Lilissen's epilogue, my mailing list...) on my website.

[prayerith]

honestly the cruelest moment in rebirth imo wasn’t what you’d expect (ff7 rebirth spoilers to follow, also this turned into like. more of an essay than i thought so sorry about that.)

you’d think it would be aerith dying despite cloud stopping sephiroth’s blade. and yeah that made me sob like a baby. but the cruelest moment? to me? that was what i am calling The Date of Futility and Disempowerment

in hbomberguy’s video essay “Pathologic Is Genius, And Here’s Why”, he discusses the way pathologic makes the player feel helpless and like nothing they do matters. this is contrary to many video games, which are intended to be power fantasies for the player. pathologic communicates this through its almost useless combat, scarce resources, and the dark and dreary atmosphere. hbomberguy’s video is linked here, but knowing the type of “audience” i have, you’ve already seen it. feel free to watch it again!

“but tumblr user millenniumpuzzle!” you might say. “final fantasy 7 rebirth is very much a power fantasy! at a certain point, your party can one shot most enemies!” yes! that is true. while pathologic is a survival horror, ff7 rebirth is a reimagining of a classic jrpg. you level up, get new abilities, and can eventually deal massive damage to any foe. but i’m not talking about the whole game! i’m talking about one scene.

i am co-opting the phrase hbomberguy uses to begin part 2 of his video essay, “futility and disempowerment,” to refer to the beginning of chapter 14 in final fantasy 7: rebirth. specifically, the scene where cloud wakes up in an alternate reality and goes on a date with aerith while the world ends.

in that scene, aerith takes cloud by the hand through the sector 5 slums and they meet several shopkeepers. cloud is then given the choice to choose things for aerith and himself, out of a specified list. however no matter what item you choose, even if you agonize over it, the shopkeeper says “oh i’m sorry, you can’t actually do that” and gives you a fourth item that was not on the list to begin with.

for the photographer, he’s taking pictures of couples, and you can choose which pose to have the photographer shoot you and aerith in. but, again, the prize goes to someone else no matter what you do. when cloud asks why he and aerith weren’t chosen, the photographer says, “you don’t look like you’re on a date…more like at a funeral.” aerith strongly protests this, but the meaning of all these scenes is clear.

the game is telling you that even if you have free choice, even if you can make decisions, they don’t ultimately matter. “all roads lead toward the same blocked intersection” (sax rohmer #1, the mountain goats). you might think you can save aerith. the game may have even given you that impression up to that point. but it’s no use.

and that’s just horrible! it’s horrible that we have to show this to cloud, and he has no idea what it all means. the dramatic irony. it’s just the worst

anyway thank you for coming to my ted talk

[slayaemiko]

Xiangling’s Free Skin and Lantern Rite Goodies: A Genshin Update You Can’t Miss!

By Msal, avid Genshin Impact enthusiast and adventurer

Genshin Impact players, mark your calendars! Version 5.3 is shaping up to be one of the most rewarding updates in recent memory, and as a dedicated traveler in Teyvat, I’m here to break it all down. From free goodies to exciting new characters, this patch has something for everyone, and speculation is buzzing with anticipation. Here’s why this update is a must-play for veterans and newcomers alike.

A Winter Cheer for Xiangling Mains

Let’s start with the headline: Xiangling is getting a brand-new Winter Cheer skin, and it’s FREE. As one of the most versatile sub-DPS characters in the game, Xiangling is a staple in countless team comps. This new skin not only spruces up her look but also feels like a love letter to the players who have relied on her trusty Guoba and Pyronado since day one.

For free-to-play players, free skins are rare treasures in Genshin Impact, and the fact that this one is tied to the Lantern Rite Event makes it even more special. If you’ve ever wanted to showcase your dedication to this fan-favorite Liyue chef, now’s your chance.

The Lantern Rite Event: Rewards Galore

Image by Empress P on HoYoLab

Ah, Lantern Rite! The quintessential Liyue festival is returning, and as always, it promises a treasure trove of rewards. One of the biggest highlights is the Liyue Four-Star Character Selector. This feature allows players to choose any Liyue-based four-star character to add to their roster or enhance with constellations. Whether you’re picking Xiangling, Ningguang, or even Beidou, this event is your chance to boost your team.

But wait, there’s more. Speculation is swirling that Version 5.3 could include two free four-star characters. This would follow the precedent set by earlier updates, such as Candace’s free inclusion in Version 5.1 and the four-star sword giveaway in Version 5.2. Imagine the possibilities: doubling up on freebies in a single patch would cement this update as one of the most generous yet.

New Characters and Speculations

Source by Tumblr

Let’s talk about Lan Yan, the game’s first-ever Anemo shielder, who’s making her debut in the second phase of this update. From what we’ve seen so far, Lan Yan looks to be a game-changer, bringing a much-needed defensive option to Anemo-centric teams. While details about her abilities remain scarce, the buzz around her arrival has already made her one of the most anticipated characters of the patch.

Of course, with all the speculation, it’s worth noting that nothing is set in stone. The potential for a second free four-star character remains just that—a possibility. But if it does happen, it will make Version 5.3 a patch for the history books.

Why This Update Matters

Jessica Orr Senior Guides Writer - Eurogamer

Beyond the speculation, what makes this update stand out is the sheer accessibility of its rewards. Events like Lantern Rite are not just about the Primogems and Mora (although those are always welcome); they’re about celebrating the game’s vibrant world and fostering a sense of community. Free rewards like Xiangling’s Winter Cheer skin and character selectors ensure that everyone, from whales to F2P players, gets to partake in the festivities.

Final Thoughts

As a Genshin player who has spent countless hours exploring Teyvat, I can’t overstate how exciting this patch feels. Sure, some of the context is speculative, but that’s half the fun—piecing together leaks and official announcements to imagine what’s coming next. So, grab your resin, stock up on wishes, and get ready to dive into one of the most rewarding updates of the year.

And hey, don’t forget to log in during the event. You don’t want to miss out on that Xiangling skin—because trust me, flexing Winter Cheer in co-op is going to feel as good as pulling a five-star on the first 10-pull.

Stay tuned, Travelers. The best is yet to come!

[maruzze]

I think only my co-dm follows me on Tumblr so I may as well share some thoughts and opinions over my Curse of Strahd campaign.

I have not read the books, even if I do plan to eventually, but Rahadin's story as it is presented in CoS 5e makes no sense. He was exiled from the elves for no reason at all so I wanted to give him at least a motivation to not trust the dusk elves.

The Rahadin in my campaign was born from older parents (for elves, ofc) and, when the war happened, both of them were left to die because it would be inconvenient to help them out along with others. It was a strategic decision by the then-alive royal family and one Rahadin resented deeply.

And he voiced his resentment, which was considered badly for morale in the middle of a war. So kicked out he is.

But a fight my players did recently was with a dullahan. Which I strongly implied was after Rahadin's head and one character luckily had the background to remember dullahan's stories about them seeking out family members to get a head.

So I added this to also give a reason for Rahadin's lasting resentment. Because his father is still haunting him (I placed the dullahan near the Temple because I will assume Strahd can still keep him at bay due to his control over Barovia) and he has to go through this cycle of fighting him/running away every time he wants to pray for Strahd to return human at the Temple.

[strahdapologist]

which interpretation of strahd do you like better- reddit or tumblr

oh man both have their pros and cons tbh. the vibe on the two platforms is very very different as well and depending on what i'm looking for, i will search resources out more on one platform than the other.

generally speaking, the audience on reddit is older and since COS/ravenloft reddit is by and for DMs and discourages the presence of players i find the discourse to be a lot more polite and civil haha not that i mind a tumblr user saying kys bitch ive been here long enough to ignore that it does make reading reddit discourse a lot easier to digest. the shit you find on reddit is also very different in terms of resources but it can be a mixed bag. since the audience is older, you have reddit users who were around when "i, strahd" came out and that is the platform where i found out about it and quite a few people also have guides on how to redeem strahd or play him more interestingly than 5e does. it was also reddit where i found the masterpost on how to rewrite the vistani in a way that is no longer racist against romani people. reddit also has more diverse takes on how to play strahd, ie. there's the general sense that there is no right or wrong way to play strahd, just the way you chose to play him. they even have statblocks out there to reflect these different interpretations that i really appreciate.

however, edgelords also populate the forum at times and you will find guides that are like "how to gaslight and emotionally abuse the shit out of your players" which is.... bad :( generally speaking tho as a dm i do like reddit more than tumblr lol

tumblr has some very interesting shit out there, and the best art imo, but the audience is generally younger, and it is mostly populated by players. this isn't a always a bad thing, it just means that the vibe is different and fewer people have heard of older materials or large expansions that have been co-created by a myriad of reddit users. there is also at times less openness to alternative interpretations, likely coming from the perspective of player rather than DM, of strahd and this sense that there is a set canon (something that old dnd fans don't have because they've experienced multiple editions of adventures so there is no attitude of "this is canon").

i find, depending on the space on tumblr, sometimes less of a critical view on decisions 5e has made because of this sense of "oh this is canon" and an ignorance (not deliberate!) to older editions. one may not see the entire issue with changes made to the dusk elves for example if they did not know this was purely a 5e thing and that they were white in older editions. similarly, people may not know that 5e strahd was not always canon strahd and older editions of him are beloved by older players and DMs. this is not to say older editions are perfect, they do have their issues, but once you're aware of where ravenloft started and where it's gone you can see TSR's/WOTC's gross missteps and how they have moved away from some bad decisions, but made new ones that are also bad. again i don't think this ignorance is deliberate, why would a player hunt down an ancient PDF from the 1990s and scour through it to get the deep lore for a campaign they play once every two weeks. my issue with this is when there's a staunch defense of 5e or harsh criticism of older editions is made because malicious intent is assumed of defenders of older editions. this approach to discourse is also par of the course for tumblr since the tone with which people can speak can become quite aggressive. very chronically online behavior :/ touch grass

but back to tumblr's take on strahd, as a whole it tends to follow 5e canon but that isn't to say there are no derivatives in opinions and no fans of older editions of ravenloft. i am very lucky to have found a lot of people who agree w/ me here, but my takes are definitely seen as hotter there than on reddit.

anyway follow me i'm delicious :)

[reelovesbuckybarnes]

I do not know how to say this but...

I am going to deactivate my tumblr account very soon and i don't know if i will ever come back on here.

Not because no role player wants to rp with me anymore, it's just that things have gotten too much for me and i was targeted again on my asks, people calling me a drama and that i am such a bad person. And in all honesty i am not doing this for attention ok? Those anonymous people think that i am but i am not .

I bet those anonymous role-playing people on here will be so glad if i leave tumblr and not coming back. I also bet that they will be so relieved to not see me on here anymore...

The only people that had stood with me through all this drama are @lizette50

@scentedkittenperfection

@warrior-in-pain and also @musicandchat .

These are the only people that are my true best friends on here and that has never left me either while others had blocked me and that also wants nothing to do with me in rp.

It has turned into drama central on here.

I really feel like leaving my tumblr blog because i feel that i really do not belong here.

No one likes me on here.

No rp person wants me to rp with them of cos what happened.

I don't know how much more i can take so to those anonymous users hiding behind your rp blogs, be happy that i am leaving soon. I guess that i will just be on my Twitter and Facebook and my whatsap from now on.

At least there is no drama for me on there...

I really can't take it anymore. I wanna take my own life . I know that they will be so glad once i am dead....

I am really leaving tumblr very soon. It's been great on here. I will let you all know my wonderful followers on when i am deactivating.

I am so broken hearted and also saying this with a heavy heart 💔.

I just can't take it anymore...

[vitrious-simulacrum]

A Notice On Aleph One, And The Marathon Community

I'd normally wouldn't exactly be sharing this kind of content, but seeing as Marathon is my Number One Spot of Brainrot, and most people who have played these games in recent years are likely just on Tumblr/Twitter/their own Discord servers and not the official Aleph One Discord, the following events are basically unknown to the majority of people. So, to better archive them than to let them get lost in time.

Firstly, I should establish the main players of for the redaction:

Aaron Freed: co-director & one of many composers and general maker of Stuff for Eternal, composer and level designer for the (as of writing this) the in-works Tempus Irae Redux, alongside his work on the currently still unreleased Chronicles and Where Monsters Are In Dreams, owner of the Marathon Vidmaster Challenge Youtube channel and dozens of compositions, Marathon-related or otherwise. He is, likely alongside Adminn_1 (aka NEFX) andn Hamish (owner of the Marathon Story Page), one of the most prolific creators for Marathon.

Gregory Smith, aka Treellama: the head programmer for the Aleph One project, as well as maker of Weland (map creator), ShapeFusion (modification of logic and physics files for Marathon) and Atque (a merger and splitter for Marathon scenarios). His work, overall, has helped the community a great deal, from modernised modding tools to supporting Aleph One and expanding the Marathon engine with every update.

Solra Bizna (or just Solra): another developer for Aleph One, most notable for having helped create a proof-of-concept code to showcase how Aleph One could run at 60FPS and more, which would eventually be expanded to the current FPS settings that Aleph One now has. He has also worked on a variety of parts of Aleph One, such as Lua overlays and netscripts, all important to current functions for modern Marathon scenarios.

So, What Happened?

On the 29th of May, Solra publicly announced his departure of the Marathon Discord server, explaining that due to unexplained blockage from the Aleph One team towards Aaron's PR (pull request; a way of proposing changes made made in a fork of the original source code that could be added to the original code), with no real explanation given beyond that "treellama finds [Aaron] irritating", he feels his energy put on fixing this have been wasted, and retires to work on his lonesome.

While some buzz would be made from this departure, nothing of note would be said until the 4th of June, where Aaron would expand on the details of the situation.

This thread, still available in the Marathon Discord, would go on details about events that led to Solra leaving. In short: Aaron had been under Solra's tutelage on programming (something that has been public as around 2022-2023), with the idea that, as she explained in his departure, he would contribute in his stead and give Aaron a chance to contribute to one of his greatest contributions. However, attempts to do such a thing would be stopped by the AO team with no real reason, and any attempts to gain an understanding as to why would be stonewalled. The only real reason given is, according to treellama in a ticket request, "unresolvable personality conflicts".

Alongside this, Aaron himself would bring up a few notes in relation to Aleph One, one of which is the very reason I'm writing this post (outside of the conclusion at the end):

For context in regards to the reaction: INTERPOLATED_WORLD.cpp is what currently allows Marathon to run at FPSes higher than 20. Aaron's reaction come specifically from the (still current as of me writing this) credits of the file, which note very specifically at the start Gregory Smith (treellama). The issue raised here by Aaron is that that code was originally started by Solra as a proof-of-concept (which can be visualised here), which would then be reiterated by Treellama throughout—something he tries to use as a sort of gotcha on Aaron, as he shows that, at most, only 15-to-40 lines of code, or 17% of it, is still Solra's.

I'm unable to find when exactly the credits were added as I suck working with Github, but if a smarter person can find it, I'll be holy appreciative.

Now, to interject with my own opinion on this: no matter if there's one line, three or half in the current code that are still part of the proof-of-concept, Solra should still be correctly credited; that, or use the generic "Credits: Aleph One Team". The immediate use of Treellama's real name makes it seem to anyone who doesn't know any better that he himself made it in collaboration with the AO team, which is objectively not true. He did try and present a solution to this, which just amounted to "if Solra is bothered by this, he should reach out", which is absolutely not what should happen. Properly crediting people, no matter in what way, should be done automatically, instead of awaiting for someone to make a fuss about it. It makes you look like you don't actually care to fix things or change them. Just do it. No need to pull out statistics of how much is yours vs. Solra's. It's a waste of time.

Sadly, this is the last post made in the thread before the moderators closed it down. After this, Aaron would more or less abandon all activity in the Discord server, still working on other projects such as TIR, and is now used by other high profile creators like cassis (Liver and Onions), hypersleep (Apotheosis X) and Ryoko (Phoenix), who all shared their own sets of issues with Aaron on the thread, as a punching bag quite publicly on the Marathon Discord server.

So, What's There To Do Now?

In the most immediate, wait for the proper launch of Aleph Bet (link here), a fork of Aleph One which Aaron, Solra and a few others are working on, and show your support by downloading it. Use death of the author if you wish on ApoX and Phoenix, or never play them, or whatever. Do what you feel is necessary to show your discontent towards this behaviour from the lead developer for Aleph One. But don't cross the boundaries of insults or death threats. That is unnecessary and entirely stupid. Be better than that.

-Vitrious Simulacrum

[vanirpads]

Vani - 28 - 🇧🇷 - 🔞 ONLY 20+ y/o partners

Minors will be blocked on SIGHT Check out the link above for more details and info about me and my RP style. Writing samples and character infos will be handed out privately. Hi hello. I'm the same Vani from some fandoms within the Tumblr RPC! BUT, since that's now taking the backseat for my Discord rps. I've gone ahead and made this blog. I don't do any RPing here, everythig will take place over on Discord. If you're looking for tumblr RPs check out: @vanillahub & its side blogs

CURRENTLY OPEN ADS:

Saint Seiya RP search

In regards to ads: in order to prevent tags spamming, I'll try limiting my reposts to every 4 days or every other week.

Some quick stuff about me:

+8 years of literature style RP experience. I mainly write multi-paras, somewhere around 2-5 paragraphs per reply. One-liners aren't fun nor engaging for me, I also can't do novellas. You don't NEED to match the size of my replies, but I need you to at least give me something to work with;

Unless stated otherwise in a RP ad: I'm not interested in OCs, sorry to any OC players out there. I almost exclusively writer for CC, and I'd like to only play against other CCs.

I'm always open for SFW and NSFW (Smut or darkfic topics) rps. Further boundaries and triggers will be discussed privately;

I'm looking for long-term partners. I need people who wish to stick around for the long run, especially people who will actually write with me. I love chatting about our characters, and HCs discussions as well as plotting expansive plots;

I'm not a fast-replier. I will never bug my partners for replies, I want our RPs to be extremely chill and in return don't ever bother me for a reply. I can't do rapid-fire pace roleplays;

I am NOT fiction kin/self-insert friendly. I already have no interest in RPing against OCs in general BUT, I can tell when someone is clearly living through the character they are writing for. I am not here to judge anyone, and even less tell people how they should or shouldn't tackle rps. However, I am not here to fulfill complete strangers' personal fantasies, like that. That's crossing a hard boundary for me. RP is like a co-operative fanfiction for me. I will cut contact with people, if I find out they have been doing that shit behind my back;

I can write in English AND Pt-br;

I don't do well in RP groups. After MANY failed attempts, it just isn't for me. I exclusively do 1x1 rps.

Do NOT feed my art or writing to AI databases nor try to create bots around them;

Reply or like my ads and I will reach you out, or DM me to tell me you are contacting me because of them! DO NOT randomly DM me with "wanna rp?" types of messages, I will take it as a sign that you didn't read my info to begin with.

If anything catches your interest, then don't be afraid to reach me out through DMs!

This is a sideblog and will follow back from Floaromaxtowns

Credit for the banners used: x & x

[litorestellae]

★ STAFF UPDATE. [07.21.24]

Our application for staff closes tonight at 11PM CST. [in ~6 hrs.]

We have found one staff member who has accepted our invitation to join. We are currently waiting to close the application to seek out a second person for opening. We are looking for someone who is thorough, and willing to provide the time to help out come soft-opening and our official launch. We have no predictions as to what these opening phases will look like, so we're being a bit picky in who we decide to bring on, especially with our founder (me) potentially being away during some of the soft launch.

After we open, however, we will be more lenient in finding moderators who will be more part time. If we decide to not choose another staff member to help us prepare for opening, we will continue to keep the applications we received and utilize the same forum for after we open to bring on more moderators.

— ★ APPLICATION. ★ —

For transparency sake, here's the breakdown of our current staff team and what we're reaching for come opening.

Founder: Rii

Lore Writer: Sami

Moderators: Stray & Wynn*

*Wynn is strictly assisting with only beginner applications and general moderation, not formal moderator tasks relating to characters or lore.

My goal for this team in imminent future after our official launch will look as followed. This depends on our popularity and size, of course, but this is the goal I will be looking for.

Founder: [1]

Lore Writer: [1]

Administrators: [1]

Moderators: [4]

Staff team will always be an odd number once opening hits. This is to make votes as a team a smoother experience, as there will always be someone to break a tie.

A breakdown of the roles are,

Founder: me! Hi! I am the main person running this role play, and have been doing most of the organization. Founder is merely a title though, and my role is more that of an administrator.

Lore Writer: Sami is technically my co-founder, and as her title assumes, she has done most of the lore work surrounding the role play. For all operational purposes, she is also an administrator.

Administrators: Admins will help out with the upkeep of our social medias, promotions and advertisements, as well as operational functions such as kick/banning, organization, posting approved characters, and lore writing. They will also help assist in promotions of players to staff.

Moderators: Moderators are more on the operational side of things. Mods will help assist in approving beginner applications, keep chats in check, update gathering/half-moon dates when necessary, help approve characters, etc.

As time goes on, and I become stronger and learn to type at the speed of light, I will have a complete breakdown of staff roles made, but for the sake of this Tumblr post, and for the transparency of my expectations, here's what I have so far!

[vidavalor]

<<I would also not accept Crowley hate. I just never see it.>>

Same. Yeah, it doesn't exist. A lot of people's internalized issues at work, if you ask me, as to why there's only hate for Aziraphale when there shouldn't be hate for either of them.

<<I think for that to work, you have to take Crowley as the protagonist of the story and Aziraphale as an -- um, adjunct? romantic interest? Rather than seeing them as 2 equal players in the story.>>

If you want to get really technical about it? From a writing standpoint, Aziraphale is the main character because it's his story arc we're following the most throughout the story. He is the character who will under go the most change from chronological start-to-finish in the story. He and Crowley are two halves of a whole, though, so it's a little tricky and they're closer to being co-main-characters than you might get in other stories. Inside the story, though, the characters are definitely equal partners, and I agree that it's irritating to not always see that reflected in attitudes towards the characters.

The funny thing is, though, that people who think Crowley is the sole main character are showing that they don't really know what one is and are just focused on Crowley. For reasons. I wouldn't presume to know why, exactly, but I suspect that they are likely of 'want to fuck him even though he's fictional and subconsciously hate the main character who gets to' variety. Also shows how little they know the character as Crowley would not. care. for it. if he were to learn that they were disparaging his angel.

<<the Edinburgh minisode, that make it look like Aziraphale is still toeing the Heaven line and he is the only one who still (in 1827!) has learned nothing>>

Yeah, that attitude in people is showing that they're not really putting together the minisode, imho. Aziraphale struggling with conflicts of what he's supposed to be according to Heaven versus who he really is are not the same thing as Aziraphale being on the side of Heaven. He's never been on the side of Heaven. He gave away his sword in Eden. He lied and miracled to save Job's kids. He's been badass since the start.

I think it's also a feature of some people not seeing that Aziraphale is kind of dryly bitching about his job to Crowley in 1827 more than he is actually disagreeing with Crowley and Elspeth. He lives on Earth. He knows how lunacy Heaven's ideas about things are. He's complaining to Crowley about what he's up against and getting some reassurance in Crowley's wtf that's crazy! response that he's not alone in thinking so. The moment that he learns that Dalrymple isn't just a ghoul but someone who wants the bodies for greater good reasons, Aziraphale is happy to throw over whatever Heaven nonsense he's supposed to at least pretend to believe to help. He'll always do what he can to help. It's just all very tiresome that people think Crowley is perfect. He's not always right. There also isn't always a "right" at all.

<<such as the way the f15 was shown (many people do not sense any real threat from the Metatron, don't get the "able to see/hear what's happening in the shop", don't see anything weird about Crowley letting Aziraphale go off with the Metatron, etc.>>

Yeah, this... 😂 My favorite wtf interaction that I've had here on the Tumblr Dot Com is the person who told me that Aziraphale and Crowley weren't worried about being spied on in The Final 15 and when I pointed out things like... Aziraphale, looking out the window at Our Villain, doing the downward hands of "not right now" at Crowley, and trying to get him to stop talking? I was told-- kid you not-- that he just turned his head.

The closet is a theme of the season and there's an entire foreshadowing plot with the Nazi Zombie Flesheaters about Crowley and Aziraphale being spied on through the window and people who cannot make simple connections enough to understand what's happening, so... how's that for irony? There's a whole plot about people being unable to make connections... about which this person couldn't make a connection.

I agree to some extent that it's designed to appear a certain way, with particular emphasis on Crowley acting out of character, but it's not so cloak-and-dagger that we can't see that something is amiss. The number of people who don't seem to see Crowley as acting out of character by letting Aziraphale go alone with The Being Claiming To Be The Metatron amazes me. It should be the primary question to come out of that scene. This is what we were saying above, though-- they are too focused on precious demon got his feelings hurt to notice that there is something really, really wrong with precious demon. He just sat there and let Aziraphale go alone with someone who had tried to kill him and he'd never do that of his own free will and that's somehow not the biggest point of discussion?

But this is also the same problem as most people just believing without question that it's The Metatron at the door. Sure, it might be, but they definitely gave us a laundry list of clues that suggest we should at least be questioning it. Five angels cannot recognize him and he has to get a demon to identify him but that's not Satan? Really? After a whole season of "who are you" in every other scene? And all the minisodes being about Hell? Even if it's not, the point is that it's all very weird and many people are just taking what's happening as if nothing is weird, which I find to be... well, weird.

So many people think that The Metatron was legitimately offering Aziraphale a job and everything was on the up-and-up and... why would he ever do that? He'd never offer Crowley to be restored as an angel, either. That'd collapse Heaven and Hell in a day as every demon then would demand their own status as demons reviewed. They think this is The Metatron and they still believe him, even though he just tried to murder Gabriel? I was so surprised to see the number of people who don't think Aziraphale is in any danger here and think he just got promoted when the whole season seems like it's building towards something quite different but we'll see what happens in The Finale.

The gods of the Disc have never bothered much about judging the souls of the dead, and so people only go to hell if that's where they believe, in their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won't do if they don't know about it. This explains why it is so important to shoot missionaries on sight.

Eric, Terry Prachett