#giving the game another try and it seems the solution was to play a different character

[cilant-lis]

some stuff i drew while playing kingmaker

[homunculus-argument]

I know it would probably be a logistical nightmare to also make this accessible to the actual people represented, but I think it would be cool to have a game where the whole point is that every character has different limitations, that make it impossible or at least incredibly difficult to get past the whole game without switching them every once in a while, and the way you switch is by going to another character and asking their help with something.

Like you start out the game with one character and go "oh huh, the colour sceme of this game is really cool, really interesting use of such a limited palette", play through the puzzles for a while, and then encounter something where you're supposed to arrange some slightly differently coloured puzzle pieces to the right order by shade or something, and it's goddamn impossible. No matter how many methods you try, it's just not clicking, no matter how logical your solutions seem, no matter how clearly they can't be arranged in any other way that'd make more sense.

And maybe you go online to ask people "hey I'm stuck in the colour puzzle, what the hell am I supposed to do to get past this?" and someone tells you to go find one of the other playable characters and ask for their help. Which sounds patronising and stupid but you're stuck so you might as well give it a try. You go to one of the other characters, choosing the dialogue option to go "hey I need a hand with something, I can't do this on my own", and when they go "sure, let's go", your controls now switch to the other character.

And the colour scheme switches immediately. The aesthetic limited palette has changed to a far wider range, there's details in the environment that you hadn't noticed, like the muted faint flowers on the ground are actually bright red, the greyish shirt that your first character was wearing is actually striped with orange and green. The first POV character is colourblind, this whole time you haven't been able to perceive the difference between green and red. Solving the colour arranging puzzle with the other character is a breeze.

And this is the repeating theme of the game - every character has their own limitations, and while none of the puzzles are easy, you learn to think "maybe I should ask someone to help me with this" whenever you've been stuck for an unreasonable amount of time. You need to grab a buddy along for the quests, or you'll need to go back to get one eventually, and the way the game is structured somehow ensures that you can't just tactically dodge the limitation puzzles beforehand. Deaf character's POV doesn't have the audio clues that different pieces of the same puzzle make a different clicking sound, the puzzle with garbled numbers on it stops being garbled when you're not playing the character with dyscalculia.

You slowly get to know the whole cast, and occasionally help them out with things, too. You know which character could probably help with something you're stuck with, but while they'd be glad to come help, they're unfortunately stuck doing some task that could take you 20 minutes but is going to take them all afternoon, and you can offer help. Sometimes the helping-a-buddy-out minigames don't come with any direct transactional reward, you can just help a friend with something just because you can.

And the game's whole goal isn't to just illustrate how different people have different strengths, and sometimes things that are easy for you are hard for someone else, and vice versa, but to condition the player to think "maybe I should just ask someone to help, instead of wasting time struggling on my own."

[imagine--if]

hi! i saw that u write for aib and i was wondering if i can request a chishiya x reader, where they get separated in the middle of a difficult game and ends with the reader badly hurt by another player? idk why but i want something really angsty with a fluff ending (established relationship if possible) <3

A/N: Sure; I followed the concept as much as I could, I hope this is okay!! I need to start writing moreee aghhh I'm doing this final project for my course so it's been a bit hectic haha 😅 sorry for the wait! Enjoy 🖤 WORDS: 1.6K

Chishiya x Reader Oneshot; Smartass

Spades and Diamonds.

You already knew which person had to go where, which one between you and your partner was best for the very different survival games. One was all about using your head, outsmarting everyone to come out alive, and the other was about using your fists, your fight, physical strength rather than mental. And although you wouldn't say that you're the most physical person, especially in the Borderlands, you knew that in all the Borderlands, Chishiya Shuntaro could probably outsmart every single player. Maybe every gamemaster.

It was one of the first things you'd said to him when you met. During the Jack of Hearts, while the numbers of players were dropping on the screen, until it was just you and a handful of apprehensive, strange survivors left, Chishiya had stalked up to you and suggested you team up. The smirk that radiated self-confidence and amusement with the world, barely taking it seriously, but winning every game anyway, just because he could.

"Why don't you go solo?" You had questioned him with a raised brow, slightly defensive after he had called out your behaviour of just tagging along with the group but barely saying a word. You knew that trust was a priceless thing in the Borderlands, let alone in a Hearts game, and no one was worthy of it. "If you're such a smartass."

You thought that might get him annoyed, give him another reason to try and eliminate you from the game apart from being a survivor in the way of finding the Jack, or that you were the Jack yourself. But, if anything, his smirk grew, and those deep brown eyes looked almost curious as they glanced up and down at you.

"If I'm so smart, then what might you be?"

You scoffed under your breath, shrugging and looking away. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Maybe I would," was Chishiya's answer, and you looked up at him, taken aback. But you could see that he meant it, that curiosity shining through his otherwise blank, assessing features, and so, after getting out of that game alive, and many others with him suddenly at your side, he did know. You both started to know each other, more and more, until you were practically inseparable.

No one announced that you were together. There was no proposal, no question of going out, no massive gesture. You were together before you were together. It only took one sealing kiss, where you were both alone in another long, tense night that somehow seemed a bit relaxed with your company. Chishiya always seemed so unbothered, so humoured by the world and people around him, like it was playing out for his amusement. But now, as you're faced with a dilemma that's hardly a dilemma, he doesn't look so amused. He looks almost as apprehensive as the players around you look when you and Chishiya breeze through the challenges, working together flawlessly. Chishiya found it odd how easy it was to know what the other was thinking almost all of the time during games, to find an interest in someone new and different, until it unfolded into something deeper and more loving. The whole thing was completely alien to the both of you, but you loved it, and let it blossom.

But now, as the large fluttering images of the face cards are dragged through the sky by fat blimps, Chishiya's brows twitch unapprovingly, searching for a solution that will guarantee both of your safety.

"Go," you urge him, and he knows what you mean immediately, staring at you thoughtfully. "It's your game, Chishiya. Go beat the King of Diamonds. I'll manage, I will."

Chishiya doesn't answer for a stretched-out few moments, still looking for another option, a way for you to stay at each other's side like you always do, but there isn't anything. You can't risk losing a Diamonds game, and Chishiya can't risk getting beaten at a Spade game.

"You will," Chishiya says finally, though he's not agreeing. He's making you promise him, convincing himself as well as yourself. You know that he'll have no interest in returning to the real world without you, and by this point, you can't imagine living any way without him. You don't want to, and you won't.

"I will," you repeat, and he nods, not fully satisfied. But it's the best you can do.

"Good luck," he says with a smirk that doesn't quite quirk up fully, and his hand lingers in yours until Arisu and Usagi come over to get you.

Chishiya nods again, letting your hands fall apart, and goes over to Arisu, walking up close to him and muttering some words in his ear. Arisu looks straight at you, then at Chishiya, and nods with a half-smile. Then, he wanders off casually, blonde locks tangling with the light breeze, and you watch after him, hands going cold and lips vaguely swollen.

"Come on," Usagi tells you with a smile, patting you on the back, "let's go."

You do go. And you do the best you can do. You feel like Chishiya's watching you every step of the way, like he watches the Borderlands' events in half-hearted amusement. It's like he's leaning forward in his seat, pools of deep brown searching the screen you're running through, dodging attacks and bullets and shielding your ears from the bangs and cracks of the King's gun. There's so much blood, more blood than you thought was possible to come out of anyone. The stinging smell of iron makes you feel sick, all the while you fight to the death. Usagi and Arisu and everyone are beaten and broken, right up until the King is defeated. But by then, everyone is defeated.

Even you.

You feel almost guilty, along with the rush of other emotions; shock, dread, fear, pain, desperation. You can't bleed out on him now. Not when you've come so far. Not after you promised.

Arisu and Usagi make it towards you, helping you up and practically carrying you out of the game zone, Arisu screaming for help, help for another person, despite his cuts and bruises and blood staining his skin. Overhead, you hear two blimps boom up in flames, falling apart and to the ground in crashes, the card images flailing and burning, as dead as the countless bodies sprawled on the floor.

Two booms.

You smile despite yourself. You knew he'd do it. The smartass.

"Chishiya!" you hear Arisu scream, and Usagi supports your weight as Arisu stumbles over to the blonde-haired man, grabbing at his arm. "Help us. Help her. I tried, but there was so much..."

So much blood. So many bullets. Arisu had tried, and he hadn't failed. But now, as your blurring sight latches onto that all-too-familiar figure who walked quicker than normal to get to you, you feel as if you've failed. All in a moment, one shot from the King at the nearest moving thing was all it took to make you collapse, all of a sudden losing the invincibility you had with your other half.

The blurring made the Borderlands and its sounds fade in and out, in and out, until you were able to blink a neutral, albeit run-down room into view. It was the back room of some kind of shop, with you lying back atop a table, your shot wound being patched up with delicate, expert hands and concentrating, meticulous eyes. Those eyes flick up to meet yours before they're back on the wound, and Chishiya's white, plastic-gloved hand pulls out a bullet. You wince, expecting more pain than you get, and watch him groggily.

"Isn't this supposed to hurt?" you find yourself whispering, and Chishiya shakes his head, not looking up.

"I gave you some pain relievers I found. Don't fidget, I'll mess this up."

You smile and roll your eyes. "I won't argue with a doctor."

"Good," he says with an absentminded, small smirk, carefully stitching up the hole and pulling a bandage closer to the table. "I know what I'm doing. Fortunately for you, the shot missed a vital organ, though the blood loss could have cost your life if I didn't stop it when I did."

You bite your lip, peering at your flushed, angry skin around the wound. "Oh. Thank you."

He hums in acknowledgement, putting the needle and thread down to unravel the bandage. "Stop fidgeting, you little annoyance."

You bite back a smile at his amused, fond tone, one you'd grown to love hearing, and started hearing more and more. But your smile fades as your thoughts run away with you, until you end up blurting them out.

"I'm sorry."

Chishiya glances up at you. "What for?"

"Getting shot," you mumble. "I know I promised. It was just really... I didn't die."

"You didn't die," Chishiya confirms. "That's what matters, isn't it? You kept your promise. And life and death here isn't something you can so easily promise."

"No," you agree. "I know. But you can. You're such a smartass, I knew you'd waltz out of that game alive and alone."

Chishiya smirks properly at that. "I'm still the smartass? I thought you would have started treating me nicer now I've saved your life and you've saved mine."

You frown at the last statement, confused. "I saved your life? How?"

Chishiya simply smiles, fastening the bandage and admiring his work. "You have. Maybe not from a gun. But you have."

You're lost for words for a short while, blinking at him. "Really?"

Chishiya nods, sitting beside you and reaching out hesitantly, stroking a piece of your hair so delicately, like you could break with a single hard tap.

"Really. You," he whispers dramatically, as if he's telling you his biggest secret, "are my biggest and best reason."

And then, just like that, he's back up and packing the medical aids away, looking over his shoulder at you with his usual, infuriating amusement and perceptiveness.

"You're blushing."

You scoff at him, rolling your eyes.

"Smartass."

[gabrielsbubblegumbitch]

Charlie's corruption arc ✨😈

aka Broken Crown AU inspired by this post because I’ve been thinking about it intensively. So, I believe Charlie's villain arc would start with a great feeling of relief. Imagine: it's been a week since the final battle; it's been a week when Charlie hasn't been able to sleep at night. Others think she's still grieving, but the truth is different. Every night, Charlie cannot fall asleep because she's trying to cope with the relief she felt the second Adam died. She was the one who at first stopped Lucifer from finishing him, just because killing Adam didn't seem right. But when Niffty actually did it, despite everything, it felt right. It felt good.

After weeks (months?) of looking for a way to stop Adam from committing genocide against her people, after being bullied and humiliated by him, after witnessing how an unjust system enabled his despicable actions while ruthlessly punishing others for far lesser crimes, she finally, for the first time, felt like she had any agency. Just like that, her loved ones were finally safe. They could all breathe again, and all it took was a small act of violence against the person who fully deserved it. This realization changes her. While she doesn't intend to do such things in the future, she can no longer deny that exercising brutal power can be the best solution when dealing with certain kinds of people. This is the very first thing she hides from Vaggie. Not because she's scared of her judgment but because these ideas are so against her own moral values it is simply scary to put them into words.

Maybe I would be capable of killing someone in cold blood. Maybe I'll have to do it one day.

But Adam's dead, so they are safe, right? And she won't ever have to make a choice like that again. That's some reassurance.

And then, Niffty is killed by Lute. Just like that—Lute teleports to Hell by night and slaughters her in revenge because why wouldn't she? Who would have stopped her?

It obviously hits everyone hard—they just lost another friend. But Alastor? Alastor loses his fucking mind. He goes completely feral, yelling at Charlie and blaming her for everything.

What kind of incompetent fool shows their enemy mercy and lets them live long enough to get vengeance? I cannot believe I thought you could be a competent leader. You are just a fucking child. You are all a bunch of idiots.

Charlie goes through a complete meltdown because she knows he's right. If she had the guts to finish Lute or at least asked Vaggie or Lucifer to do so, Niffty would be alive. She's crying, choking on tears; she feels like a hopeless failure, but Alastor does not give her a break. He seems so infuriated she thinks he would kill her. Fortunately, Lucifer and Vaggie intervene. Lucifer puts Alastor back in his place by essentially beating the shit out of him. Vaggie takes Charlie out to calm her down. She insists that if it's anyone's fault, it's hers because she was the one who spared Lute, but Charlie knows that it's a lie. Vaggie would have killed Lute if not for Charlie's convictions. She fails, and she fails all over again, and it seems like she can't escape the evil. It's her responsibility to face it on equal terms. Otherwise, she won't be able to protect her loved ones.

After this incident, both Lucifer and Vaggie insist on kicking Alastor out of the hotel. He's too dangerous, too unpredictable. We can't allow him to treat you like this. We don't even need him anymore; there's nothing an Overlord can do that the King of Hell can't.

But that's not the truth. There's something Alastor can do that Lucifer can't: play the game. And now, grieving another of her friends, Charlie realizes she needs a teacher if she wants to stop pieces.

I have like 0 time to write the proper fic but I had to get these out of my system because holy shit I love coming up with elaborate plots I'm not able to execute. Maybe talking about it will somehow scratch the itch.

Also tagging @purrpleowl because she expresses her interest in this idea.

[mysticalskunk]

I’ve been rewatching tome and I really enjoy Doubling and Rockoon as characters and their conflict with each other. This is long and a bit messy, I am still not entirely happy with it and probably try to rewrite it again but here we go.

I’ve tried analyzing Doubling in the past before but had troubles with it - I realized I went on about it in a way that prevented me from seeing the different angles.

Back then I judged from the perspective of “so who was his true self? Doubling or Skeight?“

I got stuck because the answer is a bit more complex than that. Because I was forgetting another person:

The person who created Doubling and Skeight.

Both Doubling and Skeight can reveal us a lot about the person that hides behind the screen.

Doubling was quite frustrated when he first started the game. He is only here for the job and he presses the matter that he is in need of some cash. Not out of greed, but think about what he said in regards to Splat:

“I usually don’t do this because it gives her more work than I can get.“

From what it sounds like, Splat and Doubling seem close and he doesn’t want to trouble her more than necessary. They feel like the kind of siblings that are still living together and struggle to pay the rent. He doesn’t want Splat to overwork herself and takes care of their financial troubles, all while struggling to find or even maintain a job, so they are both hackers for a living.

His frustration is taken out on Rockoon because neither know what they are looking for, they are on a wild goose chase and it wastes time. Doubling is not here for friendship. He just wants to do his job and then he is gone.

But what was it that made him actually enjoy the game and have fun with the looney tuney raccoon?

After taken his frustration out on Rockoon, the raccoon doesn’t even try to hide his hurt, but also quickly collects himself and figures out a solution for Doubling.

He needs variety in his life. Implying that Doubling is someone who sticks with routine.

They were told to blow up graphics, so Rockoon advices to blow up people. Rockoon switches things up and thinks outside the box.

It works and Doubling mentions it is refreshing. In that case, bullying others is used to deal with his own frustrations and whatever irl might be going on. Doubling seems to think he can do whatever he wants on the internet without facing the consequences.

I don’t think he was fully roleplaying as Skeight either. Actions like the ones he pulled usually come from a low self esteem, fear of rejection and a fear of confrontation.

Skeight exists because of Doubling‘s discomfort with confrontation.

But I also think there are other reasons why Skeight was created.

As a fresh start. Doubling is terrified of the forbidden power so he wanted to play it safe in case he encounters Alpha again, feeling safer when he won’t be recognized easily.

Doubling felt bad about leaving Rockoon behind and likely how he treated him, but he was not ready to confront that feeling yet. Mostly because he didn’t know how.

One thing I realized upon rewatching is just how passive aggressive Doubling actually is about the situation.

Passive aggressiveness often comes from an individual’s discomfort with direct communication and conflict, nor can they always articulate their point of view - as we also see later in their conflict in episode 3.

People who have that kind of behavior often have troubles with expressing themselves, low self esteem and a lack of assertiveness.

Stressful circumstances such as a challenging job or a strained relationship may also result in passive aggressive behavior.

Expressing feelings is not always an easy task. It requires feeling safe, okay with being vulnerable and a high level of self awareness to understand what is going on in the first place.

Expressing feelings can also be intimidating to people who don’t have much practice in doing so, especially if someone has not worked on their self awareness and self expression skills.

Doubling is not attuned with his emotions and has troubles to self regulate, causing him to act inappropriately. If he has a fear of confrontation, he is easily someone who jumps to conclusion too quickly and fears the worst.

I think Skeight was an impulse decision through that.

Doubling was here for the job - Skeight was created for fun. Because Rockoon made him enjoy the game.

But there is a certain pride and stubbornness preventing him from admitting that - especially since he made such a big fuss over it before.

What was it that Skeight said?

“And you always do what you do! And that’s what I like about you! I just admire the way you handle your business!“

Note how he is more open as Skeight to tell him that. Doubling took on a different persona to try and be more open. It’s why I assume that Skeight was partly created so he can also practice his people skills.

Doubling is generally someone unable to leave his comfort zone and needs the extra push. Rockoon is running around and does his own thing - Doubling can respect that.

Doubling likely thinks that Rodney goes through life without feeling judged, not realizing that Rodney might have other issues in going. To him, Rodney just feels like that carefree guy who keeps doing his thing no matter what.

I think he already realizes that this is not the case in Rockoon‘s modern strife and episode 13.

Unfortunately, in his attempt to connect with Rockoon, he comes on too strong. Skeight is pushing himself onto Rockoon, copying him. It clearly makes Rockoon uncomfortable too. Keep in mind, he already has trust issues here.

Rockoon, at first glance can be viewed as coming off too strong in trying to connect with Doubling, but not really. Rocky never forced Doubling to do anything.

He gave him advice on how to get out of his comfort zone but that’s it. The rest was on Doubling.

Doubling appears insecure about himself - it matters a lot what people perceive him as, maybe even sensitive to criticism. The “lucky shot“ sure touched a nerve and getting referred as a “clingy nobody“ hit a nerve too. If he already reacts to these things like that, returning as Doubling made him nervous because of what Rockoon will perceive him as now.

He feels bad about ditching him when Rockoon tells the story and perhaps that should have been his cue to admit something at least and be upfront - but he realized that Rockoon was hurt by his actions and didn’t want to make it worse.

Doubling‘a fear of confrontation and lack of communication skills becomes clear in episode 13.

It’s no longer Skeight or Doubling talking - that is the person behind the screen now.

The one who took the persona as Doubling and Skeight is struggling to find the right words, stuttering and uncertain on how to go on about his - his body language also shows his discomfort.

Skeight: I just wanted to make sure you are okay. Rockoon: WHAT?! Skeight: What?!

Note how he becomes a tad frustrated because he doesn’t understand how that is a bad thing.

“I mean, that was kinda whack but I had some time to think about it, it means no biggie.”

He was obviously upset over what happened at the tournament, otherwise he would not have mentioned the whack part. It clearly bothered him considering that he was thinking about it for a while.

But he has no idea how to communicate that right now and doesn’t want to make the situation worse than it already is.

“Not why I’m here either.“

Something is troubling him and it he has struggles expressing that - did he already wanted to come clear that he is Doubling? He wants to say something, but doesn’t know how.

I do believe that the motherscratcher hint was intentional. Mostly because that was not the only hint:

“With this forbidden power thing and all …“

How would Skeight know about the forbidden power? All the raccoon told him that they ran into some freaky stuff. In fact - Skeight quickly corrects himself and talks about the other players instead. Almost like he realizes he almost slipped up.

“I came back ‘cause I cared.“

Comes clean right here - unfortunately it comes from the wrong player.

“Maybe you are better off on your own.“

During the whole conflict, Rockoon never mentioned that. It was something Rockoon brought up when he told Skeight about Doubling.

I don’t think the other hints were intentional, but the motherscratcher hint feels too convienent here.

Rockoon is the quirky online persona of a lonely and reserved kid that gets bullied in school.

Rodney is a smart kid and it was cartoons that gave him a reason to smile and spark his creativity. Slipping into a different character to roleplay, Rockoon is everything that Rodney is not.

Just like Doubling, Rodney is afraid of the forbidden power. His first move when messing with the main group is to take out the biggest threat: Alpha.

Once he returns, Rodney becomes afraid. Stuttering and shaking - I don’t think it was Rockoon and Rodney partly breaking the facade.

His cartoon persona acts on impulse and treats everything as a joke, confident and more assertive, a wise cracking goofy toony character who views the internet as his personal playground where he thinks he can get away without facing the consequences of his actions. The joy that he felt as Rockoon usually came at the expense of others.

Doubling leaving him behind and then never returning genuinely hurt him. Rockoon mentioned to Kirbopher that he missed him and my guess is that Rodney kept returning to this game in hopes of eventually coming across him again.

It certainly left him with a bitter feeling - as we can see in Rockoon‘s modern strife. He is starting to push people away from him, but he is also uncomfortable with how much Skeight wants to push himself onto him.

Something feels already off to him - it feels like a factor of trust issues.

Rockoon has built walls around himself so that nobody can get close to hurt him.

“I don’t play this game to make friends. I don’t need or want to make any friends. ‘Cause if you think anyone is worth getting actually attached to ��� you are kidding yourself. I forgot that once. That was a mistake.“

This whole line of dialogue doesn’t just come from Doubling ditching him.

He says: I forgot that once.

That sort of mindset has been with him for a while but he allowed himself to get attached to Doubling, he left and he got remembered about that mentality.

Rodney is a troubled individual who is also bullied in school - it wouldn’t surprise me if he had been used by someone before or they just pretended to like him - because he certainly has a discomfort with Skeight.

He has convinced himself that he doesn’t need anyone. That he is better off on his own - that he doesn’t care anymore that Doubling is gone but it obviously bothers him.

“I ditched him. Forever.“

Rockoon claims that it was him who ditched Doubling instead the other way around. He is trying to remain in control of the situation so that it doesn’t sting as much.

But he allows his walls down towards Skeight for a bit - as an advice but also he has internalized that whole thing for a while now and needs someone to talk about it.

Rockoon is clearly hurt over what happened.

“But you know what? I don’t even care anymore. Sure, I missed him at first but I’m better off without him. I didn’t need him. I don’t need friends.“

Note how he keeps repeating it like saying it will make it true.

Doubling feels obviously guilt over it. His expression, asking what happened and when Rockoon finishes he goes:

“Aw, man. I-„

Even with Rockoon interrupting him, you can tell he has no idea how to get his feelings across. He realized right there how much he actually had hurt Rockoon.

Should he have dropped the Skeight persona here and come clear? Probably, but he also takes Rockoon‘s words at face value and assumes that Rockoon hates him now.

“We ran into some trouble. Of course he did what anyone else would do: Looked out for himself. He ditched me.“

Oddly specific, is it not? It seems more that he talking from general experience rather than Doubling. Did his bullies throw him under the bus? It sounds that way.

“I will be happy when this stupid game gets shut down for good. No point looking for me because after today I ain’t coming back. Everyone’s stupid and there is nothing left for me here.”

You can hear the bitterness and pain he is feeling. After Doubling was gone, Rockoon was nothing but humiliated by others. Nobody really took him serious without that “big green slime guy backing him up“ and thought it makes things easier for them.

Rockoon genuinely tried to help, but his reputation as a hacker at the expense of others did not help his cause.

One thing to note is how timid he becomes when people start ganging up on him.

Bullied irl and online, Rockoon sees no point in staying. He is lonely and all the joy he had from playing the game is no longer there. He says it himself:

“Everyone is stupid and there is nothing left for me here.“

The only person that mattered to him is gone. He mostly came back in hopes that Doubling might return. The worst part is that Rockoon does not know if the feeling was Mutual between them, likely feeling like it was just an one sided friendship.

Then, we have episode 13.

I don’t think Rockoon in the short or episode 13 had any malicious intentions. He is genuinely trying to help because he got a taste of the forbidden power as well once.

He instantly becomes timid when the others start teasing him - his Rodney is showing. He is feeling entirely humiliated and he has no idea what to do.

“Oh, no. Why didn’t you tell me?“

His instant reaction is everything to me once he connects the dots. It’s the instant regret because he realized that this was his former friend. His reaction implies that while he was hurt, Rockoon would not have been mad if Doubling returned and talked it out properly - Doubling left him with more question than answers and that stings.

He blames himself, but that whole thing is not entirely his fault. It was Doubling who acted out in passive aggressive ways while Rockoon would have preferred direct communication.

“Hey, look. I wanted to say how sorry I am for how things went down. It’s frustrating that you were not upfront with me but you still deserved better. And I can be better. I dunno if you see this in time, but I’ll try to hang around in Lavendera for most of the day, just in case. I hope and pray that somehow, someway we can just talk. Rock - Rodney.”

I do love the message he tries to send. He apologized for his behavior but also voiced his own hurt that Doubling was not upfront with him.

He wants to sign as Rockoon but changes it to Rodney. In using his actual name, Rodney is trying to make it more personal. More sincere in a way.

But then he deleted the whole thing again and honestly? Valid. I could imagine he was rewriting it a few times to find the proper wording before and still was not happy with it but the wounds are also still fresh.

Both of them need the space for now. It’s a hurt on both sides with wounds that are still fresh. Neither of them are ready for it yet.

Rodney needs the space to figure himself out. Dealing with an identity crisis and self loathing. Knowing just how much you hurt others and the kind of person you have become, hurting his only friend, getting left with more questions than answers does wonders for one‘s psyche.

But not just for Rodney - he needs to figure out where Rockoon is going from here too.

Rodney knows he has done and said hurtful things. Watching Odball brings out certain feelings because he sees himself in him in that moment.

I think with time both of them will be able to talk again. They both need the closure.

It would require honest communication, putting the walls they have around themselves down and dropping the online persona they have created. No Doubling, no Skeight, no Rockoon.

One mention I would like to make is Kirbopher who watched the whole conflict. I don’t think that scene was put there without a reason. Kirbopher has two accounts too - did he relate to Doubling in that moment?

“Sorry I was not around. I had some stuff to handle.“

What does that refer to? Was he comforting Rockoon? Or trying to reach Doubling? He hired him so he would likely have his contacts. Kirb being the one who tried to talk to Doubling regarding that would be interesting.

I do enjoy the journey with Archy. Mostly because that dynamic is just as complicated and based on secrets and assumptions but it was also nice to see just how much Rockoon has grown since then and trying to become a better person. I definitely enjoy the patience he shows with Archy.

Archy does not know anything about Rockoon or that he was the guy who blow him up in the tournament. Rockoon is keeping that part of him a secret to protect himself both and Archy (though I feel it’s more Archy).

Archy is bound to find out eventually. Rockoon is a known hacker - if Archy finds out through a third party rather than Rockoon it is gonna be so much worse.

But it is not just on Rockoon.

“Sometimes I think this is all a joke.”

Archy takes out his anxiety on Rockoon.

When I say this I am not speaking for everyone that has anxiety, I am only expressing my experience with it and as someone with anxiety as well.

Anxious people spend a lot of time overthinking and hyper focusing on the little details. Anxiety can bring about strong feelings of fear, frustration and anguish and this can lead to misunderstandings.

Rockoon mentions it himself - that Archy needs to recognize when his anxiety clouds his judgemet and logic. Which is such a good advice because that is something Archy needs to learn, otherwise he might end up using Rockoon as an outlet for it. The "it's all just a joke" certainly stung given that he raised his voice there. On Archy's end, their dynamic is a bit on assumptions so far.

Rockoon is always helping others in some way. Told Doubling he needs variety and actually made him enjoy tome. Tried to give advice to Skeight not to get attached to someone, was trying to help in the whole situation with Alpha and then later when the game was about to get shut down. Now? He is trying to help Archy grow as a person.

If there is one thing I would describe Rockoon with, it would be loyalty. If he does take a liking to you, he is someone who pays close attention to his friends and wants to support them and actually manages to push them out of their comfort zone.

But here is the thing. He always tries to help others, yet he ignores his own issues. The only ones aware of how vulnerable he actually is are Skeight and Kirbopher - and Skeight even more so.

Sometimes it is easier to deal with someone else’s issues than our own. It requires reflecting on ourselves and that is sometimes not an easy task.

When helping others, you can view the problem from an outsider perspective, making it easy to identify the solutions. When lt comes to our own issues, emotional involvement can cloud judgement and make it difficult to see the situation clearly.

Sometimes people are harsher on themselves than they are on others, creating a cycle of doubt and negativity.

I think what Rockoon needs to learn is to forgive himself and practice self compassion.

[theresattrpgforthat]

The Galaxy Squad Campaign.

Back in September, I posted what I hoped to be the first part of a series in which I blogged about a multiple-game campaign called The Galaxy Squad: a series of inter-connected games all taking place in the same galaxy. The continuous blogging about this series didn’t happen, but the games certainly did! So I’m going to re-cap that series now.

I’ve already talked about our Last Fleet series, so I won’t repeat myself too much, but the biggest piece of that series that we carried forward was the ending: the blowing up of the technology that enabled Faster-Than-Light travel, so as to set up the scene for Starforged. (Last Fleet play-kit)

Starforged was not a game that I ran, or managed to participate in; this series began a trend where I and another GM handed the reins to each-other every month to give both of us a chance to tackle games that were on our to-play list. We also had a higher rate of sign-ups overall for Galaxy Squad, possibly because Monster Squad ended up being a pretty big hit.

Star-Forged can be played with or without a GM, and presents the characters with Vows that they are expected to work towards to try and complete. In Star-Forged, much of the new galaxy that our players fled to was built, because this game has very good tables for setting generation. The group generated a number of planets with different power-structures, resources and danger levels, and established a number of factions with various shady goals. This included a large corporation that was funding a lot of Forge-Spawn research, as well as a cult called the Oracles of Larissa, which dealt quite a bit with the strange space-magic that certain individuals were able to wield. (Stargazer journaling app)

One of the most important contributions from the Star-Forged game involved the creation of Celadon, a wild and lush planet teeming with dangerous life. The players landed on the planet, took one look, and took off again, which meant that it was perfect for the next game in our line-up: Moth-Light.

For Moth-Light, we started with the premise that our characters would be the descendants of one of the ships from Last Fleet, crashed into a planet and reverting back to a pre-space-flight level of technology out of necessity. This is because Celadon (called Beacon by its inhabitants) was populated by gigantic, dangerous insects called Moths. We pushed the timeline forward to a point where our players could not remember how they ended up on this planet, and then put them in a precarious situation where their current settlements were in danger. The solution: to search for another, safer place to call home.

In more abstract terms, this means that we used the Promise Pact from Moth-Light, which takes plenty of inspiration from media such as Legend of Korra, Farscape, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Moth-Light’s story and tone can vary drastically, depending on the kind of story we want to tell. When creating this game, I briefly entertained the possibility of playing Scavengers, which would be much grittier and harsher, but the group and story seemed to fit the Promise pact better.

Moth-Light is Forged-in-the-Dark and is a phenomenal game. While it’s FitD, the Pacts provided to the group do a lot to help you determine what kind of concept and tone you’re playing in. The typical action ratings and Stress mechanics are also re-worked in a really interesting way, making them slightly modular so that they can change to reflect the Pact you are working with. I really enjoy the prompts left on character sheets that give you just enough information to start brainstorming what these pieces mean exactly for your character. The designer also has a fantastic set of Google-Sheet play-kits that put my character sheets to shame. You need to check this game out.

After Moth-Light, our timeline had a little bit of a stop-and-start. One of the games we were originally planning to include in the lineup didn’t turn out to be easily translatable to our method of play, so we pivoted to another game intstead: Wetrunner. Wetrunner is a FATE - powered game that takes place in an oceanic cyperpunk future, and we weren’t sure where it would fit in our current galaxy.

We decided to put it into the timeline before Last Fleet, on one of the planets that was eventually destroyed by a robot uprising. There, we decided that at one point in this planet’s history, climate change and decreasing oceanic wildlife led to a great profit for folks who managed to steal aquatic life from power-hungry billionaires.

In other words, we were a diver-themed Leverage crew stealing fish from Eelon Mollusc.

This is where our Squad took a turn for the wacky. We were donning secret identities, wrestling with former connections to the Calamari mafia, and coming up with elaborate Seahorse-racing schemes to lure in our marks. It was hilarious, it was goofy, and it was a great tone-shift from our previous drama-heavy games. (Wetrunnner play-kit)

Next up: Scum & Villainy. This is where a lot of the set-up in Starforged really did us a favor. We had a lot folks at this point who were excited about Scum & Villainy, so we ended up running two games on two different days of the week. Both games were set up as bounty-hunting crews on the Cerberus, for reasons that I’ll mention later.

We started by recalling the factions we had created in Starforged and mapping them according to theme and tier. I also ported over some of the planets that had been created in Starforged, and started them out in ways that made sense, giving them levels in Weird, Crime, Wealth and Tech. Then the players created characters, and we added more details to the world based on their interests. (Scum & Villain play-kit)

For group A, this led to an investigation into Obsidian Inc, the shady company introduced in Starforged, where Forge-Spawn research invited plenty of cult-related trade and imperial intrigue. We had one player with a robot character continuing the theme of betrayal, turning on the group in the last scene, leaving us with an open-ended ending hinting towards a future rivalry between her and the rest of the crew.

For group B, we set out on an investigation of a racing circuit that was being fixed against the organizer’s will, with strange artifacts and a very humorous rivalry between the crew’s pilot and an NPC called Flick.

As a game, Scum & Villainy elicited mixed reactions. Some folks really loved the chances to experience a number of dramatic moments and heavy role-play, especially during downtime. Others found the harsh consequences from mixed successes to be a bit jarring, especially since Moth-Light, which uses the same bones, feels much more forgiving. Scum & Villainy is definitely a much closer hack of Blades in the Dark, which is meant to be pretty brutal in dishing out harm and consequences. I know that as a GM, I was expecting the Gambit mechanic to carry much more of the weight than it actually did, and if I run this game in the future, I’ll want to have a much more in-depth talk with my players about how harsh we want the consequences to be.

Last, but certainly not least, is A Complicated Profession. This is a game about bounty hunters experiencing a career change into cruise ship employees - and this is why we all played as bounty hunters in the previous games. This was a chance for anyone to carry forward a character they had already created into a new setting, and two players did exactly that. Hatchet, our Mystic, took up the mantle of the ship’s janitor, and Kalo, our former pilot, took up the role of the ship’s bouncer. (A Complicated Profession play-kit)

Once again, we were provided with a much-needed change in tone. A Complicated Profession has so much room for light-hearted comedy, and we took it and ran. Our ship is in a weekend-at-Bernie’s situation, with a captain that is totally out of commission but we need to maintain the facade that he’s still alive in order to make sure we can still get paid. We had occasional run-ins with junk pirates, organized birthday parties for alien teenagers, and solved many a problem with a food processor.

A Complicated Profession is another game that can be run without a GM, although in this case we still had one person take the role of a facilitator because a) we had too many people show interest and b) not everyone had access to the book. As you play, characters will slowly let go of pieces of their old lives, and pick up new skills to help them with their new job, including choosing a new name at the end. I have laughed so many times while playing this game and I’m so happy that this is how we decided to tie up the Galaxy Squad series.

After this my friends and I are re-organizing how we play our games, so we might not have a thematic timeline in the same way we did for Monster Squad or Galaxy Squad. But these experiences have taught me some really valuable lessons, the primary one of which is this:

Choosing games to play based on a theme will sometimes point you towards games that you may not have otherwise thought to pick up. Those games may end up being something that you absolutely love. In this case, I was very excited to run Scum & Villainy, but it ended up being the biggest let-down on the list. Meanwhile, I had never heard of A Complicated Profession before my co-GM introduced me to it, and it is now going at the top of my list of recommendations.

If you are in a game group and you have access to a number of different games between you and your friends, taking turns to try out the stuff you are all interested in will introduce you to so many games, and while not everything will be a hit, you’ll learn a lot about what you like, and you may find your next favourite game. So try stuff!!

[tiikerikani]

Hobby update

So over the last little while I've acquired a lot of Conquest: The Last Argument of Kings miniatures, just whatever looks nice (which is a lot of it). I find their aesthetic refreshing. The designs show some restraint; detailed enough to give each model a distinct character, but not overwhelmingly so. (The larger 38mm scale helps. Here's a Stormcast for scale.)

Another thing I really like is that Para Bellum has purposefully acknowledged real-world mythology and historical cultures, given them a fantasy twist, and built the lore around that, leaning into the real-world analogs rather than changing the names or avoiding them altogether. I don't "do" lore but I prefer settings that feel familiar.

(they just revealed a Japanese yokai-themed faction??? take my money)

The lore (as reflected in-game) seems to be painted in broad strokes too, revolving around the factions and sub-factions and cosmology, not individual heroes. The only named character miniatures are found in narrative scenarios and they sell unique sculpts for them, but it's just for flavor and they don't have special rules.

It should be fun to batch-paint this stuff instead of my usual individual pieces. I'm not particularly interested in games with them, but considering the starter sets I may as well give the games a spin. Nobody plays this here (considering that no shop stocks it) so I think a friend and I will try to figure it out together. (Probably ex-Coworker, since he used to play WH40K.) Maybe people are put off by the drastically different scale, when their existing terrain or storage solutions aren't compatible.

Speaking of storage, I don't want to assemble figures with long narrow (fragile!!) pieces like swords and lances and banners until I've figured out how I'm going to store them, so below you'll see a box of just horses and the mounted commander character.

Archon Studios (the Dungeons & Lasers folks) manufacture the plastic so I'm used to working with it. Don't know about the resin models, I don't think I've worked with this kind of resin before but it's quite flexible.

[bumblingbabooshka]

How would Tuvok react to one or more of his children (Kes counts too) getting into a weird new interest he doesn't understand a la skibidibi toilet?

Hmm...He half-listens to it and clearly thinks it's silly but reiterates that he is listening if they ask. With Kes it would be different because she's an adult and not someone he thinks of as his child (more a mentee). As his children grow older his reaction to this phenomenon also changes. I envision him as the type of dad who if you're talking to him about anime will later point at anything vaguely cartoonish and ask if you'd like it. [why] I was under the impression you were interested in anime. [That is not anime, that is a cartoon.] Ah....... <- Doesn't know the difference but doesn't want to ask. It's a moment where you roll your eyes at your dad but also are a little bit pleased to know he was listening. He gets all the characters names a little bit wrong <3 In a batch of four one of his kids is no doubt deeply hurt by Tuvok's uncommitted attitude and another will just follow him around all day yapping. Just one more thing, father.  I also think there's a difference between something he doesn't understand and something he thinks is silly. If one if his kids wants to talk to him about say, a strategy math game they're really into he'll engage with it more than if Elieth wants to talk about shoes. Again. He strikes me as a person who'd really like for his children to of course be content in their lives but also maybe be proper and productive members of Vulcan society...why not go down to the learning center instead of watching cartoons? [It's anime./It's Saturday.] I'm saying all this thinking of them as teenagers though... When they're little he makes more of an effort to listen to them all seriously...he's nodding and paying full attention as they all regale him with tales of What We Played in the Park Today [action packed! the drama! the logical solutions! the pushing!] He isn't very interested in the topic itself but this peek into how their growing minds are operating is fascinating. He cherishes his children very plainly <3 Judging by Tuvok's personality he's a pretty strict person with strict values. He also doesn't hide when he's irritated or uninterested very well [Vulcans would be able to tell as Vulcan emotional expression is not alien to a Vulcan. Also he's their dad] and yet despite that he's patient and kind when it counts and especially soft/accommodating towards children. In 'Innocence' even though he clearly doesn't believe that there's a monster he still entertains the possibility and addresses their fear, trying to comfort them rather than shutting it down, you know? If say one of his children seemed hurt by his half-listening, no matter how silly it was, I know he'd apologize and give them his full attention like Ok. Ok. I am now Fully Prepared to listen to the process of you building a Gigantic Skull in Vulcan Minecraft. It'd be funny if Tuvok had random patches of heavily biased and half-remembered knowledge from his children. He knows your space Jordans are counterfeit...Elieth would have spotted them right away. With Kes he'd probably just try to listen for a bit before telling her that she should perhaps find someone else to speak about this particular topic with once he decided he wasn't interested and it had nothing to do with their mind power studies. v_v He's a guy who responded "No" when Harry asked if he wanted to know what he thought so I don't think he'd have any issue saying "I don't care about this" [worded differently] to another adult. Now if it was NAOMI he'd be stuck until he could find an excuse, Neelix, or her mom.

[utilitycaster]

I have a DnD question that is only tangentially related to mechanics: how do I get a DM new to the game to just play the game, without immediately homebrewing things. Long story short, I'm playing in a campaign with some friends who are all very new to DnD, including the DM. Since I'm the only person who has some experience with it, the DM often approaches me and asks about ideas he's had. In the beginning it was only mechanics and worldbuilding questions, but lately he has begun homebrewing things, including wanting to change the way that multiclassing works. Most of his ideas seem phenominally bad to me, since it's not just homebrewing a class or a spell, but changing how the game works altogether (e.g. multiclassing and levelling, turn-order based combat and a few other things. His newest idea was just giving characters extra attack despite what their class says). I don't want to keep telling him that all his ideas are bad and even suggested that it sounds like he doesn't really want to play DnD and maybe look into another system, to which he only replied that he already spent too much time working on this campaign. I'm kind of at my wits end but maybe you or your followers have a suggestion what to do?

You need to tell him straight up and fairly bluntly that his ideas are bad and that he either needs to stop and find a different system, or that you will leave.

I err on the side of "be blunt to get the point across" anyway, and one of my most cherished beliefs is "people who try to disrupt or reform things without first gaining a fairly thorough understanding thereof are some of the most irritating and short-sighted idiots around," so do understand that's coloring my opinion, but like, if someone is not receptive to gentler hints, it is ultimately kinder to say "here's the deal: this is a terrible idea." It is in my opinion better to have someone mad at you for feedback they solicited than to hold back out of concern for their feelings and then watch them crash and burn (or to hold back out of politeness and then be miserable or resentful because you were in fact unhappy with their choices).

I think if you want you can try to guide him to the answers himself (eg: "can you explain why you are changing multiclassing? can you explain what you believe this achieves") and I think you can offer to help him find a game that fits his needs better, but ultimately you need to say "you're making bad choices that destroy the game balance, it's unfair to the players, and the effort it takes to switch to a system that meets your needs is worth it." And then if he doesn't, if you're not having fun, you need to quit and find a different game. Which sucks, and is a last resort, but like...there is, and never has been, a magic solution that communicates exactly what you feel to someone that also ensures they won't get upset. If you have consistently been giving someone honest constructive feedback that they have solicited, and they disregard it? That is not someone you want to game with until they get their head out of their ass, and it's okay to get harsh if kind constructive criticism isn't getting through someone's thick skull.

[andthecityisvienna]

So, What’s the Deal with Online Dating?

Another week of navigating the grind of 40-hour workweeks, which I just started two weeks ago - how do you stay sane - and late nights trying to find time to just breathe. Somewhere between conference calls and answering emails, I’ve managed to drag myself back into the dating scene. I mean, we’re all doing it, right? Swiping, texting, hoping for something real to materialize out of the endless sea of profiles and half-hearted connections.

I’ve been online dating for years now—swiping, messaging, hoping that maybe, just maybe, this time it’ll be different. But to be honest, I’m just tired. Tired of the endless cycles of small talk, tired of hoping for something real behind a screen. It’s like this game that gets harder the longer you play, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s even worth it anymore. I’m not sure this is how I imagined dating in the digital age would be. Isn’t this supposed to be easier? Aren’t we supposed to be swiping our way into whirlwind romances that start with a quick DM and end with a great date just like in "Before Sunrise"? Instead, what I’m getting is far more… meh. 

The thrill of the first “Hey, how are you?” soon fades as the endless back-and-forth of “So, what do you like to do for fun?” begins to feel more like a chore than an exciting conversation. The truth is, online dating feels a bit like filling out a survey. “What are you looking for?” it asks. I don’t know—something, I guess. Someone who can stick around and enjoy the ride with me, going on great dates and making the most of our time together. No games, no constant validation, just someone who shows up and keeps up with me—that shouldn't be too much to ask, right?

But here's the rub: the more I try, the more I find myself lost in an endless loop of profiles that all start to look the same. Somewhere between the ghosting and the superficial exchanges, I’ve lost track of what I was actually looking for in the first place. At this point, it feels like I’m stuck in an endless loop, and I just can’t shake the feeling that I’m not really getting anywhere. It's not even about meeting someone anymore, it’s about not giving up—because who wants to be the person who gave up on love? The idea that the next swipe might finally be the one who gets it.

I’ve had some decent conversations, sure. But, as the days pass, I feel more and more like I’m sinking deeper into this digital void. And as much as I try to push forward, the thought of endless small talk and ghosting lingers. It’s like playing a game where no one really wins, except the creator of the dating apps.

Maybe that’s the problem with the internet: it pretends to give you options when, in reality, it only gives you more choices, but none of them seem right. And before you know it, a whole week goes by, and you’re left with a string of unanswered texts, and the only “dates” you’ve had are with your couch and your favorite takeout. Oh yes, and how could I forget my cat.

So, what’s the solution? I’m still figuring that out. But for now, I guess I’ll just keep trying. And maybe, I’ll find someone who isn’t just looking for the next thing or fling but actually wants something real, even if that takes a little longer than expected.

Until then, I’ll keep swiping. Keep hoping and keep reminding myself that, sometimes, the best connection comes when you least expect it. & maybe, just maybe, it’ll be worth the wait.

-J

[noahtally-famous]

keith! the throwaway name in tdpi to you; but to me he's an actual character

younger me is screaming rn, ever since i watched tdpi when it came out, i was super interested in keith as a character (and his dynamics with sky, and with dave)!! finally here we are, some picrews of what i think he looks like & some basic info! (cant do the 16-slide presentation with him rn like i did with gabriel 😔 but maybe i will in the future!)

here's a fic abt him! (plus i do have an rr au idea with him in my drafts)

below the cut are gonna be some keith (and keith & sky) hcs:

-> keith is exceptional in almost any sport he puts his mind to! his favorites are baseball and basketball though. he met sky through a school game and they bonded over their love of athletics!

-> keith never rlly considered sports as a career, he's always default thought of it as a hobby. sky was the one who wanted to take her skills farther, and he did support her for it

-> their shakiness started when sky brought up auditioning for tdpi. keith has heard the shit that happens in many reality shows and worried for her, saying they could try another solution. they argued, sky signed up for tdpi (she said she'll miss him in the audition bc he was filming and it was sort of as a 'im sorry for the fights pls try to understand' thing). however, despite keith trying to understand, he didn't watch any of tdpi until the finale episode

-> as a loyal person in relationships, keith was extremely hurt and upset by sky kissing dave and then leading him on. it made him feel quite worthless, and despite any reconciliations, he knows he can't ever trust her again

-> he doesnt like dave bc the guy went ballistic and put sky's life in harm's way, he considers that a bit of an overreaction on dave's end and he does resent him for believing he played a part in sky falling for him

-> this guy places trust to a high degree, if you break it, you're seeing a different keith

-> he's the type to maybe be good/proficient at chess. might have him be good at it actually!

-> he and sky are both bisexual. sky is bi with a preference for women; keith is bi but used to pretend he was straight due to the environment he lived in

-> sky and keith's relationship tropes: friends to lovers, mutual respect for each other, relationship for convenience

-> in actuality, sky & keith's relationship is more of a friendship. they only made it like they're dating bc of their families, and when their individual sexuality crisis came up, that caused some issues. prior to tdpi, sky already had a feeling she liked women, but she kept it to herself; keith, for his part, already was aware of his bisexuality when he and sky started dating but he thought their relationship would "get rid of it". in the end, sky got the courage to push aside the veil in front of their relationship first (hence the dave moments), and keith tried to hide behind their relationship bc he didn't know if he had the guts to confront the implications

-> keith's fully ready to confront/fight anyone who gives him bad vibes and isn't afraid to show that--all except for his father (the man gave this guy too much trauma for that)

-> he got his piercings as a nonverbal 'eff you' to the old keith he used to be. back when he was worried abt his parents judgements and his friends. before tdpi, before sky and his breakup, before he made an effort to come into his real self

-> his mum and he have a complicated relationship. she's low-key homophobic at times that he cant get a proper read on her. but he does love her (def more than he does his dad), and he hopes she's willing to accept him

-> has heterochromia; one eye is dark blue, the other is light hazel (he tends to wear contacts, making it seem like he has two blue eyes)

-> he shaved part of the side of his head in a fit of impulsiveness at a concert with several friends, but then he realized he looks good in it and he likes the style, so he kept it that way

-> the type to wear sweatshirts/shirts/hoodies with lowkey memes on them (as shown in the pics with him wearing the orange hoodie with the two fingers almost touching)

-> he and sky were the epitome of 'what we have is better off as a wonderful friendship than a romantic relationship'

-> he and sky tended to help each other sports-wise in various ways; like she'd play scrimmages with him, and he'd race hurdles with her. this helps both of them grow and bond at the same time. it's a fun pastime they both enjoyed and feel nostalgic for now

-> clothing style: the stuff in the pics, along with jeans (not rlly baggy jeans though) along with sports sneakers or light brown hiking boots

-> one time sky twisted her ankle and refused to get help, and keith had to literally piggy-back her to his car bc she said she "can just walk it of, its fine!"

-> strong emotionally/mentally/physically. more so abt the first two, he's good at hiding his feelings bc of the environment he grew up in and his family (his dad more so). if he and dave ever have a heart-to-heart they can discuss their shitty father figures and how that lack impacted them lmao (the dave in my head has a shitty and distant father)

-> this also makes him more suppressed emotionally and more uncommunicative

aaand think that's all i've got so far!!

[vavuska]

I thought this one would be just another developer of mobile game that use The Sims 4 contents in its (fake) ads to fraud users by making people belive it is its game, when it has a completely different gameplay.

Unfortunately, Room Makover by FlyBird Casual Games is much more than this.

Room Makover has plenty of false ads. This time I actually tried the game, because the pictures and videos on Google Play were cute and I decided to give it a try.

I was so naive. Happens that the whole page on Google Play is full of fake contents.

It's just one of those mobile games in which you have to match and remove nails. Every time you pass a level, you will rewarded with bills that you can use to unlock part of a building under "makeover". You have just three option for every part of the building or the room to choose between.

There is nothing creative. Not actual building or cluttering rooms or decoring.

As, always, since I'm a curious little bitch, I decided to dig further into this FlyBird Casual Game and... Oh. God. Their site looks even less legit than LUCKY FORTUNE GAMES' one!

It is just a void page. There is nothing here. NOTHING. The only two working section are the privacy and conditions of use, in which they try to convince you that they didn't have any liability for damages or fraud committed.

The privacy one is curious, because mentions this Commissioner's Office in UK and a long list of partners. Both for ads and for data collection, which is hugely uncommon for this kind of games.

Sooooo... In this magical list of apps, I noticed a few tech nightmares, which I will explain briefly here:

Aarki is an AI company that builds advertising solutions to drive mobile revenue growth. Traslated from bullshit: they use AI to generate fake ads and sells it to shady corps.

Blind Ferret is the big deal here! Not only gave you digital marketing solutions, data collection and analytics, but also pays influencers and product placement on social media to promote the game and, hear me out, CREATE fake ads too! It's literally written in their site: "Our Creative Services don’t just make things look pretty. Our team uses data to guide us! How do we make brands shine? By turning the arts into a numbers game with top-performing creative content." This include: Graphic Design, Illustration, 2D Animation, Video Editing and Composition, Copywriting and conceptualizing.

InMobi is a big Corp that does native advertising, which means promoted contents, collabs with influencers, etc.

Ironsource. This one is a fucking cancer. IronSource Ltd. is an Israeli software company that focuses on developing technologies for app monetization and distribution, with its core production focused on the app economy. That would sound harmless, but Samsung use it in its budget and midrange smartphone to install multiple third-party apps during the set-up process. This platform slips bloatware on the pretext of recommended apps, leading to apps clutter and reduction in on-board storage space. The only purpose it exists on Samsung phones is to download games without your consent with no way to remove it (no app installed).

Mintegral is another fucking tech nightmare. Not only poses serious threats to your privacy and datas, but also uses malicious codes to spy your activity and when you seem intentioned to install a mobile app, Mintegral’s software would then fire off fake clicks on non-existent ads to claim credit for the install and essentially collect a bounty from app publishers who pay ad networks to promote their apps.

Mistplay is one of those "play to earn bucks" that I find very very dangerous. Because YOUR data are their revenue.

Tapjoy does monetization of ads and also surveys, that force users to download one from a long list of games, download it and playing for hours or since it is gained some in-game prize. This surveys are rewarded with credits and user can spend on the mobile game they actually want to play. Tapjoy has a huge market among IMVU users, who need credits to buy piece of clothing and accessories for their avi.

The other apps do mobile app marketing, using data collection that allow shady corps to target more gullable and naive people to scam. Plus they do also monetization surveys to earn money and at the same time forcefully grow the engagement of this shady corps.

Obviously, there is no user support mail listed in their Google Play page, but at least this has a contact mail listed on their website: flybirdgames2022@gmail.com

As always, stay safe and please tell me if you know more about everything above or know the person who create this build first.

Help people to stay safe.

Thank you.

<<< previous Coloring app uses design of The Sims 4 builds without the consent of the creators and other mobile developers steal TS4 speed build contents and claim it's the actual gameplay of their mobile game.

[lastofusfan13]

Think about how complicated the universe is for a minute:

Joel Miller killed Jerry Anderson to save Ellie. Then Abby killed Joel even though he helped save her from runners because she wanted revenge against her fathers killer. Which led Ellie to kill Abby's friends, and most important to her Alice and Owen. Abby killed Jesse and then spared Dina's life. Tommy killed a lot of the WLF's soldiers and survived Abby's rath twice. Then Ellie came back to finish what Abby had started and she couldn't kill Abby and eventually let her go. Revenge, loss, love, and hurt is a vicious cycle.

When I played the game the first time I must say that I was so mad over losing a character that was so special to everyone in Part 1 that Abby became my enemy. But do you know what I did? I played again. And that is when I really connected to Abby. I looked through the fog I was stuck in and seen a person who had experienced just as much loss and hurt as Ellie had.

And I know SO many people are stuck in that mindset that I once was because when Joel died it was a loss for everyone that played the games.

Revenge seemed right to both characters in Part ll for different reasons but was not the perfect solution. It caused a ripple effect that created more hurt and pain for both parties involved.

If you haven't played the game twice or even three times, I highly recommend it. I played all of the way through completing Grounded Level. It only took me two times of playing the game to realize there truly is two sides to every story in life. That is life. So give Abby a chance. Play that game again. Give her another try. Try to understand her point of view that is so similar to Ellie's.

-S

[multiplicity-positivity]

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to separate from their source? I've got a headmate who is very much struggling with/unhappy with his source and I'd like to help/give him some advice if y'all have any to pass along

hello, cecil is cofronting and right now so we do feel confident enough to try and offer some advice.

source separation can be tricky, and may be a process best undertaken in therapy. if you have a therapist, it may be wise to bring this up with them to discuss possible solutions. additionally, the process of source separation may vary from system to system and even headmate to headmate. so what has been working for cecil may not work for your system.

some of the best advice we can give you is to branch out and try new things. it seems like many introjects try to adhere strictly to their source as much as possible, trying to maintain the same hobbies as their source, act the same, and basically live their source’s life as a headmate in a system. in order for source separation to happen, this has to stop.

it may help for your headmate to remind himself that he is his own person. introjects are not their sources, even if they feel the same or incredibly similar. his source is not living life as a headmate in your system (unless he happens to be an introject of another headmate!). his source is not experiencing life in the same way that he is, is not making the same decisions or interacting with the world in exactly the same way. these ideas helped put cecil’s mind at ease - maybe they’ll help your headmate too.

if your headmate is a fictive or a factive of a content creator/celebrity, it may be helpful for your whole system to try and avoid his source for your headmate’s comfort and well-being. i know this can be hard, especially if his source is a beloved piece of media, special interest, or hyperfixation. but distancing your system from content related to this headmate’s source could really help him start to find himself and flesh out his own identity. we know for cecil, there was always this unspoken expectation hanging over him that as long as we were playing disco elysium, he would have to witness his source and (consciously or unconsciously) try and behave similarly. the whole system taking a break from the game has helped cecil’s mental health immensely. we value the feelings and needs of our headmates more than games or media we enjoy.

we’d encourage your headmate to experiment with all sorts of things. he can question his gender and sexuality, try out different names and pronouns, research otherkin or therianthropy. he could learn about different fields of science or humanities, learn to craft, bake, code, knit, or play disc golf. he could seek out a favorite color or aesthetic, and experiment with his sense of fashion and style. learning not to let his source govern the decisions he makes day to day will greatly benefit his process of source separation.

finally, getting support from loved ones (even within the system) may help this transition be smoother for him. so diligently using his new name (if he chooses one), encouraging him to keep branching out with his choices, and having his back when he does could all help. defending him when others shame or look down on him for separating from his source would be excellent. showing interest in his new interests, and generally just acknowledging his changes and still caring for him through it all could be incredibly beneficial.

remember source separation is a process - it doesn’t happen overnight. so some patience and determination will be necessary. it truly can happen though, even if it seems hopeless at first.

we’re wishing you, this headmate, and your whole system the very best. we hope something written here will be of use to you. thank you for reaching out.

🐢 kip and 🖋 cecil

[ghostprinceiii]

A series of events:

- I am playing the Rivulet campaign in Rain World, I have two children who I love dearly. I have installed mods to ensure they are immune to drowning, but they are still able to be removed from my back under various circumstances.

- I make it to 'The Heart' with the Mass Rarefaction Cell and activate it. My children and I leave through the pipe and are promptly whipped around the room where I can hardly see what's happening due to the distortion and being underwater.

- I am thrown through a one-way exit, triggering a cutscene as I enter the new room.

- My children are not with me.

- Their food-bars are still visible, so I know they're alive, but they are somewhere in the previous room, which I can no longer return to.

- "No matter," I say, "I will simply restart the cycle and keep a better hold on my kids, even if I have to redo a bunch of stuff and install even more mods to figure out another solution if this happens again."

- I restart the game.

- That cutscene trigger as I was thrown out of the room apparently auto-saved, and moved me to the next cycle. My kids' food-bars are gone. They have been deleted from existence.

- Despairing over this, I exit the game again and attempt to find information on how I can load a previous savestate, if at all possible, so that I can go back to before tragedy befell me and my slugpups.

- Information is limited and confusing.

- Two hours of finding and moving files in every combination I can think of and more, and I have made no progress. I cannot get Steam to load the game from a local file, I made an additional back-up directory, I tried to load a different back-up of the game and it wouldn't even let me select a folder, nothing is working.

- I restart the game, and Steam is adding some extra processes. When I open the game menu 'Dress My Slugcat' is no longer available on the front page. I check my mods, and, though they're applied, they are all out of order.

- I meticulously try to reorganize my mods, and it scrambles them again, wasting yet more time.

- By this point it is 2 in the morning, I have a headache, and I'm absolutely miserable. Trying to solve the problem on my own only made things worse, and I feel like an idiot.

- I go to sleep.

- At 6am my cat wakes me up. After feeding her, I try to at least fix my mods again.

- Removing 'Merge Fix', the mod that is specifically supposed to prevent my mods from being scrambled, allows me to organize a few of them.

- I re-order the rest of them, hit 'Apply Mods', and it crashes my entire laptop.

- I have now tried this three separate times, having to restart my whole laptop between attempts.

- I physically feel like shit, I emotionally feel like shit, and nothing is working.

This is where I'm at right now. Wrote this to vent, to hope for solutions, and to use as a log of events for when I try and get my dad to help me with this later before I get frustrated by how poorly that will go.

Update: I am now able to re-order mods in smaller batches, it would seem. Let's hope that stays true.

Update Update: About 98% sure I now have the IDs of my kids from scouring a text save file, they *seem* right in Sandbox mode, and as soon as I can figure out how to give them back their Glow effects I should be able to spawn them back in and try and pretend this whole mess never happened!!

Update Update Update: "Respawned" my kids, gave them back their Glow, and carried them the short final stretch over to Moon's can to watch the cutscene play out and end the campaign.

I have since then saved their ID numbers in two different places, and begun running behavioural experiments in Sandbox with different slugpup IDs, and later whatever I could spawn in with Beastmaster to observe 👌

[yusuke-of-valla]

Idk man I don't think a lot of the Pokémon complaints that annoy me bother me because they're disingenuous but they seem... really superficial and like they haven't given much thought to it.

Like you can SAY you want something outside of a fire/water/grass trio but there are only so many sets of three types that all hit each other for super effective damage, resist each other, AND resist themselves. And when you have that set up it allows you to really easily explain the concept of super effective moves to children playing the game for the first time, who the game DOES have to cater to.

You can say you want a mean rival but how does that relate to the story? What narrative role do they serve? How do they not get outclassed but other antagonists? If Barry were meaner would that stand out in a game where Cyrus is planning to kill everyone and Satan snipes a man from the shadow realm? Is giving them a Pokémon that's hard as your first battle of the game really more important than having them be balanced later?

An official Nuzlocke mode or a roguelike mode doesn't work because the theme of Pokémon is forming a bond with your specific team and working together to overcome challenges, and if you have to get rid of them every time you die that goes against the story they're trying to tell.

It's not that there's NOTHING that can be improved in Pokémon (I actually think Pokémon could be super benefitted by fleshing out the main characters more and giving them more personal investment in the plot, and lowkey I would like the lore to be better fleshed out and actually in the damn game), but I think like you have to be acting in good faith and that means acknowledging the series story, themes, and what it's trying to do. If your solution for fixing an rpg is to have it not be an rpg anymore, you don't actually want it to be better, you want it to be a different game.

Like the Pokémon series should spread out! I would like more spin offs while giving the main series time to cook. But that's different from what I want from the core series game?

And I also think focusing solely on the wild area and scarvi's open world when talking about Pokémon changing and not the way Scarlet and Violet finally gave us three rival characters with compelling personal arcs that are all actually weighted equally and then come together in a dramatic final boss fight that's actually super emotionally relevant and fits with the themes we've been building for the last ten hours? Or how Legends Arceus does a really good job using Jubilife village as a hub world and then rips it away from you? Why is the only way the series can change by being more like breath of the wild?

Anyway, yeah that's where I'm at. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion obviously and I'm not saying the Pokemon series is above reproach or it's fine that Scarlet and Violet didn't wait another year to be released or any of that. I just feel like, idk man some people wanna be playing a different game and blame Pokemon for it and they're very loud about it and I would just like Pokestar Studios back but with the graphics from Sword and Shield