#grumpy little critter out here doing the Lord's work

[theresattrpgforthat]

i would like to know more epistolary rpgs! have you got any?

either 2 player or more, i suspect most will be 2 player but more seems intriguing

Theme: Epistolary Games (Round 2!)

Hello friend! The three games I start off with here all allow for more players, although you are correct that most epistolary games are better for a duet.

When I lived here, by a grumpy little critter.

You once lived here. Maybe it was a place of refuge, maybe one of torment, maybe it was just one of the many places you passed through, but something about this house hooked you, so that you lingered even after death. You are a ghost that haunts this place, sending a fragment of your memory across the gulf that separates the dead from the living.

"When I lived here..." is a play-by-mail storytelling game for 4-6 players about several generations of ghosts in a single house. Each player contributes a brief recollection of their life in the house, one-by-one building a fragmentary history of the house and the lives lived there.

The players will roll on a prompt list to help them come up with their ghost and the story related to them, then write a journal entry onto a sheet of paper that will be consecutively mailed from house to house. Because the final player is responsible for mailing copies of the game to all of the other players, I recommend planning out the movement of the letters before play, so that the person who gets it last is in the best position to make sure everyone gets a copy of the game.

Europa Base, by a grumpy little critter.

Europa Base is a play-by-postcard survival horror RPG for 2 players or 2 households.

One party plays the crew of Europa Base, a newly established scientific station on Jupiter's moon, Europa. The crew, or what's left of it, have just survived a catastrophic disaster, but their troubles aren't over yet.

The other party plays Earth Command, scrambling to offer support and encouragement to Europa Base's intrepid scientists across the vast, unbridgeable distance, or perhaps just conveying last the last words of Europa Base's crew to the loved ones they left behind.

This game actually uses the time delay of the postal service as an oracle to determine how bad the situation is on Europa Base. If players’ mail is routinely and quickly delivered, there are even rules adjustments you can make to re-introduce a level of chance. If you like the idea of suspense that you can play with over a number of days or weeks, you should check out Europa Base.

Message in a Bottle, by Kingpin33.

A mysterious bottle has washed ashore, and seems to be inviting you to a beautiful island paradise! Inside there seems to be a note from a friend you have yet to meet, and an application for island living. You seem like a shoo-in, this Nook character doesn’t seem too picky..

Message in a Bottle is a letter-writing game where players can create a village full of animal friends and their island home. The features of your villagers and the island will be entirely determined by the mailing information of the person who sent you your message, so be sure to send the game around to all your friends and see what kind of neighbuorhood you can create!

This is an adorable little game inspired by Animal Crossing in which you use the zip codes of your friends to determine what kind of animal you are. After everyone has created their friends, the author even recommends an Animal Crossing RPG that’s available for free to play your characters in!

But Wait! There’s More!

Additionally, you can take a look at the works of AdventureByMail, a designer who design games specifically for two players separated by distance.  They have mysteries, vampires, interstellar stories and more!

You can also find more epistolary games in the Step Up For the Postal Service game jam, designed specifically to be sent in the post. (Did I mention how much I love game jams?)

Games I’ve recommended in the past

Forever Dex, by World Champ Game Co.

This whole post.

[ironbite4]

Normally I wouldn’t post anything personal on here but I figured what the hell.  Time for a fanfic of mine.  I give you Rage of the Shadows, a Dragon Riders of Pern fic.  Also my AoO link too.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/12221886

When Man first came to Pern, they took little notice of the strange planet that shown red in the night skies.  For two generations, they lived in peace until the planet's orbit brought it close enough to Pern to rain down an indigenous life form known as Thread.  The first Threadfall was devastating to the young colony but in time, human ingenuity won out and though the settlers had to move north to shield, they had developed a powerful protector.  Dragons would fly when Thread was in the sky and men called Dragonriders would guide these awesome beasts in battle.  For 2000 turns the world of Pern would watch the ebb and flow of Threadfall in the many Passes of Red Star.  But now, on the eve of the 9th Pass of Red Star, Pern's Dragonriders have been brought to it's lowest ebb.  Only one Weyr exists when there should be six.  And in the range of mountains near Benden Hold, something strange is happening.

The night was clear, so clear you could reach out and pluck the stars from the night sky.  The twin moons of Pern, Belior had set an hour ago and Timor had been rising late of night.  And Joker was drunk.  Just like always.  The holdless man, thrown out of his rightful hold by his own father 3 Turns ago, lurched out of the wineshop, steady on his feet despite the three skins of good Benden white he had drunk not 30 minutes ago.  The winekeeper had told him, like he always did, to get himself some more marks if he wanted to keep drinking that way.  And by the First Egg, Joker would do just that.  Just like he always did.  Smiling to himself as he made his way to his cot, the drunkard whistled an old sailing tune his father had once tried to taught him.  A chance glance at Benden Peak though stopped Joker in his tracks.  

'Where the bloody hells are the stars?', was the thought that came to the man's mind.  The only one.  For beyond Benden's peak, where the stars should be, was nothing but inky blackness.  They were gone.  And as Joker stared, Timor started to rise up towards it's customary midnight position.  Only as it reached the place where the stars were gone, it too vanished.

'Must be the drink', Joker mused to himself as he wobbled on down the road, a little bit more sober then he was before.

As the drunkard wandered down the road, the strange blackness started to swirl.  The light of the moon started to shine on the dark patch of nothing and it began to rotate faster and faster.  Suddenly, the patch of darkness erupted into a circle of darkness, interspersed with white lighting crackles that defined the now open wormhole.  From the center of it, a single man shaped object was ejected from the tunnel, the object appearing to be on fire as it slammed into the side of the mountain.  Immediately the portal closed, leaving no trace it had ever been.  Within the fiery crater the moon shined down imperviously, rocks and debris still smoking from the impact.  A hand grabbed the side of the hole followed by an arm, a shoulder, then a person, dressed in tattered black clothing.  He leavered himself out of his hole, crawling out of the hole and turning over onto his back with a groan.  Minutes passed as the figure in black simply rested from his labors, the only sign he was alive was his chest rising and falling.  The man opened his eyes, blue eyes that shined in the moonlight for a second before fading.  Hauling himself up he looked around, blinking as understanding began to fill his eyes.  Then rage began building, a rage that had nothing to do where he had landed. His head shot up and he let loose a howl of longing and grief that split the night with it's pain.  Then just as swiftly as it began, it was cut off, leaving only silence in it's wake for miles around.

“This way Masterfarmer,” Manora's voice echoed up from the stone stair case leading to the council room where F'lar and Lessa, Weyrleaders of Benden Wyer spent most of their time now going over the moldy Record skins searching for a way to predict when Thread would fall upon their world to sear it into nothing.  Lessa looked up at the sound of the Headwoman's voice, brushing a lock hair that had escaped from it's usual braid away from her face.  A glance at her weyrmate showed he was too involved in his readings to even pay attention to the intruders.  With a sigh, Lessa pushed away the skin she was attempting to decypher and awaited their visitors.  

Manora was the first to appear, the same calm, cool expression on her face which seemed the same as it was when Lessa arrived on Search 3 Turns ago. She stopped in the door way and bowed her head slightly, Lessa nodding in answer and stepped through with the Masterfarmer, his rough clothing indicating that he had just come from his farmhold. Lessa blinked as she recognized the face of the man, one Owen by name.  He worked the nearest farmhold to Benden Wyr and wouldn't have come from field if it weren't urgant.  As the man came into the chamber, he quickly snatched his hat off his head and bowed his head, the very nervousness of his movements betraying his reason for being here.

“Excuse me Weyrwoman, Weyrleader,” Manora began with no preamble, “a matter of some urgancy has come up and it is something you two should both hear.”  She bowed again and urged the farmer to come forward. F'lar, finally noticing the pair, put aside his Record skin and looked properly attentive.

“Well it's like this,” the Masterfarmer began, “now normally I'd be going to Lord Raid with this but seeing as how this is Weyr business, I came straight here.  See, I'm raising wherries for the dragons down yonder and as of late, something has been killing and eating the birds.  Now I'm no fool, I know there's all sorts of beasts that could do the deed but so far, we can't find anything.  We've tried for the past sevenday to catch the critter but he's smart, to smart.  Can we have some Weyr help?  I'd not be coming here if I didn't think Lord Raid could help.  Sides,” the man's face split in a wide grin, “ain't to often a man can say he's been to the Weyr.”

Lessa smiled back as F'lar out right laughed.  “Masterfarmer Owen,” Lessa said, “I'd like to think that this is something you could probably handle on your own.  But, if I recall, your farmhold is the one nearest to Benden Weyr so I think it'd behoove us to look into this.  Give the weyrlings something to do now that their dragons aren't eating us out of Weyr and Hold.”  Lessa looked over at F'lar who had leaned back in his chair and crossed his long legs.  “In fact I think we could possibly do with a flyover, don't you think Weyrleader?”

F'lar scowled at Lessa then turned his attention to the Masterfarm.  “Certainly we could help out.  But if this creature is attacking at night, not sure what use we could be.  Dragons aren't exactly known for their night sight.  That's why we have watch-whers.”

From deep within the Weyr bowl, a chorus of roars punctuated that statement.

The Masterfarmer sighed.  “It's not just during the night this thing attacks.  Its any time!”  The man raised his hands up then brought them down in fists, clearly upset and frustrated at his failure to protect tithe beasts.  “Honestly Weyrleaders, I'm about at my wits ends.”

F'lar made soothing motions at the man.  “Don't fret yourself Masterfarmer, we'll find your beast.”  The Weyrleader flashed a quick grin.  “If it's attacking during the day, I doubt it'll be able to hide from a dragon.  We'll probably catch it, kill it, then have it for dinner before too long.”

The three then exchanged more pleasentries before Manora took the man out.  As they left, F'lar looked over at Lessa.  “Fancy a quick hop over to the farmhold?  I think we've been cooped up here for long enough.”

Lessa grimaced as she got to her feet, stiff from the extended hours they had spent this day.  Looking over at the Record skins on the table she stretched, feeling each and every vertebra pop as she did so.

“I think that'd be an excellent idea.  And I suppose we can bring some lunch. Breakfast was a long time ago,” she eyed F'lar as he got to his feet.  “Just us two or should we bring anyone else?”

“I think F'nor's not doing anything right now,” F'lar replied as he headed to the ledge where his great bronze dragon, Mnementh awaited him.  “The three of us can have a picnic,” was his parting sally.

Lessa merely rolled her eyes and went to collect her flying gear from their chambers.

Three great dragons, one bronze, one brown, and one gold popped out from between just over the farmhold.  A quick landing and consultation provided the info that the wherries were being attacked in the most northern field.  The 3 dragons were quick to get back in the air, effortlessly gliding towards the area.

'A most splended day I think,' Lessa thought to her dragon Ramoth.  A grunt from the great queen was her only answer.  Lessa laughed and patted the great neck over which she rode.  'I take it you're still grumpy?'

'I am not grumpy,' came Ramoth's reply.  'I just don't like the cold.'

'Take heart love of my life,' Lessa grinned as she spied the field that was their destination. 'We're about there then you can lounge in the sun until we're ready to leave.'

As the three dragons glided towards a hill marking the boundry, the entire flock of wherries suddenly burst over it, some taking to the air for a brief  second before coming back down to the ground to engage in the stampede.  So frightened they were they didn't even notice the dragon shadows passing overhead as they headed south towards presumed safety.  The three riders exchanged looks as they came over the hill and all three recoiled in horror.

Upon the field lay the corpses of 5 wherries, 3 of which looked to be partially consumed.  It looked to their eyes like a dragon had been there.  But feasting on the corpse of one of the wherries wasn't a dragon.  The three riders circled over what appeared to be a man, a man who's hair was shaggy and unkempt and he was saved from nakedness by some tattered black clothing.  F'nor and F'lar exchanged glances then F'lar motioned for them to land some distance from this apparent madman who continued his grisly feast.  

As they landed, F'lar and F'nor dismounted, F'lar glaring at Lessa to stay put on Ramoth.  The two brothers exchanged looks with one another.

“Well,” F'nor begain, nervously looking over at the mad man.  “Do you want to go ask him if he'd like to join in our picnic or do we wait for him to invite us to the feast?”

F'lar looked at the blood stained man and rubbed his chin.  “I think it'd be better if we subdued him and brought him to Healer Hall.  I don't think he's sane.”

F'nor looked over and nodded.  “Yes I doubt he is.  Odd though.  He looks vaguely familiar to me.”

F'lar also looked over and cocked his head to the side.  Something was nagging at his conscious but it refused to come to the surface.  “Well whoever he is, we'll ask him after we've got him away from the wherries.  Got a club or something?”

F'nor produced a short club from his belt.  “Thought we might run into trouble so I came prepared.”  He looked up at his big brown dragon and nooded. “Canth says he'll back me up.”

“Luck,” F'lar said and the two brothers started towards the man in black, F'lar lagging behind F'nor as the younger half-brother approached the feasting madman.

“Hey!” F'nor shouted at the man in black once he got in position, trying to get his attention.  “Hey you there!”  There was no response.  F'nor edged closer, holding his short club low to the ground.  “Hey I want to talk to you.”  The man kept eating, tearing out large chunks of meat with hands that looked to be more like claws then anything else.  “I'm warning you, I'm armed.”  The man continued to eat as F'nor approached him from behind.  “Don't say I didn't warn you,” was F'nor's last words as he brought the club down hard on the man's head.

Or he would have had the man in black's hand not appeared grabbing hold of the club, preventing it's downward velocity from impacting.  Quicker then anything, F'nor found himself flying through the air, landing on his head with an audible thunk, being knocked out.  F'lar scrambled back as Canth roared a challenge.  The man spun around, crouching on all fours and glaring at the brown dragon charging at him.  If Lessa hadn't been watching what happened, she would've surely chalked up what happened next to some sort of wine-sickness.  As Canth got to the man, he sprung, twisting upwards and uppercutting Canth in the jaw, snapping the great brown's head back and lifting him off the ground.  And by some trick of the light, the man's entire body was, for a moment encircled by some sort of fire that traced the path of his punch.  As he landed and Canth's unconscious body landed behind him, he turned and looked at his fallen foe.  A growl escaped his lips and he turned his attention towards Less and F'lar.  F'lar had scrambled back to Mnementh and had mounted his bronze.  Turning to Lessa, he shouted at her to get back to the Weyr.  The man's eyes narrowed and he threw his head back in a scream, momentarily stopping Mnementh from lifting off himself and pausing Ramoth's height gaining flight.  Quicker then either of them could react, the man started running towards Mnementh, scabbering on all fours at time but moving quickly.  As Mnementh got a dragonlength from the ground, the man in black jumped, reaching the level of Mnementh's head with a single bound.  He landed on Mnementh's nose and used it as a springboard, sending the great bronze's head towards the ground as he ascended upwards.  He reached the level where Lessa stared at this madman who looked back her, eyes wide with madness.  Then, just to further confuse the issue, he floated over and landed lightly between Ramoth's neck ridges, staring into Lessa's eyes with something akin to an accusation in them.

There they stayed for what seemed like forever.  Then, to Lessa's astonishment, the man reached out and gently cupped the back of her head.  Leaning forward, he touch his bloody forehead to her's, closing his eyes as he did.  They stayed like that for a second before his eyes snapped open, the madness and rage that had been in them streaking out, to be replaced by tears and a great sadness.  The man lifted his head up and howled, a howl of pain and longing and suffering that drove all thought from Lessa's mind, bringing tears to her eyes as her pain, though long gone, fresh to the surface as if it had just happened.  Ramoth and Mnementh's necks reached to the sky above as they let loose a soul rendering keen of their own.  As Ramoth keened, the man in black fell from his preach, falling from between the neck ridges towards the ground below.  Lessa leaned forward, trying to catch the man before he'd be out of reach when, as he entered the shadow cast by Ramoth's wing, he vanished, leaving only confusion, the bloody wrecks, and questions as he did.

F'lar and the Benden Wingleaders appeared in the skies from between arranged smartly over northern Ruatha.  Above them, arranged smartly and professionally, were the wings of Fort Weyr.  F'lar couldn't stop the grin from spreading on his face as he observed the mass dragon wings.  Though not participating in this fight against their ancient enemy as they did at Telgar, F'lar and the other wingleaders had deemed it prudent to at least observe.  After all one couldn't have too much experience when it came to fighting Thread.

'I'd rather be fighting Thread' grumbled the great bronze Mnementh from beneath him.

F'lar simply laughed and reached out to pet the great neck. 'Next time my heart.  Next time we'll be in the thick of things just like at Nerat and Telgar.'

F'lar's wings positioned themselves in observation altitude.  Far enough away so that they wouldn't be scoured by Thread but close enough to observe the patterns being woven.  At Telgar, only 3 of the Benden dragon riders had been hurt by Thread and only one was out of action for longer then a few days.  Which wasn't bad for one under strength Weyr but that would improve as the Turns passed.  F'lar looked over his shoulder to see F'nor's Canth in proper position but his rider wasn't observing the ascending wings of dragons heading east.  His head was turned firmly to the west, at some distant star that seemed to refuse to vanish from the sky.

'Mnementh ask Canth what's got F'nor so fascinated,' F'lar asked his dragon.

Mnementh's head swivled towards his brown wingmate and he rumbled back, 'F'nor sees a star that doesn't seem to want to go away.  It also looks like it's getting closer.'

'Probably just a shooting star that's late.  It'll go away in a sec-' F'lar's thought was cut off by a cry from his half-brother.

“LOOK OUT!” came F'nor's cry as F'lar turned to look.  Mnementh was quicker in reaction as he wing slipped to the right as the supposed shooting star suddenly streaked in out of nowhere right in the space F'lar and Mnementh were.  The streak was green in color and blazed faster then any dragon could ever go.  F'lar stared at it as it ascended towards the incoming Thread, beating out the fastest dragons.  As it got to what seemed to be the thickest portion of Thread it stopped.  There it floated for a second, a spark in the middle of the gray dark thread

“AURA CRASH!” came a shout like thunder that caused some dragons to instantly drop several lengths in the air before catching themselves. Instantly the spark grew and spread wings made of what appeared to fire in the middle of thread.  Instantly the sky lit itself on fire, as if the entire firebird was dragon fire and seared the Thread from the sky.  Then it started to move, dancing in the sky, leaving a trail of fire and ash where ever it went.  The dragons and riders hung motionless in the sky as by itself, the firebird charred Thread. Mnementh suddenly went between and appeared next to T'ron's Fidranth, the Fort Weyrleader's mouth hanging open.  He looked over at F'lar in disbelief and cupped his hands over his mouth.

“WHERE WAS THIS HIDING?” T'ron shouted.

“I DON'T KNOW!” F'lar called back, the pyrotechnic show continuing.  

As the dragon riders watched, the firebird suddenly reversed direction, heading, it seemed, directly towards where F'lar and T'ron hung in the sky.  It stopped mere lengths from the two men and dragons, seemingly contemplating them.  Then the firebird extinguished itself, revealing an armor clad form in it's center.  The armor clad form was black in color, seemingly like a bit of midnight made almost flesh. Twin blades the length of an arm sprouted from each wrist, not impeding the motion of the arms at all.  Three gems were on the chest in an upside down triangle, two green and one blue, each glowing brightly in the air.  From the head, a trio of what looked like fins crowned it, over a visor that looked to be made of green glass.  As they watched, twin jets of steam escaped from vents in the helm's cheeks, almost as if whatever was inside was venting some exhaustion. The figure's visored visage bore down into the two Weyrleaders as if searching for something.  The figure then turned around in mid air, gazing up at what was left of Thread.  Moving his head around his neck, F'lar and T'ron heard audible popping, like the figure was preparing for some great physical labor. It lifted up his arms, the twin blades on both wrists switching forward to face what the hands were pointed at.  Two more blades popped from what F'lar took for decorative spikes at the elbows, lengthening to the length of a man's forearm.  The shoulder pauldrons opened up as well, revealing that they too were another double set of blades.  What was taken to be fins atop the figure's head were in fact more blades, two the length of the back of the skull but the third the entire length of the spine, snapping forward and facing the incoming Thread.  Then the points began to glow, swiftly gathering dark colored energy and increasing in size.  The armor never gave any indication of stress or fatigue as it gathered more and more power, power that raised the hair on the back of F'lar's neck.  

“SHADOW OMNI BEAM!” came the same shout as from before, only this time it was apparent that the figure in the armor was the source.  With a blast of sound, the seven energy beams exploded from the tips of the blades of the armor, shattering again and again as they raced to meet Thread.  Each second the energy beams continued their journey they split exponentially,  racing higher and higher and multiplying and multiplying.  Each beam then sought out a Thread filament, capturing each spore and stopping it in it's tracks.  The beams continued in this manner, only stopping when it was apparent that each Thread had been captured.  The figure then tensed up and sent a surge of even more energy from the tips of the blades, exploding each Thread that made the previous pyrotechnic show look mundane in compassion.  As ash rained down on the valley below, the armor's blades snapped back to their previous configuration.  The figure turned back around and stared down at F'lar.  Suddenly from behind the visor, two blue orbs flashed into existence and another jet of steam issued forth.  This steam was different as it billowed around the figure, cloaking it in white.  Suddenly, the steam was blown away as the figure surrounded itself in a ball of energy.  It then flew up, disappearing into the sky, leaving nothing but blue morning behind.

F'lar and Lessa popped from between above Fort Weyr, the mid afternoon sun gilding the great Star Stones of the ancient Weyr.  Ramoth and Mementh glided wing tip to wing tip down towards the great queens ledge.  Perching only long enough to discharge their riders, the two dragons arced away towards the sunning ledges, as the two riders made their way to council chamber.

“And it just, vanished?” Lessa asked F'lar again as they unbuckled riding helmates and shucked gloves.  “Like it didn't even want to explain itself?”

“Yes Lessa,” F'lar said for what had to have been the millionth time, “just flew up into the sky faster then even the fastest green could ever hope to fly and vanished.  I'm having a hard time even processing what happened.  I really hope T'ron doesn't expect much from us.  I didn't even know that thing existed.”

Lessa frowned. “Whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't make another appearance. Thinking that something with that much power exists on our world is mind boggling.”

F'lar nodded as they entered the council chamber, a nod to T'ron who held curtain open for them before letting it drop on F'lar's heels.  He nodded the Benden Weyrleaders to a pair of chairs next to another empty one and crossed the chamber to his own seat, Marada coming around behind them and placing a goblet each of wine and a pitcher of klah between them.  A quick squeeze of Lessa's shoulders and the Fort Weyrwoman went to take her place beside her weyrmate.  F'lar glanced around and sighed, this was probably going to be a long meeting.

“So,” T'ron began after a short moment, “what happened over Ruatha happened there's no doubt about it.  Whatever that thing was it certainly charred Thread well enough.  What I want to know is what was it?”

“I'd love to know that too T'ron,” F'lar began, rubbing the back of his head with one hand as Lessa clutched his other.  “We've never even heard a rumor that it existed nor do we have any songs about it.  But yes, it charred Thread today, that I will give you.”

“But certainly,” D'ram said, “certainly you'd know of something that could help spell out this mystery.  If something of this much power existed in your time, we wouldn't have had to come forward.”

A murmur of consent answered that that from T'kul and R'mart.

“Yes but-” F'lar attempted to answer when suddenly the entire chamber went dark.  Not dark as if the glowbaskets had suddenly all failed, but dark as if night itself had descended and replaced day.  There was a moment of frightened shouting and conflicting commands when light was returned to the chamber and where there were twelve people, there where now thirteen.

The newcomer was dressed in tight black clothing with an odd black and white symbol on the left breast.  Inside that symbol was the sign of infinity.  His hair was brown and his skin, where not crossed with old scars including a rather impressive one that began over his left eye and ended below it, was a pale white beneath a tan.  A trimmed beard and mustache completed his look, marking him for at least 25 turns old. His eyes were what F'lar would remember most besides the fact that he lounged very casually in his chair, black boots up on the table as if he was master here.  His eyes were a startlingly vivid and clear shade of blue.  And they looked old.  As if the staranger had seen more life then his appearance suggested.

T'kul rose from his chair, his hand going to his belt to draw his knife and the stranger laughed.

“Yeah that would be a bright idea if you were armed,” he said in a voice rich with amusement but still sounding young.  He causally brought up a hand, revealing that he held T'kul's belt knife in it.  “You might be needing this if you're planning on killing me.”

With a negligant toss, the knife was returned the knife to T'kul, who stared at it as if he'd never seen it before.  With another laugh, the man in black revealed his other hand, this one holding five more knives in it. “In fact y'all might be needing these back just in case.” Another causal toss followed, skittering the rest of the blades to rest, hilts pointing at their owners.

T'ron stared first at the knife then at the stranger causally lounging at his council chamber.  “Who,” T'ron began after swallowing visibly, “what are you?”

The stranger chuckled and reached over, grabbing F'lar's wine cup and taking a drink.  He wiped his lips and set the cup down before looking at the Fort Weyr leaders.

“Ahh now that,” he began, his voice losing all traces of the accent he had put on before, “that is a story worthy of one of your Songs.  Who I am and what I am are so intertwined at this point that I can't even separate them.  But I'll try my very best.”

He flexed, merely flexed his knees and assumed a cross legged position a visible foot off the chair.  “What I am wouldn't have any meaning to you people but I'll try and explain.  I am a 5000 yea-,” he paused and shook his head, “sorry 5000 Turn old time traveler.  I am a man without a home.  I am a man who's history includes tragedy and triumph worthy of one of your Songs.  That is what I am.”  He paused, roatating slowly in the air as he eyed each of them in turn.  When he got to T'kul he paused more then the rest, looking at T'kul for a second then glacing again at T'ron.  “Give it seven then.  As for who I am that's a question that I've asked myself for the past 2000 Turns. The simple answer is a name.  My name.  My name is Nick Saber and I am known throughout the cosmos as the Shadow of Time.  I just thought I'd say hello in the best way possible.”

T'ron's eyes seemed to start out of his head.  “What in shards are you talking about?”

“That pyrotechnic display over Ruatha of course,” replied Nick.  “Surely you don't think I run around at 100% of my total power for fun?  Uusually I just run around like this or at 25% but I figured I'd get your attention better in my Shadow Star Armor then in this ninja gi.”

“Ninja....what?” D'ram asked.

Nick rolled his eyes which made him flip in place.  “Oh lord you people have no idea. Forgot what I was dealing with for a second.  I'm a warrior D'ram.  A ninja is a type of warrior and where I'm from they ran around in stuff like this.  Or in orange.  Not to sure why.  The bottom line is ladies and gentlemen, I'm not here as a threat.  I'm here to help you out in times when you can't deal with everything.  Cause the way I see it...or rather,” and he chuckled again, “Foresee it, you and your people are in for some massive upheavals and changes and I always find those the most interesting.”

T'kul muttered something and gave the stranger floating above the chair a dark look. Fanna looked at the man fearfully.  “How are you doing that?” she asked, almost seeming to shrink from even addressing this stranger.

“What floating?” Nick asked back, “oh it's nothing to special.  I usually just like to walk around or lounge upside down but figured this would be a better demonstration of my powers.  I can also fly, something that was demonstrated a couple months back.”

“A couple months back?” T'ron asked, his glare going to F'lar and Lessa.

“I can assure you T'ron,” F'lar begain again, his hands raised to ward off the Fort Weyrleader's glare, “we have never seen this man before in our lives.”

“Yeah you have,” Nick said, countering F'lar as he stretched out in mid air, “I just wasn't as well groomed at the time.  And I had a chunk of wherry between my teeth.  That was a fun time in my life.”

“YOU!” Lessa shouted explosively, rising to her feat and casting one hand out to point at the floating man.  “You were the one in the field that day!  The one who threw F'nor for dragon lengths.”

“Also Shoruykened Canth if memory serves,” Nick shook his head and laughed.  “Glad to see the big brown is ok.  Didn't think I hurt him but I was quite mad you see.”

“But why?” Lessa asked, “why attack us?”

Nick rubbed the back of his head, his eyes going up as he thought.

“Well, “ he began, “I was quite mad at the time.  Not the mad you see right now though, proper mad.  Insane really.  With rage at being alive, grief at what I've lost and just found comfort in insanity.  Really I was kinda operating at instinct if I had to be honest.  Just reacting at everything.  But you pulled me out Weyrwoman and for that I am eternally grateful.”  Nick bowed his head to Lessa.

“But I didn't do anything,” Lessa protested.

“You learned your Ballads letter perfect is what you did,” Nick replied, his eyes filled with honesty for a brief second, “you learned your Ballads letter perfect and within you is a core of strength that shall never fail you.  I needed that at the time and for that, I am so grateful.”

Nick turned his head and rose to his feet, stretching his arms and shaking his shoulders. “Well I can see you need some time to process this so I'm going to leave.  But before I do, I'm going to give you all a gift.  After all, what sort of guest would I be if I didn't leave a gift?”

He reached into his shirt and drew out a shiny disk of metal about the size of a mark. Holding it up, there was some strange symbol on one side of the disk and on the other side was the sign of infinity.

“This,” he explained, “ is a Shadow Coin.  There'll be one in each of your weyrs don't ask me how I put them there you don't want to know. You'll see me out and about Pern but if you need me, really need me, take the coin and flip it.  I'll catch it before it hits the ground no matter where.  Consider this a sign of my trust in you as this is a very powerful artifact I'm trusting you with.”  He set it down on the table in the center and rose towards the ceiling.  “Until we meet again my friends, safe skies.”  As he entered an area of deeper shadow, he faded away like a ghost, leaving the council chamber, for the moment, in silence.

At the highest peak of Benden mountains, the ice and snow swirled as a spring storm moves into the region to deliver some much needed rain.  Standing on a small cliff on the south face of the mountain, Nick Saber stood, ignoring the cold and wet as he looked out over Pern.

'Such a fragile world to have been bombarded by so much cosmic stuff,' he thought, his eyes scanning the horizon.

'Ahh,' a new voice, one that echoed with the weight of centuries behind it came to his mind, 'that is their burden is it not?'

“Hello Guardian,” Nick said out loud, knowing the entity who's shadow he was could hear him, “been a long time.”

A swirl of ice and snow suddenly took shape, becoming a vaguely hooded creature standing seven feet tall.  It was a suggestion of a shape but Nick could feel the immense psychic power that was maintaining the creature's brief hold on this plane of existence.

“I do believe,” Guardian replied, “it's been about 2000 years since we last spoke.”

“Turns Guardian,” Nick replied.  “The locals call their years Turns.”

“Ahh and I guess we must respect the locals terms of time must we not?”

Nick smiled and looked out once more at the land spread before him.  Briefly, his view shifted from the mundane to the quantum, revealing the yellow stain of particles that blanketed every inch of this planet.  His viewpoint shifted back to the physical plane.

“Hard to believe,” he began, “that a particle fountain not 21 light years away from this system has been perfectly bombarding this place with chronotons for its entire existence.  Useful too when you know this planet's been attacked by some spore for a good chunk of that existence necessitating the evolution of it's native species.”

The figure turned and looked out to where Nick said and nodded.  “Yes it is a nice coincidence.  But I'm not manifesting to talk about the weather Nick. I'm here to talk about you.  You're not thinking about anything anymore.  Why?”

Nick's eyes briefly watered and the echo of ages old pain was once again seen.  He quickly dashed the tears from them and glared at his companion.

“What's there to talk about Guardian?” he accused, “I killed her.  I killed her for power.  That's that.  She's gone forever and I'm left with half a soul, half a heart, and half a mind.  What do you want to talk about my feelings?”

The figure simply stared at Nick.

“Or how about the twenty thousand souls I condemned to hell?  You want to talk about that?  Do you Guardian of Time?  Do you really want me to bear my heart and soul to you?  Do you you son of a bitch!?”

At the last, screamed from atop the highest peak in Benden Range, the ledge the Shadow stood exploded into powder.  The figure simply floated on as Nick breathed heavily in and out, floating on the space that just a second ago was solid rock.

“You've gone through so much Nick,” Guardian began, it's voice echoing through time and space, “so much pain and heartbreak.  And yet, even after that nap in the darkness, you're here.  Here and ready to do what you do best, help people.  I know it's hard, I loved her too.  But you have to find a way to live.  It's what she would've wanted.”

Nick turned back to his contemplation of the landscape, his mind going through memories of the past.  Sighing, he reached into his shirt and pulled out two gems.  One, emerald in color was the size of his fist and perfectly circular.  The other was the bluest shade of blue, a teardrop shaped sapphire.  Both shined in the moonlight though the green one occasionally had lightning dance across it's surface.

“Stars and magic. That's what I got for my wish Guardian.  And you know what?” he looked up at the wraith, “I'm trying to decide if it's worth it.  I didn't come here because of choice.  I heard a call across the universe.  That's all.  A call I had to respond to.  Damn it Guardian why did I have to kill her?  Why?”

“For that I have no answer to,” Guardian replied.  “All I can say is she used the rules of magic to give you a fighting chance at a demon lord.  And it worked.  You sent that bastard back to hell.”

“Along with twenty thousand souls.”

“That I can't say. I'm the Guardian of Time Nick, not death.  That's your job.”

Nick waved that off.

“Through out all the time I've known you, all the time you've cast yourself as my shadow, you've always proven that you've got a good heart.  Might be a bit jaded at times and a bit scared, but a good heart.  Maybe that's why she did what she did.  You're strong Nick, strong enough to endure Celestia's passing and moving on.  No matter what you do on this planet, I'm sure she'll be proud of you.”

Nick looked down at the blue gem for a moment and let his memory drift to the woman it had been.  How warm her laugh was, how sunlight brought gold highlights to her white hair, how her eyes, as blue as the gem in his hand right now, had been pools to fall in to repeatably.  More erotic memories swam to the surface and he grinned, realizing how much she had teased him.  Shaking his head he put the gems back in his shirt and fished out another one, staring at the red gem in his hand.  This one pulsed over and over, one of it's facets pulsing brighter then the rest of it.  Looking out he saw that the facet was pointed towards the southwest and he grinned.  He looked over at the wraith as he put the gem back in it's place.

“Welp,” he quipped, drawing a hood over his head and pulling up a mask to cover his face, “guess the vacation's over.  Time to get to work.”   Nick then produced a pair of red rimmed sunglasses, putting them on to complete his look.

“I suppose so.  Be well Nick.  Make your enemies fall.”

“Oh I plan on doing just that.  Cause it's time for this Shadow to rise.”

Nick surrounded himself with his ki aura and blasted off into the night, the ice wraith falling apart behind him.  As he flew towards the south, there was but one thought on his mind.

'Let's see what trouble we can make.'

And the Shadow of Time vanished into the night.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Morose Mononokean 3 – 13 (FINAL) | Nanbaka 19 | ACCA 5...and anime from 2016, ranked.

(Morose Mononokean ep 3)

LOL, the kaomoji scroll.

Hopefully your handwriting won’t be illegible, Fusshi.

The Japanese place a lot of emphasis on independence, hence th errand running comment.

It’s so threatening to get pointed at with a stick.

I didn’t quite get the “five years again?” joke, but the jokes were going pretty rapid fire there. I might’ve just missed one and that’s OK. *shrugs*

Technically Ashiya lied when he said “you don’t have to believe me” because she believed him in the end…kinda sorta…?

Oh, to grandstand means to be showy. I don’t think I solidified that into my brain until just then.

Are those weeds or onions?

…Oops, not onions at all. Close enough (since they’re blub plants), though.

Where’s your dad, Ashiya?

Zenko’s not crying, you’re crying, I’m crying. Everyone’s crying!

…Oh, that’s the punchline of the joke…but Abeno’s scary when he’s really angry.

(ep 4)

I think even lil’ Fuzzy nods in the OP near the end.

The d and b thumbs are very inventive in regards to kaomoji. I like inventiveness.

Exhibit A of how Comic Sans ruins a mood, CR subbers.

So that’s Abeno’s writing (and not Comic Sans)?

Ashiya and Abeno have really creepy eyes on the eyecatch.

Shizuku means “water droplet” IIRC.

Ashiya, Super Sentai!...or something like that.

The Fuzzy Ashiya knows has 3 tails. This one only has one.

Ashiya, getting coerced into deals he can’t handle. *sigh*

(ep 5)

Fuzzy’s basically a Pokémon now.

What happened to Abeno’s jar?

Where I am, there’s three arms to the government: the legislative arm, the judicial arm and the executive arm. This show must run off a lot of the same principles.

Fuzzy seems vaguely unimpressed when Ashiya learns he doesn’t have to die.

How is that communicating with a fuzzball? Sad life for Abeno-san.

The sad thing about Abeno is that he’s very grumpy. While that does make him basically a male tsundere, his grumpiness isn’t something everyone can live with. Rippou (Legislator) included.

(ep 6)

The Ring? Like a horror movie? (This is the last of the Mononokean episodes I’ve seen before, so it’s not a horror movie, but I had to make the joke while I was at it.)

Fuzzy looks like an offering to the ancestors there on that cushion.

The Mononokean went “If you’d followed my instructions [yada yada yada] but…” Note the “but” – that wasn’t in the translation.

Where does Abeno sleep?

Fuzzy wrapped up is like a fuzzy sushi roll. I wouldn’t like to eat a fuzzy sushi roll, though.

Edo = old Tokyo…so are all Edoites (or whatever you call them) meant to be non-honorific users?

Manjiro must’ve been easy to draw if this were in the source material. However, since this is obviously a CGI Manjiro, it must’ve been easier to animate than, say, Fuzzy. (Apparently fur is hard to get right in CGI.)

“15 whole minutes”…hardly anything impressive…LOL.

Ashiya will never give you up, he’ll never let you down, he’ll never run around and desert you…

Even Fuzzy’s sweating up a storm just thinking about how to return the ring.

Ow. Getting headbutted by an eel is not the way to go.

The salve on Fuzzy looked like a box for a frame or two.

The irony of an eel shop with an eel youkai…

(ep 7)

It’s fresh impressions from here on out.

Butterflies don’t fly like that…

Since middle school is years 7 – 9…okay…Ashiya is that childish? *laughs awkwardly*

I just realised this show doesn’t do flashbacks very well.

I saw a grave in the back that said “Abe Family Grave”. It’s not the kanji for Abeno, though.

Don’t be so proud of your status as a hide and seek veteran, Ashiya.

“Yoko” is the word for a fox spirit. it’s why, in Tactics, the fox spirit is called Youko. Even I knew that much and Ashiya didn’t, LOL.

Oh right! Abeno calls Fuzzy “hairball”.

Abeno is 15?! I’m absolutely positively flipping out!...Abeno and Ashiya look like they’re 17!

(ep 8)

I thought something was up with the subs. Turns out “Haruitsuki” was spelt wrong.

Remember “–sama” is of more respect than “–san”.

I think Mr Chips from Eldlive was like this critter. Gets drunk on green tea.

Tsundere flying green youkai. That’s probably better than an annoying, possibly tsundere fairy (<- reference to One Wish They Never Wanted).

Benkei? I’ve never heard anyone yell “Benkei!” when they stubbed their toe. I get that it’s Standing Benkei though.

Aww. Even if it’s a youkai proposal, it’s so sweet…

(ep 9)

How do you spell “dispirited”? Two Ss? One?

Dangit, Ashiya would do well in job interviews…

The eyecatches always look unnecessarily dramatic, don’t they?

Does Abeno’s question about amateurs include Ashiya?

Abeno must’ve gotten a “Don’t come near my daughter again!” sort of thing a lot.

Fuzzy’s body went “boomph!” when he jumped on to Ashiya’s shoulder.

Fuzzy absolutely fails at rolling on balls, LOL.

(ep 10)

Why did I think of “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” when it came to large!Yahiko?

The title of this episode is “deku”, like Boku no Hero Academia Deku.

Rakugan.

How did the eyecatch manage to put shojo sparkles on Nobou and turn him into something that’s vaguely appealing (in a handsome sense)? It must be the magic of the shojo sparkles…Also, henohenomoheji scarecrow.

“Phantasmagoria” aka “fantasy” or “illusion”.

Wow, basically this show is an ethics lesson…

Who knew a mutant scarecrow could cause such a heartfelt story? Also, please stop hitting yourself with a potato.

(ep 11)

I don’t think I’ve seen the character for “purple” being read as shi before.

Stop using Fuzzy as a shield for your words, Ashiya.

Fuzzy jumped on to Zenko’s head. It’s kinda funny to see Fuzzy acting like a Swablu.

Fuzzy with a leaf hat is aesthetically pleasing. It soothes the soul. (Uh, hey. Come to think of it, Mononokean’s a lot like the works I’ve done on Honeyfeed, eh? Light comedy and a lotta drama.)

I keep stumbling upon spoilers for shows I’m not caught up on, this show included. So I technically knew about Yahiko and never mentioned it, and I’m going “oh no” here because I know what will happen to Ashiya…

Tomori. That was the name from the spoilers…oh no!!!

Fuzzy looks particularly round in the eyecatch.

Apparently Ashiya began as a doodle in the margin of Kiri Wazawa’s sketchbook, but he became the protag of Morose Mononokean. That’s the ultimate upgrade in life for a character, eh?

Abeno’s logic…I get it, but I guess it was played for hilarity. Well, it worked. Really well.

A 9-11. I thought it was funny at first, but now it’s scary and solemn.

Simultaneous equations? I want nothing to do with them anymore.

Come to think of it, Aoi may have been a woman due to the woman’s cloak.

(ep 12)

Oh? A sister? I’ve haven’t seen her in the show yet. I wanna see her.

One of the lil’ pine cones is sleeping. It’s strangely adorable.

(ep 13)

Yahiko’s so spoilt by Zenko.

*squints at Ashiya’s book* Oh hey. I haven’t done this in years! Yeah, that sort of stuff is “first year of high school” stuff, but speaking from experience as an advanced maths student, I have a skewed perspective of what “normal maths” is for a year level. Add that to the fact Japan has the idea that they have to push their geniuses to the limit by being ahead of their years (sometimes going up to one year ahead of the “usual” standard) and…yeah.

From the lip reading, the word could’ve been tera (Buddhist temple) or jinja (Shinto shrine). Knowing how Zenko is built off the ideas of Buddhism anyway, it’s tera.

Well, out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

Abeno looks like such a bad boy in that eyecatch, it’s hilarious.

Seriously, how does Nobou talk with no mouth?!

I thought the hand was Yahiko. Turns out it was Abeno.

Fuzzy looks downright ill when Ashiya’s scared.

A boss normally doesn’t bow his head to his subordinates, let alone call them “lord” (dono), which is the highest type of honorific one can give to a person.

See, the kaomoji scroll really is fun. If someone could make one for me, I’d love to play with it for a little bit. Maybe you could make a (computer?) program that could function mostly the same way…huh. That’s a good idea, actually.

Notice the Mononokean uses “watashi”. I guess it doesn’t have much of a gender anyway.

Nice hat, Ashiya. (LOL.)

Welp, that’s the final episode of all my 2016 anime. I moved the top 10 anime of 2016 to the bottom of this post for the surprise factor, but knowing my reactions to the anime means you can’t be too surprised by the results.

(Nanbaka 19)

Honey’s still on arrow mode.

The scream. It’s like a horror movie, but so funny because it overlays the OP.

The sparkles actually helped viewers see something for once.

Rokuriki. So that’s the guard’s name. It has “six” in it.

Deer hook swords. I’m not quite familiar with them but they look cool.

I only just realised, but they left Nico behind in the supervisor’s office.

The rubble is so beautifully rendered.

What was Jyugo doing behind the pots? Something for humour, I suppose, because I laughed.

“Hachiman” can mean 80000.

Kawaisouni… translates to “unfortunate” or “how unfortunate” but I probably wouldn’t peg it as “poor baby!” like the subbers did. It’s probably the tone Uno used that caused them to sub it the way they did.

Here we go again with this Jyugo comeback from episode 1…

It’s around the part where Upa’s trash talking Hachiman that you can identify Upa’s VA is Yuu Kobayashi (SGRS’s Konatsu’s VA). Even Nico is voiced by a dude and yet Upa is not.

(ACCA 5)

Seriously, this blue haired guy (Magie) reminds me of Japan from Hetalia. Must be the haircut.

How does a guy not remember toast? Probably because this is of Japanese origin, where rice and fish are more common than bread.

I still think his name should be Gene Otus.

CGI fits flawlessly into this style, and if you’ve been around these parts long enough, you know I don’t like obvious CGI.

Dowa Travel.

Hotel Akevitt. They have some weird names in this show.

Reindeer…? I’m not very good at identifying deer vs reindeer.

I heard you like wheat bread, so I put some wheat bread in ACCA to keep you happy, Jean. (insert more memes about wheat bread here)

Lotta really likes walnuts, eh?

Crow/Nino’s a free agent hired by Grossular, right?

Ah. I get it. Lotta’ll keep an eye on Nino for Jean.

Isn’t a sandpiper a bird?

Oh. So that’s why Grossular has such long hair.

Lilium’s bro? Gotta remember him for later.

Grossular’s an older Kyosuke Kuga, LOL.

 Anime of 2016, Ranked

Since I have 17 entries this year and it took a lot of shuffling to get right, I’ve decided to show my entire 2016 rankings. Only shows I saw in their entirety at least once over in 2016 (with the exceptions of D Gray Man Hallow and Morose Mononokean, which are applicable through the simulcast commentary process but were only watched to episode 6 before 2016′s end, and fall anime, which due to being AFK at 2016′s end were unfinshable until 2017), and had at least one new seasonal entry in 2016, apply:

17. Prince of Stride Alternative

16. Mr Osomatsu s2

15. D Gray Man Hallow

14. Kiznaiver

13. Morose Mononokean

12. Nanbaka s1: can’t talk about this yet because its s2’s not finished!

11. Classicaloid s1: can’t talk about this yet because it′s not finished!

10. Flip Flappers: The art style and fight scenes really make this a show worth watching. However, it did get somewhat confusing at the end so that’s where most of the drop in the rankings comes from.

9. ReLIFE: While the themes were pertinent and the art style on point, it was a bit plain and there wasn’t much of an explanation as to why the pills work (even if that isn’t Yoake or An’s role). I guess I’m still used to it living in the shadow of Detective Conan, after all.

8. Boueibu s2: This was a step up from s1, but unfortunately there were prime contenders this year that knocked it out of higher places. Also the fact that it does seem more rushed than s1 due to the time constraints does give it a bit of a toll.

7. Bungou Stray Dogs (overall): 2 seasons makes this show stand out as a strong one, especially near the end when it really hits its stride. The fact light novel stories took up up to 4 episodes did make me worried, but the fans definitely have more than enough material to work with as a result, right?

6. Yuri on Ice: I don’t mind the off model in this one if it means the good stuff can come with it, but the fandom is quite intimidating and it was a “show of the year” in ways some people now consider to be a negative thing, so it did suffer a bit from that. I give it merit for the things it does well, but it’s not the saviour of anime the talk of the town can make it out to be.

5. Boku Dake ga Inai Machi: Stunning visuals, a Sayuri ED and good thrills with well executed cliffhangers. My only gripe with this one was the very end, but you’ll have to see the relevant posts for why that is.

4. Boku no Hero Academia s1: Even if it is repetitive, it rises above (Plus Ultra!) to become something more than just a fusion of East and West like I always try to strive for. It’s an emblem and it’s definitely something Horikoshi should be proud of after what happened to Barrage and Oumagadoki Zoo.

3. Sakamoto Desu Ga: This show also managed to go above its repetitive trappings with inventiveness and humour. The fact it’s also touching at exactly the right points shows you why Takamatsu is one of my favourite directors.

2. ConRevo s2: Colourful and politically striking as always, ConRevo was one of the shows I always looked forward to watching, even if it meant staying up past midnight to document things on the wiki. Even if I’m not that fond of the Urobuchi episode, this show managed to reach awesome highs without losing the fans it got from s1.

1. SGRS: With a soundtrack that brings you to the past, humour that can make you laugh no matter how many times you watch it and visuals to wow even the most serious of artists, you can tell SGRS is a labour of love in every aspect. Its second season has already surpassed its predecessor in only 4 or 5 episodes, so...only time will tell whether anything can challenge SGRS for the throne.

 Total:

winter 4

spring 5 (incl. Bungou Stray Dogs s1)

summer 4

fall 5 (incl. Bungou Stray Dogs s2)