#heres the short version of a bunch of important stuff!!

[swisccfinds]

50 ONE LEVEL CAREERS: Storytelling careers megapack by isy's the snake

Here is yet another career mod pack, but this one has no promotions, you just work and your job level stays at 1. As the title say this mod is best for story telling!

creator's notes-

This mod requires XML Injector by Scumbumbo. You can find it here. Pay attention if you don't already have it for another mod! In that case, you do not need to re-install it. Be sure it is updated for the last patch.

XML Injector is a mod required for some mods to work. So, you install it as any other mod in your Mods folder, no more than one subfolder deep.

This mod has been updated for the version 1.99.305 of the game (second update after Horse Ranch).

It doesn't required any DLC to work. Base game compatible

I've adopted this mod from the amazing ItsKatato who, due to her hiring at EA, couldn't continue to mod. I have made some changes: • I have changes all the pics of the careers — now they all show Sims (please check the credits paragraph at the end to see who was the amazing raccoon who helped me); • I have updated the mod for the Horse Ranch patch; • I have cleared ALL the tuning errors; • Fixed the description of some careers who appeared to be missing.

Now, here we go with the explanation of the mod (originally written by ItsKatato, edited by me):

Katato said: "Have you ever had a story planned out for your sims but you can't find the perfect career for them? Most of the time when I find the career it ends up being a complicated career with a bunch of promotion tasks and extra stuff. Well, I've made a pack of a bunch of single-level careers. All your sim has to do is go to work, that's it. This is perfect for the non-important sims in your life, like the forgotten children of your legacy challenge." In short: those are 50 careers you can use for NPCs Sims or random Sims you do not want to care about. As Amethyst said: "Go to work, make money, leave me alone". Your Sims won't need any task to perform to upgrade and get a promotion, as well as they do not really need an ideal mood to go to work since it won't change their performance. They just go and do their job. And now the list of all careers:

1. Anesthetiologist 2. Cartographer 3. Chiropractor 4. Compliance Officer 5. Data Scientist 6. Dental Hygienist 7. Dentist 8. Diagnostic Medical Sonographer 9. Financial Advisor 10. Financial Manager 11. Genereal Surgeon 12. Genetic Counselor 13. Home Health Aide 14. Information Security Analyst 15. IT Manager 16. Interpreter And Translator 17. Lawyer 18. Marriage And Family Therapist 19. Massage Therapist 20. Mathematician 21. Mechanical Engineer 22. Medical And Health Services Manager 23. Nurse Anesthetist 24. Nurse Practitioner 25. Obstetrician And Gynecologist 26. Occupational Therapist 27. Operations Reasearch Analyst 28. Optometrist 29. Oral And Maxillofacial Surgeon 30. Orthodontist 31. Orthotist And Prosthetist 32. Paralegal 33. Pediatrician 34. Personal Care Aide 35. Phlebotomist 36. Physical Therapist 37. Physical Therapist Assistant 38. Physician 39. Physician Assistant 40. Pilot 41. Podiatrist 42. Prosthodontist 43. Psychiatrist 44. Registered Nurse 45. Respiratory Therapist 46. Software Developer 47. Speech-Language Pathologist 48. Statician 49. Substance Abuse And Behavioral Disorder Counselor 50. Veterinarian 51. Web Developer 52. Wind Turbine Technician 

lets give some of our love and support to isy!

download

[kirider]

Your art for it is so cute, what's Kamen Rider SD? I want to get into it :D

yesss.... fall into my trap... mwhahaha >:3c (also thank you ^v^)

SD in general means Super Deformed, it's a chibi style that's not unique to Kamen Rider (Gundam also has a bunch of SD stuff, mentioning it here bc i love those models :3)

But since you're asking in relation with my art, here's the ones I made art for:

SD The Great Battle

A series of videogames that's a crossover between Kamen Rider, Gundam and Ultraman characters, all in the SD style. An original character called Fighter Roar joins the team from the second game on. They're very fun and wacky game that don't really have a coherent plot but we love them for that :3 In IV they get a giant robot (Compatible Kaiser my beloved) and in V they're cowboys. I love the cowboy outfits so much. Games one to five have english fan translations, now I need someone to translate Gaia Saver because apparently that one has the Rider Killer lore....

Kamen Rider SD: Strange!? Man Spider (or simply Kamen Rider SD OVA)

If you've been around the fandom you probably already know this one. It's a 30 minutes short where RX and the other Battle Riders (Ichigo and ZX) have to rescue RX's crush from shocker, with the help of the Mechanic Riders (V3, X and Super1). Wild Team (Stronger, Amazon and Nigo) appears for like. 3 minutes total at the end but they're my darlings and I love them. Other very important thing in this short is the Rider Carrier, a giant robot grasshopper that acts as their base and I think every version of the riders shoul have a giant grasshopper base not just the SDs u.u This short is apparently an adaptation from the Mighty Riders manga, but I haven't investigated it yet so I can't confirm that. It's also connected to a couple more SD videogames, Sortie!! Rider Machines and Run! Mighty Riders (the team names come from here as far as I can tell)

Kamen Rider SD: Hurricane Legend / Kamen Rider SD: Legend of the Stormy Age

(listen. I know the direct translation is the first one. But the second one is on the back cover so if they gave it an official english title I'm using that :P)

This is probably the one you're asking for, but I wanted to use the excuse to talk about the other two :P

I'll be honest, going in blind on this one is probably the best experience. Do not look up panels you will get spoiled. The basic plot is V3 and Riderman travel around to recruit the other Riders to defeat Shocker. I want to talk about it more but again, I had so much fun going "WHAT!?!" while reading it that I must resist- Might post more about them but will tag it as spoilers

Other SD stuff that I care less about, for completionist sake:

• there's a third SD manga (Kamen Rider SD: Roaring Laughs School) that I know nothing of (I think it's a 4koma gag manga? I'll be honest I'm not very interested in it so I haven't done much research);

• the most recent SD game is SD Shin Kamen Rider Rumble, a game for the movie, but that one seems to be simply a side scroller so again, no interest from me;

• Lost Heroes 1 and 2 technically use chibi-ish versions of Riders, Gundams and Ultramen, and are part of the Compati Hero series (the same series as The Great Battle), but they don't have SD in the title;

•there's. sooooo many sports games in the Compati Hero series. I like the Battle Dodgeball ones :3 Also speaking of Compati Hero, special mention to Super Hero Operations because that's the next one I wanna play, I get to meet Zubat, Metalder and a bunch of others there :3

[divineerdrick]

Homestuck Beyond Canon Upd8 for October 8, 2024

Here we are! This might be the end of the current story arc, and we'll finally get to see if Vriska successfully makes it out of this. I was also informed a while back that today is the one year anniversary of the HICU taking over the comic.

Before I jump in, I had a theory I wanted to put out there. I was thinking more about how Vriska was always destined to go down these two paths and what that might mean. Now we know she had different fates than the two we saw. In fact, we saw a third indirectly. We saw it when an Aradiabot from a doomed timeline where Gamzee snapped early revealed a surprise final piece of Doc Scratch's code. That reveal was a book Gamzee made in the blood of the other trolls. And Vriska's blood is in there.

But only two Vriskas are ever seen in the bubbles, probably because the Vriskas that survive to their creation are always the same. Do any Vriskas lost along the way matter? We don't really know. They might still be important, but the lion share of Vriska appears to be split into two fates.

Now, thinking back to the epilogues (I know that can be hard) Dirk describes the process of becoming a fully realized or ascended God Tier.

And some of you just saw where I'm going with this.

Dirk became a full God of Heart first because of how connected he was to his splinters. Rose followed as her continued explorations of fortune connected more and more of her deviating paths through Paradox Space. And Dave . . . well he got a very Dave ascension. Honestly with how well he handled the multiple version of himself running around, an Obama pep talk was likely more than what was needed.

But there's only two Vriskas that need to come together.

If Vriska can accept herself, the team on Candy C will have a fully realized and ascended Thief of Light on their side. One that has already exerted narrative control before! That might be enough to help fix a lot. And if Vriska has anything to say about it, and you know she will, things might really start moving.

News Upd8

We get a team post this time! They're mostly just excitedly gushing about the milestone and some of the things that have happened in the past year. But they also reminding us the first big flash is coming. I honestly can't wait!

James mentions that this is not originally what was planned and that they were just going to make a bunch of connected shorts originally. I still like stuff like that, but I'm glad they were able to get this going again.

There's a lot of thank yous from the team. But I still feel like I want to thank them for continuing this in such a wonderful way. This comic and this community has been really important to me for a while now, and I'm eternally grateful there are still "semi-official" things coming from it.

James does give us a bit of an outline on the progress for EOA1. It sounds like things are still early, but they're hoping to hit one of the "funny numbers". The next one will be 11/11 or one of the kid's birthdays. But 413 sounds like a good project deadline to me.

They're continuing with two upd8s this month, so I'll need to try to make sure I catch the next one in a more timely fashion.

Upd8

We've cut away from Vriska. As the news said, no more VN for us. We return to Candy Earth C and our stressed out adults.

Kanaya has left on her own for now. Her fury has not yet been satisfied it seems, with what Rose took as an implied threat from her. Also, I just noticed the subtle space symbol in Jade's shield. Nice touch!

Still a lot of justly tense and uncomfortable conversation going on. Jade really wants to fix things. She feels like she's the one to blame and she needs to make things right. But Rose doesn't particularly seem receptive. I don't think she wants Jade's help. Also, there's a mention of Rose losing her temper over a conversation about her mom. I think it's mostly meant as a little nod to how much older they all are and that things have happened that we never got to see. But I can't help but wonder how things went down.

Yeah, this is pretty painful. Jade really wants to do the right thing, but Rose has formed her own opinion of the best course of action. And now she's trying to convince Jade it doesn't involve her.

Hamster guy? I'm pretty sure I'd remember hamster guy so this has to be something new.

Honestly, Jade is sounding a bit more mature than Rose here. It's painful, but she's right. Reality has very little to do with a person's "truth." The only sensible path to change a person's perspective is usually the empathetic one where you focus on understanding where they're coming from. Even then, all you can usually accomplish is being someone they might turn to when an external event breaks the reality in their head.

Speaking of personal truth's, Jade has been feeling that so many of her friends haven't really cared about what's going on. That might have been a little true for Dave, but I think she got a completely wrong read on John. John very much cared, he just wasn't good at doing anything about it. That's one of the reasons he suffered from depression, one of the reasons he was always trying to fix something or do something important. But between the glimpses of her in the epilogues and the credits, I get the impression she was constantly trying to reach out to him. From her perspective, John's depression might have seemed to be apathy.

But big surprise the one that grew up so isolated is having the hardest time getting a read on people.

THE ART!!!

Urgh! Oh this is bad! Rose is just suppressing everything she's dealing with. Admittedly, there's a lot going on right now. But it sounds like she's not trying to process any of the stuff that's been occurring on this crazy version of Earth C. She especially can't seem to deal with Roxy, and that's apparently been causing more problems than we've seen.

I'm not sure I agree with Rose here. I don't believe an absolute truth has to be derived from authority. But then, to the best of my knowledge, I don't live in Paradox Space. It's hard to hold to the truth of observable reality when it can be so easily changed and manipulated.

Interesting . . . Rose has turned to her powers as a form of coping mechanism. As things get hard, she begins trying to sort out all the "meandering side-paths." The rote of it, the monotony, is soothing to her the way a "cozy game" is to me. And if she's successful, she gains insight and even something to look forward to.

Oh no! Rose has seen a future where Calliope will sacrifice herself to try and save everything! And worse it doesn't work! Things are apparently more dire than we thought, and that's with Jane running around in Condesce mode!

Huh! If I'm parsing that right, Rose is going to suffer a mortal wound but one that won't trigger the God Tier clock. Instead she'll have to recover like a normal person will. Ouch! This immortality really isn't all it's cracked up to be.

And the other shoe drops! The reason why Rose agreed to something like this, the reason she's been so cold and distant. While she's recovering from the bullet wound, Kanaya will be alone. With what she's done, Kanaya will have the impetus to seek independence. She hasn't seen the end result, but she believes Kanaya will have a more fulfilling life this way. She's been driving her wife away so this Kanaya won't be left in paralyzed mourning the way Meat Kanaya seems to be. That is a horribly dangerous game, and one almost guaranteed to backfire.

But apparently Rose doesn't think any of it matters. Like Dirk, she thinks this universe is irrelevant and doomed. She knows what John needed to do, and here John didn't do it. She's hasn't quite gotten to the optimistic point of nihilism, but the apparent lack of meaning is providing her with some relief.

Do I honestly need to say anything here!

Rose has been able to play the rain for a while now. But as her powers have matured, she's gotten better at it. Though this makes it sound not so much like she's playing it, as dancing to a tune beyond her control. But then, this Rose doesn't feel the need to control anything.

Can you imagine accidentally bumping head first into a figure of myth and legend?

Karkat and Kanaya have a bond that goes well beyond anything they ever developed with their human lovers. Even if Karkat's power wasn't literally over the bond of Blood, they've survived so much together it honestly wouldn't matter. And right now, Karkat's opinion of the humans that sat on the sidelines while their Troll friends needed them isn't exactly high.

COME ON!!!

Jane is still processing her conversation and some of things that came of it. Does Jane think she could have convinced more of her friends to stand with her? Does she think she could have saved Dirk from the fate he chose?

Also in a very real way she doesn't quite look human in that image. Even though I think this might be a human moment for her, she's made her visage, consciously or not, monstrous. The Condesce's crown is a collar around her neck.

Unfortunately she's decided that rather than learn from her mistakes, she might as well just plow on and build something new and better. She is a god after all.

Love how they're teasing out the reveal of what has come of Jake's epiphany.

I'm not posting that image. Even with my heavy use of spoiler tags, I'm not risking it.

Oh come on! You didn't make it a clean shot! Goddammit Jake!

Well that's one way to cut from that. I mean HOLY SHIT!!!

Jake appears to not be out of this yet. This almost feels like a callback to Vriska sitting on the beach after a failure. Can the big man recover from it?

And we end with Rose having just left Tavy and Yiffy with a letter and some snacks.

Wow! That was intense!

It legit seems like nothing, not even a bullet, is changing Jane's mind. And I mean, I know Jane is a god, but come on! Could Jake seriously not get a good clean shot off? Wow!

Y'know, honestly I can see it. Despite his awakening, he had to play it out like one of his movies. That was just enough time for Jane to realize what was going on and quickly dodge out of the way. Then, rather than quickly ending it, he had to quibble out an apology.

Honestly, I just don't think he was truly capable of doing it, so he sabotaged himself. He's just lucky that all the pummeling he's gone through has toughened him up enough that he might get another shot. That is if he doesn't get wiped out in whatever that cake-shaped, doomsday device she has in orbit does.

Fuck that was a ride. And a really tense one at that! Guess now we're waiting for next upd8 this month!

[someinstant]

So I turned my ankle taking out my trash this evening and it's swelling up beautifully-- I did a number on that ankle back in college and it regularly betrays me because of the Dumb Things I did without seeking medical attention when I was twenty-- so I've decided to prop it up on the couch and ice the hell out of it and watch the special features on my ANDOR Blu-Ray.

Here's a short list of Cool Things I've learned:

Diego says that it was important to show Cassian being nice to B2EMO in the first bit of episode one, because you needed to see Cassian show care and kindness for someone-- because he's not a particularly awesome guy at the beginning.

The set designer for the Andor house on Ferix made macrame door curtains out of metal scrap and bolts because they wanted a 1970s feel with an industrial twist. Also, the set designer pronounces "macrame" with the accent on the second syllable, and I've never heard it that way before? British folks, is that standard on your fair isle? Because hereabouts it's MAC-rah-may, or maybe mac-rah-MAY if you're fancy. But it sure as hell isn't mah-CRAHM-eh.

Just so many gorgeous shots of Ferix, man. And all the costumes and details-- it looks SO GOOD, even when it's clearly just a set and not the finished version. The actors all clearly adored working in the physical space.

During the Aldhani arc, the Aldhani rebel cell actors worked extensively together with the director to train, rehearse, and develop chemistry-- and they deliberately didn't bring Diego Luna in until they were ready to shoot for real. So the Aldhani squad had this rapport and inside jokes and relationships, and THEN they dropped Luna in so he would feel properly like an outsider.

And they did the SAME THING on the Narkina 5 arc. All the prisoners rehearsed together well before they brought in Luna, so he wouldn't have the same understanding of the space or tools or way the actors related to each other. Love it. Really smart decision, and it paid off.

The visual reference for what the Eye would look like when you were flying through it was a close-up of a human iris, and actually-- yeah. They did that really, really well.

They made the prison on Narkina 5 the same shape as the planetary shield generator on Scarif, and I have no idea how I didn't notice that before.

Stellan Skarsgard was clearly DELIGHTED by Luthen's big speech in "Nobody's Listening." He talks about how when he read it, he was like, "Absolutely, this is the dilemma, isn't it? How far can you go in the name of change?," followed immediately by, "Now, how in the world do I SAY that?!"

The musicians in "Rix Road" are really playing on set-- they did ADR over top for sound quality but in order to give the actors the right feel, the musicians are really playing and the instruments all are fully functional. The musicians are a mix of studio musicians who are on the final recording and some talented amateurs who also work as background actors, so you get the imperfect, community-band style tuning, which is what they wanted.

And there's a bunch of other cool stuff, but my ankle is throbbing, so I'm going to go take a painkiller and go to bed I think.

[sunderingstars]

For someone who has never played honkai impact 3rd can you tell me what was that conversation between welt and archeron?! I could feel it out with the context and vibes but I wanna actually know the lore please

ʚ 💌 ɞ hi !! thank you for the ask :3 i may miss a few things due to the complexity of the lore, but this is my current understanding of it:

⟡ 2.1 spoilers ahead ��

(hsr = honkai star rail, hi3 = honkai impact 3rd)

°˖➴ i’ll only be talking about their first conversation here since i haven’t finished the rest of the quest yet

short answer — acheron is this dimension’s version of someone welt knows from his home dimension (hi3) and as such there’s a bunch of conflicting feelings from him in this scene. he recognizes her face but ultimately understands he does not know the motives of this version of her, so stays on his guard to protect the express.

long answer below the cut:

⟢ hsr welt is the same one from hi3 — he exists in both games, starting in hi3, then traveling across dimensions to hsr which is where he is now

⟢ acheron closely resembles raiden mei, someone welt knows from his home dimension (hi3). basically, acheron is another version of mei in this universe (there’s some debate about the specifics, but this is the simplest way to put it!). she’s in a similar vein as bronya, himeko, seele, etc. if you’ve seen the discussion about those characters linking to hi3 as well.

⟢ so, it creates this situation where welt recognizes acheron as being a version of someone he knows and cares about, while she doesn’t recognize him at all. that’s why he looks so surprised when he sees her, because he’s seeing a familiar face.

⟢ however, he’s on guard during the rest of the conversation because he understands that while she may look like the raiden mei from his dimension, this is still a different version of her. he can’t be sure what her motives are yet, or if she wants to help or harm the crew. in my mind, i see him as wanting to trust her because of his connection with the mei from his dimension, but ultimately knowing he can’t let his guard down.

⟢ another interesting tidbit is that acheron is able to point out the true nature of welt’s cane as a weapon of godlike power. while we don’t have many answers as to why or how she knows in-game, it immediately reveals to welt that she does know, which calls into question what else she knows and the possibility of that knowledge posing a danger to the express.

⟢ side note: as for the connection between welt & the mei from his home universe, my main takeaway from it is that he’s a sort of mentor figure to her. not as close of a mentor as he is to other characters, but enough to know and care about her wellbeing. i would also say that they’re friends and have mutual respect for one another. (at least that’s my interpretation of their interactions in hi3.)

⟢ overall, i feel it was a very jarring conversation for him since he was suddenly seeing someone so familiar yet so different. from acheron’s perspective, it must’ve also been weird to see his reaction since she doesn’t know him at all. she knows how powerful he is, but has no personal connection to him beyond that — meanwhile he’s just having his “!?!?” moment while she stares on in confusion.

anyways, i hope that made sense! the hi3 lore can get pretty complicated, especially when it crosses over into hsr, but i tried to put it the simplest i could — i also may have missed a few things because of how complex it can get, but i tried my best to include everything important.

i’m happy to answer any additional questions, and once again thanks for the ask — i love doing nerdy lore analysis stuff! .�� ݁ 🪐˖

[ostrichmonkey-games]

FitD Settings and Unnamed Furry Crime Game and You

Alrighty, as promised, time to talk about Setting Stuff.

This is a post both about what the setting for (the still!) Unnamed Furry Crime Game is going to generally be like, and also a bit about settings in Forged in the Dark games in general. 

Okay so, let’s define Forged in the Dark games as ttrpgs that cover Blades in the Dark and any game that uses the same general engine and setup. Blades is the progenitor, and a lot of FitD stick relatively close to its formula (but not all, there’s plenty of room to poke around and rearrange things), and one of the more important elements, I think, is the “powder keg sandbox” setup.

In Blades, the players are underdog criminals doing underdog criminal things like causing problems on purpose. Those problems cascade, intersecting with the different factions/characters present in the setting, and usually then creating more and more problems for the players to deal with. That’s the powder keg sandbox — a relatively open setting, filled with kindling (factions/characters with conflicting and interesting goals and motivations), and then the players are dropped in the middle of it, and positioned in a way that no matter they do, they are going to be conflicting with at least some of those characters/factions, thereby igniting the kindling and making the whole thing explode in a blaze of fun. It’s great.  

So, in short, the purpose of a setting in a FitD game is to create that powder keg sandbox. It has to be filled with interesting characters/factions that are both compelling (to encourage players to interact with them) and conflicting with each other and players (so that when players interact with them, explosions happen!), while still providing enough purposeful space so that there’s room to be flexible as players start interacting with everything and changing the world around them. A good sandbox has plenty of room to play and dig around in, and then to make it a powder keg, just bury some sticks of dynamite in there and hand the players a bunch of lit matches. Boom.  

Now let’s talk about Unnamed Furry Crime Game (UFCG because I’m done typing all that out and I don’t want to think about coming up with an actual title right now). I don’t mind wearing my influences on my sleeves, and the biggest one here is Lackadaisy. I mean, the whole concept of the game was sparked when the animated pilot first released and I did a reread of the webcomic (pretty sure I first found it around 2009, which is wild to think about), and what’s more fun than a bunch of anthropomorphic animals doing crime things in a period setting? So, the initial spark for the game was Prohibition era Crime Time, but with furries (not just limited to cats, as a way to distance the game more from the initial inspiration and also because it’s fun). However, this was never going to be a purely historical game, it was (and still is!) going to be set in a fictional city in a fictional world — so more historically inspired than truly set. 

This was done to free myself from doing too much research (there’s still necessary research though), and also to give myself more creative freedom. From there, the premise started to turn into “What if the Prohibition hadn’t ended? What would that look like?”. And that’s still part of the core premise. So I guess, it’s a speculative alternate fictional history thing?

Freed from any truly historical restraints, I started tossing in other extras that could be fun. Like, what if airships/dirigibles were still in major use? Yeah, let's go for it. What if the city the game takes place in draws from classic Hollywood and noir? Yeah, let’s go for it (also at this time I had watched Babylon, which, not going to say was good, but the vibes are fun). What if I also pulled aesthetically from Gotham, specifically the Batman: The Animated Series version? Yes! Now we’ve got a setting of glitz and glamor and shady hard-boiled grit. Which is a great setup for Crime Time. 

Being less historically strict, also gives me more room for exaggeration and over-the-top-ness. I want UFCG to be characterful. I want there to be an emphasis on larger-than-life elements, both player characters and all the factions and NPCs. Especially in the case of the factions/NPCs, they need to be chunky and discrete blocks that are easy to instantly grab onto and pick up and play with. This loops back to filling your sandbox with cool things, and if the sandbox itself is cool, then that’s going to rub off on the stuff buried in the sand. More exaggerated components make for more flammable kindling. 

This is another reason having just a singular city-setting tends to work well for a FitD sandbox powder keg — a city is just naturally densely packed with stuff (now, the hard work will be writing all that stuff, but I’ll get to that bridge eventually). In a densely packed space, it’s also very easy to make everything connected to each other. Which means it’s going to be very difficult for players to make a move without impacting someone or something else! Again, boom. 

So then, why furries? Well like I already said, it’s fun. That in and of itself is enough reason, but also, I think it creates a useful level of abstraction that makes creating exaggerated characterful characters more easily. It’s easier to be a little more goofy without breaking things when you have a bunch of animal people running around. 

That’s the general gist and thought process behind the setting I’m assembling. There’s still most of it to actually write, but you do need a fun concept to make a fun setting, so it’ll get done as it needs to get done. 

I am still a little unsure of what I want to do for something weirder within the setting. Should magic be real? There’s plenty going on that it doesn’t feel super necessary. Or, what if magic is not real, but that doesn’t stop the existence of various occult-y factions/organizations from springing up, and maybe they think magic is real (or even leave it ambiguous). On the opposite end of the spectrum, what if I tossed in some dashes of retro-future-y superscience? Atomic Robo style maybe. Basically, I’m still exploring what the line is for pushing things too far. 

With all of that said, what is the text of the game going to provide in terms of setting? What I’m picturing is probably pretty similar to Blades, but maybe with less overall exposition and pulling the most useful setting-building stuff from various N/OSR stuff I like. You can convey a lot of setting information in relatively compact ways that also double as tools to use at the table (i.e. random tables, my best friends). The city will have various breakdowns on districts, notable locations, individuals, etc etc. Factions will have clear goals, conflicting with each other so as to create a web of Problems. Plenty of little miscellaneous details on “life in the city” to function as small nuggets of information and flavor. 

The hardest part will be striking the correct balance of information. You’ll need enough to feel comfortable playing in the setting, but not too much that it starts to feel like homework to run it. Figuring out what’s the correct amount of sand and all that. 

[splatsvilles-fashionista]

Splatoon 3 Version 8.0 patch notes breakdown

A bit late with this one, as I didn't have the time to write it last night, but nevertheless, here's a quick rundown of the patch notes for version 8.0, which should release in a couple of hours as of time of writing.

First of all, the Sizzle Season 2024 content is being added, but will not be available for another 24-ish hours. That includes:

A new Catalog

The new stage Lemuria Hub

Two new main weapons, two variants of those main weapons, and six alternate sets for preexisting main weapons.

14 Tableturf cards

Two new songs by SashiMori

The renovated Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle & Dime, which will be taken out of stage rotations when the update becomes available.

Wandercrust Journey 6.

Additionally, this patch also adds data for the new Triumvirate King Salmonid fight and a new Grizzco Weapon, as well as the new Splatfest features, both of which will not become available until a later date.

With Sizzle Season 2024 stuff out of the way, let's move onto the changes that will be available right away, starting with Stage Changes, which there are a lot of.

In addition the Hammerhead Bridge and Barnacle & Dime changes, Museum d'Alfonsino, Um'ami Ruins, Brinewater Springs, and Scorch Gorge are all getting layout changes, with Museum getting some extra changes in Splat Zones and Rainmaker specifically. Eeltail Alley, Hagglefish Market, Flounder Heights, Marlin Airport and Manta Maria are all getting "slight" changes, while Crableg Capital and Bluefin Depot are getting slight changes in Turf War and Splat Zones, and Clam Blitz, respectively.

I'll be entirely honest, until we see these changes for ourselves it's impossible to gauge just what these changes will be like, but I am willing to be optimistic given just how much improvement we've seen in the Stage design over the last year or so. I think they'll be slight improvements at worst.

With that said, let's move onto Main Weapon changes, starting with a bunch of weapons getting the exact same change.

Sploosh, Jr, Aerospray, Luna, Clash, Carbon, Splat Roller, Inkbrush, Octobrush, and Dapples will all now deal 10% more damage to Splash Walls. I'm not sure why this was listed on each weapon individually and not just all collected as a Splash Wall change, but I digress. The intent here seems to be to make short-range weapons specifically, better at dealing with Splash Wall, the users of which they'll generally be outranged by to begin with. It's a small and specific change, but it's not one I think any of these weapons will complain about.

N-ZAP will now be able to fire for longer before its hits max bullet spread. In case you didn't know, all shooters that have bullet spread have a property where that spread gradually increases the longer you hold ZR, which slowly goes back to normal if you stop firing, and now that'll take longer on N-ZAP specifically.

N-Zap didn't really need this buff, but it's also not something that moves the needle much to begin with. It's pretty rare outside of low-level turf wars that someone fires for long enough to the spread to be a major factor, so it's fine. It's just a very strange change.

Moving onto more deserved buffs, L-3 has its damage increased by 2, taking a full three-hit burst from 87 to 93 damage. This is not a significant change, but 30 is a pretty important damage threshold to hit, as it combos with a lot of things, and it does mean that getting even lightly chipped by almost anything at all puts you in one-shot range, so watch out!

Rapid Blaster now starts recovering ink after firing about 3 frames faster. It's another nice little buff, though like N-ZAP it is kind of strange this weapon is being buffed at all when it's in a pretty good spot right now.

Now here's something interesting, Tri-Stringer will now paint the ground better, and will now paint lines more consistently. Turfing has always been one of Tri-Stringer's biggest weaknesses, so this is a very nice buff!

Last but not least is my favourite change in the entire patch. REEF-LUX now charges at full speed while in the air, similar to how Squiffer works. This is just a fantastically cool buff if you ask me, it's one of those things that seem insignificant on paper but can really change up how a weapon plays in a major way. It wasn't until after Squiffer got this change in Splatoon 2 that the weapon really came into its own, after all.

With Main Weapon changes down, let's move onto Points for Special changes, of which there are four (technically three):

Big Swig Express and Painbrush are ten points cheaper, and both variants of E-Liter are ten points more expensive. Not a lot to discuss here, so let's move onto Special Weapons:

The rails that indicate the Reefslider's path will now ink the floor as they extend forward, potentially allowing you paint over an enemy's feet before running them over. The rail will now also follow moving terrain, which is a change I'll admit I am not sure what it does? We'll just have to see when the patch goes live.

Big Bubbler now paints the ground inside of the shield. A nice quality of life change that could potentially be used to do some silly things in Splat Zones, if you're so inclined.

Ink Vac will now paint the ground behind you while it's active. Nintendo specifies later on in the patch notes that this is because they want you to be more reliably able to use it while retreating, and yeah, that's what this change will do.

For our final Special change, Splattercolor Screen now deals more damage to Beakons, Sprinkler, Splash Wall, sponges, and the Rainmaker's shield. Like with the Ink Vac changes, Nintendo specifies what the purpose of this buff is in the patch notes, and in this case it's to reward people more for using the Screen well.

And that's all the balance changes for this patch, but there is actually one more Main Weapon change that is not listed with the rest, because it's a bit different:

These changes are very wordy, but the TL;DR is that Squeezer now has a hard cap on how fast it can fire, which is the same as its regular fire speed. That might sound like a completely pointless change, and I thought so initially as well, but it seems the intent here is to not have the weapon be improved by turbo controllers, as they can let you mash ZR at much, much faster paces than intended.

With all that said, let's round things out with some miscellaneous changes:

If you roll or dash into the Rainmaker shield you'll now slide off it, as opposed to the game continuously attempting to place you where the shield is at and dealing a bunch of contact damage to you, splatting you almost instantly.

You'll now start the next season in S+0 if you were top 1000 in the previous season's X rank.

Squid Beakons are now accounted for when awarding the Super Jump Spot medal, which I am frankly surprised wasn't the case already?

I lied, there is one more Main Weapon change. Grizzco Dualies now deal 5 more damage with their actual bullets. That means they three-shot Chum now!

Reflected Drizzler torpedoes will now collide with terrain less, reducing the situations where you shoot one back only to have it immediately crash into a ledge it just barely touches.

Finally, purchasing the Expansion Pass will now net you 10 free Sheldon Licenses. If you've already bought the Expansion Pass then you'll be given the Licenses after downloading the update. Just in time for ten new weapons to be added as part of the Sizzle Season!

[waterghostype]

a bit of an unconventional post but here is rosel!!! struggling princess and novice of void she is my ninjago oc bc ive been infected with deadly oc brainrot disease…

oc ramblings under the cut lel

she is a princess with a tragic backstory . super original i know

in all seriousness she basically conjured up in my head while i was thinking “what could they ever do to recover harumi’s character from crystalized in dragons rising” and it all went downhill from here

she’s super energetic, lively, dramatic, basically a cringe theatre kid who doesnt shut up at all. she loves animals and nature and life and being elaborate and performing and all that jazz.

she’s basically harumi’s surrogate little sister. after being on her own for a bit and traveling all across realms she landed in this weird magical realm (one that i made up. lol) and was taken in by the royal family as a knight (basically) after she brought back rosel when she got lost in the forest. she’s having a terrible time in there BUT she’s staying because… there is a freakazoidal organization trying to take them down. super original once again.

harumi feels like shes sort of called to do something about it to somehow atone for her wrongdoings but she doesn’t want to do any more than she has to aka she doesn’t want to get close to rosel bc shes obviously very Not right in the brain and also because of her past

rosel originally had an older sister who was supposed to be the actual heir to the throne and she was totally chill with that! she liked to just have a second say in important stuff and do a lot of commercials like that was her whole thing and she enjoyed it. then her sister got assassinated so now she has to be the one to worry about everything and just be an heir all of a sudden. this is part of the reason why she got very easily attached to harumi and harumi knows this and understands what’s going on in rosel’s brain because a losing family then getting badly attached to someone bc you think they can fill that hole in your heart?? yeah not cool

doesnt help that harumi currently hates herself and thinks shes the worst person in the world (tbf she did do All that.) but the difference is when she was being unhealthily attached to garmadon he mistreated her BAD but here harumi actually tries protecting rosel and gets unfortunately attached as well which sucks! it’s like that grumpy old man adopts daughter trope except it’s a ~20 yo girl and a little sister

before she died rosel swore she hated her sister and they would fight allll the time. older sister (havent decided on a name) is really strict and pressured to do all her work as an heir and the oldest princess and i could go into more detail abt their relationship but just think oldest sibling vs youngest sibling shenanigans. theyd fight abt how rosel would never understand the pressure of being the heir in their political cilmate thing (yeah the made-up realm is going through it) but too bad so sad she got executed in front of literally the whole kingdom.

after a surprisingly short while rosel gets back on her feet after her sister’s death but shes just fakering oops. she has a bunch of bottled up issues but it’s ok! it’s ok!

also shes the elemental master of void. oops

this one is fucky wucky complicated but BASCIALLY my bs reason for her little mary sue op power is bc time twins were stuck in that weird time vortex all throughout everything And then the merge happened and the merge’s weird elemental energy whatever caused the time vortex and the twins’ elemental powers to get weird and because time is being messed up reality can be messed up and so this basically broken version of the time element gets transferred onto my girl rosel as if it was a regular degular elemental power which sucks bc it’s even harder to use and control and she doesnt even know how to fight so shes just struggling

she finds this out while on a journey with the ninja and harumi. like if it was a season itd be like episode 15+ she finds out. this is because she accidentally caused an important artifact to disappear out of nowhere, got sad about it bc she messed everything up, and then she accidentally makes a whole bunch of stuff (including living things) disappear too. yikessss

she doesnt want to hide it she tells the ninjarumi right away and theyre all like What the hell and shes freaking out but after some help she can at least keep herself from destroying literally everything.

until she messes up gets mega emotional loses control of her everything and starts voiding a bunch of stuff so she gets even more stressed which makes her void even more stuff and now shes basically destroying the kingdom shes been trying so hard to be able to rule. ooooopsies

after a whole thing with the power of siblingship and empathy harumi snaps her out of it and now shes absolutely baffled with what shes done and is a bit crazed abt the whole thing. bc of this she decides it’s best to train with the ninja (idk if she actually becomes one) so she can use her power better. btw harumi was able to snap her out of it and give her a hug without being voided because a) power of friendship and b) overlord resurrection she’s literally dead inside She basically is already voided in a way

so thats basically what goes on very sorry this is too long but i hope it all makes sense… i swear her story is better than the way i explained it (or maybe it’s not idk) i just have many MANY MANY thought abt her! i might ramble even more in the future so be cautioned. thx

heres zoomed in ver of the notes in case u need it

[maxwellatoms]

I don’t know why more people aren’t watching this show, but it’s worth a peek.

This particular episode touches heavily on storyboards and animatics, and while these guys are all talking about feature films, just about everything they’re talking about applies to animation (half of any given superhero film is animation anyway).

Animatics are such an incredible tool that I’m shocked that they aren’t an industry requirement. We literally weren’t allowed to have animatics on Billy & Mandy due to “budgetary restraints”, and since I’d never utilized them before I didn’t realize what I was missing. Now, I basically board right into animatic. If I have a line of dialog for a character, I’ll just temp it in. That way I’m both writing and directing (essentially) at the same time. As I go, I know more-or-less how much time everything is taking, what’s working, and what drags. If I hit ten minutes and I’m still not into Act 3, I know I need to cut something to make room. I can make a version of my movie or show for (essentially) free and share it as a blueprint for others to follow or give feedback on. Why would you NOT do that?

There’s some good stuff in here too about the insane pacing of Television production, the amount of stuff you somehow have to hold in your brain when you’re dealing with all of these moving pieces, and the importance of having a plan for everything. As the director, you’re the only one who is really capable of keeping track of the project from the microscopic to macroscopic scale. Everything from overall tone to the tweak you want to make to line 236 is your responsibility.

I’m not a huge fan of Snyder’s body of work, but Zack Snyder films are Zack Snyder films. His stamp is all over them. The Russos come from a much more Disnified, collaborative background. And lest that sound too noble, the collaboration is all directed toward making a product engineered to be enjoyable. In a very real way, it’s The Auteur vs. The Machine. Listening to this episode, you can tell that no one ever say Zack Snyder down in a room with a bunch of lawyers and research executives to talk about whether or not he was accidentally delivering fascist messages or how many girls aged 8-12 were into Steppenwolf. Whereas that would be Day One at Disney, and every day after would involve some other checks-and-balances meeting, a number of high-level sign-offs, and the upkeep of an intricate company-wide roadmap.

Snyder and the Russos both found themselves making superhero movies for two very different companies in two different very ways. The ways those movies were produced are as much a result of the studio culture as it is the personalities and desires of the directors. As much as Jellystone has reminded me how much I love deep collaboration, methods of production are often not my choice. Depending on the studio, I’ve occasionally felt either overwhelmed by too much “support” or left alone in the woods to die. Neither situation is exactly ideal, but both present their own unique challenges and opportunities. The Machine is efficient, gets things done, and will protect you -- as long as you’re in its good graces. The Auteur is laid bare -- flaws and obsessions on display for anyone to see. Neither Snyder or the Russos go too deep into the studio culture at either studio (oh to be a fly on the wall when the pizza is gone), but is one really superior to the other? Learning to work within the confines of a studio’s culture is a whole different layer on the onion, and I wish they talked about it here.

It’s cool to see that from the simplest cartoon short to the summer blockbuster, the struggles in the entertainment industry are all the same. The pay’s way better on the blockbuster side, though. In case you’re trying to choose.

[thedevilsoftruth]

Welcome to the Devils of Truth blog! The blog where all your fantasies and desires can come to life. Sit back, enjoy yourself. We're here to have a good time...

About me!

Hello beautiful, sexy people. My name is Bullet ( she/her ), and I am a fanfic writer. I am here to spread good vibes and show love to everyone. My blog is 100% LGBT+ safe, so anyone within that community is safe and welcomed here. I write fanfic to connect with people and simply just for fun.

A couple fun facts about me is that my favorite bands of all time are Nine Inch Nails, Soft Cell and Depeche Mode. I'm an artist, I make cool traditional art and sometimes I'll post it on here. As my bio says, I have ADHD and I'm a bit silly.... and sometimes don't know how to control my filter ( apologies for that )

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Blog rules.

My rules for this blog are simple; don't be an ass in my comments, or you'll get blocked and your comments will be deleted :)) And as always, minors dni with my posts!!! I will also have ZERO tolerance for fat phobes, racists, trump supporters, and homophobes. I'm really big on the Trump supporters thing, none of you Trump supporters are welcome here.

What you'll find here.

I kind of just talk about stuff on here. I rant a lot. I like talking to people, meeting people and hearing what people have to say about things. But I also post a lot of fanfiction on here!

The Fandoms I post about on here are random, but here is the short list of the fandoms I write for or post about;

Nine Inch Nails. You'll find some NIN stuff. I reblog or post important news about the band, and I will come on here and post happy birthday posts to their albums.

The Marvel Universe. I started out being a Loki blog, I posted some Loki stuff, but this blog will probably never see the light of anything Loki related ever again.

Stardew Valley. I posted a bunch of Shane content back in my day, but maybe I'll bring more characters from this game into my blog somehow..

Demon Slayer: The absolute most recent fandom I've brought into my blog. I'm still trying to slowly reel it in...

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Characters I will write for:

For Marvel: Anyone in the Moon Knight system, Steve Roger's, Thor, Bucky Barnes.

For Stardew Valley: Shane, Elliott and Harvey.

For Demon Slayer: Rengoku, Gyomei, Sanemi, Tengen, Douma, Akaza, Kokushibou, and Mitsuri.

Any other characters that weren't mentioned are excluded unless your request is good enough to convince me. Absolutely no underage characters should be requested, even if it's not for smut.

My request box is currently open!!! Please feel free to request me anything.♡

For requests:

Please do not request me any of the following: anything having to do with major age gaps ( 18 year old and 27 yesr old character ) MLM ( I do not write for male protagonists or for mlm because I do not feel comfortable with it as some men in the LGBT community are uncomfortable with women writing gay smut. ) teacher x student, anal sex (idk it's weird for me,) anything having to do with drugging, step dad or step brother stuff ( it's incestuous and weird ), omegaverse, and mafia bullshit are also immediately out of the picture.

I also will not write anything having to do with child abuse or anything specifically having to do with race.

I only write for WLW or MfF!!! Only female or g/n protagonists are allowed to be requested.

Masterlists:

Loki Masterlist

Moon Knight Masterlist

Sdv Shane Masterlist

Gyomei Himejima Masterlist

Kyojuro Rengoku Masterlist

[leafofkudzu]

Screeches to a halt in a cloud of dust HELLO I'M LATE I'M SORRY. The first Saturday of a fresh month is tomorrow, which means it's time for another community art party hosted by [VS] Verdant Shield! Last week I ran a(n also late) poll and the winner was Rata Sum, a place we haven't been since the very first small test party all the way back in January!

For those who haven't heard of them before, art parties are an idea carried over from Final Fantasy XIV - big (or small!) get-togethers for artists/writers/creatives of all kinds to hang out, chat, and create together! Put together your most eye-catching look, find someone who inspires you, and get to work! Afterwards, everyone uses the party-specific tag (ours is #VSArtParty) to share their creations so others can see and spread the love around via reblogs! The tl;dr I always say for these is this: the 'goal' of an art party isn't to be drawn, but to draw others, and share with the community!

Party details are in the image above, but I'll toss an expanded text version under the cut with things like /squadjoin information!

Location Details:

A guildmate suggested we have the party down by the docks this time so we could have a boat party, and I totally agree! I may have put Antidawn Anchorage as the primary land point, but if you have a skiff feel free to take to the water as well! Worth noting that in order to interact with others' skiffs you must be in the same party or squad, and you do not need to have a skiff of your own to interact with a party/squad member's one!

Now, for those not familiar with Rata Sum, here's a quick image of the spot in question, which can be reached by taking the Antidawn Anchorage or Dawnside Quay asura gates nearby the Magicat Court (Antidawn) and Metrical Court (Dawnside) Waypoints:

Time & Squad Details:

As always, the party will consist of two separate events, with an hour break in between (though technically people jump from one to the other immediately anyway so the NA one tends to 'start' earlier than the scheduled time).

The first party will be on EU servers and begin at 9pm Central European Summer Time (aka 3pm Eastern Daylight Time or 5 hours before in-game reset). I’ll be hosting on my EU alt account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Toxicologist Mosse for an invite.

The second party will be on NA servers and begin at 7pm Eastern Daylight Time (aka 1am Central European Summer Time or 1 hour before in-game reset). This one I’ll be hosting on my main account, so to join either /squadjoin or whisper Teekzi for an invite.

IMPORTANT NOTE (mostly for the NA party): If you join and the squad is at or above 45 members, please just taxi into the right map and then hop out of squad to allow others to do the same! Essentially all conversation now happens in say chat so you won’t miss out on anything by being outside of squad!

Closing Words:

My apologies for the extremely short notice on this one everyone, I've been slapped with a bunch of IRL stuff (it's nothing bad, don't worry!) that's kept me out of the game for longer than I'd hoped. With all the exciting game news buzzing around lately though, I might just have to set aside some proper time to let myself get invested in this again, we'll see! Anyway, as always, thank you so much to everyone who comes out to these events and helps make them so special - I can't wait to see you all again tomorrow night! ♥

[soleil-in-the-sky]

Are you trying to give your OCs something to wear but feel that all you do has no style? Have you scoured the internet for clothing design tutorials and still cant come up with anything you like? Many years ago, I had this problem. I now know that while I knew the basics of clothing design, I did not know how to IMPLEMENT them because I had zero fashion vocabulary! I finally solved this by creating........

My clothing design inspiration board! It has a bunch of different types of clothes, accessories, patterns, and the like!

As a bonus, below the read more are some clothing/costume design advice primarily for character design purposes!

These are (sorta) recreations of notes—made for the general ideas section—which are currently impossible to find (though the advice below has more thoughts.) never mind guys i found them so now this post is gonna be a bit disjointed cause im just gonna slap in any unique advice from there. on top of the fact this has been sitting in my drafts for 3 thousand years. so, if this is hard to understand tell me and i will make a new version with a more unified and serious writing style.

first two-and-a-half advice were written yesterday who knows how long ago on pinterest, thats why they sound so informal. actually the whole post is so informal wow

Varied wardrobe:

[Title: Varied wardrobe]. If you have the time, give your characters different outfits! That can tell us so much more! (Not part of OG notes, but giving OCs different outfits for different situations can reveal stuff about different sides or layers of their personalities/headspaces! You can also just give them a wardrobe of different clothes. Either way, you can have different outfits have similar silhouettes and/or shapes, or have them be completely different, which could be used for a purpose like what I talked about above.)

Layers:

[Title: Layers]. Layers........... layeersssss....... yes.......... uhhh, yea I love layers (this is def not what i sounded like in the OG note) So layers! They make your outfits more interesting! They're really cool and, in my opinion, they make outfits feel more real. Also they give you an excuse to go crazy go stupid with clothing designs hahahahahaha brb im gonna go put 5 shirts on my OC plus 50 scarves and 2 hats (DEF not what I said in the OG notes its been a while and i have a lot more thoughts about this now)

ok and some thoughts from the original notes: Layering can tell us a lot about your character. You can even merge different clothing items! Think about it: short sleeves on long sleeves can make for a unique touch on an otherwise boring shirt. Go ham on the combinations!

Research (this one's important):

[Title: Research (this one's important)]. Research is cool! Look at all those buttons [, click: here: for link], no wonder there was a button shortage. Also obviously you have to research stuff before writing about another culture otherwise its gonna be some inaccurate crap. a well researched portrayal will be way more interesting and research (at least for me) can be rewarding in general. But you can also do research on time periods, jobs, and more! Research can be intimidating, but sometimes, you just gotta do it. And as I said about well-researched portrayals being more interesting, researching can give you ideas you would've never thought about [, click: here: for link to source]. Told ya research makes stuff more interesting. (really realizing these are more than just recaps, wow. im even citing crap.) So yeah, research is important for many aspects of storytelling, including costuming, and even if it's scary, your future self will thank you.

Imagery:

[Title: Imagery]. This is where you unleash your inner English teacher. You slap some object's shape, pattern, image, etc. somewhere to represent something. It could represent some deep-seated secret of the character, but it doesn't even have to be deep. It may just be a simple reference to a personality trait. Where you put the symbolism can also mean different things, like for example, hearts on a character are usually positive symbolism, but a heart on the sole of a shoe can, if you so desire, mean the character crushes others dreams.

Clothing variations:

[Title: Clothing variations]. Just look at this [, click: here: for link to an image of variations of vests]. Details. You can change them. All the details. Play around with them. Go even further, change the details no one notices. Have you ever seen a denim shirt? No? Make it happen. Make all those weird things happen. Yeah, that's it really.

Details:

[Title: Details]. (literally just copy-pasting the original note apart from maybe one awkward word replaced) Simple details like buttons, hemlines, lace or pleats can make your outfit feel all the more real. The possibilities are endless for such small add-ons.

Don't limit yourself to one type of anything, it's why I made this board! (Other than my own lack of ideas.) For example, learning to draw pockets is cool and all, but are you sure that's all you can do? I have a whole section for them!

So yeah that's it. I am tired and this post is very disjointed.

[baconmoop]

My argument as to why the mysterious letter is definitely Gaster.

Okay, now I’ve had time to drink it all in/actually do things for valentines day, I’m ready to make my argument as to why the mysterious letter is definitely our boy Gaster. I’ve been of the mindset that he’s a goofy old man for a long time, and I’ve always wanted to make a video essay to explain my point of view but I've never had the time. This newsletter gave me the push to write this ‘quick’ summary  though. Feel free to fight with me in the notes.

First of all, I am aware that the Japanese version uses Hiragana instead of his normal Katakana. I barely understand English, so I can’t even begin to understand the importance of it. It is my biggest foil, but I don’t think it affects things too much.

My first, easiest bit of evidence, is the fact that Toby has already removed the letter, leaving only this.

He does this constantly with Gaster stuff. He did it with the tarot cards, he did it with abc123a.ogg. The moment someone posts something online, he removes evidence of its existence. Suspicious, is it not?

Okay, let’s break the letter down shall we?

This is in line with a lot of things we already know about WDG. Most likely in Wingdings, we have hints in Sans’ lab and the true lab that his handwriting is impossible to read. We don’t know any of these are 100% him, but it makes sense that it would be difficult to read unless you were determined enough to do so (I assume that is what ‘squint your heart refers to?). 

There are multiple people who know what the ‘delta rune is’, but here to me he is clearly discussing the game, not the prophecy. The only person to ever have interest in our opinions of the experience is the ‘other him’, when he introduced us to the survey program. He also talks in short sentences, Like he does in the initial goner sequence, and pretty much everything else. 

Okay, so this is something that has plagued my mind for a while, but this has brought it to the forefront. I assume here that he’s referring to Dess being stuck in the code, or whoever it is (See here https://forum.melonland.net/index.php?topic=68.0). I’ve always been of the mind that Gaster genuinely wants to help, partially because of the eggs and partially because he seems to want you to win. He wants you to stop the roaring. I have a bunch of theories about this that probably deserve their own video, but here’s a quick summary:

If you name yourself Suzie in the goner maker scene, he says:

As far as I know, he doesn’t say this for anyone else, including ralsei, so he clearly has some kind of positive opinion of Suzie. Why would he say this if he was an antagonist to the fun gang?

When you die in the game and press no on the continue screen, the song ‘darkness falls’ plays (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSn4p1Xx7NU&ab_channel=Palpe). While definitely having Gaster’s leitmotif for starters, Just listen to how melancholy it sounds. It gives me the same bittersweet vibes that it’s raining somewhere else gives me. If this is a reflection of how Gaster feels when you give up, then he’s definitely a bit bummed that you failed.

Someone is clearly helping the secret bosses. While most people assume that he is doing it for some kind of nefarious purposes, I think he was genuinely trying to help, and it backfired. 

Anyway, back to the letter.

There’s a lot of connections between forgetting and Gaster. Fanon dictates that he’s been completely erased from everyone’s memories, but I don’t want to rely on fanon here. The first thing that comes to mind is obviously ‘Don’t forget’ plastered all over deltarune, which is what I assume he means when he calls it ironic, but that isn’t specifically tied to him. What I do think of however, is goner kid. I’ve already put enough images in this bad boy, but he says "Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same...Except you don't exist? Everything functions perfectly without you...Ha ha... The thought terrifies me." We know so much about how the goners are connected to him, I’m not gonna re-go over it here. Someone also mentioned the Spamton sweepstakes “AREN'T YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?” on the ice page, which could also be relevant here. Is there any other character linked to forgetting as much as he is?

Okay, now for my most dubious point (sue me I’m not an actual theorist). But… Doesn’t this give you old man papyrus vibes? It’s goofy, It’s in all caps, it puts a smile on my face. To quote my friend outside the fandom, “It’s giving old man texting his grandchildren for the first time”. I know this is one of the biggest contradictions for people, claiming that it’s out of character for gaster to speak like this, but I give exhibit A, from the legends of localisation book: 

(Ripped directly from https://www.tumblr.com/gasterofficial/715722490333298688?source=share)

I’ve always loved this. It’s probably not canon, but it’s goofy as hell. It was one of the first things that made me want to do a video on my “gaster is a good dude” ideas. It’s the exact same vibes as the letter. 

So what do you think? I could definitely go into more detail about all of this, if people are interested. I just saw something that helped fuel my theories and had to put my opinions out there. Please don’t murder me in the notes for going against the antagonist gaster grain I am very sensitive okay good by!

[realitys-ex]

A Nerds Guide to the Cosmere Reading Order

I've seen a bunch of questions in the last 2 days about it, so I am going to give my ULTIMATE GUIDE.

First, for simplicity sake, a list of the series/books in the Cosmere, and the short forms I will use to refer to them. (square brackets refer to Novellas)

Elantris (a stand alone) Warbreaker (a stand alone):WB Mistborn Era 1 (Mistborn:The Final Empire, The Well of Ascension, The Hero Of Ages):Mist1 Mistborn Era 2 (The Alloy of Law, Shadows of Self, Bands of Morning, The Lost Metal):Mist2 The Stormlight Archive (The Way of Kings, Words of Radiance,[Edgedancer], Oathbringer, [Dawnshard], Rythym of War, Wind and Truth (Upcoming)): SA Tress of the Emerald Sea (a stand alone): Tress Yumi and the Nightmare Painter (a stand alone): Yumi The Sunlit Man (a stand alone ish): Sunlit White Sand (a anthology of the 3 white sand Graphic Novels) Arcanum Unbounded (A Short story collection with stories taking place anywhere around the previous books).

I will be kinda ignoring White Sand for the rest of this because Brandon and the fandom does as well. A new version will be coming out in a bit, wait for that.

I will also be ignoring Arcanum Unbounded, because each story starts with "Read this after you have read__" which kinda gives you a hint.

Now, you can start practically anywhere, but there are three places you shouldn't: Yumi, Mist2, and Sunlit. Yumi contains jokes aimed at long time fans which can be off putting. Mist2 completely spoils Mist1. Sunlit's Main character is a semi important side character from one of the other series, which kinda spoils the arc.

That said,

My preffered Order: (Semi) Chronological/release order.

I like this because no references will go over your head, Sanderson's writing ability improves as you go, and it's kinda how it was intended to be read!

The actual release order is here , but it is more or less: Elantris, Mist1, WB, (pick up arcanum unbounded), the First 2 SA Novels, Mist2, the Second 2 SA Novels, Tress, Yumi, Sunlit.

Next Order: "Whats the big deal with this Guy, should I even bother"? This is meant to intro you to Sanderson Feet First (ish), you get a full taste of the Cosmere, followed by a step into the lighter stuff, and then reading the rest.

Tress, WB, SA1,Mist11,SA2,Mist12,Mist13, SA3, Elantris, SA4, Yumi, Sunlit

Third: "I'll have what they're having!" (what many people seem to enjoy):

SA, Mist1, WB, Elantris, Mist2, Tress, Yumi, Sunlit.

Fourth: "I wanna be confused/ have no clue what is going on!"

Yumi, Sunlit, Tress, Mist2, SA, Mist1, WB, Elantris

[scifimagpie]

Writeblr intro

Last Updated: Mar 2024 So, I realised I hadn't actually written one of these, and I had to fix it!

Name: Magpie, or Shelle, or Michelle.

Pronouns: she/her or xe/xer/xis.

Who: both a writer and an editor!

The Writing: I’ve been publishing since 2011, and I have a bunch of free and paid anthologies I’ve organized, but these are my most important/favourite works.

Except for The Meaning Wars series, all of my books are set in Canada!  

The Meaning Wars (complete; And The Stars Will Sing, The Stolen: Two Short Stories, The Meaning Wars, Poe’s Outlaws, A Jade’s Trick, The Meaning Wars Complete Omnibus)

Similar to: Becky Chambers’ A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and Ruthanna Emrys’ A Half-Built Garden

Vibes: Space opera! Found family! Mature (30s) protagonists! Best friends! Sapphic and queer m/f romance elements! Friendly space raptors! Space pirates! A beach episode! Antifascism! Colonization (and inequality issues)! Fighting stuff with democracy and direct action!  

The Underlighters (Book 1 of The Nightmare Cycle; Book 2, Monsters and Fools, is complete and in edits. Book 3, The Foundling City, is a current WIP!)

Similar to: Jean DuPrau’s The City of Ember, Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, the Fallout series

Vibes: Coming of age/new adult themes. Spooky monsters. Post-apocalyptic. The importance and warmth of community. Friendship. Struggling with teen problems. Polyamory. Nightmares. Mental health issues. Trauma. Hope. Recycling.

After The Garden (Book 1 of the Memory Bearers Saga; Book 2, Within the Tempest, is also one of my WIPs)

Similar to: Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake, The Wachowski sisters’ Sense-8, the Fallout series

Vibes: Found family. Gentle romance. Polyamory (m/f/m). Superpowers without superheroes. Sinister cults and religious extremism. Reincarnation. An alternate future. Adorable giant spiders. Silk-weaving and fiber arts. Post-collapse societal reorganization and politics.

The Loved, The Lost, The Dreaming: A Horror Anthology includes an alternate-ending version of The Underlighters, the novella A Shot of Vodka, and a dozen or so genre-crossing short stories. All of them have spooky elements.

Similar to: Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors, Roald Dahl’s Skin and Other Stories (this is not an endorsement of antisemite Roald Dahl; I am antifascist)

Vibes: Underground living. Spooky dolls. Abandoned houses. Queerness. Sinister fey. Nightmares. Lovecraftian eeriness. Here be monsters.

Bad Things That Happen To Girls (Book 1 of the Memory Bearers Saga; Book 2, Within the Tempest, is also one of my WIPs) Possibly my most underrated work, this New Adultish story is a standalone novella about trauma and what happens when life breaks down.

Similar to: Emily Danforth’sThe Miseducation of Cameron Post and Miriam Toews’ A Complicated Kindness

Vibes: Broken family. Abusive mother. Being queer in a small city. Religious trauma. Forbidden cross-cultural love. Teen heartbreak. Coming-of-age. Sisters.

The Hell series (Unpublished WIPs; Dark as Hell, Uncharted Hell, Hope in Hell)

Similar to: Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, Andrej Sapkowski’s The Witcher series

Vibes: Grumpy/sunshine romance! Mature protagonists! Queer f/m romance! Thriller elements! Immortal pirate! Marxist/anti-billionaire politics—with a billionaire protag! Lovecraftian ocean horror! Historical fantasy elements! Lots and lots of boat stuff!

Prairie Weather Trilogy (Unpublished but complete, in submission; Chinook Phase, Tornado Warning, Brushfire)

Similar to: Douglas Couplands’ Jpod,Nick Sagan’s Idlewild trilogy (without the sci fi stuff), Love Actually, Heartstoppers

Vibes: Aggressively Canadian! Found family! Cozy academia! University! Set in the early 2010s! Queer romance! Ensemble cast! Aggressively queer, diverse, and inclusive! Coming-of-Age/New Adult issues! Friendship! Drama! Sex work-positivity!             

The Editing: I've been a professional freelance editor since 2013, with Top-Rated status on Upwork (a freelancing website) and several hundred books under my belt. (I don't know how many things I've worked on at this point. I've lost count!) Primarily into sci fi, fantasy, horror, and literature (and associated subgenres); enthusiastic about #ownvoices and all kinds of diversity/marginalised representation in fiction.

You don’t have to go through Upwork unless you want to; DM me if you’re looking for an editor who’s knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and gentle. I’m also budget-friendly!

Age: in my 30s.

Queer?: yes. Also poly! Happily married to two people; also have a girlfriend. Not looking for more partners.

Disabled?: yes.

Languages: English mostly, but some conversational Spanish (rusty), scraps of French, tiny bits of German and Irish. All my writing is in English, though.

Location: Southern Alberta, Canada. (Texas + Kansas + Colorado = Alberta, more or less.)

Other hobbies: Knitting, making jewelry, playing Dungeons and Dragons (and other tabletop games), singing, reading (obviously), learning stuff; playing cello, clarinet, and violin

Interests: Jewelry, gems, metalworking, fiber arts, queer issues and social justice, environmentalism, drinking quite a lot of tea (usually black; I like an assam, Ceylon, or breakfast blends, though Golden Snail absolutely slaps when I’m in the mood for it, and I love Earl Grey Cream as well)

Other internet profiles: *Website * Mailing list * Magpie Editing * Amazon * Tumblr * Mastodon *Facebook * Medium * Twitter  * OG Blog* Instagram * Paypal.me * Ko-fi

[goldentruths-pod]

UMINEKO EXTRA MATERIALS CHRONOLOGICAL READING ORDER

this is a repost from jenn's old blog, which got nuked for reasons that are too stupid to get into. it has been re-patched with new info regarding symphony. please enjoy!

ok hi again. along with the eight main arcs of umineko, theres been a bunch of side content released in the form of booklets and short stories. though (most) of these extant materials have been rounded up in the form of the compilation discs umineko tsubaba, hane, and saku, almost all of them were released during the ongoing release of the main series! this is a list of all known, translated extra materials, in as chronological a release order as i could put together. know that none of this is required reading. you can just read straight through the main arcs and get everything you need to enjoy the story. but if you’re a nitpicky completionist, like me, this stuff can enhance your enjoyment of the series, and maybe give a few extra hints to those that might want them.

a few notes up front: 1) as much as umineko is for a niche otaku audience, this extra stuff is even more so. stories marked with a * have a cw for jokes (big or small) about incest and/or pedophilia. i was pretty liberal with what i thought counts, but better safe than sorry imo. 2) i recommend the vn adaptations of the short stories, when available. those found in tsubasa will be blue, those in hane will be yellow, those in saku will be red, those in symphony will be purple. those without vn adaptations will be uncolored.

*PATCH NOTE: since the original publication of this list, the final console adaptation of umineko, symphony of catbox and dreams, has been released. this new release includes vn version of four previously non-vn stories, as well as including ALL STORIES WITH VN VERSIONS EVER. this comes at the cost of only using the ps3 sprites. maybe this is better for you, maybe its worse. the choice is yours, reader, and yours alone.

EPISODE 1: LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

EPISODE 2: TURN OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

Important Facts Concerning Magic

EPISODE 3: BANQUET OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

Bern’s Letter

Anti-Fantasy vs. Anti-Mystery

Letter from a Summoner

Memoirs of the ΛΔ

Why Are Closed Room Murders So Beautiful?

Notes from a Certain Chef

EPISODE 4 :ALLIANCE OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

A Certain Witch Hunter’s Interview Tape

*The Seven Sisters’ Valentine

*Beatrice’s White Day

The Witches’ Tanabata Isn’t Sweet

EPISODE 5: END OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

Arigato For 556

Cornelia the New Priest

Labor Thanksgiving Day Gifts

EPISODE 6: DAWN OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

*Game Master Battler!

*Valentine’s Day Letters

Whose Tea Party?

Jessica’s Mother’s Day Present

To Mount Purgatory, Sakutaro

*Jessica and the Love Charm

EPISODE 7: REQUIEM OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

EPISODE 8: TWILIGHT OF THE GOLDEN WITCH

Jessica and the Killer Electric Fan

Forgery no.XXX

*Our Confession

*Angel of 17 Years

The First and the Last Gift -technically a sort of prologue to another ryukishi07 work, but since it includes bern and lambda ive included it here. maybe the least relevant thing on this list.

*Last note of the Golden Witch - saku/symphony exclusive.