#hp science team

[joker109]

LOOK WHAT I FOUND GUYSSSSSSS

TERRANCE CAN SMILEEEEEEEEEE

And Estella also here.

[tomionefinds]

Abandoned but Worth It

What does this mean? We have an Abandoned tag. We've decided to compile a list of fairly popular, now some obscure, fics that are abandoned, but worth reading. Our criteria for this title is thus:

It has not been updated within the last 2 years, has been orphaned, or has been given a fast summary at the end by the author

Presents a unique take on the relationship or a new dynamic to the ship

Advances world-building, or posits its own magical theory, in the HP world

Length (we avoided those with only a few chapters)

Here are some of the fics that met the criteria for abandoned but worth it. We will continue to add to this list as the year goes on. And never say never. Fics left alone for years can suddenly come back and finish.

Authors; If you see your fic on this list and its not abandoned, please DM us.

-TF Team

This Tangle of Thorns by theriskybusinessofwriting

M | 39k Her mother had gotten herself a new lover. His name was Tom. Modern AU. No magic. Slightly inspired by Lolita.

The Orphanage by Xylosaurus

M | 66k

She was only 8 and had already lost her parents and memories all in one tragic night. Forced to live in Wool's Orphanage, Hermione finds friendship with a 9-year-old Tom Riddle but is soon ripped from him by a prophecy. Six years have passed and he still looks for her. AU Tomione

Bodyswitch by Winterblume

T | 50k

Hermione's in hell and all her nightmares have come true. She's turned into a brainless bimbo and is failing all her classes quite spectacularly. Her teachers have, in fact, already given up on her and just sit back and watch her flunk all her NEWTs. Yes, it's nothing but hell for Hermione. On the upside, things can hardly get any worse. Right?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang by LovelyVillain

E | 300k

Hermione hasn’t seen Tom since he disappeared from Wool’s Orphanage eight years ago, taking her heart with him. But now, he’s returned, a string of bodies at his feet and a league of assassins at his back. British Intelligence Officer Harry Potter leads the investigation to catch a highly skilled killer wreaking havoc across Europe, while Hermione struggles between what is right and the man she loves. Killing Eve inspired AU

More beneath the cut!

Orphea by SallyJAvery

M | 48k

"You could not believe I was more than your echo." A spell to sing the dead to life, when the living are lost. Tomione, post-war, dystopian AU.

The Pendulum of the Mind by AvaJune

M | 118k

Tom's fingers slid across her skin as he pulled up her sleeve, feeling irregular bumps and scarring as he watched in fascination as instead of a dark mark, he steadily revealed rune carvings. His eyes flicked back to hers, watching her reaction to his touch. "I will give you this, witch. You are unbearably intriguing," he murmured. Madness flies in the face of logic, and if there is one thing Hermione Granger cannot abide, it's things that defy logic. There is always something against her, this time the very laws of time and space. There is, however, a truth she now knows about herself; she isn't quite the rule girl she once thought she was. *Hermione - Tom Riddle. AU, Post Battle of Hogwarts*

Ad Infinitum by Speechwriter

T | 77k

As he forges inexorably toward the end of time, he may come to wonder if this is a world worth ruling. Science fantasy. [summary in final chapter]

Nothing Like the Sun by Orphan_account

E | 118k

There’s something unnerving about Tom Riddle. Hermione’s never quite been able to articulate just what it is about him that unsettles her so: after all, Riddle’s popular and charming and adored by Hogwarts staff and students alike. Still, she’d swear that there’s something lurking beneath that warmly polite veneer of his, something that lies in wait like a serpent in the dark. But it’s not until her sixth year at Hogwarts, when she rashly confronts him over an unprecedented act of violence, that the full force of Riddle’s chilling regard is abruptly and wholly turned on her.

Blood is Thicker by AbsintheDreams

M | 75k

A/U: Still Hogwarts Universe, but I play with the timeline alot. Hermione is just twelve when she meets Riddle. Just a child when she witnesses a sadistic murder in the halls of her sacred school. Popular, humble, well mannered, Riddle always gets what he wants. Victims, admirers, enemies, followers…they all fall in line. Except the defiant girl with his mark on her skin. She only wants his downfall, and he will only settle for her total submission.

The Anti-Heroine by cheshire_carroll

M | 641k

Hermione Granger knows she's not a good person. Disillusioned with life at only twelve years old; she is cynical, manipulative, ruthless and, above all else, a survivor. For six years she has lived on the streets of London with only her sharp mind and her sharper knives to keep her alive, but a letter from an owl changes everything for Hermione, and the bond she forms on the Hogwarts Express with a timid boy with broken glasses, skinny wrists and a lightning-shaped scar will change the whole of Wizarding Britain.   Main Pairing: Harry Potter/Hermione Granger/Tom Riddle

Handling a Dark Lord Wannabe by cleighc

E | 89k

Hermione was not amused. Not. At. All. They had defeated Lord Voldemort after years of struggle. Witnessed the end. She had thought, with relief and without an ounce of charity, that she never had to deal with that pretentious, presumptuous, melodramatic, homicidal son of a bitch ever again. Apparently the castle had other ideas.

Bitter Almonds by orphan_account

E | 63k

What would happen if the Mauraders, the Golden Trio, and the Knights of Walpurgis all went to school together? Also, what if Tom Riddle developed a strange obsession with Hermione Granger?

Et in Arcadia ego by muggleriddle

T | 55k

When Hermione found that little spell hidden in between the complicated illustrations of a book, she imagined she would get a destroyed horcrux with it, not a brand new Tom Riddle.

Journey of the Soul by Queen_Medieva E | 197k

A decade spent as the Undesirable Number One under the Dark Lord's tyrannical regime would challenge anyone's perception of "right" and "wrong". What lengths would YOU go to for a chance at a new life? In the early morning hours of May 2nd 2008, exactly ten years after the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger ceased to exist.

Addendum: He is also a liar by ergott

Not Rated | 158k

Despite his impoverished circumstances, Tom Riddle always knew he was destined for great things. The ability to travel back and forth through time was a bit of a surprise, though. Also a surprise: the bushy-haired little girl he meets in the future who possesses powers to match his own. Eventual Tomione; starts pre-Hogwarts

[xmoonlitxdreamx]

OW2 Junkrat & Roadhog Relationship (part 2)

Part 1: [click] Part 3: [click] Part 4: [click] Part 5: [click]

This is my second post on me trying to understand Junkrat and Roadhog's relationship dynamic in OW2. This second post is looking at Roadhog's OW2 voice lines sourced from his wikia page and a video on twitter with some unused voice lines (source links will be under the cut). Again, I’ll only be talking about lines that I think give insight into Junkrat and Roadhog’s relationship and how they think of each other.

As I said in my previous post, I am biased for viewing their dynamic positively because I ship roadrat; but I'll try to include negative or neutral interpretations as well.

Anyway, interpretations are under the cut!

This first set of quotes are from his OW2 voice lines wikia page.

“Dipstick.” (Pig Pen triggered)

I feel like this line is typically associated with Junkrat and wasn’t something Roadhog said before his Pig Pen ability was added

Could suggest that Junkrat’s speech quirks have rubbed off on Roadhog

“Caught the rat.” (enemy Junkrat trapped)

refers to Junkrat with rat-related nicknames (or just “the rat")

“That little grubber... *grunt*” (eliminated by Junkrat)        

Uses patronizing nicknames for Junkrat

Doesn’t seem to respect Junkrat

“I’m tired of hearing your voice.” / “Now will you shut up?” / “Peace and quiet.” (eliminating Junkrat)

Junkrat is really chatty around Roadhog

Roadhog thinks Junkrat’s chattiness is annoying

“Never liked science.” (eliminating Moira using Coalescence, Sigma using Gravitic Flux, or Zarya using Graviton Surge) / “You eggheads stay away from me.” (with multiple scientists on team: Lifeweaver, Mei, Mercy, Moira, Sigma or Winston)

Roadhog doesn’t like scientists; this could potentially be used as a point of tension between him and Junkrat, as Junkrat seems to think of himself as a scientist sometimes (“Who says I can't be a scientist? I can be whatever I want.”).

This sort of tension isn’t really addressed between them afaik, I just put it here bc I thought it could be interesting LOL

“Someday, I'm just going to leave you.” (Elimination, said to ally Junkrat on low HP)

From the tone of his voice, this suggests Roadhog seems to get exasperated with having to save Junkrat’s ass all the time

Taken in isolation, this line can suggest that Roadhog is tired of Junkrat’s antics and plans to leave him one day

Taken in context (which is Roadhog saving a low HP Junkrat), this could be seen more as a hollow threat meant to signal his frustration to Junkrat rather than an earnest expression of wanting to end their partnership

Again taken in context, I think this kinda suggests that Roadhog often gets Junkrat out of tricky situations (something like “someday I’m going to leave you. And then what’s gonna happen to you? You’re gonna get into trouble because I’m not there.” -> kind of has this implication that Roadhog saving Junkrat is something that happens so often that it would be a problem for Junkrat if Roadhog wasn’t there)

“No job too big, no score too small.” (Summer Games voice line)

This is his and Junkrat’s “tagline” as partners in crime, as seen on Junkrat’s official OW2 Hero profile

Suggests he is a little willing to play into the cartoonish partners in crime dynamic that Junkrat set up for them, or at least is aware of it

“At least I’m not a rat.” (along with “At least I’m not a hog.” from Junkrat)

Taken in isolation, could suggest that Roadhog doesn’t like Junkrat

Could suggest a sort of competitiveness between the two of them, or possibly that the two of them bicker

Sojourn: Follow my lead, and we make it out of here in one piece.

Roadhog: Watch the high ground.

Sojourn: Huh, I didn't take you for a tactician.

Roadhog: Used to it.

Could suggest Roadhog is more of the tactical one between him and Junkrat, despite Junkrat’s posturing as the leader between the two of them

Sojourn: I remember Overwatch tailing you back in the day. Before you teamed up with your... sidekick.

Roadhog: Quieter times.

Roadhog doesn’t deny that Junkrat is his “sidekick,” so it’s possible he thinks of Junkrat like that

On the one hand, this suggests that he doesn’t respect Junkrat as a leader

On the other hand, this does suggest that he does at least see him and Junkrat as an odd pair of sorts

Roadhog thinks Junkrat is noisy

He likely misses having peace and quiet without Junkrat

Roadhog having a past connection to Overwatch could mean something for Roadhog and Junkrat’s dynamic considering Junkrat sometimes seems admirable of Overwatch in his voice lines, but idk there’s not really anything to work off of from just this

These next voice lines were sourced from here; it’s unclear of what the context is for these since not all of them were added to the game. (Think they were canceled (?) PVE voice lines or something)

“Someone pick up the rat.”

Again, refers to Junkrat as “the rat”

Seems reluctant to help Junkrat

“Somebody killed Junkrat.”

The most interesting interpretation I can come up with for this is at least he bothered to point out that Junkrat was killed LOL

Summary of this section: Overall Roadhog seems to find Junkrat noisy and annoying, he doesn’t respect Junkrat as a leader, and he complains when he has to get Junkrat out of trouble. There is some indication that he does recognize his partnership with Junkrat and sees the two of them as an odd pair. It’s possible that he gets Junkrat out of trouble frequently, which could imply that he feels some sort of obligation to help Junkrat instead of actually leaving him. At the same time, it’s possible that he’s so frustrated with saving Junkrat all the time that he wants to end their partnership. Unlike Junkrat, Roadhog doesn’t bring up Junkrat on his own in conversation with others and only seems to talk about Junkrat when someone else brings him up. At least one of Junkrat’s speech quirks has rubbed off on Roadhog, suggesting they’re around each other often and possibly Roadhog does pay attention to Junkrat.

Other caveat: imo it’s unclear how much of his reluctance and negativity should be taken super seriously--he does seem to be really grumpy around Junkrat, but he’s also really grumpy around everyone LMAO;; though I will say he does seem more grumpy around Junkrat than he does around other characters. Is the fact that he’s more grumpy around Junkrat mean that Junkrat is special in some way, or does that just mean he particularly dislikes Junkrat….???? Idk it’s up for interpretation. I feel like characters like Roadhog who don’t really wear their emotions/intentions on their sleeve are kind of hard to parse outside of a story that has a narrative or purpose, so with OW2 being a pvp shooter with no plot there’s not exactly a lot of clues for how to interpret his grumpy attitude besides. grumpy.

I could also say a little bit about Roadhog’s nicknames for people (which started with the catch-a-mari event iirc), but I'm gonna save that for a different post.

Anyway! That’s all. I’m gonna look at the “A Friendly Rivalry” short story in the next post, and maybe some other stuff idk I haven’t decided how I wanna organize it yet. Thanks for reading!

Part 1: [click] Part 3: [click] Part 4: [click] Part 5: [click]

[vintagerpg]

Escape the Dark Sector (2020) is Themeborne’s science fiction themed follow-up to Escape the Dark Castle. It introduces a number of new mechanics, but at the core, the experience is largely the same: escape your cell, explore the station, try not to die, then probably die, because it is still really hard to not die!

Dark Sector adds some tactics to the mix. The players can, if they have ranged weapons, opt for ranged combat before closing in for hand-to-hand. One character per round can opt to flank for a bonus. While in ranged combat, too, you can remain in cover and perform non-combat actions (so long as SOMEONE on your team is shooting, otherwise, close combat begins). Being in cover means avoiding potential damage, too, which is a bit relaxing after Dark Castle.

The inventory system is more robust, allowing for up to four items, depending on their size. Ammo is a thing, with different types having variable effectiveness depending on the enemy. Every character has a cybernetic enhancement as well, which is another tool in the toolbox. Oh, and Dark Sector has the best health tracker! Dark Castle just has a notepad, while the collector's box introduced a tracker styled as a chain that uses little black skulls, which is cool. But Dark Sector uses pre-printed EKG charts, so you can plot the peaks and valleys of your HP until you flatline. I love it.

Alex Crispin’s art fare pretty good here, too! I thought shifting gears to science fiction might mess things up, but that is definitely not the case. I might like the Dark Sector art a hair better, even. Oh, and the sold-separately soundtrack is a banger, featuring some nice synthwave influences.

[rocket-sith]

I may or may not have been trying to use PokeGenie to take screenshots on P+ mobile. It didn't work, but it inspired this instead. I'm not sorry.

SEASON 1 & 2 STAR TREK PICARD CHARACTERS AS A POKEMON TEAM

The Meta team lead who makes a big mess with environmental hazards and then uses Baton Pass so everyone else has to deal with the fallout:

Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, of course. But how about the rest?

The counter-Meta pick with a moveset specifically designed to cover their own team's weaknesses while exploiting gaps in the opponent's defense. Can learn a wide variety of contact and non-contact TMs. Occasionally hurts self in own confusion:

The niche off-Meta sweeper with a bunch of left-field moves. Catches everyone off guard and lays absolute waste because nobody's ever seen one in battle before, nobody has one on their own team, and nobody knows how to counter any of this bullshit:

The Uber-tier revenge killer who's OP as fuck and everybody knows it, but is too much of a beloved icon for any of the Powers That Be to actually risk banning or nerfing, lest the entire fanbase ragequit and/or riot in the streets. Ends up getting a mega-evolution instead:

The unpredictable stall who won't decimate your team directly, but will drag shit out and make half your strategies backfire. Will lead you on a wild romp of increasingly furious button mashing by spamming status effects and using shit like Shell Smash and Follow Me for funsies. Can harm own teammates with recoil damage, but can also boost stats of allies in battle:

The seemingly-innocuous cute one who turns out to have a hidden ability and a rare item that activates when their HP gets low, and then all hell breaks loose:

GODDAMMIT HOW MANY DIFFERENT FORM CHANGES DO YOU FUCKING HAVE?!

The MF glitch from Cinnabar Island that somebody managed to sneak into the tournament when the refs weren't looking, and now your save file is screwed, your game is frozen, and the soundtrack is stuck on Lavender Town:

The obviously hacked 'mon with impossible moves, impossible stats, dubious typing, and no listing in the regional dex. Not allowed to enter the tournament and has to watch from the sidelines:

The Psychic-type Mythical hanging out in the background who gives you cool hints, potions, and sidequests:

Giovanni. Apparently somebody got bored selling Slowpoke tails and decided to switch up the inventory. Needs to fuck the entire hell off and take their mafia mad science lab with them. Probably doesn't have enough gym badges to capture their desired target anyway:

If you've got more, add 'em on! Gotta dex the whole region!

[amyunshader]

Tokyo Ghoul x Harry Potter x Fullmetal Alchemist prompt (1)

okay, so I’mma start throwing this here. This is a fic idea I might or might not end up writing fully, or if someone would be willing to help writing/be beta reader, do tell me. Anyway, here’s the little monster.

First, let’s incorporate HP & FMA!

• The Promised Day shenanigans weakened the barrier protecting the FMA continent till they break a few years after canon: the continent appearing out of nowhere create an uproar in both Muggle and Magical worlds. Because this Continent (without talking about the fact that it used to be protected by magic barrier) use alchemy, which is a form of magic, and all these countries are opening diplomacy with the Muggle without hiding the alchemy, so the idea that the Unplotable’s alchemy will end up causing the breach of the Statute of Secrecy.

• So wizards also enter in contact with the Unplotable countries to exchange about ties of their (very advanced) alchemy and magic, and to make sure the reveal of alchemy wouldn’t cause the reveal of the wizarding world.

• on FMA’s side, it’s like five to seven years post canon: Gal Mustang is competing with Gal Armstrong for next Furrer, Ling has become the crown prince but not yet emperor, he’s being weaseling cunningly in the Court while astutely keeping his father from actually getting to use the philosopher stone Ling brought back.

• Mustang and Ling lead allied diplomacy for Amestris and Xing facing the outside world embassies, with joint Eastern and Western alchemist prowesses. All that majorly thanks to Amestrian alchemist studying Eastern alchemy in Xing Alphonse Elric (who so happens to have close ties to both princess Mei Chang, and by extension crown prince Ling, and the Amestrian high military) being the ambassador and bridge between the two countries.

• Xing and Amestris get agreement with both Muggle and wizard Britain for scientific exchange. A team is sent to London to study Muggle technology (yeah, Winry is in there), tho part of it will secretly take the Hogwarts Express to exchange knowledge with the Wizards.

• So Mustang goes to Resembool to explain to Edward (married with one daughter, another kid on the way) that not only his wife is officially invited on the scientist team, but he too (unofficially) should come, because fucking wizards.

• the plan is that a team of experts of both Eastern and Western alchemy go to the magical school to exchange with the wizard teachers there on comparing wizard alchemy and theirs, and the ties of their science to magic, and they would hold a lecture for the magical students somewhen at the end of the year. The Hogwarts team would be Mei Chang and Alphonse mainly, with Ed too because even tho he can’t perform alchemy himself he’s still an expert on Western alchemy and a brain guy + Alex Louis Armstrong as a bodyguard for Ed.

• Also turns out there’s an event-tournament something at the school this year, so they can watch that to be wowed by the wizards, Mustang and Ling will come for the event too (for all task or only the last one).

• Ed ends up on babysitting duties while Winry is busy having the time of her life being a mechanic geek, so his daughter comes to Hogwarts too, on the (understandable) assumption that a school would be less dangerous than an industrial complex of a place to bring a child.

• for now, let’s leave the team in London at the Amestrian and Xinese ambassy, waiting for the 1st of September to take the train to the magic school.

What. Could. Possibly. Go. Wrong.

next part

[uncreative-cryptid]

Hi!

Sorry to bug you at what is 9pm for me :3

But my wife was chatting with me about building a DPS Barbara in Genshin impact and the way she talked about it made me think of Valerian????

So, Barbara’s skill casts a little healing circle around her that passively heals the character on field, but if you use her normal attack whilst she’s in the circle, it heals the whole party and I just???

I know you mentioned Valerian being a Shielder that scales off of HP and I’m sure you’ve already got your own thoughts for him-

But what if his skill applied a shield that acted like Barbara’s skill while also increasing his basic attack damage??? That way he could be on field and do damage while healing the whole party-

It’s just a thought and you obviously don’t have to use it!

I’m really enjoying your little blurbs about him so far :3

hey! this is exactly what i was thinking actually.

my brain works weird so bear with me BUT

i have been doing a lot of reading between characters and their forte circuits. my issue is my brain goes "that's a lot of words ... too bad i aint reading 'em." which is a pain when your brain also insists that it must be correct and right.

but i've managed to figure a few things out for the forte circuit that, in theory, if valerian is a 5* resonator could have different applicants.

shorekeeper is actually perfect example as she does this exact thing.

in this giant circle, all nearby team members are healed continuously. when characters trigger certain actions, these can trigger things, such as intro skill party members can increase crit rate up to 12.5% and crit dmg up to 25%.

some characters like calcharo have their heavy attacks essentially replaced (not really) and their heavy damage applies like resonance dmg instead.

or, like mortefi, their resonance skill is replaced with something else when the circuit bar is full.

my brain often struggles to just throw shit at a wall and make it stick, cause i do tend to work a little more logically in that i need to understand how it's structured in order to recreate it, so i have been doing a little too much time reading (and fighting the brain).

but i have barbra too so .. a reason to log into genshin.

for science, obviously. just a lil research.

[callmearcturus]

Do you have stats in mind for our main man Benji?

Of course I do. We all know what brand of Freak I am, and it's the freak who will never get over FONV.

STRENGTH: 4. Sorry Benji but it's true.

PERCEPTION: 9. This is Benji's peak Stat, imo, and it's his biggest utility in the team. He's sharp, he spots things happening, and he keeps relevant blips of information on his mental radar even when he's focused on other things. (The airport scene in DR1 displays this well.)

ENDURANCE: 6. I think barring Luther who is The Van Guy, all IMF folks have at least a 6 in END.

CHARISMA: 10. This is secretly Benji's Actual most important stat as the soul of the team and the ballast to Ethan. He gets people to imprint on him remarkably fast and holds their loyalty easily. He and Ethan are both Charisma Kings but Ethan employs it overtly while Benji, it's a passive buff protecting him.

INTELLIGENCE: 7, which is very respectable. It's not higher bc that's Luther’s main stat and Benji is more of an jack of all trades.

AGILITY: 5. Middle of the road. Perfectly fine.

LUCK: oooooh toughie. As someone who always rolls at least 8 Luck, I have v strong opinions on this one... I think Benji has 4 Luck. He just doesn't get those staggering wild successes that are associated with high Luck. There is no fortune god smiling upon him, he has to brute force everything thru actual talent. He can't pull a "we just have to hope they've never met" basically.

His tagged skills are Science, Repair, and Explosives. ("wait, arc, why Explosives?" bc the skill applies to disarming dangerous things as much as arming them)

His perks are:

Confirmed Bachelor (+10% damage to the same sex and unique dialogue options with certain characters.)

Friend of the Night (Your eyes adapt quickly to low-light conditions)

Educated (You gain two more skill points every time you advance in level.) (this is how I explain Benji's batshit competence curve)

Ferocious Loyalty (When you drop below 50% HP, companions gain +50 DR.) (i.e. When Benji is in danger, everyone around him gets a buff.)

Pack Rat (Items with a weight of two pounds or less now weigh half as much.)

Nerd Rage (+15 DT and Strength increased to 10 whenever health is 20% or lower.)

Robotics Expert (+25% damage to robots; can shut down robots by sneaking up on them and deactivating.)

Spotter (Hostile targets are highlighted whenever the player is actively aiming.) (i.e. How Benji functions as Ethan's Perception aid.)

Well-Stacked Carins (Reaching various summits reveals nearby map markers and grants +3 Perception temporarily.)

I think that covers Benji p well.

[coffee-at-annies]

🥰 🤠 💗 for the ask game!!

Fic Reading Ask Game // Open

🥰 what tropes do you gravitate toward?

I tend to gravitate to ship tropes first because in fanfic it tends to be short hand for the plot. Like the plot is mutual pining with a side of slow burn and a falls first b falls harder and then at the end they kiss. There might be a grand arranged marriage regency romance or an enemies to lovers space au around that but at its core the relationship and the romance is driving the plot. AUs are worldbuilding set dressing (which I love) but they inform the story they don’t effect the story. So it’s a balancing act for which I’m more excited about. There was a while where I was reading through the idiots to lovers tag because man that’s what I wanted, two people that are just stupid for each other. I’ve also done dives into the non-traditional omegaverse tags, always a different sex, alternate universe - magic, etc etc. I probably do gravitate most towards aus as a high level and then decide based on what the ship is doing cause that’s the plot being pitched to me. I love spec fic. I think it’s so fun. I know omegaverse is a bunch of junk science. I know cisswap gets a bad rap as being transphobic. I know *gestures at hp aus* but like they’re fun. It’s all fun. “What if we took these characters and moved them to the left, what then?” is so so interesting to me. I love when people lay out a premise and then meaningfully think about it. However the shit has to be interesting. I have to care about the ship and what they’re doing. If they’re perfect little robots the entire time, that’s not interesting. It’s a balancing act.

🤠 favorite au genre?

I love AUs. If it’s weird and left of center gimme all of it. I’ve always love a near-canon au which is everything is the same except this one thing. Maybe that one thing is magic, maybe that one thing is Sid is a girl, maybe that one thing is vampires, I don’t care I love alternate universe - this specific change. At the same time I love genre aus. I love these are the boys but they’re in space. I love we’re in a magic urban fantasy town and Sidney is a witch and Geno is new in town. It really really depends. I go through phases with fandoms where I find a niche au and then read everything in it. For example one of my favorite niche aus in dc comics/batfam is reverse robins!aus. Its so edgy and dumb and there’s a lot of delicious angst thrown my favorite character’s way because you get the Tim+Damian hate relationship but flipped to mirror the original Dick+Jason relationship and then you get to give Tim all the angst Jason has of dying and coming back different. Delicious and delightful. For hockey probably my favorite AU is goalie nesting. I fucking love nesting man. I’m hit or miss sometimes on omegaverse but this is technically separate and so so delightful. Bury that goalie in a pile of blankets, sweaty disgusting game worn jerseys, and whichever teammate you think looks hottest on top of him and call it hurt/comfort. Yum.

💗 a fic you’ve reread again and again and why!

Okay so actually I forgot one of my favorite aus is soulmates since I haven’t been in the mood recently. Yeah yeah I know I’m a bad aroace person cause soulmates are inherently amatanormative and reinforce heteronormativity and compulsory sexuality and the idea that it is normative to want to be in a romantic relationship and all that jazz. I just like it. I like the idea of what if two people were puzzle pieces who fit together perfectly. Then also what if they fit together and it wasn’t perfect and they have to work at it anyway because relationships take work. Anyway this is a preface for one of my favorite hrpf fics that I go back to when craving that feeling of home with the old team. It’s SidFlower platonic soulmates, SidGeno romantic relationship set during the 2016 season. It’s so delightful and homey. It’s one of the fics I keep coming back to whenever I want to recapture what I love about hrpf.

[miss-morgans-lover]

💜About Me💜

My name is Abi or Vesper (online name) and I run this multifandom blog under the user: miss-morgans-lover.

The main fandoms you'll see are:

Twilight

Power Rangers Dino Charge

Marvel

Harry Potter (usually Marauders Era)

9-1-1/ 9-1-1 Lone Star

Omar Rudberg

My blog is not limited to these however, I am in many fandoms and will post/repost about them.

You will find I have a obsession love for a character called Kendall Morgan and the ship Kendall/Shelby from Power Rangers Dino Charge as well as Omar Rudberg. They inspired my user, blog theme, pfp and banner. They are my favourite things.

My favourite colour is purple (I wonder why), I am Bi and Genderfluid (They/She/He pronouns). I am a fanfic writer, cosplayer and editor, along with this blog. I play on Roblox (mostly Royale High).

Me and a few irl friends are also writing our own web comic, which I may share about on here, but most will be on the books account @the-spirit-academy which is run by me and an irl friend. There is nothing on it atm, but there will be at some point in the near future (hopefully).

I also have a RWRB/ Young Royals side blog (history--huh) this is the intro post for it

Discord:

I run a multi random discord server, which has a number of fandoms already added, and so much more room for more. So if you find yourself wanting a community for a fandom you are in and can't find one, dm me, either, it will already be there, or can be. It is called Anything and Everything, my user is wolfstarlover127, but dm me for the link.

There is also another server I am in called Twiwhores. It is run by @denalilily and @bellasdumptruckass and is a Twilight server, so if that's what you want, dm them and we'd be more than happy for you to join us.

Fanfic:

I write fanfic on multiple sites for a few different fandoms that I am in.

I currently have fics posted for:

Twilight

Harry Potter

Power Rangers Dino Charge

Wolfblood/Twilight Crossover

Twilight ones are all on Wattpad except one, but there is an intention to move them all to AO3 as well.

The Next Step

{UF} - Unfinished

Secrets Series:

Secrets (Bella/Jasper)

Secrets 2 (Bella/Jasper/Angela) {UF}

Secrets (Rewrite) (Bella/Jasper) {UF}

True Mates? (Rosella) (Twilight/Wolfblood Crossover) {UF}

Underneath The Mistletoe (Jess/Bella) Mistletoe kiss, they pretend to hate eachother, but are actually in love. (This one is on AO3 only)

Harry Potter fics are just on Wattpad, but same intentions are there to move them to AO3 as well:

Moonstar (Wolfstar's child fic) set in Golden Trio Era, OC called Hope Libra Lupin Black {UF}

Vampire Love Story (Ginny/Hermione) Twilight inspired vampires but set in HP universe. Set at the start of Order Of The Phoenix when Hermione first arrives. Oneshot.

Hogwarts Coven AU A Marauder Era and Golden Trio Era AU. It is a supernatural spy AU set within the normal HP universe. There's Werewolves, Veelas and Vampires (inspired by twilight but not the same). {UF}

Power Rangers fanfic is on Wattpad, Tumblr and AO3, though, all is on AO3, and unless it says otherwise, assume it's just on AO3

Kendall/Shelby Vampire AU Oneshots - AO3 vers - PRDC

Kendall/Shelby Vampire AU Oneshots - Wattpad Vers - PRDC

Kendall/Shelby Vampire AU Oneshots - Tumblr Vers - PRDC

Vamp!Kendall AU Context

She's His Pt1

She's his Pt 2

Why Him?/Temptation - Kendall/Shelby, PRDC, Rated M, Vamp AU, was originally going to be in the oneshot book, but then I decided it fits better as it's own. Shelby and Tyler go on a date, it hurts Kendall in a way, she wants to be in Tyler's place, but Riley helps her realise that it's ok. Then she rants about how pretty Shelby looked.

The Honourary Rangers - PRDC, Rated Teen, based on a hc, I (and a few others on the discord) have, that the science geeks of the team made new morphers that allowed certain people to become temporary rangers. It stemmed from my interest in the morphing grid and Kendall being the mentor, then grew. The main question is: who becomes an honorary ranger? {UF}

Mine - Kendall/Shelby, PRDC, Rated M, Vamp AU, main fic in the vamp au, it explores their relationship from Kendall's POV, while also exploring what it's like for her doing what she does whilst being a vampire, and whilst having her past {UF}

1 Time Kaylee Helped Kendall and 1 Time Kendall Helped Kaylee - PRDC, Kendall and Kaylee often hole themselves up in their work. This means they can forget to do things like eat and rest. This is one time Kaylee helped Kendall and one time Kendall helped Kaylee.

The Next Step fanfic is just on AO3. I currently have 2 fics, and they both have Gisanda at the center

Night Training - Ivan POV, PRDC, it's Ivan's first training session with them, but it's one of Kendall's surprise nighttime ones. She likes to keep them on their toes

Too Much Labour - Kendal POV, PRDC, Rated M, Kendall breaks down due to all the pressure she's put under as the ranger's mentor/scientist, and being a ranger herself. She proceeds to tell Keeper how she feels. Complete with Chase + Kendall siblingism.

Feels So Good, But Hurts So Bad - Kendall/Heckyl, PRDC, Rated M, A series of oneshots inspired by Troublemaker by Olly Murs, which follows them both as they figure out how they feel about each other pre and post reveal (of Heckyl + Snide), and what they do about it {UF}

Repeated Control - Tommy POV, PRDT, Rated M, Set After Trent comes out of the spell and Tommy out of the amber. Tommy offers support and tells him about the time he was in his position.

You Have A Therapist? - Kendall POV, PRDC, Rated M, The ranger team find out Kendal has a therapist, and a little about why

Awakening - Tommy/Adam, Adam POV, PR Zeo, Rated T, After Adam’s dream about his friends being supernatural creatures, one specific part won’t leave his head, causing him to realise some feelings. Aka: That whole scene between Vampire!Tommy and Adam was gay as fuck, so I had to write a fic post that.

Rewind (Amanda Vs Ultra Elite) - Gisanda (Giselle/Amanda), Rated Teen, Set during S9 (writing started pre S9 release), what if, Amanda had been keeping an eye on Lucien as much as she could, she knew his schemes weren't over. When she hears about Ultra Elite being shut down, she knows what's likely happening. What will she do, when there is a risk of a rewind, and history repeating itself. (Side note: Amanda is traumatised from her past home life and time at Elite)

Tiktok:

Tell The Story (The Reality Of Elite) - Amanda POV, Rated Set post S2, but pre S3. Giselle walks into a dance studio at school to practice, but sees Amanda crying in a corner. Giselle, who had gained feelings for Amanda that hadn’t left her, even after the betrayal, helped Amanda calm down. This led to Amanda revealing what had made her so upset, and, in turn, the reality of Elite.

Young Royals fanfic is just on AO3, I currently only have one fic

Your Jumper, My Colour - Wilhelm/Simon, Simon POV, Wille finds out Simon has kept his jumper.

I make multifandom edits on tiktok for multiple different fandoms including:

Marvel

Harry Potter

Power Rangers Dino Charge

The Next Step

Twilight

Royale High (occasionally)

MLP EG

Username: abi.edits127

[krimsonkatt]

Jeht Von Gunglaive (Chronicles Meteorfall)

Finally, we get to talking about my OCs! With the advent of the final finished drawings of these characters, I can fully start talking about them in detail.

Jeht is a mechanic in Morda Vael from a long line of inventors and one of the many noble houses of the empire. His dad, Gustav Von Gunglaive, worked on the Empire's massive super weapon, the Tower of Babel. However, upon learning that not only the so-called "radio tower" he was working on was actually an armed superweapon AND that it was going to be used as a beacon to summon the archon Baetylus and his crimson meteor at the behest of Trello, Prophet of Morda Vael, Gustav intentionally created a vulnerability in the weapon to exploit later.

However, one day that all changed. During the day of an important science fair, something went horribly wrong and Jeht and his father were put under investigation. Upon raiding Gustav's lab the black blades, Morda Vael's secret police, found that Gustav planned to betray the Babel Project and remotely self-destruct the tower. Gustav was indited and put under house arrest alongside the rest of his family under heavy supervision and surveillance. Jeht's life was practically ruined in an instant. And the funniest thing is this day, the day that ruined his life, Jeht can't even remember...

Jeht eventually helped Tayo, Zenith, and Stacy escape from the state-occupied city of Baetas with the help of the modified magitek armor he and his father were building. Gustav actually had a secret alternate way to shut down the tower of Babel, one he hid from everyone. He created a virus that could shut down the Tower of Babel's whole operation and self-defense systems, but needed a long distance transmitter to do send the virus to the tower. The only long distance transmitter in range of the Tower of Babel was within Castle Naughtmare, which just so happened to be the same place Tayo, Zenith, and Stacy were going in order to save Koros. So Jeht joined the team, becoming its temporary leader before Koros could rejoin them.

Jeht has a massive crush on Tayo, though he mostly keeps his feelings to himself. He only confesses to his true feelings to Stacy while them and Tayo+Zenith are separated within the Cavern of Torment, and Stacy pledges to keep it a secret on Jeht's request. Eventually Jeht confesses his feelings to Tayo before the final battle and Tayo politely turns him down, as Jeht expected. Jeht takes to this well as he just wanted to get his feelings out there.

His default class is Thief and his S-Class is Hexblade, a powerful speedster who specializes in inflicting status effects. His ultimate weapon is the Multitool MKII, an upgrade of his starting weapon Multitool and one of the strongest daggers in the game.

Jeht's S-Talents include "Toolbox" and "Dark Descent." Toolbox Jeht has at default while Dark Descent is learned by completing Jeht's EX quest. Toolbox is unique among S-Talents and even talents in general as it is the only Talent or S-Talent that can be spammed, using a certain rare item from your inventory as payment rather than TP. However, as a compromise the Toolbox S-Talent actually uses press turns, unlike regular Talent Arts and S-Talents which are free turn-wise. These special items that toolbox uses can only be crafted by using Jeht's inventor's table in Gustav's Laboratory and require rare materials to craft. However, these special item-using talent arts are incredibly powerful, their effects including fully filling everyone's TP, fully healing everyone's HP and AP while granting reraise, stealing any dropped item at an 100% chance, or instantly killing a single attacking enemy with a powerful counter.

Dark Descent is a much simpler move in practice, dealing colossal dark damage to one foe that pierces 75% of DEF while granting all allies the sidestep status. Like every other talent and s-talent it costs 100 TP to use.

[joker109]

GUYS.GUYS.GUYS.ITS SCIENCE TEAM.USISIEIEUUWTJWTJTJUJYYJUTJYJTJUEURU

[tjemegames]

HSR: Character Build Archive - Harmony

Xipe

An Aeon that hails from multiple harmonious celestial worlds. THEY preside over the Path of Harmony. THEY are the amalgamation of thousands of entities that preaches the joy of human harmony and unity.

Certain character descriptions may contain story spoilers: Bronya, Sunday. If you’re not caught up to the most current version of the game, please read them at your own discretion.

Asta

The lead researcher of Herta Space Station and a lady from a renowned family. She's an astronomer overflowing with curiosity, and excels at managing the disparate staff of the space station.

she’s been sitting at 159.2 spd since 5.10.24. can't tell you how many hp bodies I've rolled in attempts to get more spd since then; trying to min-max spd is a pain

need to farm better planars; want to ditch the def/break subs to go for more eff res

latest upgrade - 7.16.24

Bronya

Belobog's current Supreme Guardian. She possesses pride befitting of a princess, but also the determination and integrity of a soldier.

working towards hyperspeed build: still 16.7 spd away from 160.1

did a simple swap of bronya & hanya's spheres; this current sphere was meant to be for sparkle (as were the head/hand pcs) but I've decided to give everything to bronya instead

relevant stat change(s): +.6% cdmg, +8.6% eff res

score change: +12 (SS+)

need to farm messenger (spd boots), wuthering snow (hands); will probably end up switching out the keel sphere if I can get one to roll a decent amount of spd

thinking about buying sig (btbio) from the starlight exchange; I'd prefer to get it from standard, but I'm running out of time bc I don't currently have enough jades to pull sparkle + sig

latest upgrade - 8.2.24 | changelog

Hanya

outdated build: recently rolled the def sphere but everything else is old/has been swapped to her while I was min-maxing other harmony units

will be permanently benched once I've pulled sparkle

latest upgrade - 7.12.24

Imaginary Trailblazer

A [person] who boarded the Astral Express. They chose to travel with the Astral Express to eliminate the dangers posed by the Stellaron.

it would be nice to roll some break on a character who actually needs it

need to farm 4pc watchmaker (hp/def body + spd boots) & talia (def/hp sphere + break effect rope)

would also be cool if I could get some more copies of motp but I'll keep my hopes in check on that one

latest upgrade - 6.8.24

Robin

A singer renowned across the cosmos, regarded as the superstar of the Starry Stage. Her captivating voice serenades Harmony to audiences across the universe.

unowned: adorable, I love her character and the fact that she sings; however, that love didn't surpass my love for boothill, whom I was saving to pull when they both were released in 2.2

will pull for eventually because Honkai: Support Rail is true and real. she's worth the investment since she'd be the perfect third slot for my Feixiao team

Ruan Mei

Member 81 of the Genius Society. Jointly developed the "Simulated Universe" with Herta, Screwllum, and Stephen. A master in the field of life sciences, she has an emotionless disposition and is only obsessed with research.

there used to be a time when she had 98% cdmg because of just how badly my rolls had been going; thankfully, they've gotten better since then

will be switching to slow mei (120 spd)

need to farm watchmaker (head + hp/def boots) & vonwacq (def/hp sphere + err rope)

latest upgrade - 7.1.24

Sparkle

A member of the Masked Fools, passionate yet unpredictable. She roams between major factions, amusing herself by turning the world upside down on her own.

mostly built: 5/6 maxed relics

set up on 2pc wuthering snow, 2pc messenger; would prefer to run 4pc messenger

need farm messenger (head/hands) & keel (err rope); bronya's messenger pcs are lacking spd - swapping them would not help w/spd tuning issues

currently at 147.8 spd & 201.1 cdmg; 12.2 spd needed to hit 160

latest upgrade - 7.29.24

Sunday

The benevolent and self-disciplined head of the Oak Family. In order to fulfill the promise made to his younger sister in childhood, he ultimately embarked on a path diametrically opposed to hers.

unreleased (2.7)

pounds fist on table I NEED him to come home to me so bad. I don't care what he does, if I have a dps that can take true advantage of him, or what relic and planar sets I have to farm to get the most value out of him. unfortunately, I don't currently have the savings to guarantee his arrival (gotta pull DHIL's cone in 2.6), so I'll be skipping the debut banner. however, once his rerun comes around, both he and his cone will be mine!

Tingyun

Amicassador of the Sky-Faring Commission of the Xianzhou Luofu. She travels with business delegates, forging trade relationships and alliances with many worlds.

took a year but she's finally fixed

somehow, she ended up with slightly less atk than she had when I still had half a set of 4-star relics

should probably keep trying to min-max survivability, but I really cannot be bothered; if she dies, she dies ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

latest upgrade - 7.12.24

Yukong

Head of the Sky-Faring Commission on the Xianzhou Luofu. Yukong was a seasoned pilot and a deadshot. Since heading up the commission, she's been buried under mountains of paperwork.

unleveled: lvl 1, e6

The most recent version of a character’s build(s) will be listed here; older build versions can be found on their designated changelog. To avoid word/image limit issues, information on a retired build will be removed from the path archive and a link to the build’s changelog will be provided in its place. Changelogs will only be created and maintained for the characters that I actively use; they will be updated whenever significant relic upgrades/changes have been made. Characters that have multiple builds (i.e. additional builds that are non-traditional, niche, or memes) will have a dedicated changelog for each one. Return to Navigation

[talenlee]

October 2023 Wrapup

Dread Month draws to a close! The spookiest of nights, the dawn of the dead, the uh, thing! We shed our shackles and dance in our bones, and tomorrow, go about the business of being people, once again, sloughing out into the drawing heat and the growing, burning, hateful light of a sun that resents us and we celebrate in spite of it. You know, the normal and natural way everyone relates to this time of the year.

Alright, let’s do the Game Pile articles!

Don’t Go In There, a dice chucker board game made in a charming dice tower

Backwater, a really interesting TTRPG about a post-apocalyptic vision of the parts of America that are allowed to stay permanently soggy

Phantom Ink, a hidden information ghosty game in the vein of Mysterium

Carrion, a video recreation of one of my favourite articles to read aloud from 2020

Then there’s the Story Pile!

Bloodthirsty Hearts, a fiction podcast about queer girls fighting gargoyle vampires at a convention in which they learn the valuable lessons that all systems of privilege and power aren’t as important as talking to your gay crush.

The Lighthouse, a black and white movie about what enters you when you take yourself far away from everything and empty yourself.

Jujutsu Kaisen, spoiler-free, a contextualising post about how a great Shounen Battle Anime with horror elements make the idea of shounen anime nonsense.

John Carpenter’s Halloween, from 1978, a movie that is both way better than I expected, and full of all sorts of deliberate choices that people seem to replicate for no good reasons.

Willy’s Wonderland, which is, unironically a Five Nights At Freddies fan movie made by Nicolas Cage in a month and really quite good!

This month also featured a somewhat bumper load of D&D content. First, I did some worldbuilding for Cobrin’Seil, both in revealing a new location, Uxaion, which is a necrocybermagepunk city. It’s an adventure city where you can contend with economic harm and threats, and where you can also just murder your way through cops that only respect the utility of your body as a potential undead – it’s a place for wight privilege. Then I also presented the player backgrounds for characters you could make from the Szudetken province. Along with that, I made an article about Evil Gods, and the antisemitism built into the framework of the D&D Lich, and since I was just in the territory, I made fun of the 4e D&D Vampire character class, even though I think it’s a great idea. Then, in this month’s How To Be article, where I got to hold high Harrowhark Nonagesimus, drowned sad vomiting goth of the Locked Tomb franchise, I also gave a long-form discussion of how to translate a prominent, small-cast character’s vibes in a team based game.

Up here, there’s also room to talk about an OC, Z3R0, and about the ongoing, relentless onslaught of capitalism in the creation of more than half of all valid Commander cards in the past five years.

This being October, I once again did a set of Dread Readings. I know that a lot of my friends have never partaken of a lot of classic, historically important horror media. At first, Dread Readings were Lovecraft Stories, trying to make the difficult readings of his old texts into something more approachable. Then, the year after, I started picking up short stories from other, equally classic horror material that could help – in my opinion – familiarise people with different kinds of horror that you know, didn’t just continue being Lovecraft.

This year, the four Dread Readings are:

HP Lovecraft’s The Thing On The Doorstep, which I bring up as the time Lovecraft dabbled in issues of gender.

A chapter excerpt from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows, in which Mole and Rat meet the Horned King, a totally normal thing to randomly have in an otherwise pretty Christian book!

Destiny’s No Rez For The Weary, a lore tab entry from a videogame. I liked it because it’s horror in a science fantasy space that isn’t

Paul Jenning’s Granddad’s Gifts, a haunting story from an Australian kid’s author. This is a story I really like as an example of horror used to a different romantic effect than just fear.

It wouldn’t be October, the ongoing Dread Month, without some real downer articles. Do you want to read me being a huge downer? No? Okay, well, here are links anyway. I wrote about the Silent Hill Wiki Circumcision Incident, about how we examine the death toll of Chernobyl, about the way we all live the life of Lovecraft’s horror, about the creation of an alternate reality in the form of all media that wants to pretend the Pandemic never happened, and most of all, the horror of a history seeing suicide by immolation become more common. Know what really sucks? Since writing that article I remembered the Arab Spring was kicked off by another one!

Next up, what about this month’s T-Shirt? Since I’ve been watching Jujutsu Kaisen, this horse meme and the narrative of the series came together:

This design was one of those ones where I, with enough work, was able to put together a few variations. Redbubble lets me stick things in collections, and so, here! Have a collection for your consideration of which version looks best to you.

Work-wise, this month is the tail end of semester, which means I have been, I think, marking student work every single day of this month. I’m trying to make sure my students are getting attention they need, and still also provide plans to my cohort of teachers about how we can refine these subjects going forward. This is in addition to my phd work, which…

It’s weird?

I’m excited to work more on my phd tomorrow morning. Like I am genuinely thinking about the stuff I stopped working on today and want to pick up tomorrow. There’s a mindset shift on that front that’s been really hard to get my head around. I’m glad of it.

I’m also kind of boiling with game ideas, and without a theme – and with the upcoming no effort november vibes I’m aiming for… we might see more chill vibes going forward!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[bltngames]

Browsing demos on Switch, and finding a Half-Life 1 mod remaster?

So I don't know how many of you remember this, but way back in the day, there was this mod called Vampire Slayer, for Half-Life 1. Browsing the demos on the Switch right now, I hit upon a game called "Vampire Slayer: Resurrection" and for a moment I'm obviously like, "No way that's the same game, right?"

As it turns out: Yes! It is! What???

I only ever played this for one night like fifteen years ago, but it left enough of an impression that I can still remember it by name and occasionally think about it. Vampire Slayer was, or I guess is, a team deathmatch mod where one team is the vampires and the other team is the slayers.

It's been forever, but to my memory, the vampires are just vampires. I think they function as a unified team. They're faster and significantly more agile than the slayers, almost being able to fly for how high they can jump and how fast they can run. The rub: they're melee only. Vampires can only attack by slashing with claws (and biting -- more on that in a sec).

Slayers on the other hand were a little more class-based -- I think you could choose from a four or five different loadouts, and they were mostly about ranged weapons. I remember there specifically being a priest, possibly with a sawed off shotgun and some kind of rosary attack? I remember somebody with a crossbow that launched wooden stakes, too.

The catch, of course, is that vampires can't really die. When a vampire loses all their HP, they appear to fall to the floor, dead. Then, a few seconds later, they... get back up again, just like in the movies. Unless -- and this is the important part -- a slayer can run in and stake the "dead" vampire before they get back up. That kills them for real.

As you can imagine, the character with the crossbow on the slayer side of things was a big deal, because they were the only slayer that more or less auto-staked a vampire instead of just knocking them down. But I also want to say that, much like headshots are important in other shooters, vampires must be staked in the heart in order to kill them, and nowhere else. This lead to interesting scenarios where panicked slayers rushed a downed vampire, missed the heart, and were torn to shreds for botching the stake.

This sounds like the game is balanced very heavily in favor of vampires, and to some degree, it is. I think ideally the balance tried to shake out that vampires were glass cannons and slayers were slow and tanky. I want to say vampires had a low HP cap, something like 75hp, and they didn't wear armor, whereas slayers could armor up like it was Counter-Strike. I also think slayers either had a healing class, healing items, or could find heals out in the map (or all three) whereas vampires could feed to regain health -- the rub being that vampires needed corpses to feed on.

I think a freshly-fed vampire would even get a temporary buff to speed or health, to top it all off. So there was incentive to lure slayers in to a trap where the team could safely feed and then launch a counter offensive once they were all juiced.

Mechanically, you can probably see why it stuck with me after all these years. It's a hell of an interesting idea for a multiplayer game.

I just wonder how much demand there is for it in 2023. I guess I should download that demo.

Honestly, I miss the days of Half-Life mods like this. Vampire Slayer, Zombie Panic, Science & Industry, Pirates Vikings & Knights, The Specialists, The Hidden, Zombie Master... we've lost a lot not having these weird, experimental ideas anymore, even if they weren't enough to support player bases forever. They were often cool as hell in the moment.

Godspeed, Vampire Slayer Resurrection.

Slayers on the other hand were a little more class-based -- I think you could choose from a four or five different loadouts, and they were mostly about ranged weapons. I remember there specifically being a priest, possibly with a sawed off shotgun and some kind of rosary attack? I remember somebody with a crossbow that launched wooden stakes, too.

The catch, of course, is that vampires can't really die. When a vampire loses all their HP, they appear to fall to the floor, dead. Then, a few seconds later, they… get back up again, just like in the movies. Unless -- and this is the important part -- a slayer can run in and stake the "dead" vampire before they get back up. That kills them for real.

As you can imagine, the character with the crossbow on the slayer side of things was a big deal, because they were the only slayer that more or less auto-staked a vampire instead of just knocking them down. But I also want to say that, much like headshots are important in other shooters, vampires must be staked in the heart in order to kill them, and nowhere else. This lead to interesting scenarios where panicked slayers rushed a downed vampire, missed the heart, and were torn to shreds for botching the stake.

This sounds like the game is balanced very heavily in favor of vampires, and to some degree, it is. I think ideally the balance tried to shake out that vampires were glass cannons and slayers were slow and tanky. I want to say vampires had a low HP cap, something like 75hp, and they didn't wear armor, whereas slayers could armor up like it was Counter-Strike. I also think slayers either had a healing class, healing items, or could find heals out in the map (or all three) whereas vampires could feed to regain health -- the rub being that vampires needed corpses to feed on.

I think a freshly-fed vampire would even get a temporary buff to speed or health, to top it all off. So there was incentive to lure slayers in to a trap where the team could safely feed and then launch a counter offensive once they were all juiced.

Mechanically, you can probably see why it stuck with me after all these years. It's a hell of an interesting idea for a multiplayer game.

I just wonder how much demand there is for it in 2023. I guess I should download that demo.

Honestly, I miss the days of Half-Life mods like this. Vampire Slayer, Zombie Panic, Science & Industry, Pirates Vikings & Knights, The Specialists, The Hidden, Zombie Master… we've lost a lot not having these weird, experimental ideas anymore, even if they weren't enough to support player bases forever. They were often cool as hell in the moment.

Godspeed, Vampire Slayer: The Resurrection. Or, uh, whatever it is vampires prefer for good luck.

[over-the-time-flow]

Edwin apologizes for keeping the crowd waiting; he then reminds us all of the unprecedented crisis facing the Earth as of now, but then hypes the crowd up by saying that it is nothing to fear, as long as our steel heroes are here to protect us!

"The steel maiden, Diana A, and Sayaka Yumi!"

"The fullmetal goddess, Venus A, and Jun Honoo!"

Edwin then works in some audience participation!

"Next up is everybody's favorite, the king of laughter! What's the name of Boss' wacky robot?"

The kids all shout "Boss Borot!!", and then, as if summoned,

Boss: "Dun dun duuuuun!!! Thank you for waiting, good boys & girls of the world! Boss Borot has arrived!"

Sayaka and Jun can't help but notice his enthusiasm, and Sayaka has to remind Boss not to get too carried away, or he might make the Borot fall over!

"Finally, the robots of justice who protect the world from the wicked Mycenaean Empire! The sky-soaring fortress of steel, and the hero of the skies!! Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger!!!"

Koji: "Guys, those Mycenaean stooges won't get their way as long as i'm around!"

Edwin tries to introduce Tetsuya as well, and the crowd IS excited to have him, but... he's a bit too awkward to know what to say in a situation like this, even with Koji nudging him.

Edwin goes into scheming mode, whispering to himself about how swimmingly the plan has gone so far, and how he's going to turn all these civilians into Soldiers, but...

Great General of Darkness: "A parade, huh? I'll show you all what happens when you side with the Science Fortress Institute!"

Edwin freaks out over the unexpected appearance of the Mycenaeans edwin my brother this was about as unexpected as finding a fork in a kitchen what were you thinking, as the Mazinger Team gets to work on helping the citizens evacuate the premises. But as Tetsuya protects a little girl...

The girl manages to get rescued by the GEAR crew, but Tetsuya gets hit once more!

Staying true to the show but also subverting the expectations of Great Mazinger fans in the audience, Tetsuya is out of commission, but he did not pass out like he does every episode! Rather, the Great Mazinger simply can't move. Yet again, Banpresto shows masterful knowledge of the source material.

He'll stay here at 10 HP, unable to move, but if an enemy comes close enough he can actually attack them with no issues. You're forced to assume that the Great must have specifically gotten hit in the legs or something.

In her signature motorcycle, Vega rides out to try and help even the odds. She explains all the civilians are now safe, and that she isn't their only reinforcement!

That's us!

The Great General is frustrated at having even more of us to deal with, but it's no matter; he'll rout us all the same. And Kouji says that's our line!

NEXT WEEK: GAMEPLAY!!