#i am specifically talking about TES lore though

[dawns-beauty]

i'm sure a lot of people have said this, but man I wish Obsidian had had a crack at an Elder Scrolls game toobefore you

[kaninchen-reblogs]

The thing about player choice is that in TTRPGs, they largely exist in a real-life "one path" sort of way, whereas in CRPGs, they largely exist in a multiverse sort of way.

In a tabletop campaign with any semblance of a narrative, the paths the players can go down don't exist until they actually go down it, rendering all the others non-canon because they physically never happened. So, save for set-piece moments that the GM prepared in advance, the future of the player characters, much like real life, only appear the moment the player's actually go down the path. We can imagine how those other paths could've gone all we want, but unless you decide to actually reverse time and play another session in which you all chose another option, they'll only exist in our heads.

Computer games with branching paths, however, exist in constant states of "yes" when it comes to the canon. The more branches, the more sidestories that can occur that affect the final outcome, the more canon "exists" in that story. This obviously affects how players then perceive the story -- someone who barrels through Mass Effect from point A to point B without doing anything that isn't essential for driving the plot forward will, in essence, have "less canon" in their character's story than someone who does a 100% completion run.

The more "canon" you give the players, though, the messier the game's narrative becomes. Take TES: Daggerfall, for example (the second installment of the Elder Scrolls series). It has five different endings, with a sixth one that was cut from the final release. Each ending has a vastly different outcome on the game world, and the writers realized "oh shit, we wrote ourselves into a corner" and had to come up with a weird multiverse "everything happened all at once so all endings are technically canon" explanation so that they could continue making Elder Scrolls games without five separate sets of lore. Deus Ex also had this issue, where JC Denton is given three options at the end of the game... and then the sequel decided all three are actually true, which made a lot of players go "wait, really? Then what's the point?"

Mass Effect and Dragon Age are held up as the pinnacle of narrative in games, largely because save files are transferred between games and thus the "consequences" of your actions have "long lasting effects"... even if those consequences are just a single changed line of dialogue, or an NPC you met in Act 1, Game 1 says "Oh hey, remember such-and-such? Fucked up, am I right?" during a five minute conversation in Act 2 of the third installment of the series. And mind you, these are games that were built from the ground up with an overarching narrative in mind -- much of the "payoff" for Mass Effect is in the third game where they finally start frantically tying off as many loose ends as they can manage

This is because writing narratives that run across multiple games is -- and this is the professional term for it -- "not fucking easy".

Disco Elysium, Baldur's Gate 3, and Undertale, three games that are the darling of tumblr for well-deserved reasons, are not saddled by the pain of having a direct sequel. Having seen Toby Fox's infamously giant "else-if" code triggers for the game's narrative, I cannot imagine how much pain he'd be in if he made an Undertale 2 where the actions you made in the first game directly impacted the second. He'd either have to spend weeks poring over the first game's script and making sure every potential thing is covered, from "you did a pacifist run" to "you talked to this specific NPC"; or, he'd have to do a blanket "the pacifist run is the True Ending and the game assumes such", which would alienate even the fans of the pacifist run considering that one of the major themes of the game is player agency and poking fun at ludonarrative dissonance. Baldur's Gate 3 is already complex enough with essentially having two entire storylines packed into one game (Tav versus Durge), so a sequel would be more tangled than a billion earbud cables stuffed into a highschooler's pocket.

Even within games, player choice and agency can often be phased out over time, because a thousand choices in the beginning can mean a million branching paths later on, and with several writer's strikes in the past decade, I think we're seeing that even just a 10-episode season of a Netflix show can have a serious toll on a writer's psyche. Guild Wars 2 has many choices at character creation that directly affect the first 70-odd levels of gameplay, with levels 70-80 being much more streamlined, and the expansions thereafter essentially being one universal experience with barely any branching paths at all.

A single game can manage being complex, but the moment you have to continue it... Remember back above when I said that CRPGs essentially exist in a state of "yes" at all times, where all canons are considered, well, canon, unless explicitly said otherwise. A sequel to Baldur's Gate 3 (BG4? BG3.... 2?) would have to account for every potential outcome and risk the writing team's mental health, or not do that and risk the fans accusing them of being lazy and weak writers. Mass Effect 3 was criticized for making long-running plotlines come to a screeching halt and then having a final 15 minutes that felt like an insult. The Elder Scrolls basically said "fuck it, time warp" after Daggerfall released and then shied away from any level of connected narratives beyond "the main story happened". Even The Sims tried to make a narrative between the games (not kidding) and it caused huge discrepancies between each installment's limited canon!

Hell, even games that don't have significant branching plotlines across the series, like Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, and Metal Gear Solid, all have stories that are frequently meme'd to death, from "Trying to Explain Kingdom Hearts" videos to the ever-hilarious "heh, how can it be the Final Fantasy if there's sixteen of them? *smug face*" joke.

Is the answer to go full Occam's Razor and remove any semblance of over-arching narrative between games with multiple paths? Is it that we need to cut costs on graphics and gameplay and put more money into the writing team? You could argue for either side, but I'll personally just say "it depends on the kind of story you're trying to tell". Sometimes, railroading a player across a series of games will make for a more memorable experience than giving them all the choices in the world with nothing in the end to reward them for their time. But at the same time, one damn good game with multiple plotlines and endings can feel infinitely more satisfying than a long-running series that holds your hand and ends with a fizzle. But I suppose that's just my thoughts on it.

[skymagpie]

Which one of your interests do you think you could go on the longest tangent about and why?

Oh, it's more like interest within an interest. Like a part of an interest and someone just mentioning it instantly sends me into a rant or a spiral.

From video game/fandom stuff:

Dishonored - literally anything about Dishonored, but mostly about Jindosh and his Clockwork Mansion. Legit can talk about it for hours.

Anything about Subnautica like at all

Darkin Lore, Aatrox, Kayn/Akali, Zed comic lore, old Viktor lore for League, they are huge hyperfixations

Ayleid, Clockwork City or Greymoor for ESO, I love the whole world of TES but these things can get me going for hours

Pirates of the Carribean, especially Davy Jones and Calypso, but good PotC meta gets me going

World of Warcraft - this is funny because once I was drunk at a New Years party and was telling my friend the entirety of WoW's lore. She didn't care but she was more drunk than me so she listened to me as if we are on a seminar. So like WoW lore in general, but probably anything Khadgar and "The Last Guardian".

And in general outside of video games

Films, like all kinds of films. I am a film major so I watch those 3 hour long Albanian indie film people make fun of (and yes they can be really good). Like anything film related. Also I am almost graduated in film editing so like editing related questions are within my realm.

Writing, especially character writing. My minor is in screenplay writing so I am kinda also obsessing over plays and screenplays and plot structure etc.

Horses. Horse girl at heart, used to ride for 4 years. Anything horse related is a go!

Gardening. I've gotten into gardening lately and it's such a relaxing thing to do, I recommend it to anyone that can get at least 2-3 flowers for their home.

Art/architecture history, like specifically fascinated by architecture history, even though I feel like I forgot a lot of what I learned 3-4 years ago.

[svartalfhild]

What’s your favorite High Fantasy Story?

Oh boy. What a big question. Buckle in; this is going to take a minute.

Okay, so as you might expect, it's very hard for me to say one particular story is my absolute favourite, especially considering how I engage with the genre across many different types of media, so let me talk about a few different stories arranged by medium.

Books

Obviously the works of Tolkien are high on my list of favourites. LOTR is the ur-story of Western high fantasy.

I've mentioned it many times before, but the Starlight & Shadows trilogy by Elaine Cunningham has always been a big favourite of mine and a very formative read for me when I was a preteen. If you like DnD, elves (esp. dark elves), and/or morally complicated female protagonists, this one is for you. It also has a romance between a wizard and a barbarian and incorporates lots of aspects of Forgotten Realms lore that take inspiration from Norse and Slavic mythology.

Film and TV

LOTR defs makes this list again. I am the Spiders Georg for Times Watched LOTR Movies.

The Witcher. "But Svar, why did you list this here and not under books?" Because the books are full of misogyny. Don't get me wrong, the books have good stuff, but the Netflix series got rid of a lot of the misogyny that I greatly dislike about the books (and games). I also just really enjoy the show in its own right. The Blood Origin miniseries spinoff is super good too and I'm sad it got no attention. Are there flaws? Yes. But I really like the story they're trying to tell and Slavic folklore doesn't get nearly enough interest in Western media.

The Mythica Films. This is a series of five indie fantasy films that are clearly inspired by DnD and they are the best indie fantasy movies I've ever seen. They tell the story of a young disabled woman talented with magic who finds out she's got dark powers and has to run for her life. Matt Mercer plays the main villain and weirdly enough, these movies were the first time I ever saw him, and I was actually wary of Critical Role at first because those movies gave me the odd impression that he's an edgelord, even though he's a very sweet person irl lol.

Honor Among Thieves is brand new, but it instantly won my heart as a favourite. How can it not? It's set in DnD's Forgotten Realms and is about platonic friends raising a child together while also being about whacky heist shit. A story after my silly aspec heart.

Games

Okay, I'mma have to restrain myself and give you top five here, because otherwise we're gonna be here all day.

The Baldur's Gate Saga. Fucking old but truly great. The OG. The 90's graphics might turn a lot of people off these days, which is unfortunate, because they are amazing games, especially with the Enhanced Editions and the new Siege of Dragonspear expansions. It's the story of an unwitting child of the God of Murder, and you can either embrace what you are, struggle against it, or try to ride the line. I personally find the struggle against one's blood and supernatural urges a much more compelling story. It's the struggle to become something other than what you were made to be while also being pulled towards your destiny and have to choose what to do with the power that is given to you. It is the struggle for your soul and the souls of those you love. It is a journey to the Hells and a rise from its ashes, and you have to choose what the phoenix looks like. Also there's a man who carries a miniature giant space hamster everywhere with him and a gnome obsessed with turnips, to name just a few of the incredibly silly aspects of the story.

The Elder Scrolls series. The worldbuilding in TES is amazing for the specific reason that it's such a fucking mess. The folks at Bethesda and Zenimax have taken the unique approach of building the lore like historians collecting a bunch of conflicting primary sources. That's fucking fascinating because it makes the world feel more realistic. The real world is full of conflicting information, especially regarding history, and we all have to decide what we think is true based on the information given to us. Also TES III: Morrowind in particular is the most game of all time. You can tell it was made by a bunch of freaks and it's creatively braver than many of the major RPGs that have come out since. Bethesda just went "what if we did a game about the land of the dark elves, and that land is full of mushroom trees and all the fauna is either some sort of unique reptile, insect, or jellyfish- no it's not underground- anyway, here's an epic story about destiny, revenge, cultural conflict, and the gods being deeply flawed- also there's a bit where you have to kill a giant jellyfish with a fork you got from a lizard man called Big Head".

The Dragon Age series. All things considered, DA is a pretty conventional high dark fantasy story, but it has enough of its own unique twists and interesting writing/worldbuilding to be special to me. Each game has a different protagonist and a different type of story, but there's some themes that are consistent across the series. I would say the central theme of DA is finding the strength to do what must be done, even though you never asked for the responsibility and by rights shouldn't even be here. I think that's really compelling if you're the kind of person who has dealt with a lot of imposter syndrome in your life.

The Pillars of Eternity games. I don't think PoE gets nearly enough love. It has rich, carefully crafted lore that gets into things that other series tend to half-ass, like the linguistic aspects of the worldbuilding. Across the two games, Obsidian really delves deep into difficult discussions about mental illness, the relationship between gods and mortals, the cycle of life and death, ethics in magic, the effects of imperialism, and trying to make huge decisions when the right answer isn't clear. Also the visual style of these games is impeccable, as is the music.

Neverwinter Nights. This is where my love of DnD began. I watched my uncle play this game when I was a kid and I instantly fell in love with its whole vibe. The main campaign might hit different these days, because the story involves a deadly plague and the protag has to recover the pieces of a potential cure while also uncovering cult shit. There's a whole betrayal/scapegoat thing going on that's super tragic. Anyway, pile this one on the list of reasons I grew up to be a DnD obsessed goth.

Other

If you follow me, you're probably familiar with how much I love the DnD actual play show Critical Role. I've been watching since 2016 and I'm forever amazed at the compelling stories the cast and the dice rolls have built across three campaigns now.

Black Dice Society is my other favourite DnD actual play show. It's Ravenloft, so it's a gothic horror/high fantasy fushion. It has two seasons and tells such a beautiful story about the struggle for love and power.

[nesonkin]

HENLO :> i also feel like voltron did the coalition, rebel fighters and everyone in general dirty ;/ I WANNA HEAR YOUR REBEL FIGHTERS HEADCANONS SINCE CANON GAVE US NOTHING :D_ _

Emergency edit: So, my idiot ass accidentally posted this before I actually had the chance to finish the draft so think of it as part 1. So sorry about this...

[Second part]

WARNING: Long post

First of all, I am incredibly sorry about how long it took me to reply to you. The day I recieved this question I was very happy and excited that someone asked me about it and you truly made my day.

Although, I realized that my own headcanon lore wasn't exactly polished or properly thought out and I decided to delay with the answer to give you one that would be satisfying. In the process I lost my interest so the post would remain in my drafts for god knows how long.

But suddenly my interest came back to me so here I am.

It's going to be interesting answering this question given how little content we have of the rebels. So, when I try to think of headcanons it just becomes its own alternative universe exactly because I would have to fill the giant gaps in the Voltron Coalition lore.

Before I begin, I should probably clarify what my stances on canon and fanon are.

For one, while I see the appeal of Shiro x Matt it does not interest me as a romantic ship. I see and prefer them as shitty best friends, therefore if anyone expects romantic Shiro x Matt in this post they'd probably be dissappointed. (Same with Matt x Keith)

I also won't try to alter the canon events and only modify certain parts that were never elaborated on in canon. That's just how I prefer to handle these things.

This will incorporate the off-screen explanations and backstories for specific characters (Olia, N-7) both of which come from the Word of God.

Last but not the least, I am not particularly interested in the Voltron side of things (despite the series being literally named after it) so don't expect me talking about the paladins. But I will be talking about the impact that the Voltron has on the rebel fighters because it is pretty fucking huge.

More under the cut

I should clarify that this post is half me breaking down the canon lore and half me theorizing, headcanoning. I believe it helps provide context for some of my headcanons that I have.

Most of my headcanon lore relies on the timeline thing I made a year ago.

Unfortunately, it's still too vague to have any coherent story with this group. But on the bright sight, it just means that I can do whatever I want with the content that we do have!

First thing to consider is that Galra has been ruling over the galaxy for over 10,000 years. 10,000 years in human terms would be from the Middle of Stone age to the current era. And that is without the alien intervention. It is more likely that the Galra Empire would try to stop any kind of development of the species whose planets they've colonized. To prevent any chance of any of them becoming strong/smart enough to fight back.

One planet in particular could be Kythra. It's a planet inhabited by desert tribes from which Te-Osh supposedly originates from.

The point I want to make whilst talking about the Galra Empire is how much of a cultural and technological impact they have on the galaxy. While it's true that they also steal and appropriate creations of other species (Olkarion), it would be naive to think they wouldn't force their ways and culture onto every planet they colonize.

This is why Space Mall is kind of ridiculous... and just overall confusing. It doesn't seem to be properly owned by the Galra even though Varkon works as security. But it's no longer the Unilu owned place either. One of the unilu traders notes that his shop existed long before the empire was created meaning that the empire does have influence over the Space Mall. But it's just... a casual place where every species can just hang out and shop? What on Earth even is this place? Because it's not governed by the Galra Empire as evident by the fact that the paladins were able to freely show their presentation about Voltron with no one going after them. It's like a giant bubble where everyone forgets that the Galra fucking enslaved everyone. Such a weird place. Imagine a clearly popular hang out place in the Star Wars universe where everyone can just shop for whatever they want and there's never going to be any conflict and the Empire isn't going to attack it either. This is the Space Mall.

Well, enough with this nonsense and let's just move on.

The Space Mall episode did make me think of something interesting though. So, you'd think every race would have their own measurement system, right? Like how we have the Imperial measurement system and the normal one. Yet, they use the altean (or whatever it's called) one. It's likely that in the old days when the alliance still existed they had a universal measurement system. So, it only makes sense that the Galra Empire would impose the system on every planet they colonize. Which is why every species we see in the show uses it instead of something else.

The reason I'm bringing up the Galra influence at all is that I've developed this headcanon that is a sort of a workaround for the "All aliens speak English" trope. Because naturally you wouldn't understand another species due to the language barrier. I imagine Galra scientists would develop a translator chip for every prisoner, slave, citizen of a colonized planet etc. They'd implant those in others but make sure they configure it in a way that only translates Galra language. To make it impossible for prisoners/slaves of different species to communicate potentially leading to uprising.

To counter that I imagine rebel fighters repurpose it as international translators. With time they learn how to create some themselves. Which is how such a diverse group of people can understand each other. With N-7 being the exception because she's an AI and doesn't need one.

It's one idea I've come up with but admittedly it does contradict the canon lore. Because the trope of aliens speaking English is just there with no explanation. Still, I like my idea regardless.

Getting the actual timeline of the rebel fighters is difficult. There's no clear evidence to pinpoint the exact time the faction was created or even began to assemble. Rolo in S1 refers to them as the lucky few who haven't been enslaved yet. Signaling that they had a very minor presence in the galaxy. Or that Rolo was ignorant. Or lying. Hard to rely on his words. They've definitely existed before the Kerberos crew was captured. Moreover, Remdax and Vakala have been stationed on the Icy planet for 5 years and judging by the fact that their resources were soon to be depleted it wasn't their first year.

Rebels were likely formed after a long period of time starting out as small rebellion groups on planets conquered by the Galra Empire as it was expanding. With Galra officers taking prisoners across the galaxy an effort was made to communicate with other groups hence the diversity.

I like to imagine Unilu people would be exceptionally helpful for that considering they're one of the few races from the old days that still exist and thrive. They traversed the galaxy for many years and probably knew many languages. Which solves the problem of a language barrier. I'd say they're the second most populated race in this show.

One of them is actually a member of the rebel forces.

Remember this fella? Who never talked once in the series at all? Or ever been referred to? Well, I named them Gus. For no particular reason, I just look at them and go "Hmm, yes, this is Gus." VLD never named them so I have to do it myself. I HC them as agender and mute. They seem to make good use of the gestures, emotions and body language and considering we've never heard them speak this headcanon generated on its own. With 4 hands I imagine Unilu Sign Language to be very rich and extensive.

I like to think they were Matt's cellmate when he was a galra prisoner. In their spare time Gus was teaching Matt the unilu sign language so they could communicate somehow. And them being cellmated is partly why Matt was rescued by the rebels. Because Gus was already a rebel fighter and their goal was simply sabotaging the prisoner ship to set the stage for the rebels (Note: Matt was not with the rest of the prisoners from the Arena because he was sent to the working camps due to his injury).

Eventually Matt and Gus would become very good friends. Matt, being a fast learner, would learn Unilu Sign language and use the simplified version of it in case he ever needed to communicate with Gus without vocalizing anything.

As for less story important headcanons I like to imagine that Gus likes to draw with pastels and chalks. They're a little mischievous and generally optimistic which is why they it doesn't take a lot of time for them to get along with Matt. They have absolutely no regard for authority but loyal to those who prove themselves to be competent and fair. Which doesn't happen often. They are very expressive with facial expressions and body language.

For more references on Gus see this post.

That's as much as I've got on Gus so far. I like thinking of the kind of friendship that they would have with Matt. But let's move to another character important to Matt.

Te-Osh is a character that we see saving Matt from his prison cell and later get to meet her in Season 4 where she gives up her life to make sure she can deliver the medical supplies. It's implied that she was very close to Matt.

The term that was used to describe society on her home-planet is interesting. "Tribe" is an anthropological term that has long been assosiated with "savagery" and "primitiveness". There are a lot of harmful connotations related to this term which this article explains better than I could ever do. Besides all of that the term is simply confusing and barely represents what kind of society Kythra people have on their planet. I'm not sure if the writers were aware of all of this or if the "primitiveness" was the intended purpose. My best guess is that their society was still on the developing stage which the Galra Empire took advantage of and decided to interfere (just like certain countries did back in the days).

But let's move on.

Te-Osh gives me big mom vibes. I headcanon that she was a mother figure to Matt before he was transfered to a listening outpost. In my "lore" she's also a very competent fighter who's been training Matt and teaching him the survival tactics, and just taking care of him in general. Talking to him about complicated matters of war and making sure he's not going to do something stupid out of naivety and inexperience. She feels strongly about the rebellion which in combination with her somewhat short temper can result in lots of heated conversations with others. Especially with one sort of original character. But more on that later. She's an important memeber of her respective rebel cell being a local mom and all. I imagine her death took a big toll on many of her fellow officers and, of course, Matt. It's a little weird how they hinted her and Matt being close but we never see Matt's on screen reaction to learning of her passing. But oh well.

Wiki also mentions how she is a skilled pilot so there you have it.

And speaking of moms, it's about time I mention Captain Olia.

A member of the canine-like species and a competent rebel pilot. What is there not to love? She actually does have a backstory which you can read more about here.

Ha! Another confirmation that the rebellion didn't just start with the appearance of Voltron. Although, this still leaves some questions. Like, what were Olia and her husband doing exactly before starting a family? Humanitarian aid? Combat? Mechanic services? One of them has to be correct. My bets are on the mechanic services like fixing up ships and such. While Olia's duties could be transportation. Hence the flying skills.

Tbh this article did save me some mental energy. Because I don't have to think of everything myself. She was given a backstory via the Word of God and I'm more than thankful. But I'm still wondering if Omegaverse is considered a default for fictional works on her home planet.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen any proper interactions between her and Matt so it's harder to tell what kind of relationship they have but what we do know is that Matt does respect her authority. And that Olia cares about him enough to be present during his reunion with the family.

I believe it's safe to say their rebel party is a proper found family for Matt when he was separated from his biological one.

As a person Olia seems to be very laid-back and confident but not falling behind in profanity department lol

Her quick thinking during battle has saved the coalition more than once and it's a shame she had no speaking role in S8.

Being a mother she has an unique perspective on the rebellion. She understands more than anyone what it feels like having to leave your loved ones to fulfill your duty. And that understanding gives her sympathy towards those who do not want to join the fight against the Galra even if they can. Unlike Te-Osh, she is not concerned with ideals or bigger picture and prefers to stay focused on what she can do to contribute to the rebellion without losing touch with her family.

I think her and Matt met for the first time in S4 on Olkari after visiting the Castle of Lions. Making Matt a part of her crew and having Matt reunite with other rebels he knew from Kraydah Moon (but to be honest I doubt they've always been stationed there as it's more likely they've moved between different bases to remain hidden from the Galra Empire). Including his good buddy Gus, big man Ozar and N-7.

If you don't remember who Ozar is it's the big blue guy with a spiky hat. He also fucking died in S8 but the only part of S8 that exists is Hunk and Keith's carnival date so we're just gonna ignore that.

He seems to have the highest rank amongst the rebel fighters as evidenced by his commanding attitude. He is described to be the link between Voltron and the rebel fighters. He actually reminds me of the Miran race from DaiRugger/Vehicle Voltron (which we know are now canon to vld universe because of the epilogue) because of his blue skin and pointy ears. Now if only he lacked eyebrows...

There's not a lot of info on Ozar at all but because his VA also voiced Jake from Adventure Time my brain couldn't stop associating the two making them similar in personality. Except Ozar doesn't have ADHD.

I believe his age and experience gives him a lot of authority which most officers seem to respect. He would take the role of organizing important missions and managing diplomatic relations. Something Te-Osh usually stays away from because of the overall frustration that comes with it. Therefore, if you ever needed a permission to do something Ozar would be the guy to ask for it.

Ozar is pretty chill and likes to make jokes to brighten the mood during his off duty hours. And he wouldn't mind telling a story or two about his time with the rebellion. He keeps his chill even during the most extreme situations as he needs his cool head to command his squad in battle. Doesn't take risks he knows to be futile and would rather fail the mission than to lose more people to this war.

Of the relatives he has a granddaughter whom he keeps safe with the people he trusts because she lost her parents to the Galra Empire.

You can see him as the space grandpa.

He was asked to watch over N-7 by Mary Ann (the sort of OC I mentioned earlier).

Now, here's where I'm taking some liberty with the universe by creating a new race. Which are the descendants of the same race that Trigel was a member of. Because just like some Alteans managed to escape Zarkon's genocide it's not baseless to say that Trigel's people also managed to stay hidden from the Galra Empire and also further evolve into a race I'm about to introduce.

Caspians. They populated the planet Caspia. Over the years they've made some significant technological advancements which resulted in the destruction of the local environment. They've tried to take steps to reduce the effects before eventually leaving the planet. Still, many decided to stay and preserve what was left and continue their effort to restore the environment. Those who left eventually became who are now known as Olkarion people. Those who stayed focused on developing terraforming technologies and preserving their last bits of the lost culture.

One person in particular grew up to become a robot science genius. That being a woman named Mary Ann. She was originally a DotU II character which is why I wouldn't call her a fully original character. She appears in the episode "Take a Robot to Lunch" and gives the paladins a new perspective on war. She is a stubborn pacifist who has strong opinions about war and violence. Mary Ann used to contribute to the war effort by building robots until her creations began to be used as a weapon against innocent people. Which cemented her decision to leave and give up science for good. She scolds the paladins for how they just use more violence to solve problems but learns that combat is not all they do by the end of the episode. That's a quick summary of her character in DotU.

I decided to incorporate her into vld universe because she interested me. And because if someone created N-7 it had to be her.

In my lore Caspians had little to no interactions with the Galra Empire due to their beneficial location away from the Empire's grasp. Mary Ann, being a promising robot scientist, decided to leave the planet to pursue her curiosity about the galaxy and find resources which she can use to build even better machines. That way she ends up learning about the state of the galaxy and joining the rebel fighters providing them with technologies to help the war effort. It's how she eventually meets Te-Osh and Ozar. As a side project she begins the development of a software to help with automation of certain tedious tasks and data analysis. It's later being used to help analyze the radio chatter and collect all the necessary data. For convenience she would later develop a proper user interface which laid down roots for the development of an AI in the image of her people who was meant to develop their own identity. This is N-7 (get it? Ann seven?). It ended up being something personal to Mary Ann while she began to notice how her creations are being used to cause more harm than good. For example when the Galra troops steal devices of her design and repurpose it into weapons of destruction. And if that wasn't enough her own allies would use the same devices to cause destruction in the name of justice and goodness. Mary Ann would develop distaste for the methods her allies used to achieve their goals which put her at odds with Te-Osh. Because for Te-Osh not fighting back meant allowing the oppression to happen. So, when you put two headstrong individuals with opposing values against each other it rarely results in anything good. Mary Ann wouldn't put up with being used like that and decided to leave the rebellion. N-7, now learning more about the world around her, refused to come with because she "felt" the responsibility to stay and help as that was the whole reason she was created in the first place. Understanding of the decision Mary Ann parted ways with her "daughter".

I wanted Mary Ann and Te-Osh to develop a strong and close relationship (a romantic one maybe?) before Mary Ann's departure. To make things more frustrating for both of them when they eventually come to a point where their beliefs can no longer coexist without causing any more drama and conflicts (their beliefs CAN coexist but by this point they're too stubborn to realize it).

I also decided to use her character to explain Matt's behavior in S05E01 when he found something or someone in a prison cell which made him late AND extremely pissed off. So, imagine after leaving the rebellion she gets captured by the Galra and put into Lotor's prison for scientists (a plot from the DotU episode where Haggar tried to capture Marry Ann to make her build robots for their army). I don't see her willingly doing anything for the Galra so instead she would try to sabotage the research admittedly making it worse for every other prisoner because they have to receive punishment because of something she did. So, you can say no one likes her.

And here comes Matt. My poor son just trying to rescue his father. Opening up the last cell in the facility. His last hope. Only to find an unfriendly woman who not only refuses Matt's rescue attempts but scolds him when she recognizes the uniform he's wearing. Matt being late could be explained as him simply arguing with Mary Ann who refuses to go with him. And his unexplained uncharacteristic anger could be the result of the argument that took place where she openly expresses her distaste for his new found family and maybe even name-drops Matt's deceased mother figure (albeit unaware of her status). And here we go! It ties to Matt's own off-screen story and provides a possible explanation for what the hell did he see in that stupid cell.

So, Matt leaves her to fend for herself and they separate. And Matt is understandably pissed but refrains from talking about it because it’s of no one’s concern. But Mary Ann’s story doesn’t end here. Because I was planning to bring her back later after Voltron disappears and the timeline enters its 3 years time skip period. To have her apologize to Matt for what she said and realize she may have been wrong about the rebel fighters after all. And to have a proper reunion with N-7 who has developed beyond Mary Ann’s imaginations. She joins the coalition to help out her own way not with violence but with means of protection.

And that’s pretty much it for her.

And now we get to a character, whom I admittedly thought about more than others. Welp, not my fault I’m so into robot/AI characters.

It's a rebel fighter who was theorized to be Romelle, Keith’s mom, a druid and even Merla? All of which turned out to be wrong. Because she’s just an AI and not really as important as we thought she would be. As with Olia, this character has some off-screen explanation by the Word of God and can you see more in this article.

It's something, but it's merely a confirmation that she was an AI and that what we saw of Matt and her in S7 and S8 wasn’t just us hallucinating. The rest is for us to think of.

So, as mentioned above she's an AI developed by Mary Ann who over the course of the development started to consider N-7 her daughter. N-7 is constantly learning new things about the world as she's getting more hardware upgrades thanks to all new resources Mary Ann was able to get her hands on. To properly articulate her thoughts N-7 would also learn to use body language (often by mimicking Mary Ann, Te-Osh and Ozar to some extent, eventually developing her own system).

Her early work for the rebels mostly consists of data analysis and assisting comm specialists, but would later extend to supply/vehicle/inventory management and some occasional medical assistance whenever a doctor needed additional help. She would also pick up combat as having self-defense skills is important for any rebel officer. Most importantly, sometime after Mary Ann's departure N-7 would provide her assistance for the radio listening team. Because she was able to make the job easier there was no longer a need for a team of people on that job. It wasn't taken positively because all it meant was that those who were left without a job likely had to join the offensive forces which most couldn't do due to their physical or otherwise psychological limitations. This in turn would lead to the development of a system of listening outposts that N-7 could operate. Keeping track of every agent, their designated location and information recorded in their respective area. The more complicated the system was getting the more operators were required. Especially with how fast the coalition would grow in s4. So, eventually the system wouldn't need N-7 as the head operator anymore allowing her to join Olia's crew.

I still can't quite figure out what her role is in Olia's ship but I'm assuming it's something like keeping the ship in tact and making sure all systems are taken care of. I do like to think her contribution to the rebellion begins to take more proactive turn after joining Olia. Like taking part in ground missions and such. Which also opens her to new connections and perspectives.

As for determining her personality it's a little tricky. Because it always downs on me that I'm just creating another EDI (why must one fictional AI lady be so good) whenever I approach the subject of AI characters. But here I go.

She's cold and rational as you would expect. And can get into trouble with other people because of her acting out of logic and what makes sense while that isn't necessarily something that someone needs or wants. So you can get the occasional breaking of boundaries. But she also tries to understand human (or alien) psychology to make sense of the interactions happening around her (well I guess we do be entering the autistic thinking territory). It's how she understands that Matt openly freaking out the first time they meet is not a sign of a personal attack but simply his post traumatic brain acting up when he's faced with someone who reminds him of the Galra droids. Her speech patterns are descriptive and straight to the point and her body language is pretty nonchalant and distinguished. N-7 may be an AI, but she does "feel" things in her own way. Through a complicated system of priorities and signals meant to recreate chemicals in our brains. And while it's not something organics can truly relate to is it fair to deem her perceptions less "real" than that of organics? And it's that way she evaluates her viewpoint of the rebellion and decides that she has the responsibility to help people because she can and because her abilities can save lives in the long run. It simply makes sense for her to stay and help.

I will conclude the first part here, but I hope all of that wasn't a bit too much to deal with (;ŏ﹏ŏ) especially with how abrupt the ending is...

[Second part]

[tempo-takoyaki]

Hi, do you think you have any TPN fanfic you'd recommend? I don't mind any ships or gen fics. I'm just trying to find interesting/good fanfics to read but I couldn't find any fic recs yet in this fandom. I like your fics, so I just thought I might like your recommendations. By the way, thank you for writing the Can You Hear the Sea fic and Giver fic (those two are my favorites!)

Wow thanks ! (^^)/ I’m honoured to be trusted enough to give fic recommandations ! I mostly choose my authors currently, so I will do something similar here. 

@piperemerald : (Piper_Emerald on Ao3), Mostly Norray. One of my favorite authors in the fandom! She planifies everything in her fics, which means you are guaranteed to have a good and smooth reading, I once got so caught up in one of her works that I missed my subway station. Incredible writing, but most importantly very good characterization, all her characters feel human and real (which is something I appreciate a lot). I would love to just recommend all of her fics right on the stop but it would be too long, so I’ll simply select a few ones.

Falling For Your Voice (Norman/Ray, rated M, Emma/Violet and Yuugo/Lucas as backgrounds ships) : Modern Life AU where Norman is a renowned singer and Ray a famous but anonymous writer, the both falling in love with each other through the words in their works. What I said about the author is still the same, incredible writing style, amazing characterization, at the same time funyt, tender, and kind of heartbreaking too. It was the first fic I read from her and I have no regrets. 11 chapters of pure bliss. I want to also precise that, while rated M, there’s no explicit sex scenes despite having mentions of it. And all characters are aged-up of course.

An Hour To Midnight (Norman/Ray, rated T) : Coffee Shop AU. I... Don't really have nothing more to say to describe the work. I want to spoil as less as possible because there’s a ton of little details that I love in this one-shot. It’s a coffee shop au, but a really good one. One of my favorite work by the author. If I only have to say one thing to recommend it: Ray is dislexic and I live for that.

Now, I will stop there for Piper_Emerald, but I could also recommend Language Barrier and Pomegrenate Seed as well as Cursed and In The Next Mile too. All Norray. And all amazings. But this time I prefer to let you check by yourself.

Now then , to our next author: @justanotherbnhalover (hi) (7FlyingPancakes7 on Ao3), like previously, mostly Norray. No, I don’t have a bias because we get along, I sincerely love her fics a lot. It depends on the fic more this time, but I particularly adores the AUs she makes and the universes she creates around it, they are not just good fics, but good stories too. Her writing style is amazing, able to capture every little thought of her characters like she is putting us in their heads (not excluding intrusive thoughts too). The writing style is what captivates me a lot too, she just creates sentences that makes you shiver.

To Die For (Norman/Ray, rated M for… explicit reasons) : What can you do when a serial killer falls in love with you? THIS FIC. THIS FIC. I have a personal history with fanfics depicting unhealthy relationships, and THIS FIC is awesome. Not only its a clear example of how far the author can go with writing intrusive thoughts,  but also a great thriller. Will Ray discover that Norman is the killer? Or will Norman manage to fool the person he loves for his whole life? WHO KNOWS. The fic isn’t finished yet, but I would recommend you to read it anyway.

This Song Is For You (Norman/Ray, rated T) : Mermaid AU where Mermaid Norman gets charmed by Ray’s singing. A very interesting take on a Mermaid AU ! But it’s not just the context, the story itself is good. Unlike other fics, it’s not as mystery centered as others, but the Mermaid universe is enough to get completely into it. Not only that, but again, a very good writing, and as funny as always too... I love Mermaid stories so be prepared yourself to be given more.

Now, I could’ve recommended other fics, but TSIFY is the only finished Mermaid fic (hence why I recommended it) and I wanted to propose something else besides Smile (While You Can), though I still recommend it too.

Another author (and finally not Norray, at least I’ll choose some that are not Norray) @amaikana ! (hi) (amaitori on Ao3 for non explicit works). Very productive author ! ... Does not finish their multi-chapters fic a lot though. (Think of them as this book entirely made of first chapters). But every single one-shots are a ray of light in the darkness (mostly because some of them are very funny). Is mostly focused on slice of life short stories, so it’s also nice to take a break from all those angsty fics! I would categorize her as the “feel good” author. There’s some angsty stuff, but the majority of the works are mostly fluff.

Blue Eyes (Gen, rated G, some Rayemma on te side but nothing more) : Cute stories about Ray and his new adopted brother Norman. A serie of cute one-shots with Norman being 6 years old and Ray 10. Like I said, very good to feel good, it’s adorable, it’s funny, and it’s about kids. 

Chance Among the Stars (Norman/Emma, rated T, Ray and Norman are biological brothers) Fate/Stay Night Heaven’s Feel AU. It’s more than just because I am a Fate fan, but this fic is genuinely one of her best works. It’s filled with emotions and magical lores and it’s cool as hell. Also, I like angst.

And that’s it because those are mostly really short one-shots or series of one-shots so... it’s better to see for yourself ! :D (Also lots of OT3 to my joy).

Now, we will go into the territory of fics that I read without checking the author’s other works a lot. It’s not that I dislike the author’s other works, let’s just stay I mostly remember the fic (and only started to do it by author recently too).

I got a ticket to another world (Norman/Ray, rated T, written by heismysoulmate) : Norman adopts a very strange cat. A cool fantastic one-shot and a cool short story overall. The characters are interesting, and the relationship development is good.

pushing youth to the limits (Norman/Emma/Ray, not rated but definitely M, written by sugacookies_with_tae) : A cleptomaniac, a murderess and a depressive on a road trip. It’s what I’ll say to summarize the plot, because if you’re like me, you’ll think “wow, it’s either really good or really bad, I’m going to read it”. Spoiler: it’s good, it’s good in the type “who cares?”. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s just a bunch of fucked up kids trying to live and it’s somehow interesting? Wow. (Also, if its plot comes from a K-pop music video. I watched it, and uh... actually don’ t. It’s not that the music is bad or the clip is bad, it’s just that you might try to compare it to the fic, and I honestly prefer to just enjoy the story.)

love me like you do (Ray/Emma, rated T, written by isshun) : Actors AU. I don’t know what else I have to say to describe it, it’s just good. The author alternates between the actors living their life and what people say on the internet with very realistic tweets. It’s super cute and very nice, and slow-burn too. A very good one-shot overall.

Deep Blue (Norman/Ray (YES AGAIN), rated T, written by NanamiChiLovesYou) : Mermaid AU, Little Mermaid AU, Ray, a mermaid, transforms himself into a human in order to find a way to protect his family who still lives under the sea. This fic has awaken a lot of us to Mermaids, and for good reasons. It’s very good. The whole transformation thing is perfectly executed, all characters are intersting... And it’s unifinshed (*goes sobbing in a corner*). But it doesn’t matter, because it’s just awesome ! Unlike with TSIFY, the universe is less developed in order to focus more on the characters and their interactions, which definitely gives another vibe.

Here are all my recommandations ! (^^)/ I hope you will find your happiness in all of those ! (There’s a ton of others but I can’t remember, I also avoided talking about smut here, but if you want smut fic recommandations you can ask me)

There’s a reason why there’s so many Norray fics despite me not particularly being a big Norray shipper but I won’t write them down here, if you are curious, don’t hesitate to ask me about why those specific preferences.

[whatthefuckistevvs]

okay now that’s it’s over I feel safe to ask; what the *fuck* was lost light and who are the characters.

anon it’ll never be over!!!

ALSO MY APOLOGIES, THIS WILL BE LONG AS HELL

Okay, so- The Lost Light is a comic book series. Its the direct sequel of Transformers: More than meets the eye. Both are written by James Roberts, and the artist vary, tho, for MTMTE the main artist was Alex Milne and for Lost Light the main artist was Jack Lawrence.

Its a transformers comic that takes place in the IDW continuity of comics, though, I actually was able to get into it without knowing anything about the story of the IDW comics- it is pretty good and self explanatory like that.

The story is as follows: the extremely long six million (iirc) war between autobots and decepticons is over. the autobots won. Now, Cybertron, the home for the cybertronians (most transformers), is damaged. I mean, it still stands, but its nothing like it used to be.

Rodimus Prime, a hotshot leader, decides he wants to go find Cyberutopia and the knights of cybertron- legendary robots that millions of years ago created a “better cybertron”, so to speak. So, he gathered up about 200 other cybertronians, got Into the Ship Lost Light, and set off to find the planet.

MTMTE is about 58 issues long iirc, and the sequel Lost Light is 25. It is, honestly, my favorite comic series of all time. James Roberts is a great writer, the art is fantastic, oh also it has incredible LGBT+ rep

i mean, its a race where 90% of them are men. you expect them to be straight?

Anyways, this comic is extremely good. It is a little bit difficult ot follow at times, but honestly- considering how convulted the lore of transformers is, specifically IDW (that goes back since 2005), this one is a comic you can pick up without knowing anything about transformers. ITs really, really good. it is considered the BEST piece of transformers media of ALL time. including movies, cartoons, other comics, etc. It has beaten Saga as the best comic awards. 

And just this week, it ended. so i am pretty emotional about it, because the ending was also very good. Unforutnately, the writer had planned for the actual series (at least hte lost light saga) to be twice as long- but the IDW continuity is “cancelled”, aka its finally going to end. RN the current comics were Lost Light, Unicron and Optimus Prime- Lost LIght was the first one to end, though tbh i dont follow the other two, i only know that they will end soon too cus the IDW continuity will end.

AS OF CHARACTERS- there are many characters (i mean, transformers), but honestly through the series it follows a certain group of characters:

Rodimus Prime, the hotshot leader who is sometimes a little bit over his head but, fuck he tried

Ultra Magnus, a shithouse of power who is a huge gigantic nerd that is extremely anal about rules and is extremely intelligent. i love him.

Drift: used to be decepticon, now he is autobot. one of Rodimus BFFS and also a huge dumbass twink. love him too.

Ratchet: The medic, Old as hell, also kinda anal, he is very skeptic of stuff and normally always feels bad he is nto a Better Doctor

Swerve: little shit that never shuts up and opens a bar. He is charismatic and he is kind of very meta. not deadpool levels, but yeah he is kind of meta? idk

Chromedome: Kind of a memory doctor- nice and good and tall and orange and i love him.

Rewind: he films everything, tiny and black, also love him. Him and Chromedome are married (literally).

Whirl: crazy ass shit autobot- the only reason he is an autobot is because optimus prime himself did not want that kind of shit crazy being a decepticon. Batshit, gets into the ship by accident kind of.

Cyclonus: Not a decepticon, not an autobot. Used to work for Galvatron, but defected and helped the autobots save the day when he realized galvatron used him. Big purple old guy who is sad al te time and also is a shit powerhouse. he is my favorite.....

Tailgate: 6 millions years ago, before hte war started, he was going to get into the ARK, but he fell down a hole and went into a coma. woke up, missed the entire fucking war, and is trying to adapt to everything. stupid and dumb, i love him

Rung: Psychiatrist, pretty forgetable by almost every1. but he has huge eyebrows and i love him.

....and far more characters.

HOnestly anon, i recommend this to ANYONE. even if you arent into transformers. its really good, user friendly for ppl who dont know the lore (hell, i had no idea about IDW lore when i got into it), and is extremely emotional. ITs my favorite comic ever, and i am alwyas happy to talk about it to whoever wants to hear.

Honestly a lot of ppl think know me for my OW works but i’ve always been a transformers fan, ever since i was like 10 years old. So, haha, this series brought me back into that stuff. I am still p excited about it, so i may post more transformers related stuff, but honestly dont worry- i wont forget about OW. Im just p excited!!

[vorthosjay]

Let’s Talk About Chronicle of Bolas: The First Lesson

Chronicle of Bolas: The First Lesson came out today, and it’s a fascinating story without the sort of lore baggage that would require me to say much about it. So read and enjoy!

Art by Even Amundsen

"We all die, now or later," replied her Grandmother in her most maddeningly calm tone. "This could be a trap on the part of Ojutai to find me."

"So you are Yasova, keeper of the past and guardian of the unwritten now."

Unwritten was the name of the story where Yasova first appeared.

He took in several ragged breaths to build strength for more words. "Ojutai destroyed the records Shu Yun preserved for so many generations. He wants to destroy our memory of the past, and of our ancestors, so our people know only what the dragonlords wish them to know. But the story the Spirit Dragon told to the first shamans has survived because it wasn't only written down. It has also been passed down from master to student, memorized and handed on to the next generation."

Grandmother's brow wrinkled. A glimmer woke in her eyes, a flash of excitement, a thrill of fear and hope. "The Spirit Dragon spoke to your shamans?"

There’s also a secret archive, but this person doesn’t seem to know of it (or isn’t sharing that information). It would be rediscovered by Narset a millennia later.

My own story is a simple one. The one I loved best in all the worlds is the one who killed me.

How did it happen? That is less simple, and will take longer to tell. Listen carefully, for he may come here someday, and if that happens, then you must beware, for whatever words he speaks to flatter and persuade you will be lies.

Grandmother hissed sharply.

Yasova was tricked by Nicol Bolas into aiding him in killing Ugin.

If you should ever have the misfortune of meeting him, I would never recommend anyone suggest to him that he at any point in his long life has felt fear.

HA! Leshrac did this, and paid with his life for it.

"I want to know who those hunters are, and where they come from, and how we can destroy them. They've learned they can kill one of us now, so they will not fear us."

This story is great at telling us who Nicol Bolas is. Bolas can’t suffer others to feel confident against him. He must break them.

"I do not guess. Dragons are born with the gift of names. It is in our nature to know names without being told them. Just as we knew our own names at the moment we woke into consciousness." He closed his eyes, not at all afraid of us, then opened them to examine us with a keen and unrelenting gaze that irritated me because he was so sure of himself. But his curiosity and confidence also intrigued me. "Why do you each only have one name?"

Oooh, as some have suggested, Bolas was not originally part of Nicol’s name.

I sniffed at the dead animal, seeking from what lingered of its spirit some indication of its name and substance: it was an ibex, old for its kind; it had had a peaceful life, and that gave its blood and meat a certain pleasing odor.

I tore off a hunk of flesh. It was pleasurable to eat, even if a little tough.

This... is interesting. Weird that this comes from Ugin.

That which decays is also being consumed.

The revelation swept over me like a storm's hot rush: within the invisible web that is life and death, nothing goes to waste.

"Death is merely part of a greater cycle," I said, quite struck by my amazing wisdom.

This is important, as this is part of Ugin’s transcending color, most likely. The great cycle.

"I want to kill something," said Nicol. "Are you coming?"

It was the second time he'd asked if I was coming with him. To be fair, we'd never been apart, had never walked or flown the slightest span without the other within earshot. I couldn't imagine being in the world without him beside me.

Ugin thinks Bolas asking is because they can’t bear to be apart, but I wonder if right from the start he was challenging Ugin, prepared to leave him.

I ate thoughtfully, considering his words. It was true we had hunted in the manner of our older sister, each hunting alone, relying on our individual speed and strength. What if there was a better way?

Bolas and Ugin both begin to learn planning and coordination, important to their schemes later.

We spent years, as you Jeskai would measure the span of days, perfecting various techniques for hunting in tandem.

Hey, this might be the first indication we’ve had post-mending of the different measurements of time on different planes.

Several times we were chased by a big ugly dragon named Vaevictis Asmadi who, with his siblings, furiously guarded a territory they claimed for their own hunting grounds even though it had plenty of space and game enough for many hunters to cull.

The story also mentions even more dragons, which is great! It means there is enough for a true Elder Dragon War.

One day, we settled on a hill amid a richly forested plain. From this vantage, we found ourselves looking over a riverside settlement inhabited by the bipeds called humans. In general, we avoided humans. They didn't taste good, and I didn't like eating things that could talk.

THEY DIDN’T TASTE GOOD.

Just a reminder: Ugin has eaten people.

"I didn't realize humans would trust dragons," he said.

This is another important moment for Nicol, who is beginning to realize humans can be of use to him.

Death was no longer a stranger to me, for we had killed our share of prey, but the screams of the dying soldiers troubled me in a way that the last moments of the animals we'd hunted had not.

This is good! It’s too bad Ugin would lose sight of this somewhat when he became a planeswalker and messed with the fundamental natures of planes.

"You are the twins, Nicol and Ugin."

"I am Nicol Bolas," said Nicol.

"You are?" I asked. "When did that happen?"

"I have two names. All proper dragons have two names."

"Ugin is fine for me," I said, dismissing this as another of Nicol's quicksilver mood changes. I turned politely back to our older brother. "Brother Arcades, why did the humans attack us when we approached?"

Another great character moment. Nicol names himself Bolas. Ugin doesn’t feel the need. Very interesting.

And Vaevictis's mob. They're quite the gang of marauders. And more besides them, some flying alone and some flocking together. I protect the humans from the other dragons who roam this land. But I am also teaching the humans to a better path of life, one ruled not just by their own primitive, violent tendencies."

Here is the rest of the dragons I mentioned earlier. It’s interesting that Vaevictis is the leader of his own group.

I also find it very interesting that it is Arcades Sabboth who taught civilization to humanity! We previously knew NOTHING about him. Now, he founded human civilization!

Unlike our kind, they work together. Do you want to come see? You may visit for a little while as my honored guests, as long as you follow the rules of law and order I have established in this colony." 

So, it was then that we accompanied Arcades back to the town. He made us known to the people there, and they greeted us with awe and respect, although, perhaps not quite as much awe and respect as they showed to Arcades, whom they called "Dragonlord."

So that’s where the title Dragonlord comes from. For elder dragons who rule a human civilization, Ugin taught the name to the Jeskai. I wonder if we’ll be getting Dragonlord Arcades as his actual card?

I poked my snout into everything, and made particular friends with an old holy elder named Te Ju Ki, whose sole purpose in life, it seemed, was to think about things that could not be seen.

I’m not sure who Te Ju Ki is, but the name is so specific it feels like it has to be referenced somewhere, no?

Nicol had no patience for her possessionless way of being in the world; he wanted to be where Arcades was, guiding and advising the people. Nicol made himself useful in a hundred ways, digging into every crevice of human life and emotion. But the greed and excitement and anxiety and competitiveness of humans tired me when I was around it too much, so the solitude of Te Ju Ki's way attracted me. I soaked up the calm wisdom she exuded.

Nicol Bolas: Guider and Adviser.

In reality, Bolas was learning how to run a civilization, because he wanted to rule, not adjudicate.

Entire days would pass in silence as she and I sat in her circular chamber. Its roof had long since fallen in, and she informed me once that the half-collapsed tower was an artifact of builders who had bided here before the people who now lived in this place.

"We are not the first, and we will not be the last," she said. "We see only our hand before our face, but there have been other hands here before ours, and there will come others after us. Even this world is but one layer amid many others."

She knew many schemes as an aid to meditation, but I best liked it when she spun globes of light in the air. Translucent threads of magic tethered each of the globes to the others so that, as they whirled in the air, they remained both separate and yet linked by connections too mysterious for me to comprehend. She called each one a "plane," although I did not know what she meant by the word at that time. When I asked if the globes were a thought experiment or if they really existed, she said it did not matter because no physical being could cross between planes. But I didn't care about that. The way the radiant globes interlocked and moved in and around each other fascinated me as much as the wisdom she uttered in her whispery rasp of a voice.

"Everything that lives is interwoven. Everything that dies is consumed by something else, by another animal or by decay. In this rot lies the kernel of new life, for it passes back into the world as seeds take root and grow. There is no end, just endless cycles of transformation."

Ugin learns about the Multiverse!

The guards took him away. As a steward directed the body be removed and the blood washed off the stones, I raised my eyes to the roof of one of the nearby buildings. Nicol lounged there, stretched along the ridgeline, watching the scene with an avid gaze.

"What did you do?" I demanded in dragon speech.

"What did I do? I have not moved from here."

"You stood by and let it happen? You could have intervened."

A smirk of satisfaction creased his visage. "What if I did?"

The prickling sensation intensified. "What do you mean? What did you do, Nicol?"

"I have discovered a better way to get revenge. Are you coming or are you going to stay with your mealy-mouthed sage and her bland tidbits of wisdom?"

So... Bolas definitely used magic to make that guy kill the other guy, right?

I wonder what Bolas’s revenge will end up being.

[nctmoonstarsun]

11 question tag

I was tagged by @g-te  for the 11 questions game where you answer 11 questions then write 11 new questions! (Thank youu! ^^)

how are you? / Meh lmao

sad ballads or happy upbeat songs? / Depends on my mood really, but right now, happy upbeat songs

fave anime movie? I haven’t watched any haha

dogs or cats? / Cats!!

do you keep stuffed animals in your room? / no ^^

someone you miss? / Honestly everyone is there for me, so no one

describe your phone case? / A black, professional-looking case 

favorite lore/myths? /  Ooo i dont know..

earbuds or headphones? / earbuds

can I steal your heart? / um you can try..?

favorite thing about your ult bias? / How he is always really cheerful and positive, such a little fluffball honestly ^^

cloud’s q’s

Do you know a ksong by heart? (bc I don’t :x I can hum a trillion tho) / A few (I do karaoke a lot sooo)

When it comes to friendships, are you low or high maintenance? (As in your friends gotta talk everyday with you or you’ll feel like the friendship is dying OR if you can spend days without talking to them yet you still remain close) I can spend days without talking to them yet I still remain close

Do you have a secret that you will take to the grave? (Ofc I’m not asking you to reveal it) / No XD

Recommend me 5 songs (not necessarily kpop songs) / DRAMARAMA (MonstaX), Limitless (NCT), See You Again (Wiz Khalifa ft. Charlie Puth), Red Flavor, Russian Roulette (Red Velvet)

What do you prefer?: first, second or third gen kpop songs? / I listen more often to third generation kpop songs

What’s the cheeeeeeeeeesiest thing you’ve done? (one time a former friend of mine was telling me about a problem she had and at the end of our convo I kissed her in the forehead bYE) / Um… honestly I have the worst memory so I can’t actually remember

If you were asked to participate in a variety show, which one of the following would you pick and why? (Pick two!): problematic men, master key, hello counselor, weekly idol, one fine day, law of the jungle / WEEKLY IDOL, Hello Counselor (honestly I love these shows so much)

Your top 10 kpop songs of 2017? / DNA, Mic Drop, Cherry Bomb, Red Flavor, Likey, Really Really, Dramarama, Russian Roulette, Limitless, Rookie

Would you rather live in a huge mansion or a compact studio house? Compact studio house 

Tell me a fun childhood story (I’ll start! One time an aunt gave me money to buy ‘papas’ (potatoes) at the grocery store so bc I’m obedient af I went and asked the counter lady how many of em could I buy with the money I had so she went ‘uhh, not many tbh’ so i ended up getting like two and when I returned to my aunt’s house she laughed her ass off and said: I meant ‘papas fritas’ (potato chips) Not those! - and uh yeah this is funnier in Spanish but it proves that I’m such an innocent angel I mean wow) /  Well not much happened in my childhood but I remember how before I moved to England (I used to live in India), me and my friends (we were 7 year olds) would practice talking in English because ‘I needed to get used to it’, and now I talk to them about that and we just laugh at it lmao trust me it’s funnier than it sounds if you’ve experienced it.

If you were offered to start a band, would you accept? / HELL YES (even tho I have no talent I still love singing does that count?)

kiki’s q’s

Link your favourite playlist here if you can and if you can’t write out the first 10 songs on it! (Not a question but shh) / I don’t really have a playlist I literally just go onto the group and then pick the song on spotify ahaha

Is your current ult bias your first ult bias? If not who was your first? / No… My first ult bias was Jungkook ^^

Who is your ult bias? / Jung Jaehyunnnnn <3

Who is more likely to hog the aux cord, you or your ult? / Hmmm I feel like neither of us would hog it, more like just take turns or something I guess

Who is more likely to forget an important date, you or your ult? / Ummm… guilty as charged (basically me)

Who is more likely to ask the other to pick them up after work, you or your ult? / Me, just cos I love the idea of him picking me up after work lmao

Who is more likely to write the other a hand written note expressing themselves rather than just saying it, you or your ult? / That will be me… I’m not that good at expressing my feelings in general, but if I really want to, I’ll sit down and write a long heartfelt note

Who is more likely to cry when a dog dies in a movie, you or your ult? / I don’t cry at movies, but I feel like he’ll be upset and then I’d start crying because he’s upset

Who is more likely to almost burn the house down while cooking, you or your ult? / I can cook, but so can he..? So I don’t know

Who is more likely to start a pillow fight, you or your ult? / Probably me, I have a habit of throwing pillows at people if they tease me 

Who is more likely to ask the other to come over to cuddle with them so that they can fall asleep better, you or your ult? / Me probably haha

Mir’s q’s :D

If you could travel anywhere, but were completely by yourself, where would you go? / I honestly don’t know because I hate going places on my own

What inspires you? / Stories of successful people who got where they are now by hard work and dedication (esp. those with the same aspirations as me)

How many pets would you have in your ideal future? Any specific names or types in mind? / Just one small puppy

What are you opinions on fedoras / Um, not really the biggest fan of them

how many spoons can you balance on your face at once (picture or video proof preferred (i’m trying to get someone to do it pls anyone)) / They’re all the way downstairs and I’m in bed right now I can’t be asked to move

What is your favorite type of tree? / Willow tree

If you could convince one person to like kpop who would you convert? / My dad, cos if he’s convinced, my mum will automatically be converted too XD

What are three things you are normally associated with and/or what are three things you want to be associated with? / Well, I guess making people happy, but that’s pretty much it

If you were in a kpop group what position would you hold (ie. leader, main vocal, moodmaker, etc) feel free to tag your mutuals and who they would be! / I think I’d be vocal, leader and the 4D member haha ^^ @g-te would be rapper/moodmaker and @thatbubblecat would be the lead dancer and visual 

If you could have any wild animal as a tame pet what would it be?? (i’m ocelot loyal all the way) / Probably a lion

What is your opinion on mint chocolate chip ice cream? (for maj) / LOVE IT!!

Gitte’s q’s

What is your (clothing) style? like is it casual, street style, sporty, classy… It really depends on my mood, like sometimes I wear casual, and sometimes classy, sometimes girly.

Would you reather be very smart/intelligent but ugly, or dumb but beautiful? Very smart but ugly 

Which languages do you speak/understand? English, Hindi, Malayalam, French

What is your biggest dream? To be a doctor

Do you fold or do you crumple up your toilet paper? (I am curious okay?) Fold XD

Your favourite season? Winter

Do you have a favourite number? If yes, which and why? It’s always been 17, I think it’s my lucky number

Do you prefer, day or night? Night

Do you like bright or dark colours? Both, I usually tend to stick to two colours though; bright red or black

Do you have any habits? Accidently hitting people when laughing (even though I apologise immediately after), covering my mouth accidently with my hand when awkward and mumbling at the same time if I’m talking. 

What’s your ideal type? Oo well he's caring and protective, a pure baby but can be manly. Can sense if I'm upset and quickly tries to make me feel better. Empathetic, down to earth and modest, generally cheerful person who is positive and optimistic. A bit extroverted. In general, similar to me, I guess.

Ae Sook’s qs

      1. What qualities do you like of your ultimate bias? (Say who he/she is too)

      2. What sort of animal would you be if you were to choose one? (your spirit animal)

      3. What is your favourite ice cream flavour?

      4. Do you like kpop? If so, how long has it been since you’ve been into kpop?

     5. What star sign are you? 

     6. List all the groups/bands you listen to regularly (any genre of music).

     7. What is your favourite choreography (kpop)?

     8. How would you describe yourself? (positives and negatives, but put mainly positives)

     9. Sushi; yes or no?

    10. Who is that one idol you can relate to most? (Who do you think you’re most like? - and no, I don’t mean your ultimate bias)

I tag:

@thatbubblecat @taeyongtown @deeimana @g-te (i know you’ve done this, but I want to see what you would put for my question lmao x)

[prettycooregrey]

So after setting up a 100+ plugin modlist for Raka, I started their official Skyrim SE run with SkygerfalI. This is really long. Like, really really long. And it’s packed with spoilers, so my fingers are crossed that the cut works on mobile because otherwise I am so, SO sorry to mobile users.

Links: Legendary - Special Edition

What a hell of a mod. It was so much easier to swallow than Daggerfall proper, I’ll give it that! For one, the 3D map in Daggerfall drives me batty. I can’t read it at all, and the samey graphics in every dungeon make them really hard to navigate. For another, Daggerfall notably averts the “take your time” trope where players are allowed to fuck off and do whatever they want while the main quest stays politely paused in the background - almost every single quest is timed, and exceeding the time limit is an automatic fail. It’s possible to lock yourself out of the main quest this way.

Thankfully, the Skygerfall mod recreates all the main quest dungeons with a significantly more helpful Skyrim-style local map. The mod page describes the dungeons as hand crafted, and... well, I’d personally describe it as LOVINGLY put together. The attention to detail is exquisite, and it absolutely feels like a recreation of the dungeons. In fact, it’s so carefully and thoroughly remade that for the most part, the original walkthroughs on UESP came in handy for the few places I got stuck (ahem... Direnni Tower). There’s so many twisting corridors, right angles, and those big huge pyramid-esque centerpieces. My unabashed favorites are the little diagonal rooms hidden within other small rooms, tucked into corners in and of themselves. My own playthrough of Daggerfall made me look forward to those spaces as good places to rest or find loot.

There is not much going on outside the cities or dungeons though! Since it was, for the most part, a single dev putting the whole thing together in their spare time, it’s just the main quest. Even the main towns are largely empty, save for tavern owners (who act as general good merchants), a blacksmith in Daggerfall proper, and any NPCs directly related to the main questline. Ironically, Scourg Barrow is one of the most populated places in the entire game, if only by volume of nonhostile NPCs! The palaces also have merchants and guards around, and there’s a... cheerful little kid over at Wayrest who would love to meet your Agent.

That means no questlines for any of the side factions, very few extra merchants to buy your high volume of crap (though you wont actually need more than one or two at a time), no side dungeons to explore, and nothing in the landscape between the map markers. There’s not even any generic NPCs to populate the towns, and almost no interiors.

Still, it’s entirely worth playing, if you want the basic runthrough of Daggerfall’s main quest in a familiar, modern engine. Particular props goes to some of the scenery and levels. Where there’s very little going on outside of your quest targets, the places that have been built are stunning. Shedungent’s exterior in specific enchanted me, looking exactly like a medieval castle with plenty of nooks and crannies to poke into (though no loot, unfortunately... not that I need any extra with how much garbage I haul out of those dungeons). Another particular detail that I loved were... pigs, actually. I loved the pigs. There’s a few dungeons that contain pigs, which existed in Daggerfall.

I love them. They’re darling.

I dunno, the fact that Oracus0 put so much time and effort into making sure that Skygerfall was a true to the original as possible, down to the animals passively hanging out, really brought me into it. Sure, I wish there weren’t giant scorpions in any game ever, but I can also appreciate that since they were in the original, they were there in Skygerfall (and that they dropped a Raka certified safe alchemical ingredient). And who doesn’t get excited when they see the loot pile model tucked behind a locked door?

I also ADORED - spoiler alert - Aetherius, which turned the game into a full-fledged puzzle platformer. Note to anybody playing through the Room of Fire? You can and will fall off if you’re not careful! But the scenery there is also gorgeous, with a stunning backdrop of swirling stars and galaxies, hellfire, and a wonderfully dapper Sheogorath (whose voice actor does a great job, by the way, of holding true to Sheogorath’s canon voice).

Bonus points for having (and I must emphasize) FULL VOICE ACTING. Every NPC available in the game has a voice. All of the custom NPCs have custom voice acting, and every voice actor did a real bang up job. There wasn’t a single character I encountered whose voice didn’t match them.

It’s also way more... cartoony? Than Skyrim, and it shows a lot in places where custom and vanilla 3D assets were used right next to each other. There’s a lot of blocky, and almost plastic-y walls, floors, sconces, etc that made some of the rough-and-tumble stuff stick out, but it’s not actually enough to take you out of the game unless you’re a really picky bastard imo. It works really well for being a faithful recreation of Daggerfall, which looked like... well. This:

I had a habit of taking pictures of any cool animals I saw in Daggerfall, especially if I haven’t seen them in TES before. Speaking of this awesome camel picture, not to fear if you’re worried about hauling all your crap out of the dungeons like I am (my partner has a hard time watching me play Skyrim with the way I lug out everything that isn’t nailed down to hawk later)...

There’s a mount waiting for you near Sentinel!

...(: That’s right. You get a camel. No need to buy it, it’s not tagged as theft (as of 11/12/19, a little under a month post initial release). It works exactly like a horse - hop on and it’ll help you bounce between map markers, even if you’re overencumbered by several hundred pounds of loose swords, gemstones, potions, and your enemies’ underwear. It looks AMAZING, and though you kind of clip through his hump a little bit, it’s again not really an issue unless you’re overtly picky.

The only thing I absolutely cannot stand is... mythril.

Mythril in this mod is... blue. The armor is gray, but the weapons and shield are blue. Not a silver blue or a dark slate blue in the way you’d expect from something metallic. No, I’m talking about Hawaiian Punch Blue Typhoon, I’m talking blue raspberry Airheads, I’m talking about Lapis lazuli from Minecraft and/or Steven Universe, Cornflower Blue Crayola, “her cerulean orbs” fuckin BLUE. That was the ONLY thing that really stuck in my craw. Raka is an archer, but in the event of an emergency they dual-wield daggers and for a period the best one I had on hand aside from the ebony dagger was mythril and I hated it. I resented it. Every time Raka had to get into close quarters I grumbled with distaste as soon as that goddamn Manic Panic deep dream knife popped out on my screen. I replaced it with adamantium as soon as I was able to.

Everything else was copacetic! As with the set dressing, a lot of the custom armor and weapons were kind of cartoony and might stick out in Skyrim proper, but they’re pretty charming in that way. If for no other reason than collection purposes, I took one of everything with me to Skyrim at the end of the questline with the intent to maybe display it in one of Raka’s player homes. Especially the adamantium, which out of everything fits in the best with vanilla Skyrim’s assets (as far as I can tell, don’t quote me on that, please!).

Again, it’s a very lovingly made tribute to the original game, with a lot of time and effort put into it. A lot of modder resources were used in order to achieve this end, and what an end it is. For all of the places where there might be criticism, it’s still a fantastic piece of work that deserves a lot of praise and appreciation, especially since it was largely a single dev working and learning by themselves to put it together. It’s still hours of content to work through, having taken me about 4 days to get through via my playstyle, even when it primarily involved jumping between map markers and delving into dungeons. God only knows I’d have never gotten to the actual main quest of Daggerfall in the original engine, and likely not even in Daggerfall Unity, as I was too busy messing around, getting headaches from the procedurally generated dungeons, and trying to climb the ranks of the Mage’s Guild and Thieves Guild. Not to say that that isn’t a fun and completely valid way to play the game. But Skygerfall allowed me to play through the actual main quest, kept me engaged with voiced characters and a streamlined series of events, and a thorough and faithful recreation.

A lot of people mentioned wanting more stuff between the towns and cities currently in the mod, but personally, going forward, I’d love to see what already exists be expanded. I’d love to see more shop interiors, some generic NPCs to chat with or ask about rumors from (or even just to fill out the space! I’m not picky!), and maybe some basic structure for some of the guilds.

That being said, it’s still a complete mod in and of itself. It has all the components anyone could reasonably ask for. It has its dungeons, it has its armors and weapons, it has custom spells, potions, and ingredients. It makes use of monsters from the Mihail mods, populating the underground with lots of scary and lore-appropriate foes to fight. It has very little to explore outside of that, but still offers a LOT, and I was able to enjoy the main quest of Daggerfall in a way that was comfortable and easily playable for myself, which is more than can be said for the clunky DOS the original game is built in. I would not be mad if Oracus0 decided to close it up, call it good, support bugs for a while, and moved on. They’ve done plenty in the way of Skygerfall, and though I’d love to see more I’m also incredibly happy with what I got! I’m pleased as punch, got to roleplay my little idiot moron bosmer in their original context, and then was able to seamlessly integrate them into the world of Skyrim (via Live Another Life, which is supported by Skygerfall) to enjoy the rest of their modlist. I can’t recommend it enough, especially if you want to get a feel for Daggerfall with some of the comfort and convenience of a better engine and less stingy limitations.

[elddansurin]

there’s a pretty good character development questionnaire going around my dash right now, so i took the liberties of filling the entire thing out on my own time, because buddy, you gotta make your own destiny.

1. Who’s the oldest character of yours that you still use? I had to give this one some thought bc my gut reaction was to say Tuo, but it turns out the answer is Falshavo, because I can explicitly remember drawing him in the hazy, far gone year of early 2006 when I was taking a drivers ed course. He started out as either some bastard of a Silent Hill fanchar, or a heavily SH-"inspired" character, and I think he could have at best been called a demon? I was like 16 when I made him, cut me some slack. In any case, Fal has changed very much over the years, most recently into an original species that can best be described as something visually between a satyr and a manticore, but is actually neither of those things. For quite a while he was based out of my one world, Undecim, but recently I decided he and his ilk would be better suited to my OTHER world, Aphelion. As far as motivations go, he's swapped from evil/crazy/malevolent to a much more nap-based personality. Two things that haven't changed since I've made him, though, are that he's blind in one eye and doesn't talk very much. So there's that.

2. Who’s the oldest character of yours, defunct or not? That honor goes to Jonathan, who was definitely and absolutely a FF7 fan character back when that game was new and I was still in my larval stage. He morphed into a mental illness coping mechanism as my childhood went on and he's just had a whole lot of interesting/embarrassing iterations, but I guess that's to be expected of a character I made in fucking 1997. That said, I retired him a few years ago. Tried briefly to bring him back, but I just wasn't feeling 2.0, so I didn't force it.

3. Has creating a character ever made you realize something about yourself? I was GONNA say no, but then it just dawned on me how much time I spent creating gay male characters in my early teen years before THAT realization caught up with the rest of me. I'm not going to say the characters themselves were involved in the inevitable personal revelation (they weren't), but more than anything I just think it's proof that pieces of my brain do not always work as a cohesive whole. I knew before I knew, so to speak, and it showed up in my characters.

4. Any minor characters that have either taken over or branched off into their own stories? UHHHH Your Boy Kolja was initially a primary antagonist in Mikhail's storyline, back before I decided to fundamentally retool a lot of things about Mik's whole deal. But I'm nothing if not predictable, and I'm a guy who loves a good villain, so I ended up making Kolja FAR more fleshed out and engaging than the actual protagonist of the story. Same thing kind of happened with Anzo, who was initially kind of an offshoot wildcard character in the horrible and confusing political landscape of that entire bed of storylines. But uhhh, that didn't last.

5. Do you prefer to make human, animal, monster, or _____ characters? Why? My characters are all unambiguously human/humanoid. Even the monsters are going to have recognizably human faces because I have a hard time getting emotionally invested in a character otherwise. I'm really not sure the reasons for this. There's a few exceptions, ofc, but not many. Peeling off for a sec, in regards to making characters in TES settings, I definitely am biased toward the elven races because if I wanted to make a human character, I'd do so in own properties. Also the human races in the elder scrolls are kind of... underwhelming...

6. When creating a character, do you come up with the visual concept or the written concept first? Written concept, almost every time. The rare exception is usually with minor and/or lore-based characters, like gods or monsters, since I rarely explore those characters as deeply as I do the regular types. But if I'm making Just Some Dude, I'm probably going to have a full written concept drafted out months to years before I ever get a concrete idea (much less an actual depiction) of what he looks like.

7. Do you have characters that you know you’ll never use, but can’t bear to get rid of/recycle? I'm going to have to go ahead and call back on Jon for this one, largely based in both his history and his significance to me and my own development. He was my primary, go-to character for such a long time, I don't think it'd do him justice to ever properly put him out to pasture or recycle (and I'm a chronic recycler, so that's saying something). He kind of exists in a creative limbo, and that's where he's gonna stay.

8. Is there a character that embodies your good traits, or traits you wish you had? Good traits? In all seriousness, probably. Nothing I am consciously aware of, so cop-out answer on this one. I'm also not really one for wish-fulfillment characters, so that's a no on "person I wish I was" aspect, sorry.

9. Is there a character that embodies your bad traits? Several characters? Which ones and what traits? HAHAHA hoo boy. Gavriil is the embodiment of my general shiftlessness and crippling self doubt, Tuo embodies my crushing depression and self-destructive tendencies, Ludo represents my reoccuring fear that I’m stuck in circumstances so far beyond my control that I ought not bother to try and change, and I'm not even gonna TOUCH on which of my boys were created as blatant outlets for trauma. There's a fun little game for you, try and figure that one out yourself.

10. Is there a character that explores your interests or fetishes (orrrr is that just all of you characters)? Uh, flat no on the "fetishes" part, but yeah, most of my characters tap on my significant interests in some way or another. Most concrete example I think is Desoto, who I designed (or, well, redesigned if we're getting technical) when my interest in astronomy was at its peak, back before I realized physics is something I'm terrible at and makes me cry/change my major in college. I still love astronomy and astrophysics on a conceptual level, but the second you break out equations, I'm gone. My Boy Desoto, though, I have designed to be significantly more likely than me to do math, so good for him. Funny enough? I've never made a character who's into geology. You know, my actual field. Go figure.

11. If you have characters that embody certain traits of yours—good or bad—has writing them changed how you view those traits? Has it affected you in any way? Not really, at least I don't think so. I might wake up in the middle of the night with a better answer screaming to my forebrain, but my gut reaction is a no. I tend to go into writing something with fixed views, and I can't recall an instance of me suddenly deciding "hey, actually this thing is good/bad and I never thought of it this way." I've definitely started viewing the characters themselves differently after starting a project, but never really the traits they personify.

12.   Do you fantasize about being any of your characters, or are you more detached? Definitely the latter. I'm not shy about putting pieces of myself into the characters I make, but at the same time, I really do not see myself in them, nor do I wish to. There's a firm level of detachment in that these are my creations, and rarely do I mold the sort of character where I can in good conscience think "yeah, that's who I want to be." A big part of this is that my character creation/world building habits are and always have been rooted in maladaptive daydreaming (and I have only recently figured out the terminology for a phenomenon I was otherwise well aware of, funny how that works), and that has always been based in me trying to distance myself from who I was (and at times, am). I don't want to put myself into new shoes, I want to focus on someone who isn't me, but has weird, tenuous connections to me. If that doesn't make any sense, pretend that it does.

13. Do you create playlists for your characters? No, and that's based mostly in the sad reality that I stopped seeking out new music years ago. That, and I've never been much of an audiophile, so there'd just be so much overlap in any playlists I created that honestly, why bother. That said, I will occasionally listen to something and think "holy shit, this is ___". First example that comes to mind is Motorhead's Dust and Glass, which is very much the anthem for Ludo. Do me a favor and listen to that song, and you will know everything you need to know about Ludo. Also, I’ve got a handful of songs that make me think very much of Gav, but most recently, I decided that Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street is a good song for him. Like, also for me? But mostly Gavriil. It can be both.

14. When writing for specific characters, is there anything you have to do to get into the right mindset? I've gotta be in the right mood, and that's all it comes down to. I'm still trying to figure out the secret to writing something that's counterintuitive to my mood, but I'm not there yet. I know the answer is "just fucking do it," but here's an idea: shut up? I dunno. I'm a very flaky content creator.

15. Which character is your guilty pleasure? Right now, it is absolutely Gavriil. For a long time I had such an issue with allowing myself to have characters based out of properties that weren't my own, so I started out feeling very self-conscious about putting so much time and thought into Gav. I have since made like eight or nine more TES-based characters in his wake, but some residual sentiment still lingers! See also: I still am too self-conscious to publically share the story I've been writing with him. I'm not sure if that's rooted in me playing in somebody else's sandbox, or if the story itself is coming out of a place of extreme personal vulnerability (I wrote the bulk of it during my recent Complete Mental Breakdown™). Or maybe I'm just self-conscious about my writing in general. Who knows! But at the end of the day I absolutely love Gav and I'm having so much fun working with him. Before him was Kolja for many years, and Tuo before that. Don't get me wrong, I still adore the both of those guys, I just have a new focus for the time being.

16. Is there a character of yours who’s a real struggle to write/draw? Why do you think that is? Right now, definitely Anzo. He started out very different from what he's become, and at the end of the day, I'm still not sure what exactly I'm trying to do with him. I was/am trying to write him in a story, but it's been proving very difficult because I'm just not sure what I'm trying to accomplish with him. Initially, his core concept was based very deeply in a revenge fantasy that had gotten out of control (I mean, it was a justified revenge fantasy, but that still doesn't make it healthy, my dude, my guy). but then I started thinking a bit more about the major events in his life, and if I was making him react believably enough to what he'd endured. That, and by this time I was in some genuine, bonified darkness in my own life, and that started leaking out into the character and story very much. Now I'm stepping back and wondering, is this where I want it to go? If the answer is no, then where SHOULD it be going? I don't have an answer to that yet. So he's a hard character to write, at least for now.

17. Which character is the easiest to draw/write? I wanted to say Kolja, based in how enthusiastic I was for him for such a long time. I could tell you his story from birth to death, and there's only a few small threads that are still unclear in my mind. Unfortunately, this level of enthusiasm has left me with the understandably daunting task of, you know, actually writing it down. There's SO MUCH to sift through, and it's like scaling a damn mountain. It's all there, I can see the whole thing, but fuck me if I'm not in for a climb. I started in on it late last year before retreating to work on something on a bit... smaller of a scale. Gotta work my way up to that. That said, the actual easiest character to write right now is, again, Gavriil. Part of it is that enthusiasm I have for him right now, and another part of it is that his story is based on the main quest of Skyrim which, lets be honest, is an underwhelming plot on the whole. So the plot has already been written out by someone else; I don't have to worry about that. Neither do I have to worry about actually depicting the entirity of said plot, because it's not actually an interesting one. And honestly why are you reading a story of a character from Bad Game Skyrim if you don't at least have some cursory knowledge of how that game's plot goes? The interesting part- to me, at least- is the effect it has on my character. That's what I've been focusing on, and it's been fun.

18. Is there anything you really wish you could do, character-design-wise, that you feel is outside your current skillset? A concept that you wish you could pull off but are uncertain about? Visually? A lot. There's a lot that's outside my skillset, because I don't know how to fucking draw. That's why I shy away from drawing characters who, say, I imagine to have unnecessarily complex tattoo designs. Not only do I not feel like putting in the time to actually depict that, but I also lack the talent to properly do so. It also kind of neuters what I can pull off for some of my more outlandish designs, namely gods and monsters. Kjelchaikhan is the only one of the gods I've drawn so far, and not coincidentally, he also has the easiest design to deal with. I started in on trying to draw Tsenmaer before I realized holy shit, the way I picture her in my head is so far beyond what I'm capable of actually doing. I'm not even going to fucking touch on Archaeos, because that design is going to be... even harder!! Conceptually, not so much. It sometimes happens on a small scale, such as how I've designed Ludo to be a boxer when I know little about boxing and I don't honestly care to learn. But at the same time? His story is based far, far more heavily in the shitty circumstances of his life and how he's trying to worm his way out of that than in the actual "punching dudes in the head for money" thing. That was more a tool to tie him in with the questionable, shady shit that I needed him to be shackled to. "Underground boxing circuit" just sounded like as good of an idea as any, so I figured why not. That aside, most anything I want to write about ends up being something I'm either familiar with based on personal experience, or at the very least am interested in researching for story purposes.

19. What’s more important to you: visual design, unique personality, a trendy character aesthetic, etc? If you’re not sure, then what’s the first thing you usually nail down in a character? Definitely the personality and basic concept. I very much enjoy crafting characters that are fleshed out and generally believable, and I am very much terrible at designing them on a visual scale. Do all my characters end up looking the same? Yes. Does this bother me? No. If it did, I'd fucking do something about it. What's important to me is who a character is when you boil away all the set dressing. Who is he on a conceptual level? What are his motivations? His basic structure? My character creation process is me sitting down and saying "I want to make a character who embodies these basic traits, and is based on this core concept," then building from there. Visual design is always, always an afterthought.

20. Do you ever plan to do anything (comic, animation, etc) with your characters? Or are you just happy to have them? For the most part: Nope! My characters exist primarily to make me happy and give me something to think about when I'm tired of thinking about myself and my life. There's a few that I'm working very much to translate into stories, but even then I hem and haw over whether or not to actually share the content I produce. Part of it is I'm much more self-conscious about my writing than my art. Used to very much be the other way around, up until I stopped considering myself an artist. Now I just kind of shit drawings out from time to time, and if people think they're terrible, that's because they are and I put no effort into what I do. It's the other way around with writing. I very much put effort, care and detail into my stories. More than bad reception, I fear no reception, which is to say that I'd put so much effort into something, put it out there, and go completely ignored. I have no issues with "you suck/your work sucks," but absolute indifference cuts me pretty deep on matters like this. So yeah, that's a significant obstacle between me and content sharing. That, and assuming I did find any degree of an audience, putting my work out for someone else's scrutiny makes it SIGNIFICANTLY harder to go back and retcon. And boy oh boy, I am a notorious an unrelenting retconner.