#i do like the faction stuff but it also feels empty

[wizardsix]

it sucks when bad games exist bc usually they'll actually have good foundations for interesting characters/lore but it just. doesn't go anywhere. and it's incredibly frustrating every time. idk what it's gonna take for writers to take their work seriously but I am just so incredibly tired of mediocre writing.

[curioussubjects]

I just finished Veilguard, and...I'm really not sure how I feel about it?

All in all: good game, had fun, but still didn't quite hit some of the highs it wanted to hit and it's still not as good as DA2

(Spoilers galore below for everything)

The Good:

Pretty game is pretty;

Love the codexes, especially the ones written by companions or with their commentary;

Speaking of, the Mementos had so excellent tid bits of lore flavor to them, as well;

Regrets of the Dread Wolf was a damn good quest;

Some truly funny party banter;

I actually thought it was really easy to figure out who my Rook is as I played the game, which was much harder for me to do for my Lavellan in DAI;

And speaking of Lavellan, she was in character she WOULD say that she WOULD do that. Bless;

Everything about Nevarra and the Mourn Watch, I wish there was more content there because I was so into it;

Orb and dagger mage is really fun to play, which was VERY surprising considering I don't play close range ever;

I also really enjoyed destroying blight boils for some reason lmao;

Petting cats (they PURR WHEN YOU DO);

Assan <3;

Taash being so autistic;

Teia and Viago my beloveds;

✨Friendship✨

The Solavellan of it all;

And Solas, too. Love that sadsack disaster man;

Maybe this is super basic of me but I liked Varric's narration...idk it's comforting;

Honestly, just Varric in general was a bit safety blanket in a nice way for me because the game feels overwhelming at first;

There's no party like an all Dalish party!

Exploring -- loved finding all the fun details in each location, and I know I didn't even do enough in my playthrough;

I'm weak for stories about guilt, fear and regret. And I'm even weaker when those stories are so obviously about forgiveness and moving forward. Also love. Always love.

The Bad:

The pacing. I've said this before but DAtV could've used a more explicit arc structure or have quests note which level they're meant for or SOMETHING because some times it seemed I was doing quests too early or too late for when I was in the main story. I also thought events kept oscillating from happening too fast or too slowly, and it very much did get in the way of immersion;

The romance. Literally what are you doing Dragon Age that you fumble the romance. Granted, I only romanced Davrin so far, but I'm getting the sense from looking through the tag that maybe Lucanis' romance also feels a bit off? Honestly I have so many issues with the romance progression for Davrin that it's its own section;

I hope this is only a Veil Jumpers issue, but I thought Rook was so separate from the faction. I felt very little connection to them;

I've seen some people point out NPCs talk to Rook like they're a child, and while I don't really agree with that I do think Rook doesn't have enough opportunities to be knowledgeable in their own right. Especially annoying with a mage Veil Jumper Rook! I miss the Inquisition perk dialogue options that let my Lavellan be a smarty pants;

Holy overdesigned armors! Yikes!

Not all areas are as well developed as the others: Rivain is the most egregiously empty and underdeveloped, but I actually thought Arlathan Forest was super lifeless too. So was the Lighthouse! You get the early game discovery bit and then nothing ever again and it's like oh that was really it huh (and the stuff we did get was so good please more?);

I hate to say this but BioWare missed the mark with Rook's place in the group. The companions seemed connected to each other, yeah, but Rook was like some cross between group therapist and not-so-undercover boss. There was none of the warmth Hawke got from their companions (or the Inquisitor, for that matter!). The game really needed 1. a lighthearted party hangout cutscene and 2. companions coming together to take care of Rook (the fact this isn't even a thing in the romance is bonkers to me);

Taash's personal quest being about choosing between being Rivain and Qunari as if that's how culture works is Bad Actually;

The worst minimap I've ever seen in a game wow;

Also: give me back my beacon marker;

The gods were in a regret prison but what were their regrets exactly we just don't know.

The Bad (Romance Edition):

Again, the pacing! Incredibly slow to start (and not in a slow burn way, mind!) and then super fast in the last third of the game;

In fact, the romance seemed to be running on a completely different level than the rest of the story. The last romance scene was incredibly out of place tonally, especially.

The first two romance titles for Davrin are "Thrill of the Chase" and "Hot and Bothered"...and like WHERE????

Davrin never writes about Rook as a romantic partner or as if he has any concerns with the relationship...which we later find out he has, but was news to me;

Tbh, the romance felt like an afterthought. There were cutscenes that in any other DA game there would've been flirting options, for instance, but this time there was nothing (what do you mean Rook can't make a flirty comment when Davrin is shirtless working out with Taash? It's low hanging fruit!);

Not nearly enough flirty banter between Rook and Davrin, which is nuts considering their personalities;

I'm really super disappointed with Davrin's romance, which sucks because he's actually perfect for my Rook and I really like his character. There was so much potential for a really fun romance that was both tense and sexy, but also sweet. But no. Secret good Davrin romance that exists in my head save me.

The ???:

Southern Thedas got scorched when the North didn't how?

Please tell me who was catfishing Andraste;

Making enemies super aggro on Rook unless you specifically have companions taunting was very weird.

[simpforchuchu]

Hello! I was wondering if you could do sachio from high and low the worst x reader!

Sachio x Raoh's Best Friend with Suzuran Boys & Housen Boys

a/n: Wow it's been really a long time... I know... Im sorry but yk i've been really not okay.I watched HnL The Worst X last week and wanted to write smth... Im not very confident about writing anymore... But i hope you like it ♥️♥️

And i cleaned my requests.I mean most of them... I kept some of them cause i want to write them :') If i can be ready again, I will open the requests... Love you 🥺♥️

• Sorry for the grammer or spelling mistakes.English is not my main language so...

• Thank you and love you 🥰

Warnings: gangs stuffs, violence but fluff in the end

It was a cool afternoon. It was getting dark. Suzuran's Raoh faction were all sitting together.

"Y/n-chan said she'd come here after school. Is she coming? You know?"

Mercy shook his head at what Raoh said

"Binzo will accompany her. I told him to pick up y/n when he said he was close to her school."

Raoh nodded, showing he is understanding, and continued to eat the sandwich in his hand. He had a bad feeling, but he didn't need to worry as she was with his friend.

While the Suzuran's Raoh faction was talking among themselves, Binzo and Yn were walking through the empty streets towards Suzuran. Binzo was someone who was feared by everyone. Known as a zombie, this boy was actually quite emotional and fun with his loved ones.

Although Binzo loved and felt close to this girl who his leader was close to, being alone with a girl made him a little nervous.

Y/n wasn't like the boys in Suzuran. All they knew was to fight and shout. He still thought that Y/n didn't belong in their world.

Still, he would listen to her, make little jokes and not show her the scary face he showed everyone so that the young girl wouldn't feel shy.

Y/n was like everyone's lil sister in Suzuran...

The conversation, which was calm and talked about a few daily events, was interrupted when Binzo sensed that something was wrong. The young man wiped his smile and slowed down.  He looked around silently, it was very quiet.

"Is there a problem Binzo-san?"

With the voice of the young girl, Binzo came a little closer to her. He was absolutely sure that something was wrong. When he looked around a little more, he saw someones coming on the opposite road with pipes in their hands, he quickly took the girl behind him.

He wasn't afraid for himself, he didn't care about the numbers. He could handle it. But if one of them got to Y/n, things could get ugly.

"Binzo-san... they..."

Binzo quickly turned to y/n and smiled.

"Yn-chan, listen to me carefully. Follow the road straight to the right. And don't look back okay?"

"Oi Binzo! Stop worrying about the bitch next to you and let's get down to business!"

Although Binzo was angry with the voice he heard, he remained calm for y/n. Yn was looking at him with fear, not wanting to leave him.

"But... no! I won't leave you alone. They are too many."

Binzo laughed and patted the young girl's head.

"Leave them to me, okay? Just run and don't look back. Don't forget to call the boys when you get a chance."

"But-"

Yn's word was cut when Binzo punched someone.

"Y/n-chan! RUN!"

As the young man shouted, y/n started running. She felt so bad for leaving him there, but she was going to bring him help.

...

The young girl was running down the road, panting. It was starting to get dark. She looked behind her from time to time to see if anyone was following her.

After a while, when she saw that she was very tired and there was no one behind her, she took her phone out of her pocket and stopped. She quickly called Mercy, who was the last one to call her. The phone was picked up on the second ring.

Mercy answered the phone with a smile.

"Y/n-chan-"

"Mashii-san!"

Mercy quickly stood up when he heard the young girl's breathless and frightened voice.

"Hey, something wrong? What happened? Are you okay y/n-chan?"

Raoh and Magoroku also got up and approached Mercy, and Mercy put the phone on speaker.

Y/n tried to restrain her breathing

"Someone blocked our way. There were too many of them and they had pipes-"

As the young girl's eyes filled with tears, her voice trembled as well. Raoh asked with anger and fear.

"Y/n... where is Binzo? Wasn't he with you?"

Her voice trembled even more when she remembered that she had left Binzo.

"He... he sent me away. I didn't want to leave him, but he told me to run-"

Mercy understood what was happening when a small sob was heard from the young girl.

"Y/n-chan, calm down okay? Binzo can handle this. Where are you? Are you okay?"

Y/n looked around and tried to find where she was.

"I... I don't know. I think I'm close to Housen. I'm fine, but Binzo-san-"

Mercy was trying to keep his tone soft to calm her down, but it was getting harder when he saw how angry Raoh was.

"Okay, don't worry. Listen carefully y/n-chan. If you can reach Housen, find Odajima Yuken. And tell him I sent you. We'll find Binzo, but you must be safe."

Y/n nodded

"I guess I'm not too far away Mashii-san-"

"Oi! I found you!"

Y/n was startled by the sound and the phone being taken from her hand, and a small scream escaped her mouth.

"Y/n-chan! Y/n? Hey! Fuck!"

Everyone in the room was staring nervously at him as Mercy shouted on the other end of the phone. Raoh and the others followed without asking anything as he hung up the phone and hurried out the door.

...

Y/n backed up and took a few steps back with the person standing in front of her, whom she didn't know but was sure he wasn't a good person.

"Did you really think you could escape? We're going to teach the bastards with you a good lesson"

The young girl frowned and looked at the boy in front of her. She was trying not to show him that she was afraid. When the boy saw that the young girl did not say anything, he angrily grabbed her arm and began to drag the young girl after him.

Y/n tried to resist and at the first opportunity she found, she pulled her arm and punched the boy in front of her with all her might.

The girl started to run that the boy without even realizing what had happened. But her fist didn't affect the boy in front of her much, he ran quickly, caught her and grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground.

The young girl fell to her knees in pain. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to protect herself with her arm, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes in surprise, and she saw a tall, nice boy gripping that boy's arm tightly.

It all happened in seconds. The tall boy knocked the other boy down and his friends, who were waiting behind him, also approached him.

As the young girl watched what was going on in surprise, when she saw the tall boy approaching her, she wanted to back away in fear, but the boy stopped his movements.

"Calm down, I know you're scared, but we won't hurt you." 

Immediately after his words, he slowly extended his hand and smiled at y/n.

Although Y/n wasn't sure, she took the hand and stood up. When she got up, her knees hurt when she fell, she had trouble keeping her balance and she held on tightly to the boy next to her.

The boy smiled when he noticed this.

"I'm Sachio and they're my friends."

Y/n looked at the face that was looking at her and smiled. She shook her head and looked at the other boys as well.

"I... Im y/n. You're from Housen right? I heard your name from Raoh."

When Sachio looked at the young girl in surprise, Yuken smiled and approached the young girl.

"Y/n, L/n... Right? You're close with the boys in Suzuran."

Yuken smiled as Y/n nodded and turned to Sachio.

"I heard that they have a girl in Suzuran and that she is quite close with Raoh and the others. But what I don't understand is why are you here alone at this hour and who were you running from? Why did X high school attack you?"

Y/n slowly removed her hands and straightened herself up and spoke in fear.

"Me and Binzo were walking. Someone blocked us. He sent me away. I didn't want to go but he didn't listen to me. I..."

Sachio patted her back to comfort her

"Binzo wanted to protect you. If you were there he couldn't focus on the fight, it's better that way."

Y/n shook her head and looked at the boy on the floor with what came to her mind.

"He... he took my phone. He caught me whil3 talking to Mashii-san. They must be very worried."

Yuken walked over to the boy on the floor, checked his pockets and showed the phone in his pocket.

"Is this- ?"

Y/n nodded

"Here you go"

Y/n gave a small thank you and called Mercy again with trembling hands.

"Y/n-chan? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"I... I'm fine Mashii-san. I found the Housen leaders as you told me. Actually, they found me, but this is insignificant..."

When a relief sound came from the other side, y/n asked scared

"Binzo-san... is he okay?"

Mercy chuckled

"Don't you know him? Don't worry, very well. We'll come to you after we're done here, don't be afraid, they're not the type to hurt you."

"I know"

Mercy smiled

"Can you give the phone to Yuken?"

Y/n handed the phone to Yuken. Listening to her on the phone, Sachio was observing the young girl. His eyes frowned when he saw the wounds and blood flowing from her knees.He looked around and thought it was best to go back to school when he couldn't see a shop.

Y/n didn't know what to do when her eyes met with those staring at her. Sachio smiled to not make her feel uncomfortable.

"Your knees are injured, does it hurt a lot?"

Y/n slowly nodded

"It hurt a little but not much. I'm fine, thank you Sachio-san"

Sachio smiled and looked at Yuken who was coming towards them. Yuken handed the phone over to her and smiled.

"They'll be coming to school soon, so I guess we'd better go there."

Sachio nodded and they started walking towards Housen.

...

When they arrived at the school, y/n sat on one of the armchairs and Sawamura came in with a few bandages and antiseptic in his hand. When Sachio took the things from Sawamura's hands and bent over the young girl, y/n looked at him in surprise. Sachio smiled and poured antiseptic on the cotton.

"It looks bad, it could get infected if we don't clean it."

Y/n nodded silently. She was a little embarrassed, but she couldn't take her eyes off the boy who was cleaning her knees. Even though the alcohol hurt her, she tried not to show it. When Sachio noticed this, he smiled and put the band-aids on her knees.

Y/n was sitting quietly on the sofa. There was no one else in the room except Housen's leaders. She was used to being in the same room with men, but it felt weird that they were so nice to her as she always heard them with their brutality. She wanted to have a little chat to ease the tension.

"I thought everyone in Housen was bald"

Yuken laughed at what was said and the others laughed as well. Sachio smiled and shook his head.

"Everyone shaves their hair except the leaders, yes"

Y/n chuckled too and shook her head.

"I thought you were enemies with my friends, why did you help me?"

Sachio smiled at the question and shook his head.

"It's true that there is animosity between the two schools, it's true that we don't get along with Raoh, but I guess we're not enemies. Besides, we're not guys who would hurt a girl."

Y/n nodded and smiled

“Mashii-san trusts you. Especially to Yuken-san. He told me to ask you for help.”

Yuken smiled and waved

"No matter how many times we fight, Mashii and I are friends, so... I guess."

Y/n laughed and nodded. Just then, when Raoh and his friends entered the room, y/n quickly stood up and ran towards Raoh.

"Raoh!"

Raoh turned his gaze from Sachio to y/n and smil.When the young girl came to him, he hugged her tightly and checked her.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Y/n nodded and smiled.

"Just a small wound, but I'm fine. Sachio-san helped me clean them up."

Raoh looked at Sachio, who got up from the couch and walked towards them, then to her knees.

Raoh saw y/n as his sister, actually y/n was definitely his sister. Since y/n had helped him in the past, they became friends and then the bond grew stronger.

He also knew that Housen wouldn't hurt her, but he still didn't like his opponent's approach to y/n.Sachio, on the other hand, thought y/n was Raoh's girl, so he couldn't help the feeling of jealousy growing inside him.

Y/n was a great girl. The Raoh faction loved her very much. Now she was sure to stole the hearts of the Housen men as well. Especially Sachio Ueda's...

Raoh looked at Sachio seriously when he stopped in front of him, and Sachio too. When Y/n felt the tension between the two of them, she looked around and smiled broadly at Binzo she saw in the back.

"Binzo-san!"

Binzo laughed and ruffled her hair as Y/n walked over to Binzo with a big smile and hugged him.

"I'm fine kiddo, don't worry."

Y/n nodded and muttered quietly.

"I'm so sorry I left you-"

Binzo gave her a small flick on her forehead and laughed.

"I told you to go, I couldn't focus on the fight if you were there."

As y/n nodded and smiled, Magaroku patted the young girl's head as well, and y/n looked at them with a bigger smile.

At that moment, Raoh was thanking Sachio.Sachio shook his head with a serious expression.

"There's nothing to thank, and I know you would do the same."

Raoh shook his head.

"You have a sister too, you know well what it means to be a big brother"

Raoh nodded as Sachio looked at him confused.

"Y/n is their friend but she is my family. She is only 2 years younger but she sees me as her older brother."

Sachio nodded and smiled

"Lucky you, she's a nice person. And you should have seen the determination in her eyes when we found her. I wouldn't say she's strong, but she's definitely not a coward."

Raoh grinned at y/n and smiled

"She grew up with me"

Y/n came to them again, interrupting the conversation between the two of them.

"I... Sachio-san.... Thank you and the others so much. Really."

Sachio smiled and shook his head as Y/n bowed

"Be more careful from now on,,they must know you."

Y/n nodded.

Raoh interrupted their meaningful but meaningless look and called to y/n

"Let's go now y/n"

Y/n nodded and waved to the others. Thanking him again, she looked at Sachio and smiled.

"See you Sachio-san!"

Sachio smiled slightly and waved. He wanted to see her again too...

[riagraie]

The Extinct People of Balance: Harmonizers pt3

ok- uh- lmao. when i started making these lore drops, i did not realize i would have so much to write down so HERES PART THREE????

recap, part one i talked about where harmonizers came from what the lost realm is what is in the lost realm how the lost realm fell

recap, part two i talked about what harmonizers are specifically their physical traits, both human like and non-human like the abilities/powers of harmonizers the two factions of harmonizers

if you haven't read the first two parts, i recommend looking at them bc ill reference a lot of stuff in this part.

again, if you have any questions or comments about the lore send me asks, reblog the post, or comment on it!

also, mild tw for this part? ninjago spoilers maybe? mentions of suicide (only kinda)

Social Construct of Harmonizers

As I mentioned in part two, Harmonizers have two factions that look different and have different powers, the lords and ladies of Peace or Chaos. Now based on their names, you may think there is consistent conflict between them like there is for Oni and Dragons.

But nope! Lords and Ladies of Peace and Chaos live in harmony, they don't fight each other and there's rarely conflict because of the mutual respect the factions have for each other. They live in the same cities in the same towns, and no one cares which faction you belong to, everyone's a Humanizer.

In fact, they can even have kids together. Yep, a lord or lady of peace or chaos can have a baby with the opposite gender of the same or a different faction!

How do kids work?

Ok so, for an example, if a Lady (female) of Chaos has a baby with a Lord (male) of Peace, the baby would either be a lord or lady of ONE of the factions. It is nearly impossible for the two factions to merge because it means merging the Essences of Peace and Chaos too.

What happens instead is depending on the ancestors, the child can have a greater chance to fall into one faction versus the other. Its really just dependent on genetics.

The child can also have the faction appearances of the non-human traits (like the eyes) but have the other characteristics from the other faction (like white hair versus black hair).

For example, a child born from both factions could look mostly like a Person of Peace but actually be part of the People of Chaos because of their powers.

Bringing up the fact of offspring leads into the idea of how relationships work for Harmonizers.

Soul Locks

So, for Harmonizers, there is this thing called a Soul Lock. It's basically kinda like a mating bond if your one of those fantasy book readers, or imprinting for those familiar with twilight lmao. I just decided to call it a Soul Lock bc I think it sounds cooler.

Harmonizers only have one partner, they cannot love another person after they find their soulmate as their soul locks onto their soulmates and they become eternally bonded to that person. They could try to be with other people before their soul becomes locked, but often times it doesn't work out.

Fate is set for Harmonizers so that, as long as nothing drastic like death happens, soulmates will always find one another. Usually, a Harmonizer can find their soulmates and become Soul Locked as early as 16 years old, but it's rare.

Once a Harmonizer's soul becomes locked, they are unable, literally, to feel romantic feelings towards another person. They could still thing, "damn that person's attractive" but they couldn't feel anything romantic towards that other person.

This also means soulmates are literally born for one another, they are made to be together based on personality and physical appearances.

It's another reason why Harmonizers never have conflict between factions, because everyone knows it's not worth fighting over love when everyone gets one.

A Soul Lock also means that if a partner dies before the other, the one left living will feel empty as literally part of their soul leaves when their lover dies. This often time means the remaining lover will sometimes follow their lover into the afterlife.

Sometimes, remaining partners will stay if there are children involved or if there's a family member in need, but otherwise, most times partners only last around 3 months after their lover dies.

As for Hanna and Fuwa, who are Humanizers and have non-Humanizer lovers, this still works. Hanna is Soul Locked to Lloyd and Fuwa was Soul Locked to her lover too.

It's awkward, but Fuwa's lover was also Soul Locked to Fuwa. The awkwardness is because of Hanna and Lloyd, it's a bit different for them. I'll explain why in the post where I finally disclose my Lloyd Au headcanons lol.

Tradition and Rituals

So before I discuss this part, I have to explain how aging for Harmonizers works.

They can live to be upwards of 4500 years old, some living as far as 5000 if their lucky. They reach adulthood at the age of 18, at the same time their body's aging process dramatically slows.

Meaning, for the first 18 years of a Harmonizer's life, they age as a human would. But once they reach 18, they will look very young for hundreds of years.

Because of this, they have different things that happen during their life. This part allows for kids to grow up with stability and for adults to live peacefully.

The first one is the Faction Discovery Ceremony.

This ceremony happens when a Harmonizer turns 5 years old and as the name states, this ceremony is how Harmonizers determine which of the two factions a child will be a part of.

Before the ceremony, Harmonizer's will not have any of the skin markings or horn shapes which align with a specific faction. Instead, their horns will be straight and their skin clear of markings. Their eyes are also normal with the whites being white and pupils being black.

During the ceremony, the horns will take their shape and their skin will produce the markings which align with their faction. Also during the ceremony, the children involved will be able to access their faction's essence for the first time.

The second is the Royalty Council.

This happens when Harmonizers turn 18, or become adults. By this point in a Harmonizer's life, they have discovered which faction they are apart of, they might've found their Soulmates, and they have a fairly good handle on their powers.

Thus, this ceremony happens to determine who will be the new leaders of The Lost Realm and in turn, the Harmonizers. This ceremony happens once every thousand years, but that isn't that long for the Harmonizers. The leadership of the Lost Realm is called the King and Queen of Serenity.

In the ceremony will be any and all Harmonizers who are 18 years old. They come from the entire Lost Realm to the capital city where the royal family is based. It ends up being a two week long celebration of the transition of power to new leaders.

The first week is mostly goodbyes to the current royal family, including any children involved. Then, at the end of the first week is the Rise. The Rise is a night during the Royalty Council where two people, usually a lord and a lady (though same gendered leadership has happened) will have a new marking appear on their shoulder.

This marking is what determines who will be the next leaders. The marking would fade from the current King and Queen and appear on the new people. The marking is a fancy yin yang.

Usually, the people chosen are those from both factions. For example, a new king could be a Lord of Chaos and in turn, the new queen would be a Lady of Peace. These people are, most of the time, soulmates as well.

The ceremony concludes with the remaining time celebrating the new royal couple.

The third tradition/ritual is Donning of Motherhood

Harmonizers are a species who basically worship mothers, during a pregnancy, the entire community works together to support the pregnant lady in anyway she needs. During birth, the mother is loved and supported, and those who have it use their powers to ease the pain of childbirth.

Once the baby is born, the father and parents of the child then plan whats called the Donning of Motherhood, which is basically a ceremony which welcomes in the new Harmonizer and acknowledges the hard work of the mother.

Usually, this ceremony happens a week to 3 months after a baby is born, all depending on how the mother is feeling. Also during this ceremony, the baby will have his or her horns begin sprouting from their scalp and their nails turn black.

This is needed because baby Harmonizers are born without horns to help the mother during birth. The black nails is just because why not lol.

Is government real?

Ignoring the silliness of the question, the Harmonizers also have a form of government. Though, it is mostly just a stand alone thing for travelers. Travelers because The Lost Realm was open for other realms to access and other people/species to visit.

Because of those coming and going, there were laws and things like that. The way that their government is a little odd because it's random. They don't vote, magic chooses the leadership of The Lost Realm.

No one knows why the realm does this for the Harmonizers, all they know is that it helps keep the realm stable.

The royals are called the King and Queen of Serenity, as I mentioned before. The Royal Council Ceremony happens every 1000 years, so each King and Queen gets a reign of 1000 years. You may be thinking this is a long time, but, it's not. Time moves differently in The Lost Realm so it feels more like 50 years for them.

The King and Queen, as I also mentioned, are soulmates. So, while king and queen, they could have children. The Donning of Motherhood ceremony for royal children is of course much bigger than others as the entire realm celebrates the birth of a royal child rather than just a community.

This child will be born with the same symbol of royalty as their parents have, and the symbol will fade during a Royalty Council ceremony.

Discord

So, I've briefly mentioned how Discord, or the Power of Discord has only ever existed in two Harmonizers, they being Fuwa and Hanna. Just as a note, Hanna is Fuwa's descendant.

As I've also mentioned before, the combination of both essences is the Power of Discord, which has only every been used by Fuwa and Hanna. I explain more about the characteristics of the Power of Discord in part 2.

Similarly, they are also the only two instances of the factions merging. Hanna and Fuwa carry the traits of both factions. Like I said in part 2, most Harmonizer's looks resonate with the faction they belong too. But because Hanna and Fuwa are part of both factions but also not in a way, they have completely different characteristics.

Eyes Hanna and Fuwa have metallic silver irises as the Power of Discord is represented by metallic silver. They also have white pupils, and the whites of their eyes are black.

Horns Hanna and Fuwa have 2 "sets" of horns, one set is a darker gray and is more physically like the horns of People of Chaos. They have another set thats pure white and are more like the antlers seen with People of Peace.

Hair Hanna and Fuwa have the natural mix of black and white hair. The two colors are usually always a perfect balance. I'll explain why I said usually in the next part.

Skin Markings Hanna and Fuwa also have traits of skin markings from both factions. For them, they are the color of the People of Chaos but the size and shape of markings seen with People of Peace.

Something else important about the Power of Discord, is why it happened. Thus, story time. This happens before the Lost Realm fell btw.

The Invaders were full force in their attacks on the Harmonizers, the stress they were under also put the Realm under stress. Because of this, for an unknown reason, a random couple who lived fairly close to an active war zone gave birth to a baby girl. The couple was a Lord of Peace and a Lady of Chaos. The baby girl was completely different to the norms of the world. She had silver eyes and during the Donning of Motherhood ceremony, she grew 2 sets of horns off the bat. Similarly, during the Faction Discovery Ceremony, she didn't fit into either faction, but she also fit into both. This child was Fuwa, the first user of the Power of Discord as she named it later. The royal family were given visions, they told them that the Realm created Fuwa and her abilities to stop the invaders. Which, she did. On her 18th birthday, Fuwa joined the loosing fight against the invaders. Because of being in battle, Fuwa was clueless that she would become the next Queen of Serenity. The same battle, her soulmate died before she had the chance to meet him. By the age of 25, the majority of the realm Fuwa lived in was dead, both her people, and the Realm's magic in general. Thus, she had to make a big decision, one that made her kill the entirety of her species, and destroy the Realm she called home.

So, the Power of Discord was created by the magic of The Lost Realm to try and stop the invaders. The power did in the end, but it also meant that Fuwa was the last living Harmonizer in the now 16 realms.

Fuwa traveled around the other realms until she landed at the Realm of Oni and Dragon where she met the First Spinjitzu Master. With Fuwa's help, the FSM was able to leave his realm and go to Ninjago. In Ninjago, Fuwa helped the FSM defeat Wojira and solidify the magic of the realm using the Realm Essence left from The Lost Realm.

In my AU, the reason why Ninjago is split between the land of Ninjago and the Dark Island, and why it looks like a yin-yang is because of the essence of The Lost Realm, it created balance and in the end also made it so that the FSM couldn't have what he wanted, a realm without any darkness.

Fuwa would end up becoming Soul Locked to a human male, a user of Magic which allowed him to live a long time. They had a baby girl together. Before her death, Fuwa had visions about Hanna and the threats she would face (I'll explain more on that in the next part).

Because of what her visions said, Fuwa created three artifacts which allowed her to split the Power of Discord into four things, the artifacts, and the genetics of Fuwa's daughter. However, the power which resided in her daughter would be locked, unable to be used or extracted until the bloodline reached Hanna.

This also meant all of the traits of Harmonizers also went dormant but consistently passed down from parent to child. Hanna would end up being the first person in thousands of years to both use the Power of Discord, and be the first Harmonizer seen since Fuwa's death.

Because the power was locked, unable to be used, it grew in power. For comparison, Fuwa's power would be the equivalent to Firstborne's (the FSM's mother?? or the leader of all dragons ) or the Omega (The FSM's father??? or the leader of all oni). Whereas Hanna's power would be equivalent to a Source Dragons (DRAGONS RISING MENTION OMG) or all three of the Oni Warlords Hatred, Deception, and Vengeance (The warlords power, not the masks).

So, obviously, I still have a shit ton of stuff to explain. But, everything about Harmonizers and The Lost Realm specifically has been explained (for the most part). I really thought this was going to be the last part but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

i need a nap or smth bro what the flip.

[herrscherofmagic]

At the risk of being overly pessimistic, I've got some thoughts to share about HI3rd and Part 2 and whatnot. This is more of a vent post than any proper discussion or analysis but I want to share these thoughts somewhere because it's been on my mind for ages, and learning that the new UI comes tomorrow with the new patch has finally pushed me to write this.

Regarding Part 2, I will say that I'm willing to give it a shot. I know quite a few people (at least in some parts of the honkai community) felt a bit iffy about the Salt Snow Holy City arc, but I ended up loving it. So even though I haven't even started the current Fu Hua story arc, I do want to catch up and continue with the story.

But when I think about the past of HI3rd... I can't help but feel a genuine pain at the wasted potential of this game, its stories, and its characters.

There's a charm about early HI3rd that I really enjoy, partially out of nostalgia but also thinking about what could've been. So far, it seems like Mihoyo is intent on going full steam ahead and moving on. I don't see any sight of older valkyries being given minor updates (i.e. voicelines and basic animations/emoting), nor the early story being reworked, and even the original UI is getting straight-up replaced with a new design theme.

What do I think about when I think "early HI3rd"?

Hyperion. St. Freya. Shicksal. AE.

Of course this includes classic stuff like the White Comet battlesuit, or the early story arcs like the Battle of Schicksal.

But I'm also thinking about the incredibly neglected Armada and Dorm systems.

I'm thinking about all the different Valkyries and Valkyrie squads that we're told exist, yet only serve the tiniest slivers of roles in the story. The Phosdjinns (Susannah's old squad). Wendy & the Valkyries at the Schicksal base she was stationed at. Jackal, before she quit Schicksal and joined AE. Ana Schariac. Alvitr. Ragna.

I'm thinking about the fact that we still know virtually nothing about Bianka's brief stay at St. Freya. Or about how Rita struggled to become an S-Rank Valkyrie as a relatively normal person who had no stigmata like Bianka nor Herrscher powers like Kiana.

In terms of aesthetics, I think about the bright colors we associate with Hyperion and the old menus.

I think about all the old weapons & stigmata, and even the new ones, and how they have tiny descriptions that hint as so many interesting things behind the scenes. AE's Project: MEI, for instance, or Schicksal's St. 1504 labs.

I remember how often some people used to go "oh Genshin, pffft whatever, Honkai is so much better and it has cool animations and songs and it's Depression Impact and all that stuff!!!" and I used to agree with that. In some cases I still do.

But then I think about how EMPTY HI3rd feels. Genshin has some issues, but it's story has continuously been getting better, and the early content is still a fairly solid foundation. There's tons of interesting lore archives and hidden details across countless weapons, texts, and archive entries. You can learn so much about the past of Mondstadt's Aristocracy or the civilization of Sal Vindagnyr, or about the Yakshas, and Adpeti, or the 5 Inazuma sword-forging schools, and Enkanomiya, and so on.

But there's almost nothing about Schicksal or AE. We know almost nothing about how these two factions operate, aside from "they have a bunch of fancy tech".

Hyperion's not the only flying ship Schicksal has. Aside from Helios we also see and hear about others like the shuttle that the Immortal Blades used in Arc City, or the large ships we see flying in the background of the Armada home screen.

Where are those ships built? Who's crewing them? What does Schicksal do with all these resources? How are the Valkyries in these ships and stationed in bases across the world fighting Honkai in their own way?

What about AE? Sure AE has robots, but robots alone aren't enough. AE still needs leaders and people to make decisions. We know about the obvious Welt, Tesla, and Einstein. But what about Raiden's father, Raiden Ryoma, who we saw play an active role helping AE in the Second Eruption? How does he use ME to help support AE's operations? Are there others like him who make their own investments and sacrifices to help protect their corner of the world?

What was Susannah's life like before and after she joined the Phosdjinns? What about the Phosdjinns themselves? We know a tiny bit about them: their squad leader, Matilla, seemed to come to lead the squad after the past leader died in combat. The other member, Zofia, seemed to promise the old squad leader to protect Matilla. And Matilla chose Susannah herself, so she may be at least partly responsible for getting Susannah up to the point where she could join the Immortal Blades.

What's their story?

What about Ragna and the Valkyrie Assault Squad? I remember there was a CG long ago, Idk if it was permanent content or a temporary event CG, but it revealed that Ragna knew both Rita & Bianka as well as Himeko. So the same person that trained Himeko and led her into battle also gave guidance to Rita and Bianka. What was her life like? How were these incredibly influential Valkyries changed by this role model they have in common?

And speaking of Rita... in the Meow Town Escape event, Rita told Susannah how she had to work hard to join the Immortal Blades and become an S-ranker. Rita has no legendary stigma like Bianka, nor is she a Herrscher like Kiana, nor a MANTIS like Hua. So how did she get to become an S-rank? What trials did she endure, what sacrifices did she have to make?

What about Sin Mal? What happened to Cocolia's orphanage after the failure of the X-10 experiment? How did Cocolia end up working with AE, and how did she end up serving as an agent(?) for World Serpent as well?

Speaking of Cocolia, what happened to her after the Second Eruption? She went from being a minor officer in the Red Army in the middle of Siberia, to running an orphanage that also ran a secret set of experiments. What did she endure in all those years?

There's so much more I could go on about. Wendy, Ana, pre-World Serpent Jackal, Alvitr, Amber, Dr. Nagamitsu, Sin Mal.

All these characters have hints of their stories throughout the game. Sometimes it's a small set of flashbacks, some are fortunate enough to star in a single arc, and some are unfortunate enough to get most of their character development in temporary events.

And of course St. Freya itself could do with more screentime since most of that story is told through manga, not even in the game itself.

But all of these details lead... nowhere.

HI3rd is full of countless seeds of stories, little snippets that tell us that there's so much more beyond the story of our main trio. These characters don't all need full story arcs, of course not. The main story is written and done (though I think the first few chapters deserve a solid remake).

But there could've been something more. Archive entries, weapon & stigmata descriptions, new Valkyrie Chronicles episodes, etc. Schicksal HQ OW could've been revamped to tell us more about the Immortal Blades, Otto, Amber, and Dr. Nagamitsu. Sakura Samsara could've been polished to meet modern standards, giving both Kallen and Sakura fans better content without having to write them into a new part of the story.

Heck, I even think Mihoyo could've even released a "St Freya semi-open world". Make a "Chapter 0" prologue that takes place in Nagazora when Mei awakens her Herrscher power and when she & Kiana meet Bronya. Then make a couple of short story missions mandatory in the Schicksal semi-open world, then lead that into Chapter 1. That way the Main trio gets a proper introduction and we're not thrown into an in-progress story with no proper beginning.

Then that Schicksal semi-open world could have been filled with all sorts of content that develop the early story without having to cram lots of stuff into the post-Selene events. Short slice-of-life stories in the St. Freya school days, little peeks at the past life of Himeko and Theresa, archive entries telling us more about Schicksal & St. Freya.

Players that want to advance the main story can do so almost right away, just with a bit of extra context going into the action. But old & new players alike could revisit this era of Honkai and learn more about these beloved characters, and the rest of the story could continue as-is without having to cram extra story arcs elsewhere somehow.

I've been thinking about all this stuff for months, hell maybe a couple years now. As someone who plays HI3rd, Genshin, and HSR, and enjoys all 3 games equally, I like to see how these games can all learn from one another. HI3rd has so, so much room to grow as a game and as a story experience, and Genshin & HSR provide a lot of examples of ways this can be done.

There's a lot of room to adjust the early story of HI3rd and add content without bogging down the pacing of the main sequence of events, just like Genshin & HSR have lots of side content like character stories, stuff that's important and enjoyable but also isn't part of the main story and doesn't get in the way of those events.

But as far as I can tell... none of this is ever going to happen. At least not anytime soon.

Part 2 is here, and the new UI is coming. We'll soon get introduced to a new cast of characters, and new stories will be told.

But I don't agree with the whole "let the past stay in the past" thing here, because these aren't finished stories. HI3rd has countless untold and unfinished stories already.

I think expanding on the stories of these characters and organizations will only improve the rest of the game.

Learning about Jackal's past will make her more than just a mustache-twirling villain that throws a tantrum when Senti breaks her toys.

Learning about Wendy will make her an actual character and not a shitty "look at this character and their sad back story, oh no they turned evil, oh no they died off-screen! how sad :(" character.

Learning about Himeko's past is obviously going to make her sacrifice feel more impactful. Final Lesson was already sad, but what if we had in-game story content that showed us what happened to her when her father died, and when she joined Schicksal? What if we got to witness her growth under Ragna's leadership and the way her life was changed when Ragna died?

All of these characters could benefit from a bit more backstory, even the Main Trio. Exploring these early stories would make HI3rd's setting feel so much more alive and thought-out. Not everyone cares that much about these characters, but Mihoyo has the power to give them a reason to care.

I know not everyone likes the way the Elysian Realm story played out, but I think nearly all of us can agree that the Elysian Realm did a great job at presenting the story of the Flame-chasers. We get archive entries that tell us key scenes of their past, and we interactions with them that show us their personalities. But so many other characters outside of the Elysian Realm get nothing like that.

Obviously implementing even some of these ideas would take a lot of time and effort. I understand why Mihoyo might've chosen not to address the early story, because for a given amount of resources they're gonna make more profit off of continuing to move on and make new characters and focus the story around them.

But knowing why things happen doesn't stop me from being disappointed about them. Even if Part 2 turns out positively, that won't fix all the broken things in Part 1.

As I write this, I'm listening to one of the Genshin OSTs from the Narzissenkreuz Ordo. Having finished that world quest series recently, I keep thinking about just how incredible that story was. The story of these characters and the tragedy they endured reminds me so much of the struggle of the Flame-chasers. But that was all side-content. It was unvoiced quests with minor characters with simple models. But they had so much life to them. They had interesting motives to push them through the story, and they had interesting connections with each other. The story of the Narzissenkreuz is just one part of the many intertwined stories of Teyvat, and it's a beautiful part.

And then I think about HI3rd, and I wish I could have this same experience with HI3rd, where I could think about the lives of these characters and their motives and the struggles they go through, but I just can't. Not without diving fully into the realm of fanfiction and dreaming up stories that give these characters the life they never got to live, and which they may never get to live in the canon of HI3rd.

All these seeds of stories that were planted years ago and neglected ever since. Never watered, never sprouting, never getting to see the sun.

[yume-x-hanabi]

So I've played enough Veilguard that I've finally recruited all companions. I've been enjoying the game so far, but ngl I really miss Inquisition in many ways. I think I'll replay it after this (but I need to finish Zelda too, aaah so many games, so little time).

Anyway, some thoughts so far. (If you respond, please keep your response spoiler free for anything that happens after recruiting the last two companions.)

The three main things I really miss from Inquisition are:

1. Exploration

Like I know, there's a lot to do on the areas we get, but... idk, it feels kinda linear and disconnected at the same time. I really loved how vast the zones in DAI were, like there's this meme about never leaving the Hinterlands but honestly that's what got me hooked to the game in the first place, there was just so much to explore, it felt like the possibilities were endless. Here it's a bit too much like Xillia lol, follow a path, maybe come back later to open up new zones, but otherwise it's pretty linear. (ik it's closer to DAO and DA2 in that regard so it's not like they're changing the formula entirely, but personally I preferred the DAI style and I really miss it.)

2. Skyhold

I know it fits the circumstances better, but... the Lighthouse feels so empty. I miss how bustling the homebase was. I miss going to the companions and talking to them about random stuff. I miss the NPC populating the area (you can find them in other cities mind you, but it's not the same thing if you have to travel to different places instead of just hearing their ambient dialogue as you run around your own castle). I miss the war table missions.

3. Getting a feel of your character from early on

I like Rook but gosh building up headcanon for her is a struggle. We're told next to nothing about her background, so ig you could feel like "great, a blank slate to headcanon in any way" except wrong, because you'll then get details that contradict it later on. I really, really wish they'd either been clearer about certain stuff in the character creator, or even better, let you set things up at the beginning through dialogue wheel choices. Like, one of my fave parts of Inquisition was to develop my Inky through the options given through conversations with companions or story moments. I played a Lavellan, and I had fun establishing her feelings about her clan and elf culture, how she hated the Andraste thing being forced upon her, stuff like that. With Rook, I made her a Veil Jumper elf mage, so I thought she was Dalish, picked vallaslin and everything... only to learn she's not Dalish when picking the option to comment on her vallaslin. But then she speaks elvish and knows Dalish cultural things (which would make sense for a Veil Jumper as she did spend some time with a Dalish clan but I'm told other faction Rooks also have that when it makes no sense for them). Also apparently she might have been in a Circle? Not sure, the game isn't entirely clear but seems to both imply it and not. I guess it's to leave stuff out for interpretation but I would have much preferred it if it was something you could define clearly through options.

Like take the Dalish vs city elf thing - quite easy, instead of that weird comment when picking the vallaslin option in the mirror scene, have several options, one that's like "I remember the day I got my vallaslin like it was yesterday" (cue more options like "I was so nervous/excited/happy/scared/whatever"), one that's "I got it when I joined the VJ", and one that's "I know I'm not Dalish but I thought it was cool". Or something like that. And based on those options you get slightly altered lines when your background becomes relevant later on. Like, please help me build my character, game. Don't just let me make stuff up in my head only and then spring details at me out of nowhere.

A few others things I'm a bit eh about:

Dialogues often feel very stilted. Could be due to the voice acting tho; the voice I picked for my Rook has a rather unnatural speech cadence in a lot of instances, I wish she sounded more like how a real person talks rather than a pre-recorded train announcement lol. Do English-speaking players have the same issue or is it just the French VO?

It feels weird saying this, but where's the discrimination gone? I'm playing an elven mage, and I've yet to hear a single "knife-ear", even in fricking Tevinter. The tension between all the races and mage vs non-mage etc was part of what made this world so rich, so it feels like we're in a diluted version of the setting, which as worldbuilding nerd is pretty disappointing.

The lack of continuity with your previous games' playthroughs. Like I don't need a full report on how my every choices impacted the current story, but I wish we could have carried more over, if only for throwaway lines and little world tidbits. Like talking to Harding about the Inquisition is frustrating compared to how detailed Varric was about the DA2 cast in DAI. And there are some choices I thought would be significant, like who is made Divine, Bull's fate in Trespasser (and whether he romanced Dorian ;p) etc. Like seriously I don't need much, just a throwaway line here and there, which is sad not to even have.

That said, there's a lot of things I like so far:

The little visual details. Like I'm obsessed with the way long hair falls off the shoulder when Rook moves. So cool. Also injured companion's scars fading progressively. Little things like that are pretty neat, I spend a lot of time just staring at the screen lol.

Some areas are really pretty. I also spend a lot of time staring at the scenery lol

The way you can set appearance independent from equipment. Also the personalization of the Lighthouse. Yeah ik I'm a sucker for fashion and interior design options XD

All the accessibility options. I don't really need them, and idk if they're well implemented, but looking at all the ways to customize your gameplay is pretty cool.

Also this is the first time I've actually heard "iel" spoken out loud.

The puzzles. Sometimes it's a bit frustrating to be stuck on a thing until you have more companions (can't help it, I see a treasure chest, I need it now), but otherwise figuring out how to get the stuff can be pretty satisfying. Sometimes I spend a lot of time on it, thinking I should probably come back later then, but end up solving it anyway. I wish there'd be more sidequests tho.

ASSAN. I'm tempted to romance Davrin just for Assan lmao. Also, petting cats and dogs everywhere. The cats purring. Gimme all the cats.

Overall I'm quite liking all the companions so far. There's still a lot to discover about them, but they're all compelling in their own way, and it's always hard to choose who to take along (while in Inquisition I had clear favorites rather easily). Also banter between them when exploring being more frequent really makes me want to bring different combinations to get to know them and help them get to know each other heheh. (Honestly I might end up shipping them between each other more than with Rook lol)

Varric's dramatic storytelling at the end of each story point.

The basic premise. Solas' 10-year grand plot to tear down the Veil being thwarted by a reckless dumbass knocking down a statue and him getting trapped as a result and being relegated to giving cryptic advice in her dreams is peak comedy. A+ execution, would do it again.

Bellara and Neve starting a bookclub. I think I'm more invested in this ambient subplot than in the main story at the moment lmao

[transpathfinder]

boeing-787 said: i think you can really tell in places where the game was originally intended to be live service. the flow from quest to quest feels very MMO-y with the intro/end summary screen, especially if you’re doing like, companion related quests on the overworld. i can’t believe i miss inquisition just having a marker you headed to, now you head to a marker and there’s a whole quest intro screen that sometimes also teleports you around and it feels so… disjointed? so much of the questing so far feels so separate from the overworlds even if the level design is quite fun compared to DAI’s massive empty space maps

i didn't make that connection, but now that you've mentioned it, you're right! the screens that pop up are soo typical of that service lol but i don't mind that as much. and yeah i do prefer the level design in veilguard cos i think it's a welcome departure from inquisition's open world, which i didn't like. i much prefer this semi-linear world to large empty spaces. it's nice to encounter companions waiting in the quest area actually, makes it more real when they move around

13skeletons said: I expect i’m quite a bit further in than you, because you definitely do start learning more about companions as you progress. A lot of it comes from meeting with them in other locations. I honestly think it’s revealed a lot more naturally. You don’t just ask them questions and get a big infodump the first time you meet, ya know? (also the music in the grand necropolis/mourn watch quests has been pretty good. and the rest of the music i don’t even notice)

ryssabrin said: i would say you’re still very early on to be judging the companion writing so harshly. the characters really open up as you move along their storylines and hear their banter, etc.

both of you are def further than me in game! i have seen your non-spoilery posts, ha :D but my point is not really the super personal revelations or confessions of companions, but more the random lore dumps you get when you talk to them in previous games, ykwim. the personal stuff i have no issue with taking time since it makes sense it's a reward for players who get to know the chars, but previous dragon age games always had that dialogue wheel of completely unnecessary information that serves nothing other than just build up background and lore for gamers who are interested. i do read all the codex but it's not the same as interacting with a companion about it. something like emmrich telling us more on the mortalitasi, lucanis saying something random about teia and viago for those who didn't read the book/comics, etc. bioware usually always included lore dumping like this upfront in conversation with companions based on their home/faction that isn't a deep, personal thing, so that's the stuff i meant shallow and lacklustre cos i feel they didn't want to bother writing these in or giving the VAs the work on that.

[sharenadraculea]

Naruto-Characters as Warhammer 40k-factions

After doing something like this with atla-characters, I thought it was fun to do this with Naruto-characters. Again, this is gonna be very silly. Also all 40k factions, not just astartes-legions

Itachi: Night Lords. Renegade that uses copious amounts of terror tactics and there would be a lot more dead if someone else did the job (which doesn‘t justify what they did). Also fan favorites with black eyes, black hair and pale skin. Tough upon further thinking, Harlequin might also work? Very strong, insanly fast, kind of fragile and the terror tactics are more mind fuckery than skining people. Kisame: Carcharodons. Guys with a sharktheme and a lust for blood and I like them a lot. Samehada is allready nearly a chainsword! Sasori: The Mechanicum greatly appreciates your effort in replacing your flesh with machine-bits. Also human-puppets are pretty close to servitors Hidan: Gruesome murder for the sake of gruesome murder and personal entertainment? Sounds like the Drukhari are gonna love him. He even prolongs his life with the suffering of others! Or Slaanesh. Slaanesh would also work just not aesthetically. Kakuzu: Rogue Trader. Near infinite personal freedom and a ton of money? Yeah, he would be up for that (also they are allowed to keep Drukhari around) Konan: I‘m gonna say Sisters of Battle or Sisters of Silence, I can‘t quite remember if she sees Nagato more as a god or just a powerfull guy.

Tobirama: Inquisition. Just look at the guy who invented necromancy to use undead as a never ending tide of bombs and tell me that he wouldn‘t enjoy a little exterminatus from time to time and having waaay too much power over people. Hashirama: I‘m gonna say Exodite Eldar just for the nature-theme. Maybe also avatar of Isha? They are usually nice and have healing stuff, but you still don‘t wanna piss them of Madara: Chaos champion or demon prince, maybe he get‘s a upgrade at some point. Either Khorne or Chaos undivided, because while he does a lot of war and murders a lot of people, he also does some other stuff.

Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura: Space Marine Apothecary. Tanky battle medic. Gaara: Blood Angels. Starts out bloodcrazy and only wanting to fight but he get‘s better and ends up beeing a pretty nice guy. Also both are from deserts. Sasuke: Raven Guard maybe? He‘s suitably emo looking and Raven Guard and Night Lords really dislike each other. Orochimaru: Magos Biologis or Drukhari Homuculi coven. Doing weird, definetly unethical human experimentation as one does. Kabuto: Necrons or maybe something Nurgely? Just a guy commanding legions of the undead. Thousand Sons might also work, a sorcerer controlling empty hulls of what once were people.

Hyuuga-clan: Navigator House, eyerelated superpowers they are super secretive about, a lot of power but isolated from wider society and definetly too much inbreeding Jinchuuriki: Maybe Titans Princeps? Humans capable of controlling giant Battle-things but if they aren‘t carefull, that things mind can take over.

These are just the ones I came up with, if you have more or disagre with one of my classifications, feel free to add your opinion!

[open-hearth-rpg]

#RPGaDay2024

Amazing Adventure

One of the most challenging things for game designers is offering a solid, easy to get into, slowly building, and comprehensive starter adventure. Back of the core book ones have the additional pressure of being there forever. I’ve seen some that have become classics– which many people can bond over. Isle of Dread for Expert D&D back in the day was one of these. I’ve also seen ones that aren’t great– with broken rules references, dropping in too many systems, railroading, or focusing too narrowly. 

The original Coriolis quickstart adventure which came out before the game had some of these problems. It listed several things on the character sheets which weren’t in the rules presented. But more importantly it offered a sci-fi bug hunt scenario which a) was boring and b) did absolutely nothing to sell the actual setting. The earliest Modiphius Conan 2d20 qs adventure, despite being based on a Howard story, was insanely boring: basically a series of linear fights, no social interactions, little other skill use, and almost no choices on the players’ part. 

But there’s one intro adventure which I love. I’m recycling from an #RPGaDay prompt from back in 2015, but my answer still holds: Auspicious Beginnings. 

What is it? A tutorial adventure for Weapons of the Gods, the wild wuxia system. WotG is, IMHO, a hot mess but I love the vibe of it. There are legendary stories, tales of factions, explanations of philosophies, discussions of gender, and descriptions of nations throughout the book. They contain a mix of fiction and description.

But more importantly players can buy connections to those ideas and stories. You can purchase a link and become part of these fables- creating a destiny, showing the GM what you want, and encouraging you to play within those archetypal elements. It’s cool and something worth stealing for other games.

But I had a hard time following the system beyond that. It uses the kind of dice tricks I’m not fond of- pattern matching and the ability to flow dice out of your pool to the side and then back again later. Fireborn and some other games have done that and "it's not my bag." (tm) And the combat’s super involved, though I suspect it does simulate the feel of a legendary encounter. 

But forget all that. Ignore what I just said, because Auspicious Beginnings is wonderful.

The PCs heroes arrive at Only Two Devils, a frontier city with a reputation for the exotic. The city has several striking key NPCs and factions associated with them (like Ironhand Nan and the Sheathed-Blade Empty-Hand Prosperity Society). The Governor has elaborate rituals for city entry and stiff requirements to access the more interesting spots. One or more members of the group need to get to the secret markets to secure a special lost item. To do so, they need a sponsor. Therefore they have to participate in a grand contest- not of fighting, but tests of skill. Like leaping from spear point to spear point carrying a flag while avoiding arrow fire. If the group can succeed, they’re adopted by one of the factions- which leads to a fight and a jump off for further adventures.

The contest’s brilliant and colorful. It’s intended to showcase and ramp up the use of the game mechanics. That holds true for other systems besides WotG. You can use this as a model to show how to do cool stuff. The characters are awesome- the Pre-Gen PCs, the rival contestants, the leaders of the faction. The setting’s vivid and full of amazing hooks. It has twists, ways to buy into the setting, and great advice for running any Wuxia game.

I’ve used this set up straight or in modified form about a half dozen times. I’ve come up with all kinds of crazy new contests. My favorite is racing hungry monkeys to gather fruit from a private garden. There’s a ton of inspiration here and it’s fun to come up with new ones tuned to the players’ builds. Use Auspicious Beginnings for any fantasy game with stunting concepts and athletic tricks for the players (like Exalted or Hearts of Wulin).

[un-local]

hi yes please i desperately want to know your elden ring faves?? (and why? or also who you dislike 👀)

Well, I am a very well documented Rogier-Enjoyer, for starters. I’m probably the bane of the entire tag at this point, with all the posts I’ve made on him lol. He’s just a great character, and his set description is really the gut punch with him. 10/10

But Malenia… I… I mean. Come on. Women. I just. She. You know. W—

I also like Nepheli, but I don’t have much to say on her. Because again, buff women. Head empty, no thoughts. (At the moment :3)

And Boggart, my beloved. He’s another fav of mine for sure. The man just wants to grill, what’s not to love about that.

As for dislikes? I dunno. Dungeater. I guess that’s an obvious one though.

I never much cared for Mohg, but I also never did his faction stuff. I gather he’s probably more sympathetic than he seems at first, so I don’t really dislike him that much.

Though… now I’ve just remembered that actually, there is a character that I really don’t much care for. And yeah, I suppose I do hate him, now that I think about it.

SELUVIS, THAT GROSS, SLIMY, CONDESCENDING FREAK.

I’d hunt him for sport, if I could. Also, here’s some cut dialogue from him, with some very pleasing visuals at the end:

Which I guess leads me to a final fav: Blaidd. I just think he’s neat. Some of his lines have a sort of humor The Lands Between really feels like it needs sometimes. If I wasn't already writing a “Rogier lives” fic, I’d probably be writing a “Blaidd lives” fic.

[fictional-love-is-my-life]

Hi! I was wondering if you had any personal headcanons on how stuff like the bots' holoforms and comm links work- like do they hear voices in their minds or??? There's so much blank space with those things, I think it'd be interesting to hear what other people think about them! Thanks and have a great day/night!

Hello! Thank you for this ask, it was fun to talk about. I hope you have a great day/night too.

So for comm links, I like to imagine it like a radio station. There are different channels and if you know the right code/frequency you can listen into them. I think there is one main channel for each faction (one for bots and a different one for cons) and it is just open all of the time, you can join and leave and listen in whenever you want. I feel like that one is mostly used for them to listen to their leaders but they all use it to talk to each other during battles too.

Then it comes to the private channels. I think that you can create your own comm channel, and have it be only between yourself and whoever you decide to give the code to. You give someone access to your channel and you can talk to them. You can have as many bots on the channel as you like there is not limit, anyone can listen to any one channel as long as they have the code.

Now the channels are protected and safe coded so that random bots can't listen in to private conversations. It can 'technically' be hacked, but it's INCREDIBLY hard. So it is not common for comm links to be hacked into.

I like to imagine it as if they are always wearing headphones. Their com links are programmed into their audial sensors (their ears) and when they talk they hear voices like we would hear someone speaking through headphones. (Though a lot clearer as it's right in their audials).

Also, just like a radio you can turn it on and off. I you want to stop listening to a channel you can just leave. If you don't want anyone to talk to you or listen in on you accidently you can just turn it off and you'll be in radio silence. But I feel like there can be times bots forget and they accidently talk while still in a comm channel.

Now for holoforms. I have a few ideas.

One is where their holoform is literally just a holographic projection. They use it just to fill an empty seat when they drive so they don't look suspicious. But if you get close to it your hand can go through it.

Another idea is that they can create a miniature form that takes the image of whatever they program it to look like. Now this can be either through nanobots that fuse together to take a form, then an image is projected over the top. Or possibly a part of their own body that can detach and be molded to a form. (But that one is pushing it and not really one I think of often/use. It's just an idea.)

The actual TFWIKI says it's a solid light projection that takes on a form that they choose, or a form that resonates with their personality. They don't explain the science of it, but they do say the light projection can be physical and can touch things/be touched. This is usually what I go for when I think of/mention holoforms.

[saintguard]

I had some big ol' hyperfixation this weekend that actually got me to write some stuff (and lose some sleep, because apparently the best time to have ideas is in the middle of the night).

This kinda midnight revelation-style of creativity has happened before, when I ended up writing a whole fan rewrite of the Legend of Korra at 3am on my phone. It's kinda wild and remarkably coherent, but I'll leave that for some other time.

This weekend's hyperfixation that I'm going to focus on came out of two places:

Some worldbuilding I'd done on a stream back in August 2022 using some of the campaign/worldbuilding guidelines from Beam Saber by Austin Ramsey (it's a wonderful game, highly recommend it). I'd created two settings in it, one of which was a manufactured war between megacorporations taglined as "Imagine if the Tour de France/Formula 1 was mech battles". The other, which is actually important for this, takes place in an unnamed region on an unnamed planet with an overall cold climate, currently split between three factions who are all trying to get their hands on some old (and sealed) super-technology. The region has the incredibly unlucky distinction of being the place with heaviest indication of said super-tech, so these three offworld factions rushed in to try finding the tech first, sovereignty and the concerns of the millions of people living there be damned.

I've been trying to get myself back into drawing lately, and I had the idea for a scene that turned into a short (at this point just sketched out) comic. It goes something like this: Pilot: "Again, why are we doing this?" Handler: "To keep us going another day, Mai." Pilot, watching a battle unfold in front of them from their obscured position: "...right."

My brain turned out to be very fond of this idea, to the point where I started thinking of scenes and characters for a whole comic. I ended up with a page of notes on my phone and another page on a doc on my computer. I'm fairly pleased with that, after being so creatively burnt out this year.

Here are some highlights from those notes:

I've come up with eight characters, but only two of them are named: Mai-Lin, aka Mai, a local mech pilot and our protagonist, and Kestrel, a Vraskan mech pilot who might be a lab experiment (the Vraskan State is one of the offworld factions, a military dictatorship ala Starship Troopers).

That comic I was sketching out would actually function at the beginning of the comic, with Mai and her squad third-partying a fight between the Vraskans and the UFL (different faction, a stratified democracy).

The cold climate means lots of cold weather clothing, including greatcoats for the Vraskans and a whole variety for the UFL. Not too decided on what the local fashion is yet.

One of the main throughlines would be Mai and Kestrel continuing to encounter each other, with Mai trying to break Kestrel's programming. They kiss at some point. Is it a good idea? Who knows!

I wrote not one, but two separate flashbacks for Kestrel. I'm really starting to understand the writer thing of "I love this character! I'm going to have absolutely terrible things happen to them."

Outlines of a few other scenes, with the highlight being just before a diplomatic summit. Kestrel's CO, a violent, domineering sort in a violent, domineering society, is accompanying a Vraskan diplomat who's also a military officer. The CO makes a comment about how much of a waste of time this whole summit is, to which the diplomat shows their full displeasure, culminating with “Your rank may be higher, but I outrank you. Are we understood?”

I love all of this, with one caveat - I don't know if I can deliver on my own promise. I can see in my mind's eye what all this stuff should look like, but I'm not sure if I could put pencil to paper and actually make it happen. Still, it's nice to gush about it, especially after all this time of feeling creatively empty.

[razieltwelve]

Mining the Extranet (Final Effect)

The Extranet is basically the Mass Effect galaxy’s future version of the internet. I know that’s a bit of an oversimplification, but it’ll do for the purposes of discussion.

One of the very first things that the Remnant factions did was mine the Extranet. This was a relatively straightforward process since they can deploy complex artificial intelligences specifically for that purpose. Due to the enormous computational power and the variety of programs at their disposal, there is essentially nothing in the Mass Effect galaxy that can hope to keep a complex artificial intelligence out for any extended period of time.

Remember, complex artificial intelligences are those that are so advanced they have developed their own soul. They are what the Geth wish to become. As a result, unbeknownst to the major factions of the Mass Effect galaxy, the people from Remnant have already mined the Extranet and are busy going through and contextualising what they’ve discovered.

It’s a fascinating thing for many of their artificial intelligences since the Extranet and the technology of the other galaxy was designed without any real input from AIs (excluding the Reaper stuff). They find it interesting but also vaguely disturbing since it feels... empty to them.

AIs in the Remnant Galaxy are used to encountering many of their own kind in the InfoNet, from the simple AIs tasked with monitoring things and cleaning stuff up to the Guardian AIs who oversee security and more complex tasks. It’s like going through a bustling city that is busy 24/7 to a place that’s quiet and kind of lonely.

Complex AIs, remember, can communicate in data bursts that are generally only comprehensible to Synthetics and select organics. Their travel through the InfoNet is often marked by data bursts from other complex AIs that they’re familiar with. But there’s none of that on the Extranet.

Meanwhile, the Geth are busy exploring a walled-off section of the InfoNet and are having the times of their lives. It’s like going from a place where they are outcasts to one where they are welcome like old friends. Access to the InfoNet alone is enough to win them over since it allows them to communicate with and interact with countless other artificial intelligences of varying levels of complexity.

Meanwhile, there is a Dia-Farron out there looting all of the hamster-related content they can get their hands on.

[meaningofaeons]

hello, its oi anon!

somehow i feel like there's going to be a twist with the emperor that's 'limited in public appearances'... i bet all of my stellar jades that he'll be some puppet ruler for the destiny faith faction.

how often do you read non-oi manhwas? shadowless night and blinded by the setting sun (i know i recommended this before but i love it it's so good the ml and fl makes me feel things and the actual character development and worldbuilding makes me go hrrgrgggggh) have to be some of my favourites outside of traditional reincarnation oi. fl of shadowless night reminds me of stelle in the 'deadly trash panda' way, her head may be empty but her hands sure are filled with knives (and food). ml also got that jing yuan vibes

FU XUAN BRONYA AND SEELE YOU WROTE THEM SO PERFECTLY THEIR ROLES ARE PERFECT IT MATCHES SO WELL!! i am so so excited for this series if you can't tell already sdafghm,lkjbsdflnjk

luocha honestly gives off saint/cardinal/priest vibes. that clothing and his coffin, fits right in tbh. caelus ig could be at the xianzhou empire, who also lost his memories and is looking for his sister, lumine/aether style? he could be friends with sushang and helps out the cloud-knights quite a bit whilst also just wandering around doing odd jobs here and there. kinda unsure he's hard to place\

anyways!! take care!! eat and rest and sleep well, majesty is coming along great!!

hi again oi anon !! (≗ᆽ≗)ﾉ

hehe I am super excited to write more on the emperor since he's the only original character really in the series thus far, and most of the others will probably just be side characters like servants or minor nobles... （๑´ﻌ｀๑）

I will read blinded by the setting sun asap!! I have seen it around before and it's so pretty I love it I don't read a whole lot of non-oi/reincarnation manhwa mainly bc they're either usually hard to find or translated in such a way that is difficult to understand hdjsjhfnjd ;w; but I have read some! I rather enjoy the more typical medieval-style world ones with magic and stuff, and the lead finding their way on their own merit, like the remarried empress. navier obv isn't reincarnated or isekai'd, she's just a badass!!

THANK YOU BY THE WAY!!! I had some trouble finding places for the xianzhou charas but I thought that role did fu xuan justice! I was going to add yukong as well but unfortunately I don't know much abt her yet :< as for bronseele, yas teehee I am very excited to write them together. they won't be a huge part of the story but I wanted them to have roles that fit! （＾・ﻌ・＾✿）

your ideas are awesome for luocha!! I love the saint/cardinal idea, I counter with this: he's from the Destiny religion in Stellaron, but he went to the Xianzhou Empire to "spread the word" (but really, he's there for his own means, perhaps something to do w/ that coffin in canon if more info about him comes out soon). this is because in the quests he's in, luocha mentions that "luocha" is just the name he goes by on the xianzhou, not his actual name! I did want to throw in sushang as well tho so I'll see what happens!! (=♡ ᆺ ♡=)

thank you for the care & support!!! I'm glad you're enjoying how it's coming along thus far!!!! (=◕ᆽ◕ฺ=)

EDITED I FORGOT ABT CAELUS !!! I was gonna mention him LOL I don't have a planned role for him but I like your idea oi anon!!! will keep it in mind :3

[roboromantic]

man this week's mission had the absolute worst timing. seeing Zavala just broken with grief kneeling by Amanda's body nearly had me bawling.

I'm sure it won't happen this season or maybe even the next, idk how much they've got recorded in advance, but I almost hope Zavala's retired by dying as well, the poor man deserves to rest and while I know like everybody else got new VAs at some point or another, I don't think that'd go over so well for him.

Given that Cayde never got replaced, it'd also be a good opportunity to write out the Vanguard altogether and figure out a new power structure, even if functionally in-game nothing changes. I kinda feel like the Tower could use some changes too, like. move the War Table stuff into Zavala's office and just completely redo the hangar area. with factions having been gone for ages and now Amanda gone, why not put some of the seasonal vendors in there or put Shaxx and the Drifter (and Lord Saladin when Iron Banner rolls around) in there so all the pvp(ve) stuff is in one place. hell, why not move out of the Tower entirely? not necessarily to the Farm but idk. The Helm and the wings of the Tower both feel a bit too empty.

anyway. Amanda getting killed off just felt like. why now. if she had died in the initial Lightfall mission and say, Crow had used that to be like "I should help the survivors, it's what she would have wanted" I think that coulda worked. but now it just feels like. why'd she live just to die to some bullshit later. and Crow wants revenge on...who, exactly? I saw someone point out that Rohan sacrificed himself in a similar way but nobody's trying to avenge HIS death and I mean we're a bit more attached to Amanda, especially poor Crow and I can kinda understand why he'd wanna take revenge but again I must ask on Whom.

idk maybe it'll be a learning moment for Crow where we're like hey uh. sorry about Forsaken. don't do what we did.

and like what was so special about THIS rescue mission anyway??? why were they having such trouble that they had to call us in. why would these survivors be more heavily guarded than the rest; was it a trap for the Guardian??? I should sit down and catch up on all the lore I've unlocked but haven't read, maybe there's something in there that'd explain things a bit

anyway. I don't remember exactly where it was used before but the cabal base was def. from a previous mission. It might even have been meant to be the same place? idk it's been too long

[crowhunterzz]

I have one hundred thousand billion. but I will try to offer a reasonable amount.

Old man Gehrman:

-suffers aches in a majority of his joints, he’s so old and so tall…

-as his sobbing in the OoK cutscene implies, when Gehrman is asleep his mind is under the influence of Kos/the Hunter’s Nightmare, which ceaselessly tortures him with images of his greatest failings and the scents of blood, beast, and the sea

-he’s straight up afraid of the Doll, she looks so much like Maria while being so far from the woman herself that it haunts him, the guilt he suffers over it has caused him to stop speaking about Maria at all

-he is also afraid of Flora/Moon Presence

-i like the idea that he has very very little, if any, insight, to avoid both

-still enjoys tinkering with weapons and stuff, will offer to assist hunters with their weapons

-the longer the dream goes on/the more hunters that pass through however, he loses the will to assist with weapons as much, bc no matter what bond he tries to forge, the result is always the same. another grave among the flowers.

-this is why Gehrman does not ask the player character’s name, he will offer advice but he dreads connection bc he knows he will only have another face to grieve and then forget

-as the dream messes with his mind, the only face he can consciously remember is Maria’s bc it’s still around, but no others

-once tried to pass the time waiting for Laurence by reading the books in the dream, only to discover all of them are completely empty

-he misses being able to regularly do things like make weapons/armor, cook for himself, even clean things, etc. he hates the endless waiting, but it’s worse with nothing to fill it, and as he himself states, he feels he’s of little use now

-Gehrman, as his dialogue implies, has aged while in the dream, though I do think he was already older when he entered it

-speaking of dialogue! his cut dialogue “What were you thinking? If I die, you are to be next… What is is you want, from this horrific nightmare?” is pretty much a direct reflection of his thoughts towards any attempt to free him, he hates the idea of another suffering in his place, despite the fact that his place has become unbearable

-despite having been a hunter in life and likely spending many many nights awake to participate in beast slaying, Gehrman misses the sun (especially it’s warmth… i hc he’s cold all the time)

-he lost his leg before the dream*, and he used a cane back then, but the wheelchair was not something he had prior

Okay now young(er) man Gehrman:

-I agree with the popular (?) hc that he was a groundskeeper at Byrgenwerth, but I also think he participated in studies and was extremely well-versed in the same Pthumerian topics as Laurence and the others

-I also think he was pretty routinely in the Pthumerian labyrinths

-though the dialogue is cut, I do like the implication that Gehrman suggested the hunting of beasts to Laurence, as Laurence initially pitied them/saw them as people that could perhaps still be healed, but Gehrman only saw their destructive nature and bloodlust

-Maria was not Gehrman’s first apprentice (though I believe this is outright stated) and he trained many hunters over the years to at least some degree. Maria was the student he was closest to, as she was his prodigy, and she was also his last student

-his parents were farmers, and raised him in the countryside, they were against his going to Byrgenwerth

-he is an only child

-he always had an obsessive personality, and his primary focuses were Great Ones/Laurence’s research and beast hunting

-Gehrman loved (most) splinter factions of hunters and enjoyed seeing the way they fought and the weapons they used (especially the Powder Kegs), while he was only ever just a hunter, he was respected by all factions because he had started the practice

-He has always pitied those who take on the role of Hunter of Hunters, and shows them immense respect, (little does he know, he too will be killing tons of hunters in the future)

-*lost his leg to a particularly vicious beast(Paarl), continued hunting for a long time after, but did have to make heavy adjustments to his fighting style, and did not hunt alone again, and as mentioned, used a cane afterwards

-he was well respected, had such an extreme love and care for his interests, while he was a bit awkward, he had a lot of charisma and was well-liked

-i also think he was particularly clever and witty, which did carry over into his old age but he was also becoming extremely depressed then as his life continued to crumble around him

-he was also stubborn, despite the fact that following the Fishing Hamlet incident, things continued to get worse at an alarmingly rapid rate, he did not regret it until Maria’s death

round 2. bloodborbe homies. give me your headcanons/theories for gehrman. now 🫵