#i feel like this was meant for a different game because it doesn't even fit SS

[link-is-a-dork]

[mantisgodsdomain]

We ought to write more Pokemon fic some time. We want to recreate the Pokemon Manners/Human Manners cheat sheet that we made a few years ago we think that this site would like the Sliding Scale Of Politeness When Greeting A New Pokemon You've Never Met Before.

[punkitt-is-here]

Yknow i love fo4 and fo76 as games but hate them as Fallout games yknow?

Like theyre nice to play and i love some of the characters but man. They just. Are not Fallout. Its literally like if you took Fallout but made it for a general audience, theres no spice!! Theres no grime!! Why is everything so clean!!!

That's the thing; these games are built with inherently different base goals in mind. Bethesda in the modern day thrives off selling the idea of player empowerment, of being an explorer in a foreign land that you conquer through hard work. You shape the world to your liking by questing and exploring and conquering. And genuinely? I got no problem with that. I think games that gas the player up like crazy and set you loose on a world to make it your own are totally fine conceptually! Like, the fantasy of being able to shape the world the way you see fit is something I think a lot of people can get into, whether you're just looking for control in your life or you just want the experience of feeling like you can have some grand effect on the world at large.

But because of that, I think the core of what makes Fallout so interesting has to be put on the backburner. I don't play Fallout to feel powerful necessarily, and I certainly don't play it for the fuckin' gunplay. I play it because it has such a fun dedication to weird stories that feel like they have something to say, a staff of writers dedicating their time and effort to being a proto-DM at a table, trying to provide interesting and thought-provoking or at least real damn fun stories in front of you, because ultimately, the West Coast Fallout games are about people. They're about characters! And when you focus less on the idea of telling stories in a world and more on empowering the player as a fourth-wall observer, those priorities clash and in the East Coast Fallout's cases, it makes for a game with no spice or edge. Having something to say about, say, the US Military or American Expansionism and Exceptionalism or the nature of clinging to the past kind of fundamentally clashes with the player empowerment fantasy that Bethesda Fallout games want to sell you. You can't have these philosophy-based, morally-interesting factional conflicts that want the player to look inward when the very concept of your game is built around collecting loot and shooting guys instead of learning about that loot and learning about those guys you're shooting and why you're shooting at each other. Having radiant quest loot loop gameplay just doesn't mesh well with a world where choices are meant to have far-reaching impact, because if it did, it'd be impossible to program under a normal development timeframe, and it would likely make the player look inward and go "what the fuck am I doing with my time?" at the endless meaningless quests to go on.

I don't think the "Lone Wanderer Comes Across A Microcosm Of Adventure" format is bad, not at all, but you have to put a lot of work to make that feel cohesive with the larger character and faction-based narratives that 1, 2, and NV are built on, so instead those Bethesda-style games opt more for a toybox, playground approach to the post apocalypse. And when your primary goal is showing the player how cool of a sandcastle they can build, it'll never be structurally sound enough to sustain even a wave of nuance.

[wannabe-cartoonist-blog]

Last Game hair style fixes, in order of who needed it most.

I've never liked the canon hair styles in Last Game. They're either hideous, or just simply don't fit the characters/style of the main series. I get its a (mostly different) art department and meant to age the characters up, but most of the time, they simply just look off-model to me. I know I'm not the only one who's got issues with the hairstyles in this movie too, so I did my best to fix them up and give them styles that I personally think suite them. Originals below cut as well as my explanations! Important to note, these are my preferences/headcanons for them so take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt.

**Akashi isn't here, because believe it or not, I actually think his hair looks the best out of everyone in LG.

I wouldn't change it. I like to draw him with neater hair/his bangs pushed out of his face when I age him up, but for the summer after the Winter Cup - when LG takes place - the canon hair is exactly the sort of style I think he would/should have. I like the allegory that the rough chop is something he did when his mental health wasn't good, so now as his mental scars heal, it's growing back out. ❤️

Midorima

A neater/shorter hairstyle does fit Mido's character/personality, but the LG hair simply just doesn't look like the same hair type we see in the main series. Mido's hair has got the slightest wave to it (which I tend to over-exaggerate whenever I draw him).

With this in mind, I went and gave his hair some more body/volume by extending the sides. (You'll see a lack of volume/body is the key issue with the other LG hairs as well).

Murasakibara

Mura's hair in this movie looks so so flat and greasy. Now I didn't do the best job fixing it up, but this is basically how you'd go about doing it; just add more flowy strands. His hair is pretty pin-strait in canon, but there's lots of flowing strands, even when he's not moving much, which give it a clean-look.

When it's all just one limp form, like the movie does, it appears unclean as opposed to just long and sleek.

Momoi

Another victim of the lack of body/volume. The style they gave her is also simply bad, like she just took a pair of scissors and cut in a straight line. There isn't even really any style to it. Its kinda just laying there on her head, which is not what her hair usually looks like in the main series. There's always strands/some lift to it. Also Momoi has always had some sort of bangs/framing pieces in her face, so for her whole forehead to be out was just a tiny bit jarring.

I think the style I came up with is a little more mature while still having personality and life to it. Plus, LG takes place in the summer, so a shorter hair style would be more comfortable in the heat.

Kise

Kise I don't think I did a good job of fixing to my liking either. It was hard to edit it without making it look bad in general, because I really don't think this choppy sort of style suites him like at all, so it was too much to change. Now his hair is one of the better drawn ones in this movie for sure, but it feels more like a Kagami hairstyle than a Kise one to me. I just don't think his modeling agency would let him have such a choppy, hard-to-style haircut. I also think a more polished look fits his handsome, princely sort of appeal that makes him popular with girls.

Aomine

Alright, now its time for me to be playful and silly with some out-there hair styles. Aomine (and Kagami's hair) in Last Game I don't mind. After Akashi, I would say Aomine looks the best. BUT. We have NEVER seen Aomine with long hair, even in flashbacks when he's a child.

So for him to finally decide to grow out his hair - in the SUMMER HEAT - just feels like a weird move to me. Feels out of character. He strikes me as someone who likes his hair out of his face when he plays ball and just wants to roll out of bed and not worry about brushing/styling it or anything. The animators also aren't consistent in this movie and sometimes his hair looks particularly long in the front and back, which again, I don't think he'd like. This picture below and the ones above are from the same movie/take place within like a week of each other, yet look so different.

He looks cute and it definitely gives him a more youthful look; which is a weird choice, because they want to age up everyone else but Aomine in this movie. So, I think a fade would really suite him (I don't think I drew it that well tho). Keeps his hair short and out of his face but also ages him up a little more with a mature style.

Kagami

Alright, Kagami's look here is pure indulgence. @knbposting said "Kagami with a mullet" and I haven't stopped thinking about it. Sue me. His LG hair isn't bad and makes sense for his character and the time of year. But its just sorta plain. Honestly, Kise's hair style in this movie would probably suite Kagami more. I always liked how in the main series, Kagami's hair is a little scruffy in the back so I really wanted to lean into that.

Is a mullet suitable for the summer heat/something he'd like? Well, maybe not but I think it ages him up while also seeming like something he'd get at some point in his life. So here we are. I will end this with saying this is probably the longest he'd ever let his hair get.

Kuroko

Finally, we have Kuroko, whose hair I've barely changed. Now, the animators/artists do a really bad job of keeping his face on-model (eyes too beady, features too sharp) but that's a whole 'nother issue, and I managed to find a scene where they kept him on-model lol. I think a shorter, neat style is good for the summer and suites him, but a main feature of all the hair throughout the main series is the spikes/strands of hair on nearly every character - Kuroko especially - so I just added a tiny bit more here.

And that's the end! If you read all the way to here, thanks for coming to my insane-person rant.

[ufopigeon]

to the random ass proshippers

I’ll block proshippers and I won’t throw any first punches if I find the accounts. Just block n’ move on. Think what you want, but think it away from me. This is for the ppl who are going after others both anonymously and in the open, and being insistent about misunderstanding his character. It is absolutely absurd that some are really trying to PUSH the mere implication that the Postal Dude could be a pedo/have pedophilic tendencies, or that “it makes sense for him”. Some of you are ragebait I’m sure, but I also sadly think some of you are really genuine. And this is also the last I am going to speak about it. Just wanted to do something longer on behalf of everyone else who does not agree with this random influx.

The Postal Dude is obviously designed to be an ambiguous character, allowing players to project various characteristics onto him. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean that any and all negative traits can be justified. Ambiguity in character design is meant to give freedom in interpretation, but it doesn't equate to carte blanche for projecting extreme or inappropriate characteristics that aren't supported by the game’s narrative or the developer's intent. Assuming that a character would commit any and all bad acts simply because they commit some is a lazy and inaccurate approach to understanding character design.

The argument that, "Durrr he’s literally a mass shooter, why is it so far-fetched for him to be a pedo too?" is a slippery slope fallacy. It’s that same exact shit all the edgelords try to use when they say (just so they can justify attacking any queer fans, same way SOME proshippers want to feel justified in attacking those who disagree), “The Postal Dude SPECIFICALLY hates gay people and trans people and wouldn’t support them at all/be grossed out by them! Why? Uhh, because he’s literally an evil, vile character! Duh!” Sure he is. No denying that. And sure, you can think that about him. But it’s just fundamentally inaccurate. Just because the games allow for extreme behaviors doesn’t mean they endorse or include every possible immoral action.

And just because a character engages in morally questionable actions doesn’t logically lead to them engaging in the worst possible behaviors. The creator's stance is crucial in defining the boundaries of the character. If the creators have explicitly stated that Postal Dude would never engage in pedophilia (just like how they explicitly stated he wasnt transphobic) and that such content would never be included in the game, this is a definitive limitation on what the character can be reasonably interpreted as. Again, I don’t care if you hold a private opinion that differs. But when you start accusing those who disagree with this extreme interpretation of being the weird or wrong ones, that’s where it becomes an issue.

Dude's actions, while extreme, are presented within a certain context that aims to criticize or mock certain aspects of society. Pedophilia is not something that fits within this satirical style. Yes, even for Postal 1997. I don't care if it is generally considered more "serious" than other games, they still had Dude throwing out stupid-ass catchphrases in a silly radio-host-sounding voice that was obviously supposed to be a stark contrast to what was happening on screen (“Buttsauce”. “Smells like chicken” when burning NPCs. Really now? Go ahead and listen to more from the original. They’re all silly one-liners.). It was a shock at the time and a bit of dark humor. Following games only increased this aspect.

All in all, Postal Dude’s actions, while immoral, are usually presented in a way that allows for some level of detachment or absurdity, keeping them within the realm of dark comedy. Yes, 1997 is still included here. It’s an absurd game. One man took out hundreds of people and was armed to the teeth, even with literal rocket launchers. His main weapon has infinite ammunition. It was an obviously over-the-top video game with a loose connection to reality and an even looser message about “something something mental health and everyone has it in them to go postal”. It was a game made to shock people. Pedophilia, however, is universally considered an irredeemable act, something that cannot be framed in any context that would make it acceptable or even darkly humorous. The distinction between immoral and irredeemable acts is crucial here. The Postal Dude can be morally ambiguous, but crossing into irredeemable territory would fundamentally alter the character in a way that the game and its creators/99.9% of the fans do not support.

Also: “But muh 1997 promo art where it says his girlfriend was 17!! She says they just started dating 3 weeks ago!!” Yeah. The same photo was used with the girl also saying, “It was so weird. He told everyone I was his girlfriend, but I only met him once.” It says “live” near the bottom corner, implying this was an interview with the girl AFTER the crimes had taken place. In the promotional pic where it states she’s 17, it also says she DIED of third degree burns while he was on his rampage. Now that doesn’t really add up, does it. How can this girl give an interview after everything is said and done while also dying in the middle of his killing spree?

AKA, these promotional photos were reused over and over because they were on a budget and really not thinking about it, and are absolutely not valid for legit storytelling purposes at all. RWS has even said this themselves.

[leohtttbriar]

for the reverse unpopular opinion meme, Worf!

worf is special bc, to me, he is both the funniest and most serious character in ds9, without particularly trying to be both. which i think has something to do with the invested expression of his cultures and all the values he means to represent. sometimes these characteristics are played for the pathos---the intense empathetic feeling you get when you watch him do and say things that fit in a specific heroic poetic. other times it's played for the humor, his honorable presentation in an honorable fight leading him to say things a little out of context, like "death to the opposition" in a baseball game.

but for all the ways he's a character that comments on how one can perform respect for one's self and multiplicities of loyalty, how cultural values of "heroism" might clash with others, how quite often one's acts are a choice--depending on how aware one is of why they are acting a certain way and what they want to project with their actions, the best part of worf is that he really is sincere.

i've compared worf to kira before and i think that's the thing they have in common and why both those characters work so well with characters like dax--the contrast of a loudly resolved person against a willingly variable one. worf and dax are so interesting in their scenes together because this contrast is true of them but they also interrogate that which is surface-level in each other: worf sees in dax someone who can and will commit in many (often brave) ways, and dax sees in worf a breadth of contradictory feeling and expansive experience. many of their fights as characters is refusing to acknowledge they know this about each other--even expect it.

so my favorite part of worf's character (his sincerity) is showcased in my favorite narrative for worf--the fact that he really does spend all of season 7 grieving his wife. he loved her deeply and does not back away from still feeling it, no matter the hurt. and it feels so appropriate to what these characters were to each other, in the story, and it leads to the best exchange possibly in ds9:

WORF: Perhaps not, but I am certain that you will do whatever is necessary to complete your task. EZRI: And how do you know that? WORF: You are Dax. It is your way.

worf is the kind of character that is meant to hold up some sense of resolve in a show and genre that is all about the anxieties of uncertainty. worf, of course, faces a lot of uncertainty and personal struggles (and probably it's the sort of thing that gets more focus in the next generation, which i haven't seen yet, than in ds9), but his ethic purpose among the cast of characters is to be more sure than not--not by means of arrogance but by means of choice.

other characters like this i feel are generally cast as the leaders/captains of the crew, but the difference between a character like janeway or kirk and a character like worf is that worf is not "sure" out of an obvious external pressure to choose but out of internal impulse to be. he is who he strives to be through his striving. he sometimes does and says the funniest things in the show because he doesn't bend to unspoken social demands of propriety, no matter if he senses these demands or not. and he doesn't feel the need to explain himself which makes his one-liners all the funnier. and it's so easy to see why ursula k le guin was obsessed with him.

would like to conclude the gushing by just saying that michael dorn is extraordinary as an actor imo: he has so much makeup on for the character, normally the most out of everyone in any one scene he's in, and still he turns in a Performance, implying so much interiority and perspective, making even worf's most judgy moments inherently fascinating in their distinct and unmistakable personhood.

[pixiemage]

I legitimately think a lot of people get too hung up on how other people write or draw characters (both in MCYT and outside of it). I sometimes feel like there's so much bitterness towards fellow fandom members just because they've chosen to enjoy a character or corner of the fandom in a different way. Do you picture the characters the same way the creators are IRL? Fun! Do you have a much more fanonized interpretation because you want to separate the characters from creators? Great! Do you tend to lean toward one kind of design overall in your art because that's just how you enjoy the act of creation? Fantastic!

Short, tall, thin, fat, human, hybrid, something entirely undefinable - every single option is correct. Every single option is right. That's the point of creativity and creative liberty. That's the point of fandom and the whole reason why fan art and fan fiction exist - to take what canon gives you and make something, whether that something clings to canon's every note, or if that something turns canon on its head. Especially if it turns canon on its head.

This is a vast fanbase built upon a sandbox game, and any creations we make should be treated the same. It doesn't matter if it doesn't fit the bill for what someone else thinks, and it doesn't matter if it doesn't fit some standard mold. If everyone else views Grian as a parrot avian, but you love writing him as a cod? Do it! If a lot of folks depict Tango as a blazeborn, but you fucking love the idea of him being an android? Well, for god's sake, what's stopping you? Make him an android! Does everyone else write Bdubs as short, but you think it'd be really funny if he was taller than half the hermits, so the short jokes are even more ridiculous? Then, holy shit, I wanna see that!

But to roll back to the point, fan creations is meant to be fun. And all of you out there being picky? As a viewer of other peoples' art and writing, don't go telling people they're "doing it wrong". Don't be critical. Don't tell someone they need to "do better" if their portrayal doesn't line up with what's in your head. There's no rules here. And similarly, there's no quota we need to meet on variety. There's no law someone is breaking if they're not following your expectations. If you're a viewer of art and fics, and you're pissed at someone because you believe they don't draw or write someone tall enough or short enough or thin enough or fat enough or young enough or old enough - make it yourself. Don't detract from someone else's joy just because their version of having fun in the fandom doesn't line up with yours.

People are going to create what they love. People write and draw from a place of inspiration and enjoyment and fun. If they choose to share it, they're doing that for free and of their own free will. They didn't share it for you. Fan artists and fan writers aren't here to be your dancing monkeys, we're here to just have fun. If you aren't seeing enough of whatever you're expecting to see, then don't demand it from other people who were proud enough of a piece of art to share it with the world. Make it yourself.

[guiltycorp]

Okay finished the Haruspex route of Pathologic Classic! I need to play Clara's route to see the whole picture but I'm already fascinated by the differences between P1 and P2 in terms of characterization. I think I like Pathologic 2 even more now considering how they improved on Artemy's route, I am sorry to say I didn't like it at all in classic... This is all just my personal impression after first playthrough ofc. Ramblings about both Artemy and Daniil ↓ I think what bothered me about Haruspex was mostly just his attitude and his messiah plot. Once the first day is out of the way it's all smooth sailing for him, a bit too much so?? The only personal conflict he has is figuring out his father's exact wishes for him and choosing a sacrifice. Killing anyone is treated as fair or something that needed to happen and the Haruspex is always shrugging it off... And either option, Aglaya & the Town or Polyhedron... It just doesn't seem like he is that attached to either? So it doesn't feel like he is sacrificing much personally? Like sure he wants to save the Town because of his messianic qualities, but that's again more about fulfilling his 'role' rather than genuinely wanting to save lives, or at least it read that way to me. I'm sure it's meant to be both and P2 makes this far more apparent, but in P1 it elicited a rather squinty reaction from me. Plus well yeah, getting rid of Polyhedron is pretty much just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, like yep he sure didn't care about that thing lmao so getting rid of it isn't such a difficult choice at all. The suggestion that the Polyhedron could be his Udurgh is kind of useless because the Town and Earth are far better candidates and fit with Kin beliefs better, which in this game Artemy pretty much doesn't doubt at all.  Maybe this is why the Bachelor is so present in his route? Daniil did say he'd commit suicide if he lost, maybe we'd want to think twice about pushing him towards it... But again! Does it seem like this guy cares ahhh haha... The dialogue option that is actually engaging with what Daniil said is pretty much there to make it clear to the player what the Utopian ending is and what it would be like.

Ngl at first I thought he was meant to be the 'sacrifice' until they said it's a woman. Every time Artemy learned something about the Bachelor's motivations he'd write down in his diary like '...if it matters' since the player can always choose what ending to go with I guess. I also find it curious that he can say that they are friends but still always writing only 'the Bachelor' in his diaries while Daniil switched to 'Artemy' and 'Burakh' during the final stretch. The one-sided yaoi................ 🤔 At least Artemy doesn't get mad at him for ordering to set the mythic bull on fire, I guess their friendship did mean something to him after all at that point. Also when Capella tells him that he should ask the Bachelor for help with getting into the Polyhedron since the Bachelor 'fawns upon you a lot anyway' the Haruspex just goes 'oh yeah! ok' fjdghdjg... Now that I think about it I DID like the Haruspex route for what it did with the Bachelor hahah, his dialogues and letters are just so good sometimes. Like wow, I felt this.

Very cool, if i was Artemy I'd totally abandon my weird murderous calling for this. Tangentially related... P2 had one moment that I remember from my last replay when Rubin, if kept alive, falls into a deep deserved sleep in his home, and Artemy just starts emotionally monologuing at him.

Like, P1 Artemy would never, but also it goes to show that he's still very much a repressed man here too, buying into toxic masculinity ideals who can't just talk to his friends about his feelings directly... The same character, but more complex. I want to make it clear that I DO like him and his motivations in P2 actually, and his personal conflict being more about the future of the Kin makes that game much more powerful to me than what his classic route was. I heard that initially he was planned to be far more violent and dark, so maybe he could have been sort of a villain protagonist and this was changed later and this is why it feels a bit bland? Hmm... Idk this is fun to me because meanwhile the Bachelor didn't feel that different to me in both games lmao. A highly stressed educated guy who is just trying to prevent the spread of epidemic the 'right' way and then clinging to the only chance he has left to preserve both his ideals and his life. He is a bit less polite in P2 at first (while still very much helping by warding off Rubin) but then rather quickly becomes more cordial to Artemy and vice versa (and wow it sure is nice when Artemy can actually be polite and friendly..). And the moment when he explains some of his personal deal to Artemy feels rather similar in both iterations mood-wise.

I liked his route in P1 a lot, surprisingly so, and I now understand why so many people liked him before P2 came out and afterwards too... There's just something very real about how he is the intelligent Capital doctor but with an extraordinary dream to combat death itself, possibly given to him by the Powers That Be due to these children trying to cope with people dying around them. And instead of favoring him for it they hate him! They leave him with nothing but this final chance to fix things, even if that means destroying everything and rebuilding anew. Daniil's desperation feels very real and thus more compelling, plus like... I mean it's pretty much confirmed that it's not just the Polyhedron and that the soil itself is 'rotten' (literally in the meta real world and through blood beneath the earth in the Town itself) and the decease could return again, sooo his ending doesn't look that bad comparatively. I also appreciated how Maria (or uhh was it Nina talking through her here as well?) explained how their Utopia doesn't actually mean a 'perfect' place, more so just an impossible dream.

The Bachelor doesn't mind this at all, a detail I loved.

...Hmm that said maybe P1 makes it a little too easy for him to kinda ignore the Kin issue, he is only mad about their circumstances when it comes to Vlad choosing to doom thousands of the Kin workers inside the Termitary (which is just his doctor ethics). I mean it is realistic for him to ignore the implications of representing the imperialist side, he does mention his father was a military man too at some point I think... Still, he is very quick to accept the Kin's unique beliefs as something that has obvious merit, trusting the Haruspex with that side of things in both of their routes, and he doesn't make much of a distinction between them and regular Town people when it comes to patient treatment. If anything it's probably a sign of how the writers weren't thinking that hard about this worldbuilding aspect at the time... even if I appreciated them showing the downsides of the Kin's society, I think those were done better than in P2 purely because it was a bit more realistic (I am talking about sexism mostly, such as selling their own daughters and not respecting their autonomy, plus the mention of Kin politics and different ruling clans rather than the hive mind situation implied in P2). Like, it is more obvious in P1 that wholeheartedly embracing the Kin's return to tradition isn't such a good solution for them either, but one that will likely happen anyway with Artemy and Taya as their new leaders. And it could get trickier in Pathologic 3 I think, especially since most of us really appreciated the portrayal of colonization in P2 and would expect it getting addressed again in future games of other character routes, but we'll see I guess! Either way I look forward to that game a lot now.

[danieyells]

so @yuri-is-online briefly brought up this theory before but

Zenji says the doll looks just like his little brother.

Zenji and Jiro have the EXACT, DOWN TO THE HEX CODE same hair color and similar eye colors. The doll's is a little different, and the eyes are closer to Jiro's eye color than Zenji's.

There's also the campus chat which the game did not see fit to give me at the turn of the hour damn you where Zenji eagerly wants to help Jiro find something in the infirmary.

So anyway Jiro and Zenji are probably brothers. One of Zenji's voicelines even has him complimenting his own name, which makes me think it's a pseudonym.

Jiro says he was in an extended coma, although we don't know when exactly that was. Zenji says he has a story about "a hapless fool of a man" that he wonders if he'll ever get to tell you. . .I wonder if they're related stories. Maybe Jiro's coma has to do with Zenji's pact.

Jiro also says he saves lives that can be saved, but it's part of his job to decide the order of priority. I wonder if he looked at Zenji dying during the clash and decided he couldn't save him. Or maybe he was going to try and Zenji told him that he knew he wasn't going to make it and Jiro should prioritize someone else. I think that'd sound like Zenji.

. . .Jiro also mentions that it's been a long time since he had a family. If his annoying and fussy older brother died a while ago, I wonder if that's what he meant. . .unless he just doesn't remember Zenji is his brother at all. Also he said noise doesn't bother him when he's reading. . .I wonder if he got used to reading while Zenji played his biwa and sang nearby. And now it feels weird to read in silence.

One of Zenji's voicelines also has him ask you if you're going to Mortkranken. Of course, Zenji is noted to worry over others, so he asks if you're hurt and hopes you'll take care. He says he doesn't mean anything by asking if you're going to Mortkraken. . .and he also doesn't mean anything by asking if you have siblings. . . .

i just. it's a solid and likely theory. i think they're brothers and Jiro just never mentions it, either because he can't remember/doesn't know or it hurts to think about. Maybe it'll come up in the Mortkranken chapter, or whenever we start learning more about The Clash.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Magikoopa (Evoker)

Debut: Minecraft: Wii U Edition

The Super Mario Mash-up pack in Minecraft is truly a wonderful thing! I haven't played Minecraft in quite a long time, but it is still exciting when a new update releases, because it means I get to check what everything was reskinned as in the Mario pack! Creatures and items from all corners of the Mario series in one place. We get Uproot from Super Mario Odyssey, Goat from Mario Kart 7, Raccoon from Super Mario Sunshine, and more united in the same game! And then there are the "original" creations.

We've discussed this topic before! Sometimes they just can't think of a good idea for a reskin, and would rather reuse an idea they already had. But they can't JUST use the same design for a different mob. That would be silly, and I mean this in a rare, detrimental way! It would be confusing, and bad game design. So they ultimately decide to just tweak it enough to be distinct, while still recognizable.

If you need to reskin a Witch, especially a classic pointy-hat style one, there is no better choice of Mario character than Magikoopa! You could argue Kammy Koopa or perhaps Kamella would fit more, being more typically "witchy", but I think standard Magikoopa is ideal here, as the most iconic option.

And then there is the Evoker, whose behavior of magically summoning monsters and obstacles is even more Magikoopa-like than the Witch! I think Magikoopa is also a good idea for an Evoker reskin. But gee! I don't think we needed them BOTH to be!

Rather than using a different character or even just an existing color variant of Magikoopa, they gave Evokoopa uniquely aquamarine robes, and, best of all, sunglasses. Magikoopas have never worn sunglasses! IS this some kind of MagiKOOLpa?

I edited an existing Magikoopa render into this new version to see what it might look like! It sure looks aquamarine, I can tell you that! I wonder if the sunglasses are meant to evoke those worn by the enemy Koopas in early Paper Mario. Evokers and Witches are both hostile, but Evokers feel more Evil, with their entire trap-filled lairs, compared to a Witch's little hut with maybe a cat in it. Also, before you bring it up, the Evoker model just doesn't have a pointy hat! It is not intentionally lacking a Magikoopa's signature hat shape.

Do I think they should have used a different, existing character for the evoker? Yes! Am I happy they did this instead? Also yes! I love when new Weird Mario Enemy variants get to appear in the strangest of places! This Magikoopa design has no reason to ever be used in an actual Mario game, and it only exists because of a non-Mario game. Best of all, it debuted on the Wii U! Everyone say thank you, Wii U!

[theresattrpgforthat]

Any ttrpgs with a distinctive “grunge” aesthetic?

THEME: Grunge

Hello friend, I’m really glad you asked this question! Grunge feels like it fits indie ttrpg design so well, because so much of it emphasizes low-budget, DIY and messy styles. As a style of music, I understand grunge is about being dissonant, dark, and “ugly”. As a theme, what I understand about grunge is that it’s about alienation, isolation, and disenchantment with how society is right now, which is so so relevant to how we feel about our current quality of life right now.

That being said, there’s so much that can be explored in grunge, I feel like there’s a lot of different pieces that could make a work “grunge’. So while I think the games that I’m presenting here all fit some element of grunge, some of them might not fit the elements of grunge that you’re looking for.

Games by Adam Vass.

Adam’s games are often nihilistic, horrific, and creatively designed with mixed media, visual distortion, and a focus on the grotesque or the weird. This includes No Future, a time loop game about punks throwing one last party, Born To Die, a pamphlet ttrpg about anthropomorphic animals in a post-human waste world, and Cybermetal 2012, a lo-fi metal cyberpunk game about surviving in an isolated city of warped technology.

If you love horror as well as a bit of a dystopian edge, you’ll probably want to check out Adam Vass’s work.

Here, There, Be Monsters, by wendi yu.

No matter what they tell you, there’s still weirdness and wonder everywhere. You just have to know where to look. At the edges and cracks of ‘normal’ life we exist, we persist, and we resist: the monsters, the magicians, the anomalies, the freaks, and the outcasts. We gather in the shadows, trying our best to live our lives in a world that, when it doesn’t exactly fear or hate us, doesn't even believe in our existence.

But we’re still here. We’re not going anywhere. And we fight back.

While the layout and art direction of Here, There, Be Monsters is purposeful and cohesive, the goal of this game feels very grunge in the sense that it is meant to acknowledge the messiness and unapologetic anger present in the monster characters. There's a lot of bodies in this art, and these bodies are meant to challenge you - if you find them difficult to look at, that's a you problem, and that feels in tune with the spirit of grunge.

I feel like this game is probably more on the border of punk and grunge, but if what you’re looking for is a game that feels chaotic and embraces the dark and “disgusting” material that grunge is known to celebrate, than this might be worth checking out.

Dead Mall: The Last Great Beast, by Hunter J Allen.

They built us altars only to abandon them. Now they sit as dying, empty relics. No matter what they tell you never forget: These are our relics, not theirs. Don't let them pass gently into that sweet goodnight. They were made for profit but they remain as our playgrounds. If we choose to let them.

This here is a mini-zine and Bingo card about the American shopping mall and its relationship to us, our collective nostalgia, and the significance of cultural ruins.

This is more of a solo bingo game than a roleplaying game, but I think it might be an interesting way to build a modern “dungeon” for something like Liminal Horror. The zine also re-contextualizes a piece of American architecture that was so ingrained into the middle-class experience of the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s. I’m intrigued by how you could use this idea of decay and neglect in other urban fantasy and horror games.

MÖRK BORG, by Ockult Örtmästare Games.

MÖRK BORG is a pitch-black apocalyptic fantasy RPG about lost souls and fools seeking redemption, forgiveness or the last remaining riches in a bleak and dying world. Who are you? The tomb-robber with silver glittering between cracked fingernails? The mystic who would bend the world’s heart away from it’s inevitable end? Confront power-draining necromancers, skulking skeletal warriors and backstabbing wickheads. Wander the Valley of the Unfortunate Undead, the catacombs beneath the Bergen Chrypt or the bedevilled Sarkash forest. But leave hope behind - the world’s cruel fate is sealed, and all your vain heroic efforts are destined to end in death and dismay. Or are they?

This is a black comedy style of game that I think has a lot of overlap with the grunge aesthetic. It’s received a number of awards for its art style, which is chaotic, monochromatic, and as best as I can describe it, “sludgy.” Then again, you might look at Mork Borg and feel like it’s more metal than grunge: it’s not casual, but rather designed for shock value. The world is destined to end, and your characters are futilely trying to make a difference in it; a lot of the cues seem to point to your own characters being not necessarily good people.

The Prophet, by The Punk Theologian.

The Prophet is a solo-journaling role-playing game. It requires a tarot deck and can be played in as little as 30 minutes or over days.

Receiving Revelations: Turn over a tarot card and let the prompts and the card image be the revelation from the deity that called you. Navigating through visions of struggle and cries of despair, following the guiding flames of insight, to help turn your people’s trajectory towards justice and equity.

Overcome Events: Flip coins to find out if the people heed your warnings and are aided by their deity in overcoming enemy invasion, surviving a great earthquake, or a raging fire, or are crushed by the weight of divine condemnation reaping upon themselves the consequences of sewing the seeds of inequity.

When it comes to aesthetics, The Prophet feels very DIY-inspired, and when it comes to design, I think the fact that it’s a solo game contributes to the feeling of isolation: your status as a prophet may separate you from your peers, and if your predictions go unnoticed, you could feel even more alone. The inspiration of the creator is defined as “punk,” but since punk is a genre that grunge pulls a lot of inspiration from, I don’t think that this necessarily disqualifies The Prophet from being a “grunge” - style game.

#iHunt, by Machine Age Productions.

#iHunt is a story telling game about killing monsters in the gig economy. In it, you play millennials scraping by paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet. A gig app called #iHunt offers them more money than they've ever made to hit the streets and kill vampires, werewolves, demons, and anything else that goes bump in the night. 

The base game of #iHunt centres around the soul-crushing nature of the gig economy, which in and of itself I think is a great focus for a grunge-style game. The supplemental zines created by the designer have a very chaotic and collage-like look, taking photos or public domain art and re-mixing them to create something new. If you want to get really grunge, you might want to check out The 90’s Sucked Ass Or Whatever, which is focused on the specific events and details that would affect your disillusioned monster hunters during the height of grunge.

[yandereducktales]

Hi hope you're doing well, I was wondering if you could do hcs about romantic yandere H, D, L, and Webby. And like the rest of the McDuck/Dick family supports them? Srry if that's too much. But I love your work😊

Oh ?

Dewey Duck

Oh, he's so in love

He's dazzled by you. You're just- wow

Every time he looks at you, it's like he has stars in his eyes

You met on one of the McDuck many adventures

The boys had noticed you with your uncle- Flintheart Glomgold

Ahh, forbidden love <3 [He loved Romeo & Juliet]

He can't approach you with Scrooge and Glomgold around, so he waits until you're by yourself

"Um... Hi-" He awkwardly calls, causing you to look at him confused. You instantly recognize him as one of Scrooge's nephews

"Oh, uh- Hi?" You tilt your head, a little confused on why he was talking to you.

He tries to speak, but it's like his tongue is tied. God, he feels like an idiot

Before you can ask him what's wrong, your uncle appears and reprehends the young boy

You don't see him until a few weeks later- At the arcade

He was with Launchpad, but he ditched him when seeing you on the dance game

He joins you and you recognize him

"Oh, hi again. Uh, Huey right?"

"Actually it's Dewey." He's a little disappointed that you don't know his name, but then he remembers he didn't give it to you, so you probably asked about him and that thought made him happy.

"Oh, sorry Dewey. My name's Y/n."

"Well, Y/n, it's nice to meet you."

"You, too." You chuckle

And that's how your friendship starts

You both like to sneak off when your uncles are fighting

He tells you about trying to find his mother and you try and help him

Whenever you come across something that could help him, you give it to him

When his mother comes back, he wants to introduce her to you

"You have to meet them, Mom. You'll love each other. Y/n's great!"

He wants you two to get along so bad

Dewey knows you two are meant to be and sometimes he can't get you out of his mind

Or his mouth. He's always talking about

Everyone's kind of sick of it

They think when you both start dating, maybe it'll stop- Oh, how wrong they are

Huey Duck

You were at a woodchuck meeting and you were new, so Huey clocked you fast

He wanted to help you, but he gets entangled with you

You share a lot of the same interests, hobbies, and ideas

He feels like someone finally understands him

And you feel the same

You two are like two puzzle pieces that fit together perfectly

You even finish each other sentences

His brothers [Louie] think you're both losers, but you don't care, because you have each other

He didn't even realize he had a crush on you until someone else pointed it out

"Yeah, they're cool. Yeah, I think about them a lot. Yeah, they're amazing- No, I don't have a crush on them, I just think they're perfect in every way possible"

You'd have to confess first, because it doesn't look like he's going to be confessing anytime soon. He's heavy in denial

He's flabbergasted when you admit you have a crush on him

"Me? You like me?"

You're a little scared at first, but he's over the moon

Louie Duck

You've met on multiple occasions, but nothing that ever stood out to either of you

You have nothing in common- Well, that's not entirely true, but the more defining personality features are vastly different

When you first meet him, you think he's selfish, lazy, mean, underhanded, manipulative- you get it

He thinks you're different than him. He's never really met someone like you, but he doesn't really give most people a second thought

You're nice and helpful. You want to make life easier and for everyone to be happy

You weren't selfish- You cared about other people

He found that not only annoying, but he thought it was a facade

There was no way that you cared about other people above yourself

People like that didn't exist

Everyone was always looking out for themselves. You must have been faking it

Though, after he stalked you learned more about you, he realize this truly was who you were

You really did want a Utopia and you believing in 'You have to take the first step to change'

He wants to impress you, but you see right through is lies

He wants to change for you- Be nicer- which makes him sick

Though, he really does start to try. The more time he spends around you and the people, he realizes that these people are just like him- Just not rich

You're impressed when realizing he has changed. Maybe not by a lot, but a little is a good start

You become friends and he's glad that he's made you happy

He likes you being happy

Oh my god, he has a crush on you-

He tries learning more about you so that he can come off as someone you should date

Knows your favorite color, parents' names, favorite food, favorite number, your ideologies etc

His family notices he's changed- He's like a completely different person

They have mixed reactions

"Where is my brother and what have you done to him!?!?!!" Dewey shakes his brother when seeing his brother give money to someone

"I think it's great," Huey comments, "Whatever's happened, it's a good thing."

Dewey thinks Louie's an alien or shape-shifter... That is until he meets you

"Oooh! Louie has a cru-"

Louie quickly elbows his brother, his face a bright red

"Shut up-"

You invite Louie to hang out at the movies after working and he's quick to pick up your offer

As you're both leaving, you share a moment and a kiss

Louie's eyes are wide and his face is a deep red

"Wow."

You blush, before waving him off, "Bye Louie. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah.... Tomorrow."

Webby Vanderquack

You think she's rather strange

But she's super fun

You met while she was checking out the city

She had accidentally bumped into you

You meet on several occasions and each time she approaches you

She always starts a friendly conversation with you

She really likes you and tries to impress you a lot

She's very outspoken and tries flirting but it never goes well, even when you start dating

You find her charming though

You asked her out and she was thrilled. She couldn't believe that you liked her back

You always have a fun time with her, no matter what you do

[itsmyfandomandilikeit]

Ok I have gone through all available evidence and I have a prediction.

Look I'm ngl I am watching Arcane for Cait and Vi. I love the show overall but this ship is what I'm most here for, especially after I spent the last 3 years under the assumption that Mel was dead. Glad she isn't. Point is, I really want CaitVi/Violyn/Piltover's Finest to be handled well, and I pay a disproportionate amount of attention to what happens with these two.

After watching the first arc of season 2 the other day, I was trying really hard to ignore the ending to episode 3. I didn't like that Cait hit Vi in the stomach and abandoned her in a pit after being all classist at her, but I thought, this is Arcane. Arcane is the greatest fucking thing I've ever seen, of course they're gonna find a way to make this work. But that made me think of it as a puzzle. How could they possibly make this work?

Option one, Cait sucks now and she and Vi don't get back together. I don't think this makes sense, because of the brand. CaitVi is a popular ship that just about everybody likes. A huge amount of the hype for this season before the trailers came out was building up assurances that don't worry, CaitVi is happening and it's not gonna be ambiguous. Take this teaser from like two weeks after season 1 ended, a couple of Valentine's Day icons, and one million tweets from Amanda Overton. Why the fuck would they make this season be about Cait and Vi not working out? It simply doesn't make logical sense.

Ok, so we're starting from the assumption that Cait and Vi have a happy ending that makes people feel like they should be together, and continue to want to play as them in the games and buy merchandise. That means they either explicitly get back together, or it's so implied there isn't much of a difference. My money is on zero ambiguity. Vi is the main character and Cait is maybe #3 or #4. Ambiguity about their ending would just look like a weak writing choice and they didn't know what they're doing. The Arcane writers don't tend to go for wishy washy.

But here's the problem. Domestic violence is bad. It's about the fastest way to guarantee the majority of your audience doesn't think two characters should be together. It would take a herculean effort on Cait's part to make up for that and honestly I still wouldn't believe it. To me, there isn't any kind of act of service that makes up for hitting your partner. Not even ensuring the independence of the nation of Zaun. Add on top of that the over the top hurtful comments about Vi's blood and class. It makes her look very much like, deep down, she thinks of Vi as beneath her. If she meant those things, a relationship between them is impossible. (Not to mention how many teenaged girls I know are watching this, and I don't want them to think it's ever okay to be treated like that, even in a fantasy series.)

So my prediction is this. The only way to make a relationship between Cait and Vi viable again is to render those comments and the sentiment they carry meaningless. How do the writers do that? Imo it turns out later that Cait intentionally came up with cruel things to say to cut Vi loose. She realized that Vi would never be able to kill Jinx, and this new explosion will make the situation aboveground even worse, and Vi still won't be able to contribute to the hunt after this. Vi has no future as an enforcer against Jinx and will probably get treated like dogshit as a Zaunite, so Cait is "breaking her heart to save her", as Tvtropes would say. In Cait's mind, it's better if she's left down here in Zaun.

What evidence do I have for this? It fits Cait's characterization as a genius who thinks quickly and several steps ahead. It fits the tiny animation details we zero in on of her stiffening her trembling lips and furled eyebrows. It un-ruins the most popular canon relationship in League. It allows act 1 to end on massive shock value but roll it back later to show that Cait actually does love Vi, enough to let her go for her own good.

I'm not arguing this is the best possible solution but it's the one I think they're going to go with. Amanda Overton and some others have repeatedly said that CaitVi fans will be happy with the ending to Arcane. Everything about the show(the opening, Netflix Brazil's Twitter account, the story) points to them being the show's OTP except for this one scene. I think Cait intentionally cut Vi out of her life by pretending to be much crueler than she wanted to be, to protect her and, likely, as a form of self destruction.

[simonisferal]

dance with me — scara x gn! reader

"you said let me dance with you, but i got two left feet, no rhythm, or groove" — topline addicts

very one-sided pining, drunk reader, semi drunk scaramouche, unexpected i love you/kisse, bsf to complicated, mentions of sleeping together (he ends up in your bed), somewhat angst

he still has no idea how you managed to bring him to a party.

he stayed seated during everything, even the 'entertaining' games. he only swirled the red plastic cup in his hand, filled with beer. he watched you dance with your friends. you were somehow happy in this loud place with a big smile.

he takes a sip from the cup, feeling the same as ever. he's probably the only one sober.

scaramouche ignores any girl or guy who has the audacity to approach him. his eyes are only on you the whole time. it wasn't a glare or anything negative like the looks he gives everyone else. it was a soft and wanted stare. he wanted you and your affection.

he needed a whole lot of alcohol to continue thinking that way. especially when you're looking at him like that. like you want him there. like you actually care more about him than you let on. maybe he was delusional for even giving the thought time and you just liked him as a friend.

friends.

that's not a word he liked to associate you with. but it's a word that objectively fits you better than anything he thinks of. he might've been planning to confess but decided against it.

he stood up from the stool he sat on, going to get more drinks for himself and the small group his simple sitting apparently attracted followed. he got more beer, from a closed can rather than the spiked punch. he leaned onto the table full of drinks and food like pizza and chip bags.

his eyes fell back onto you. god. you were like a parasite in his thoughts. he couldn't function without the thought of wondering if you're thinking of him. was he crazy? scaramouche thought so. it's not normal for a friend to think this way.

he might've been staring for too long because you noticed him. the way your drunken eyes managed to linger on his and the big genuine smile you gave him made the butterflies in his stomach flutter.

you walk towards from, knocking down the drink in his hands and holding them. you try to drag him along but he stands still. "hey scara, come and dance with me!" he could smell the alcohol linger on your body. he saw your grin and shook his head. he gave you a small smile.

he knows you want him on the floor. whether it's to spend time with him or just for the sillies, he can't help but feel inclined to.

"let me dance with you then." you hold his hand with a huge smile. he honestly can't dance for shit but it's not like he'd let you know. you were intoxicated beyond repair and so was everyone else, no one would even remember his terrible moves, right?

scaramouche sighed, "fine." before he let you drag him, he chugged few tequila sjots from the table. he wipes his mouth before following you into the crowd of people. you hand grips his as you maneuver around people to dance comfortably. your hands were soft and gentle and he could only look at you, mesmerized.

you pulled him closer to you once you found a blank space on the floor. your eyes looked into his and he felt like you knew everything about him. you were different, you knew him. you felt him, you saw him.

"i love you."

maybe it was the alcohol. maybe it was the intimacy of the situation. maybe he meant to say it. he didn't see your eyes falter or look away from him. he wasn't sure if you liked him—loved him back. his panic grew as you didn't speak.

his eyes only widened when he felt your lips against his. he wasn't sure if you actually would remember but he didn't care. he held you closer, wrapping his arms around your neck and pressing his hot body against yours. you were drunk, and he was almost over the edge. anything that happens past this is completely out of you guys' control and scaramouche didn't mind that.

his brain doesn't remember the rest. he doesn't remember if you said those three words back. he doesn't remember if you two continued to dance. he doesn't remember if there was even a second kiss.

he definitely didn't remember going home with you or apparently leaving his clothes around your apartment and slipping into your bed. he didn't remember that when he woke up.

his head hurt and it didn't help that his pillow was the softest thing. it didn't help that he felt a hand slimmer down to his waist as if it were holding him. and it most definitely didn't help that the hand was yours or that he was laying on your chest.

scaramouche left. you were drunk, he was drunk, it wasn't right.

he managed to walk his way home, holding his head as it pulsed in agony. the missed calls from his mother didn't do anything to reduce the pain and neither did the loud and heavy traffic.

he opened his own apartment door after climbing a flight of stairs (the elevator was out of order) and laid his stuff down before lying on his own bed.

his neck felt bruised and he looked in the mirror. he had kiss marks everywhere, what exactly happened? he looks away from the mirror, turning on his side and covering his face in embarassment.

he hates you.

he absolutely hates you. you're just a nuisance to him. he will never tell you he loves you again. he will never show any sort of affection to you, ever again. he swears on it.

even if you call or text or meet up, he won't look at your sweet eyes, or your rosy lips, or anything!

he groans loudly. you make him feel so weird and good about himself. he's not used to that and he doesn't think he ever will be.

all the drinks he drank to make sure he didn't remember anything is now biting him in the ass. scaramouche wanted to remember. really badly.

but it's okay. if you don't remember, it's like it never happened. that's exactly what he wants, no memories of his first kiss or perhaps first.

...he shouldn't have danced with you, right.?

[farmergadda]

Hello, I have seen your Hamtaro TTRPG and I was wondering if you could write a Chao Garden ttrpg? Thanks!

I saw this message the millisecond it was sent and struggled for a week on how to reply. My tone on this account is leaning towards shitposty ambivalence for the sake of humor, while still expressing my genuine and earnest beliefs on game design. This is a problem because my Honest Reaction and first thought on what to say could VERY EASILY be read as me being an absolute asshole to this individual over a simple request.

I want to establish that this following statement is said with as much positive energy as I can muster, and as an actual response meant to be taken as genuine advice, from a game designer who loves the medium of ttrpgs and a fan of the sonic the hedgehog ip;

"Probably. But I don't want to. You do it."

Developing a game for yourself is a very different experience from making a game for a wider audience; and I don't have the energy to really dissect those differences here, but I feel that the desire for a game to exist is the best opportunity to try and make that game exist. The specific image of a game you have in your head, even if you lack the experience or technical knowledge to make it right now, will never come to fruition at the hands of anyone else, even from a game designer who's made something else you like. If I buckled down to fill this request, whatever I came up with would not be a perfect recreation of what this individual imagined when sending this ask. It'd still probably be good. I like to think I'm not terrible at this sort of thing. But it wouldn't be the ideal game that would fit everyone's expectations of A Chao Garden Game. It probably wouldn't even fit Galaxian-Hedgehog's expectations of A Chao Garden Game. All of this is to say that I think you (the royal you, as in anyone reading this post ever) should go make games. They don't have to be good. In fact, they probably should Be Bad. They should be cobbled together from whatever gaming knowledge you have, with loopholes and edge cases, and frustrating math that doesn't quite work the way you imagined it would. You should try to put your imagined game out into the world, no matter the end result, and if you're left with a system that disappoints you but hasn't stomped out that desire within you...

Congratulations, you're a game designer.

[4denthusiast]

Of the principles in Cultist Simulator, some seem easier than others to get a feeling for what the common thread is meant to be in their themes, and Heart seemed like one of the more confusing to me, but I feel like I have a better idea of it now after having thought about it in the context of literal hearts. I know in theory that the heart is made of a different kind of muscle from the skeletal muscle, and it's specialised to work continuously, but intuitively it feels weird that it never rests. It speeds up and slows down as needed, but it never stops. If you're lucky, your heart may beat continuously for a hundred years, never pausing once in all that time. If it's injured, it just heals while working. If it's not strong enough for the demands placed on it, it gets stronger while working. Normal muscles need a mixture of work and rest to get stronger, but not the heart, or at least not in the same way. If it pauses for just a minute, that's a life-threatening emergency. Occasionally (particularly if I have a blocked nose), I feel tired of breathing, and take a break for half a minute or so. I suppose there are even multiple sets of muscles that work the lungs, so if one can't be used, others can temporarily take over. With the heart that's not an option, it just has to keep going. If you think about all this, does your heart feel tired? Mine does. I assume it's just psychological. They're built for this after all. I can't remember if I've read anything about Heart Longs, but whatever it is they do, it must be exhausting, but perhaps they're built for it too. If Longs even have muscles, are all of a Heart Long's muscles cardiac muscle? I assume percussigants lack the ability to become tired. The heart must work continuously, because its work is the work of staying alive. It isn't the only part of the body with this property, but it is one of the most visible and obvious. This links in to another of the themes of Heart, vitality. Both Heart and Nectar relate to life, but I think a large part of the difference is that Heart is life like warm-blooded animals live it, needing to constantly keep going because if it stops it will never start again, while Nectar relates more to the much more chill lifestyle of plants. Vitality provides the ability to keep going through hardship, but the continuous act of living is also what creates vitality. Joy, too, inspires action over rest. Most of the game's curses can be overcome with Heart. I guess you just need to persevere and outlast them. The principles generally have something a bit creepy about them, something that's just too much. I think this is what that is for Heart, even though it's one of the more overtly positive Principles. Possibly I'm overgeneralising from a few examples. I'm not sure I can actually describe all the other principles this way. Perhaps it's silly to put too much thought into understanding the principle of Heart, given there is no deep truth to be discovered here in real life, it's just a bundle of associations that the authors put together. That doesn't mean it's not something that can be understood though. The games are well-written, with thought put into fitting things together in a way that makes sense.