#i had a selection of 12 unique designs but since you can only have 10 options i condensed all the bubble cow variants

[stemmmm]

I'm collecting cows for research

(left to right: SNES, Save the Homeland, A Wonderful Life, Tree of Tranquility, Animal Parade, Hero of Leaf Valley, A New Beginning, Trio of Towns, and The Famous and Iconic Bubble Cow)

[putschki1969]

Wakana Recochoku Interview Translation

Wakana is releasing her second album『magic moment』which is filled with many magical moments - How does she feel about he lyrics and what are her thoughts regarding her fans?

Wakana debuted in 2008 as a member of 「Kalafina」. Wishing to start a proper career as singer, she made her solo debut in 2019. On February 26 her 2nd album 『magic moment』 will be released. Until February 13 you can order a special CD set that comes with a signed alarm clock. Be sure to order this limited item on WIZY (https://wizy.jp/project/408/)! In commemoration of this special collaboration we have done an interview with Wakana where she talks about her determination to make unique artist goods, her thoughts regarding the album production/lyrics and how she feels about her fans.

――Out of the 11 songs of your 2nd album『magic moment』you wrote 7 yourself, that’s quite a lot.

Yes, that’s true. Back in 2018 I wrote my first lyrics, ever since then I have had the chance to do many lives and work on lots of songs. During my solo activities I have had the chance and time to really get to know myself. I started to think about what kind of singer I wanted to be and what kind of singer I was able to be. I also began wondering about what I wanted to convey through my lyrics.

――What answers did you come up with?

Before coming up with concrete answers I first had to be completely at peace with myself. I had my own selfish wishes of who and what I wanted to be but there were also things I knew I had to do. Despite my personal desires it was very important to me to make everyone happy.

――You became aware of the things that were most important to you.

Yes. Also, my singing changed a lot. Truth is, after finishing my spring tour in 2019, I wanted to increase my voice variations so I changed my singing style. While doing all sorts of research I had many moments where I discovered different styles. The results of my changed singing voice are very prominent in this album, this made me think about all the things I could do next to become even better. Right now I am focusing on how to bring out the best in my voice and how to make best use of it.

――So we can assume that because of that there will be a wide variety of songs on your new album?

There is music that I really wanted to do, lots of up-tempo tracks that will get everyone excited at live performances. When I decided on what kind of songs to include in the album, I definitely wanted to have as many up-tempo songs as possible, there was also an increasing number of songs that made me want to improve my singing style. By singing these songs I felt like I finally came into my own as a solo artist. As a member of Kalafina I only ever sang the soprano parts for 10 years but now I am properly taking charge of all ranges.

――The period between the release of your first album and your 2nd one was a very special time for you, wasn’t it?

Yes, it was. In this one year since my solo debut I have wanted to challenge myself. I am very curious about what the future holds in store for me.

―― That’s great. Are there any lyrics that you couldn’t have written before, something you feel you are only able to convey right now?

The lyrics of track 10 『Happy Hello Day』. I wrote them thinking, “if there is a ‘birthday song’ celebrating the birth of a person, why not write a song celebrating the day you met a special person?” I am always sad at the end of a live performance when all I can say is “thank you”. There is so much I would like to convey to my audience, I constantly think about what to say. I finally decided it would be best and a lot of fun to put those feelings into my lyrics.

―― I am sure the fans will be happy.

I would be happy if they felt that way. Attending lives is quite troublesome for many people, sometimes you will have to ask for leave at work, you will have to find someone who can watch over your children while you are gone or you generally have to make some sacrifices to be able to go. I want you to think, “I gave my best and worked hard so I was able to have this day for myself”. This way it’s also most enjoyable for me. I want to share that feeling with everyone, this song is about “putting all these moments together with the help of music and making them one”. I feel like only now I have reached a point where I am able to write lyrics like that. Up until now I have had these feelings inside me but I never got a chance to put them into words, I just wasn’t able to do it. But now as a solo artist I can convey my personal thoughts through my lyrics so I decided to just be open and honest about my feelings.

―― The perks of being an artist!

That’s true. I am deeply moved by all kinds of songs from all kinds of artists and I definitely do have expectations and things I wish for when it comes to those songs. I am sure my fans feel the same way about my music, they want certain things from my songs. That is the reason why I want to convey all of my feelings through my lyrics.

―― Please tell us a little about the title song 『magic moment』!

When I first heard the song composed by SIRA-san I thought it sounded absolutely marvelous, truly fantastic. The rhythm changes during the chorus so I thought it would be difficult to sing. But once you are immersed in the atmosphere, it doesn’t feel difficult at all. For me listening to this song felt like floating in the air, like swimming among clouds. In that very moment when I listened to the sample I knew that I wanted to sing the song and write lyrics for it so I chose it.

―― This time you not only have different composers but also lots of different arrangers. Does this also correlate with your wish to extend your range?

Definitely! I wanted to get a feel for all kinds of genres. “I want to sing this”, “I need more songs like this for my lives” There were so many songs of that type that I ended up with a wide variety on my album *laughs* Speaking of which, one of the songs 『 揺れる春 /Yureru Haru』- composed and arranged by Sakurai Miki-san - really encapsulates my feelings. It’s like the melody is already carrying my words and thoughts along. It feels very natural for me to convey and express the feelings and images of the music through my voice. I was curious so I asked Sakurai-san about it, turns out she wrote that song with my image in mind after attending one of my lives! I remember I was deeply moved when I heard that, music creators are all so great at turning emotions into music.

―― As an artist you feel blessed to be in that position.

That’s true. These people create music so naturally. I feel happy and blessed to be able to work together with them.

―― This time you are releasing three editions of your album as well as a special collaboration that comes with a signed table clock. This limited edition is only available on WIZY.

Yes. The picture used for this clock is the same design that’s used for the poster that comes with the Limited Edition B. Truth is, that picture was taken after the cover shoot for my first EP “Aki no Sakura”, we had already finished taking all the pictures but there was such a beautiful sunset that I shouted at the camera-man, “please take a picture now!!” *laughs* Just a few minutes later the beauty of the moment was gone and it turned dark so I am glad we were able to capture that special moment on camera.

―― It’s very nice to bring this special moment to life in the shape of an alarm clock.

It is! Personally, I am very bad at getting up in the morning, I don’t trust myself to wake up with just a single alarm. Before I go to sleep I always set an alarm that will ring every two minutes, almost like a snooze but not quite.

―― Why not a snooze function?

The snooze function is no good! One time I managed to delete my snooze, I really can’t trust myself in the midst of waking up *laughs*. That’s why I had this table clock made with a strict alarm function. That will wake you up for sure *laughs*

―― This is not a lottery, it’s a limited build-to-order production so I am sure fans are happy about that.

In the past I created a piano music box that was given away as a lottery bonus for purchasing my CD. I am sure everyone who applied would have loved that piano but unfortunately only a selected few received it as present. So this time we decded to use WIZY’s service for a build-to-order production. This way, everyone who wants the clock can order it. In addition, I am more than happy to sign each and every clock, it doesn’t matter whether there are 10.000 orders or just 3!...although I would be very sad if there were just 3 orders *laughs*.

―― What do you think of your artist goods?

I create them because I want to make the fans happy. I create whatever I feel like creating. Shark goods are most popular. Usually I will make something shark-related because I love sharks so much. Recently I also started making gyoza-themed goods.

―― WOW! Amazing! *laughs*

Combining the things I like I also created a character called “Gyozame-chan” *laughs* I am free to make all kinds of goods but I try to think of things my fans will like, something that can be used by both men and women. While my possibilities are endless I want to make useful items, it should be something you could put in a store and sell. That’s why I really like the alarm clock because it seems like something people would actually use. It’s a reasonable purchase *laughs* And a nice decoration.

―― I look forward to the finished product! What do you want to do with your fans in the future?

Go look at sharks with them, eat gyoza with them *laughs*. I also want to do more lives in many places. I want to increase the things I can do during my concerts. The Limited A edition of my album contains an audio recording of the song “Koi wa Itsumo” from my birthday live on December 12 last year at Mynavi BLITZ Akasaka. I sang this song together with everyone in the audience. I was so happy in that moment so I would like to keep trying to do things like that in the future.

―― What kind of input do you use for your songs?

Movies, tv-shows. Everything that makes me cry or laugh, that’s very important. Short videos, novels or mangas can also be inspiring. Everything is related to my feelings so it‘s very important to me, whether it is an unrealistic idea or a conversation with a friend. Speaking of which, the song 『オレンジ/Orange』included in this album describes some of my friends who I meet about once a month. It’s about their love and dedication to work but also the struggle they face. You can literally make the most mundane thing into lyrics if you analyse it closely enough.

―― I am really looking forward to your next work!

Me too, I am very excited *laughs*

[kathyprior4200]

Blue Raven 666: Exterminators and theories

BlueRaven 666 is a YouTuber who has created videos about many intriguing theories for the web series, Hazbin Hotel. BlueRaven 666's channel. Gray the Exterminator is his original character. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXaxReyJNiKDJQ6g75jigxg I'm posting the transcripts/fanfiction to show support.

Gray is an Exterminator angel OC created by BlueRaven 666, the YouTuber’s demon OC name. Gray has blue eyes, a blue smile and an X over their right eye. A blue tipped horn is their unique physical trait.

The Golden Rule of the Exterminators by BlueRaven 666 

Gray: “Greetings mortals. The diabolical cretin known as Blue Raven has kindly asked me to explain the rules we Exterminators follow during Hell’s annual extermination. These rules ensure that as many of us survive the full 24 hours we spend in Hell as possible, while simultaneously taking out as many sinners and demons as we can.”“There are some rules that are quite obvious. Don’t hold back. Kill as many of the damned in your line of sight as possible. Don’t let the denizens of Hell get ahold of your weapon. Spare nobody, no matter what they may say or do. And perhaps the most important rule of them all: be wary of the buildings you pass by and those you choose to enter. Now you may be asking yourselves, why is this rule so crucial above all the others? Most would think that if the Exterminators aim to kill as many sinners and demons as possible, the buildings would be the number one spot to find those that try to hide from us…and you would be right in your assumptions. The denizens of Hell who have witnessed past exterminations know to take shelter in the nearest building.”

“The problem for us comes in when it comes down to fighting as creatures with wings. Fighting in close quarters with a demon can become very problematic if we aren’t able to access an immediate escape route. We are aware that Hell is home to the likes of Alastor, the Radio Demon, Vox the Television Demon as well as our fallen brother, Lucifer. Not even a dozen Exterminators possess the power it takes to take even one of those individuals down. Entering a building where any one of them could be hiding could be a death sentence for us. The only exception for this rule is if a building is already old and dilapidated, or if it is one that has suffered a lot of external damage from the turf wars that constantly raged throughout the rest of the year. These buildings are usually obliterated on site and all sinners and demons taking shelter there are swiftly dispatched if they can be managed.”

“In summary, the Golden Rule of the Exterminators is to avoid fighting in close quarters. Being outside is needed in order to efficiently dodge fatal blows that could be dealt by an opponent and there are plenty of denizens in Hell that can define themselves on the streets on extermination day anyway. While we’re fully willing to lay down our lives for this tradition every year, it’s most certainly better to be safe than it is to meet a likely slow bloody death at the hands of a demon. That’s all I have for you today. Have a blessed day and God be with you.”

Gray the Exterminator Q and A Part 1 by BlueRaven 666 

Gray: “Greetings mortals. It has been brought to my attention that my presence in Blue Raven’s domain has been met with overwhelmingly positive reactions from his loyal followers. Many of you seem to be curious as to who I am as well as well as the overall nature of Exterminators as a species. Today, I will be answering some of your questions in order to shed some light on what exactly Exterminators do and how we think. I have selected 20 questions to cover that will allow me to help you become more familiar with who I am as an individual. Worry not, if your question doesn’t get answered. With an ever-increasing number of questions being asked daily, many will have to be answered in later installments. Patience is a virtue, embrace it.”

Question 1: How did you get lost?

Gray: “Ah yes. I believe Blue Raven mentioned that our meeting was caused by me getting lost shortly after Hell’s most recent extermination. I was knocked unconscious whilst battling a demon. My fellow Exterminators presumed I was dead and left me behind. As a result, we do not collect the mortally wounded or deceased once the extermination has ended. While Heaven is visible from the skies of Hell, returning is not as simple as flying back. Doing so would be the equivalent of trying to fly from Earth to the moon. Blue Raven has decided to take me in, forging a fragile truce between an angel and a demon until the situation is resolved.” Question 2: What is your gender/sexuality?

Gray: “Most Exterminators are ambiguous to gender though many believe us to be female, but we tend to leave it up to the individual to decide which pronouns they prefer to use. My preferred pronouns are “they” and “them.” Sexuality: asexual.”

Question 3: Were you born in Heaven or on Earth?

Gray: “I was born into a family of seasoned Exterminators in an area of Heaven that is inhabited by Exterminators exclusively.”

Question 4: How nervous were you during your first extermination? 

Gray: “The level of anxiety an Exterminator feels during their first extermination is usually high. The first thing we’re told by the lead Exterminator before we are sent into Hell is that death is a very real threat. New recruits are ordered to group up with three to five more experienced angels in order to stand a better chance at surviving our first extermination day. I was not scared of dying personally. It was the long list of demons that were known for killing Exterminators that I feared facing.” Question 5: What is your preferred method of killing demons?

Gray: “We are urged to make the death as swift and painless as possible by our superiors. A sword or spear through the head is my preferred method used to dispatch a demon.”

Question 6: Can demons kill angels?

Gray: “They can and they do if they are powerful enough. We are not invincible.”

Question 7: What is your rank in the Exterminator hierarchy?

Gray: “I am what would be referred to as a soldier. Soldiers are the lowest rank and are basically seen as cannon fodder until they gain more experience.”

Question 8: Did you choose to become an Exterminator?

Gray: “In the grand scheme of things, no. Those who are born into families of other Exterminators are expected to join them once they are of age. Failure to comply would mean an immediate banishment to Hell as we are naturally too bloodthirsty to be good for anything else around Heaven.” Question 9: Why do Exterminators look like demons?

Gray: “The armors’ design was thought up decades ago by an Exterminator by the name of Thistle. (English name meaning “prick” or “thorn”). He used the horns of a demon to blend in with Hell’s populace in an attempt to avoid being attacked. Tragically, he was killed after being mistaken for a demon by his comrades. They took his brilliant idea back with them, altered it so that it was more distinguishable from the populace in Hell and the final design has remained ever since.”

Question 10: Are you a fallen angel?

Gray: “I am not. I realized the situation I’m currently in may make it seem that way, but I still hold my status as an Exterminator.”

Question 11: Why is the tip of one of your horns blue?

Gray: “The original version of this question mentions an imp by the name of Blitzo.”

Blue Raven: “It’s pronounced “Blitz.”

Gray: “Come again?”Blue Raven: “It’s Blitz, the o is silent.”

Gray: “Why do you miserable brutes insist on having such peculiar names?  Regardless, this imp is known to have white patches on one side of his face just as I can be identified by the blue color on the tip of my right horn. These unique traits are known to Exterminators as identity tags, as my coloration is fairly unique amongst Exterminators in general. These details make it easier to tell other angels who I am when I’m on duty.”

Question 12: Are there Exterminators trying to kill all of the demons during the Extermination?

Gray: “Many will try, even though it is futile. Hell is many times larger than the Earth and its population can be more than double on the day of extermination. Even if the amount of sinners was half, we wouldn’t be able to kill them all in 24 hours.”

Question 13: Have you ever had to fight someone you loved?

Gray: “No. Any angels that fall from grace nowadays are typically slaughtered by Hell’s denizens within weeks following their banishment.” Question 14: What is the punishment for breaking the Golden Rule?

Gray: “The Golden Rule of the Exterminators is not law. It’s treated more as an unspoken rule that is learned the hard way. As such, the consequences of breaking the Golden Rule of the Exterminators is usually severe bodily harm and death.”

Question 15: Have you ever met Alastor, Vox, or Lucifer?Gray: “I’ve been acquainted with our fallen brother Lucifer as he and the Lord tend to contact each other every great once in a while. If memory serves, I’ve never had a negative encounter with him. I’ve only caught glimpses of Alastor and Vox. Safe to say, I don’t wish to get myself wrapped up in a battle with either of them.”

Question 16: Is there an overlord you’d like to kill?

Gray: “Every Exterminator tends to have a personal list of individuals they’d like to slay. The only ones I have on mine are two individuals. The first is the insect type, Katie Killjoy and the second is a sinner that goes by the name of Gray Man, the despicable monster Albert Fish.” (American serial killer, child rapist and cannibal)

Question 17: Who is your least favorite demon in Hell?Gray: “Well all of them are terrible, quite frankly. However, the one known to Hell as Valentino (porn owner) especially makes my skin crawl.”

Question 18: Who has been your most difficult encounter so far?

Gray: “I would say the holder of that title goes to the one known as Niffty. She has a reputation of being so fast that no Exterminator can catch her.”

Question 19: Why does the Extermination happen?

Gray: “Overpopulation has become an ever-increasing problem in Hell and it continues to worsen with each passing year. The Extermination has been set in place to ensure those who are sent to Hell will have somewhere where they can be integrated into the population.” Question 20: What is your opinion about Charlie’s plan to rehabilitate sinners?Gray: “The topic is quite controversial amongst those in Heaven. Some believe it is genius. Others believe it is pointless. I personally try to keep an open mind. It sounds impossible but stranger things have happened.” “I hope I was able to satisfy your curiosity over me and the behaviors of my fellow Exterminators. Have a blessed day and God be with you.”  Gray the Exterminator Q and A by BlueRaven 666 Part 2 

Gray: “Greetings, mortals. This is a continuation of your hard-pressed questions about Exterminators and myself as an individual. As we have the luxury of time on our side, today, I have selected 25 questions to answer and we’ll be going into further detail in my responses as much as I can.”   

Question 1: How many angels/Exterminators are there in Heaven? 

Gray: “Due to my status as an Exterminator, I can only really speak for the total population of Exterminators that reside in Heaven. To put it in perspective, Hell maintains an average population of 15 billion denizens. There is one Exterminator per every 300 of Hell’s denizens, bringing the total population of Exterminators to around 50 million. However, we only make up a small percentage of the total number of angels in Heaven, roughly 5 percent, according to some. Going by that math, the total number of angels residing in Heaven to be over 1 billion. In comparison, the world population on Earth is around 7.8 billion.”  

Question 2: How does an Angel become an Exterminator? 

Gray: “I should mention that Exterminator is a status that very few in Heaven wish to obtain, but there are three ways one can achieve it. The first and most common way is by being born into the life. True, it may not be something within your control, but it’s a fact. The second way is by appointment by the Powers. This happens for a multitude of reasons, but it’s usually because an angel has committed a sin and is granted an opportunity to choose their fate: be banished into Hell or serve as an Exterminator until the next Extermination day passes. The third and least common way one can become an Exterminator is by volunteering. Volunteers typically require extensive psychological screening by the Powers and Virtues and must meet several requirements before their request is approved (physically fit, flight training, strong will, intelligence test, respect for higher ups, etc.) These screening occur under the belief that an ordinary angel who wants to become an Exterminator could be experiencing sinful thoughts and is seeking an outlet they can unleash these thoughts on. Such individuals are considered to be highly dangerous and can rarely be trusted. (Similar to how one would view a person wanting to be a soldier to kill for sport or for criminal acts)”   

Question 3: What is the difference between an angel and an Exterminator?

 Gray: “Angels are given several rights and opportunities that Exterminators cannot be trusted with. For example, an angel can be entrusted to carry out the duties of a guardian angel on Earth. Exterminators cannot. Angels may also be chosen to accompany the Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, etc.) as they communicate messages between man and God. An Exterminator would never be considered for such a role. We may be entrusted to communicate the status of Hell and its denizens to God but only if the situation has reached crucial status.”    

Question 4: Why do Exterminators have an x over their eyes? 

Gray: “The X over the right eye of an Exterminator is a symbol of one’s status as a full soldier. Those still in training will not receive this mark until they are ready. Think of it like a brand logo. It’s the mark of the officially of one’s rank as an Exterminator.”  

Question 5: Can Exterminators fall in love? 

Gray: “Of course they can, though it may be difficult. Most Exterminators experience trouble getting along with one another. This can be for any number of different reasons: conflicting personalities, personal rivalries, or a general lack of interest in the individuals that surround them. This tends to be the most common issue that Exterminators face when it comes to looking for love. Most will even agree to be partners simply for the sake of carrying on a bloodline.”    

Question 6: Can angels/Exterminators reproduce?

Gray: “Well, yes. Those that reside in Heaven are granted that privilege.” 

  Question 7: Is it possible for Heaven to become overpopulated?

 Gray: “I would say it’s possible, yes. However, it would be incredibly unlikely. Heaven and Hell differ greatly in size. To put it in perspective, the size difference between the two realms would be like comparing planet Earth to the sun. The sun is so large that 1.3 million Earths can fit inside of it. That’s how big Heaven is compared to Hell. Between the number of angels that eventually fall, the number of Exterminators that are lost in the Extermination each year and those who arrive in Heaven after death, overpopulation is a threat that Heaven need not worry about anytime soon.”    

Question 8: What do Exterminators do when it isn’t Extermination day?

Gray: “Much of the time, we simply just sit and wait for the next one to arrive. We do our best not to fight amongst ourselves and spend time with our families if any members have survived and spending time indulging in our own interests and hobbies.”  

Question 9: Do Exterminators train for battle? 

Gray: “Yes. We Exterminators are trained up for months before every extermination… quite vigorously, as a matter of fact, granted we cannot accurately replicate the climate or terrain of Hell, or the abilities of most demons. But we’ve managed to brush up on the basics, work with new recruits alongside more seasoned Exterminators and practice new attack and defense strategies up until the next Extermination.” 

Question 10: What is your favorite weapon? 

Gray: “Most of the time, I, along with many other Exterminators, will choose to use a sword or a spear. Spears are lightweight and easy to use, without having to be too close to an opponent. Swords, while they are considerable heavier, are double-edged and work quite efficiently. My favorite weapon to use, however, would be a crossbow. It may not be the most practical weapon by any means, but it is quite efficient at taking down demons from a safe distance.”  

Question 11: What do Exterminators think of modern weapons? 

Gray: “Most Exterminators share a simple common interest in weapons and artillery. We find devices such as firearms, tanks, aircrafts and nuclear weapons to be utterly fascinating. However, such weapons are viewed as far too devastating to be used during the Extermination. Close range combat serves as a reminder that we are taking lives by our own hands and that fact is emphasized tenfold when we look into a victim’s eyes moments before they draw their final breath. Plus, imagine the amount of work it would take to get a tank from Heaven into Hell and back again.”  

Question 12: If you die a non-sinner, do you become an angel? 

Gray: “If you die having never committed a single sinful act in your life, I believe you will be ranked higher than an angel. That’s grounds for sainthood, if I’m not mistaken. You may be eligible for placement amongst the first triad in the hierarchy of angels at the very least.”  

Question 13: What happens when an angel/human/demon dies? 

Gray: “When we die, our consciousness is plunged into what is known as the void. The void is an infinite expanse of nothingness that extends for eternity. In the void, you shall feel no joy, no pain, no sadness, no thirst, and no hunger. There will be no sound, nothing. (It will be the same state as before birth). Imagine the deepest sleep you’ve ever fallen into that will become your reality once you’ve been plunged into the void and it shall continue on until the end of time. Death connects us all.”   

Question 14: Are there any Exterminators you can’t stand? 

Gray: “Oh goodness, where to start? There Alabasdor, one of the few that willingly volunteered to become an Exterminator. He’s not quite right anymore and enjoys making demons suffer slow, painful, gory deaths during the Extermination. There’s Flax, one Exterminator who really can’t be bothered. He averages around five kills per extermination, while everyone else averages between twenty and forty. The exterminator that takes the crown for being the most unbearable to me, however, is called Silver. She’s like Alabasdor but ten times worse. The only reason she hasn’t been banished into Hell yet is because she holds the highest kill count after every extermination. It wouldn’t be so bad if she didn’t spend a month gloating over her victories afterwards.”   

Question 15: Has an Exterminator ever been saved by a demon before? 

Gray: “Not in any case that’s been documented. It would appear that my situation has been the first recorded case of an Exterminator being saved by a demon. That isn’t to say it has never happened before, however, most demons pounce at the first opportunity to take an Exterminator’s head as a trophy.” 

Question 16: Could an Exterminator form an alliance with a demon?

 Gray: “Impossible. No demon could trust an Exterminator to allow one to assist them with anything and the Exterminators are too bloodthirsty to find it worth their while to help a demon. The truce between Blue Raven and I seems to be unique amongst the usual relationship between demons and Exterminators.”   

Question 17: Do you have a favorite demon?

Gray: “I believe the princess of Hell is every angel’s favorite demon.”  

Question 18: Have you ever met a docile demon?

Gray: “I believe that Blue Raven is the most docile of his kind along with Princess Charlotte and Tom Trench.”    

Question 19: Has an Exterminator ever spared a demon? 

Gray: “Most do not. We kill every opportunity we’re given during the Extermination. However, we do tend to spare imps and demons that are expecting and find themselves without shelter, as well as individuals we know for certain will be too much for us to handle. It may not come across as professional, but in our eyes, it's the run-of-the-mill ordinary demons that are a dime a dozen and serve as our main target.”  

Question 20: Do you think it’s possible for sinners to be redeemed? Gray: “Possible, yes. However, I believe the question remains as to whether or not there will be enough individuals seeking redemption who will actually be able to achieve it. At least the annual Extermination will no longer be necessary. (That what Charlie hopes). There is also a significant number of demons that have obtained a high social standing in Hell society and have gained a significant amount of territory. As a result they may not be so keen on letting go of that status.”  

Question 21: What would happen if God was killed? 

Gray: “Such a fate is not possible. Speaking hypothetically, however, the death of the Lord would plunge everything in existence into the void. The entire universe as a whole world would cease to exist.”   

Question 22: What do you think of Angel Dust? Gray: “He isn’t the worst sinner that’s out there. However, I would prefer it if he stayed no less than 10 feet away from me at all times.”   

Question 23: How does God feel toward Lucifer? 

Gray: “Our brother’s name is only mentioned in Heaven as a cautionary tale for other angels. It serves as a reminder that no matter what one’s social standing might be in Heaven, even those closest to the Lord can fall from grace if they choose to repeat his past transgressions. But everyone knows that Lucifer is still his favorite. (He was the light bringer and one of the first angels. Lucifer got banished from Heaven due to his pride and view of Man as inferior to Angels. He wanted to have more freedom, even if it meant going against the rules.).” 

  Question 24: How would you react if you met an overlord of Hell? 

Gray: “Depending on the individual, I presume one of two things would happen. I would either be killed on sight or verbally toyed with until I lost my patience. Given my current state, I cannot afford an encounter with an overlord of Hell. I suppose I would just keep my distance and avoid making any moves against them at this present time.”  

Question 25: How old is Blue Raven by demon standards? 

Gray: “Blue Raven, I believe this is a question for you to answer.”   

Blue Raven: “Alrighty then. How old am I demon’s standards? Well, that’s a loaded question. Some people think it’s how long you’ve lived on Earth with the number of days, weeks, months or years you’ve spent in Hell added onto that. Others just count by the amount of time spent in Hell alone. Just to make it seem less pathetic, I’ll go with the former and say I’m 23 by demon standards, which really isn’t much when you’ve got demons like Alastor, Vox, Angel Dust, Mimzy, etc. who have been down there decades longer. Back to you, Gray.” 

Gray: “That will be all for this session. We sincerely apologize if this session was longer than anticipated (but why apologize?). Stay tuned for more Q and A. Have a blessed day, and God be with you.” Gray the Exterminator Q and A by BlueRaven 666 Part 3 Gray: “Greetings, mortals. Before I begin this installment of questions and answers, there are a few things I would like to say. Firstly, Blue Raven and I wish to thank you for helping this channel, surpassing 6,000 subscribers. We are grateful for your support and look forward to what’s to come as the channel continues to grow. Secondly, we have been made aware of the crisis that is currently taking place on Earth and urge everyone to stay safe out there in the coming weeks. The sooner humanity works to keep each other safe, the sooner this crisis will end and social events and activities will resume. To start this off, a lot of you seem to be curious about my interactions with Blue Raven since I would up down here and became a part of his YouTube channel.”  

Question 1: Are you and Blue Raven getting along? 

Gray: “I will say that there are quite a few pros and cons about living with a demon. Our sworn truce prevents us from killing each other. However, we do tend to get on each other’s nerves quite a bit. Speaking in expletives is practically a second language down here, whereas, it’s a forbidden one in Heaven. I can easily make my point without the use of swearing or curse words, a concept that Blue Raven seems to struggle with. Have you got anything to add to this?”

Blue Raven: “Oh no, F**ck!”

Gray: “You see?” 

Question 2: Do you and Blue Raven do anything to annoy each other?

Gray: “Well, Blue Raven has been trying to coax me into swearing as well. Most demons are nocturnal and Blue Raven is no exception. The brightness of his computer screens tends to keep me up during the night as he works.” 

Blue Raven: “Ok, my turn. Gray is an angel and is required to worship God Every. Single. Day. That…uh…that kind of behavior tends to call problems for us demons.” 

Question 3: What is life like for an Exterminator in Heaven?

Gray:  “Not good. Not terrible, by any means, but most definitely not good. You see, we’re not the pure, innocent souls like most angels in Heaven. We exist solely to kill. As such, our lives solely revolve around training for the next extermination and keeping the demon population in check. We are taught from an early age to be apathetic, which tends to bleed into our daily lives outside of the Extermination. This can lead to us being unkind and uncaring toward our fellow Exterminators, including family and friends.” 

Question 4: What is Heaven like, over all? 

Gray: “From an Exterminator’s perspective, it is like the way humans view the Earth’s oceans: fascinating, vast, and largely unexplored. You see, Exterminators make up roughly five percent of Heaven’s total population and we aren’t permitted to step outside of our boundaries, unless we’re needed. What we Exterminators know about Heaven is limited to what we know about our own territory and what Exterminators that have been recruited from the outside population have told us. The region of Heaven where Exterminators dwell is very simple. We have houses, neighbors, families, children, pets, gardens. There are public places where we can partake in outdoor activities and social events like sports as the weather is usually comfortable year round. Popular sports in heaven include volleyball, gymnastics, and competitive flight races.”

Question 5: “Do you have any friends?” 

Gray: “I do. His name is Cinder. He’s a former angel that was recruited to join the Exterminators for questioning God’s rule. He can be identified by an X that completely takes over the place of his right eye, pearly armor and a sad expression cast over his face rather than the traditional malicious smile most Exterminators bear.”

Blue Raven: “Gray has a bit of a crush on Cinder!” 

Question 6: How are Exterminators viewed in Heaven’s society?

Gray: “Our existence is a bit controversial amongst the denizens of Heaven. There are some who see us as a necessary evil that is essential for keeping the population of Hell in check. Others see us as being no better than the demons we slay. Regardless of whom you may ask, however, no angel who isn’t an Exterminator wants to be associated with one.”  

Question 7: Do you ever wish you weren’t an Exterminator?

Gray: “Sometimes. There are days where I wonder if being an Exterminator is the only thing life has to offer me. However, being an Exterminator is all I’ve ever known and I’m not sure how I’d be able to handle deviating from that path.”  Blue Raven: “You could just stay down here, where nothing is off limits and everyone wants to kill you.” 

Question 8: Do you have to earn your wings/halo/weapons?

Gray: “Our wings manifest in early childhood and we learn how to fly in adolescence. Our halos are given to us once we reach adulthood and as shown as a sign that we are ready to step up and join our fellow Exterminators as soldiers. Halos are hand-made and made of glass. All first time soldiers are given the choice to carry a sword or spear. With other weapons such as crossbows, sickles, and scythes, require additional training and must be earned.”   

Question 9: Is there a minimum number of demons an Exterminator has to kill per Extermination?

Gray: “Yes and no. It is frowned upon if an Exterminator doesn’t like to kill demons at all. However, those chosen from the outside population of angels are told they only need to achieve one kill per Extermination. The average kill count for an ordinary soldier is between 40 and 50. More experienced Exterminators or those who happen upon a larger number of demons in a particular area can score up to a hundred or more kills. Silver’s highest kill count stands at 392.” 

Question 10: What is your highest kill count?

Gray: “My highest kill count stands at 74. Most of the victims were imps.” 

Question 11: Would you kill a child/baby that was born in Hell?

Gray: “No. Most Exterminators won’t, especially babies. Even the children at are born in Hell are defenseless up until a certain age. Coming across a child or an infant in the streets during the Extermination is rare and we are more inclined to go after the parent responsible for leaving the child unattended rather than the child themselves.”  

Question 12: How long do most Exterminations take?

Gray: “We are usually in Hell for the full 24 hours on Extermination Day. However, sometimes we finish our work early and elect to return to Heaven. Extermination Day feels like the longest day of the year! The shortest recorded Extermination lasted for 16 hours.” 

Question 13: What would an Extermination look like in Heaven? 

Gray: “If Heaven ever became overpopulated to the point of where an Extermination was being considered, the Exterminators would be the first to be weeded through. Angels would also most likely go through rounds of vigorous testing to see if they are deserving of Heaven. Those who obtained entry simply by accepting God but never acting upon it (those who have never prayed or gone to church), would likely be banished to Hell automatically.” 

Question 14: How do Exterminators travel to and from Hell?

Gray: “There is a portal that we go through that is summoned. It looks like an enormous tornado that is just beginning to form! It is disorienting to go through, but it is much quicker than just trying to fly.”  

Question 15: Can humanity contact Heaven/Hell?

Gray: “Uh, Blue Raven, do you have an answer to this?”

 Blue Raven: “Indeed, I do. We’ve only recently discovered a way to contact the living world trough social media, but it’s a pain in the ass and only Vox and I really know how to do it. You could also do it the old fashioned way, with Ouija board, or some ancient ritual. Proceed with caution if you do decide to use an Ouija board. Go poking around online for a while and you’ll run into something. I’m not responsible for what happens if you successfully summon a demon! We’ve stopped accepting animal sacrifices as payment, so stop killing animals to try and summon us demons. Animal abuse is bad! We don’t take that kind of payment anymore.

”Gray: “Raven, what happens to kids who end up in Hell?”

Blue Raven: “Well, define kid, because I consider anyone who looks younger than 16 a kid. Regardless, 99 percent of the time when you see a child in Hell, chances are they’re a natural born demon, but there are mortal born children that die and end up in Hell and usually they deserve it. You know the brats they are, nothing but mean and disrespectful to everyone that’s around them. Kids that have killed animals intentionally for one reason or another, the ones that engage in sexual or drug activity at a very early age, willingly. Mind you, there are children that wind up in Hell and it’s becoming more common as time passes. There is a line that kids are crossing to where they aren’t beacons of innocence anymore and they aren’t given a free pass when they wind up in Hell. In fact, they are the first ones to be singled out to be tormented by the demons down there and most of them can’t do a damn thing about it. So I’d say if you’re a kid, younger than 18 in human years, get your act together. Save the adult things for when you are an adult because God doesn’t care if you’re a kid, what age you were when you died, if you soul has been corrupted enough to go to Hell, then you’re going to Hell and it’s not going to be a fun experience.” 

 Question 17: How many sins does it take to send a person to Hell?

Gray: “Blue Raven said that if you committed enough sins, to the point where your soul is no longer pure enough for Heaven, you will be sent to Hell. It could take as much as killing a single person without remorse or committing several sins.”  

Question 18: Why are you gray?

Gray: “Because both of my parent’s natural coloration was gray. I just am. Why I was named Gray, I don’t know. It wasn’t my idea.”

 Blue Raven 666: “It was my idea to create Gray and Blue Raven as my avatar OC.”

Question 19: Can girls be Exterminators?

Gray: “Of course they can. In fact, I believe women make better Exterminators than men. They tend to be more flexible, agile, and better at quick decision-making than males.” 

Question 20: Do humans have an accurate depiction of God?

Gray: “Not in the slightest. I can’t go into much detail under angelic law, but he’s definitely not like how humans see Him. His image has been corrupted by so many human minds that couldn’t handle the information they were presented with that they came up with a much more appealing image, most humans know today. They changed His overall image to better fit their own ideals.”  (God is supposed to be a figure who is accepting of everyone’s background, provided they do good things in their lives. Worship is important, but doing good actions for one’s community and the world is even better. Good and bad behavior is learned over time as people grow up. We learn from our parents, peers, teachers, the government, and social institutions, religion being one of them. As we are created in His image, we must do our part in honoring Him and caring for ourselves and humanity the best way we can. He manifests in different faiths: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc. Messengers of God, Jesus, Abraham, Mohammed, etc. are different individuals who represent similar cultural ideals. He not only is part of nature and the universe, He is those very things. He is often depicted as a bearded man in the clouds, kind of like Zeus, but he is more than that. He takes forms beyond just human. He is light, His is the life-giving sun, He is the star-filled night that makes us look up in awe and wonder. He can be felt in every act of kindness, every prayer and devotion, in all the moments where people come together to ask for forgiveness, share their stories, or to just share the comforting, if not orderly experiences of going to church every Sunday. Over time, humanity has altered His image to exclude individuals who don’t fit certain standards (ex. loving the same sex, those who do not believe in God, marginalized groups of people etc.) Church and religion has been seeped in the desire for money, power and privilege, instead of its assumed role in bringing communities together who believe in something greater than themselves. “Love thyself, love thy neighbor, love thine enemy”…religions set standards and views of what is right and wrong for people to follow. But has that always been true? They say His word and rules never change, but when society evolves over hundreds of years, one comes to realize that one thing that’s forever constant is change…and as God is constant, change is also a part of Him.)(Feel free to disagree, I’m not religious.)

Gray: “That’ll be all. Blue Raven, I’ll let you take things from here.”Blue Raven: “I am NOT doing the “God be with you” part, just so we’re clear! Thank you guys so much. We know things are bad out there, we know you guys are probably getting restless and want to go out and do things with your buddies, but the best thing you guys can do for yourselves and your loved ones right now is obey any stay at home orders going on at the moment, practice, social distancing, and for f**ks sake, wash your hands and wear your protective face masks when you go out. Use common sense, don’t be dummies! Sooner people start cooperating, the sooner the orders will be lifted and businesses can reopen. Going out to get a haircut isn’t worth you or your loved one’s life, alright. Stay safe out there.”Gray: “But I thought you hated the humans.”Blue Raven: “Shh. They (other demons) don’t need to know. Humans watch my videos, after all.” 

Blue Raven 666 Interrogation Q & A by BlueRaven666 Part 4

 Blue Raven: “Hello everyone, Blue Raven here, and for this session of questions and answers, we’re switching things up a bit. You see, between the Q and A sessions we’ve done so far and my last upload a lot of info was leaked that Hell has been taking note of effectively pissing off Gray and causing them to quite possibly holding me at spear-point as I’m recording this. So for this session, Gray will be taking a break as I answer some of your hard pressed questions about myself, demons, and life in Hell. I’m gonna be honest, you guys had a lot of questions and so I think that justifies Gray’s feelings a bit. I mean, you all know more about them than you do me at this point, so I’ve picked 24 of your most hard-pressed questions about me, demons, and Hell.”

 Gray: “I have answered a total of sixty five questions for you, Raven. I refuse to come back until you’ve done the same.” (Now Blue Raven has to post more videos lol)

 Blue Raven: “Oh god dammit.”

 Question 1: How long have you been in Hell?

 Blue Raven: “Almost five years, I believe. First got here summer of 2015 and I’ve been here ever since.” (Perhaps when he started YouTube?)

 Question 2: What kind of demon are you?

Blue Raven: “Okay, you see, I didn’t know the answer to that, myself, until just recently. There’s a lot going on here: the blue wings, the tail, the horns, none of which are immediately identifiable as a single type of animal. As it turns out, I’m a dragon demon. Yes, Hell has dragons and dragon demons. It actually took another dragon demon to point this out before I realized it. (Was it Hatchet from Zoophobia? What if Blue Raven met Fitch and other dragons while Gray has to escape Adina, the evil head of the Exterminators who tortures other demons?)

   Question 3: What are your powers/abilities?

 Blue Raven: “Nothing that’s worth writing about, really. I can breathe fire, fly, grab things with my tail, and thanks to Vox, I know how to contact people and entertain in Hell and the living world. That’s knowledge that I can’t leak to anyone or Vox said he’d kill me so don’t bother asking.”

  Question 4: Which city do you live in?

Blue Raven: “I live in the part of Hell that’s known as the Styx, a.k.a. the middle of fuckin’ nowhere. Vox actually had to have a communication tower built where I live just so I could receive Wi-Fi because I don’t want to live in the city.”

     Question 5: How do you die?

Blue Raven: “Okay, let me make you all aware of the first unspoken rule of Hell: do go around asking everybody how they died. Natural-born demons will take personal offence to that (“Are you saying I’m a low scum sinner?”. What I will say about my death was that it was the result of a broken heart. Put the pieces together and I’ll eventually figure it out.”

  Question 6: Why are you in Hell?

Blue Raven: “Oh boy. Let me list the reasons; not believing in God, practicing witchcraft and Satanism, reading Tarot, I interrupted a church service once, being LGBTQ+, gluttony, big one right there, envy, greed, sloth, you know, I think I’m beginning to see why I’m a dragon demon.

 Question 7: What is daily life like for a demon in Hell?

 Blue Raven: “Well, I mean I can’t speak for everyone that’s down here but on a typical day, I wake up, have about three cups of coffee, eat some breakfast, watch some YouTube videos, work on some of my own videos, go to my day job at the local preschool. After work, I chill out at home for a little bit, watch some more YouTube videos, work some more on my own stuff, and then I go to bed and that’s my average daily routine. If you hear of me doing anything more than that, it’s a special occasion.”

 Question 8: Does time still apply to Hell?

 Blue Raven: “Yeah. You can’t visually tell the difference between day and night, but we have a.m. and p.m. We have clocks and calendars, so time still does apply to Hell, it’s one of the realm’s ongoing tortures, actually.”

  Question 9: What is the government system of Hell like?

 Blue Raven: “Very simple. If a member of the royal family orders you to do something, yeah, do it. If one of the Gnostic demons orders you to do something and you’re a lower rank than them, you do it or get ready to fight and lose. If an overlord tells you to do something and they’re more powerful than you, you do what they say or square up. Demons and sinners can pretty much do what they want down here, but the moment someone of a higher rank or someone who holds more power gives you an order, you better do it or you could end up being double dead before the next Extermination comes around.”

 Question 10: Is there gender/racial segregation in Hell?

Blue Raven: “In a way, yes. You’ve probably heard the saying birds of a feather flock together, right? That aspect tends to be applied to Hell society. Demons usually socialize with those of the same species, or those that are down here for the same sins. One type that nobody associates with down here are the cho-mos (child molesters) and the perverts. It gets kind of complicated when it comes to gender, though. You see, I’d say around 90% of us don’t really know how to keep it in our pants for those who were born human. That fact doesn’t really matter because we’re infertile, but natural born demons are able to reproduce, so unless they’re looking to create a boom in the population, the males and the females tend to be kept separate.”

  Question 11: Where do new denizens spawn in Hell?

 Blue Raven: “Literally anywhere. There’s no one single place that sinners manifest after they die. We don’t fall through arriving in Hell. It’s almost like waking up, only in a totally different from and someplace you’ve never been before.”

 Question 12: Do people in Hell get sick?

Blue Raven: “Yes, we do. You can thank pestilence for every pandemic or illness to ever come into existence on Earth, but we do get sick down here in Hell to rot. Horn rot, tail rot, hoof rot, a whole lot of rot. But tapeworms are coming down here too, and you can’t trust the doctors down here because most of them are either witch doctors, plague doctors or quacks. So if you do get sick down here, you’re kind of screwed.”

 Question 13: How do demons get their forms?

Blue Raven: “It depends on a wide variety of factors. Your personality, your sins, how people viewed you in life, how you died and so on. We continue to change and evolve as we continue to exist in Hell so forms can change over time. (I mean, look at this guy, he’s a fuckin’ gun.)”

 Question 14: What happens if you get injured in Hell?

Blue Raven: “Unless it’s an angel’s weapon, or your form gets completely destroyed beyond repair, nothing. Bruises and scratches heal pretty quickly. Broken bones take only a couple days to heal up. Bullet and stab wounds are nothing. The bitch of the situation comes in when it’s an angel’s weapon. Then the injury takes eight times longer to heal, and it if’s fatal, it’s fatal.”

 Question 15: Would you ever sign a contract/make a deal with an overlord?

 Blue Raven: “I kind of already have with Vox. I wanted some decent technology to start making videos online. I got a hell phone and now I work for him. Don’t make deals with demons, kids.”

 Question 16: What is your relationship with Vox?

 Blue Raven: “It’s just an employer-employee sort of dynamic, nothing more.”

New message from: Vox: Oh so you’re a liar now too, eh?

Blue Raven: “Stop tapping into my microphone you creep.”

     Question 17: What would happen if someone were to break a deal with a demon?

Blue Raven: “Oh, you don’t want to do that, my friend. Your soul will belong to the demon for all eternity either way, unless that demon gets killed. Humans have been killed for trying to break off their deals if not them, than their friends, family, and even pets. Again, don’t make deals unless you intend to hold up your end of the bargain.”

 Question 18: How does a demon become an overlord?

Blue Raven: “Do I look like a demon that has achieved overlord status? I don’t know. I know Alastor defeated a bunch of overlords that used to be in power, so I guess that’s one way to go about it.” (Demons who have committed a bunch of horrible sins (both in Hell and on Earth) and had an infamous status on Earth are more likely to become overlords…especially those either born to higher class families on Earth or those in Hell who have tapped into their powers and evolved. In Hell, the “Survival of the Fittest,” “Might Makes Right” applies very often.)

    Question 19: Who’s the oldest demon in Hell?

Blue Raven: “I’m pretty sure it’s Lucifer, along with the other fallen angels that were cast out along with him. (Beezelbub, Leviathan, Azael, etc.)

    Question 20: Is Lucifer a fallen angel?

Blue Raven: “Yes.”

  Question 21: Why are you so nice for a demon?

Blue Raven: “I don’t know. I think I might be trying to compensate for something. Who knows?”

   Question 22: Are you tired of being in Hell?

Blue Raven: “If I’m being honest with myself, no. I get tired of certain people, yes, but in my own opinion, Hell isn’t that bad, at least where I’m at. I’m a dragon demon, so I’d say I’ve adjusted to Hell’s climate pretty well I think. If it’s miserable down here, yeah well that’s because you’re from Heaven where everything is perfect, (angry) including the temperature.”

   Question 23: Do you think Charlie’s plan could work?

Blue Raven: “I mean, I think it could be in theory, anything’s possible, right? However, there are a lot of sinners that are leading good lives down here that they really don’t want to give up. So I think it’s all a matter of if a sinner wants to be rehabilitated and go to Heaven. You can’t exactly help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves.”

 Blue Raven: “Okay, that’s 23 questions answered. Whatever, this was fin. Now let’s hope I don’t get into any major trouble for it.”

   Greetings, mortals of Earth. I am an angel who was born in Heaven long ago. You’ve probably heard of us: we are messengers of God who sometimes visit Earth to send messages or bless individuals. We are often portrayed as holistic beings with golden halos, white feathery wings, who play harps and frolic around in the ever-sunny sky. Well, Heaven has those kinds of angels, but there are many different types. Angels are divided into groups called choirs. From the highest rank to the lowest are: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels and Angels. They all serve a variety of roles, from guarding God’s throne, to maintaining cosmic order, to inspiring harmony in the human and spirit world. Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel, are some of the most well-known, important Archangels.

There are also Angels of Death who are in charge of punishing sinners, often using flaming swords and other methods. There are some who aren’t as destructive and bloodthirsty, as, say, Samael. In fact, one angel, Azrael, is a benevolent being said to guide the souls of the deceased after death. Puriel judges and examines each soul after death. But still, there are others who teach sinners and the unfaithful harsh lessons, even beyond the grave. Sorry, getting a little off-topic here. Where do I come in and who am I?”Others call me Gray, and I am an asexual, gender neutral black-winged angel and Exterminator.

I know what you’re thinking, “A dark murderous angel without a gender or sexuality? That can’t be true.”

Alas, it is. Just like mortals, angels can identify as male, female, transgender, and anywhere in between. However, we are strongly encouraged (or perhaps even ordered) to push aside feelings of passion, lust, and other messy emotions. After all, we are constantly on duty, and all our destinies lead to one true purpose: unification with God. Or the universe, or the cosmos, however you’d like to phrase the inevitable force that connects us.

You see, not all of us are pacifists, born or made. I was born in a section of Heaven that is not found in your Bibles or textbooks. This area is exclusively for other Exterminators.

What is our purpose, you ask? Exterminators are responsible for slaughtering Hell’s denizens once every year to prevent overpopulation. The rules are simple: kill swiftly, show no mercy to anyone, and stay close to your fellow angels during the 24 hour time shift. Samael is our leader, and as you can imagine, he is quite ruthless and stern.

In terms of status, I am just a lowly soldier in the Exterminator rank. I can be recognized by my blue tipped right horn, x over my right eye, my blue eyes and mouth. Like the other Exterminators, I have black feathery wings, horns, talons, and I carry a unique weapon. To add to my lower rank, the other angels tend to look down on us due to our bloodthirsty nature. We have a drive to fight and move around, while the other angels are content to sit around studying, praying, singing, or dancing peacefully. It is not what you would call racism; but more like the reaction one gets when your coworkers find out you work at a cemetery or morgue.

Yes, the work is dangerous, depressing and not for the faint of heart. But it must be performed efficiently by some people. Not only must we kill demons during the annual purge, but we also must be careful not to get killed by powerful overlords residing down there. Laying down our lives is a part of war, whether it’s serving God or protecting your home country and citizens.

I was born into a family of seasoned Exterminators, so I had no choice in the grand scheme of things. Deciding to pursue any other occupation would dishonor my family and my community. The punishment would be immediate banishment to Hell…basically a death sentence. So, I mustered up my courage and followed in my family’s footsteps (or wing-flaps).

During one of the annual Exterminations, an unfortunate event occurred. After being knocked unconscious by an attacking demon, my brethren assumed I was dead. They left me behind, flying into the portal and out of sight. By the time I came to my senses, the purge was over and the portal had closed. Flying back to Heaven would be impossible…the distance was far too vast to cover. I stayed hidden in the shadows and forged for food. Then, this demon showed up and decided to take me in. His name was Blue Raven 666, a tall humanoid with blonde hair, blue eyes, white horns and a blue shirt with 666 on it. He has an ability to look into events and come up with theories to try and explain why things are the way they are. He seems to have some knowledge about Niffty, Alastor, Charlie, Vaggie, Angel, and several other characters. Angel has complex relationships with his father Henroin, Aranea his white spider mother, and his siblings Aracknis and Molly. Strangely enough, Molly isn’t a demon, yet she can enter Hell freely. But his ideas are just unconfirmed theories, albeit plausible ones. For instance, Vaggie may have been a fallen angel due to her use of a harpoon spear, an x over her eye and her willingness to kill/threaten powerful, suspicious demons.

Ah, here I go again, babbling on and on. You’re probably not interested in such abstract perspectives, but it’s one of the topics to keep me entertained before I go back to Heaven.

Why Blue Raven took me in, I’ll never know. Perhaps he took pity on me after seeing me in a weakened state on the brink of starvation. Maybe he was trying to keep an open mind, like me. Surely not all angels were good and not all demons were bad. It was a temporary truce between an angel and a demon, one that was fragile and unknown to anyone else. While we got acquainted, Blue Raven told me about the demon princess Charlie. She had set up a hotel for the purpose of redeeming sinners and sending them to Heaven. Given how many evil sinners and demons were down here, I figured that it was nearly impossible to achieve such a goal.

Then again, stranger things have happened. Even our fallen brother, Lucifer isn’t all bad. Sure he may be prideful, but he does care for his wife and daughter very much. He was banished from Heaven due to God creating mankind and favoring them over the angels. The rules in Heaven are strict, so it’s no surprise that someone like him would rebel. I’m just counting myself lucky that I’m still alive. If it hadn’t been for my new demon acquaintance, I would’ve surely perished out there. (And no, I’m not a fallen angel; I still hold my status as an Exterminator.) Hopefully, once I return to Heaven, things will return to normal and I can resume my duties.

I’ll be here to answer any questions you may have, and Blue Raven 666 will be happy to help. Be sure to go check out his channel and videos. If you’re a Hazbin Hotel fan who likes to dive deep into theories and possibilities, then his channel is for you. Please take care of yourselves and those around you. I heard there’s a deadly virus known as coronavirus-19 going around on Earth and I want to make sure you mortals stay safe. Heaven’s getting more crowded each day, but it can be assured that everyone’s doing fine up here. Thank you for your time, and as we say in Heaven: “Have a blessed day and God be with you.”

Oh, you’re still here? Would you like to hear more about me? I’d love to talk more about Heaven and who I am. Very well, then. Let us begin…

[ciathyzareposts]

Camelot: What Makes Us Unique

This particular Camelot character has probably never existed before or since.

             Back in 2004, I was meeting a friend at a bar in Boston. I opened the door to look in for him, saw that he wasn’t there, and backed out, elbowing in the stomach the man behind me. I turned around and saw that it was the governor of Massachusetts. Since then, I’ve liked to think that I’m the only person to have ever elbowed Mitt Romney in the stomach while he was walking into a bar. I’m sure plenty of people have elbowed him in the stomach on other occasions.

This is the kind of story I like, because it’s an assemblage of circumstances that has probably never occurred to anyone else. I look for those in life. I may not be the world record holder in any sport or hobby, but there’s a decent chance that by the end of my life, I will have published more blog articles on CRPGs than anyone else alive. If that turns out not to be true, I’ll only need one other modest qualifier (“than any other Mainer”) to make it true. I guarantee that I’m the only person in the world to have my particular combination of jobs (if you include CRPG blogging as one of them). I don’t hold the record for the number of airline miles flown between 2010 and 2018, but I’ve got to be within the top 10%, and when you’re in the top 10%, you only need one or two additional circumstances to make yourself unique. It’s possible that I’m the record-holder out of Bangor, Maine, for instance.

My enthusiasm for unique experiences filters into CRPGs and probably explains why I like open-world sandbox games so much. I don’t like the idea that I’ve reached the end of a game in the exact same position and circumstances as everyone else who has ever played the game. When you can’t even name your character, this is particularly infuriating. Look at my recent review of Deadly Towers, for instance. How do you really know it was me playing that game? I could have taken those screen shots from anyone. At least Dragon Warrior displayed the first four letters of “Chester.”

These issues got me thinking about the peculiar trade-off that exists between player and character. Think of a game like Pac-Man. When a champion like Billy Mitchell achieves a perfect score, we don’t say, “Wow, you created a great character there. You put a lot into him.” The very statement is absurd; every player’s Pac-Man is the same as everyone else’s. Instead, all praise goes to the hands and eyes of the player himself. In contrast, when we watch the ways that various players have won the Mulmaster Beholder Corps battle in Curse of the Azure Bonds, we look for clues in the characters–their levels, their spells, their weapons, their movements. We’re aware that there’s a player behind it all, of course–perhaps a very intelligent and strategic one. But his success is slightly diffused by the imposition of the characters. We are aware that his strategy only “works” because of the allowances of the game. Perhaps most important, we are aware that we could have done the same thing, whereas no studying of his technique is likely to make most of us like Billy Mitchell.

It is for these reasons that I don’t think it’s really possible to be “good at” a game like Skyrim. Experienced, sure. Patient, definitely. But “good”–what does that even mean? Early in its existence, some players proudly posted images on Reddit of their characters clad in leather armor and wielding pick-axes (possibly the worst weapon in the game) killing dragons. I thought it was silly. Either the game has enough flexibility to allow you to do such a thing or it doesn’t. It says nothing about your skill as a player that you were able to do it except that you were willing to use the game’s resources to grind, or enchant that pick-axe, or improve that armor, or carry and drink a hundred potions, or whatever you did to make it possible.

I just bought Irene the Myst 25th anniversary collection for Christmas. That is a “good at” game. A player that possesses the strength of puzzle-solving to blaze his way to the end without any spoilers is an impressive player. But his end-game screenshot is the same as everyone else and the “character” of the game is essentially invisible, a no-one, a ghost.               

In many modern games, “uniqueness” extends quite literally to the character’s appearance.

            In case it’s not clear, I’m not particularly interested in being “good at” CRPGs. I don’t play them for competitive reasons. I play them to enjoy the strategy, tactics, world-building, plots, and sense of character development. I like a challenge, but only a modest one–a temporary bump in a game that, because of its very nature (particularly because of reloading), you’re almost certain to eventually overcome.

Many people prize the opposite. I suppose even I do, in different circumstances. The value of most competitive games is that everyone’s playing the same game under the same circumstances, with no real imposition of “character” between the player and the performance. A king in chess isn’t a “character”; he’s just a piece. You don’t give him a name, and he doesn’t acquire new abilities as he defeats pawns and levels up. When he moves to take a rook, there are no probabilities associated with the encounter. When he wins, all glory goes to the player who moves him.

When my king reaches the end of a game, on the other hand, I want him to be my king–a unique character that no other player has won with. I want my endgame screenshots to look different from everyone else’s. And in those screenshots you should be able to tell something about how I played the game. Was I careful or daring? Did I rely on brains or brawn? Did I favor equipment or skills? What role-playing choices did I make along the way?

To me, some of the worst RPGs are closer to chess. Your “character” is just a gambit that you’ve moving across the screen, offering you no sense of connection or identity. These are essentially arcade games with a few nods to RPG mechanics. We’ve seen a million of them: Caverns of Freitag, Gateway to Apshai, Sword of Kadash, Sword of Fargoal. Even worse is when the game offers RPG-style inventory and leveling, but at fixed intervals along a linear plot, so that “character development” is just an illusion and everyone does reach the end the same as everyone else.

The best RPGs, however, offer plenty of opportunities to make your character your own:            

Name

Selection of race, sex, alignment, and class

Attributes

Skills and talents

Inventories, especially those with multiple slots

NPC interaction, dialogue, and role-playing choices

Choice of what order in which to do quests and side-quests

Ability to grind, or not (only meaningful without artificially low level caps)

Customization of character appearance

Statistics, achievements, and trophies

                The multiplication of these various factors means that many modern RPGs feature characters as unique as the humans who create them, finally achieving some of the sense of ownership and identification that tabletop RPGs allowed from the outset.           

Every player may have had to do exactly what I did to win Ultima IV, but at least my name and the number of turns are unique.

          Camelot is an early game, and thus not as advanced in the originality of its characters. But of the single-player PLATO games, it comes the furthest. When I play it, I do not feel as if I am feeding so many characters into a meat grinder, as I did with The Dungeon, The Game of Dungeons, and Orthanc. Its allowances for stealth, magic, and multiple fighting styles, paired with the strategic nature by which you must explore dungeon exploration, create as close to a unique experience as anything we’re going to get for many years. If nothing else, the combination of items in the 13 inventory slots likely creates characters for each player that no one else has ever played.

I’ve put about 12 hours into the game since the last Camelot entry and I’ve gotten a lot more powerful–enough to take on dungeon Level 5 with relative ease–but it’s still slightly frustrating how long its’ taking to finish the game, much more so because I keep dying and resetting my score back to -99,999. But I recognize that it was designed for different players in different circumstances.

There was an interesting moment the other night where creator Josh Tabin happened to be logged into the system at a moment that I got stuck. I had teleported into a section of Level 4 that offered only one exit: a downward chute. Unfortunately, I had taken a Potion of Levitation upon beginning the expedition (you always want to use Scrolls of Protection, Potions of Cepacol, and Potions of Levitation at the outset of each expedition if you have them). It turns out that Levitation stops you from using chutes, even deliberately. The condition doesn’t wear off until you return to town. There were no other exits from the area, and I was out of Scrolls of Recall. The only solution I could come up with is to wait until the turn of every hour, when the dungeon levels respawn, and kill everything in the half-dozen rooms I had access to, hoping to get a Scroll of Recall at some point. But since Josh was there, I informed him of my trouble and he opened a secret door for me, then spent some time patching the game so that even if you’re under the effect of levitation, you can manually choose to take a chute.

Other things about the game since I last wrote:            

As I previously mentioned, the game occasionally gives you a specific monster to kill before it will let you level up. It’s very erratic. I had a period from roughly Level 10 to 20 where I got a quest every level. Then I didn’t get any at all between Levels 20 and 29.

A “Palantir” tells you at what level you can find the object of your quest. If you’re already on that level, it tells you the specific coordinates. Of course, if the hour turns while you’re still seeking the quest creature, everything resets. 

As you move downward, enemies get harder but rewards get better. Some of the magic item rewards are awesome. I’ve had a couple of Wands of Fire that completely clear out rooms in one turn. The problem is how frequently they require recharging and the expense thereof. The game’s economy is still excellent. I make a lot of tough choices between leveling up, recharging, and purchasing new items.

It turns out that items don’t have a fixed number of charges but rather a small probability of running out within any given use. High intelligence seems to lower this chance.

Some of the best items that you can find increase your attributes. Manuals and tomes increase them permanently by one point while various potions increase them temporarily for several points. I have maxed out my strength, intelligence, and constitution with these items, and I must be close on the other two.

         A Manual of Bodily Health raises my constitution.

         Scrolls of Taming, Orbs of Entrapment, and Wands of Charming all work on different creatures. I’ve learned that when I lose a companion (or one leaves), I want to head down to the lowest dungeon level on which I can survive to start hunting for another. About six hours into this session, I was able to charm a succubus, and it’s remained with me ever since–an extremely powerful ally.

I probably mentioned this earlier, but there are special rooms on each level that the creator calls “stud rooms.” They feature enemies 2-3 levels harder than the normal ones on the same level, but with rewards 2-3 times greater. Any new expedition needs to begin with clearly the stud rooms that you know you can clear.  

          In one of the “stud rooms.” Seven green dragons are a little much for me. The Scroll of Identification gives grim odds.

         There’s a magic item called a “Tardis” that resets the dungeon in between the normal hourly resets. It allows you to quickly hit the stud rooms multiple times in a row until it runs out of magic. It’s incredibly useful but back in the day when there were multiple players hitting the dungeon at the same time, it must have been very annoying for some of them.

              The two players on the leaderboard who have won the game both have Level 60 characters, so I assume that’s the game’s level cap. Thus, I’m halfway there. I probably won’t have much more to say about Camelot until I win, so hopefully I can get it done this week while I also wrap up Challenge of the Five Realms. I’ll say this for Camelot: it’s the first PLATO game that I’ve enjoyed lingering with, rather than blasting through it just to document its historical value.

Time so far: 40 hours

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/camelot-what-makes-us-unique/

[infowineghosts]

Wine Trip To Nothern Alsace

Date: 12/10/2019, Saturday

Route: https://goo.gl/maps/XLhaordcCy25dB9y5

Key Takeaways:

-        Hidden sweetness level

It’s probably better to ask about residual sugar and acidity levels, then the level of sweetness. Alsatian mostly go with the sensation of sweetness when describing their wines, so if you’d like to avoid an early headache of the sugar rush after the first couple of hours, you should eat, mix in some drier nectars or, as a last resort, spit.

-        “Edelzwicker” & “Gentil”

Although you will mostly find single varietal wines in the region, there are two types of cuvée , besides Cremant, that you may encounter. On the AOC Alsace level, the “Edelzwicker” can be made any of the permitted white grape varieties with almost any blending option the winemaker pleases. “Gentil” however must contain at least 50% of Riesling, Muscat, Pinot Gris and/or Gewürztraminer , and the rest can be either Sylvaner, Chasselas and/or Pinot Blanc. All the base wines are fermented separately and must have a vintage designation.

-        Soil is key!

As the locals say: Alsace is mosaic of soil. There are 13 main types of soil in the region that were blended together by ‘Mother Nature’ with a great sense of purpose, namely wines of character. Locals love to talk about terroir, especially their special cuvée of dirt beneath their precious grapevines. We only visited sites in the “Bas-Rhin” department, which is the Northern part of the Alsace, where soils are mostly limestone and clay-based.

-        Wines are meant to be with food!

If you want to please your palate as much as possible, have the wines with local specialties. Not only because the pH-level will significantly drop in your mouth after the first 30 minutes, but because it’s the right thing to do here. The French developed their cuisine around food & wine, don’t deceive them.

Starting off with my ‘assistant wine traveler’, aka girlfriend, to finally check out where that magical Gewürztraminer from Arthur Metz come from. It’s time to check the Alsatian vintners. Traffic was low, despite being a beautiful Saturday, the sun was also on our side, so we could easily immerse ourselves in the changing landscape. As we drove to the West, towards the Vosges mountains, broad agricultural fields followed on our flank. After a comfortable 3-hour drive from Germany, we drove straight to Gertwiller, a small village next to Barr, to begin our personal discovery of Alsace. We did not make any reservations at any of the desired destinations in advance, since all of the forums assured me that you can just hop in at any vintners for a free tasting at arrival. Although it was more or less true, maybe I wouldn’t recommend doing it at lunchtime, on the weekend or perhaps at harvest time.

Tip for Parking: Turn left right after Zeyssolff

1.      Zeyssolff

The most impressive stop on our little tour. Recently renewed interiors, stylish shop with various regional products and souvenirs, informative signs with “fun facts” about the region were drawn all over the place. Despite not having registered for the tasting in advance, the nice lady at the counter signed us up for a little tasting and cellar tour with a small German family. Soon after, a motivated red-haired Sommelier, Thierry, approached us to join. He spoke fluent German as well as English. Their instant tasting included: a  Crémant for apperitive, some old jokes, 30-minutes cellar tour, tasting of 7 different whites, and some homemade pastry. You can’t get any better than that for 9 Euros. All the wines were all balanced, although a bit too chilled.

Wines to recommend:

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

Fleur d'Alsace 2017

Réserve Riesling 2018

2.      Domaine Gilg

This quite small tasting room is located just in front of the restaurant, also recommended by the Michelin Guide, of the same name. As we stepped in, a nice middle-aged lady greeted us and offered her help both in English and German. Generous pouring, free samples and informative answers to all our answers. The lady even turned out to be the recent judge at the region’s respected wine competition << in the Pinot Noir category. She ensured us that Pinot Noir will be the next grape in the region being allowed on a Grand Cru label. This presumption came up at almost every winemaker we visited. However, I did not find any of the Pinots of this microregion particularly noteworthy nor falling somewhere in the same category of those of Burgundy. The wines I tasted mostly resemble the Würtemberger’s. Although I was assured that we should go more South to have a greater expression of the terroir and got a secret tip as well, but I get to it later.

Wines to recommend:

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2015

3.      Domaine Boeckel

After our pleasant staying at Gilg’s, the gates of the Domaine Boeckel were also opened just right before us. Short waiting after ringing the bell and a fidgety gentleman led us to a small tasting room just under the main door. His hands were still quite black from the dried grape juice and his German accent was a bit difficult to follow. He was quite succinct, but certainly of great knowledge about his terroir. Zotzenberg is the only site where Sylvaner is permitted to be labeled as a Grand Cru wine and the Boeckels found a way to somewhat “polish” the rather heavy and often a bit flabby reputation of this variety.

Wines to recommend:

Sylvaner Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Wiebelsberg' 2015

4.      Hirtz Edy

This winery was really the embodiment of rural family-run Alsatian winery. Lacking marketing budget, lower prices, the wine bottles sorted into different transparent cages in a 20 square meter room. Oh, and the rooster. We stayed about 15 minutes in that room while a well-fed rooster literally was standing rock-still next to us. In my dictionary, their wines were more like “everyday-wines”, but if you want to bring a case of Grand Cru Riesling of great value and aging potential, then that’s not a bad place to start.

Wines to recommend:

Riesling Alsace Grand Cru 'Zotzenberg' 2017

5.      Klipfel Eugène

This establishment is a place for tourists in the center of the village. Huge tasting area, brochures from the entire region, long wine list and friendly service. The wines were unfortunately quite disappointing though. That was the only place where we did not bring anything with us. The wines were lacking the sense of place and the character.

6.      Arthur Metz

We finally arrived to the source of that inspiring Gewürztraminer upon which my girlfriend was so inspired. Some brief impressions of the store: commercial, clueless staff, a great many different wines from all over France, shiny Crémant bottles, great presentation of soil-driven wines. They have a great selection of the region’s wines, but we only left with one Grand Cru Riesling, as all other wines were lacking the finesse and uniqueness. Even that bottle came from a bit further south from the area around Colmar.

Tip for a picnic with a view and parking lot

Charming villages to visit:

Ottrott, Obernai, Mittelbergheim, Barr

Restaurant of recommendation:

Rouge d'Ottrott, Ottrott

Typical cozy restaurant with a charming atmosphere, with motivated and sociable waiters as well as huge portions. We had the region’s typical foods of recommendations: Choucroute with a dry Riesling and Flammekueche with a drier style Muscat. The Riesling was a really a great companion for all the seven different types of meat on my plate. It's acidity cuts through the fatty bacon, its body complemented the richness of the sausages. The Muscat had a citrusy and white flower-dominant flavor profile as it should be. The aromas and refreshing acidity was a great compliment for the “Munsterkäse” /handmade soft cheese with a local AOC/ topping on the Alsatian pizza.

[scoutception]

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon review: a debatable niche

Fire Emblem, also known as “that series that only got localized because of Super Smash Bros. Melee”, is a series I enjoy greatly, despite becoming one of Nintendo’s most controversial franchises in recent years. For all its rough patches and longstanding flaws, I’m always eager to start another run when it comes to most of what I’ve played, something that ties into this specific review more than I’d even like to admit. This is Shadow Dragon for the DS, the remake of the very first Fire Emblem on the NES.

Story:

The story of Shadow Dragon takes place on the continent of Archanea, inhabited by humans and a species known as Manaketes, dragons who have sealed their power within magical objects known as dragonstones and have assumed the forms of humans to avoid succumbing to the insanity that their power would cause, which most of their race had fallen to. Abused and persecuted by humanity, many of these Manaketes would form the Dolhr empire, led by Medeus, the only member of the Earth Dragons who chose to become a Manakete, and the titular Shadow Dragon, though only in nickname. Conquering all of Archanea and subjecting humanity to their wrath, a rebellion eventually led to the death of Medeus at the hands of Anri of Altea, wielding the blade Falchion, forged from the fang of Naga, queen of the Divine Dragons. Half a century later, however, Medeus is revived by a sorcerer named Gharnef, soon reestablishing his empire, and gaining the aid of the kingdoms of Grust and Macedon. The king of Altea and inheritor of Falchion, Cornelius, is slain after Altea’s neighbor kingdom, Gra, joins Dolhr and launches a surprise attack on Altea. While they successfully take the kingdom and steal Falchion, prince Marth escapes with a small contingent of knights to the island kingdom of Talys. After 2 years in hiding, preparing for the day he shall join in the fight against Dolhr, Marth reemerges when pirates raid the kingdom, and afterwards, joined only by his small band of knights and a few allies from Talys, including its princess, Caeda, Marth journeys to the last kingdom able to oppose Medeus, Aurelis, led by prince Hardin, determined to reclaim Altea and Falchion and avenge his father.

That’s about as far as Shadow Dragon’s story goes, unfortunately. While it’s not lacking in dialogue, it plays its premise very straight. There’s very few, if any, twists along the way, with the journey mostly just being the reclamation of Archanea’s conquered lands, though there are a few detours when Gharnef gets involved. At the least, however, it’s still fairly entertaining to go through, mostly thanks to the localization giving the script a very old fashioned Elizabethan flair. While some dislike it, it adds a lot of charm to what would otherwise be a very unmemorable story, in my opinion.

As for the characters, unfortunately, they suffer quite a bit more. The large majority of the playable cast, though admittedly at a downright massive 59 characters, are simply brushed aside, with most only having their recruitment scenes to display any characterization, with about 10 of them not even having that much, leaving them to only serve as units to command. That’s not to say that aren’t some gems to be found, though. Marth especially makes a good impression with the amount of focus he’s given as the main character, being a likeable mix of almost overly idealistic and trusting given his situation, yet still reasonable enough to know when he must steel himself, along with some subtle character development along the way. Even beyond Marth, though, there are quite a few memorable characters to be found, such as Caeda, Marth’s love interest, who, while genuinely very kind and good intentioned, is also very clever and manipulative, and has some of the best scenes in the game, such as convincing an extremely stubborn enemy general to join their cause by flipping his entire idea of what serving his country truly entails, and recruiting a completely random knight she had never even met before through, among other things, thinly veiled flirtation. Other notable characters include Minerva, the princess of Macedon who, despite knowing it would bring her into conflict with her brother, king Michalis, chooses her ideals over her family and rebels to join Marth, Linde, the wielder of the legendary Aura tome out to avenge her father’s death at the hands of Gharnef, Tiki, a Divine Dragon who is the daughter of Naga herself, Merric, a friend of Marth’s who uses the powerful Excalibur tome, and the trio of sister pegasus knights, Palla, Catria, and Est, who are the most frequently appearing playable characters in the franchise. Unfortunately, these only make up a small portion of an otherwise very unmemorable cast.

Gameplay:

Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon, and, well, all the other games in the series, is a turn based strategy role playing game, taking control of Marth and his army of assorted misfits on tile based maps. Turns are separated into player phase and enemy phase, during which the respective side gets to choose all the actions their units will take, without any factors like, say, turn order. The player is limited to bringing 12-16 of their units per chapter past the initial few chapters, while enemy numbers often exceed that, though the vast majority of the regular enemies you fight, even for cannon fodder, are rather underpowered in this game. Every unit can carry up to 5 items, which can be anything from weapons they use to attack, to consumables to restore their HP. However, all items, including weapons, have limited uses, and while gold is pretty plentiful, many items are not easy to find copies of, or are unique, period, which can add a fair bit of stress. To engage in combat, a unit must be placed on a tile directly next to an enemy if they’re a melee unit, or 1 space away, if they’re an archer, while mages are able to attack directly in front of one space away from enemies. In combat, each unit takes at least one rounds attacking each other, assuming both units are within each other’s ranges. There’s also a weapons triangle which affects accuracy and damage; swords beat axes, lances beat swords, axes beat lances. There are 8 stats that are used in combat: HP, which determines how much health a unit has, strength, which determines the power of physical attacks, magic, which determines the strength of magic attacks, skill, which determines the accuracy of attacks, speed, which, if high enough compared to an enemy, allows a unit to take two rounds attacking instead of just one, luck, which influences many things, but primarily the possibility evading attacks and of critical hits, which do triple the damage of normal attacks, defense, which lowers damage from physical attacks, and resistance, which lowers damage from magic attacks. There is one other stat, movement, which determines how far a unit can move on the map. All of these stats except for movement can be raised by leveling up by gaining 100 experience points, which are gotten mostly from defeating enemies, but can be gotten in smaller amounts from simply attacking an enemy or healing another unit. Most units can initially level up to 20, but at level 10, they gain the ability to promote into stronger classes using master seals, giving them fixed stat increases, additional movement, and the ability to level up even more. A select few classes, such as thieves, Manaketes, and Marth’s personal class, the lord, cannot promote, but to compensate, their levels cap at 30 instead of 20.

The objective in every chapter is to seize the castle/throne being guarded by the chapter boss using Marth, defeating the enemies along the way. While some units are given to the player automatically, many others must be recruited from the enemy side by talking to them with specific units, generally Marth or Caeda, or by visiting villages with Marth, which can also give items, but are at risk at being destroyed by bandits or thieves. It’s an interesting system that very much helps the feeling that this is a ragtag little army only held together by Marth. Unfortunately, Marth’s importance comes at a cost: if he is defeated at any point during the game, it’s an automatic game over. While he is a very capable unit, this can encourage only sending him out in special situations, while letting the normal units handle most of everything, but this isn’t the perfect solution either. Not only is Marth likely to end up underleveled if he doesn’t fight enough, but if a regular unit has their HP reach 0, they die, permanently, taking all the experience and items they were carrying. While an interesting idea, it doesn’t work out very well. The amount of experience points available to your units is finite, outside of the extremely risky arena, which allows your units to fight somewhat absurd enemies for gold, at the risk of dying if they lose, as if they were against any normal enemy. Since the viability gap between units is quite sizeable, something I shall go into more detail on in a moment, losing a unit you’ve trained a good amount is an extreme inconvenience, especially if they were holding rare items. Additionally, though it’s downplayed in this game for reasons I’ve said earlier, every unit is their own character, in some form. They have names, their own designs, and individual endings in the epilogue, and that alone is enough to encourage caring about them, if in varying amounts. With all these factors combined, many players, including myself, choose to just reset the game if a unit dies and start the chapter over. While that in of itself isn’t really a valid complaint, considering the developers weren’t intending that, considering some of the cheap tricks that get pulled, like enemy reinforcements showing up where your units started in a chapter, it can get grating, especially with how long some of the maps can go on.

The unit and class balance, unfortunately, is not very good. There is a very prominent viability gap when it comes to the individual units. There are three main points that usually determine a unit’s viability: their base stats, the stats they automatically come with upon recruitment, growth rates, hidden percentages that determine the likelihood of each stat being raised on a level up, and availability, how early in the game they are recruited. A character can have fantastic growth rates and a low starting level, but come so late in the game and with such awful bases that it’s not worth bothering with. Conversely, someone can come in fairly early in the game, prepromoted and with good base stats, but have such low growth rates that the chance of them actually improving at all is near zero. This holds true for every Fire Emblem game, to varying extents, but it’s especially notable here because almost invariably, the first couple of units you get of each class, or in some cases, just the first, are the best to use by far. Past chapter 12, and this is a 25 chapter game, the amount of units you get that are actually worth using over the units you got earlier could be counted on one hand, and even before that it’s giving you several units that are near pointless if you put even a bit of effort into the people of the same class you got a few chapters before. I think, though, that this was intentional on the part of the developers. The intention seems to have been for players to not get attached to their units at all, and simply accept any death they take, thus most units only function as replacements for what they thought would be inevitable losses. However, this is partially what caused the vastly underdeveloped cast, and thankfully future games would drop this mentality. Even past how underpowered the replacements are, many early units are just plain too powerful. Caeda in particular is an absolute monster thanks to her personal weapon, the wing spear, which grants damage bonuses against knights and cavaliers, which many of the enemy units are comprised of, but other special mentions go to Hardin, a very early and powerful cavalier who is flat out better than Jagen, the early game crutch character, despite not even being promoted, Barst, an early fighter who joins with two other fighters, but is strong enough and has good enough growth rates to render them pointless, and Julian, a thief who has very strong growth rates, to the point of easily becoming very hard hitting and tanky, despite the questionable class choice.

Some of the earlier intended replacements, however, can at least work out, since growth rates in Shadow Dragon are overall pretty awful. It’s entirely possible for several of your units to just refuse to gain important stats, and eventually cross a threshold where they’re beyond catching up, and the earlier replacements do have growth rates built that they should be able to level up their important points decently, but many of the post chapter 11 units have awful growths and bases, and even then, the class distribution throughout is awful. Of the “normal” classes that promote, there’s 12 in all: cavaliers, mounted knights that tend to be very nicely balanced overall, archers, who have to attack from a distance, but are useful for chipping and get damage bonuses against flying enemies, knights, who specialize in attack and especially defense in exchange for speed and moment, making them useful for baiting enemies out, pegasus knights, who lack attack but make up for it with speed, skill, and resistance, plus they can move over terrain freely, mercenaries, who are also very solidly balanced sword fighters, rangers, who are much like archers, but typically with higher attack, myrmidons, who, like pegasus knights, sacrifice attack for speed, though they focus more on evasion, fighters, axe users with low defense and skill, but much HP and attack, pirates, who sacrifice skill even harder in exchange for walking over water tiles freely, mages, who are very squishy physically but very much make up for it with attack, dark mages, who are more defensive based, and clerics, who cannot attack until promotion, but are able to heal units with staves. Some of the non typical classes are thieves, who are, in theory, supposed to stay away from combat, and instead go after the various treasure chests found in various maps, ballisticians, who have extremely low move and stats in exchange for having absolutely massive range, and manaketes, who have horrid stats normally, but use dragonstones to attack, which confer large stat bonuses, though they are very limited.

Just to begin with, the classes are rather unbalanced. Pegasus knights and cavaliers have way too much movement, being able to cross large portions of the map in one turn, while mages can destroy 90% of the units encountered due to resistance being extremely low on most enemies, and most playable units, for that matter. Several of them have 0 res, and 0% growth in it, to the point Marth has one of the highest growths, at 1%. Additionally, as I said, the distribution of the classes is extremely unbalanced, to the point there are 10 cavaliers, most of which you get very quickly, while there’s only 4 fighters and one singular pirate to be found, which is pretty bad considering those are the only axe users in the game other than promoted mercenaries, and the only dark mage is already promoted when, or if, you get him. However, the game does introduce the reclass system, where you can change any character in a normal class to a different one, depending on which of two class pools they’re in. It’s a good idea, in theory, however, the growth rates also change depending on class, so you could accidentally put them into a class they can barely grow in.

Many of these flaws are carried over from the original NES version, but the remake changes surprisingly little overall, and sticking true to the original wasn’t the best of moves. It did add several classes that didn’t exist in the original, along with items, dialogue, and the like, but the lack of significant additions, like support conversations to develop the characters, or alternative chapter goals, like defense chapters, make Shadow Dragon feel downright barren compared to almost any other game in the series. This does, however, debatably give Shadow Dragon a niche: it’s very easy to pick up and play. There’s not many complexities you need to worry about. You could even see it as a good introduction to the series. However, that’s not really a view I hold. More than anything, it’s just a bland experience, albeit a bland experience I’ve gone through several times, mostly just because of how easy it is to go through. On the subject of additions to the remake, however, there is one rather notable addition: gaiden chapters, which are short, easy bonus chapters that come after certain chapters if you fulfill certain requirements, and contain helpful items and new units. All good in theory, but unfortunately, all but one of them share the same requirement, and it’s an absolute doozy: have 15 or less units alive by the end of the preceding chapters. Not only is that the most counter intuitive requirement possible, but the sheer amount of characters you have to get killed, many of them useful, make them nowhere near worth bothering with, especially as many of the new units are not worth using, both in characterization and gameplay, with two exceptions: Athena, the first available, who is a very good myrmidon, and moreover is downright hilarious, and possibly the most notable character in the game just for sheer absurdity, with an extremely thick accent, a bad grasp on idioms and phrases, and the audacity to call Marth “a stupid manchild” right to his face, and Nagi, whose gaiden chapter can only be accessed by losing both Tiki and Falchion, the main methods for defeating Medeus. Not only is she a good unit by herself, she’s also quite interesting, despite her very limited, as she’s heavily hinted to be the reincarnation of Naga herself. Overall, though, the gaiden chapters are a very poorly thought out addition.

Graphics:

Shadow Dragon is not a great looking game, unfortunately, largely due to the artstyle used, being a rather weird combination of anime styled, yet realistic. It does lend to some rather good looking illustrations throughout the game, and some of the character designs do fit it, especially Gharnef, who looks downright horrific.

Unfortunately, overall the artstyle just does not work, and many character portraits are rather off putting, not helped by some being poorly drawn to begin with.

The map and battle graphics are also odd. They seem to be in prerendered style, and while they do animated decently, and while I honestly don’t mind them, they still aren’t very appealing.

Music:

The music, unfortunately, is not a high point either. It’s not that the soundtrack is outright bad; there’s many decent tracks throughout, but few of them are actually memorable. The map themes are generally the most enjoyable, though, and thankfully they swap out as you get farther in the game, and Shadow Dragon has what may be my favorite version of the Fire Emblem theme.

Conclusion:

Overall, I honestly cannot solidly say if this is recommended or not recommended. There are certainly much more enjoyable games in the series, such as New Mystery of the Emblem, Awakening, Blazing Sword, Sacred Stones, and Path of Radiance, but even with me thinking it’s bland, it’s not a bad time. The dialogue is fun to go through, there’s plenty of room for experimentation, it’s very easy to pick up and play, there’s 5 different harder difficulties if you want more of a challenge, and it can be quite a bit of fun if you’re in the right mood. However, you’re not missing much if you choose not to go through it. With that, I’ve said more than enough about this game. Till next time.

-Scout

[hub-pub-bub]

Whether you’re currently writing a book, querying agents or on submission to publishers, allow me to share this small-but-important truth: There’s an editor out there right now—sorting stacks of pitch letters, book proposals and manuscripts, thumbing through literary agent submissions, reading selections of the manuscripts she requested from authors directly—who is seeking to buy a book similar to yours.

So, in a sense, your future editor is out there thinking about you.

Picture this person for a moment: Perhaps she’s an associate editor for a mid-level imprint, working her way up at a growing publishing company. She majored in creative writing or English literature or journalism in college, where she developed a passion for Jane Austen or Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion or Anne Lamott. Whoever her muse, she knows good writing when she sees it. She wrote articles for the school newspaper or poems for the literary journal, nabbed a good internship after college and she’s worked hard ever since to finally land her dream job��acquiring and editing books full time and getting paid for it!

The 7 Deadly Sins of Novelists (According to Editors)

Now she fills the role of champion for her authors and books. She pitches the books she discovers to her own internal publishing team, during which she makes a case for both the editorial and business side for acquiring said manuscripts.

Her boss expects her to acquire a handful of new books every year, and though she’s still learning and growing into the job, in part, her performance is tied to the performance of her selections. If she acquires and takes a huge financial risk on a book and it bombs a year later, it reflects on her directly. Of course, like anyone in a new position, she needs time to grow and, sure, she might have more seasoned editors guiding her through this journey. But eventually, given a couple of years, her acquisitions become hers to own.

Does all of this create a little pressure on our friendly associate editor? You bet.

Every editor’s list of acquisitions is viewed (especially by management) as their own personal business within the greater publishing company, complete with its own profit and loss statement (P and L). As a result, each individual book might get more or less scrutiny depending on how it fits into the greater scheme. The worse the editor’s books perform, the harder time she’ll have convincing her team to take risks on her projects in the future.

When you’re writing a book, preparing a proposal or query (for publishers or literary agents, because agents make decisions based on whether they think a publisher will be interested), it’s important to think about your future editor. He is a human being, just like you, and every day he is facing the very real difficulties of the changing market, the shifting retail landscape and his own internal company pressures. He, like many editors in this business, hopes to come across something special—a work of unique power or appeal or finesse or authority—that makes him feel like he did in college when he read Jack Kerouac.

As someone who once sat in the editor’s chair at publishers large and small, I know those simultaneous pressures and hopes firsthand. My first publishing job was as a junior editor acquiring and editing 10–12 books a year for a small, family-owned press. To be honest, for a long time I had no idea what I was doing—but I worked hard and soaked up every lesson I could. Despite my inexperience, over the course of several fairly successful years, I found myself the publisher of that small imprint: hustling to make budgets; publishing competitive, influential books; learning the fast-changing worlds of marketing and publicity; and managing a team that shared my goals.

1. Do Your Homework

Every category and genre of publishing is governed by unspoken rules. In the world of traditional trade book publishing, fiction and nonfiction aren’t the same. For instance, most editors sign nonfiction book deals based on one to two chapters. But for fiction, and especially with first-time novelists, editors typically need to read the full manuscript before a deal is done.

If you’re submitting the next high-concept business book to an experienced agent, or an editor at a business imprint, make sure you’ve done your research. Do you know what other books the literary agent has represented, or the editor has acquired in the recent past? Has that press recently published a book like yours?

Immerse yourself in books similar to your own. Read in the category, but also study the jacket, the acknowledgements page, the author’s blog and their previous books. Conduct industry research on publishing houses, editors and literary agents through sites like Publishers Weekly. Attend a conference, watch lectures on YouTube. Read relevant articles, essays and blog posts.

To know a category is to know the world in which your future editor lives every day.

2. Use Concise Communication

The volume of reading material that accrues on the desks of editors and literary agents is immense. These folks read mountains of content every day, sifting through stacks of submissions for eye-catching queries.

Which is why yours should get right to the point—in such a way that compels them to read more. Don’t belabor your initial synopsis or write a three-page email. If in doubt, the fewer words the better. Share a little about yourself, but only the most relevant points.

Most important: Any sample writing you include should read fast and clean. Editors aren’t looking for reasons to reject, per se, but when inundated, it’s far too easy to dismiss a submission for little things like spelling errors, awkward phrasing or poor formatting.

3. Sign With an Agent

Inking a contract with a good literary agent can help avoid some of the above issues. When on submission to publishers, agents almost always get a faster read than unsolicited queries—especially in certain categories. There are several reasons why this is the case. First, most literary agents take the time to build relationships (and a level of trust) with acquisition editors in the genres they work within. Second, because publishing professionals have such limited time, agents effectively serve as a filter, siphoning in projects with higher-caliber content. Plus, most have also taken the time to work with their authors to develop and shape their book concepts, which adds additional value for the publisher.

I’ve also had countless conversations with authors who published their books agentless, and suddenly found themselves in a strange new world with no idea how to navigate it. Their books released to the world and their lofty publishing dreams slowly wilted as they made mistakes, agreed to bad contractual terms, blindly trusted editors, or neglected their marketing and publicity campaigns. The best literary agents act as a trusted guide, thinking through these details long before a deal ever comes to fruition.

4. Grow Your Platform

Here’s a fact of life in modern publishing: Attracting (and holding) attention is difficult in any medium, especially in a world of social media, streaming television and unlimited self-publishing. As a result, presses look for projects with a built-in audience. It’s thus through a platform that authors can do just that.

I define platform as any outward-facing method a writer uses to attract a readership prior to publishing—which will, in theory, translate to that readership purchasing the writer’s book. It can manifest as anything from a YouTube channel, podcast, blog or Twitter following to an email newsletter or college classroom.

Think of your writing as a business, and take the initiative to build your influence via a robust platform, which will only increase your chances of publishing.

5. Forge a Relationship

Once you sign a book deal, you’ll be assigned a “champion.” More often than not, that person is an acquisitions editor or developmental editor, but it may also be the marketing manager or the publisher herself. While every press is different, often that person is your point of contact throughout the publishing process—from beginning to end.

Whoever your point person, be intentional in building that relationship. If possible, meet your champion face-to-face, or at least set up regular phone calls. Get to know her. This small investment of time and effort on your part can pay off big in the long run.

I’ve seen authors send a nice handwritten note after a meeting or a phone call, thanking the participants for their time. And sometimes I’ve seen those simple thank yous tacked to the wall of an editor’s office years later. A small, kind act goes a long way, and when you need a favor down the road, your champion will remember you.

Guide to Literary Agents 2019

6. Remember to Engage

Shift your thinking about the publishing process: Turning in your manuscript is not the end, but the beginning. The more engaged you are at each subsequent stage, the better chance your book has of making an impact in the market. Writing a terrific manuscript is step one, but you must also help to market, publicize and sell.

Seek to be included in the key publishing decisions along the way, including the final title, cover design, marketing and publicity strategy and so on. Believe it or not, each of these things is regularly decided without the author’s input—but by becoming a part of these decisions, you can bring your vision to the table.

7. Be Your Book’s CMO

Remember: You are your book’s Chief Marketing Officer. You are its first and last advocate. Be clear that this book is still your baby, while remaining cordial and professional.

Consider setting aside some of your advance (if you received one) to help market your book when the time comes. Thinking that far ahead is tough, but every bit of marketing is important: strong Book 1 sales pave the way for Book 2.

If you know your publisher’s marketing strategy (presuming you’ve stayed engaged in the process), then you can supplement it. For example, if the publisher focuses on store placement, ads in industry magazines, focused banner ads and a book tour, then perhaps you invest in hiring a freelance publicist to line up TV, radio or print interviews.

Once you’ve garnered a book deal, it’s easy to sit back and let the professionals handle everything for you. But resist, for your own sake (and the sake of your book). Your book is your baby. When it gets out into the world, you’re the best one to teach it how to walk.

You’ve devoted hours, days, months—even years— to writing and editing your novel or nonfiction book. With all that time invested, it’s natural to want recognition for your hard work and dedication. Take your writing one step further and tackle the publishing process. When you enroll in this online course, you’ll learn the details of the query letter format and how to write a query letter that catches the attention of agents and publishers. Learn more and register.

[dawnjeman]

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Painted Brick Exterior

  Hi, everyone! How are you today? I had such a wonderful weekend. I baked with my husband and even attempted to make some cheese… but don’t ask about that! LOL. Anyway, I am super happy and excited because the weather is finally changing and the sun is shinning. I am also so very happy because I adore Callie of ceshome6 and her style so much that this is the second time I have her on my “Beautiful Homes of Instagram” series. The first time, I shared her formal home (you can see it here) and it became one of my most-pinned posts! Today, I am proud to be sharing Callie’s new home and I am sure you will enjoy seeing and knowing all details as much as I did!

  “My husband and I were originally from a small town in North Texas near Oklahoma. We have known each other since kindergarten but didn’t start dating until our junior year of high school. After graduation we moved to the Dallas area for college and have stayed close ever since. We will have been married for 15 years this July and have 4 beautiful children; a 17 year old daughter, a 14 year old daughter, a 9 year old son, and a 5 year old daughter. I feel very blessed to be able to stay at home with them and take care of our family and home.

We had planned to build a home again but during our search I found this spec home and the moment I walked in I loved it. It was my style with the color selections and it was the perfect size for our family. Another bonus was that it was already complete and ready to move in. We went for it and two months later we moved into our new home.

My favorite part of the home is the long open kitchen, dining and living space in one and we spend the most time gathered in this area as a family. I’ve always loved to decorate my homes to really feel cozy and welcoming. I don’t have one specific design style but like to incorporate in different pieces I like. My home is a mix of modern, rustic, farmhouse and french country. I also try to be minimal in my decor because with having 4 kids I don’t want to have to worry so much about moving things all the time or things getting broken.”

I hope you enjoy our house tour!

  Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Painted Brick Exterior

What first caught my eye about this home was definitely the white exterior. There’s something about a white home! I was sold before I even walked in. The 2 porches in the front were also a huge selling point because we love to sit outside and watch the kids play. We have a huge open space in the front of our home that’s almost the size of a football field and perfect for football, baseball or soccer.

The exterior brick paint color is PPG Atrium White and shutters are PPG Black Forest.

Front Porch

We love that this home has 3 outdoor spaces including a front porch, a patio balcony and a side patio. 

Sunshine

A pair of outdoor chairs make this front porch feel even more inviting.

Beautiful Patio Sets: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Brick

The front porch also features brick flooring in a beautiful pattern.

Adirondack Rocking Chairs: here – similar.

Home-Sweet-Home

Callie’s home feel happy and welcoming from all angles!

“Home-Sweet-Home” Doormat: Target.

Kitchen

I absolutely love Callie’s kitchen. It’s open and spacious without feeling overwhelming.

White Kitchen with Character

The kitchen backsplash tile is Emser Tile 4×10 Metro Honed with an accent over the stove in Emser 12×12 Metro Mosaic.

Counterstools: Target – no longer available – similar here – Others: here, here, here & here.

Magnolia Wreath: here – similar.

Countertop

The kitchen countertops are Granite in Lennon.

Beautiful 3 Tiered Wooden Trays: here & here.

Kitchen Cabinet

The best part of the kitchen is the long buffet countertop that’s perfect for entertaining because we like to host parties.  This counter space runs almost 15 feet long so it holds all the food you could eat.

Cabinet Paint Color

The cabinet paint color is PPG Gypsum in semi-gloss.

Appliances: GE.

Dining Room

This entire space is perfect for entertaining.

Linen Chairs: RH – similar here & here.

Dining Room Furniture

Kitchen Table: Restoration Hardware – Other Beautiful Dining Tables: here, here, here & here.

X-back Dining Chairs: RH – similar here (huge sale!).

Vases: here – similar.

Fruit Spray Olive Branches: here.

Table Runner: here & here – similar.

Great Room

The floors in the main living areas are Red Oak hardwoods scraped lightly with the grain and stained ebony.

Beautiful Hardwood Flooring: here, here & here.

Splash of Color

I keep with a pretty neutral theme throughout the year and add in pops of color depending on the season using florals, pillows or artwork. For spring this year I’ve added in light pink, yellow, and teal.

A Little Friend

This is Jinger – pronounced Ginger… we had to change it to a “J” so she would have the same as the other kids!! I got her own couch for her to go in the living room because she’s been scratching up our leather couch with her nails and she loves it!! Target has the cutest doggie beds! I loved this buffalo plaid one and it goes so well with all my other decor!

Metal Cabinet: Universal Furniture Bannister Display Cabinet – similar here & here.

Chairs: Ashley HomeStore.

Side table: Target – similar here.

Furniture Layout

What an inspiring furniture layout! The large leather sectional is perfect for the entire family to relax and watch something at the end of the day.

Credenza: Bassett Furniture Emporium 92″ in Compass Northern Grey – Others: here, here, here & here.

Rug:  here (9×12)- Other Beautiful Rugs: here, here, here, here, here & here.

Wall & Trim Paint Color

The walls and ceilings throughout the home are painted PPG Whiskers in flat. The trim throughout is PPG Gypsum in semi-gloss.

Home Ideas

This home is a little unique because when you first walk in the front door you walk right into the living room, dining room and then the kitchen area. It’s one long space.

The leather sectional is Bassett Furniture Ellery L-shaped sectional in Stone – similar here, here, here & here.

Side table is from At Home – similar here.

Beautiful Coffee Tables: here, here, here, here & here.

Furniture & Decor

I like to shop for larger furniture pieces at Bassett Furniture, Nebraska Furniture Mart or Restoration Hardware. I’ve found that they all have great quality furniture. Most all of my small furniture and decor pieces come from Hobby Lobby, Kirkland’s, Homegoods or Target.

Decor: Console table – RH – similar here.

Throw: Target – Others: here & here.

Floral Pillow: here & here– similar

Blush Pink Pillow: here – similar.

Wood Scrabble Letter Tiles

My gallery wall is still one of my favorite things in the house!! The way this house is built this wall is hidden unless you go up the stairs! Sometimes I’ll go up there just to look at it!

The wood Scrabble letter tiles feature our names and birth dates.

Wood Scrabble Letters: here – similar.

Master Bedroom

The master bedroom is located in the back of the house.

Magnolia Inspiration

I decided I wanted a black a white theme when I saw a photo from Magnolia Home that had beautiful black wood arched frames behind the nightstands. I like to save money when possible so I found my own version from Kirkland’s (similar here) and spray painted them black to get the same look for over half the cost.

Bed & Bedding

The bed set is from the Magnolia Home line at Nebraska Furniture Mart. The bedding and lamps are from Target.

Decor

There’s a small corner in the room that was bare so I found this cute macrame wall hanging (similar here) and an olive plant at Homegoods. It’s very simple but I love it.

Faux Olive Plant: here.

Study

The study is in the front of the home off to the side when you come in the front door. I recently completed a makeover in my study by adding Weaber Lumber white washed wall boards from Home Depot to a focal wall and I love how the transformation turned out. It makes the room so bright and open. I also added greenery with these hanging macrame plant hangers from amazon. I decided to save some money by painting a few terra cotta pots from Hobby Lobby to match my decor and filled them with IKEA plants.

To really make the room pop I changed out the lighting to a beautiful wood bead chandelier from World Market. I found this desk at Restoration Hardware a few years ago and both the chair and rug are from Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Similar Desk: here – Others: here, here, here & here.

Similar Desk Chair: here.

John 10:10

Metal Sign: Vintage Metal Co.

  I hope you enjoyed the tour of my home! 

  Many thanks to Callie for sharing all of the details above.

Make sure to follow Callie on Instagram to see more of her beautiful home!

  Best Sales of the Month:

Thank you for shopping through Home Bunch. I would be happy to assist you if you have any questions or are looking for something in particular. Feel free to contact me and always make sure to check dimensions before ordering. Happy shopping!

  Serena & Lily: New Spring Arrivals! Gorgeous Pillows, Bedding & Rugs!

  Wayfair: Up to 75% OFF – Huge Sales on Decor, Furniture, Rugs & Outdoor Furniture!!!

  Joss & Main: Up to 65% Off on Outdoor Furniture & Decor!

  Pottery Barn: 20% Off Furniture, 25% Off Everything Else + Free Shipping. Use Code: LUCKY

  One Kings Lane: High Quality Design Decor for Less – Limited time only: 20% Off Furniture with Code OKLFURNISH

  West Elm: 20% Off your entire Purchase + Free Shipping: Use Code: EARNEDIT

  Anthropologie: Take an extra 40% off all sale items! See Joanna Gaines Exclusive line here!

  Urban Outfitters: Hip & Affordable Home Decor.

  Horchow: The Big Sale: 25% Off Furniture & 30% Off Sitewide!

  Nordstrom: Up to 40% OFF – Free Shipping!

  Arhaus: Save up to 30% plus Buy More Save More!

  Posts of the Week:

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: Fixer Upper.

Home Bunch’s Top 5: Kitchen Design Ideas.

Before & After Bathroom Renovation.

2019 New Year Home Tour.

Full-scale Home Remodel Inspiration.

Kitchen Renovation with Before & After Pictures.

Beautiful Homes of Instagram: How to Build your own Home.

Connecticut Beach House.

Interior Design Ideas: Colorful Interiors.

New England Home.

Interior Design Ideas: Home Renovation.Classic Colonial Home Design. Family-friendly Home Design.

New Year, New Beautiful Homes of Instagram. Georgian-Style Manor with Traditional Interiors.

Transitional Home Design.

Grey Kitchen Paint Colors.

Follow me on Instagram: @HomeBunch

You can follow my pins here: Pinterest/HomeBunch

See more Inspiring Interior Design Ideas in my Archives.

“Dear God,

If I am wrong, right me. If I am lost, guide me. If I start to give-up, keep me going.

Lead me in Light and Love”.

Have a wonderful day, my friends and we’ll talk again tomorrow.”

with Love,

Luciane from HomeBunch.com

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[sheeping-around]

Sheeping Around Retrospective: By The Numbers

tl;dr: Scroll all the way down for the numbers.

Sheeping Around has been live on the App Store for a little over ten days now. I think it is about time I look back at the development cycle, the good parts, the bad parts and also share some sales figures while I’m at it. I’m following the trend of transparency to help other indie game developers know and understand the market of premium games, for which I gained inspiration from Eric @ Slothwerks and Arnold @ Tiny Touch Tales. I’m also inspired by the way they work: solo devs working with talented people across the world on a contract basis, and I follow the same pattern.

While I’ve worked on games in the past, this is my first official release on the App Store, and I’m really glad to have been able to reach that goal. My previous games got stuck in infinite iteration loops and never got to see the light of the day. 

Inception

I have written in one of my previous posts how the idea of Sheeping Around was born. The idea began as a turn based (asymmetric) strategy game, and eventually turned into a card game that it is today. You can read more about it in the below two posts:

Sheeping Around Inception

Inspired by Card Thief and More

Inspirations of Sheeping Around and its inception as a physical card game

Development

I have around 8 years of experience as a Javascript developer. While I am familiar with other languages like Java and Objective-C/C++, my core expertise and speed of development is still in Javascript. Also, I had begun using TypeScript at work since mid 2017 and had loved it. Reminded me of the good ol’ Flash and Actionscript days.

When the physical version of Sheeping Around card game was proven to be fun enough, I began working on a web-based prototype version of it using Angular.js on the front-end and Node.js on the backend in the first week of November 2017. I deployed the system on Heroku on its free plan, and used Heroku Postgres as database of choice. (It was free upto 9000 rows, more than sufficient for a prototype.)

Initial prototype version of Sheeping Around

For the native mobile version of the game, I used cocos2d-x JS with TypeScript.

I pushed the code to GitHub as private repositories. I maintained separate repos for client and the server.

Multiplayer

Initially I had planned on Sheeping Around to be a solitaire card game, but it ended up being too similar to Card Thief. It wasn’t much fun anyway either. I decided to prototype a two player dueling game on paper, and it proved to be a lot of fun. I figured it would be much more challenging to handle a multiplayer game, but given my full-stack experience, I was confident I’d be able to do it anyway.

Architecture of Sheeping Around

Sketch, GraphicRiver and GUI

Around March 2018, I began working on the GUI of the game. I had recently switched my role to Product Design at my company Sumo Logic and had begun learning Sketch and loved it. I bought some assets off GraphicRiver and heavily modified a lot of them and put them together in Sketch.

All screen designs in Sketch

I wasn’t very happy with the initial designs, but towards the end of April things had started looking much better and professional.

Initial designs

Final designs

Google Indie Games Accelerator

The progress in the initial few months was somewhat slow. I spent time refining the balance of the game and tweaking the progression. Meanwhile I was also designing some UI for the native mobile version of the game.

By the end of June 2018, Google announced the first ever Indie Games Accelerator for games made in South East Asia. The submission deadline was July, so I started rapidly working on the mobile version for Android and iterating it really fast. By mid of July, I had the gameplay fully functional. By the end of it, I had the entire progression system and marketplace fully set up. 

Some charts from the progression and reward system of the game inspired mainly by Pokemon

While I was not selected for the accelerator program, it did help me accelerate the game development process anyway and I am thankful to the accelerator program for that.

Art and Animation

I discuss a lot about art style with Rashi, and we had finalized that the characters would be anthro. Check out some concept art and final artwork for some of the characters below:

I really loved the idea of in-card animations in Card Thief, and wanted to have something similar in my game as well. I was fortunate enough to run into Robinson Millaguin in the Indie Game Developers Facebook group. He began his work on animating some of the initial cards in Spine and my mind was blown already. Check out the video below:

You can see more of the animation GIFs on the official website for Sheeping Around.

Tragicomic Theme and Music

I had contracted someone for music, but it did not sound so fitting. It was very difficult to decide what kind of music would fit this game because it was such a unique premise. I started scouting out for tracks on AudioJungle. Farms are usually associated with country music, but I had ruled it out completely. Western style music with gut guitars and ukuleles are a close second choice associated with farm themes. Somehow that style didn’t fit either, and sounded rather cowboy-ish. 

I explored all kinds of genres of music and tried to see if they fit in the game. Finally, I found that the music in Comedy genre seemed to be the most fitting. I stumbled upon the profile of AudioAgent, who had an amazing portfolio of comedy tracks. His tracks are tragicomic themed, and coincidentally, he kept adding more tracks in the genre as the game progressed.

The game now features a total of 9 comedy audio tracks by AudioAgent. (The tracks change every 10 levels.)

You can check out the tracks in the below Youtube playlists:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1Ajh9Cn23k&list=PLnTakDx63B8L0pBpjPD10VB3NJEcXj2l4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXeq713R444&list=PLnTakDx63B8IS3hr4Sd-tnZXgu5vCIoi6

Sound

I had already made a list of suitable sounds from AudioJungle, but it was from a variety of artists and didn’t seem to fit together. I was not sure if I should hire a sound designer for the project. I figured it would be a good idea to ask around anyway.

I am active on Twitter in the gamedev community, and I found Elise Kates’ profile there. She had done some amazing work in the past for games like Moss, and I thought she’d be a good candidate to help me out with the sound. And it was a great decision afterall. The sound effects added the finishing touches to the polish in the game and really brought the characters to life!

Putting It All Together

I’m glad I’ve been able to put all of this together in a single package. The pun in the name, gameplay mechanics, art, animation, sound and music all come together really well. It would be perhaps be one of my proudest achievement since it is an important skillset to have.

Translation, Screenshots, Trailer and Preview Videos

In December, I took help from the Indie Game Localization community to get the game translated in 12 languages. It was an overwhelming amount of work, about 5000 words. I maintained separate Google Sheets for each language.

But what was harder was designing screenshots and preview videos and localizing them into all languages. But it did pay off eventually because it got the game featured in most of the regions that I had localized for.

Check out the preview video below:

Robinson helped in creating a landscape trailer for the game as well, since Android needs a landscape video regardless of whether the game is landscape or not. it was more of a theatrical trailer that served as an introduction to the premise of Sheeping Around and dab a little bit into its gameplay:

Freemium, Premium or Paymium?

The hardest decision for me to take was whether to go premium or freemium (or paymium), and if premium, what would be the price point of the game. Early on I had decided that the game would be premium on iOS and free-to-play on Android, given how easy piracy is on Android (more on piracy in the Piracy section below). I had thought of keeping the game’s price to $4.99, as I had read that Card Crawl had recently upped its price to $4.99 from $2.99 and it increased their month-on-month sales by more than 2x. Turns out, it won’t work very well during release when both developer and the game are new to the market and there are no ratings and reviews. This is also why my day 2 sales were more than day 1 sales, when I dropped the price to $2.99.

My game also has in-app purchases, and most people object to the idea of IAPs in a premium game. But if you look at the top paid charts in the card game category (or even any other category for that matter), you will find that more than 70% of the games have IAPs. This model is called paymium on mobile platforms, and has only recently entered the debate alongside freemium and premium. In the PC world, most games are paid, and the concept of DLCs is fairly normal and accepted, so I don’t understand what the issue with IAPs in premium mobile games is about.

Besides, the IAPs in Sheeping Around aren’t your typical in-your-face popups that appear at the end of every game to give you a reward or to increase your life. They are subtle, just two coin packs that you can buy if need be. You probably won’t need to though.

Pre-orders and the Coming Soon Feature

I set the game to be available for preorder on 31st December 2018. That would make my first new years’ resolution to be to release this game. I set Thursday, 17th Jan as the release date. That is because App Store refreshes every Thursday and it would get greater number of days in visibility if it gets featured then. (Most features last at least a week.)

That is also when I also submitted my game and my story to Apple via App Store’s promote link, hoping to get featured.

On January 5, the game got featured in the Coming Soon section, and it started getting a little spike in pre-orders. From 1-2 per day to around 25-30 per day. On January 20, the game got featured in a lot more territories, including US, UK, South Africa, Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. I netted about 250 pre-orders from this feature. But it turns out that in some places, since Apple lets you preorder without having a linked credit card, they would fail to be billed on release of the game. Because of this, only about 200 pre-orders went through successfully. App store still shows -1/-2 net preorders days after the game’s release.

New Games We Love & Top Charts

Upon release, the game was featured in “New Games We Love” in US, China and the Greater China Area (HK, Macau, Taiwan), South-East Asia, India, UK, Europe, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. It also went on to become #3 card game in US (iPhone) during launch and stayed between #3-#5 during the first week. In China, which is the second biggest market for me, the highest it went was #9 in card games. (Competition is quite high in that category there, with most paid games priced at ¥1 ($0.15).)

I especially love the words UK editorial team used to describe the game in Games We Love.

Reception

The reviews so far have been positive, with occasional negative reviews talking about some bugs, most of which I have fixed in the week after release. Here are the current reviews and ratings stats for the game so far:

US: 4.6 / 5 (56 ratings, 32 reviews) China: 4.3 / 5 (41 ratings, 23 reviews) Thailand: 4.7 / 5 (15 ratings, 11 reviews) Germany: 4.0 / 5 (11 ratings, 6 reviews) Russia: 4.6 / 5 (8 ratings, 7 reviews) UK: 3.7 / 5 (6 ratings, 4 reviews)

Some encouraging reviews:

“I’ve only played this game for 20 minutes, and I love it already. The creativity, the idea, everything about this game is just beyond my expectations, and I can only assume how addicting this game will be.”

“It a really good game. You should make a physical card game for this game. I really like it and it’s definitely worth buying it.”

“Don’t really review apps, let alone end up playing one a day or two after I started. But this one... this one got me hooked! It’s fairly simple gameplay but sometimes it gets pretty exciting.”

“Pre-ordered it, I've played Card Monsters since release & Hearthstone for 4 years & this game is very solid & entertaining.”

“I think this game is another new twist to a card game, I can definitely see potential for this game. I can’t wait for the next update, hopefully with some new cards to use.”

“This game is family oriented and so easy to play. It has the simplicity of UNO yet with enough strategy to keep you engage but not overwhelmed. This is highly addictive and fun to play. The element of luck is always a factor but how to use the cards given is the key. The games are short but competitive. Those who love card/card battle games should download this without hesitation! Kudos! Look forward to updates to see what you guys come up with next!”

DAUs, Screen Time and Retention Rate

I use Tableau for my data visualization needs, and have custom graphs and dashboards created for all kinds of metrics. 27% of the players have played the game for at least one hour, which is quite encouraging. 4.5% of the players have been addicted and have played for more than 5 hours. I’ve been seeing an average DAU of around 750 and average total session time of over 450 hours. Not that it matters much for a premium game, but I’m tracking it anyway. In terms of retention, my day 7 retention is about 10%, which isn’t so bad. I will give it more time to see what my day 30 retention is.

Press Coverage and Critic Reviews

I had mailed a lot of media sites and YouTubers to review the game. A lot of them covered the game. Thanks to the localization effort, the game was featured in a lot of foreign language blogs. 

Specifically Pocket Gamer and Pocket Tactics wrote about the game. The review from Pocket Tactics was negative with a 2.0 / 5 rating, and from Pocket Gamer was somewhat above average at 3.5 / 5 rating. Pocket Tactics review, though negative, gave me a chuckle because of their words of choice.

You can check them out here:

Pocket Gamer: A surprisingly tense, exciting and fun card battler that doesn’t quite have the tactical depth for the long haul.

Pocket Tactics: Sheeping Around looks the part, but sadly the game turns out to be as dull as you would expect for a game based on an animal that stands around in a field all day chewing grass.

The criticism though has been pretty good in these reviews, and I will add more content and depth in the future updates to address the weaknesses they have mentioned.

Piracy

One thing I wanted to point out was that about 25% of the users of Sheeping Around are using a pirated version. I was under the impression that it would be very hard to pirate an iOS game, because it would need jailbreaking and it isn’t very easy to jailbreak your iOS device. Turns out I was very wrong. There are pirated App Stores like AppEven that you can install on your device, and you can install premium iOS games for free using those stores. You don’t need to jailbreak your phone and the whole process is dead simple. Turns out these folks are abusing Enterprise App certificates for ad-hoc app distribution, and Apple hasn’t been paying much attention to them. 

Within about two minutes, I was able to download a pirated version of my own game from AppEven. It even added its own ads that pop up once every few minutes that bring revenue to the owners of the pirated app store. It made me a little sad, but that’s the way it is. No matter how many attempts you make to prevent piracy in your app, the hackers will have a workaround to bypass it. They can remove the code in your app that prevents piracy, replace your ads with their own. It is their daily business.

Promotional Artwork

For games that Apple finds worthy of promotion using a banner feature or on the Today page, Apple requests developers for promotional artwork. I got this request last Monday and I submitted the artwork by Wednesday. The game hasn’t gotten a banner feature or Game of the Day yet, so I can only hope it will happen one day in the future.

By The Numbers

And finally, the moment you’d been waiting for. Sales. Sheeping Around was able to break even about 50% of its outsourcing costs (art, animation and sfx) in 10 days since launch. 

The top 2 territories where the game made some decent revenue are US and China, followed by Germany and UK.

What’s next?

I’m already working on some new cards that add more variety to the gameplay. These include:

Bonus cards

Peek - Look at the opponent’s hand. 

Undo - Undo the opponent’s last move. It can also potentially undo a stolen or whistled sheep.

Lucky Pendant - Draw half the number of cards in your hand (rounded off).

Shepherd cards

Fence N (N = 2, 3, 4) - Build a fence around all sheep preventing any of them from being stolen for N turns.

Electric Fence N (N = 2, 3) - Build an electric fence around all sheep preventing any of them from being lured or stolen for N turns.

Quarantine N (N = 1, 2, 3) - Cure all sheep of Infestation or Intoxication by N turns.

Vaccinate N (N = 3, 4) - Prevent Infestation or Intoxication on all sheep for the next N turns.

Thief cards

Infest N (N = 2, 3, 4) - Infest all sheep with pests to prevent them from being whistled for N turns.

Intoxicate N (N = 2, 3) - Intoxicate sheep to prevent them from being grazed or whistled for N turns.

Thrash N (N = 1, 2, 3) - Damage a Fence or an Electric Fence and reduce its value by N turns.

Termites (N = 3, 4) - Spread termites to prevent building a Fence or an Electric Fence for the next N turns.

Changes to existing cards

Rescue N (N = 1, 2, 3) - Reduce the effect of Trap, Infestation or Intoxication by N turns on one sheep.

Distract N (N = 1, 2, 3) - Reduce the effect of Guard, Fence or Electric Fence by N turns on one sheep.

You can already add an ally that unlocks at Lv. 20 to the game. Future updates may include upto 5 allies in total:

Shepherd’s side

Beaver - Jack Kim (Lv. 10)

Llama - Fuzzy Wumpkins (Lv. 20)

Sheepdog - Casper Cloud (Lv. 30)

Emu - Emily McCoy (Lv. 40)

Donkey - Muriel Miller (Lv. 50)

Thief’s side

Raven - Merlin Kook (Lv. 10)

Eagle - Cradoc McClaw (Lv. 20)

Coyote - Roxy Fang (Lv. 30)

Badger - Agent Chaos (Lv. 40)

Bear - Boris Rockpaw (Lv. 50)

Additional Features I’ll also be working on some features like: - Expressions and dialogs - Offline mode vs AI - Pass and play multiplayer - Quests

Conclusion

Sheeping Around was a fun project, and unlike my other shelved projects, it saw the light of the day, and it is a proud achievement for me in that regard. For the past 14 months, I’ve worked part-time at a consistent pace on this project (and full time for a few months). Especially as a solo developer being able to develop a PvP multiplayer game where people in US can battle people in China with servers located in London, I think it is a great feat.

Look forward to more updates in the future on this blog. Follow the blog on Tumblr or me on Twitter to keep yourself up to date on the progress of the game.

[mysticsparklewings]

Lore Olympus (Mermaid Marker Test)‪

So my IRL friend introduced me to this AMAZING comic the other night, called "Lore Olympus," which is sort of a retelling of the Greek Myth of Persephone being kidnapped by Hades: www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lo… I read the whole thing in about two hours.   If you like Greek Mythology or even just rom-com comics with super pretty art styles, please go check it out and support it! It updates on Saturdays and is still on-going! So since my friend was fangirling, and then I was fangirling, and we had to wait a whole week for the new chapter/installment, I sketched up a piece of fanart of Persephone and Hades just looking at each other cutely, in outfits from a couple of later chapters. I didn't color it right away because I had just ordered the entire collection of 32 Jane Davenport Mermaid Markers off eBay (For $30 after a $10 off coupon, I might add; had I purchased the individual sets off of Amazon that same night it would've been about $60!) and I was half-waiting for them to come in, half testing my patience to see if I could wait or if I would just cave and color it with colored pencils or alcohol markers before then.  Luckily, I held out and they came in that Thursday. So I got to priming and swatching as quickly as possible! Calling them Mermaid "Markers" is a bit misleading; as they're essentially water brushes pre-filled with water-soluble ink. But I kind of understand why they're called that, as the "Mermaid" part insinuates their relationship with water, and they are more like markers that straight-up watercolors, in the sense that you don't technically need water to use them. Still, I think a more accurate name might've been helpful to people that have never heard of these before and have no idea what they're actually going to be like. Fortunately, I had seen these floating around and in a video before considering purchasing them, so I knew pretty much what I was getting, how to prep them, and what to do with them already, and at that point I wasn't even sure I'd want them. But after getting a set of Viviva watercolor sheets back in December and then the Arteza Woodless Watercolor pencils for my Birthday last month, the Mermaid Markers finally piqued my interest enough to want to buy them. I actually felt very lucky to find the eBay listing that I did, as $40 for the whole lot, in new condition (all the boxes still had their little round tapes intact and undisturbed, as well as their sealing rings, which I'll talk more about in a second) was already a great deal compared to buying the individual sets, before I even knew that I had the $10 coupon. Honestly, I was so sure someone was going to buy it before I had the funds, but luckily I was able to buckle down on some commissions and took the opportunity when it presented itself.   The only issue I had straight out of the box was that, for some reason, my "Byron Bay" in the 12 set is miraculously missing its label.  The best I can figure is it was just a factory oversight, as, like I said before, the boxes were still sealed and the sealing rings on each individual "marker," totally undisturbed, and there is no evidence there ever was one on the marker at all (no lingering bits of adhesive, etc.). It's not a huge deal as it was only one marker, the color names are all available online, and the solution is just as simple as either writing the name on the marker (which is what I've done for now) or printing out a new label. It'd be different if it had been multiple markers, making it difficult to tell which was which. It did take a little while to properly prime each marker; each one had a yellowy-green sealing ring between the screw-on brush tip and the squeezable ink cartridge that had to be removed and some gunk in the brush tip to preserve the shape during shipping, which you just gently wash off in water. And I will note here that it is important to make sure you screw the brush tip portion all the way back on! I had done quite a few and been left with a slight gap between the two sections before one went all the way down with less effort, so I had to go back and use a gripper like you would use to open jars to be able to turn the others the rest of the way down. I think this is important to mention because the one complaint I've seen over, and over, and over again in the Amazon Reviews is about them leaking, and I think in some (but not all) cases this might have been the problem! If one of them hadn't gone on with less effort, I wouldn't have known the difference! The other thing of note, the instructions/tips in each box specifically mention to store them with the brush tip up! Because I'm paranoid, I'm being extra cautious about this, but I suspect in a few cases this may have also been a problem causing leaks--as in people were storing them horizontally or with the brush tip down. I'm not a huge fan of the thin plastic boxes, but it's not a huge deal (as Copic markers use the exact same packaging). I think I would like to procure a case or stand to keep them all together in, though. I've been looking, but I want the case to naturally fit with keeping them upright and be able to sort them in whatever order I like. (Because I have to keep my art supplies organized or my entire world will fall apart). Now, when it comes to the drawing itself, I almost immediately ran into an issue with the line art. I didn't want to do just black, but the watercolor nature of the Mermaid Markers means that water-based ink will run when they touch. The only guaranteed water-proof liners I have are Copic multiliners in black or cobalt. That would've worked for Hades, but not Persephone. (The comic is very color-oriented for the character designs, so it just seemed more natural to do it this way; And besides, I use black lines all. the. time.) So I had to figure something else out. Originally, I tested both my Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils to see what water did to them (as I did plan on using a regular water brush with these to help with blending and stuff), and either one would've worked, as you had to be trying to pull the pigment out like I was to really get noticeable results, especially with the Polychromos, which are advertised as being water-resistant. I almost used them, but then I looked over and remembered: I have Dr. Ph Martin inks! In a variety of colors, that are supposed to be water-proof and lightfast (not that that means that much in this situation since most watercolors aren't lightfast anyway) when dry! So I got really crazy and broke out my dip pen and did the lines with that in red-violet, blue, and violet. Veeeeeeery carefully. Then I set it aside to dry for a couple of hours. (For the record, the red-violet lines are a couple shades darker IRL, the scan lightened them and seemingly them alone for some reason.) In hindsight, I might have done better to let it dry for a full 24+ hours. I say that because, while the ink was definitely dry enough to open and close the sketchbook with no issue, there were a few spots, particularly with the blue, that did bloat/bleed a little after I started going in with the Mermaid Markers and some water. Mind you, I wasn't like, drowning those spots with water or anything. Fortunately, I was able to sort of "push" and move the color around so that it didn't ruin anything. Beyond that, the pigment just willingly pulled out about as much as the colored pencils did when I was testing those, but that wasn't a huge issue since the characters are monochromatic and I was able to use it to my advantage. However, that definitely would've been an issue if I had lined with a color that didn't blend with the fill-in colors. So I will be more cautious of that sort of thing going forward. The Mermaid Markers themselves were actually kind of fun to work with, aside from the slight learning curve, since watercolors, in general, are mostly unfamiliar territory for me. The biggest issue I had was just trying to blend the right purple for the background, but that has more to do with my inexperience and the overall color selection. In general and just swatched out, the entire color collection of all 32 Mermaid Markers has a really interesting color family, with a number of shades that I think are fairly unique. (Or at least they seem unique to my eyes that are more familiar with color pencil palettes). The tradeoff is that there are some shades that are pretty, but might be a little "off" from the colors I'm used to working with. In this case, there is a muted lavender color called "Jellyfish" that I was using primarily to fill in the heart. However, it was a bit on the warm/pink side for my liking, including pairing with the "Deep Sea" darker purple, which was more of a neutral, maybe slightly blueish purple. It turned out okay with my attempts to "cool it down," but I still have some things to learn with watercolor, and until I really get the hang of it, I know the slightly unusual color choices with these might be a bit of a challenge to work through. The other thing is there are two "specialty" sets of the Mermaid Markers; one called "Celestial Sky" and one called "Shimmering Sky," which are metallic and glitter effects, respectively, and meant to be shaken up before use a bit like paint pens. The effects for both sets are really beautiful, I just wish there were more colors! There are only 4 of each; the Celestial Sky is more neutral/traditional metallic colors, and the Shimmering Sky colors are two pinkish and two blueish colors that look like they would pair well with the "Shipwrecked" set of 6. This isn't necessarily a bag thing--I want more colors of a product I like. I just thought I'd point it out while I was on the color thing. Still, they blended really nice and smoothly, and fortunately, they didn't argue too much with me when I made a mistake and tried to take some off/lighten it, etc.   Once I was done coloring, I obviously went back and did Persephone's little leaf crown and outlined the butterflies on either side of her head with gel pens. Surprisingly, the pens went over this noticeably easier than the Arteza Woodless Watercolor Pencils, which I found odd. I did have to do a bit of tapping, but I pretty much always expect that no matter what I'm working with. Not sure what to make of that.  (Though if I had to guess I suspect it had something to do with the fillers used in the pencils). I tried to use the glittery Mermaid Markers to give Hades a bit of pink blush and Persephone a bit of blue blush, but while Hades' worked out pretty okay, I think the blue was just too dark for Persephone as it didn't really blend out properly and, as you can see, to keep it from looking like she was bruised or I'd made a massive mistake, I ended up lifting most of it off entirely. But, at the very least, some of the glitter is still there so when you see it in the light it still sparkles a bit to tie in with the glittery gel pen I used for the crown. The only real thing I'm truly not happy about is that between the sketch and inking, Persephone's face slimmed down/got a little more angular than what I wanted. In the comic, she usually has a very round face to me. But it's not the end of the world; the art style is pretty fluid most of the time (which ends up adding to its charm and really lends itself to the characters' expressiveness) anyway, so drawing the characters "accurately" can only go so far, I think. (Compared to something where the characters are pretty much always 100% on-model, anyway). I think it did turn out very sweet though   And now if you'll excuse me, I'll be waiting with bated breath for the next chapter to go up.  The second-to-last one was a major plot doozy! ____ Artwork (c) me, MysticSparkleWings Lore Olympus & Characters belong to Rachel Smythe ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram 

[blazehedgehog]

A few weeks before SAGE, I was interviewed by Corentin Lamy of french newspaper Le Monde. I answered questions about why I started SAGE, what I think makes Sonic unique, the origin of fan games, and various community history stuff. It was a lot of fun! You can click above to read the full article, which was published in french (translated, its title is something like "When There's No Good Sonic Games, Fans Develop Their Own"). Corentin also interviewed folks like Rlan for the article, too!

But, well, you know me: I’m long winded as heck. I ended up writing nearly TEN PAGES of text in response to my interview questions.  I went on some kind of deep dives. So, with permission, I have been told it’s okay to publish my responses in full here on my blog. Just follow me behind the “read more” tag...

Corentin: Could you tell me more about the fangame scene? Is it as active nowadays than it was 5, 10 or 20 years ago?

Back in the day, SFGHQ was a huge resource hub. It hosted things used to make games, like graphics and sounds, as well as games themselves. When Rlan (Ryan) moved on, SFGHQ slowly fell into disrepair for a long time. Maintaining the database of files was more work than most people wanted to deal with. The forum community was always active, but people were gradually starting to move on. Maybe not even move on, but spread out a little more. Back in the day, it was difficult to host large files by yourself, so submitting your game to SFGHQ was the only way to put your work out there. That was a big draw. As services like Dropbox grew in popularity, hosting your game on SFGHQ began to matter less, and you started seeing more fangame projects show up in other corners of the Sonic fan community.

As SFGHQ's forums began to slow down, some of the people in charge wanted to revive it by merging with other Sonic fan communities. At one point, SFGHQ merged with another forum called Sonic United, and there were also suggestions being floated about trying to make SFGHQ a part of Sonicretro.org (one of the largest, oldest Sonic fan sites). Eventually the Sonic United merger was undone after Sonic United itself was bleeding users and shut down due to a lack of activity, and Sonic Retro opened their own fan gaming subforum in partnership with SFGHQ, which kinda-sorta meant SFGHQ as a stand-alone entity ceased to exist. SAGE went on like normal, and even grew, actually. Big names started making guest appearances, like a Q&A sessions with Naoto Ohshima (original character designer for Sonic and Dr. Eggman) and Mike Pollock (the current English voice of Dr. Eggman).

SFGHQ itself laid dormant, with years worth of promises about relaunching the site. Last year, as part of SAGE 2017, SFGHQ finally, actually relaunched. Instead of having an administrator manually add content to the site, users are now free to publish and maintain their own files. Unfortunately, it's a forum in the year 2018, so it's been kind of quiet. Most of the discussion tends to happen in the SFGHQ Discord, which is almost always active.

Of course, this is just the Sonic side of things. SFGHQ had a knock-on effect and others tried to make their own fan gaming websites for other gaming franchises. I think the only one that's still around is MFGG (Mario Fangame Galaxy), which even today still remains very reminiscent of what SFGHQ used to be like back in its golden age.

Overall, I'd probably say the fangame scene is more active than ever, though. SFGHQ's rise to fame was helped by the availability of easy-creation tools like Clickteam Fusion and Game Maker. Now, there's even more options for first-time developers getting in to game development, what with Unity, Construct, and even stuff like Twine. Everybody makes games nowadays it feels like, and you can draw a lot of parallels between how a lot of professional creators got their start drawing fanart or writing fanfiction. The more tools there are to make games with, the more likely somebody's first game development project will be a fangame. These people may not all be centralized at SFGHQ anymore, but they're still out there.

Corentin: How big is it? Do most developers know each other? Help each other? Sometimes are jealous of each other?

Back in the day, when everyone was centralized in SFGHQ, everybody knew each other, yeah. We were like one big family (in both good ways and bad). Nowadays, with everyone so spread out, it's almost impossible to keep track of it all. There's always a bunch of games at SAGE I've never heard of before, because they come from Gamejolt or some other fringe community I don't frequent. As a result, I imagine the fan gaming community is fairly large.

People don't usually help each other very much. Not for any kind of rude or territorial reasons, but generally because fangames tend to be a very personal, focused thing, and most people have tunnel vision regarding what they want. Everyone's trying to fulfill their dreams and that usually means going it alone, as everyone else is doing the same thing, with their own dreams. There are always exceptions, though. For a long time, Sonic Epoch, a fangame that continued the 1993 Sonic Saturday Morning Cartoon, was a team of three or four people writing the game's script and two or three musicians. Sonic Robo-Blast 2, one of the oldest fangames still in active development, has probably had dozens of people work on it over the years (I personally worked as a texture artist for them briefly). I also helped out on Sonic Time Attacked, one of the most famous classic fangames. Its developer, Jamie Bailey, was nearing completion on the game, but was struggling to produce the small handful of cutscenes he planned to have. I was kind of known for having nice cutscenes in my games, so I helped him out. Also, nowadays, with the advent of Unity making 3D games more viable, teaming up with multiple people is starting to become increasingly necessary. Sonic Utopia is being developed by at least four or five people, I think. Sonic World, a fangame written in Blitz3D, has probably had a dozen contributors by now. You can't really be a solo developer on those kinds of games, they take too much work.

Jealousy is definitely a problem. It's unsurprisingly difficult to draw the line on what's okay when you're making games that are 99% made from content borrowed from official games. If we're borrowing sprites from Sega without asking, why can't we borrow sprites from each other? The answer was always because that person was a member of the community, and they went to great lengths to custom-make something for their game, so obviously they weren't going to let anyone else use it. But, then, nobody had ever asked Sega if it was okay, so why should any of it be okay? That was occasionally a debate, and never with clear answers. Regardless, there were always accusations flying about who was stealing what from where. In particular, I remember a huge war breaking out over the usage of sprites created by a user with the handle "N8Dawg." He had custom-made a set of sprites all by himself, practically professional quality, and after abandoning his own project, decided to turn his artwork over to the community. But he did not do so publicly; he selected a few individuals that he thought would benefit from his sprites, and very quickly, access to these graphics turned in to sort of status symbol in the community. It was a nightmare. There was a lot of arguing over who got to use those sprites, and who had obtained them officially and who had stolen them from another fangame. Eventually, I think N8Dawg agreed to just release them publicly to stop all the arguing. I still have the files.

Corentin: How do you explain than the Sonic fangame scene is so active? What make Sonic so special? Is that because of the characters? Of the mechanics?

Generally speaking, I think fans make content to fulfill a need they aren't getting from the source material in question. This is why you get fanfiction that is so centered around romantic pairings. If nobody is giving it to them, people will always make what they want to see. Fans started making their own Sonic games after the franchise was more or less put on pause for five years in the mid-1990's. Sonic Team stepped away from Sonic games after making Sonic & Knuckles to try and let things rest, but there were a lot of people out there that were clearly hungry for more. So, they simply started making it themselves. You saw the same thing more recently with AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake). By the time that project finished, it had been something like 12 or 13 years since the last 2D Metroid game. Fans just made their own, because that's what they wanted to see.

The funny thing about Sonic is that Sega hasn't really kept the franchise under control. There are many, many different versions of the character, each one unique to itself. The Sonic from the Saturday morning cartoon is a different character from the Sonic in the classic games, which is a different character from the Sonic in the Archie comics, which is a different character from the Sonic in the Fleetway comics, so on and so forth. What this ultimately means is that you have tons people who come to Sonic the Hedgehog for wildly different things. Even narrowing it down just to the games, the Sonic franchise has had enough variance that there's a lot of debate over which games are "the good ones." When you consider what I said earlier about people making things that they want to see, there are a lot of Sonic fans out there who feel as though they aren't being served. Fangames end up a very good way to work out those frustrations.

Unfortunately what this means is that everyone has a different answer for what makes Sonic special. For some, it definitely is the characters. A lot of people were upset when Sonic Adventure 2 was first announced, because early media implied Tails wouldn't be making an appearance in that game. There are people upset right now because characters from the canceled Archie Comics haven't made it over to the new IDW Sonic comics. Other people are more about the game mechanics. The biggest splits there are between people who like the Classic 2D Sonic games, people who like the Sonic Adventure games, and people who like the super fast modern games like Sonic Generations.

Sonic faces some very interest design challenges, I think. The controls in those classic 2D games are still very unique, even among today's games. I think that also contributed to the sense that some fans were being under-served, because for the longest time, through games like Sonic 4, Sega was quite clearly trying to replicate those old games, but they weren't getting it right. Because it's not an easy thing to get right, really. Sometimes, it can almost feel like Sonic is successful by accident, like the stars and the planets align in just the right way at just the right time to produce something that could never exist at any other point in time. That'd certainly explain some things.

Corentin: According to you, Sonic fan games are popular because it's been a while since the last decent old school Sonic game. That's probably a big part of the explanation, but that can be the only one : Metroid fan games aren't as popular, F-Zero fan games aren't as popular, etc. How do you explain than Sonic resonate so much with his fans?

Not to dodge the question more, but I think that’s the riddle a lot of people have tried and failed to solve, even Sega themselves. As I said earlier, Sonic almost seems to be successful by accident. There’s a long story to be told here about Sega in the 90’s, some of which was told in Blake Harris’ “Console Wars” book. The gist is that Sega of America and Sega of Japan didn’t get along. Information I’ve read suggests that Sega of Japan saw themselves as genius artists and Sega of America pushed back against their esoteric ideas because they weren’t seen as financially viable. The two sides were constantly disappointed by each other’s demands, and Sonic was born out of this clash of ideals.

The entire reason it’s been so difficult to nail down what makes Sonic special is because Sonic was not the product of a single person, a single art style, or a single anything. It was more like an inexperienced chef haphazardly adding ingredients to a meal and accidentally making something amazing, but never being able to replicate the recipe.

In Sonic’s case, by the time anyone asked what the recipe for Sonic the Hedgehog was, the whole thing had gained too much momentum to be stopped. When something gets popular enough for a long enough period of time, it ends up taking on a life of its own. Once enough fans embrace it, it cannot be killed or destroyed. Think about Transformers, and how sometimes there were many years between movies or TV shows, but were still Transformers fans out there on message boards or at conventions. There will always be Transformers now, in some form or another, until the eventual extinction of the human race. The same is likely true for Sonic the Hedgehog. I mean, the Sonic franchise has already weathered some pretty dark times, but it’s still here. You couldn’t destroy it if you tried.

If you really want me to define what I think makes Sonic special, I think it’s because there’s never been anything like it. Not in 1991, not in 1999, and not even now. It really comes down to two things:

One, Sonic was one of the first true “characters” in gaming. You had guys like Mario, or Mega Man, that were duty-bound to be heroes. They didn't have much personality beyond that, if they had any personality at all. Sonic had that smirk, he was always waving his finger at the player, or getting visibly impatient if you made him wait around. Sonic brought the next level of characterization to games. That continued through games like Sonic Adventure; having that many playable characters, each with their own narrative threads that wove together in to a larger story was unprecedented in 1999.

Two would be how Sonic plays. We've had games like F-Zero, or Burnout, games that are really really fast, but never anything like the way Sonic does it. Sonic gives you the ways to interact with the world that most fast games shy away from. The best Sonic games make you feel like you're driving a rollercoaster, combined with the controlled chaos of a pinball table. You're supposed to be bouncing off stuff, getting thrown into the air, and feeling a little overwhelmed at first. The danger of losing control is part of the fun, but it's a difficult line to walk, and it has to be in balance with the other elements like platforming or enemy combat. It’s a unique blend of high-speed action with a sharp personality that you can’t get anywhere else.

Corentin: What are the biggest difficulties of developing a Sonic fangame?

Specifically regarding Sonic games, the biggest hurdle is probably control. It's such a big problem that a lot of fans have banded together to write programming guides and even create collections of code to make it easier for newbies to wrap their heads around how it all works. The physics and momentum of how Sonic moves are so tricky to properly implement that not even Sega really does it right, for example with Sonic 4, and they're the ones that invented those physics in the first place.

In general, I also think a lot of people underestimate how much work it takes to finish a game, even when most of the coding is already done for you. A lot of fangames get started, but never finished, because people lose interest before they cross the finish line. Staying focused and keeping perspective are probably the two most important things when it comes to developing any sort of game. You have to know and respect your own limits. You aren't going to make a game in a weekend. Depending on how ambitious you are, you won't even finish making game over a single summer vacation. You have to be ready to commit for the long haul. The best fangames take years and years of work.

Understanding criticism would be another difficulty. Over the years as I've reviewed games at SAGE, I occasionally find someone who gets really upset when I criticize their game. If somebody doesn't like your game, you have to learn to not take it personally. Criticism is valuable data that can be used to make better games in the future, so pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and use that information to improve. There can always be a next time, so don't get discouraged.

Corentin: Few fan games come to fruitition. Do all developers of fan games hope they will finish their game, or are they aware that's very unlikely?

Yes, I think nearly all fangames are started with the intention they’ll be finished some day. I can only speak from my experience, but it really seems like everyone, including me and all my friends, initially gravitated towards fangames when we were young. Especially in that youthful innocence, you never really think about how much effort goes in to something. I remember sending letters to Sega in the Saturn era, 1996 or so, regarding the cancelation of Sonic X-Treme. I tried to give them reasons to keep working on the game, and the things I was suggesting were so incorrect it was beyond the point of comedy and was actually a little bit sad. How movies, or video games, or whatever actually get made seems like a kind of magic until you’re faced with the reality of it all. It’s easy to see how somebody might decide to make and finish a video game without fully realizing how long that’s going to take.

It also depends on your definition of what “finished” means, I guess. I’ve created fangames that are not complete, full games, but I consider the project done, because I finished what I set out to accomplish. Even if that was only a couple of levels and a boss fight.

Corentin: Is Sega ok with fangames?

They seem to be, at least for right now. A few years ago, there was an Unreal Engine fangame, "Green Hill Paradise", and the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitch account left a comment in their stream chat congratulating them on a job well done and encouraging others to keep making fangames. Sega operates that account, so while it was not a legally binding document, it was at least some kind of official statement of approval.

But I say "at least for right now." Fangames are, according to copyright law, illegal. Technically speaking, so is fanart and fanfiction, because any unauthorized use of copyrighted content is illegal. Fair Use mostly covers educational or academic purposes, which don't apply here. So the only reason fangames, fanart, and fanfiction are okay is if the company in question turns a blind eye to the law. Sega is turning a blind eye to the law right now, but that might not always be the case. Obviously we've had decades worth of fangames at this point, but it only just recently lead to something like Sonic Mania. Hypothetically speaking, a few years from now, maybe somebody changes jobs and now there's a different person overseeing how Sega handles protecting their copyright. Then, this hypothetical person decides fangames are no longer okay and shuts the whole thing down. That could happen, and the law would support it.

Something like that actually happened very recently. Sega opened an online shop where they sell t-shirts and other merchandise, which triggered a wave of cease & desist notices directed at fans who were selling their fanart on shirts through sites like Teespring and Redbubble. Fans have been doing this kind of thing for years, even bringing their custom-made shirts to conventions and selling them there. Again, the law says this is illegal, but Sega never seemed to care before. They turned a blind eye to it. But now Sega is selling their own official shirts, they have manufacturing partnerships they want to protect, and the circumstances changed. They stopped turning a blind eye to it and shut the fans down. So, really, who knows what the future holds.

Corentin: In your Sonic Mania review video, you regret that Sonic Team relies too much on nostalgia. But doesn't nostalgia what drive you as a developer of fangames?

Not always. The very first fangame project I started back in high school was called "Sonic Infinity," which imagined a future where Sonic was brought back to life with cybernetic implants in a world that resembled Mega Man X. I just wanted my games to be popular, so I figured by merging Sonic and Mega Man together, I could be popular in two places at the same time. That was around 1998 or so. I ended up getting bored of that pretty quickly, and a new project caught my attention: a fangame called "Sonic: The Fated Hour" which was to be a Metroid-style Sonic game where you'd explore an open world and find gear upgrades. I started that project around the year 2000. Everyone else was still making fangames that continued the story of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but I wanted something that felt closer in tone to the Sonic Adventure games, which were current at the time. So it had a lot of story and cinematic sequences with artwork I drew myself.

I spent nine and a half years on The Fated Hour trying to figure out the best way for Sonic to work as a Metroid game before I gave up. When you work on something for that long you start to forget why you even started the project in the first place, so I decided it would be best if I just moved on. I still think about that game from time to time, about ways I could do certain things, but I refuse to let myself get trapped in that cycle again.

Along the way there was also a fangame I was working on called "Shadow of Chaos" that would have parodied how self-serious Sonic games are sometimes. That game didn't even really play like a Sonic game at all. You controlled Shadow, who could shoot guns and drove a Vespa scooter. It was intentionally ridiculous. I ended up getting a lot of friends to help me make levels for that one, but I lost a lot of the files to a hard drive crash. Many years later I ended up finding a backup of those files, but by then, the moment had passed.

And those are just my games. In my Sonic Mania review I had footage of other projects from my friends. There was “Thirdscape”, which was part of a trilogy of fangames about an alien invasion. The game took place many years after Sonic Adventure, and featured a grown-up Tails that was taller than Sonic. After Sonic Adventure 2, a lot of fangames were Sonic and Shadow working together, like Aytaç Aksu’s “Chaomega” and Showoffboy’s “Sonic Ki”. Then you had truly weird games, like TLSPRWR’s “Sonic Bible Adventure”, which fittingly takes Sonic through the events of the bible, or RC’s “Crazy Cabbie Sonic” where Sonic must deliver pedestrians to their destination before time runs out, like in Crazy Taxi.

Then you even have games like “Freedom Planet”, which originally started out as a Sonic fangame starring “Lilac the Hedgehog” as she traversed Dragon Valley collecting gold rings. Now, Freedom Planet is an original game starring Lilac the Dragon, available to purchase on Steam, Wii U, Playstation 4, and soon, Nintendo Switch, with a sequel in active development.

The connecting thread is that these were all side-scrolling games, but that was more about the limitations of the tools than any real desire to focus on nostalgia. The fangaming boom happened because of easy-to-use game creation software, but that software was universally limited to making 2D games only. Making 3D games often meant knowing real programming languages. The only 3D fangame for the longest time was “Sonic Robo-Blast 2”, which itself mainly started as a mod for Doom 2. In the big picture, Unity is a fairly recent invention, and we’re only just now starting to see a larger number of fangames using it.

If there was a focus on nostalgia, it was largely because those old Genesis games are the most universally beloved. It’s like I said earlier, fans tend to create the things they want to see. So you had a lot of fangames over the years about returning to Green Hill Zone. I think it was that fact by itself that probably pushed Sega to invest so much more heavily in nostalgia with Sonic 4, which in turn sparked even more nostalgia-focused fangames from fans determined to right Sonic 4’s wrongs. In a sense, that’s sort of why we have Sonic Mania now.

Corentin: What are the 3 or 4 best fan games people should absolutely give a try?

Sonic Robo-Blast 2 is unique to fangames insofar as it’s big enough to support its own community. It’s worth looking in to just to see how far the development team has taken the Doom engine; they converted a first person game in to a fairly decent 3D platformer. There’s also a huge modding community for the game, and an active multiplayer scene. Though it’s not ready yet, the next big update to SRB2, version 2.2, will finally overhaul the entire game to add proper support for sloped surfaces, something Doom didn’t originally support. It’ll probably be the most significant update the game’s ever had in its 20 year development. (trailer for 2.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cfK3EWnn2E)

I don’t want to be negative, but a lot of people would probably say Sonic: Before the Sequel or Sonic: After the Sequel. Those are two games by LakeFepard, who managed to crank them out in record time. Something like a year each, maybe less. They’re very creative games with incredible soundtracks that rival even official Sonic games. But something about them has always felt a little “off” to me in a way that’s hard to describe, and recently Lake has apparently had a falling out with SFGHQ. I’m not really in the loop on the drama, though, which is probably for the best.

I’d recommend Hez’s “Sonic Classic.” It’s a massive fangame that was inspired by Sonic 4. It can feel a little messy, but its heart is in the right place, and there’s tons of stuff in it. It was almost like having Sonic Mania before Sonic Mania even existed.

That’s already four, but gosh, there’s more. Petit Hedgehog is just a demo, but it’s a cute Sonic-Advance-inspired game with 100% original graphics. I’d also recommend OzcrashSonic’s Sonic World, which I mentioned earlier, because it’s so big and complex; it has something like 30 playable characters and 50 levels, it’s nuts. Sonic vs. Darkness is also just a demo, but it’s a fantastic game in the style of Sonic Rush. There’s probably more, but those are the games I think about a lot.

Corentin: Could you tell me more about SAGE? Why did you start it? You're not responsible of it anymore, right?

No, I’m no longer responsible for organizing SAGE. The people handling SAGE now still check in with me from time to time when they want my opinion on big decisions, but I mostly just cover the event by writing reviews for the games available. It’s been long enough that I my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think I did the first four events, two every year, until I gave it up. I was going through some difficult emotional things in my life at that time, and the additional stress of putting together something like that was having a negative impact on my life. Since then, it’s grown to become much bigger than something I could have accomplished on my own.

The first SAGE was on September 9th, 2000, one year after the launch of the Sega Dreamcast in North America. I was still in high school at the time.

I started it because it was hard to talk about my fangame projects with anyone who wasn’t already in SFGHQ. There was a long-running stigma fangames faced; many people thought they were a form of piracy. They were put in to the same category as pirated bootleg games you’d see on the black market. So it was impossible to have a conversation or get much coverage on gaming-oriented sites.

I think it was around this time I started reading a website called Insert Credit and learning of what Japan called their “doujin gaming” scene. Doujin is a Japanese word often used to describe fan-created content, and in Japan, you can sometimes find doujin manga sold on shelves right next to the official thing. Now there were doujin games -- Japanese fangames -- that were gaining traction on the internet. That kind of acceptance was fascinating to me.

So I started SAGE to try and bring that kind of acceptance over to what my friends and I were doing. I wanted to dispel the stigma that fangames were a type of piracy. Or, at least, not any closer to piracy than fanart or fanfiction.

It didn’t really work. We got a couple smaller sites to post a small blurb about the very first year SAGE launched, but nobody bigger than that would touch it. The stigma remained.

SAGE ended up being successful as a secondary function, as it gave the community milestones to orbit around. Instead of just making games and releasing them whenever, now people were working to get things ready to show at SAGE. Milestones like that are something professional studios use throughout game development to measure progress, and SAGE gave the fangaming community something similar to strive towards. It created a healthier structure for making fangames, and to be honest, it had done so kind of by accident. It wasn’t until many years after I stopped doing SAGE that I realized the entire reason it’s still around is because it became that anchor for development.

And, in the long run, I think SAGE lasting for 18 years did end up helping fight back against that stigma, even if it wasn’t immediately apparent back when I first started. The stigma still exists, you still get comments from people who don’t understand why someone would risk spending all of that time on a fangame that might get shut down, but at least the conversation is more open now than it ever has been.

Capcom sponsored a fangame a few years ago called “Street Fighter x Mega Man”. Microsoft has openly stated they’re fine with fan-content of their original properties, which has lead to things like the “Red vs. Blue” Youtube series and Halo fangames like “Installation 01.” Valve has been increasingly open with its fan community, even co-publishing a fan-remake of the original Half-Life, called “Black Mesa.”

And, of course, we now have Sonic Mania, whose team is made up almost entirely of old SFGHQ users.

Somewhere along the line, SAGE may have helped bridge some of those gaps. That’s pretty cool.

[thelightningawardsofficial]

Review | Epistolary

Judged by C.C. Lyn (SoarLikeTheWind)

Category: I'm No A Mary Sue

[ Author: daedaliaaan ]

Title (4/5): "Epistolary" (stylized as "epistolary.") is a story exactly as stated: a novel written in the form of letters. While I find the aesthetic decision of the title suitable, a general perspective may consider it lacking in depth. The title could be more powerful and still retain its poetic appeal if you had chosen a meaningful phrase or line instead. However, I do strongly want to commend the chapter titles for their individual beauty and synergy, so I have awarded an extra point here.

Summary (9/10): To be honest, I am quite conflicted about how to address this category because your story lacks a conventional synopsis, but entries beside Simple is Best submissions require a summary score and critique. Initially I was going to reluctantly give a lower score for its inadequate length, but then I reasoned someone who can convey the same message in such a boldly small quantity of words deserves a louder applause; the two simple lines present this story elegantly by providing the context and offering a preview of your distinct voice. There is no grammatical corrections I can make, nor any suggestions I find appropriate to bring up beside the substitution of the first two periods for commas to make it a complete sentence, but that is merely a stylistic option. Still, I gave the summary an imperfect score because it lacks a potent hooking effect, which is somewhat excused by its briskness.

Plot (20/25) -> [16/20]: I want to say an early disclaimer that I definitely am not discouraging you from the current progression of the story. I think all the choices so far have been tastefully selected and contributory to the overarching theme. But if I take a step back, I can see, with absolutely no intended offense, that the mundane plot is limping along with your writing as its crutch. This book would not be close to being as interesting as it is if your writing was any less stirring. The novelty has also started wearing off and becoming stagnant. Perhaps it would be good idea to move the story along. It is great that you acknowledge the current state of the plot yourself. I am curious to learn how the heroine's relationship developed into its present state.

Characterization (18/20) -> [13.5/15]: First off, I'd like to tell you that you are the only author whose works I've read that has never depicted him out of character. You also managed to convince me that self inserts can be well executed. It is one of the most unique thing about your story beside its style, in my opinion. Self inserts known for being shallow but the small cast of characters is definitely working in your favor; the story feels much more personal without minor characters who would need to be caricaturized in order to find distinguishable niches. Keep working on adding layers to Amy's and Gouenji's personalities, and you'll have yourself a winning couple. They're both on the right track, just somewhat stock at the moment, of which the plot's progression is somewhat responsible for. I can't help but wonder how you plan to explore Gouenji's psyche without switching perspectives, based on my impression that the entire book will be comprised of Amy's entries. His exposition will also be crucial if Amy and Gouenji are to remain perfectly balanced as they presently are.

Grammar and Writing Style (14/15): Grammar mistakes are virtually undetectable, and the unique, first person present tense submerges the audience in Amy's tragic epistolary. I am convinced that you have found a style to distinguish yourself from others, however I would suggest pursuing greater consistency, as the approximate ratio of poetic depictions to colloquial narrative is noticeably varied in certain chapters. While the transitions are not distracting in itself, this is an observation I made while rereading the book in one sitting. Perhaps it has something to do with how far removed your updates are from each other, which could hinder you from realizing it yourself.

Originality (8/10) -> [4/5]: The reason why you did not score very high in this category is that the story's basis is not very innovative. I am sure that a breakup with Gouenji has been done before. That being said, this cliche is well executed in that it is not detrimental to the book's entertainment value.

Feels Factor (14/15): The book has not made me cry yet, but it is really close. Your writing just evokes so much pity from me. I think it can be even better if you incorporate the advice I gave in Grammar and Writing Style. Another critique I have to offer is to close the distance between Amy and the scenes depicted in her epistolary, since she is sometimes still somewhat removed from the plot in engaging moments. This can be done by trimming sentences to make them more active. Lastly, a stronger continuation of themes between chapters will help carry the emotional tone.

𝙊𝘾 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 -> [13.8/15]

Name (5/5): Points for choosing a realistic name that does not repeat any canon character's dub name.

Appearance (7/8): Amy Jackson is a wallflower whose plain appearance complements her personality, but her physical design doesn't quite follow the style of other characters, in the sense that I can pick her out in a lineup of canon characters. I understand that Amy is a self insert, but her appearance seems to be too normal among the cast of Inazuma Eleven, even if you did write the setting more realistically than the original depicted it. Personality (9/10): Amy has a solid personality that is well expressed through a balanced combination of character interactions and introspection. I look forward to a greater exploration of her character as the variety of events she experiences expands. I want a glimpse into the most fortified chambers of Amy's mind and heart as the book reaches its climax. You have a good grasp on pathos; use it to your advantage to write scenes that relate Amy to your reader.

Strengths and Weaknesses (10/12): Amy's weaknesses make her a great social foil to Gouenji. Her insecurities are well justified, but occasionally I find them exaggerated in the sense that they are not shallow, but rather, predictable. Nevertheless, she will also need to express more of her strengths or risk becoming an anti-Sue. Remember that strengths can come in all forms, and the lack of conventional strengths does not necessarily make "safe" characters. I will elaborate on this a little more when I discuss Amy's relationship with Gouenji later. Just don't be afraid to give Amy more credit.

Interaction with Canon (10/10): I am under the impression that this story takes place after canon events, possibly in AU, which leaves the canon untouched for speculation or ignorance. It might be interesting if you reference a canon event or the alternative AU event in the future to confirm one or the other though, but it is fine as is as well.

Relationships with Canon Characters (5/5): Something that I appreciate about Amy is how the only relationship she fosters with any canon character is with Gouenji. Usually I would recommend authors incorporate their OCs into the canon better by giving them other relationships, but this choice seems to be more appropriate for the particular narrative setting. While you've romanticized Amy and Gouenji's dynamics well, be careful not to pigeonhole them into the trope of the popular-jock-requiting-the-affection-of-the-nerd-who-was-beautiful-all-along, even if I must admit I'm a sucker for their relationship so far despite rarely being a fan of chicklit. I am not very worried though, as the premise of the story already promises aversion from that perfect fantasy with some sort of tragedy. Now what that tragedy is reminds me of Shakespearean plays in which the audience already knows the outcome, but is nevertheless tantalized by the unfolding mystery of how it became that way. That, I think, is the strongest driving force of this story. Just who are these characters and what happened to them? I am sure I won't be the only one wanting answers from you...or shall I say Amy?

Total: [Raw] 85/100 + 46/50 [Scaled] 88.3%

Banner by ishadas

[aion-rsa]

25 Best Nintendo 64 Games Ever Made

https://ift.tt/2UHBAkX

There’s a lot to be said about the Nintendo 64’s accomplishments, shortcomings, and legacy, but when most people think back on their time with the console, it’s hardly a surprise that they tend to focus on its best games.

While you could certainly make the argument that the PlayStation had the stronger overall library of games (or at least a greater diversity of experiences in its top 100 games), the N64 is rightfully remembered as the home of an elite group of titles that changed gaming forever as they stole the hearts of a generation who love them for their innovations, charm, and, ability to bring friends together for multiplayer memories that would last a lifetime.

Those are the games we’re paying tribute to today. These are the 25 best N64 games ever made:

25. Mario Party 2

Choosing which N64 Mario Party game to highlight is really a toss-up, but in case you’re wondering, the quality of Mario Party 2’s minigames ultimately put it over the top.

In any case, Mario Party 2 remains one of gaming’s greatest digital board game experiences. Equally capable of making or breaking friendships, Mario Party 2 is one of the riskiest dice rolls when it comes to game night selections. Thta’s honestly a big part of the reason it’s so easy to love.

24. Wave Race 64

You don’t hear many people talk about Wave Race 64 these days, which is quite surprising. Not only was it one of the best of the arcade-style console racing games of its era, but it’s one of the games that helped showcase the power and potential of the N64.

Wave Race 64’s visuals won’t blow any minds these days, but this game’s amazing track designs and incredible controls make it shockingly easy to pick up, play, and enjoy even if you are a graphics snob. It’s a testament to the quality of the N64’s other racing games that this isn’t higher.

23.  Jet Force Gemini

I completely understand if Jet Force Gemini’s strange structure and mechanical issues make it hard for you to enjoy the game today. Even at the time of its release, this one rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

Yet, there’s something about Jet Force Gemini’s bizarre blend of gameplay styles that’s impossible to not at least be a little fascinated by. This was Rare at their most experimental, which makes it that much more of a shame that they (or really anyone else for that matter) never made another game quite like this one. 

22. Turok 2: Seeds of Evil

Granted, this probably isn’t the FPS you think of when you think of the most famous N64 FPS titles, but it’s always been a shame that this game has struggled to escape the shadow of some considerable competition.

Turok 2’s incredible graphics and phenomenal sound design rightfully stole the show at the time of its release, but years later, it’s the game’s labyrinth levels and unique weapons that feel like a breath of fresh air. Turok 2‘s multiplayer has even aged surprisingly well. 

21. Super Smash Bros.

The Super Smash Bros. series didn’t reveal its full potential until Melee, but it’s impossible to talk about the best N64 games without giving the original at least a little love.

What should have been a gimmick turned out to be one of the N64’s most surprising hits. Anyone could hop in and enjoy playing this fighting game with friends, and most of us had the privilege of doing just that and forging some great gaming memories in the process.

20. 1080º Snowboarding

Fun fact: this spot was going to go to the N64 version of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, but then I remembered that port’s butchered soundtrack. It’s hard to look past that…thing.

So instead, 1080º Snowboarding gets the nod that it’s too often denied. Before every extreme sports game tried to be THPS, 1080 offered a unique and fundamentally enjoyable snowboarding experience that emphasized technique without sacrificing pick-up-and-play fun.

19. Diddy Kong Racing

I still can’t believe that Rare had the guts to challenge Mario Kart in an arena that franchise pretty much built, but it has to be said that Diddy Kong Racing came closer to dethroning the king than anyone thought was possible.

Diddy Kong Racing’s incredible courses and the way they forced you to utilize different vehicles is undoubtedly one of the game’s highlights, but as an N64 gamer that didn’t constantly have someone else to play with, I’ve also always appreciated how this title featured a single-player campaign that was so much more than racing against bots.

18. Pokémon Snap

Throughout this list, you’re going to hear the word “creativity” (or some version of it) quite a bit. Nintendo has never been afraid to get weird with it, but something about this console’s hardware and the experimental nature of game design at the time made the N64 the home of games we’ve rarely seen before or since.

Even though it eventually got its long-overdue follow-up, Pokémon Snap has to be one of the best examples of the N64 at its weirdest. A game about taking pictures of Pokémon while on a kind of glorified safari? Sure, why not. Just make sure to make it magical while you’re at it. 

17. Excitebike 64

You know, I might owe Excitebike 64 an apology for leaving it off a recent list of the hardest N64 games. This was a truly difficult racing game that even veterans at the time struggled to master.

It’s also one of the deepest and most bountiful racing games of the arguable golden era of the genre. Somewhere between an extreme sports arcade game and a sim, Excitebike 64’s gameplay was just approachable enough to keep you glued to the action but deep enough to ensure you were constantly challenging yourself to do better.

16. Sin and Punishment

Even if Sin and Punishment wasn’t a pretty weird game that featured one of the strangest control schemes in N64 history (which, given the controller we’re talking about, is really saying something), its late in the game November 2000 Japan-only release date would have been enough to ensure most people didn’t play this one. 

That’s a shame, because this fast-paced and beautiful on-rails shooter may just be developer Treasure’s masterpiece. Sure, this is a bit of a hipster pick, but it’s hard to walk away from Sin and Punishment and not feel your hands vibrating as your mind tries to process the intensity of what you just experienced.

15. Banjo-Kazooie

Rare’s incredible run of N64 games is arguably best remembered for that one shooter you just know we’re going to talk about soon and the studio’s 3D platforming titles. So far as the latter category goes, this might just be their masterpiece.

Before Rare arguably lost its way a bit by becoming a little too obsessed with the “collect-a-thon” format, Banjo-Kazooie offered one of the most visually creative and genuinely fun 3D platforming experiences of this era. It’s no surprise many collectible-obsessed gamers can trace their addictions back to this true classic.

14. Conker’s Bad Fur Day

You don’t have to try too hard to find the design flaws in Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and you certainly don’t have to try too hard to point out the many ways this game’s edgy humor loses some of its potency once you’ve passed the age of 15 or so. 

Even still, there’s something wonderful about Conker’s Bad Fur Day that’s just as hard to overlook. This was essentially Rare throwing everything they had at the wall (and then some) in order to say goodbye to the N64, and you just have to love how much they ultimately packed into this game and how much fun so much of it still is.

13. Blast Corps

It shouldn’t surprise you that Rare and Nintendo dominate this list, but it might surprise you to see just how high Blast Corps ranks among the greatest N64 games ever made.

What Blast Corps lacks in mechanical fluidity, it more than makes up for in design ambition and adrenaline. There’s never been another puzzle game built around clearing a path for a runaway nuclear weapon, and even if that was somehow the most popular subgenre today, Blast Corps would likely still be the king of it.

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12. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

There were actually a few great Star Wars games on the N64, which makes it that much more impressive that Rogue Squadron finds itself cleanly atop that particular pack.

I’d call Rogue Squadron’s sci-fi spaceship battles “simple,” but the fact that so few games have been able to replicate their brilliance means that there’s more to this one than meets the eye. While this game’s loving embrace of the Star Wars universe may just be its X-factor, I feel it’s ultimately Rogue Squadron‘s surprisingly deep missions and incredible controls that make this game so hard to top.

11. Resident Evil 2

There are a few logistical reasons you won’t find a lot of multiplatform games on this list, but even if more notable third-party games were ported to the N64, it’s doubtful they would have been able to steal the spotlight from this one. 

Considered by some analysts to be one of the most technologically impressive N64 games ever made, the N64 version of Resident Evil 2 did things that shouldn’t have been possible. You could make the argument that it was the best way to experience Resident Evil 2, which means it’s one of the best ways to experience one of the best games ever made. 

10. Star Fox 64

If I’m being honest, I’ve always felt that the original Star Fox was more of an impressive technological demonstration than a truly great game. It was a lot of fun, but it was also pretty clear that there was a better game at its core just waiting to burst free.

Star Fox 64 was that game. You could push aside the fact that Star Fox 64 changed gaming forever with its rumble pack support, and you’d still be left with this classic’s visually stunning action, blissful combat, incredible multiplayer modes, and brilliant controls. This is just a complete N64 experience and one of Nintendo’s best games of the era. 

9. F-Zero X

One of the main reasons why Nintendo hasn’t released any F-Zero games in years is that they reportedly feel like they’ve really done everything with this series they aspired to accomplish.  While the GameCube’s brilliant F-Zero GX probably has a lot to do with that belief, it has to be said that F-Zero X for the N64 arguably perfected the entire F-Zero concept.

This fast, furious, and shockingly difficult racing game left nearly every other racing game in the dust at the time when it came to pure speed. Honestly, it’s faster and more intense than most of the racing games that have been released since. With the possible exception of its successor, I don’t know if there’s ever been another arcade-style racing game that just feels as good as this one.

8. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Again, Nintendo has never been afraid of doing things differently, but Majora’s Mask still stands as one of the company’s wildest, and potentially dangerous, ideas.

Long before time loops became a popular storytelling genre, Nintendo fans everywhere wondered why the studio was making a sequel to one of the most beloved games of all time that seemingly borrowed its core premise from the movie Groundhog Day. Not everyone loves the results, but how can you possibly deny this game the credit it deserves for ambition alone? Even if this was a more traditional Zelda game, it would be one of the best. 

7. GoldenEye 007

Some say that your love of the N64 is directly related to how many people you were able to regularly play N64 games with. In the case of GoldenEye’s legendary multiplayer, there’s obviously some truth in that statement. 

You know what, though? Even if GoldenEye was just its campaign, unlockables, technological achievements, and James Bond trappings, I think it might still have made this list. At a time when licensed games were mostly a joke and console FPS games were certainly a laughing matter, GoldenEye 007 felt like a bolt of lightning long before you ever discovered the joy of fragging friends until you watched the sun rise.

6. Paper Mario

To tell you the truth, I was also a little surprised to watch Paper Mario climb this high up this list. I mean, just look at some of the games it’s ahead of and standing shoulder to shoulder with. I know it’s the best RPG on N64, but was it really that good?

Well, you obviously know my answer to that question. Like Super Mario RPG before it, Paper Mario proves that the RPGs you’ll willfully commit hours of your life to don’t have to be the most complicated or “hardcore.” What Paper Mario adds to that game’s formula is its beautiful art style and quite a bit of that incredible humor we’d eventually see more of in the Mario & Luigi series. It’s more than worthy of being considered one of the best. 

5. WWF No Mercy

Am I outing myself as a lifelong wrestling fan with this selection? Possibly, but No Mercy is still the best wrestling game in a console library that happens to include many of the best wrestling games ever made.

More importantly, this is still the game that modern games are trying to live up to. You could argue that some wrestling games released since No Mercy have come close, but the fact that this is still the measuring stick for an entire genre two decades after its release is an accomplishment that only a couple of other N64 games could possibly claim to match.

4. Mario Kart 64

The Mario Kart series has this way of charming people who don’t even like video games much less racing games. It’s one of the best-selling Nintendo franchises ever, and, to be honest with you, so much of what makes this series an almost otherworldly success can be traced back to Mario Kart 64.

The original Mario Kart was obviously great, but Mario Kart 64 spun it out at the starting line with its wonderful 3D courses (which are still among the best in franchise history), incredible controls, and a multiplayer mode that might just be the best on a console that’s kind of known for them. You could still play this game today and not feel the miles it has accrued. 

3. Perfect Dark

It’s hard to deny the ways that GoldenEye 007 has aged over the years, and a lot of those retrospective shortcomings can certainly be applied to Perfect Dark. Whereas some of GoldenEye’s brilliance hasn’t necessarily stood the test of time, though, there are elements of Perfect Dark that I’d argue few FPS games released since have rivaled.

Said elements include Perfect Dark’s amazing AI, truly innovative weapon design, wonderful levels, complicated campaign, and a multiplayer mode bursting with customization options. Call it Rare’s victory lap if you want, but I see Perfect Dark as a case of Rare trying to hand the baton off to the next generation but finding that few were ready to really take it and run.

2. Super Mario 64

I feel like you could justify Super Mario 64’s high place atop any list of great games by saying that it did for 3D games what Super Mario Bros. did for 2D games. That is to say that it’s the most innovative and important 3D game ever made.

However, it’s almost cruel to boil this game down to its technological accomplishments. The thing that glued people to Super Mario 64 in 1996 is the same thing that makes the game so great now: its heart. This is a love letter to the very idea of gaming that so happens to be on the shortlist of titles that you’d put in a video game time capsule.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Much like Super Mario 64, it’s hardly controversial to name Ocarina of Time one of the best (or, in this case, the best) N64 games of all time. Both were entries into beloved franchises that changed game design forever and still arguably stand tall as the best in their respective series. 

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So what separates Ocarina of Time? It comes down to dreams fulfilled and expectations exceeded. There’s a degree to which Ocarina of Time was the sweeping epic we dreamt of whenever someone made big promises about the future of 3D gaming. However, only the wildest dreams dared imagine an adventure this grand, this confident, and, strangely enough, this accessible. Nobody was immune to how they felt the first time they saw Ocarina of TIme. Over twenty years later, the game still possesses that ability to stun, excite, and make you fall in love with gaming all over again.

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