#i have officially given up on game accuracy

[frostgnawdraws]

I am once again trying to figure out how tf to draw Nomai so here's some random Nomai doodles that I'm kind of happy with

[jupiterswasphouse]

WASP REVIEW - BEES (MINECRAFT)

[Image ID: An official render of the Minecraft bee /End IDs.]

Alright y'all, it's time for an iconic one. One of the most common of only a small handful of arthropods in the game (ironically given the fact they felt the need to specifically make Bane Of Arthropods a thing), and the least hostile one at that, these blocky bees have deservedly buzzed their way into beloved status amongst Minecraft players over the past five years since their official debut. However, as I'm well aware at this point in this series, popularity does not necessarily mean accuracy, so how do these insectoid cuboids really stack up?

Starting from their appearance, it's obvious is that their bodies are heavily fused, with one solid body segment. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this, but nevertheless, the body of a bee is notably more segmented than the body structure of the Minecraft bee, having three body segments: The head, the mesosoma (also referred to as the thorax, though these are classified a bit differently), and the metasoma (also referred to as the abdomen, same thing here as with the mesosoma). This is clearly a stylistic choice, so I can't get too mad at it, but it is disappointing, given the fact that Minecraft's spider is more segmented, perhaps even having more body segments than the real thing.

[Image Sources: iNaturalist, Yuriy Danilevsky, and PBS, Nebraska Public Media | Image IDs: A photo of a black and yellow/orange European honey bee feeding from a yellow flower, followed by an illustration of a honey bee (female, worker) showing its body parts as labelled. Mandibles, antennae, eyes, thorax, abdomen, stinger, foreleg, middle leg, forewing, hind wing, and hind leg (with labelled pollen basket) /End IDs.]

That said, there are some other things I take issue with regarding this design apart from just this choice of segmentation. I feel like it's safe to assume this bee is based off of the most common honey bee species, the European honey bee (Apis mellifera), in which case, they honestly feel like they're a bit too wide? This wouldn't be a big deal, except, I feel that if they were a bit longer it would help keep the proportions from feeling kind of... Off- Even if we do simplify a bee down to one continuous body segment, it helps to have some distinctions made between the areas of the body. The way they've done it here almost makes it seem as though the mesosoma is just straight up not there; Like the head goes directly into the mesosoma with no in-between.

Another thing that would help this design to not feel quite as "fused together" would be a slight change in coloration. The Minecraft bee has a yellow head, which goes directly into the stripes of the metasoma a little further down the body. In a lot of real world honey bees, the head and mesosoma are generally darker and more solid in color than the lighter and/or more vibrant stripes of the metasoma (with some exceptions), varying in shade depending on the amount of fur (the length of the setae), from a muted yellow to a dark brown color; Further still, honey bee heads can also be noticeably darker overall than the mesosoma at times. Taking this into consideration, I would make the Minecraft bee long enough proportionally to fit another pixel or two lengthwise—enough to provide slightly more space while also not being too long—making the area representing the mesosoma a slightly darker yellow, and the area representing the head the same color as the brown stripes on the original design.

But enough about the body segmentation! Let's talk about the smaller details for a minute here. The wing count is wrong, with only two wings as opposed to the four of a real bee, and they're lacking in terms of venation. The leg count is right but the proportions are all wrong, and they suffer from the same issue as the body, where they look completely fused together. I completely understand wanting to simplify this aspect of the design, but going from five major segments (Coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus) is kind of ridiculous!

[Image Source: bugguide.net | Image ID: An illustrated diagram showing the legs of three Hymenopterans, the first two being of other wasps, while the last one is of a bee, with each segment labeled. Coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus, with metatarsus on the bee. /End IDs.]

The antennae themselves are alright, if a bit short; I appreciate them having little pixels on the main body where they connect to the head, but yeah, it would've been impossible to give them much detail at all at this resolution. The position of the antennae, however, is what throws things off, as they're placed above the eyes when they should be placed between their eyes. Speaking of! Their compound eyes are FAR too small, they should reach up and around the top of their heads, while the eyes here reach only about the halfway point of the texture; and to add insult to injury here, they don't even have their three ocelli (simple eyes)! Nor do they have any mouthparts to speak of, which is an even more major thing to be missing for a bee!

[Image Source: Arizona State University | Image ID: An illustration of the head of a worker honey bee with mouthparts extended, the whole head labelled as follows; Compound Eye, Ocellus (one of three), Antenna, Labrum, Mandible, Maxilla, Labial Palp, Proboscis, and Glossa /End IDs.]

In the end, there's not really much left to cover in regards to this design just due to the fact it's so simplified, though I will say one last thing about it, for now; Their stingers shouldn't be out like that 24/7. Some of their relatives DO have their ovipositors (same thing, a stinger is an ovipositor that can also inject venom) out on the regular, but not bees.

[Image Source: mchoneybeev | Image ID: An in-game screenshot of two Minecraft bees in a cherry forest /End IDs.]

Ok so, what about their behaviors, then? Well, honestly, I think these are actually some of the more accurate ones I've covered in terms of behaviors in this series. Unlike many previous reviews, Minecraft actually goes through the effort of showing that these insects visit and pollinate flowers; Which, barring the ones that are explicitly aliens or robots, would be the case for every Hymenopteran we've covered in the real world. Now, pollination in Minecraft doesn't have an effect on the flowers themselves, it certainly affects the bees!

After visiting a flower, the bees will return to the hive, supplying the hive with honey, as well as beeswax in the form of honeycombs. While this happens much quicker and in larger quantities per trip in the Minecraft bees for purely mechanical reasons, this is relatively accurate to the honey bees of our world, which produce honey from the sugary nectar of flowers, in turn producing more wax as well as they process various bits of plant matter.

[Image ID: An image of a nest made by bees in Minecraft, in the state in which it is full of honey /End IDs.]

We don't actually see these processes happen, however, which I'm sure is partially, fairly enough, because they didn't want to animate it, but it's also because their nest is an enclosed arboreal nest! Bees of the genus Apis primarily prefer to nest in sheltered locations, so the enclosed nature of their nests isn't entirely inaccurate; When they can't find a hollow log or something of the sort, they'll even nest out in the open in the branches of trees. However! These open air nests are exactly that, open! In the instances that they make their hive in the branches of a tree, they will actually make it in a structure that is entirely exposed to the elements, in slabs of honeycomb with no protective outer walls. It's also, perhaps, because of this enclosed shape, and the sheer scaled-up size of the bees in Minecraft (Roughly 0.56 meters if you go by the 1 block = 1 meter measurement) that these nests can only fit a measly three worker bees compared to the upwards of tens of thousands in a real colony of honey bees.

There are actually social bees, though, that produce enclosed nests, made of wax, out in the open, in trees—even producing honey. They're in the same family as the honey bees we know and love, in fact! However, these ones are a part of the genus Trigona, whereas the common European honey bee belongs to the genus Apis.

[Image Sources: iNaturalist, Kahio Tiberio Mazon, ResearchGate, Multiple Authors, and AJC, Tim Thompson | Image IDs: A photo of two black and red bees of the species Trigona spinipes on a yellow flower, followed by an image of a nest in a tree made by the same species, followed again by an arboreal nest made by a bee species within the genes Apis, showing how the honeycomb is shaped into slabs exposed to the air /End IDs.]

Some other things we don't seem to see in Minecraft are the queen and drones of the hive! Perhaps understandably so, as queens don't leave the hive many times throughout their lives, and the drones mainly leave the hive to mate with queen bees, along with the fact that there aren't as many drones and queens in a nest as there are workers! This does also further confirm, on top of the presence of their ovipositors, that all the bees we see in minecraft are females! It would be quite fun to see how they would translate the eyes of a drone into this style, however.

[Image Source: Healthy With Honey | Image ID: A close up set of photos that shows the differences in facial structures between a female, worker bee and a male, drone bee /End IDs.]

Again, on the topic of those ovipositors (I.E., their stingers), how do they attack? Well, thankfully this time there's not anything fantastical about their attack patterns, as they simply sting the player when provoked. Which is another thing! They only attack when provoked; when their hive is attacked, when they're attacked, or when you attempt to harvest from the hive without taking the proper precautions. I feel like this strikes the right balance between being dangerous if messed with and also not being "aggressive", once again unlike many other depictions of Hymenopterans in media in general, as, usually, you get either complete pacifists or murder machines fueled by anger.

Furthermore, when these bees sting you, they take another cue from their real world counterpart and actually lose their stinger! Most bees, ants, and other wasps that are capable of stinging are also capable of doing so more than once; Famously, though, honey bee workers will, more often than not, get their barbed stingers caught in the skin of things like mammals, and lose it. Understandably, Mojang did not depict what actually happens when they lose their stinger, as this leads to the partial disembowelment of the bee, thusly causing it to die.

[Image Source: PBS, Rose-Lynn Fisher | Image ID: An image of a honeybee stinger magnified 650x /End IDs.]

As I mentioned in passing a minute ago, you can, however, absolutely harvest from your hives without aggravating your bees—which doing so could end up potentially killing both you and your bees. With the power of a campfire! And no, of course I'm not suggesting that you burn your bee nest, since, as it turns out, the bees are calmed by smoke! Another well known fact due to the process of beekeeping, as beekeepers usually use smoke to calm bees. I would not necessarily recommend the campfire method, though, as it might be a bit too much in general, and may be a bit too hot for the bees. Even still, relatively cool smoke, applied in just the right amount as to be completely safe for them, will mask alarm pheromones and suppress bees' sense of smell, in turn suppressing their alarm response.

Fittingly, this isn't the only aspect of beekeeping carried over into the Minecraft world, as bees can also be moved from their natural hive into a man-made box hive!

[Image ID: A render of the wooden beehive from Minecraft /End IDs.]

Not much to say here about the structure itself here, as it's made by the player rather than being made in nature. Sadly—and logically due to their equal size—this structure cannot contain any more bees than the natural hive can, however, it still remains useful as the easiest way to move bees from one place to another. That said, I feel it necessary to mention; Due to the fact that, again, we never see a queen, this implies that either these bees have a social structure that is quite different from the real world, or that these bees are leaving their nest without their queen, which would be highly disadvantageous for the colony as a whole, as the queen is the only fertile female! You can even get them to leave individually, which is highly strange behavior for a honey bee. If brought away from the nest, a singular worker bee will typically not attempt to make a new home, and instead try to find a way back to its original home and its queen.

One final thing I want to bring up is that... You can put bees on leads! In fact, this is a major way of bringing the bees from a natural hive to a wooden one. This would be highly impractical in real life, however, it is very cute!

[Image ID: A screenshot of a Minecraft bee on a lead /End ID.]

With everything out of the way, we're left quite a few aspects that are accurate to the real world, but some strange inaccuracies all over the place as well. I find the design to be one of the least accurate among those I can directly compare to the real world, but certain aspects of their behavior, as well as the care put into including certain details, redeem them somewhat. Still, their behavior does contain some inaccuracies as well; So, these blocky bees get my accuracy rating of-

-

Overall: 4.5 to 5/10

-

Leave your wasp review suggestion in the replies, tags, or askbox!

[sixpillarsofgenesis]

A Thought on Lies of P

So, I have recently - kicking and screaming, mind - gotten into Lies of P, and there's some things that bother me about the primary driver of conflict. I'm going to put this under a spoiler, so... sorry anyone who isn't expecting what's underneath.

Spoilers under the cut for the reading material, gameplay, and mini cutscenes in Lies of P.

How did Carlo die?

This entire plot point is the driving force behind how the plot in Lies of P starts, narratively, and it's also the core reason for the Real Boy ending. The reason I ask this is because common fandom concensus is that Carlo died during the Rose Estate Incident, where an outbreak of Petrification Disease killed a good chunk of the staff, including Carlo, Romeo, (allegedly) and Sophia's father.

But when you explicitly come across the memory of Carlo's death near the end of the game, it looks like he was cut in half given the Famed Stalker was apologising to him - which is further supported by the Nameless Puppet's body being entirely puppet material from about hips down.

But it also begs the question - what killed him? We never really get an answer on what, who, or even why he was killed. Carlo's death wouldn't have been a boon for anyone involved - Geppetto cut ties with the Alchemists to some degree about this in particular, and Geppetto's assistance would have been well worth keeping Carlo alive.

Given that the famous Stalker apparently rejected Carlo from training, we could infer that perhaps he wasn't up to the regular skill level she was famous for. But Romeo's message - and all of the remaining details in the game - paint Carlo as a much more competent potential Stalker than what would have been anticipated. While our Player Character is also apparently very much his own person, the fight with the Black Rabbit Brotherhood implies that Carlo learned enough of the Famed Stalker's combat by observation alone to have had it affect his combat style and capability significantly. Romeo also specifically makes note that Carlo was relentlessly stubborn and that him demolishing the puppets he sent out as an envoy to try and tell the Player Character the truth was pretty much what Romeo expected of him.

All of that marks him as very competent and capable indeed, to say nothing of the Nameless Puppet, if the puppet itself had anything of Carlo left in it, or whatever pressures Carlo might have faced as the famous Union Workshop President's son.

It's also implied that there was at least a year or two since Carlo's death. If we assume Carlo was old enough to read the original La Storia di un Burattino (The Story of a Marionette) in 1881 aka what would be the published novel of Pinnochio in 1883, then Carlo could be enrolled in the French Education as young as three years old and likely old enough to read La Storia di un Burattino as an actual book around five.

(Yes, I am aware Carlo Geppetto is Italian. For the best accuracy to match both the Belle Epoque and the Italian history, I have placed Krat near the seaside a few kilometres from the Italian Border to account for the culture blending we see in Lies of P. So sue me don't.)

Given Pinnochio is canonically Carlo's favourite childhood story, we need to look at the next landmark in the games - The Wizard of Oz. (Did you know that The Wizard of Oz was officially released in 1900?) Carlo could then have been born in 1878, placing him at 22 (or would have been) at the time of Lies of P. Around this time, it was more common to have apprenticeships around age 14-18, which would have likely been when Carlo approached the Famous Stalker to apprentice under her. As we don't know when the Rose Estate Incident took place, Carlo could have been there to complete his lycée (French secondary Education akin to high school) or baccalauréat, colloquially known as le bac.

(The reason I place Krat in France is for this reason, as Italy had a much more difficult time encouraging parents and children to attend formal education - elementary, middle, and high school, more specifically - than France, and the baccalauréat is actually pretty similar to the Stalkers, Alchemists, and Workshop Union as it is presented in canon. The entire premise of the original Pinnochio was quite literally C.Collodi's attempt to convince children to learn their basic education.)

Now, the game does not say how long either the Petrification Disease or the Puppet Frenzy lasted - but I'm still playing the game, though I did watch a walkthrough to try and get all the juicy bits - but given how fresh the bodies are, I would think that the Frenzy was definitely more recent. I would think that - for the purpose of this attempt to make sense of the Lies of P canon - in this case, the Puppet Frenzy was the most recent part, with Simon Manus causing the Rose Estate Incident when Carlo was somewhere between 16-17. Old enough that he could have graduated to become an Apprentice Stalker, but still young enough to not have anywhere to go (as he certainly didn't want to spend any time with his Father, and it was unlikely that Geppetto would have allowed Carlo to live with him anyways.)

All of these things allow for a few specific, unanswered plot points to be addressed - the apparent transformation of Gemini from Stalker to Sophia's Monad Lamp, The time Geppetto would have needed to create at least three P-Organ Prototypes and do whatever tf he did to his hand if that wasn't there already, and for him to additionally steal the Arm of God - as the only transport the Alchemists had would not have accepted Geppetto.

(This would also allow Geppetto to hold Carlo's funeral, attempt Nameless Puppet one, fail, and attempt making the Player Character/Pinocchio/P however you call him, fail again, and then kick the Puppet Frenzy into high gear.)

Outside of how Gemini was put into the Player Character's care, this timeline accounts for everything up until the reveal of Dorothy, who, if she is the person based on the 1900 novel, could have travelled to Krat to escape the fame the novel The Wizard of Oz and the subsequent sequels would have cast on her, as the original novel was so popular as to spawn around 13+ sequels.

Of course, since I am posting this here, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. If there's a better, more comprehensive timeline, I'd love to get a chance to look at it.

Some additional thoughts:

Why three P-Organs? Three because the one Romeo uses in the play is pretty close to what we see on the menu screen - I could see it being perhaps his conceptual design or prototype copy that, once the first real P-Organ was made, was left for future reference.

Why make a big deal out of Dorothy? Because Dorothy and subsequently, The Wizard of Oz would be released during the Belle Epoque (1890-1914) timeframe which this setting takes place. Given the Endgame Credits Scene, this makes considering Dorothy's appearance in Krat at the very least somewhat relevant.

A fun thought I had was the idea of Dorothy being the Famed Stalker, but that person in particular is implied to have been so much beyond the Stalkers that she superseded their hierarchy and had her own place at the top without belonging to any particular faction.

Another interesting thought was the idea of Carlo having been a Listener - as Listeners were often hunted down and experimented on, it seemed like a fun idea to play around with, but in this case, it's not certain one way or another.

[mara-xx217]

One For the Collection (DATV- Butcher Daathrata/Fem!Reader) Part One

Butcher Daathrata has been chewing a hole in my brain from the moment I first laid eyes on him. If I didn't write this, I would have lost my mind!

You *hated* what the Antaam were doing to your beloved city. You might hate that there was nothing you could do to personally stop it. Viago and Teia told you to back off, focus on what matter most and if you couldn't do that, to just *listen* to them when they said 'don't be stupid'.

You didn't listen...

Warnings: Obsession, Yandere, Play Stupid Games, Blood and Injury, Wound Licking, Choking

Just one shot… 

Just once chance… 

Viago and Teia’s warnings bubbled up in the back of your mind, but you didn’t give them a chance to overtake your thoughts. If you lost your nerve now, it was over. The intel you had on the Butcher’s whereabouts was solid. You had personally studied the Antaam’s patrol patterns for weeks, noting any changes or deviations that you found until you could predict with accuracy what they would do next. You had gotten your hands on the plans that the Antaam leaders had for the coming weeks and so helpfully slipped a copy onto Teia and Viago’s desk after you had made another copy for yourself. 

You are as ready as anyone could possibly be for such a big job… 

Not a ‘job’, exactly. There were dozens of contracts on the Butcher’s head, but none were given out to any of the Crows. ‘It’s too dangerous to go after him yet. We don’t have enough information to make the kill really count.’ Bullshit! The longer the Crows waited, the more Treviso and her people suffered! It’s true that if one cuts the head off the snake, the body lashes out, but it does so without direction. 

This was the only chance that the Crows had at freeing the city from the occupation she was under. 

***

With your knife gripped tightly in your hand, you steady your breathing. 

He’s right there… 

Below you, the Butcher was leaning against a table, scouring over documents that you couldn’t quite make out and unmistakable maps of Treviso. He seemed totally focused, one of the rare moments that you have caught him totally unaware of his surroundings, and with only two guards posted nearby, backs facing your position as they stood as still as statues. 

Your eyes focus on the broad space between the Butcher’s neck and shoulders. As long as you hit your mark… You trust your blade and know it is sharp enough, and strong enough, to pierce his tough hide and sever what was important in his spinal column. With a white-knuckled grip, you slow your breathing, until your thundering heartbeat is muted underneath the ambient sounds of the Antaam compound. 

Far, distant marching.

Orders being barked out across the waterway.

The sharpening and forging of weapons.

A gentle sigh released from between the Butcher’s lips…

This is happening… Right here… Right now…!

Gravity did all the work in your descent. All you had to do was keep your blade steady and aimed at your mark. Right between the neck and shoulder blades… Even if this bastard doesn’t die the moment his vertebrae are separated, he will be paralyzed, unable to move. The Butcher of Treviso will die before his guards even have the chance to react-!

Time slowed as you neared the ground. The Butcher had no idea what was about to hit him! Your face was twisting up with glee as you imagined what it would feel like to penetrate him with your blade. What dishonour, to be felled by such a little assassin! Treviso will celebrate, dance in the streets and merrymake and laugh and cry like they haven’t in years, thanks to the damn Antaam occupation and the corrupt Antiva officials that haven’t helped the Crows in pushing them out! Everything is going to change! Change for the better! All you have to do- to… to do is- 

Keep the damn blade steady-! Steady… Steady-! 

Your eyes snapped wide as you were caught midair, by your wrists. The weight of your body coming to a sudden halt caused you great pain in your wrist, elbows and shoulders, your legs dangling and the heel of one of your boots snapping towards the Butcher’s face. He caught that, too, holding you up as though you weighed nothing and at arms’ length as he barked a short, cruel laugh. 

“Well, well…! Isn’t this a surpri-” 

Instantly, his voice trailed off. You tried to pull one of your arms free, but even in one hand, his grip was ironclad. Your eyes kept darting back to his dark, blight-stained ones, wide with what was akin to surprise, even though he had been the one to catch you off guard. The Butcher brought you closer, ignoring the trembling blade still clasped in between your hands and angling them so it was pointed towards you. S-Shit-! 

The Butcher used the tip of your weapon to push your hood off your head, and then to pull your mask down from your face. Your heart slammed against your throat, body trembling as he leaned down to meet your eyes. His guards had come storming over, but he didn’t even attempt to break eye contact with you before ordering-

“There’s no need. Leave us.” His tone sent chills down your spine. You briefly lost strength in your body as the Butcher pulled you closer. The tip of your blade was almost ghosting against your skin, and you tried to fight in spite of the fact that you couldn’t as much as wiggle in his grasp, let alone pull away from him. 

“W-Wha-?! D-Don’t fucking-! W-Wha- Ha… HA-! YOU BASTARD-!” 

You gritted your teeth and cried out as the skin just to the side of your mouth was cut into. Edge so sharp, it could cut through qunari hide… A cry leaves your bleeding mouth as the thin layer of skin and meat that lined your cheek was sliced, leaving a clean line that drew from the corner of your mouth, nearly to the joint of your jaw. Your eyes are forced shut as blood streamed down your face and into your mouth, a gag escaping your mouth as you swallow mouthfuls of your own blood. There is an unreadable look plastered across the Butcher’s face. It was almost tactfully blank, but there was something there that sent shivers of terror down your spine, even in spite of the fact that he was mutilating your face with your own blade, still in your own hands. 

“Hrmmm…” 

Pulling the blade free from your face, your body seized in disgust and horror as the Butcher closed the distance in between your faces. He drew in a deep, hot breath, almost groaning as he ran his tongue in between the slit he created originating from the corner of your mouth. Revulsion caused your body to twitch as you tried to pull away, whimpering as you felt his tongue run against your teeth and the side of your own tongue, crowding the other side of your mouth. 

“Hrrr… Yes… You truly are exquisite, aren’t you?” The grip on your wrists tightens, twisting and jerking them until pain forces your fingers to flex against your control. Your blade clatters to the ground with an ear-ringing clatter. 

“I knew that you would be yet another brilliant addition to my collection from the moment I first laid eyes on you… “ Your blood runs cold, momentarily sobering you from the excruciating pain in your face. 

What… did he say? 

You didn’t have the opportunity to question it, as your position changed without warning. The Butcher dropped your leg and turned you around, so your back was flush against his chest. He forced you into a headlock, his bulky arm instantly cutting off your air as he pulled your head back against his shoulder. You could see his face clearly, and how his eyes seemed to shine in the dim light. 

“Shh… There’s no need for that. I have no interest in killing you.” Your eyes almost bulge as you try in vain to pull yourself free from his grasp. No… You can’t. Fuck- 

Are you about to die…? 

“I had no interest in harming you, either but… Ah- Tit for tat, I believe the saying is. You try to kill me…” His voice is even and smooth, even as you begin to frantically kick and wheeze, desperate for air. 

“...I merely show you what could lie in store, should you test my grace further than you already have.” Your vision is blackening more and more every time you try to take a breath in. You can’t… C-Can’t- 

“But I know that you won’t. Not anymore. You are a quick learner and will understand soon enou-” 

Your struggling dramatically slowed, until your limbs went totally limp. You couldn’t comprehend what the Butcher was saying, your fight to stay conscious totally lost. As far as you knew, you were already dead, failing in your goal of killing the Butcher of Treviso. What would the Crows think of you after this blunder? Everything was planned so well… You were so thorough… What will Viago and Teia think when word gets back to them? Tears were forming in your eyes, but the Butcher had already wiped them away before they fell down your face. You had forced him to cut up that pretty face of yours but... Ah… It hasn’t been damaged in any way… No, you are still just as breathtaking as the first time he laid eyes on you, when you were spying on him from the rooftop weeks ago…

@prettycutebunny, @infinitewhore, @kennbb, @cherrysodalite, @space-arsonist, @pink-soft-shadow, @sinlessdesire, @hoemine, @memoryofheather @horny-3

[noxiatoxia]

you weren't kidding about the article, that translation sure can bad

learning japanese just to play DR in it rapidly becoming less of a joke

IT'S BAD BAD...the idea of learning Japanese just to play DR is super funny, but also pretty admirable. Knowing another language is just a useful skill in general (I really hope to learn more! Chinese and Arabic are on the list).

I have a little pipe dream of re-translating all of SDR2...which will likely always be a pipe dream given retranslating ALLL the text in the game is a monumental task for one person. Besides, on a wide scale, I can't imagine there's much demand for it. If I ever buy SDR2 on Steam though, maybe I'll look into patches and at least re-translate the prologue for shits and giggles. (I also worry about accuracy. I am just one dude so I am bound to make a mistake with no one to check me on it...still a fun thought though.)

Getting off track. Sadly, I wish there was a better way to play these games :( I know SDR2 and DR1 both have unofficial Eng patches for the PSP that were made before the game was officially translated, but I have no clue how good they are. I may have to play one sometime just to see.

RELATEDLY! I have errands to run, but in like, 4 hours or so someone remind me to look into something. I was thinking about the transgender hajime hinata headcanon (as one does) and recalled the line people like to point out in chapter 1 where he says: "I've never been comfortable showering" ...somehow never clicked on the shower in my copy so when I get back I need to boot up the PSP and check if it's the same in Japanese.

[roserysttrpggarden]

Homebrew Class design For Dummies: Part 2: Getting Started

Hi there~! Welcome to the second edition of homebrew class design for dummies, in case you haven't seen the first part of this. Welcome! This is a series of blogs where I go over how to make-what else, a homebrew class for Dungeons and Dragons Fifth-Edition. The previous post discussed the "planning" phase, going over the classes role in and out-of combat, their area and other minutia. This entry will cover the level 1-3 foundation, along with some other design concepts to help your class get off the grounds into becoming something amazing.

But First!

Before we get into making our class, there are a few key ideas you should keep in mind when designing a character option for 5e, some of this ties back into advice given in part 1, but bear repeating here.

Very basics

These things don't require much of an explanation, but just things to well...Keep in mind

Strong and weak saves: Each class has a strong (Constitution, Dexterity and Wisdom) and weak saving throw (Charisma, Intelligence and Strength) make sure to give one of each to your class.

Ribbon features: Ribbon features are like seasoning, while not adding much to the fully course, they enhance the classes flavor, a bad example of a ribbon feature is "Druidic" simply put unless your DM actively gives you a use for it, it is a completely useless feature. So make sure you're ribbon features actually come into affect when roleplaying the class.

Amount of features: Typically classes gain 2 features at these early levels, the only exception in official 5e is paladin at 2nd level, where you're given a fighting style, spellcasting and your divine smite, which all play form core pillars of how the paladin, use with caution.

Dead levels: Dead levels are those levels where you get nothing, nada, bupkis. Spellcasters have the most dead levels due to them getting cantrip enhancements + higher level spells as they level up, use them where appropriate. These are typically seen at later levels of a classes progression.

Bounded Accuracy:

In laments terms, bounded accuracy is meant to keep DC's around a bounds the designer intends for (In 5e's case 0-30) this is why, not including magical items or feature such as the barbarians capstone, this applies to whether you're attempting to break down a door or stabbing a vampire. Bounded accuracy is also accompanied by 5e's horizontal progression system, meaning that rather than your numbers going up, you gain more features to make you better at certain tasks (Damage, healing, etc) rather than bonuses to hit, to damage, etc and such, there are some exceptions (Advantage, Bless) but

Keep an eye on these

Weather you're designing a spell, subclass or a new class in our case, there are a few things in game that you should keep in mind

Barbarian Rage

Bards Magical Secrets

Druids Wild Shape

Fighters Action Surge

Monks Stunning Strike

Paladins Divine Smite + Auras

Rogues Sneak attack

Sorccerers Metamagic (Quicken + Twinned spell)

Warlocks Eldritch Blast and Pact Magic

Wizards Spell Mastery

All of these features not only serve as foundations for their respective classes, but also grant the class a huge deal of power. And in a game where 5e's multiclassing system is a thing, keeping these features in mind is helpful, for an example, say your class allows you to easily get off weapon attacks as a reaction, which, while possibly mediocre on its lonesome can get out of hand when paired with a rouge multiclass, due to how sneak attack can trigger multiple times if using a reaction attack (Since it triggers once per turn, rather than once per round) it's fine if you want to have interesting synergies between classes, just make sure you don't break anything in doing so.

While not class features, some other character options also grant players with them a great deal of power by virtue of their existence.

Feats: Sharpshooter and Great Weapon Master

Spells: Aid, Booming/Green Flame Blade, Counterspell, Conjure animals/Woodland Beings, Pass without trace, Wish.

Laying the foundation

With all of that jargon out of the way, lets begin laying out the first three levels of a homebrew class.

Level 1:

Level 1 is effectively the rookie stage of your classes career, whether they trained at a mystical academy or bonded with sewer rats, the first level of your given class should lay the framework for your class going forward, to give some examples, barbarians at 1st-level are given rage as their core feature, alongside a complementary feature in unarmored movement, rogues get sneak attack and expertise, fleshing out their role as a sneaky skill-monkey archetype. spellcasters (Besides the paladin and ranger) also get their spellcasting at this level.

Level 2:

Level 2 is where your character is starting to get a grasp of their abilities, similar to level 1 many classes get some of their most defining features here at this level, such as Druids Wildshape, Rogues Cunning Action, Clerics Channel Divinity, the list goes on.

Level 3:

Level 3 is where your character has gotten the grasp of their abilities and now can truly be one of their own, this is where the fullcasters get their second levels spells and where the martials get their subclass of choice, speaking of subclasses:

Where do I put the subclass?

A likely question you'll have have when making your subclass is "Where do I put it" or "What level should they get it, while non of what i'll state is definitive, some general guidelines for 1-3rd level goes as follows:

A subclass at 1st-level is generally done because it is absolutely crucial to the classes fantasy, say for instance your class is about you harnessing the power of a curse (Ex: Ross leisers accursed) getting your subclass at first level would make the most sense, to use base game classes as an example sorccerers, warlocks and clerics get their subclass at 1st-level because said subclass defines the source of their magic. Warlocks for instance derive their magic from a pact, which grants them their magic, hence a subclass at first level.

A subclass at 2nd-level is (offically) only use for both druids and wizards, both representing you coming into your own, such as training in a specialized school of magic. But also on a mechanic level, its done because 3rd-level grants a massive power spike for full casters by granting them second level spells.

A subclass at 3rd-level is typical of many martial and half casters, narratively it has a similar beat to a subclass at 2nd-level, being your character coming into their own as that respective class. Though I assume martials get their subclass at third is to balance the power between martials and casters, due to the previously mentioned power spike.

Subclass Progression

Last thing in relation to subclass, while you can simply use the wizard, fighter or paladin subclass structure for your subclass, feel free to go out of the box (Within reason) with it, want your class to gain its final subclass feature at 20th level? Go ahead! Just keep in mind that subclasses only give you 4-5 features maximum. Though more can be done if you want to put more emphasis on the subclass as a part of their identity.

The Avatar

Now for the moment you've (Maybe) been waiting for, using the knowledge bestowed within this article I shall showcase the first three levels of the Avatar class.

Divine Spark is your avatars subclass, determining the source of your divinity, similar to a cleric divine domain. While I haven't written down any features of their subclasses quite yet, I have four planned for the class so far (With more likely on the horizon) You also gain the Legendary strike ability, which not only increases your weapons damage dice by one, you also give temp hp to your allies when you score a critical hit.

Godly Conduit acts similarly to ki on the monk, you gain a number of conduit dice equal to half of your avatar level + your charisma modifier, which you can use to either leap a number of feet equal to 5 times the number rolled, or gain an expanded hit range with your weapons for a number of rounds equal to the number rolled. My favorite feature so far is the epithets, which are described bellow:

I cannot wait to show off the epithets sometime in the future. I am super proud of how they're turning out as of now. My hope is that they not only allow for a customizable avatar, but also help redefine how you utilize weapons.

at 3rd-level you gain a ribbon feature, exceptional figure, which makes it so that you cannot suffer disadvantage on any strength-based ability checks you make. Alongside that, feasting now counts as light activity for you and your allies while resting, meant to emulate the giant appetite many heroes of myth have, and I love the idea of an avatar and their allies after a long fought battle just pigging out to their hearts content.

You also gain another subclass feature at 3rd-level to for one last power spike in the starting levels.

Summary

To summarize everything covered within this entry, when laying the 1-3rd level foundation for your subclass, you should

Keep the basic rules of design in mind.

Create features that lay out what you want your class to be doing.

Give them a cool roleplay feature to help with your classes theme.

Determine where your classes subclass should go.

Get to Writing.

That's about all I got for this entry, next time we will go over features after 3rd level, going from 5th to 20th level, make sure to follow me if you're interested in that but until then. Thank you for reading, stay cool and go make some homebrew

Homebrew Class design For Dummies: Part 1:

Indestructoboys Homebrew Design Masterclass

Where to put my subclass by Indestructoboy

Two videos on Bounded Accuracy: 1 2

[erisenyo]

If you're still doing the prompt game, would you consider Toko for "Please come get me" prompt? 🥺

For this prompt game! (Or also this one!)

“Hey, watch it,” the girl snaps as Cha Ming unceremoniously tosses her into the cell. “This is a new jacket!”

Kuzo gives the dirty, stained, ripped garment a skeptical look—new to her, maybe, but you certainly can’t tell from looking at it. And not that she looks particularly put out, either—as Cha Ming slams the cell door shut with a distinctly satisfied air.

“Should have thought of that before you tried to scam hard working people—” the prisoner lets out an inelegant snort. “—out of their hard-earned money, missy.”

“Missy,” she repeats, rounding toward Cha Ming with startling accuracy given her cloudy, unfixed stare. “Missy? And it wasn’t a scam,” she adds after a moment, suddenly dropping to the floor, indignation gone. “It was insurance fraud.” She props one bare, dirty foot against her upraised knee. “Get it right.”

“I’ll be sure to note that in the records for your trial,” Kuzo says, shaking his head and earning himself a snort and a—a thumbs down?

“You’re mighty insolent for someone in a lot of trouble,” Cha Ming growls, crossing his arms in a display of muscle that Kuzo doesn’t have the heart to point out is utterly lost on her. It’s more about the vibe of the whole thing, he supposes.

“I am, aren’t I,” she grins, slow and wide and unsettling toothy. “You know what though, I think I want my messenger.”

Kuzo frowns. “You’re—?” Was she working with an accomplice?

“My one call?” the girl says, kicking her foot in the air. “The new Fire Lord proclamation? That every prisoner upon arrest gets one messenger to a person of their choosing? Set off and landslides in there?”

Cha Ming shoots Kuzo a sideways look. “There isn’t a…?” he trails off as Kuzo shakes his head, silently pointing a startled Cha Ming to the very official scroll waiting on his desk.

“That proclamation came in this morning,” Kuzo says, incredulous. He hasn’t even had time to read it all the way through yet!

“I know,” she grins, sharp.

“You weren’t even arrested five degrees afterward!”

“I know,” she repeats, grinning wider. “And now I want my message.”  

“Does it even apply to non Fire Nation citizens?” Cha Ming frowns, scratching the base of his topknot as he quickly scans the proclamation, squinting to try to parse through the fancy High Caldera calligraphy.

The girl cocks her head, pale green eyes bright against her dirt-smudged face. “Do you think I’m not Fire Nation?”

Kuzo hesitates. She looks very…Earth. “…Are you?”

She holds out her hand as if admiring her nails, waggling her fingers. “No.”

“Says here all prisoners,” Cha Ming calls over, still reading over the edict. “Not seeing any residency or citizenship requirements.”

“Alright then,” Kuzo sighs, looking around for his ink brush. Agni’s toes, they haven’t even had a chance to get training on it yet, the magistrate is supposed to come by tomorrow… “What do you want to say, then?”

“Hmm.” The girl taps a finger against her chin a moment, considering, then, “I want to write it.”

Cha Ming coughs a little, surprised, and the girl raises her eyebrows.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“But you’re, uh.”

She tils her head in Cha Ming’s direction. “Yes?”

Kuzo clears his throat. “Aren’t you…”

“Am I?” she asks, tilting in his direction now and somehow managing to catch his gaze in one of the more unsettling stare-offs of his life. Which is saying something considering how his little sister used to stare at candleflames growing up to get better at eye gaze contests.

“Well, um,” Kuzo finally says, coughing a little and breaking away under the guise of grabbing up an ink brush. “How exactly do you propose to write it? Given that you can’t, uh. See?”

“I can’t?”

“…Can you?”

Another grin. “No.”

The sigh Kuzo lets out only makes her grin wider.

“They make special inks these days, you know,” she offers, propping her head up on her crossed arms, foot kicking in the air again.

Cha Ming stares. “That blind people can see?”

“That earthbenders can see,” she says simply, expression going smug and wolfish as she adds, “If they’re good enough.”

Kuzo stares a moment, mouth working silently as he takes in the hardpacked earthen floor and stone-lined walls, the whole place designed to stymie firebenders.

“…Ah,” Cha Ming says behind him, faint.

“What, ah. What ink would that be, then?” Kuzo finally says, deciding to just…accept her docileness at face value for now. Well, now exactly docile, but. “We have the usual standard issue.” Shelves and shelves of it, and one or two pots the magistrate leaves behind whenever they lose track of their things…

“Flying Boar brand,” she says, prim, and Cha Ming chokes.

“Flying—that stuff’s worth its weight in gold!”

“Makes sense,” the girl allows. “It’s made with it.”

“Why would—we’re the fire and the guard station!” Kuzo says, feeling strangely desperate considering he isn’t the one behind bars. “We don’t have that!”

“Hm,” the girl says, wiggling like she’s getting comfortable against the dirt. “That sounds like a problem for you, doesn’t it. Seeing as how every prisoner is entitled to write or dictate a message to a person of their choosing, and per the Fire Lord’s order, any denial of such right will result in the immediate negation of the arrest regardless of circumstances.”

Kuzo opens his mouth and promptly closes it again. Is she—is she quoting?

“That would be too bad for you guys,” she adds, smirking. “Wouldn’t it.”

“You can’t…”

“I can,” she says, gleeful.

“I’ll just write it for you,” Kuzo huffs, grabbing up a piece of scrap paper and casting around for that open ink well. “The code permits for a message to be dictated, so let’s just do away with all this ridicule—”

“Ah, ah, ah,” she interrupts, suddenly rolling fluidly up to sit cross-legged. “The code permits. The code does not require.” Cha Ming looks down at the code in question, eyes wide. “I want to write it myself.”

“That’s absurd,” Kuzo protests, feeling something sputter and die in his chest as Cha Ming’s expression slowly goes to horror. “You can’t expect us to spend that kind of money on one letter.” Agni’s nails, that’s over half their annual budget!

“But how can I trust you’ll transcribe it correctly?” she asks, all faux innocent and someone must have taught her that look. “I can’t exactly read it to be sure, can I? I’m blind after all.” And sounds nearly gleeful about it.

“We’d have to send away for it,” Kuzo says faintly as he tries to calculate who in the town could even—they might have to find a coastal trader, Agni, the markup—

She snorts, waving a hand around her cell. “Does that look like my problem?”

“It could take weeks!”

“It could, couldn’t it?” she says serenely, grinning. “Good thing you have such a lovely comfortable floor here,” she adds, the earth suddenly rippling underneath her, Kuzo tensing and Cha Ming shouting in alarm as…an earthen chaise lounge rises up out of the floor, with the girl on it.

Kuzo stares a long moment, then turns to Cha Ming, lowering his voice. “This feels like another scam,” he mutters, rubbing at his temples and already feeling a headache forming.

“I’m not sure how we get out of it, though,” Cha Ming frowns, waving the new edict helplessly. “The Fire Lord…”

“Maybe we can add the cost as part of her fines to be assessed after the trial…” Kuzo says, dubious.

“Not going to do us much good if she doesn’t have any money,” Cha Ming huffs, echoing his thoughts, both of them wincing as they realize they’re in for another year of not being able to upgrade their fire mitigation protocols from sand to water.

“So?” the girl asks, pointed, like she somehow knows they’ve just come to their conclusion. “My ink?”

“We’ll get it,” Kuzo sighs.

“Wonderful,” she grins, making a show of settling in to wait and oh, Kuzo’s headache is definitely settling in, too. And probably won’t be leaving soon, either…

“Agni’s flapping—who are we sending this thing to?” Cha Ming grumbles, nearly dragging his topknot out as he shoves a hand through his hair. “Are you wanting us to get you a special bird for that too? Send it by phoenix, maybe?”

“Oh, nothing as fancy as that” she says breezily, as if she doesn’t notice his grouchiness. “A regular hawk should do.” Her lips curl in that grin that definitely makes Kuzo’s head throb harder. “It’s just going to Caldera, after all.”

Which…is normal enough. A bit of a surprise, given they’re in the outlying islands, but certainly common. “Which relay?” he asks, trying to remember if Mai Tin’s letter had come back yet and brought its hawk back with them, or whether he should go asking—

“The palace,” she says, serene.

Kuzo coughs, stuttering a bit. That—that is less usual, certainly, but not—not entirely unheard of. It’s just that he doesn’t trust that serenity one bit. “To the care of?”

“The Fire Lord,” she says, even serener.

“The Fire Lord,” Cha Ming repeats, numb, then again, “The Fire Lord. The Fire Lord,” he finally guffaws, cackling—or cracking, maybe—holding himself over with the force of his wheezing laughter, Kuzo sighing and patting him firmly on the back.

“Mi—girl, the Fire Lord isn’t going to read your letter,” he says, grasping for patience and so, so ready for this shift to be over. It isn’t even noon. “I’m sure it works like that in the Earth Kingdom, but that’s not how it’s done here.”

“Maybe he’ll make an exception for me,” she shrugs, unbothered and picking a piece of food out of her teeth.

“…Maybe.”

“Maybe,” Cha Ming huffs, still wheezing. “Maybe. Maybe I’ll grow wings and fly, too!”

She lolls her head to look at him, eyes narrowing. “I can help with the flying part,” she says, grin suddenly sharp-edged. “Temporarily.”

“Look,” Kuzo sighs, trying to breathe his headache away and realizing that she seems quite young, just at her majority, probably. “If you don’t have anyone to write to, we can recommend some lawyers, or the magistrate. We can even send to someone in the Earth Kingdom.” They’ll send wherever they need to, for someone to take her away. “You must have been staying with someone, right?” Please let this girl barely older than his daughter not have been sleeping on the streets. “Had some reason to visit?”

“I was making my way to a friend,” she offers after a moment’s considering.

“Well then,” Kuzo says, trying to restrain his audible excitement, “Let’s write them.”

“Good idea,” she nods along. “The Fire Lord.”

Kuzo sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hates the ones determined to be difficult.

“Kid, just tell us who to really send it to,” Cha Ming says, still sounding a little hysterical around the edges but hauling himself back up to deliver Kuzo a bracing wallop on the back. “We’re not going to send it to the Fire Lord, I don’t care what joke you’re trying to play.”

She gives a flat, unimpressed look to their general direction. “So we’re breaking the new edict before the sun even sets, are we.”

“We—I’m—you’re the lawbreaker here!”

“It was just a little light fraud,” she sniffs, biting off a nail. “Not like violating a direct order from the Fire Lord, oh no, that’s all you.”

“I’m not…” Cha Ming trails off, looking undeniable queasy.

“I’m not the one who was told in the Fire Lord’s very own hand—”

Kuzo blinks. How would she—?

“—that every prisoner gets to communicate to the individual of their choice, and then chose to ignore it. No, that’s all you. But hey, you want to violate the will of a Child of Agni that way?” she gives a low, impressed whistle. “Your pyre.”

“Fine,” Cha Ming says, pulling his topknot out completely to grab onto his hair. “Fine. We’ll post it ot the palace, and see what good it does you. You’ll be waiting here for a reply for the rest of your life,” he snaps, and Kuzo pulls up, horrified, as he registers the words.

“Hm,” she grins, slow and smirking. “And wouldn’t that be awful,” she muses, making of show of examining her nails again as Kuzo watches Cha Ming freeze and look down to the scroll again, to the part where its dictated that a message and a reply or proof of failed delivery need to be received before a trial can commence.

He doesn’t think either of them make a sound in their horror, but her grin is still sharp and toothy like she heard it anyway.

--

Sheyeng can barely walk from trembling as they’re escorted—escorted—by a brisk, efficient looking aide—an aide to the Fire Lord­—down the bright hallways of the palace—the Fire Lord’s palace. The message worth more than their life, probably—because its written in gold—is clutched so tight in their grip they don’t know if they can actually unclench their fingers from it anymore, even as they’re ushered past a pair of stern guards—oh Agni, oh Agni, oh Agni—and into a room lined with braziers pressing an unnatural heat against their skin, a reminder of the blessing given to the Children of Agni oh Agni blessed Agni that’s—that’s—

The Fire Lord glances up in a flash of sunlight off his headpiece and earrings, single eyebrow raised. “Can I help you?”

Sheyeng squeaks to suddenly find themselves pinned by that unmistakable gaze without any further ceremony, nearly falling on their face in their rush to bow and pass over the letter at the same time, hand jerking so quick and uncoordinated that they nearly throw it on the Fire Lord’s desk, right on top of his papers and nearly onto his lunch oh fuck oh Agni oh—“Please don’t kill me.”

The Fire Lord pauses, eyebrow ticking higher, and Sheyeng cringes as the guards shift threateningly behind them until the Fire Lord waves them back and cracks open the scroll, face impassive as he reads, nothing at all in his expression giving a single thing away and oh Agni’s cock, Sheyeng should be looking at the floor not right at—

“I think,” the Fire Lord suddenly says, voice mild and raspy, “That we might need to amend a recent edict.”

“Of course, my lord,” the very efficient aide immediately says, whipping an ink brush out of nowhere. “How, my lord?”

“I’m not quite sure yet,” the Fire Lord says, considering. “I’ll think about it on the way, though.”

The aide blinks. “On the way?”

“Yeah,” the Fire Lord says, pushing back from his desk to stride out of the room, aide and guards scurrying behind him and leaving Sheyeng shaking and wondering if they hallucinated the Fire Lord’s casual thanks for this on the way out. Thanks. Thanks. The Fire Lord wouldn’t—he didn’t—but if did—

Eventually Sheyeng hauls themself back to their feet, cringing a little at the boldness but using the leg of the Fire Lord’s desk to help since there’s no one around to see it, and unable to entirely resist glancing at this insane, expensive ink that they spent four weeks shipping in and nearly keeling over all over again to see, ‘I’m in your stupid jail, idiot. Food is good but it’s too fucking hot. If you please come get me. I have some suggestions on your law.’

[indigozeal]

Game translation project delay

Earlier this year, a game translation project which I had been trying to get off the ground for a very long time was surprise-announced by another team member, with a release implied to be imminent. I'm not going to mention the name of the project in the body of this post for Woolie Madden reasons—I don't think we should have tempted the Fates then, and I don't think we should any further—but if you've happened across this page, you know what it is. I had myself mentioned that I had already translated 90% of this game's Super Famicom script, a number the team member making the announcement quoted, and one which I stand by. Yet here we are several months later, and I'm still deep in work.

In short: the translation's the holdup. I'm informed that technical reasons make using the original SFAM game for a patch prohibitively difficult. However: the version of the game I understand we have to use has expanded greatly on that original SFAM game, adding a number of events and much more text—plus a second protagonist choice with mostly unique events and dialogue—while revising some of the existing script. Translating & editing all this new material, in addition to editing the entire script, old and new, for length and inserting it line-by-line, is unavoidably taking a good amount of time. While I've been presented with a method that attempts to create a script for the game using a combination of Google Translate, what I translated for the SFAM version, and guesses from non-translating members of the team, I strongly felt that the results did not deliver in terms of quality, accuracy, fluency, or characterization, so I asked, and was promised, complete responsibility for the script side of the project.

That's the reason for the delay. I, as the translator, am the rate-determining step. That's due to a decision I made for the quality of the project—I want to deliver a good patch, one that reflects the game & characters accurately and of which everyone can be proud—and the consequences of that decision are my responsibility. Given my current work rate, I'm going to shoot to complete the translation side of this project six months from now; emergencies or unexpected developments may change this, but I think it's doable.

That's the nutshell version, and I apologize to anyone whose hopes were gotten up by the announcement earlier in the year. There really isn't a way to short-circuit the time investment required for the translation, for reasons explained at length below. If you'd like a more in-depth explanation, please proceed past the cut.

A bit of background

I've been a longtime fan of a romance-oriented Japanese game & media franchise aimed at women that founded an entire gaming genre but, except for one TV series, has never had any sort of official release outside Japan. There'd been some talk in the fandom of how nice it would be if the franchise's foundational, genre-defining game, for the Super Famicom, finally got an English patch—for historical purposes; to give the franchise a bit more recognition outside Japan; just so that the English-speaking fans could play. However: the game's script was notoriously huge, and no one wanted to climb that mountain. (The game's lovey-dovey, frilly subject material also doesn't typically appeal to the folks who fill up romhacking.)

I was exactly the type of unreasonable person equipped for this task, however. I've been involved in hobby game-translation projects for…well, decades now. I also translate professionally and have worked in game translation on projects for Square, Sega, Bandai Namco, Koei, and others, as chronicled in part on this blog. I also had one huge advantage for this game: the publisher had released a book containing almost its entire script. It took a great deal of time, but a few years ago, I finished and posted a translation of the script book.

Attracting someone to insert this script into a patch, though, proved a problem. One obstacle, I learned, was the immediate lack of a file pairing the English translations with the Japanese lines; I'd thought I'd attack this once a patch project started and I got proper script dump files, but not having a paired version of what had been translated immediately prepared was a turnoff, I guess. I therefore set to work producing one. In the meantime, I was indeed contacted by a few folks with some interest in producing a patch, but I didn't subsequently hear of any progress.

About a year ago, though, shortly after I started on that "paired" version of the script, I was contacted by a very interested and motivated individual who claimed they could use the script to produce a patch for the game. One thing, however: there were issues with the coding of the SFAM version that made producing a patch for it prohibitively difficult. (I know very little of the tech side of producing patches and am not equipped to provide an explanation, but this was not the first time I'd heard this about the SFAM game. I had persisted in translating the SFAM script in the hopes that the issue was resolvable, as the SFAM version is the historic, genre-founding title and the folks with reservations self-admittedly hadn't looked very deeply, but evidently, the problem is indeed a serious obstacle.) As a solution, this person asked if I'd be willing to work on a patch for a later, more-technically-manageable rerelease of the game on the DS. I readily agreed.

A while after, two more folks joined the project on the tech side, evidently with a solution to an issue that was frustrating progress on the DS version. They offered to produce a version of the patch for the PS1 version alongside the DS version; I agreed. (I eventually learned, however, that this would involve extra work, that of producing a second version of the script to accommodate the PS1 version's different per-line character limits.)

What exactly are you doing right now?

In brief: when agreeing to produce a version of the script for the rereleases, I didn't anticipate how much they expanded on the original game.

While the original version has a single, set protagonist, the expanded versions allow you to choose to play as her rival. The choice isn't limited to a simple swapping out of names in dialogue; each protagonist has her own unique versions of events, plus unique dialogue from the nine love interests. (Some dialogue is shared, but about two-thirds of it, I'd say, is tailored to the choice of protagonist.)

Dialogue from the love interests has been greatly expanded to flesh out characterization. For example, in the original game, if you asked one of the love interests his opinion on one of the others, he'd respond with a generic message of approval, disapproval, or indifference based on his current regard for the other man. In the remakes, however, each love interest has a unique set of approval/disapproval/indifference messages for each of the other eight suitors. In other words, where there were once three different messages, there are now twenty-four, each on average significantly longer than the originals.

There are numerous new events and activities: cafe and skygazing dates, letter-writing, cooking, finding lost objects, etc., all with unique dialogue for each protagonist and love interest, making for a base of eighteen variations. Many have additional variations based on other parameters.

Some of the dialogue that's still present in the remake has been revised from the original.

Again: what I had originally produced was a text translation of the script book to the Super Famicom version of the game. The script book was not complete—it focused on exhaustive enumerations of love interest dialogue and elided NPC dialogue—but I believe it has about 90% of the original game's text. With the remake, though, there's a lot more work to do.

My tasks are numerous. The script files I've been given generally sort dialogue by event. For each file, I have to identify the specific event they concern, then go line by line to ascertain the speaker of each line and the circumstances under which each is said from context (as this information isn't marked) as well as determine if the text is old or new. If it's old, I have to find the translation in the script-book file and match it to the source text; if it's new, I have to translate it—and also check it against a new script book for the new version, as certain changeable or user-definable proper nouns, such as protagonist names and various locations an event can take place, are for tech reasons not reliably represented in the script dump files. For all dialogue, I have to edit translations to match character and line limits, putting in line breaks and sometimes rewording text or, as a last resort, cutting it—and since the character limit per line is different for the PS1 and DS versions, I have to produce two versions. (In fairness, I don't have to, but the extra space in the DS version is useful on occasion, and dialogue boxes might look odd if I don't use real estate properly.)

It's a lot. However: it's not that different than what I do as a professional game translator (with extra steps), and I'm uniquely equipped to tackle this particular job thanks to having translated the SFAM script book and being very familiar with the characters from following the franchise for years.

I can do all this, but it takes time. That's what holding up the patch.

No, AI can't help

Not long after the announcement, one of the team members informed me that they intended to produce the patch using a method where Google Translate versions of the script files were combined with parts of my original translation and guesses from non-translating members of the team as to what lines meant. They shared an example—an attempt at an English-language version of the introductory segment of the DS game produced using this method. (I had translated the SFAM introduction, but, as with all matters, the DS version greatly expanded on the SFAM version.) I had not been informed previously about this plan.

I took a look, and I felt very strongly that the results did not live up to the standard I wanted for this franchise's English-language debut. There were numerous errors in translation, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The English used wasn't fluent. Characters no longer had unique voices—they all sounded the same, and characterization was completely absent.

(I have to say: despite the importance of the other issues, the gutting of characterization was the biggest knife for me. The game was so successful in pioneering its genre due in great part to its attention to characterization, which I worked hard to reflect in my translation. Seeing all that work torn up in favor of an AI translation that was not only not up to the task linguistically but torched everything that made the game unique frankly hurt.)

The Google Translate script is not exactly usable.

This isn't Google Translate's fault. The script files are typically formatted to present, line by line, just one side of a conversation in all its numerous variations—either for one love interest in all possible permutations (variants depending on your affinity with him etc.), or for all love interests who can have this conversation. There's no overt signal in the file that the speaker or scenario is shifting; you have to realize who's speaking and in what circumstances from context and speaking style. Google Translate can't glean the context it needs to deliver an effective translation when dialogue is presented in this manner, and you can't infuse it with the franchise or script knowledge it needs to make the right calls about speaker/scenario/etc.

Other obstacles: The dialogue is presented line by line, so Google Translate is going to translate line by line, which leads to choppy dialogue. Characterization is frequently communicated in elements like verb endings and sentence-ending particles that Google Translate overlooks or doesn't convert well or that can be translated in multiple ways depending on context. Conversations also have a number of short lines that are also heavily context-dependent, where trying to translate them context-free via the line-by-line method leads to inane translations. There are more; any experienced translator could probably expound further on why using Google Translate in this scenario is a bad idea. You need an experienced translator with franchise knowledge to tackle this project.

I also don't expect the folks on the technical side of the team to attempt to translate—it's not their job, any more than romhacking is my job.

I would have been derelict in my duty as a translator if I let the patch go forward in this state. I didn't, and don't, feel that a Google Translate patch would deliver any value—there are programs out there that can Google Translate dialogue boxes in roms automatically, if that's what you want. This is a historic game, and I feel it deserves a patch that showcases the qualities that made it special for its English-language debut. If we delivered a patch that was incoherent and characterless, the franchise would be tainted in the English market, and the team would be nailed to the wall. From my job, being the one equipped to gauge quality in this department, I knew what public reception of a patch in this state would be, and I didn't want the rest of the team or me to suffer that. (To be selfish, a poor-quality patch would also have professional repercussions for me, as pros do watch the fan scene, and trying to pass off AI, much less AI that's not up to the task, as your own work is, rightfully, a huge black mark on your reputation.) Also, to be blunt: I didn't start this project years ago to spit AI all over this game.

I sent them an email explaining the issues above to the relevant team member, and I asked to have full responsibility for the script side of the project. They agreed.

There was also an attempt by a team member to use AI to help with editing that didn't bear fruit. One of the non-translating team members tried to help with my workload by taking the lines I'd edited for the 38-character DS line length and trying to re-edit them for the 33-character PS1 line length with AI assistance. I was not initially informed of this difference in line lengths or the need for two scripts. I discovered it only upon accessing the group versions of the script files on the cloud drive and discovering that a number of formatting and translation errors had been introduced into files I'd previously edited, some rather basic: the Japanese verb for "to eat" had been mistaken for the one meaning "to rest," for instance. Upon inquiring, I discovered what had happened, and as a result, it was clarified that I would be handling editing for both versions and reworking the files affected to restore the translation and remove the errors produced. I appreciate the attempt to alleviate my workload, but there's by nature a hard linguistic wall involved with editing, and the attempt just created more work.

So the other team members have experimented with using AI, but it hasn't produced anything usable—honestly, it just kind of screws up everything it touches. (If I'd been aware of the attempts to use AI on the project beforehand, I would have reached out and explained why they wouldn't have worked.) I'll state right now that my vision for this patch absolutely does not, and never did, include Google Translate or other AI or LLMs: as a professional translator, I have no need to use AI to translate; it would not expedite the translation due to the particulars detailed above; and I care too much about the quality of this project to farm any part of it out to AI. I mention it because a lot of folks, particularly tech folks, have more confidence in AI than I do, having worked with it extensively for my job and knowing well its capabilities and limitations. It can be useful in certain situations, but it's not omnipotent, and it's not suited for this project.

"Hey, would it help to get an additional translator?"

Honestly, not at this point, no, for several reasons.

One, the work to be done requires a great deal of previous familiarity with the script. Remember, the script for the roms exists in a bunch of files with the lines are generally (but not always) sorted by event, where the individual speakers and the nature of the event itself have to be inferred from context or just plain recognized from experience. The lines also aren't typically organized to present a complete conversation, usually going through all the iterations of one side of the conversation character by character. A good deal of the work is recognizing context and speakers for the lines and whether they're already-translated material or entirely new or old lines that have been changed, so that existing translations can be matched or new, context-appropriate translations can be written. You really need to know your way around the script to do that. I'm equipped to do that, since I've translated the script book for the SFAM version; that's a tall ask for someone coming in cold. We tried it previously, and it didn't work. (It also helps if you have previous familiarity with the characters and how they speak, not only to identify when they're speaking, but to translate what they're saying in a character-appropriate manner. The latter isn't impossible without that familiarity—it's how games are typically translated—but it's way easier if you come in with that knowledge.)

Two, this is a character-intensive game with a huge amount of nuanced character writing to reflect in the English translation, and that calls for a certain degree of translation and just plain writing ability. Many of the devices used to communicate that nuance are easily overlooked unless you have a lot of translation experience. (I'm speaking from my own development as a translator here: you can reach a point where declarative sentences like the narration in a world guide or Ultimania are within your grasp but the nuances of conversation are just going to elude you.) Plus: even if you identify and understand the Japanese text, you still have to be able to phrase it in English fluently, in an accurate and character-appropriate manner. This whole set of skills is another ask.

Three, this is a niche title for the West whose massive script was notorious for repelling translators. "Hey, guess what! I'm working on a version that I've discovered is even more massive and interminable!" does not make the project more enticing.

Four, it's way harder to vet translators nowadays, and it would consume resources on my end I'd rather put toward getting the dang thing done. The rise of LLMs has given rise to a number of folks eager to take over translation duties on a project who have just one or two semesters of Japanese but think Google Translate can make up for the rest. (You might say, "hold on, you just mentioned that this project repels translators; why would someone like that sign up for this?", but that's kind of the thing: it'd attract those who don't know enough to know what they're getting into.) In a conversation- and context-heavy project like this, where AI is going to fall down hard, those people are going to hit a wall very quickly, which leads to difficult conversations that I'd really rather not have—but would have to have, since I'm the translator who started this whole thing, and it's my responsibility to deliver a quality product.

Furthermore, a lot of this can be difficult to communicate to the type of people who would be most enthusiastic about AI at the present moment. I love you, tech people. I love you. But I have gotten the impression over the years that some tech folks in the rom-patching scene regard translators and translations as kind of valueless and interchangeable because, you know, words are all the same, who really cares. It's already an uphill battle to convince some folks that words, the type of words you use, matter, and I'm afraid my forces are already fully engaged on one front (the script itself).

Even if the volunteer were heaven-sent, due diligence in ascertaining their divine status would take a lot of energy, and after the stumbles we've had, I just want to get this done, and just want to rely on a method I know from experience will work instead of chasing down more blind alleys.

Real-life issues! We've got real-life issues here!

I will also note, by way of explanation, that I have had a number of personal things happen that have resulted in delays on my end, which I will recite here for entertainment's sake: I got bronchitis twice in succession (I had it for a week, got better for a week, and then got it again, worse, for another week) and became as sick as I've been in my adult life. There's been an issue with a property in my family to which I've had to tend, involving lawyers extensively. I got an opportunity this year to work professionally on one of the most storied franchises in gaming, to which I had to dedicate a suitable amount of time, as well as other professional translation projects that demanded my attention. I've had to travel extensively for personal reasons, and not fun, vacation-type travel—travel that involved a good deal of work, physical and professional. I had fallout from a client who wanted me to cheat on my taxes to cover for an accounting issue on their end and submitted falsified documents to the IRS. Also, after a lifetime of avoiding, by luck or otherwise, such situations, I have had a problem with being harassed by not one but two completely unrelated individuals, one of whom became physically violent with me. (Not very successfully, but the attempt itself was disturbing.)

To paraphrase from Jurassic Park, I'm sure, dear reader, you are sorry for my problems, but they are my problems. But I recite this to communicate it's not been all Lazy Translator Fun Time over here, and at times, though my spirit has been willing to work on this translation, my schedule has been weak. Or too strong, rather. This doesn't make the delay go down any more easily, but it has been a practical concern.

---

So that's the status report. In brief: I'm asking for six months to get this done, AI-free, and I thank you for your patience (both with the delay and in reading this).

[zydrateacademy]

Just for fun, a brief summary of my FO76 Journey

I forget what caused me to return to the game. My brother is typically unsuccessful at convincing me to join on his hyperfixations, though this time I think I was the first to reinstall it. Pamsdottir here (a name to remember and respect my late mother) is probably my third character total. I originally played back in 2020 or so. Didn't like it. Tried it again shortly after the Wastelanders update that added NPCs and various questlines, but couldn't get over the boring, shit mechanics. But here I am.

Now officially at the highest level I'd ever been. Previously some level 14 or 16 or something all those years ago, but there's a drive to keep pushing forward. Not being ammo starved helps, and the insane abundance of stimpaks has left me healthy and resourceful enough to keep going. Also, shotguns in this game are dogshit.

Now officially during the time I had my first hovel. I didn't know each piece had different "versions" so the sharp-eyed FO76 players can peek at my hovel in the background and notice it lacks a doorframe. I just had a wall-less hole for an entrance. But hey, it had a roof and some workbenches.

When I hit around level 34 I joined in on some Expo train that slingshot me well into level 50. I was taking my ramshackle and scavenged power armor in hopes that, if I couldn't do dick for damage, I could at least not be a burden and have some kind of heightened AR to not die immediately. I'm not fond of this screenshot but this was actually shortly before one final expedition that made me hit 51, but I wanted something immediately at 50. It's somewhat fitting. This grungy, seen-some-shit mess of a photo certainly exhibited my experience with the game so far.

Taken the next day alongside my brother. He made me a set of armor and a somewhat useable weapon, though single-fire weapons are not a good time. I don't think I see anyone under level 80 ever use a single-fire weapon unless it's some kind of explosive launcher.

I had been given an outfit to overlay, right after some Nuka Tour wild west event. I liked it, made my backpack a quiver to better suit the style. Didn't wear it for too terribly long, but I still have it as of this writing. It looks neat, don't know the source of it.

I forget when exactly I made the shift from rifles to the 50cal. Roughly in my 70's as I struggled to keep up with any meaningful DPS with the Fixer that was once made for me. As of this writing it's still one of my highest damaging weapons I've ever had in my own hands, though I see plenty of people do incredible work with other weapon types. Still, it's useful and strong, and it apparently had some kind of accuracy nerf in the past because of its strength. Don't care, I enjoy it.

Just a sort of interim, "I'm on my way to 100" kind of screenshot. My attempt to walk around in a sort of tacti-cool outfit with Brotherhood gear. Best I could do, anyway.

All of the other shots were sort of made in the moment, but this one I actually planned around. I've long since shed the trans flag from my early levels (in the strictest sense I'm not quite trans... not yet, anyway). This exhibits my Inferno Mark 2 armor (I would later get mark 3 that will be featured in future screenshots), on the X01 armor which I've always loved the look of. The rugged, intimidating look is a good representation of how far I've come, having made it to 100 and all of the experience and resources that it might imply.

I had long since completed the Enclave questline by this shot but ever since I received the uniform I never took it off. The hat looks a taaaaad too "secret police" for my liking but the main outfit itself has undeniable style.

I have tried to make an effort to keep doing this every 25-50 levels but sometimes an expedition spam runs away with the experience, almost always giving me one or two levels regardless of whatever else I might have planned for the day. That is typically why some of them are uneven.

[ansbobcar]

EP 24 - We're already...

WORD COUNT. 1434

Link to overview

_ _ _ _ _

As promised, Darren Randel seemed focused on tormenting her peers from Walkis rather than winning. Perhaps it’s due to the game that they had decided which made it rather entertaining. “King of the Hill” or rather, “King of the Tower.”

“Rinka played a role in the exam this year didn’t she?” Wahlberg mused towards the others as the rafflesia mirror seemed to throw the participants rather obscure and complex puzzles towards them. Moreover, a special sigil is placed which makes the walls unbreakable thus the only way to ascend the tower is by completing the puzzles. The aim is to reach and stay on the roof until the thing closes.

“So that’s how the game evaluates their skills,” the principal from Walkis uttered, noticing a loophole that hadn’t been utilised by anyone just yet. After all, if nobody investigated then it would be… fruitless. How cruel of her, as they knew where she stood. Above the tower.

‘It’s sprinkled in the puzzles too,’ she told herself. ‘Maybe I got too carried away,’ a bit peeved by the current progress. Only 2 hours are given too and most of them were stuck on the first 3 floors. Surprising considering how Darren’s good at riddles. Maybe her intelligence and rationale drops around Walkis people, she guessed.

“It’s not like I can see anything from the outside,” she uttered.

The Tower was a black box only to be watched by those who looked into the Rafflesia mirrors which monitored the situation inside.

“It is what the Bureau needs in a Divine Visionary,” Wahlberg held back his chuckle as gasps and confusion erupted amongst the students.

Reverberating the tower walls with a dent was a large bright blade glimmering under the sunlight before another one spawned and shot itself up the levels of the building.

‘Finally.’

_ _ _ 

“Cheers!” Clinking their mugs of beer together. After the success of Rayne Ames as the newest Divine Visionary, they were busy with the closing ceremony, although it didn’t make sense to drink before the official ceremony the following day, everyone seemed to have their worries dissipate as the bi-colour haired student awkwardly sat beside Kaldo and Ryoh who were… weird in their own right and… definitely intoxicated based on how red they were. “That isn’t good Ryoh, didn’t your wife tell you to stop getting yourself wasted?”

“But today is a momentous occasion! This… young lad here,” slinging his arm around the 2nd year’s back with careless joy, “became the newest member of our little group!”

“I doubt 9 Divine Visionaries is a little group,” Sophina refuted. “But… it’s nice.”

His only response throughout his stay was simply: “Aren’t you all supposed to be preparing for tomorrow?”

“The committee has it handled,” Renatus swatted around his hand. “No use fussing over it.”

“Oh!” Ryoh cheered. “How about we play a game?” Only to receive a round of abysmal refusals by the others. “What a bore… it was just gonna be never have I ever.”

On the other hand, his seniors… school affiliation wise had already stood up to play a game of darts.

Maybe he should just leave back to his dorm room. ‘Bunnaldo might run away again after all since both Max and Ren are weak to his charm,’ he thought to himself.

While everyone else suffered through either the cold, the intoxication, and other factors, Rayne had slowly snuck out leaving the only… mildly sane, heavy-weights to do an equally horrendous decision.

“How about a punishment drinking game? Lower point drinks,” he suggested to her. Naively, she agreed. “Ladies first.”

Picking up a dart, she threw it like an airplane… it sped before bouncing off the side. She missed. “You get another try.” Again. It tumbled to the wooden floor. He chuckled at her priceless reaction. She was too used to using magic to increase her accuracy, looking at the palms of her hands before she watched him strike a triple 20. “Are you that mad at yourself that you have to make that expression?” Watching her take a shot.

“It’s fine,” she muttered. “I just need to focus a bit more.”

But she missed. She never hit a single point, for the next 30 turns. "How do you do this without magic?" Clearly noticing her eyes grow more frustrated by her skill. “I’m a Divine Visionary and I can’t even score in this game?” Exasperated by her losing streak as she took another shot. 

"Do you want me to show you?" Holding onto her hand.

“Yes, please.”

Perhaps it was the alcohol and her commitment to the game that made her overlook how her shoulder was pressed against him with his voice instructing clearly into her ear. “Try it.” The dart actually hit the board. Double 4. Her smile was greeted by bitterness as he hit another triple 20.

By the time they had finished, it became 1800 to 50. Clearly, Orter had won by a landslide. Holding on to her dishevelled head, she hummed before taking her last shot as he cheered. “You lost.”

“What do you want me to do?” Lacking any reluctance in her voice as he wrapped his arms around her waist and they rocked in waddles like penguins possibly to console her frustration through a lul.

“I’ll save it for later.”

“Are we still drinking?”

“You’re not drunk yet?” She shook her head slowly. “Let’s just drink back at the office.” With little warning, she heeded his words and they were whisked to the unlit room. She wobbled slightly as she sat down on the couch, large strands of her face fell onto her face as she watched the younger man take out some gin and glasses. “You’ll join me… right?”

“Of course.”

Avoiding vertigo, she looked over towards their hands. Barely grazing each other as they sat side by side, facing the small stacks of papers beyond the table littered with empty bottles. Yet she felt her blood rush up as her heart palpitated by his lack of movement, as if caught in a trance from the intoxication. Even the slightest inhale from him made her shoulders tense. ‘Isn’t alcohol supposed to decrease the tension?’ She didn’t know how to break the wall between them as she collected herself and turned her eyes towards him. Meeting his piercing gaze directly at her.

‘I screwed up,’ immediately looking away, unsure of how to face him. The weight on the couch shifted much to her worry as she felt his coarse fingers gently push back some loose strands covering her face as his eyes, a warm brass hue, carefully assessed her reaction.

“Don’t be startled when I say you shouldn’t hide yourself,” he uttered as he held a tender gaze towards her while firmly taking her hand in his. “You’re pretty.” She held her breath as he gently pressed his lips onto the back of her hand. There was something stuck in his gaze, a desire he held back. She could feel it as he seemed to take his time with her, still assessing her awkwardness. Without a moment to spare with his other hand, he tenderly caressed her cheek. “Not even a thank you?” He uttered, a slight slur in his words. “You’re always so uptight… even now, when you’re so cute and…”

“--you’re starting to sound like Ryoh.”

Silence existed between them.

She made it worse.

“How so?”

“I don’t mean in the way he’s obsessed with himself, but like usually only he really notices when I’m struggling,” she began, looking back at her self-proclaimed godfather. “And he pesters me about it. He was the one who actually made the director consider getting someone else to take over my position and he even tells me to be more outgoing,” she awkwardly chuckled as she reminisced her memories for a moment. “He’s helped me a lot… just like you.” By the time she looked back in his direction, he had already buried his head in her shoulder, just humming to her words.

Sometimes called the elixir of courage, alcohol allows you to say and do things you would never consider doing. Unlike the truth potion, or any other inflicting potion, the intoxication simply decreased your rationale. It didn’t direct affect any form of perception or understanding.

“Sometimes I wonder if you like me.”

“What are you saying,” he murmured amidst her silence before taking a deep breathe. “Alex. I've liked her since I met her and you know how long ago that was.”

“That’s…” She held back a self-deprecating chuckle as he dozed into slumber mid-sentence.

‘Not me.’

_ _ _ _ _

End of part 1.

Decided for this route instead.

This will probably get part 2 next year. I'll be focusing on my rayne x oc fic which I made first technically but didn't like the quality of the rom-com. It has developed beyond what I expected as well. So I'll post an updated version of the oc like sometime later? It's still june for me when I schedule this.

Feel free to ask questions about the plot when necessary. I might not answer some or I'll make a general reflection at some point without giving spoilers.

[somediyprojects]

Breath of the Wild Tapestry stitched and designed by Laialda. Pattern ($23) available at her Etsy shop: Craftigurumi.

BotW Tapestry Complete after 3years, 3 months, and 5 days. Full finished tapestry stitched over 1 on 28ct with banana for scale. Comparison images for the story panels. Yellowed images are the official in game art.

Pattern Designer: Me, Laialda. I designed this pattern

When I first saw this in game I knew I had to make it, and while I wanted to give up plenty of times along the journey, I am glad I stuck with it. 🥰 When I took it off the scroll frame I definitely gave it a hug and got teary as all the emotions of finishing this piece overwhelmed me. 😭💜 It was stitched on 28ct evenweave over 1 and measures about 36" by 20". I've already given it a wash to remove all my hand oils from over the years and let it dry. Plan on going to a local family owned framer to get a price quote to frame it, but I'm expecting a few hundred dollar so it'll probably be a bit before I can afford that 😅. I do plan on doing the mounting and lacing myself though cause I am just paranoid about others doing it for me.

The detail shots were included to show how I tried my best to translate a lot of the fine details with backstitching as best as I could. There are plenty of area where I made the decision the getting the feel right was more important than 100% accuracy, and I stand by that. A lot of the spaces that may look big in the comparisons photos are really quite small and I didn't want to have things done 'off grid' when working over 1 like this unless I felt I had to or there was cross stitch to help support doing it (see the monk and guardians).

Just really really proud of this piece and wanted to share with y'all here. 💜 I've never done a project this big, and probably won't ever again lol, but I love it and I'm so glad I made it. 🥰

Finishing before TotK released has always been my goal so these last few weeks have had me like " 😬 shit am I gonna make it?!?!" Definitely pushed this past week with 3-4hr sessions everyday just to make sure I would 😆

[aquamarine-oceanfront]

A post about North American sales data for Klonoa 1 & 2

I can't really think of an introduction, so here are the key points of the full post for convenience's sake:

The NPD Group (now one half of Circana) has tracked video game sales in North America since 1995 - initially(?) integrating it into their Toy Research Survey Tracking (TRST) system, which tracked sales reported by 17 different retails comprising 63% of the North American market. It's not a perfect system by any means, but it's something, at least.

While the organization discouraged publishing the raw data, a random, long-dead website seems to have done just that for the months of December 2002 and January 2003.

According to the latter spreadsheet, by January 2003, Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil had respectively sold 25,861 and 97,766 copies in their retail lifespans at that point. (I'm not entirely sure whether this is specifically for the US or North America more broadly.)

More details after the jump.

To set the scene, this excerpt from the April 1997 issue of Next Generation magazine provides a good explanation of how the TRST system works, including the potential pitfalls in its methodology:

Also worth noting is that Walmart stopped providing sales figures to TRST starting in July 2001, the same month Lunatea's Veil released in the US. (Toys R Us would follow suit in the middle of August 2003, though this is not especially relevant here.) This, naturally, is a fairly significant blind spot in the data - by February 2012, when Walmart resumed providing numbers to the NPD Group, an analyst estimated the chain was responsible for 25-30% of video game sales in the US, and I have no reason to believe they weren't pulling similar numbers in the early 2000s.

Now, one may wonder how the public would've been able to get their hands on sales numbers that the Group insisted on keeping private. In this case, the answer is a random, long-defunct website republishing two spreadsheets claiming to have TRST data for video games sold in December 2002 and January 2003. I can't verify the accuracy of these web pages myself, but given their age I suspect it'd be difficult to decisively prove it either way. Plus, aside from some simple yet odd date typos in the 2003 spreadsheet, from what I've read they seem official and plausible - not to mention reasonably comprehensive.

With all that buildup out of the way, here are what I believe may be some of (if not the only) publicly-accessible sales figures for Door to Phantomile and Lunatea's Veil in North America (or at least the US).

The original spreadsheet for December 2002 puts Door to Phantomile quite a ways down, since it hadn't sold any copies that month. Nevertheless, it does give us a figure for the copies it'd sold in its lifetime (beginning with its release in March 1998): 25,851.

Lunatea's Veil, a relatively current release, fares better. Between July 2001 and December 2002, TRST's data says it sold 97,220 copies, with 1,138 being sold that month alone. The numbers on the right (rounded to two decimal places) indicate that, for the month of December 2002, it was sold for an average of $28.18 and brought in a total of $32,066.35.

Now we progress to January 2003. Unsurprisingly, Door to Phantomile did not sell any additional copies that month, remaining exactly as it was.

Lunatea's Veil sold 546 more copies, however, bringing its total sales up to 97,766. As before, the two rightmost columns track its average price ($19.81) and the total amount of money it brought in ($10,814.42), both specifically for January 2003. However, the two asterisks next to the latter number indicate that it may be inaccurate, so please take it with a larger grain of salt than the rest of the data.

I must admit I don't really have a conclusion here, outside of the obvious ways to interpret this data (the first game sold poorly, the second one did better but not exceptionally). If you have anything to add, please feel free to!

[dlamp-dictator]

"A public apology or admittance of all the skeletons in the closet, controversies, and other mistakes recently made would go a long way in rebuilding goodwill with me. As much as I would like see to see a rehiring of fired artists I know some of those folks might had broken NDAs to speak out and professionally that wouldn't be a good look to ignore, so maybe a quiet and private restitution for those effected would be a good way of good PR." -Allen X, September 3rd, 2023

Welp... looks like I gotta' answer for myself, huh?

Okay, so been debating this one for awhile now too, but thankfully this took a lot less deliberation, namely because I had the intention to way a few days before talking about it. For those new a quick recap.

About 2-ish months ago the video game company Project Moon, develops of games such as Library of Ruina, Lobotomy Corporation, and most recently the gacha game Limbus Company, had been bombarded with a number of controversies including the firing of a beloved artist, several other artists involved with the company coming out to admit the company's mismanagement, the removal of certain side materials and content, and a few other major things I personally haven't been keeping up with nor care to discuss in detail. This had led to a mass boycott/protests against Project Moon's latest game, Limbus Company by what has mostly been the Korea fanbase for a while now, but several Westerners, myself included, have also taken a step back away from the game in either solidarity of the cause or wanting to stay away from a game that is actively losing profit and could shut down in the next few months due to the massive profit dip.

As of two months later, the loss of about a third of their profits (depending on the source) and Tokyo Game Show going in full swing drawing further eyes on them, the company has finally spoken about the issues that had happened during the summer event and gave official apologies on it, promising to do better with how they manage things going forth.

That's the general situation as far as I care to look into it and this post is mostly me backing up my own words that I said early this month. Now that Project Moon has officially apologized how do I feel and do I think it's worth coming back?

Short Version: Yeah, this is more or less fine... For now.

Long Version: Well... it's more complicated than that.

To repeat, I did wait about a week or so after this apology came out because a lot of things tend to get lost in the noise of fandom and tensions get high for really dumb reasons. Also, needed to make sure things didn't explode further or another necromancer decided make Project Moon's skeletons start Cossack Dancing out of their closet again before I could get a word in. Especially given how Tumblr and Twitter work in terms of mob mentality I'm glad I waited a minute before posting. But with that all said here's the general rundown of the apology (link here for those curious):

An admittance that bad things happened and that they offended certain parties to the point of feeling pressured to let go of vital staff/contractors.

An admittance that said bad things were due to cyberbullying and other online attacks via social media.

An admittance to a spread of misinformation that lead oversea fans to come to conclusions of varying levels of accuracy.

An overall apology for the mishandling and harm said issues have happened to both staff and fans.

A promise to take a harder stance against cyberbullying and spreading of misinformation, including legal action (I believe Korea has some stricter laws against cyberbullying than the US) if need be.

A denouncement/non-endorsement of hateful ideologies and promise to do better in the future with their management of employees.

These are all the basic gist of what was said. This basically covers everything I wanted them to cover in an apology back when the month started (and if this also comes with another free 1300 lunacy down the line I won't complain either), but the important thing in terms of criticism is that the overall wording of the apology is very vague. Personally, I think this is about as direct an apology as we're going to get from a company, but I also know that this is written with enough wiggle room that this is either everything I personally wanted to hear from Project Moon, or a general smokescreen that is worded with just enough admittance that they take minimal heat for it. I'm an optimist, so I'm looking to the former, but I don't blame anyone for thinking the latter. Not to mention the way they discuss the use of legal action in terms of cyberbullying and misinformation is a bit suspect as well. It's to the point that several parties and groups can and have come to different opinions and conclusions on this apology.

While I have came to the conclusion that Project Moon is, if not remorseful, then at least savvy enough to understand they needed to say something in terms of admitting fault to get their customers back, I still understand if some people see this more as a company getting their arm twisted and grunting out a few vague words of apology to get people back into spending money on their product again.

For me, this is... enough. For now. I'm taking the stance of the Youth Union: I'll buy it for now, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open for future misdeeds if news comes my way. I completely understand if folks are wanting more, either a more direct apology, some actual proper action done about the misinformation and aforementioned hate groups, them admitting their losing money with all this happening, so on and so forth. This is one of the more popular Korea companies with a global audience, so they should have the influence to do something like that. However, I also know barring an actual lawsuit this is probably the most to expect from a corporation in terms of actions taken.

I'm... willing to accept this for now. My previous points still stand though. Canto V needs to be a 12/10 for this game to truly make a comback, and Project Moon should probably keep it's head down after the TGS ends and stay quiet and peaceful until that update is ready. This game still lost a lot of profit and trust is earned, not bought. But for now... I'm willing to at least redownload the game check things out again. Again, this is... enough. For now.

For those still on the fence I believe the second legal entity that could be an actual threat to Project Moon has finally gotten the funds together for a proper lawsuit and you can just wait until that to fully goes through and see what happens. I'll equally say that for those still hardline against continue to stay away from this game to just ask yourself what you want from the company and what will it take to bring you back. If your faith is truly crushed and you have no interest in Project Moon anymore then I recommend going to games like Arknights, or Monster Hunter, or even Eternal Return, all fun games with a pretty decent gameplay loop that's worth playing.

As for me, the Mirror Dungeon is calling and there's still enough time for me to at least get Molar Yi Sang for the log-in event. I feel okay enough about this game to actively do that overview I was wanting to write months ago and I'll happily start working on that this week with all the other stuff I'm writing doesn't wear me out first. Until then, I'll see you folks later.

[zippdementia]

Metroid Retrospective: AM2R

Metroid AM2R

Completion: 5 hrs + (I haven't beaten the last boss)

Percentage of items found: 90%

2016's Another Metroid 2 Remake is an incredible project. I won't be covering the full development history here but it's worth your time to find and read about it online. All you need to know to be properly amazed is that its creator, Milton Guasti, did not know programming when he started the project, and over the course of 10 years built a game that is good enough to be considered a must-play for Samus afficiandos.

Ostensibly a remake of Metroid 2, AM2R might better be considered a massive upgrade. It is less a reimagining than what Nintendo would ultimately give fans in the (also amazing) Samus Returns for the 3DS and stays very true to the original's format, map layout, and overall feel. Except that everything has been given a sheen of "extra." Everything is more alive. The music has gone from digital beeps and bloops to awesome remixes of classic Metroid tunes; the world has depth and feels like it makes sense, with lots of signs of the Chozo who used to reside here; enemies feel like living creatures reacting to your presence. Some don't even attack you but are simply part of an ecosystem you are irrevocably changing as part of your hunt of SR388's alphas on the food chain -- like these little animals that have no gameplay effect but return to feed on the fauna only after you've cleared the area of Metroids.

Perhaps one of my favorite things is the emphasis placed on lore, with Samus keeping an electronic journal of her explorations of the planet. Lore is something that definitely is more desired by a Western audience than a Japanese one -- a conversation too long to have for this review but which you can see in other famous series, such as Resident Evil. Being a Westerner, I am partial to it, as well, and outside of Retro Studio's endeavors in the series, this is the only other place I've seen it given a lot of attention. A nice little perk of this being fan made and not an official remake.

One of my favorite upgrades is how powerful the weapons feel. I am not being dramatic when I say this is the best certain weapons have EVER felt in ANY Metroid game. In even the most modern of Metroids, Power Bombs for instance can feel a little underwhelming, being flashy but lacking weight and sometimes frankly not doing much damage. Here they blast whole screens with blinding effects and absolutely decimate all regular enemies (most bosses are immune). Super Missiles slam into monsters with heavy, satisfying thuds, dealing 5-7 times the damage of a regular missile. The Ice Beam doesn't just temporarily freeze enemies, it ice-nines them. If they happen to be flying monsters, they fall from the air and shatter upon the hard stone. This game just FEELS good to win at.

Winning at it is not an easy task, however. This is definitely a Metroid game for the player who is already familiar with the series and seeks a challenge. There are multiple modes which can make it easier but even then you are required to pay attention to the way nearly every enemy moves and to learn a set of responses to how to best deal with them -- usually involving a surprising amount of accuracy in both your shooting and positioning. I decided to conquer hard mode for my playthrough and was given what I asked for: an experience where every enemy, if approached incorrectly, could devastate my health bar, and where bosses had to be taken down in Dark Souls-style near-perfect runs. And yet, it hasn't felt unfair or cheap. With a couple notable exceptions, saves are never far and as they restore all your health and ammunition, you rarely have an excuse not to leap back into a failed attempt and try again.

As I write this I have yet to defeat the Metroid Queen. I know I can do it, but it is an endeavor that will take some pattern learning and faster twitch response then I've been up to in the last week or so. And it is hampered by being one of two boss fights where the save is woefully far away, an oversight of amateur design that shows itself surprisingly rarely throughout the game, with most of the experience being so tightly designed that you forget you are controlling a game and enter that fabled zone of connection between you and the on-screen character where you feel you only have to think a command and have it happen. Truly, a remarkable accomplishment for a fan made remake.

In fact, it is the remake nature that holds the game back more than anything. As a very faithful remake of a decades old Gameboy game it suffers from the pacing of that experience without the benefit of being a handheld experience that can be easily picked up and put down, leaving it lingering in a sometimes uncomfortable position between ambitious and restraint. There are moments where the ambition is allowed to fully shine through -- a segment involving a run through an abandoned power plant comes to mind, as do several of its new, multi-phase boss fights -- and these make the rest of the game feel at times like a necessary chore to get through in order to reach these moments.

That doesn't lessen my awe at what has been accomplished here nor does it make this in any way a bad video game. On the contrary, this project achieves levels of tightness in its controls and challenge that many mainstream developed games do not reach. Sadly, the game may one day not be playable at all: it relies on the fan community to continue supporting it and I noticed that it has some RAM leakage and other memory issues which never crashed my game but make me worry for its future if the community's interest fades. I did have my saves erased once, early on, and so kept copies of them afterwards but never ran into this issue again.

If you are a hardcore Metroid fan, I highly recommend it and can promise the link here is safe and that you won't regret it.

1) Super Metroid 2) Metroid Fusion 3) AM2R 4) Metroid 2 (original) 5) Metroid Zero Mission 6) Metroid Prime Pinball 7) Metroid (original)

[2dkapsddr]

November 16th, 2024 - vivid/stasis, ONGEKI, maimai, DJMAX Technika, CHUNITHM, EZ2AC, DDR A3

this past week has seriously been the most stressful and depressing of my life. i've felt horrible day and night, unable to get up and unable to function as i once did, and it's been really damn hard to hide my emotions from people, i really don't know what to do... but it's the weekend now, it's supposed to be time to relax, and so i have to keep my cool and distract myself in spite of the obstacles via my little games that i've always played, past and present .

i'm getting into the endgame of tamasatchi now, and so i have to really grind out tickets due to how long the shop cooldown lasts -- where the only alternative method is to clear boundary shatter songs with gauges. the shortest of them is grode (DJ HOE SCARER REMIX) (or grodescarer for short), so i grinded it out as much as possible and ended up getting a MAX-10 AC on it!! solid potential 13+ or so should it have been a regular chart, though it's kinda hard to judge given the length w

but alas! these two scores were not but a highlight of my warmup for the day, as i was instead preparing most for the real deal that day... GAMECENTER!!! their first meeting in weeks, i was super hype this time around to go as early as i could and make the most of the game selection there... but i ended up going a little late as i was still recovering emotionally by the time i woke up fairly late. it really is a struggle that i hope would've passed by now but . gah . i don't know what to do anymore, just look at these scores and hope i'm not as doomy and gloomy next time. sorry 'bout that.

maimai actually was pretty good despite my condition . despite having gone 3 weeks without playing it, i could feel my improvement in accuracy and reading from last session carry over to this one beautifully . i played a ton of fun and hard charts across experts and masters, and with honestly great scores at that! i think i'm ready to pick right up from where i'm leaving off once maimai DX officially releases in the US, though i imagine that's not for another long while... in the meantime, i'll keep practicing and improving as much as i possibly can! highlights from this session specifically include a clear on raputa [Expert 13+], S-rank on Vampire [Master 11+], an AA on Baka Mitai [Master 13] (somehow), and an SSS FC on Rush-More [Expert 10+]!!!

while maimai was insanely cool and fun to play, i had my eyes on something more unique... something rarer and impossible to find out in the while nowadays. that's right baybeee, DJMAX TECHNIKA 3 IN THE FLESH!!!! MY FIRST TIME EVER LAYING EYES UPON A CAB, LET ALONE PLAYING ON ONE!!!! it's surreal... such an important and incredible game for its time, i'm so glad to be graced by its presence, and even gladder to have played through two sets on it! i'd like to say though... this game is HARD . i seriously don't know how to keep up with the rhythms and the timing windows, a touch-screen keysounded rhythm game is definitely a frightful combination of words in text, and even More frightening to actually play.

short chuni set!!! a few upscores here and there... naw but seriously, these are INSANE, like SS+ on Fracture Ray and an SS on ouroboros [Master 14+]??? wahoo, +0.02 !!!

the maimai scores are spread out super far apart since most of it was just waiting in the card queue for my turn every hour or so, so i'll just bunch them up here to make the rest of the scores easier to describe... during the sets, i managed to get a super cool AA on Scarlet Police [Master 13], an S rank on Got more raves? [Expert 12+], an insane near-SSS upscore (though just barely missing an FC) on The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku [Expert 12], a sightread FC on Haikei Doppelganger [Expert 12+], and raising my raputa [Expert 13+] up to AAA just before leaving...!

phew, okay, that's all the maimai out of the way... now it's time to showcase some of the other super cool games on display here, starting with.... EZ2AC: NIGHT TRAVELER!!! haven't played this version before, but it's definitely my favorite one of the series that i've seen... such a great aesthetic, and an incredible song selection to go along with it as well!!! definitely the peak of the latter half of the series' life... and just as hard as i remembered it, too! a bit too hard, mayhaps... but i already have EZ2ON for playing 5K only, i have to make the most of the 5K standard offered exclusively by the cab!

a very brief and spontaneous score in terms of DDR though... would've loved to get more, but i'm really not used to the pads of the X-era cab specifically... still a 980k on Glitter Flatter Scatter ain't bad at all! could def AAA this on a white cab given the chance...

and now, to conclude the scoredump... here's the last of the chuni scores i secured near the end of the session (minus one that's not really important because of the 30-image limit)!!! a near-SS on HERA [Master 14+], an SS on Oshama Scramble! (Cranky Remix) [WORLD'S END ?] of all things, a massive upscore to SS+ on DX Chouseinou Fullmetal Shoujo [Master 14] (and +0.01 PTT)... and to conclude, several unsuccessful SS+ attempts on Disruptor Array [Master 15]!!! i can feel it... it's so close, yet so far... may not be able to get it anytime soon, but i'd love to try again some other time!

BONUS: just as promised (and also just as requested by no one, really), here's a mostly-cut video of my absolutely incredible, absolutely beautiful 997k on Disruptor Array [Master 15]!!! ...you may now clap, thank you very much . after all, i sabotaged showing the EZ2AC video here just to show off my more beautiful (and blurrier + crustier) CHUNITHM AWESOME PLAY!!!

[sportpeskenyateam]

Kenyatta University graduate wins big: Bags Kshs 10 million in SportPesa’s Goal Rush game

Derrick Mukeku Kasyoka from Machakos is SportPesa's latest multi-millionaire after winning Kshs 10 million in the free-to-play Goal Rush game.

SportPesa, Kenya's leading online gaming platform, crowned Derrick Mukeku Kasyoka as the second winner of the Kshs 10 million Goal Rush jackpot, making his life-changing win official during a special ceremony on Thursday. Derrick, a 38-year-old Kenyatta University graduate with a degree in Education, correctly predicted the outcome of three matches in the thrilling Goal Rush game, which is free to play for all active SportPesa users.

Derrick’s victory comes just months after the first-ever Goal Rush winner, Stephen Visendi, hit the jackpot in May 2024. In this engaging game, participants predict which team will score first and the exact minute the first goal will be scored, and then share their predictions on social media. Derrick, thanks to his sharp mathematics skills, nailed his predictions with remarkable accuracy, winning the grand prize in only his third attempt.

“I'm overjoyed today. I've been a loyal SportPesa player since 2018, and though I’ve seen many people win, I never imagined I would be one of them. This is a turning point for me, and I hope to use this fortune wisely, investing in property and securing my family’s future,” said Derrick during the prize-giving ceremony, where he was presented with a dummy cheque by SportPesa Kenya ambassadors, Biggie and Sammyro.

Derrick revealed how his love for football, especially his favorite club Manchester United, and his strong mathematics background helped him make the winning predictions. “As I was going about my errands, Goal Rush popped up after placing a multibet. Something clicked in my mind, and I made my predictions based on the sequence of 13—goals in the 13th, 26th, and 39th minutes. My instincts were spot on,” he added.

Derrick now plans to invest wisely, focusing on property and ensuring his family's financial stability. He also encourages other SportPesa players to approach betting responsibly: "SportPesa’s Goal Rush is an amazing game, but always remember to bet responsibly. Luck plays a big role, but anyone can win."

What is Goal Rush?

Goal Rush is a free-to-play game on SportPesa that gives players the chance to win up to Ksh 10 million daily. To participate, players predict the first team to score and the minute the first goal will be scored across three pre-selected matches. Players must then share their predictions on social media for their entry to be valid.

How to play Goal Rush?

Predict which team will score first and at what minute.

Share your prediction on Facebook, WhatsApp, or X (formerly Twitter).

Stand a chance to win Kshs 10 million if all three predictions are correct.

Players also have the opportunity to win daily bonuses, with Kshs 10,000 awarded to the closest prediction and Kshs 1,000 given to the next 50 closest predictions.

Join the Goal Rush! If you're a SportPesa player, you can participate in Goal Rush every day for free. Simply make your predictions, share them on social media, and you could be the next big winner, just like Derrick!

Play Goal Rush today and experience the excitement of winning millions with zero stake!

Additionally, SportPesa's ‘Tujiamini’ initiative continues to empower Kenya’s sports and talent scene. With up to Ksh 30 million in funding, this campaign supports individual athletes, teams, and various talents across the country. Learn more and apply through www.tujiamini.co.ke.