#i love a rpg based lore series

[agarafile]

i have been lurk-following the teasing the ccs have beein doing for the new smp. but now that it is out, it is still so unbelivable to me. i mean just LOOK at this mcyts list

LIKE OMG??? AVID?? SUNNY?? SINCE WHEN DID JOEY GO BACK TO MINECRAFT? I AM SO EXCITED I MIGHT EXPLODE

[dalishious]

A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase

I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.

In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.

There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?

In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.

There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:

“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”

The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.

However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!

While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.

BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?

The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.

Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.

[This piece is also available on Medium!]

[kingjasnah]

i slept on it but im trying to pull my thoughts together. overall i had a good time reading wind and truth and it's just nice to finally get lore based answers on stuff from like a million years ago, this is the first stormlight book that didn't leave me with more questions than answers. i felt like the lack of distinct chapter povs was a choice i didn't love but i guess it made sense to get that feeling of like. what do you guys call it. like the book was a 1300 page no breaks sanderlanch. lots of first time info on the shards in the epigraphs. i feel like one of the only points of contention i had was the lack of gravitas given to characters like el and yeah actually moash who were hinted to have some insane stuff coming down but like. el fell flat for me man idk. adolin chapters were great. szeth backstory was great it really gave video game rpg energy. jasnah vs taravangian felt like a welcome return back to what i considered the crux of the series. may aladar surprise dark horse MVP of the book. shallan/ren/rlain was also great and i wasn't expecting to like the shallan chapters. sigzil stuff was devastating. maybe slightly too much reliance on reprising iconic lines from the previous four books but i was clapping and cheering so they did get me lol. more than anyone i was happiest with the way shallan ended up, it was almost exactly the time skip ending i foresaw for her even if it is a little sad. oh at least TWO major theories that have existed since oathbringer were CONFIRMED. i don't know how i feel about the ending at all tbh because it was something i feel like we all guessed would happen back in words of radiance and then. well it happened. and it kinda sucks but well it also felt very inevitable. genuine highlight of the book was adolin's candelabra

[drownedrow]

Hello may i ask you if you could possibly provide a list of books and or/links that i could read about the nine hells? 😭 i'm so intrigued but so lost idk where to start and where to go lol. Love your blog btw!

Hi! Thank you so much thsts so sweet!🥰

Hmmm! It depends on what you’re looking for! And I will tell you the Hells has been retconned to (heh) Hell and back so feel to take what lore you like and ignore other bits, DnD is supposed to be fun. The Nine Hells is my current hyper fixation though so I stay reading about it lol. I get a lot of my stuff from everywhere but I can definitely provide some links!:

So books!

Descent into Avernus: This is a great world building book if you’re looking to learn more about Avernus or Zariel, I have this book so I can vouch that it’s great. Even not just for world building, the campaign itself is super cool and gives you the option to be EVIL which is so lacking in a lot of RPGs these days.

Chains of Asmodeus: is a great reference for like the entirety of the Hells I haven’t dug through it completely but it’s good. Don’t agree with everything but! Take and leave right lol…Here’s a little link to it free online and a bunch of other DnD assets for freeeee :3

The Godborn: I’m holding off on ordering this to have in my own collection bc the Twilight Wars comes first but my friend let me go through theres and for characterization of Mephistopheles this book it’s great. This is a novel different than the two books above which are more DnD adventures just so you know.

Twilight War Series: These I haven’t read but follows Magadon Kest who is Raphael’s brother, I ordered Shadowbred since I’m about to finish Homeland and I’ll let you guys know if it’s any good! But I’m very excited about starting this series. These are novels.

Brimstone Angels: I have mixed feelings about these but I have used sections of it for reference, good stuff for kinda of conceptualizing cambion behavior. It’s a bit…idk. It’s not always to my tastes but it is a good book to paw through if you’re looking for cambion stuff specifically. These are novels.

Websites:

Idk if linking these will work but these are scans from a dungeon master issue a friend sent me about Archdevil Glasya’s killing of her mother, service to Mammon and rise to power….lots of great details about Asmodeus, Bensozia and Glasya’s family dynamic too.

Hells layers details! Great stuff and great art, of course I’ve set it to Cania bc duh but there’s a lot of stuff there.

It’s lacking its barebones but it’ll give you your base lore on characters, can’t knock it bc we need it. And it does have a lot of stuff.

For Meph specifically ^ DMs talking shop about Meph’s characterization, it’s funny and I agree with a lot of their interpretations. This is a sillier one though.

Some Baalphegor lore bc I’m miss Baalphegor’s number one fan!!!!! Not enough about her…my missing babyGIRL!!!!

Video Games:

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark: Some of the stuff in this is as crazy to me as Raphy ruling over all the Hells but I do like Mephistopheles’s characterization in this sooooo!!!! I watched a playthrough and if you want Meph mannerisms for writing and stuff I think this game is clutch. His voice in it is…hot. 🤭

I hope some of these point you in lore directions you like and gives you some interesting threads to follow! The Hells are vast and I’m still learning a lot. I love it though. Yay Hells :D

source

[xamiipholia]

okay y'all seemed to like the last one so here's a few more Horizon 3 thoughts:

Aloy won’t die. It would completely upend the series’ themes and just be really nihilistic.

Since Nemesis is a gestalt entity I think it’s a safe bet that we’ll see Sam Witwer, Carrie-Anne Moss, etc again. I’m curious how they’re going to do it because at least structurally, it’s basically a reaper. Maybe it’ll use different Avatars when communicating like the Leviathan in ME3. 

It's gonna take some work to make a flashback/dream/vision not contrived but I would love to see Varl and Rost again. I think we deserve that.

Minerva is gonna have its work cut out for it blocking access to both the dormant Faro Swarm and the ZD terraforming system. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Nemesis has some sort of corruption function that becomes the equivalent of the corruption in HZD. It would be a really fun tech showcase if GG uses Zenith nanotech for machine corruption and leans into mechanical body horror.

If we’re going to Ban-Ur I really really hope they do the work to make the Banuk less problematic and more fleshed out as a culture. A quasi-Spartan society absolutely would not survive in an extreme environment, *especially* without megafauna to hunt. The Banuk characters are lovely and well-written; they deserve a society as well thought out as the Utaru or Carja. I’m honestly fine if there’s retcons or revamps to the cultural lore because the whole “outsider barges in and becomes chief” is rooted in racist, colonial tropes and we just don’t really need that imo.

The most recent footage of Death Stranding 2 (also running on Decima) has me SO excited for the visuals. GG’s gonna knock it out. The facial rendering and animation that Kojima Productions are doing looks industry-peak and I’m sure GG’s gonna match that. Aloy’s Gay Panic™️ scene on the beach in HBS is already top-tier nonverbal storytelling through animation. Digital Foundry actually just posted a really cool tech breakdown of the current Decima engine. I’m especially excited about the environmental stuff. The ocean simulations in HFW are already incredible and I hope they increase verticality in the world. I can’t wait to see the Sacred Lands in current gen graphics. 

I really love Kotallo’s DIY arm and it’s so so important to his development but Beta and Gaia now have access to Zenith nanotech, maybe give your buddy a sick upgrade hmm?

Speaking of, I can’t wait to see Beta come into her own. She’s one of the best parts of HFW and Aloy’s character absolutely shines in a sibling dynamic. 

I wouldn’t get your hopes up for a romance mechanic. Everyone’s feelings on that aside, it would be really odd from a game development perspective to just overhaul part of how the narrative develops Aloy’s character in the last act of the story. Yeah, there are flashpoints but I would argue that the presence of choice in Horizon is smoke and mirrors- cosmetic at best. Kentucky Route Zero (which you should play) does something similar where the player is given a certain amount of control over the substance of individual conversations and scenarios and it does absolutely nothing to alter the plot, by design. I think it’s the same here - this isn’t really a choice-based RPG, the flashpoints don’t really affect anything plot-wise or for Aloy’s character development. Olin is still out of the story, Nil lives, Regalla still dies one way or another. Aloy’s character development is pretty firmly on rails (think Jin Sakai, not Shepard - you get to guide some momentary character reactions but that’s it). I don’t think HBS is a testing ground either - If they were gonna introduce a romance mechanic I think they’d just do it, and not spend two years making a direct continuation of HFW’s main quest and establishing a specific romance hard-baked into the plot, complete with multiple leitmotifs for the character relationship (which is something they haven’t done before afaik) just to introduce a side quest mechanic coming in 5 years. I genuinely can’t think of any game or dev that has beta tested a major alteration to upcoming game mechanics that way - it doesn’t really make any sense in terms of developer resources, and these games are extremely time-consuming to make. I know this is a thing a bunch of people want and I can totally empathize with that! I just think it’s probably not on the table. 

I would bet money the series will bookend itself and the epilogue will involve a) the naming of Zo and Varl’s kid and b) Lis’ pendant. 

Mostly I'm just looking forward to being surprised. One of my favorite things that Horizon does is use carefully established elements in the world to pull the plot in unexpected directions and keeping the world grounded while they lean into speculative science fiction. I can't wait to see what Guerrilla is cooking up

[aromanticannibal]

Anyways. Headcanons based on whatever progression this is.

I said headcanons and I lied. Over-analyzing time.

First thing I was thinking about: how are Katsuki and Izuku childhood friends when they are very clearly from different cultures slash tribes slash villages. The idea I ended up with is that Katsuki's people move a lot since they have dragons and they temporarily settled near the Midoriya's house at some point.

Very quickly because I made a post about this before : at some point All Might's sword breaks or is broken on purpose by All Might and its two parts are given to Katsuki and Izuku (this is somewhat lore accurate/canon to the fantasy art series). I headcanon that Katsuki and Izuku then personalize their swords more, keeping the blade intact while modifying the hilt and such (see last illustration: Katsuki's sword is more visible that Izuku's but both have blades in a similar shape as the All Might/One For All sword. There's also that Izuku has another sword at his hip and Katsuki's original sword, the curved one, isn't the one that's out).

Shouto and Enji are so fucking weird.

Shouto's demonic situation in the second illustration clearly represents his left side being associated with his father (bad) and his hatred (also bad). I'm gonna say this is a curse passed down from Enji and created from hatred - the more hate you feel, the more the curse consumes you, but you can learn to wield the curse's power if you let go of your hatred. Both Shouto and Enji are fighting the curse in the second illustration (explaining Enji's fuckass costume hiding his flames, probably) and both of them let go of their hatred (Enji for All Might, Shouto for Enji) in the last illustration.

I also assume given their outfits that they're royalty, if not the king and prince, other similarly important guys.

I think heroes are knights, maybe, probably.

All Might is likely some kind of knight or warrior, Iida and Yaoyorozu are knights, Jirou is a knight, Aizawa is kind of a knight, maybe? It's not a fullproof theory I'll be honest, not all pro-heroes or heroes in training are knight coded in the fantasy series.

The ugly ass dragon?

The ugly ass dragon in the second illustration seems to be an ally to Katsuki and Izuku (and therefore the others) but for reasons you'll understand every soon it's fucking dead. I'm assuming it got killed by villains. Whoops.

So the reason I think it's dead is uh. Yo? Katsuki and Izuku's shoulder pads in the last illustration sure are purple and scaly huh? And the ornaments on Katsuki's new sword sure are orange and horn-looking, huh?

Anyways, the dragon got killed and they used its body for armor and weaponry.

the green capes?

The last illustration has Izuku, Shouto, Ochako, Iida and Aizawa wearing the same type of green cape (Ochako's is a little different but it's still the same green). So this is the Dekusquad plus Aizawa, I'm gonna go ahead and say this is Izuku's party, RPG style. Aizawa is probably here to mediate and make sure they don't die. Katsuki isn't there because he likely is leading the other party.

Kirishima glow up? hello?

He looks so fucking cool in the last illustration I don't even have anything to say. He also looks closer to Katsuki's clothing style, so I'm gonna say Kirishima is part of Katsuki's tribe slash village slash whatever the fuck but left to become a knight and then started getting more in touch with his culture when meeting Katsuki.

Stuff I point out without expanding on it:

Hawks' wings are gone, whoops. Interesting that the fake ones are white and not red. Dove much?

Yaomomo baby that armor isn't protecting you. However you are safe anyway because you are clearly some kind of magic user as well as knight and probably have some kind of force field in place.

Ochako's hat updates to have horns. Minachako goodness. /hj

Kaminari is a cute bard! He's such a romantic. Holding a flower and shit

Not visible in the picture I have. Guys I know we all love the I on Katsuki's arm but I'm sorry it's likely the number 1 in roman lettering rather than the letter -i. He's the number one. He's so goofy.

[rookinthecrownest]

Discussion about romances + expectations under the cut (I'd put it as like..mildly critical, but also coming from a place of understanding?). As usual, will tag as such so you don't have to engage/read on if you don't wish to. I always invite open discussion, just keep it respectful (as I will endeavour to do so myself).

This is going to be a bit of a ramble, so I apologize if my thoughts are not clearly laid out like they should be.

I think I've found the reason why I (and maybe others), feel that the romances in Veilguard feel a bit... idk, hollow, at times (not BAD!!! just feeling like there could be MORE). And that's because of the trap of expectations. I may also be speaking completely for myself here.

Anyway, let's rewind to 2014.

Be me, 10 years ago. You're not really a gamer, but indulge in action RPG's casually.

See a commercial for this hot new game coming out called Dragon Age: Inquisition. Be intrigued by the character designs, but know nothing about the world. Come to find out it's part of a trilogy. So naturally, you buy the first two games and play through them before playing the third.

Be amazed, and completely hooked on the characters, the lore, the world, the darker elements and themes. It becomes your favourite game series of all time.

But you had no idea that you could romance any of the companions going into the experience. And man, does it fundamentally rewire your brain chemistry to fall in love with cRPG and get ridiculously attached to your Warden/Hawke/Inquisitor.

So, you romance Alistair first because he's funny as hell, and has a really interesting story/character arc. Then you romance Zevran, and love that too - he's charming and suave and awkward and funny. Then you go onto DA2 and romance Fenris and Anders, and each of those romances pack their own emotional gut punches. Then it's finally time for DAI, and predictably, you go for Solas (a veritable slow burn that spans TWO games), Cullen, and partially (I never finished those playthroughs lol) Blackwall and Dorian.

I had no idea you could romance companions going into these games. It was a pleasant surprise! It always felt like an important part of the story, while not overshadowing the main plot. There was enough material in the codexes, the cutscenes, and party banter to make each romance feel complete and whole and awesome and nuanced.

And then, like some of you I suspect, I read an article that touted Veilguard as "The Most Romantic Bioware Game Yet", and I thought - "Wow, if they're saying this then the romances must be something else", given the quality of the previous romances you've experienced in these games!

But you get to the game - and while you're having fun, it definitely leans more into the ARPG style where romances feel a bit more pushed to the side in order to tell a certain story than the traditional Bioware/Larian RPG experience you've come to love.

Which is fine! Again, once I stopped thinking of Veilguard as a classic Bioware CRPG, and more like GOW/The Witcher, I found I was able to appreciate it a lot more for what it is. Things have to Happen A Certain Way for the narrative to work, and that's not a bad thing. DA2 was similar - it was a harrowing, personal tragedy about the Hawke family and their struggle to survive in Kirkwall.

Just like DA2, there are aspects of Veilguard that make me glad things happened the way they did. I'm not mad that Rook has so much dialogue without a ton of player input and you can't 'be evil' - because the game doesn't make sense if you can. At its core, Veilguard's narrative is centered around Regret, after all - you can't have an evil protagonist running around because Solas' Regret prison would never work (evil people don't generally tend to regret their actions...)!

Now, if you're expecting a long-winded, fully researched academic breakdown of every romance I'm sorry but that ain't happening tonight lol. This is not based in any fact, this is all opinion.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but sometimes it feels like the romances in this game (and I say this with the biggest grain of salt as I've only done Emmrich and Lucanis' - and am going through Neve's now), are just missing....something, to take them from good to great.

I loved Emmrich's romance. I thought it was very well done. I think a lot of people would agree it's one of the stronger ones in the game - doubly so if you play as a Mourn Watch Rook (you get a TON of MW specific lines going this route, it's great). His side romance with Strife if you don't get together is very cute, I enjoyed it. But as superbly well done as it was, somehow, I wouldn't even put it in my top 4 Bioware romances.

With Lucanis' romance - whatever my hangups may be about how it was handled, certain parts of his romance were done excellently (even better than some of the previous Bioware romances, I'd say). You can read more about my thoughts on his romance here which is why I'm not going into detail about it. Unlike Emmrich's, I would put it in my top 4 because I fell in love with the character that much (both in the game but really, I've loved him since Tevinter Nights), and I've grown very attached to my first Rook and him as a pairing. I've seen others share a similar sentiment on here (and I hate to say it but I agree) - sometimes it feels like I fell in love with Rookanis despite the way it was handled, not because of it. I can't say that for many other romances. While it's been fun to think up a lot of HC/write fics/make art about those abandoned concept sketches and parts where I felt the game could have showed us more of their dynamic, I can't help but feel like his (and other) romances would have immensely benefited from even 1 or 2 extra small scenes to flesh it out a bit more if they weren't going to let us freely talk to our companions.

The issue with the romances might also have something to do with the pacing of the game itself. I think Act 2 is where the pacing goes a bit awry, before picking back up in Act 3 (which is great, I love it).

Sometimes I also felt that there was a little too much reliance on codex entries and party banter to tell the story of the romance rather than showing it explicitly through cutscenes. I think that's what makes the romances feel a bit truncated at times, compared to the previous entries? Some of the romance-specific party banter was so good, it probably deserved its own cutscene. But it's also highly dependent on the party you have, and it's easy to miss/not trigger. I remember absolutely living for the cutscenes in the first three entries and I can't explain why I feel like, subjectively speaking, Veilguard just has less romance content (this may not be objective reality - I haven't compared the amount of romance specific content head to head with other games).

I also couldn't tell you why I feel DA2 doesn't suffer the same problems as DATV in terms of romance interaction - because you can't freely talk to your companions in that game either. Yet somehow, it always felt like I was getting enough of them to not notice that. I do miss being able to chat my LI's ear off and ask them questions about their life/their views/etc. like I could in DAO and DAI. I think it's a shame we can't because the companions in DATV are SO interesting. I want to ask them all a billion questions about their lives/stories/etc even if they're not my love interest. The party banter in this game is immaculate but being able to talk to them individually about this stuff would've been SO nice. I feel that I've missed out on SO MUCH of these characters just because I didn't have two of them in my party at the same time!

Anyway, I need to wrap this up.

In closing, perhaps, if I hadn't read that article about how it was going to be Bioware's most romantic game ... maybe I wouldn't feel this way? I think it sent my expectations through the stratosphere, and that's no one's fault but my own. Not Bioware, not EA, mine.

I know that this game's development cycle was a unique sort of hell that the other games didn't suffer. To go from Joplin -> Morrison -> Veilguard. To have so many of the original staff leave the team when Joplin got scrapped. To have to pivot from Live Service and then back to single person RPG. More lay-offs. It's a miracle this game got made. I'm happy I can sit around thinking about it. And I hope its successful enough that we get DA5 so we can all sit around dissecting that in 5-10 yrs time.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the Veilguard romances for what they are. I'm enjoying them more I play and discover additional banter/codex/etc that I missed the first time around. Like any Bioware romance, there are spots where they hit their stride, and spots where they falter a bit. When they hit their stride they knock it out of the fucking park. But when they falter, you can really feel it. Romance is hard to write! And you'll never fully please everyone.

But a small part of me wishes I'd gone in blind, and checked my own expectations a bit.

Maybe you agree, maybe you don't. Tell me about it. What was your experience with the romances? Did you also read that article and get your expectations up?

I hope this makes sense.

Kind regards good fandom folks,

Keep the discussion respectful. And please don't use this post as an excuse to just blatantly hate on the game.

-Rookie

[rpgchoices]

What rpgs do you recommend? This blog made me find out about a lot that ive never heard of and wanna play some day ^_^

Ohhh hello!! I think it depends on what you like in an rpg in general or what rpgs you played before and your priorities!

For me the main elements I want are characters and good story, but characters will always be first so I basically only play rpgs with companions. I also love romance but I tend to play only queer romances so I mainly play rpgs that allow me to play a wlw or mlm romance.

You can also check my series of useless recs and what to expect for different recs!

Let me know what kind of games you'd like to play and I can give some more personalized recs!

In general my absolute favorites are (divided in types)

ISOMETRIC (so a lot to read, and you look everything from above):

Pathfinder Kingmaker: amazing character, fav polyamorous romance with a lady elf and an orc guy, the story is okay and the mechanics are fine, but the characters really make it shine.

Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous: incredible customization of player character, great companions and romances, AMAZING story and villain. The mechanics and gameplay are like Kingmaker and not my favorite, but here they added turn based.

Pillars of Eternity (and sequel): amazing amazing story and very well created characters, the romances are not my favorite but I still love Tekehu!

Rogue Trader: this is set in a very bleak world where everyone is a villain so well, everyone is horrible. It is still quite a fun game if you do not mind the setting! And it has one of the most messed up romances ever (Marazhai)!

Shadowrun Hong Kong: I love the setting and the companion so much, but no romance.

Expediton Viking: Historical setting is not my favorite, but the game is still quite good and allows you do play as an usual companions rpg. It also has romanced!

DISCO ELYSIUM: I know I said I mainly play games with romances, and this has none, but everyone in the world should play Disco Elysium. One of the best isometric rpgs ever made.

Divinity Original Sin 2: If you liked BG3 maybe you will like this one too! The tone is much more humorous and absurdist, the story is quite good and the companions are amazing. The romances are also pretty good and as BG3 you can play as one of the companions.

ACTION RPG (is this even the name? Rpgs like Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3, so you can see the characters, and they speak)

Of course these need no introduction (but I put them in order of how much I love the companions and romances): Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Origins, Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect trilogy.

Enderal: If you have Skyrim you can easily install Enderal for free, it is a mod but it is an indipendent game with its lore and characters. The only game that destroyed me and makes me cry when I think about it, so... play at your own risk. Amazing romances, incredible story.

The Technomancer: While the gameplay is a bit repetitive, the game is still pretty good! The characters are all interesting and the romance is kind of cute even if short.

OTHERS:

Sorcery!: This is an rpg that is basically the adaptation of a text game. It is absolutely perfect, one of my favorite games ever. It also has one of my favorite romances (Flanker)

Not exactly classic rpgs but still amazing: (I just wanted to recommend two of my favorite games that have roleplay elements):

Heaven's Vault

Dreamfall chapters (and the series in general)

[open-hearth-rpg]

#RPGaDay2024

RPG You’d Like to See on TV 

I always give this answer for this, I’ve been giving this answer for years: somebody needs to make a #iHunt TV series. Really, seriously, right now. 

We’ve already had lots of classic monster-hunting series: Buffy, Supernatural, Grimm, izombie, etc. It’s a tried and true formula– especially when that’s mixed up with messy lore. An #iHunt series could have that, with an outside looking in approach. 

We have hunters but they don’t know much about their supernatural quarry. What they get is contradictory and incomplete. The people who do know probably chase the same quarry or know that the info has value. And frankly shit shouldn’t make sense. Over time our protagonists should be putting together their own sense of this world– only to have it overturned by some new encounter. 

That’s the monster/target side of things. The more interesting side is the gig economy of monster-hunting and what that that does to our heroes(?). They’re desperate and hungry. The system’s an even bigger foe than that which they pursue. Lots of room for great character development, real life tensions, and moral quandaries. It’s also a sharp comment on tech bro culture, the rapacious nature of gigging, and the drive to the bottom of capitalism. 

Make our characters have messy lives tied up with some supernaturals– love, sex, family disputes. It could be dynamite. Some recent media have glanced off the edge of this. Day Shift, for example, has an exploitative hunter company, but it really avoids engaging with any real critique. Any show should be messy, with a non-comedic version of the vibes of something like Los Espookys, Chambers, or 30 Coins. 

If forced to give another answer, probably an Apocalypse Keys animated series– maybe with the vibe of Suicide Squad isekai. I think that could be dynamite. I would also dearly love to watch a show based on Danger! Unexploded Spell. A prestige mini-series of that would be incredible– magic, desperate characters, and constant danger. The Magicians meets The Hurt Locker.

[songoftrillium]

Meet The (Updated) Writing Team

Hello Kinfolks! These last two months have been quiet for y'all in terms of updates, but BUSY in terms of the work being done by the sept of contributors to this project!

At the start of October I put out the call for help, saying that this project cannot succeed without the help and support of the Werewolf fandom. I'm happy to report that you as a fandom have responded phenomenally, and production on this series is now underway! These last few months have been dedicated to recruiting team members, and researching our book framework. We've about filled in the main core of the team, and have already gotten started writing Book 1: Cliath!

October through November has been dedicated entirely to research, both putting together a collection of citations we'll be using in this first book, and passing out initial writing assignments. This list is sure to grow in time, but for now we have plenty of work to do!

With that all said, I'd like to introduce you to the team that are showcasing the Gaians.

Amy Waller (she/her)

Bluesky

Ms. Waller is a freelance writer and massage therapist based in not-quite Northern Virginia, and is a contributor to D.W.A.R.V.S. . Werewolf the Apocalypse was her first RPG, and she loves the themes of shapechanging as self-actualization and of trying to balance instinct and wisdom.

Amy has joined the team to depict the journals of Cryptobiologist Esme "Leaping Ghost".

Bek Andrew Evans (He/They)

Linktree

Mx. Evans is a freelance writer and illustrator from Jackson, Mississippi. He explores themes of mental illness, disability, abuse, poverty, queer themes and the intersection of these statuses. He uses body and psychological horror, meticulous attention to medical details, and deep character dives as some of his favorite methods to achieve those goals.

Bek has been indispensible in book research, and will be taking his experience with M20 Sorcerer and writing for the Hearthbound, and fictitious news article citations.

Evie Emerson Smith (She/It)

Tumblr

Evie is a programmer and designer of video games living with her pack in Pittsburgh, PA. She uses primarily anthropomorphic characters to tell stories about identity, queerness, and the power of community.

She has joined the team as a technical writer, and contributor to the opening comic: Cracking The Bone

Excelgarou (She/Her)

Carrd

She's been described as a Werewolf: The Apocalypse academic, and wears this title proudly. She labors at all hours on resources for Werewolf fans - particularly as regards aggregating otherwise obscure information - such as the Build-a-Veteran tool or (especially) the Werewolf Index Project.

Excelgarou is our lead researcher, ensuring our book citations and narrative voices remain consistent through all editions. She has also been conscripted to write the introductory passage on the World of Darkness, and to redraft the Children of Gaia.

James E. Deeley (He/Him)

Linktree

Jim has been playing, running, and writing for tabletop roleplaying games since he was first introduced to them over twenty years ago. Jim has presented on the subject of writing for games since 2010, and has been contracted to write mechanics and to do character design by the likes of High Level Games, Lostlorn Games, and Renegade Game Studios, but is equally skilled at writing lore and narrative, skills honed over two decades of running roleplaying games and medieval studies, lending a deep historical context to his writings.

Jim will write the Western Concordat, showcasing the Silver Fangs, Fianna, Get of Fenris, and Glass Walkers.

J.F. Sambrano (They/He)

Patreon

J. F. Sambrano is an author of horror and (urban/dark/depressing?) fantasy and an advocate for indigenous rights. He lives in Washington (the state) and is originally from Los Angeles (the city); the differences are staggering but the ocean and the I-5 are the same. He is Chiricahua Apache (Ndeh) and Cora Indian (Náayarite). He may or may not be a believer/practitioner of real world magic. If he were, he would not be interested in your hippy-dippy, crystal swinging, dream-catcher slinging garbage.But magic is real, let’s not fuck around.

Beloved Indigenous World of Darkness author J.F. Sambrano is joining our team to depict the Bastet in the Dawn Tribes! A friend and frequent topic of discussion on this blog, we are honored to have him on the team to bring the Werewolf: the Apocalypse he's long-felt the world deserves to life!

LeeKat (She/Her)

Linktree

Lee is a freelance artist, writer, and English teacher based in Brazil. The bulk of her content is furry, homoerotic, and TTRPG-centric works. Her writing focuses on exploring the depths of emotion with tales of self-discovery, queerness, and finding hope in a desolate world.

A huge lover of Werewolf, themes of generational trauma and rediscovering oneself in a world of turmoil resonated deeply, as well as themes of spirituality and ancestry. Writing for this project, she hopes to bring others the same catharsis she felt through exploring the books and their many themes.

Mórag (it/its)

Tumblr

Mòrag is a writer and botanist from Te Wai Pounamu. It writes both botanical articles and horror stories, the former to raise awareness of ecological issues and the latter to explore what it means to be human, represent trans and autistic experiences, and addiction. It's horror writing is best recognized for its use of visceral first-person perspectives, body horror, and the grotesque. It is influenced heavily by works such as the Hellraiser films and the philosophies of Georges Bataille.

It has joined our team to write the story portions of the Song of Trillium, showcasing the legend of Tawatuy.

[confusedlucifer]

so yesterday at 1 am finally the credits rolled on my first playthrough of DA:Veilguard and left me with a lot of thoughts and feelings, and also a literal headache this morning like i was hungover. full game spoilers ahead!

i want to preface by where im coming from - my expectations for this game were basically zero. it took ten years to get here, with very publicized troubled development, the game being reworked at least three times, lay offs, leadership leaving etc. basically up until june this year i genuinely did not believe another DA would come out and if it did, it wasnt going to be very good.

i'm also a person who played DAI on release and didnt really enjoy it that much at first! of the first three DA games, i think its by far the weakest in terms of story and the cast of companions. i never cared about Solas one way or another and always was a bit meh on the shift of the story toward ancient elves and gods. nonetheless i have 500+ hours in that game and dearly love my Inquisitor.

so with the combination of these feelings, i was really wary of this game being too much a sequel to Trespasser and centering Solas too much, and the Dread Wolf title initially just confirmed this (and annoyed me) (i did not like the bald man sorry)

i think in general i came into it with the acceptance of what the game is - and isnt. after the initial reveals and marketing started, it was clear they are making an action game, not a full fledged RPG anymore. it was also clear its going to be a shift for the series. i had my worries about the story and companions seeming too nice and sanitized, which was basically confirmed for me after i started reading Tevinter Nights (which came out in 2020) where you meet a lot of the companions and factions and they are quite the heroic bunch. so i knew all this going into the game and kinda braced for it.

still... the beginning hours were rough. the start of the game just really wanted to bounce me off so badly with some of the worst and grating writing from the start and just the jarring transition from the formula of the previous games and into this new action game setting. suddenly i couldnt talk to my companions whenever i wanted, i couldnt get to know them freely. it was a lot to adjust to at first.

the combat, the visuals and promise of meeting the cast really tied me over and the writing for its part got generally better the further in i got. i remember especially as soon as i started to discover the two cities, especially Treviso, i really started to fall in love with the setting.

despite myself i also came to really like how Solas is in this game - now finally actually just Fen'Harel, mask off full on Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs figure, imprisoned and offering "advice" yet subtly lying to your face and manipulating you the whole time. in general imo he was handled really well all the way to the end, and i enjoyed the Crossroads quests, the memories of his rebellion, the Regrets and lore reveals/confirmations of theories that have been teased either since the beginning of the series.

and despite my initial apprehension to some companions i really grew to love all of them just within the one playthrough. which is not something i can say for the cast of Inquisition personally - i grew really attached to Dorian, Varric, Cassandra but the rest were varying levels of neither here nor there until subsequent playthroughs. Veilguard really makes you spend a LOT of time with these people. and they feel like people with their own lives outside of you, despite relying on Rook a lot for advice. i actually really loved seeing them develop friendships and relationships independent of Rook, it made the home base feel more alive. generally i loved each of their questlines, some were weaker but the real highlights for me were Emmrich and Taash alongside Harding (esp playing as a dwarf). i immediately loved Taash being younger and giving attitude compared to the rest of the more matured cast it created an interesting dnyamic, and being a nonbinary kid of a conservative immigrant parent myself their storyline hit me really hard. i really adored Davrin and the griffon storyline following up on the Last Flight which is imo one of the best tie in books for this series. and Bellara - girl im so sorry for bouncing off your personality at first. her personal quest and performance was so touching and surprised me a lot by the end how much i liked her, and how much depth she was given. Lucanis was a pleasant surprise for me but i think his questline could have been done a bit better overall, and same for Neve - who i was really looking forward to initially but her questline kidna fell short of my expectations (thought i feel that on another replay things might be different due to me nuking Minrathous basically)

(also i ended up going for Emmrich romance with my mourn watch dwarven warrior and when i tell you there were times when i absolutely yelled out loud at how much i was catered to. his story and Manfred are just. so so delightful)

the real drawback of this game is.. my god there is so much missing. it does not really line up with the Tevinter we have heard about. some of the factions (namely LoF and Veil Jumpers) are not really super relevant. some factions are sanded down (Antivan Crows), and although it can be explained away in the lore (we are dealing with just one house, not all of the Crows so theres some wiggle room) its still hard not to see these changes. we visit so many places but they become a bit one note, sometimes reduced to just set dressing. especially by the end of the game i really wanted to see more of Minrathous and Tevinter in general, but we get very limited, filtered view of it. and with the companions feeling so independent of you, it actually makes Rook feel kinda underdeveloped in comparison. it feels they forge better friendships among themselves than with you, which i do kinda miss having a sort of "Best friend" in these games ala Alistair/Varric/Dorian. one thing i really sorely wish they added was any sort of prologue of you actually meeting Varric before the events of this game, because while you are attached to him as a player, Rook doesnt really have a very good established relationship with him i feel.

but looking at it as a game that went through so many iterations and ideas and genuine hell to even be released... i understand the reason people are upset with some of these things and situation about Southern Thedas or not following up more directly from Trespasser. personally it doesnt bother me (as i mostly live in headcanon with my DA characters anyway) but i get how it would others. i just dont understand the feeling that the devs and writers who worked on the previous games are out to ruin your beloved universe. so much of this game screams to me "we dont know if we will ever get to make another one of these". all the places we go to, without any larger plot relevance, the lore reveals and theories, the questions answered etc so much if it just such a huge closing of a chapter on Thedas, because theres no certainty for us or the devs we will ever return to this world again.

i have.. so many feelings about it but honestly towards the end of the game, finishing all the companions quests, finishing the quests for Wardens and the Crows as well especially and then heading towards that finale... like idk maybe ill change my mind down the line, but right now it feels like one of the best executed endings in any Dragon Age game. the whole maybe like 4? hour long finale just really gripped me by the throat, even though i saw some of the twists coming it still affected me a lot. and im excited about the tease for potential future too - turning the gaze outside of the continent and beyond the ocean, again something that has been very vaguely teased since Origins (with the lore of Kossith initially fleeing south because of Something TM) with moments here and there throughout the games. i'm glad there's still more mystery in this world and ancient elves didn't eat all of it. i'm even excited for the prospect of shifting the series into a single protagonist series with Rook.

i do miss a proper epilogue (just like i miss a proper prologue) at the moment especially because they seem very firm on no DLC and with the future of the franchise so unsure. with all this feeling of closure on this really storied world, i would have loved some good old fashioned epilogue slides at least vaguely discussing the future of the different kingdoms and nations, any sort of reaction to what transpired in this game yknow. if we dont get a DLC or a sequel down the line, i hope at least maybe for more tie in comics or novels.

still very much feel like DA:O and DA2 are tonally a separate world from DAI + DAV, and its not a bad thing but its why i dont expect Veilguard to be anywhere on par with the first two games. this is where im at, excited to eventually replay the game with a different faction background and different choices once the dust settles and hoping time will be kind to this game despite its many flaws.

[pixies-and-poets]

In which I dare to rant about Paper Mario

So there's this discourse going around twitter right now about Paper Mario being an AU and Paper Mario not being the "real" Mario and if ANY of the PM games happened in "the real Mario world" or have parallels, do the characters exist outside of the Paper World, etc etc

And all I can think is like, damn, how unfortunate is it that Intelligent Systems deciding to use a charming and timeless art style back on the N64 led to this. The idea to use 2D sprites on 3D backgrounds to create a storybook feel eventually spiraled into the series' ENTIRE IDENTITY. Gameplay does not unite the whole Paper Mario series, depth of story does not, shared characters do not, only the art style and the idea of 2D vs 3D.

And it's a shame because the first PM was a lovely fairy tale that clearly followed in the footsteps of SMRPG as an extrapolation of what the Mushroom Kingdom could be, and how Mario's world works. It was also my first Mario RPG and had tremendous influence on me. Friendly Koopas and Goombas, the Star Spirits, wishes. It was called Mario Story in Japan and the paper aspect mattered nothing to the actual narrative. And then TTYD got a little cheekier with the paper abilities (with them being a fourth-wall-wobbling joke tacked on to what was clearly supposed to still be a Mario Story). And then SPM, much as I love it, bases its entire hook around 2D/3D in a way that's hard to reconcile with Mario's "normal" existence. And by Sticker Star they just said screw it, reboot it, everyone is 100% aware they are made of paper and that's like the series' whole deal now. And it has stayed there ever since.

For the last three games, you can say maybe there's a "real" Bobby out there or a "real" Captain T. Ode but it's impossible for their plots to take place in a world divorced from the craft universe unless we substitute in a lot of body horror and viscera (and even then, what of the Things? Etc). And that's ok for these games, they work within their own context and can be fun for what they are. But it's now got people thinking the first three games fold into this same AU. And you can blame Paper Jam for this but the PM series did it to itself. PJ just clearly spelled out the dual reality that Sticker Star and its follow-ups obviously necessitated. And now the whole series has retroactively been wrapped up into this Paper Universe.

Look, I know "Mario lore" doesn't actually matter, and most RPG characters never show up again even in their own series, and as long as you enjoy each game in a vacuum that's what matters. But it's frustrating that we've reached a point where PM characters have to be the odd ones out who may or may not "actually exist" or have actually met the "real Mario". Mallow is definitely real, Cackletta is definitely real but Chuck Quizmo- WHOA SLAM THE BRAKES, IDK ABOUT THAT ONE CHIEF. Thankfully most people don't give a shit about this drudgery and it won't stop people from drawing Vivian and Geno interacting, because it's just fun and good.

But my point is, I don't think the people working on the first PM (and TTYD) really could have foreseen the series evolving into what it is today, and it's unfair to wipe out their lovely narratives and relegate them to some kind of side universe not worthy of The Real Super Mario(tm) [especially because, taken in sum total of characters and vignettes, TTYD is the greatest Mario narrative there has ever been IMO]. SPM, so strange in both its style and its entire concept, is in some kind of weird limbo where I don't even really care what people think of it anymore, just let me enjoy my game that makes me cry every time in peace lmao

I can't think of another example of a series where an arbitrary stylistic gimmick (not a gameplay or story gimmick but a STYLISTIC gimmick) consumes it and becomes its entire thematic identity. Can you? It's Flanderization on the scale of a franchise, not just a character. Closest is perhaps the Yoshi series, where Yoshi's Island had a childlike crayon look to stand out on the SNES and fit the theme of Baby Mario, which got expanded to Yoshi's Story being a storybook and now we have craft themed Yoshi games. But it's still not entirely the same thing because the gameplay has remained somewhat consistent, if getting rather easier.

Anyway peace and love I just want Johnny Jones and Cortez to hang out

[ciaossu-imagines]

For day 17 of the event, I used the word ‘hands’ from prompt 8 for Gokudera from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I really enjoyed thinking about this one and I hope any fans of the series will enjoy these small headcanons 😊

What ‘fandoms’ would the character belong to?

I’ve mentioned it in previous posts, but I really do believe that Gokudera is someone who is really into horror movies. While he loves the genre as a whole, I do believe he has favourite series and horror movie villains. He’s a big Freddie Krueger fan, is a fan of the Exorcist movie, the Insidious series, and for horror-based television shows, he’s a huge fan of Stan Against Evil for sillier things and From, American Horror Story, and Channel Zero for more serious horror television.

I do think Gokudera is someone who would have gotten really into Supernatural. He’s not only watched the series in its entirety at least twice, but owns all the seasons, as well as some merch.

Let’s get clear one of my strongest fandom headcanons for this boy. Gokudera? Huge Dungeons & Dragons nerd. He loves everything about the game, the different worlds, and he’s always dreamed of doing a campaign. Even before he gets to, he has at least a half-dozen potential characters drafted up and figured out. I do like to headcanon him getting into a D&D group, consisting of various characters (most definitely including Byakuran, Shoichi, and Julie) during high school. However, it’s always been a dream of his to have a campaign with his fellow Guardians, but that isn’t something that happens for many years, not until Lambo is a teenager and better able to handle the game, though the poor Dungeon Master has a hard time re-explaining the rules and guidelines to Lambo every damn session.

Gokudera also gets into other tabletop rpg’s, such as Call of Cthulhu.

I do think that Gokudera would be a huge fan of MonsterQuest and Destination Truth. He’s really always going to enjoy any documentary series or movies based around cryptids, urban legends, and things of that ilk. He really enjoyed Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, for its stories and he’d always try to guess and would keep track on how many he guessed correctly.

I do think Gokudera gets into podcasts. He has several Dungeons & Dragons podcasts he listens to, like Critical Role and Dungeons & Daddies. He also really enjoys podcasts like Lore and Welcome to Nightvale, along with some horror-based podcasts.

[ofxendless]

*literally screams from the rooftops* PLEASE RP WITH ME XOXOX

Tags: FC's • Opposites • Plots

Hi! You can call me C, I go by she/her, and below is some info about me!

*warning: it’s long.

fair to ask yourself: is she really worth it?

To that, I say: nah probably not*

• I’m 25 and I will only interact with those over 21.

• My tumblr will seemingly always and forever screw me over and not show me messages properly, so please feel free to head straight to my discord at cee98x

• I’ve been roleplaying since what feels like forever. I started super young one summer before school started up, and I’ve been on-and-off ever since. I began in roleplay groups roleplaying Harry Potter, then got really into The Vampire Diaries-verse, and have also enjoyed Percy Jackson, supernatural town, royal rpgs, and a bunch I’ve popped into over the years.

• I do come from a land down under *cue the flute*. So AEST timezone, but my schedule is alll over a lot of the time.

• I’m looking to rp over discord. Fair warning, I am still getting the hang of rping on there and I have no idea how to do real fancy stuff but I’m a quick learner so we’ll be fine. I still feel like it was yesterday when I dragged my feet big time transferring from roleplaying on facebook to tumblr. Ah, time flies.

• I’m a very easy going person! Your length, I’ll match. Your ideas? I’ll pretty much lap up everything. Hate fandom rp? Cool not an issue at all! Hate oc rps and prefer fandom? Wicked! If I don’t know the lore well, I’ll wing it! Struggling to get a reply out? No stress! I’m well passed putting so much pressure onto things that they feel like a chore. I’d love to chat about our ships and discuss fc’s and get excited and really have some fun!

• I play mostly female muses! I know, I’m so terribly cliche, but I am pretty meh with male muses. Although, it’s been a long time since I’ve given it a go and I’m always happy to compromise! Very much wanting sapphic plots too!!

• I’m open to smut and most ideas! Don’t like super dark kinks or anything too out there but, again, always willing to try new things within reason! Plot and smut should be balanced. I also have no triggers.

• Some fandoms I’d be interested to rp if that was your jam would include The Vampire Diaries, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, True Blood, Teen Wolf, The Umbrella Academy, Bridgerton, The Sandman, Doctor Who, and I’m sureee there’s more I am forgetting. This also includes creating OC’s set in any of these universes.

• Some themes I’d loveee to explore include supernatural/fantasy/paranormal, enemies to lovers, best friends to lovers, boss/employee or professor/student, soul mate/ride or die/meant to be, fwb, ewb, age gap (legal!), horror, crime, mystery, and soo much more honestly

• Face claims I’d die to use include Renee Rapp, Emily Bader, Maia Reficco, Madison Iseman, Anya Taylor Joy, Camila Mendes, Elisha Applebaum, Hannah Dodd, Sadie Soverall, Adelaide Kane, Anya Chalotra, Simone Ashley, Josephine Langford, Danielle Rose Russell, Abigail Cowen, Conor Leslie and Zaria Simone

• Fave opposites include all of the above and more, Bill Skarsgard, Matthew Daddario, Noah Centineo, Robbie Amell, Henry Cavill, Rege-Jean Page, Aria Shaghasemi, Ross Butler, Jacob Elordi, Glen Powell

I WOULD RISK IT ALL FOR THESE PLOTS:

1) Based on a fave book series of mine, but honestly does not need to have any relation to it and can be adapted to any ideas. Basically, girl runs away from home in her mid teens, meets guy around her age who takes her in with him and his guardian who have some secrets, turns out they’re *some type of supernatural creature idk can be whatever we like*. Turns out she has some illness that he can’t cure alone and he has to agree to hand her over to his enemies so that they can cure her, but it also will wipe her memories and she will forget her life before. Fast forward a few years, he’s never stopped protecting her but he’s never gotten close because he can’t bear it. She just happens to go with her friends to the club he now owns. Drama ensues.

2) ““oh, can we take it nice && slow?” two strangers who meet every weekend at a club. nothing but first names are shared. they use each other to relieve the stress of their weeks. hot && heavy dancing. making out on the dance floor. on occasion hookups in the corner of the club. but the moment they leave the club, it’s as if they don’t exist. their chemistry is electric, but there unspoken complications in their lives that they just understand. it isn’t until a new monday comes around && she walks into the office to meet her new boss. oh, shit. her weekend hook up is her new boss. she assumes he’s married with the ring on his finger, she has no idea he’s widowed && he has no idea that she has a child at home”

3) “OR hey what about a historical plot where Muse A and Muse B are both next in line to the throne of their neighbouring countries that once used to be one nation. There’s been a push for many years to unite the kingdoms once more, and many want Muse A and Muse B to marry in order for it to happen. But, Muse A and Muse B absolutely hate each other, and can’t stand the idea of being around one another. Until, they’re forced into the engagement by their parents, and are made to spend countless hours with one another. Lots of bickering, and tension ensue, as they get closer asdfjkl”

4) “plot where ‘i had a bad break up with my ex of 4 years who cheated on me, and treated me like dirt and wow i just found out i’m pregnant and he’s the father so here comes the emotional breakdown and late night pounding on his front door. But oops you’re not him, you’re his brother and you’re being really kind to me and calming me down, and those kisses on the top of my head are so new to me.’ also referred to as the plot where Muse A is pregnant, her manipulative ex boyfriend is the father, however Muse B aka his brother had always had a thing for Muse A. The night Muse A comes banging on his brothers door while Muse B is staying there for a while, he consoles her and decides to help her through the break up and pregnancy. However feelings get involved, drama, fights, and his older/younger brother isn’t so happy about it. Yes pls”

5) “maybe a plot where muse a and muse b broke up like five years ago and then muse a got a call from muse b’s parents telling him that she got into an accident and had temporary amnesia and only remember the time when they were together so they’re asking him for a favor to go back home?”

6) two muses who hate each other and are constantly competing at everything and everyone thinks they can’t stand each other but oh wait you’re really hot let’s have angry sex oh no wait now i have feelings

7) This, this, this, this, this, and these!

If you made it this far, I salute you friend! If it sounds like we might get on, give this a good ol’ like and I’ll annoy you! Cheers!

[eclipsecrowned]

🔥🔥🔥 for whatever u want!!! if u dont have any more off the top of ur head + want a topic then do berserk. also why is this text so big why am i yelling. kadi help // @likemosaic

i am printing and framing this ask jsyk.

I don't know if the community at large understands what an OC is anymore. Like. There's fandom OCs, where you create a new dude to live in an extant setting. There's fandomless OCs, where you create a new dude in either a new world or applicable to all worlds. There's OCs who were formerly canon related, such as when you were really into a franchise but ended up developing your original dude so contrary to later established lore that you just pull them entirely, or you so fell out of love with the source material you pack up a decade plus canon dude and start sanding them down away from the shit views of the creator. There's player character OCs, where you get to write your dude you played in an rpg. Many roads, same result.

Then there's some stuff I've seen recently that is baffling to me.

People filing serial numbers off of a popular FC's role and claiming that Blarbo, the 6'3" chainsaw wielding vampire clown whose FC is internationally recognized white man du jour Large McHugebig written for the Murderous Mimes of the Multiverse fandom, is totally different to Blorbo, the 6'3" chainsaw wielding vampire clown whose FC is internationally recognized white man du jour Large McHugebig, from the Murderous Mimes of the Multiverse film series. People can't actually think that's original content, surely. That's very clearly the same character with token adjustments. Why would you not just play Blorbo with some divergences or personal lore?

Or people who have purported to write OC concepts off of barely fleshed out canon elements, which is usually one of my fav OC bases... Except wait, that's literally a canon take on that concept from an extant adaption. Yes, Count Blorbinski's wife is an unnamed figure in the original novel, but the 1999 anime 'Blorbinski's Bouncy House of Doom' said her name was Blorbentina. How... Coincidental that your OC for Countess Blorbinski is also named Blorbentina. And has the exact same backstory and dynamic with the Count as from the anime. And you use the 1999 design for the Countess as her FC -- This isn't an OC, as much as you keep saying it. Bouncy House of Doom is one of the most popular anime out there too so how did you think this was going to work? Again, why would you not just play the 1999 version of this character instead of presenting her as your own creation?

More and more often I see 'ten years ago this would have been an AU/fandomless blog for a canon but today we pretend this is original content' blogs pop up. I feel like if I rolled up with a Calishite Warlock named Cal'aydin who was bonded to a wind spirit and was fighting depression after his brother's death as well as the forces of the BBEG, you guys would righteously call me on 'this is K*ladin St0rmblessed reskinned for D&D. You didn't come up with any of this.' But more and more I see 'original content do not steal' except? It's already extant IP with one or two concepts changed to suit the mun's tastes. Everything else remains very clearly the work of [insert household name creative of the 20th-21st centuries here.]

It amazes me how often I see these blogs pop up, and just how popular some of them are. I cannot wrap my head around it. Like, it's their blog, they can do whatever, as long as they're not profiting off someone else's creative labor it's not a big deal. But it is one of those 'has become more common in the community lately' things that makes me want to stand up and ask 'is anyone else seeing this or am I just going crazy?' I feel like I'm in the minority by not caring for this trend/new definition of 'original character' just based on how often these blogs cross my dash.

[togetherhearted]

Hey Hey Hey!~ I have been reeling still from arcane season 2 (bit sad I didn't really get to experience seeing some of the characters on screen built closer to the game lore but steb my love <3~) and time has past but I must say *hand on shoulder* you have not lost your touch. It was nice to reunite with blorbos from season 1 for one night under the stars ^A^ I really like how each location was different and their demeanour within their respective scenes (having us bring them out to stargaze vs them encouraging us to go out stargazing) Yes, I too forgot local cuisine boy was called howl (I'm too used to associating that name with howl's moving castle 'xD)

Recently, I've been delving into more super mario content (watched the movie and omigosh I loved the bond between the brothers, the side scrolleresque scene in the beginning and how each of the powerups affected the characters. How about you?? :D) and found out that my local library has some games from that franchise available to borrow. I kinda got carried away and borrowed up to the limit this month so I won't be able to really touch those games till next year but my choices are Paper Mario: the thousand-year door, Super Mario Bros: wonder and Super Mario RPG. Which would you recommended I begin 2025 with? ^-^

I'm not even sure his name is Howl 😅 Like,in canon. We just rolled with it at some point of our life 🤣

Super Mario you say???

Oh well,this topic interests me greatly! Time and money made it hard for me to enjoy new games but I've been an avid fan since my childhood.

It depends on what type of game you enjoy. Personally I grew up with bread,Nutella and Mario's platformers so I would launch myself onto Super Mario Wonders.

But I also read great things about The Thousand Years Door. It's a classic that I haven't tried yet. But it should follow the turn based formula. Plus,the paper artstyle sure is charming. I played a couple of them.

About Mario RPG...I don't know much about it but I also have that in my list. It's a rpg game and I like those.

Though if I could sneak a fourth option [That you can ignore if you'd like] I would suggest Matio & Luigi Brothership. It's the latest of the "M&L serie" and it focus on both of them. I personally like it because I can get charming scenes with the brothers. Their bond mean so much to me. I sadly still not got the chance to play it [Again,welcome to adulthood,where you don't either have time or the money to play these games 😔]

I maybe wrote a bit much but I get excited when I can talk about The Super Mario universe ^^ I hope I cleared a bit your mind 😅

At the end of the day it is based on your personal preferences. Or you can take a jump into the unknow.