#man just wants to make a puzzle campaign

[feigningroyalty]

JRWI Mythborne e2: Frat out of Hell

1:40:50

[meanbossart]

im so curious-- how well does DUDrow get on with the other companions? I've only seen your art and going off that I feel like: he gets along with Shadowheart, Gale I think he borderline cant stand, and Wyll/Lae'zel/Karlach I have no idea how he'd feel about them but id love to know!

So, funfact, because I was not familiar with these kinds of games at the time I played BG3, I practically stuck with the same exact party the entire playthrough. I distinctly remember swapping Wyll in for Astarion once at the end of act 2 because I thought he NEEDED to be there to find Mizora, and I replaced Gale with Karlach when I went to kill Gortash. Otherwise... It was pretty much always just DU drow, Shadowheart, Astarion and Gale. I did this because they were the characters I liked most, so I wanted to see all they had to offer.

Anyways, I mention this because it reflects how DU drow related to everyone - which is to say that he didn't. He picked his favorites (two because he liked them, one because he has fireball) and didn't get particularly close to anyone else.

BUT, there were definitely notable dynamics!

Lae'zel: She's dead. He killed her night 3 or something. Before that he thought her annoyingly demanding and over the top. I don't think DU drow even remembers her by the end of the game.

Gale: Just to add to your original observation, Gale and DU drow have a little bit of history. Gale tries, for about half of the campaign, to pursue him romantically. DU drow keeps turning him down and is either misinterpreted or ignored, and by the time Gale does give up on him their relationship has completely soured to the point where they are constantly shooting daggers at each other. (this reflects a romance bug I got in my first run, except I didn't realize it was a bug. Either way I think its more interesting storytelling than the intended experience.)

Wyll: DU drow was profoundly frustrated by Wyll every step of the way. He found him to be incredibly naive and a bit delusional in his pursuit for heroism, and could never relate to Wyll's perspective or choices - the few he made for himself, at least. They definitely had the least in common and DU drow avoided interacting with him most of the time.

Halsin: He didn't care for Halsin much. He was vaguely helpful but by the time they got to the shadow-cursed lands DU drow had the impression he'd only been dragged here to help him clear his conscience, which he didn't appreciate. Also, he couldn't bear to have someone in camp be taller than himself. Halsin was left behind in Act 2.

Jaheira: DU drow fucking loves Jaheira. They bickered and borderline insulted each other and had a great time doing it. He can respect anyone who will call him a monster, threaten to murder him in his sleep, and make light fun at him the next day. It helps that she's hot, also.

Minsc: Weird hamster man. Ocasionally rendered him speechless. Puzzling human being.

Karlach: He didn't get Karlach, but he was often amused by her and curious enough to want to hear what she had to say. There was a similar issue here as Wyll's where he just couldn't relate to her enough to have much to discuss, but Karlach at least had an edge to her that made her far better company. They got along pretty well when the topic wasn't serious, but when it came to the problems she actually faced their perspectives shifted significantly. DU drow thought everything could be fixed, that accepting her own demise was a cowardly thing to do - and as they approached the end, and she asked him if he would stay with her when she died, he thought she was weak. I don't know if he ever discusses it with anyone, but he feels guilty about her death to this day and sees it as personal failure.

[qwimblenorrisstan]

Oh my god I just finished the Black Ops 6 campaign and whaaaat this game is a masterpiece

(spoilers under the cut, as well as a big rant about my favorite stuff+ theories and parallels between characters I noticed)

You’re telling me that this entire time the mole that probably got Alex Mason, Hudson, and almost Woods killed was (or implied to be) JANE?? And the reason Adler got framed for it was because Jane had convinced herself that Adler had been the one to murder her parents (even though he hadn’t been…)

I never liked Adler much because he just seemed cocky and overconfident to me, but he also wasn’t stupid judging by the billion little cassettes he left around, and the connections he had.

I also love the mentions of Alex Mason, mainly because the Black Ops 1 & 2 campaigns were the first I ever played, so that silly schizophrenic man and his kid hold a special place in my heart.

There were also sooo many hidden details. Like the puzzles in the house, where first you have to get to the boiler room and fix that, then use the black light, find hidden messages on the WALLS, play the piano in that order, go down the secret stairs, do a keypad version of wordle, hack into a computer, then solve some riddle just for 1000 bucks?? Insane.

I loved the level of detail in this game because it really felt more authentic to me. Like did you know that Adler played football in highschool (I think as a linebacker), or that he got his face scars from jumping out of a second story window face first? All just random dialogue. Or the NPC dialogue, where it’ll range from talking about “turning in for the night” to someone’s wife having a torrid affair with her husbands knowing consent?? (yes I did actually hear this dialogue in game)

Something I’m still wondering about is if the person who was talking to Case (in his head) was the devious version of Jane, because we see the voice telling Case to kill Jane in the very end, and seeming angry at Pantheon, which makes me think it might be the version of Jane that Case knew before she went evil. Another reason why I think this is because while Case is under the effect of the mystery gas and therefore the voices, we see Adler being the monster in most cases, with the dialogue even being “I knew we couldn’t trust him,” once, which I think further shows Jane’s delusion even while not fully being evil yet.

Also, the whole schizophrenic “voices in his head” seemed a whole lot like Alex Mason, too. I’m surprised Woods didn’t bring it up, especially because he even noticed Case being out of it a few times and asking if he was still with him. In Black Ops 2 we hear Woods telling David Mason (Alex’s son) that he would “notice him get that look in his eye again, like he wasn’t really there with me” and I think that’s an interesting parallel.

But, if Case survived the whole being infected by the Cradle (even though the voice told him he wasn’t affected by it earlier on in the game?) and being underneath the sea in a crashed helicopter, I wonder if Woods and the rest of his little crew would’ve figured out about it.

If you go through the house right before one of the last missions before it becomes inaccessible, you see almost every character having their own folder in their room, with Felix having one that mentions his worries about Case’s “growing instability”. Felix mentions Case’s nightmares and how he says “Pantheon” in his sleep and whatnot, even saying he might not be stable on missions after his earlier interaction with the mystery gas that made him spaz out.

I think Case even wanted to tell them, with the first dialogue option after the hallucination mission you can have with Woods is you trying to tell him, but being stopped by the voice. In the end, I think they would’ve found out anyway, probably due to something like Felix getting into old footage from Pantheon’s experiments or Case finally being able to talk about it with Jane dead.

Something I also liked was the pacing of the game. It wasn’t all just blazing guns and glory, there were moments where you had to take things slow, had to sneak around, blend in, hide bodies, and I loved the puzzle aspect. One thing I also liked was the mission where you could roam the dessert and choose your objectives.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good action mission, but something about watching Felix stir random vegetable stew while talking to me about the value of human life was nice too. There were also a few mission where I was super tense and it felt more like a horror game, and some where I was giggling.

Honestly, I just need Case to be alive, and then to fix the old house up and live happily ever after while Woods helps raise Alex Mason’s kid. I just need them to all work out their trauma together, for Felix and Sevati to either get together or become best friends, and for them to be a big happy family.

Sorry for the rant, I got a little bit excited.

[dice-sociation]

Girls Who Don’t DnD

Quick Info

Audio Quality: High-Quality Audio, Effects, Music. (Occasional fan-submitted recordings)

Vibes: Throne of Glass, Doctor Who, Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Princess and the Pauper

Extras: Patreon rewards, Discord Community with Book Club, and more!

System: 5e DnD

Campaign/ Show Length: Long Term Campaign

Average Episode time: 1.5 Hours (varies a bit)

Uploads 1 episode a month. 

Diversity: Majority Women

Platforms: Podcast, Audio Only. 

Number of Episodes This Review is based on: 30+ 

** If you want the TLDR, scroll to the bottom of the post **

Why Girls Who Don’t DnD?

How often have you said to yourself, “Man, I wish I could experience that for the first time again?” While we can’t reset your brain, you can live vicariously through the Girls Who Don’t D&D podcast. 

If you're looking for a podcast with relaxed gameplay, fantastic humor, great editing, and effects, you should read on to learn more. This wonderful adventure showcases the beautiful experience of watching three girls fall in love with Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). 

Starting the Pod

The podcast starts with Cory, the Dungeon Master (DM), explaining that he has invited three girls, Indy, Alana, and Stacey, who have never played D&D, into his world of Kalee with premade characters. If you, the listener, haven’t played before, you’ll learn a lot just from listening. Cory purposely doesn’t edit out explanations of how to play. I’m confident my experience was better because I was still learning to play the game myself as I started listening.

Right from the start you will hear how much work Cory puts into editing and pre-recording. He recruits people to voice-act for non-player characters (NPCs) or to play out memories or scenes. Some additions are just for the listeners, giving us a little extra information about the lore of the world. This includes the origin of magical artifacts, gods, and sometimes an NPC’s perspective that the players don’t get to hear.  It feels like listening to an audiobook and honestly, I think ��booktok” would love Girls Who Don’t DnD. 

We learn that the three player characters, Freya, Kaa'Riin, and Morrigan, have lost their memories and need to recover them. The story and the discovery of who the player characters are and what happened to them work in tandem with the players themselves learning the game in a beautiful way. 

Power gamers and hardcore strategy? We don’t need that here. (Tosses book over shoulder). This group is made of story-tellers who usually choose to progress the narrative over strategy. At first, it's like watching Without A Recipe or the British Bake Off challenge where they have no clue what they are supposed to be making. This makes it all the more special when the players get more comfortable with the gameplay and more grounded in their characters. 

About the Team

Cory, "(who owns all the books but hasn't read them)"* completely absorbs the chaos the girls bring to the table and somehow also keeps them immersed in the story. He holds onto the rules of D&D loosely, letting his players use their abilities in different and unique ways. You still get full epic fights with no pulled punches, yet they feel more cinematic than the usual D&D grind. Outside of combat, Cory introduces challenging puzzles and encounters that present more opportunities for his players to think outside the mechanics of the game.

I adore Alana, Indy, and Stacy. I have some difficulty with telling their voices apart, but I never felt like that took away from my enjoyment of the show. Over time they develop their characters and have different play styles. They all have so much personality and bring their own flavor to the table. 

Indy, playing Freya the Rogue, has to be the most classic of first-time players, starting a little hack-and-slash happy, but eventually, she gets really into the strategy of the game. Freya is a cheeky scamp of a character and Indy leans naturally into the rogue class.  

Alana, playing Morrigan the Sorcerer, is usually the most sensible of the group. She is a leader in a way. There is so much more I want to say but I can't think of anything that isn't a big spoiler. Playing a sorcerer for your first time playing D&D is never easy, but Cory was able to ease her into the role and she runs with it.

Stacey, playing Kaa'Riin the Bearbarian (Druid with some Barbarian), has some epic combat moments. She can change from one animal to another without reverting to humanoid form, which deviates from traditional Druid rules. This decision, as well as other tweaks of the rules, help the pacing of the overall production. 

And sure, you're probably thinking their whole schtick is that they don't know D&D, so wouldn't it lose its charm after they get better? Absolutely not. Not even a little bit. This table is casual, silly, charming, and gripping. They make me feel like I am with my best friends playing our chaos gremlins together. 

A special shout to Mia Stegner (https://www.miastegner.com/) who composed and performed the opening and closing songs. It’s the cherry on top of this podcast sunday.

*Referenced from the Podcast Description. https://www.girlswhodontdnd.com/ 

About the world

“There is a saying among the good people of Kalee, when you know what is right, do what is right, and then deliver it all into the endless sea” From Episode 1: Throw it Into the Sea, Aug 16, 2021.

Cory presents a world both complex and informed by the player's choices and features some of the more bizarre parts of typical High Fantasy settings. 

There is just something so satisfying about learning the characters' backstories and how their stories are expertly baked in the many-layered cake that makes the world. Flavors include; wild magic, strange and whimsical characters, Evil Queens, “timey-wimey” stuff, super cute plans, snails, Gods, magic crystals, trapped souls, and Alan (the real star of the later episodes).

Extras

There are so many Patreon perks! You get behind-the-scenes talks, recipes from Indy, DMing tips, Lana's book reviews, and more! You can also join their Discord server where Cory is pretty active and they encourage community gaming and have a book club.

TL;DR: 

This podcast is about girls learning to play D&D using premade characters with amnesia. The girls learning to play parallels the story’s progression as they regain memories. 

Reliving the experience of learning to play for the first time all over again. 

Loosely follows the rules of 5e to keep the pacing up.

DM Cory recruits people to voice act for NPCs or to play out memories or scenes. Some additions are just for the listeners, giving us a little extra information about the lore of the world.

It's a little hard to tell the girls apart, but I don’t think it takes away from my enjoyment at all. 

Wild magic, strange and whimsical characters, Evil Queens, “timey-wimey” stuff, super cute plans, snails, Gods, magic crystals, trapped souls, and Alan. 

DM Cory presents a world both complex and informed by the player's choices and features some of the more bizarre parts of typical High Fantasy settings.

Special thanks to Artax of Who's Taking Watch for helping with editing!

No Context Gifs:

[orchestrated-haunting]

Random dnd headcannons I had for some characters of the epic cycle because I just had neurons activate. This is gonna be long so they’re mostly under the cut.

Odysseus would be the DM, making riddles and puzzles for the party that he thinks is pretty easy to solve, but the party still spends the entire session trying to solve it.

He likes to fuck around with everyone. Has a doppelgänger infiltrated the party? Yeah probably. Has someone been following the party? Most likely. The party has to be on their toes at all times.

Odysseus plans far in advance for his sessions and somehow (like every dnd party does) the party goes in the completely opposite direction, so Odysseus is improving the majority of the sessions, but thanks to his storytelling abilities literally no one can tell unless Odysseus expresses how much he’s flying by the seat of his pants.

Achilles would prefer to play martial classes like fighter or barbarian. It’s not that he doesn’t like the spell casting classes, he just prefers to be on the front line. Give him a lvl 20 fighter and that man will go HAM.

He falls head over heels for every NPC he meets. He wants to smooch every single one. The rest of the party just sigh at his antics.

He and doors hate each other (he spent like 5 turns trying to open a locked door before he eventually got pissed off and just broke it down).

Patroclus prefers tanky classes that can also support the others so cleric and paladin are the classes he tends to play.

That being said he still loves to do damage. His main build is almost always a battle cleric so he can still heal but leave the majority of it to someone who is exclusively a healer.

Hector, man, he’d likely multiclass between something that’s support but also a martial class. I could see him playing a Paladin build the most often.

I think he tried to play a full caster class once and decided there was just to many things to keep on top of for himself, but he still enjoyed how useful spells are so he doesn’t mind a half caster class.

And while the majority of the party are probably chaotic neutral, he plays almost exclusively lawful characters. His characters almost always have a strict set of morals and a code that they follow.

I could see Paris playing caster classes. Give him any charisma caster, warlock, bard, etc. and he is having the time of his life.

Like Achilles I think he would try and romance so many NPCs, and boy does he use that charisma stat to its full potential. If he’s a bard you better assume he’s also using bardic inspiration on himself.

Penthesilea and Achilles are always trying to one up each other. She almost exclusively plays barbarians and if Achilles is playing one as well they WILL keep a kill count to see who ends up having killed the most by the end of the campaign.

She’s the starter of the tavern brawls, to which Achilles and Patroclus gladly join in. She’s also the one who is always the test dummy if the party is afraid of traps or failing a puzzle.

“What if it’s trapped??”

“I open the door.”

“Take 2d6 fire damage.”

At first you’d think Circe would play spellcasting classes but she does enough of that as is she’d want to do something completely opposite like a rouge. She’d love that.

I can see her giggling after pick pocketing one of the other party members while she just waits for them to figure it out. She’s a menace in a different way than either Achilles of Paris.

She’s not trying to romance any NPCs if she wanted to romance someone she’d just choose a real person. But boy her characters have sticky fingers.

[moontheoretist]

Are nuanced vampires too outlandish?

Thank you Jaheira for supporting me in my very brave albeit unusual approach to vampires in DnD. When I first time heard Astarion's idea about vampires as a vampire himself - namely the fact that they are all evil, selfish, power hungry and dangerous monsters that will never treat a spawn as equal or let them become a full vampire, because it simply creates competition for them - I was like "You'd have thought that the most romantic story for a vampire would be if they fell in love with a human, made them a spawn, and then shared their own blood with them to make them a full vampire". It's in fact what happened in the First Kill - Juliette's parents are an unorthodox couple. She is the pureblood vampire from a long line of vampires, while he was just a human that she turned into a vampire. There is even a scene in the show when they lie on the bed, she cradles his head with a wrist put to his lips while he drinks her blood. It was very romantic and very not liked by the matriarch of the family, who saw the man as lesser than.

Still, even despite Astarion being technically an expert at this topic, I couldn't stop myself from imagining that at least one vampire who isn't nasty exists in the DnD lore. But in general, I guess it'd be just like Astarion said. They create spawns, but don't let them become vampires, because it creates competition in all: social, political and hunting related topics. The struggle for power between vampires.

There can probably exist a good vampire if you so wish. You just need to become creative about it. Vampires aren't a race in DnD, but not so long ago Drow were considered to be all evil, while nowadays they are given more nuance. I think it isn't impossible for vampires, either.

I just generally don't like races that are evil by default. And I feel like I'm not alone in this. Evil by default feels boring to me a lot. It's just so cheap and lazy to just create a whole ass group and then deem it evil by principle. And even though vampires are not technically a race in DnD but something more akin to disease or curse, I still feel like there is a space for nuance here. That there could exist some vampires that are good. And I saw some DMs on reddit claiming that they created good vamps in their campaigns. And when it comes to the lore of the game like Baldur's Gate 3... if Dragon Age taught me something, it's that no single character can establish lore that can't be disproven by another character. The world in real life and in fiction both is always conceptualized by people, and those people can be wrong or only see a tiny fragment of the entire puzzle. Which means that for every 10 of Cazadors there is probably at least 1 vampire that is nothing like them in terms of morality and alignment. Hell, even Cazador's own mentor - Vellioth, behaved a bit differently than what Astarion told us about vampires. He gave Cazador "the gift" which I assume meant he made him a full vampire and trained him as the future Vampire Lord. Taught him all the cruelty that Vellioth thought was needed for vampires to survive in the world. With the final lesson ending with his own death.

For all means and purposes, it very much feels like Vellioth wanted to raise Cazador into the perfect vampire and was happy to die in order to make it happen. If we only relied on what Astarion said, we would have to say that it's highly unusual for vampires to create heirs like Vellioth did. What's more, heirs that they intended to surpass them one day. Vellioth made the pact with the devils, prepared everything for Cazador to Ascend. The only thing Cazador needed to do was to get all the necessary souls to fulfill it. Why would Vellioth do all of this if vampires only cared about themselves and their own power? Why would he die for his own heir instead of become Vampire Ascendant himself? Just thinking about it makes me sure that there is much we don't know about DnD vampires. Much to be explored in the future.

If I were to theorize based on data I have now, I'd say that vampire's alignment is fluctuating between a few settings, but tends to be on the evil side of things. While The Rite of Profane Ascension is a step further on the evolutionary tree of vampires, and something that can switch them permanently to twisted beings that don't see anybody as people anymore, only objects they can own or things to be used. And it's part of the price to pay for being able to break the shackles that vampirism puts on vampires. Cazador was already twisted long before the Rite, so in his case the change would not be visible much, but for Astarion? Especially Astarion that the player was steering in the right direction all along? That's a huge leap, even considering his wacky moral compass. As after the Ascension he is no longer himself. He loses himself, twisted beyond recognition by such a great power.

And yes, Astarion is just a spawn. I know that, but the point I'm trying to make is that Cazador being as he is, doesn't mean every other full vampire is exactly the same as him with the same fucked personality.

Which means that there is still hope for full vampires to be more than what Cazador showed Astarion vampires to be. It's also worth taking into account that Astarion probably never met any full vampire other than Cazador. Even though, Cazador was in contact with vampires.

(Maybe he did see them during some balls? There was a ballroom in the Palace, so maybe there were some social gatherings held there?)

(Here is a transcript of the letter on BG3 wiki).

So it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that even Astarion doesn't have a full picture. He was just a spawn, after all, and not even the favored one. What could he know about the vampire politics other than what he heard or saw occasionally when he wasn't busy hunting the prey for his master? He definitely knows more than most, but because he was confined to the Palace alone, it may mean that he never saw how vampires in other cities behave. Though, Vellioth's training says a lot about how he saw vampire society if he needed Cazador to survive. It's definitely not a walk in a park. Gives a harsh environment vibes.

That's also the reason why I think they are mostly evil aligned. While also still considering that not every vampire is the same and that the exceptions to the rule happen. Most would probably now say that if such exceptions exist, they didn't survive, and that is probably true in many cases, but I still think that some vampires could survive thanks to their intelligence and strategizing. Even playing evil for the sake of not being targeted is on the table. As well as non-noble vampires, like peasants in some village or something. We often associate vampires with aristocracy, but it's not impossible that they have a class system in their society as well. Lower class vampires, living in some remote villages, probably wouldn't even care about power struggles beyond their tiny piece of land and "that asshole that threatens my position in the village" or something. It's so funny to imagine some peasant who is a vampire trying to outsmart his neighbor, also a peasant vampire, in order to gain better position with the mayor or the village council.

I have no idea how much or how little DnD talks about vampires, as I never read any books written for the universe. I checked Forgotten Realms wiki, but it was strangely sparse with the lore in comparison to I dunno, the long article about Drizzt or Jarlaxle, so I just assumed that vampires don't really play any major role to be expanded upon so much as to have a whole ass article just about the intricacies of their society and politics. Maybe I'm wrong. But my point still stands. The lore should be rich and shouldn't rely on shortcuts like "they're all evil duh, they're an epitome of evil, the manifestation of evil because we said so". This can't be, and this is not what I live for as a writer and an avid fantasy enjoyer. What I live for is a nuanced lore that breaks the stereotypes. To conclude: I really like complicating the vampire lore.

Maybe it's outlandish and batshit crazy, but it's what I like.

[demdozeguys]

Strap in for a long one, because it's time for:

REVIEWING AND RANKING EVERY GAME I GOT FROM THE STEAM SUMMER SALE

ramblings under the cut:

UNRANKED: ULTRA STREET FIGHTER IV

okay look I know I said I'd be ranking all of these but putting a fighting game up against six linear-progression single-player adventure type games feels a bit unfair.

as for whether I liked it: yeah it's alright. it's street fighter, it's fun. only time will tell how much my brother and I will get out of it, but I'm already feeling like I don't like it quite as much as 5. how much of that is due to 4 not having Urien is anyone's guess.

#6: CROW COUNTRY

I'm gonna be honest I didn't fuck with this game nearly as much as I thought I would.

maybe it's because I'm new to the genre. maybe it's because I've been spoiled by autosave. or maybe it's just because I can't aim to save my life. but losing upwards of 20 minutes of progress every time some creature I failed to hit or juke tagged me one too many times got frustrating pretty fast.

I didn't hate my time with Crow Country. the environments are gorgeous, the story kept me intrigued, and filling out my mental list of "oh shit I can go here now"s was still satisfying. if this is your thing don't let me dissuade you, I just wasn't built for it.

#5: KAMIKO

Kamiko is decent fun, but there's not really a whole lot to say about it. It's a short and sweet zelda-esque game where the meat of the playtime comes from trying to go through it as fast as possible, and as you'll see later I happen to enjoy going fast. enjoyable, but not super meaty. if you like routing and time management give it a shot.

#4: PONY ISLAND

Alright, this is where we get into the Good Shit.

Pony Island is a game in which you play a game called Pony Island made by The Devil From The Bible. every few minutes there's some new weird meta setpiece to keep you on your toes, plus the code puzzles and pony sections between are solid fun on their own. it's a great time. and if you're interested, there's a pretty solid reward for getting 100%.

if I had to dock points, it didn't seem to have much in the way of replayability, but that's not a huge dealbreaker. I really need to get my hands on Inscryption now.....

#3: SPOOKY'S JUMPSCARE MANSION REMASTERED

I'm not normally big on horror but Spooky's kept me coming back. despite going into it already knowing what all the specimens did, they managed to keep me on the edge of my seat because you never know when they're going to show up. combine the legitimate building terror with an offbeat and self-aware sense of humor and you have a damn fun package.

it's worth noting that as of writing this, I've only completed the main story. the DLC campaigns probably won't affect the final ranking? but I have a feeling they'll make me appreciate the game more.

#2: PEPPER GRINDER

Pepper Grinder is fucking awesome.

The level design is great, the soundtrack rips, and just moving around with the core gimmick of "what if you could drill and then jump out" is so good. I just really wish there was more of it.

I was able to get all the major in-level collectibles and reach the end in under 3 hours. the bulk of my playtime came from the time trials, which do manage to hit a sweet spot of encouraging you to push yourself without requiring CBT perfection. demolishing the gold medal on the final boss took me well over an hour's worth of attempts and may have been one of the most viscerally satisfying challenges I've ever completed in a game.

Pepper Grinder is really, really cool. But if it had another world's worth of levels it would be even cooler.

#1: CHICORY: A COLORFUL TALE

Man. I fucking love Chicory.

The vibes are immacculate. The story made me really feel for these gay little animals. The soundtrack is delightful (Lena Raine, everybody!). The exploration is rewarding. The painting mechanics made me actively want to go back to areas I'd already been to and recolor them better than I did originally, which is like. not something most games do. You can even draw penises everywhere if you want. There's something for everybody.

I'm having a hard time putting down exactly what made me fall head over heels for this game as much as I did - especially when I wasn't expecting to going into it. Maybe it was just in the right place at the right time. No matter how it cheated the system, Chicory is easily the best game I picked up.

And that's that. this was my first time doing something like this (especially on tumblr) so it felt kinda weird but idk lmk if I planted any seeds in your brain

[togglesbloggle]

Is it just me, or is there a pretty under-explored niche for a massive D&D fantasy franchise along the lines of Star Wars and Marvel? The sort of missing third genre leg beside science fiction and comics, so to speak.

They've clearly tried this with Tolkien, at least as far as extending the LotR movies to the Hobbit trilogy and the Amazon show which is kinda-sorta in the same lineage. And those things had more than none traction. But the Tolkien estate isn't making it easy with rights licensing, and there's an awkward founder effect they have to contend with- the Jackson LotR trilogy gave the entire franchise a very distinct 'vibe' in the popular imagination, and in practice it seems to be hard to recapture given current production constraints. It seems like it's really hard to make a Tolkien movie or show that 'feels like' the Jackson movies unless you sink a lot in to costuming and practical effects, but the current trends are in the opposite direction, with elaborate greenscreening and digital everything.

But in any case, Middle-Earth really isn't the brand you want for a mass-media culture juggernaut, is it? It's literary when it needs to be pulpy, mournful when it needs to be exciting, pensive when it needs to be strident. The world is vast, but delicate, and written by a single author exploring a narrow, coherent set of themes and styles.

Surely D&D- which is to say, the Forgotten Realms, realistically- is better for this all-around. It has a truly massive baked-in fanbase that's clearly (through 'actual play' podcasts etc.) already chomping at the bit for high production value experiences, a vast backlog of source material to draw on owned by corporate entities rather than a single brittle family estate, a wide variety of scenarios allowing for multiple sub-genres and directoral styles all under the same umbrella. It's just as popular but less sacred, meaning the audience will be more tolerant of failures. It has merchandising options for days, already has beautiful examples of video game and multimedia tie-ins, and has established and successful writing patterns for epic-scale crossover movies, long-running multi-season campaigns, one-shots, and everything in between.

There's one weakness, which is that compared to Star Wars and Marvel, individual characters are less central in the existing property. D&D has some, such as Drizzt, that rose to prominence in the novel spin-offs, so of course this isn't totally wrecked. However, the brand was originally built fundamentally as a game system and as a set of places, with the heroes to be assembled by the consumers themselves; it must be said that iconic characters are somewhat sparse, and awkwardly spread across multiple settings and continuities. But I think if you got the thing really roaring, this might give it longevity that Star Wars and Marvel ultimately lack- Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man, Mark Hammil is Luke, and notwithstanding AI representations, once those actors are gone, the franchises themselves flounder awkwardly. But if audiences come to identify their enthusiasm for D&D franchise movies with the world and brand itself, then the turnover in the cast is much less damaging to that brand, because the whole thing is already built from the ground up without overly relying on a specific group of 8-10 actors as a lynchpin of the whole operation. Even the leveling mechanic allows for franchise tentpole actors to grow in prominence as they emerge as audience favorites, then conveniently transition in to CG apotheosis or some other suitable end as the actors age out and new favorites are found.

I mean, far be it from me to give advice to the goliaths of culture, but I'm genuinely puzzled about why Disney hasn't bought D&D yet, or why Hasbro hasn't made some kind of big push to do this outside the single (pretty good!) movie. I think I'd even kind of enjoy it.

[sforzesco]

I mean this with so much love, it's actually really fun to me to try to understand the puzzle that is your relationship with Brutus!

WHEEZING I'm glad it can be a fun puzzle, but also allow me to give you some of the pieces that are missing because I rant about it elsewhere/not on this blog

there's are very few things I hate more than political sell outs, and by extension, political nepotism hires. there's a kind of political hypocrisy with brutus, where he's very on board with himself internally, but just cannot seem to get with it externally (ie; he's got convictions about pompey, he's got convictions about loans, but he's fine with taking UNEARNED political favor from caesar which tarnishes his reputation, and fucks up handling cassius' death and management of the army because he has the group leadership, disciplinary skills, and decision making capabilities of a wet sock) that makes me want to. heugh.

it's a failure of leadership that brutus and antony share (that FUCKING parthian campaign), and all of this specifically is overlayed by the stage of interpersonal-political drama from the philippine revolution because philippi and the fall of the revolution have enough thematic overlap it's a part of my brain forever now. and sometimes. when I'm reading. brutus does something that reminds me of aguinaldo. and this is absolutely Not Fair To Brutus, because I have sympathy for brutus, that man should've been in a library not in a battlefield, but I want to chase him with a giant squeaky hammer for it.

fascinating person! love the hypocritical contradictions! what a firecracker of a man, what a miserable lonely outline of a man. what does it feel like to lose what you had, the way that you did? love turning all of this and him around in my head like he's on a microwave plate.

[krissiefox]

Lamentum (Review) (Xbox One)

Lamentum is an indie survival horror game developed by a team called Obscure Tales. In it you play as a man named Victor, trying to find a cure for his ill wife Allisa. In desperation, the couple heads to Grau Hill seeking aid from a strange Earl.

If you've ever played survival horror classics like Resident Evil, you should feel right at home with this game. It contained all my favorite tropes from those great old 90s horror games on the Psone, - save rooms, puzzles, secret areas, boss fights, inventory management, different story paths, the works! - and it's all presented in a wonderful pixel art style. The art and animation is fantastic.

The story is a pretty heavy one, especially for anyone who's ever had to worry about the health problems of a loved. This helps makes Victor a very sympathetic protagonist and made me want to see a happy ending for him and Allisa. Beating the game, I've found the game seems to have 4 different endings, two of which I've discovered so far - not very happy ones. I'm hoping if I dig deeper I can find more happy outcomes for the couple!

The game's sound design is wonderful as well. The monsters make lots of nasty and disgusting sounds, the soundtrack is haunting and beautiful, and the ambience is well done too.

The only complaint I have for the game is that, at-least in the build I played on Xbox One, there were some rough bugs - including a bathroom mirror at one point that can freeze your game if you examine it. I've actually gotten in touch with the Devs about bugs during my play-through, and they were very helpful and responsive, so kudos the Dev team for that! Hope they can get all the little bugs ironed out in time.

This awesome horror game comes highly recommended from me, you can get it on Xbox one, the PlayStation store and nintendo switch. Even better, you can get it DRM free for PC at good old games! If you love spooky games, please give this one a go!

BONUS!

I just found out there's an old kickstarter demo available of a much earlier version of the game, too! I'll have to try that, it will be neat to see all the differences. :0

[dearabby1990]

Chapter 10: I wanna know her

The night’s campaign was a gory display one of the most eventful nights they’ve had in a long time. The nights been wrapped up & the boys all sit around the table finishing up what snacks are left before clean up & driving home the twerps so they don’t miss curfew. Gareth gives Eddie a puzzling look “Hey dude you alright you look a little…. I don’t know spaced out I been noticing you do that a lot lately… what’s going on?? Something you wanna share with the class??..” eddie shoots a glare at gareth before rolling his eyes “Look I just got a lot on my mind alright don’t worry about it” Mike and Dustin start to giggle Mike shouts across the table “YEAH A LOT ON YOUR MIND AS IN JAMIEEEE!!” Gareth looks at Eddie surprised “who the hell is Jamie?” Dustin scoots closer to but in on this obviously entertaining conversation “She’s robin’s best friend I’m pretty sure you guys have world history together” gareth grins at Eddie “ohhh okay the brunette chick with the sick ankle tattoo” Eddie whips his head towards Gareth and cocks his eyebrow “You checking her out Emerson I swear I’ll deck you I’ve been trying to ask her out for two years now?!” Gareth laughs “chill dude I’ve been trying to ask her cousin Jessica out on a date since the summer” Eddie intrigued by this information asks gareth to come to his for the night after he drops off the kids. Mike knowing Eddie is so infatuated with you has to get a few digs in on the ride home. “So Eddie when you gonna ask her out you know the senior prom is in a few weeks maybe you can get her to.. ow!” Dustin elbows Mike in the side “Mike we’ve been helping him work on it leave the man alone he’s in love I think it’s awesome to have feelings for someone & courting them like a proper gentleman” Mike laughs “Do you have any idea how sappy and lame you sound?” Eddie whips his head towards the back of the van “SHUT UP!” Everyone wide eyed sits in silence the rest of the ride as each of them is dropped off at the end of their own driveway. Peeling out towards the trailer park blasting his new Van Halen cassette as they pull in Jamie’s Cryin starts to play making Eddie sit there in his thoughts for a moment before Gareth snaps him out of his thoughts “Come on I have some new vhs tapes we can check out & I snagged some jiffy pop from the pantry before I bolted it’s the only thing mom won’t spaz about missing if I touch her Oreos I’ll never be able to drum again” they both laugh as Eddie opens the front door and they both kick off their shoes heading to the kitchen. “So.. how do you know Jamie’s cousin?.. or her family for that matter I’ve never heard or seen any family of hers like… ever” Gareth sits on the island stool. “Well when she moved here her Aunt knows my mom & called her to keep an eye on her & let her know she’s doing alright on account of all she’s been through when she left home” Eddie’s heart shatters wondering what you could’ve been through that you had to leave home & be looked out for. Eddie takes a deep breath preparing himself for whatever other information his friend has. “On account of what? Do you know what happened? She’s so closed off & keeps to herself it’s hard to get to know her i really want to get to know her I can get her out of my head dude” Eddie puts his hands over his face shaking his head. Gareth smiles “Man you’ve got it bad I can tell I’ve never seen you like this even when Marcy Smith asked you to winter formal freshman year eddie cringes at the name Gareth laughs harder “dude she was so weird she talked about herself in third person all the time it gave me nightmares!” Gareth holds his stomach from all the laughter Eddie brings the popcorn to the living room & pops in Back To The Future they both plop on the couch. “Okay I’ll tell you everything I know but you didn’t hear it from me if anyone asks got it?” Eddie nods in agreement and shakes his hand as a solid bond. To be continued

[redjaybathood]

who are you responding? no, seriously, you blocked me, who are you responding, the voices in your head? i don't even remember this guy tbh so I'm seriously puzzled what's the convo is even about.

there's a good chance that if I called you a tankie, it's for being a tankie. otherwise i would just say something like pro-russian.

who says i don't? I repeatedly said that citizens are responsible for their governments. yeah, if your government is throwing a Muslim minority into concentration camps for "re-education" and you're being like: it's chill! you're fucked up, bud.

North Koreans are just not someone you would see on the Internet defending North Korea tho. Let's say them being in a totally unique 24/7 prison is letting them off the hook.

the whole "why aren't you blaming X, then?" is stinking with imperialistic thinking. what you want to say, but don't have the guts, is: but it makes me responsible for my government, too! and guess what? it. fucking. does. So y'all better go vote, and don't do the "protest vote" shit I've seen promoted here. because y'all gonna be responsible for the results.

I was wondering whether to respond or not when I was sent this post up to a point where I saw that this user is clearly replying to me without any chance to me responding, and dismantling their bullshit bit by bit because they preemptively blocked me.

but yeah, excuse me if I don't think that Russian aristocrat was being oppressed here because their bank refused to serve them anymore. In fact, her and your positioning her as a victim of oppression is an act of weaponsied victimhood, thing that russians use to paint themselves as a victim of whatever shit they do. Who knows why bank refused to serve her, maybe it's due to their AML policy. I know they continue to serve russians abroad, especially naturalized ones who already have citizenship of the country they're in. It is very doubtful that an anglo-russian countess was discriminated against based on her ethnicity, here. Because, and I repeat, it's not a thing! I regularly work with companies from the UK that employ russians and guess what, they all have bank accounts!

One obviously mentally ill man (read the fucking article you're linking), okay. Not seeing you becrying any of the numerous hate crimes in Canada against Ukrainians and Ukrainian church. Like, desecration of a Ukrainian Catholic church, an arson of a rectory, a murder attempt on a Ukrainian Canadian priest via arson as well. Not to mention the hate on campuses, or how Canadian university professors participating in misinformation campaign against Ukrainians on twitter... Like. Buddy. It's not even funny.

again, read the article you linking:

Next:

AGAIN, READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE

besides, it's dated may 2022. assuming it was true although written by a russian; the current landscape in Europe is far different. In Germany, Ukrainian children are being bullied both by Germans and by Russians. Ukrainian adults are being killed by russians who then steal their kids. Assaults of Ukrainians by Russians in France, in the UK, in the Nordics. Should I go on?

I don't. But I have a translator. And I also have an article for you: it's 1000 possibly hate motivated crimes against Russians in the first year of full-scale invasion, in Berlin, versus more than 3K against Ukrainians, same time period, same city. Like, cry me a fucking river!

Russians abroad are still killing us! Don't you get it!

read the fucking article again, it's from Feb 2022

YOU DIDN'T EVEN BOTHERED TO CLICK ON IT WHY ARE YOU RECOMMENDING IT

you are a fucking hack. everything you said about russians being discriminated turned out to be not even something you bothered to read! just random headlines!!!

why the fuck a reaction reading information on the wrongdoings against Ukrainians by your country would be "Ukrainians don't deserve peace"??? I think there's something wrong with your overview on life.

Russians can go ahead and start on that way to peace by pulling out of Ukraine and not starting any more genocidal wars!!! if you want to grant them any peace before that, you are supporting them above their victims.

i dunno if you're a tankie, i cannot look it up, and did i ever call you that and under what circumstances, but you are certainly something.

If it's not obvious, I do not support any violence or hate crimes against Russians. All that I ask from the world, is not to promote or platform them.

[duckprintspress]

Meet Aether Beyond the Binary Contributor S. J. Ralston

We’re entering the final week of the Kickstarter campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary, an anthology of 17 aetherpunk stories starring characters outside the gender binary, and we’re still going strong! As I write this, we’re $3,700 shy of our goal – an amount we definitely can raise, but the more help we get spreading the words about this project, the more people will know it exists, and truly that’s the single biggest barrier to hitting our goals: effectively spread the words. So, if you believe in this project, whether you’re a backer or not, we’d really appreciate you taking a moment to share/reblog/retoot/reskeet our posts about it!

Bluesky

Facebook

LinkedIn

Mastodon

Pillowfort

Tumblr

Thanks for all your support! Now, let’s introduce another of our contributing authors…

About S. J.: S. J. grew up in a distinctly weird, distinctly southern hometown, then hied out West for grad school before landing in Texas, where they currently work as a planetary scientist. They’ve been writing original works and fanfiction since they could hold a pencil semi-correctly, and continue to write both whenever possible (as well as still holding a pencil only semi-correctly). In their clearly copious spare time, S. J. enjoys hiking, tabletop RPGs, jigsaw puzzles, and enthusiastically crappy sci-fi.

Link: Personal Website | Tumblr

This is S. J.’s first time writing with Duck Prints Press. You can read another example of their writing by visiting their website to check out Anglerfish, a horror sci-fi story. 

An Interview with S. J. Ralston

How did you pick the name you create under?

It’s a line from the opening of the Aeneid that’s stuck with me ever since AP Latin in high school: “On account of the mindful wrath of cruel Juno.” It’s a synchesis, where the adjectives have been swapped from where you expect them to be; it’s Juno who is mindful and her wrath that is cruel, but rearranging them in such a way elegantly implies the relentless, vindictive onslaught that is to follow.

What do you consider to be your strengths as a creator?

Dialogue and dread.

What do the phrases “writer’s block” or “art block” mean to you?

The state of wanting to create but not having the intellectual raw materials to do it.

Are you a pantser, a planner, or a planster? What’s your process look like?

I would consider myself a plantser. Typically I start with an IDEA, writ large, center of the page. Then some key scenes will populate around it–dramatic moments, fun bits of dialogue, cool setpieces. At that point I get out my corkboard and red string and start trying to piece everything together, and if I’m lucky, the shape of the story will reveal itself to me. Sometimes it’s the classic parabola of rising and falling action, other times it’s been a ring, a tri-fold posterboard, a descending spiral, or a series of concentric circles. Then I fill in until the structure is complete and hope like hell that I can stick the landing.

What are your favorite tropes?

Found Family, Robots With Feelings, Enemies To Lovers, Destructive Romance, Kirk Summation/The Man In The Room

What are your favorite character archetypes?

Brooding Loner Secretly Just Lonely, Lying For Fun And Profit, Badass With An Obvious Dump Stat, Too Old For This Shit, Taciturn But Bizarre, Himbo

Do you like having background noise when you create? What do you listen to? Does it vary depending on the project, and if so, how?

I make a playlist for almost everything I write that’s longer than a few thousand words. Sometimes it’s for listening to while I’m creating (in that case, it has to be primarily instrumentals or I’ll get distracted), and sometimes it’s just for daydreaming to (in which case, the vibes must be correct, so I can construct AMV’s in my head).

Share five of your favorite books. (You can include why, if you want!)

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett – Eerie, funny, and poignant in equal measure; a police procedural done right.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke – Lush with joy, curiosity, and love, yet still remarkably dark, with an ending that will nestle in your brain forever.

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer – Fourth in the series and the absolute pinnacle thereof. A master-class in shit hitting the fan. 

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu – Everyone, down to the most momentary background character, behaves more like *people* than any I’ve ever read before and it’s *disastrous* and I *love* it.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – The classic of classics. The horror of horrors. The transgenderism of it all.

What are your goals as a creator? 

(1) To write something that’s better on the second read-through than it was on the first, and (2) To write something that stays with the reader.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

When you finish a first draft and you *know* you’ve got something really good, put it down. For a month, six months, a year; until the glow fades, or you’ve fallen in love with whatever you’re writing next. Then come back and re-read that first draft. Take extensive notes, diagram the plot, profile the characters. Notice the holes, redundancies, missed opportunities, and inconsistencies. Then open up a blank document and *start over.*

S. J.’s Contribution to Aether Beyond the Binary

Title: Razzmatazz

Tags: bipoc, body horror, butch, character injury (non-graphic descriptions), classism, dehumanization, eye horror, horror, humans are the villains, mechanic, minor character death, misogyny, murder (accidental), non-binary, non-human character, past tense, sentient construct (magical), third person limited pov

Excerpt: 

The thing was damn near unrecognizable, not just as Marilyn Monroe, but as human. People had tweaked the proportions through the years—amateur artists who couldn’t put down the paintbrush. That kind of thing was bad enough on paper, but seeing it in person made Skipper’s butthole clench.

The dress and the curls were Monroe. The rest was something else.

“Shit my ass off,” Skipper said under his breath.

“Yeah,” said Charlie.

“This gets up and walks around?”

“She does.”

“Shit my ass off.”

Maybe it was a trick of the light, a too-heavy head on a too-thin neck, but the Monroe wasn’t staring across the aisle like the others. It seemed to be looking down at Skipper. It put out waves of dare-you-to-start-some-shit energy.

“Is it because they messed with the proportions?”

“Huh?” said Skipper, pulling out of the Monroe’s tractor beam.

“The reason she moves around so much. Could it be because of…” Charlie gestured to its whole body.

“Hell, maybe,” said Skipper.

The Monroe loomed like a landslide, just waiting for the rain. Skipper had a hammer on his belt. He felt like the Monroe was staring at it. If he broke the case, what then? 

[phyreunavailable]

I think when I have everything like, worked out, I might post the absolutely insane system I use for campaigns, like.

There is a reason I don't tag these posts dnd. This is held up by the fundamentals of bullshit and how much my brain can cook up and that's it.

Turning to the group of ppl who have played dnd and ppl who have never touched a ttrpg in their life: two of you will suffer greatly. It's the ones with experience.

My system basically priorities story and role play, then puzzles and exploration, then combat. I mostly cut out rests because like boo boring don't care. Combat? Much quicker, I hate numbers and don't want a turn to take 20 minutes. There's type advantages. I built a bloody type system.

I just reuse the same worldbuilding but in different spots. I made a silly Agency that works for literally every scenario and WILL be using them for such, thank you.

But yeah a lot of it is just me making a plotline and npcs, giving players their mission and telling them to make a character on call with me so we can live discuss what works, and based on that call and what type they choose I create their skills and abilities. They are always free to recommend things to me on how they see their character, and I take inspiration from there.

Like upcoming campaign? I gave them their roles beforehand since it's a shorter one and to keep it balanced. As I worked on the story, maps, and assets, they would hop on call and we would talk about their character. I put a human/hybrid (catgirl side of the chart) rule in due to the world they were playing in, and each player has found a way to work with that.

Currently the party is a lesbian swordswoman lizard-hybrid, a mage with a tree arm, an Irish man ready to throw hands, a nonbinary Healer that has an emo aesthetic and a giant hammer for their normal attacks, and a shark hybrid chef that throws pancakes and hot oil like Mr. Game and Watch.

Skills are balanced with cooldown rates instead of mana or whatever because I did not want to deal with that. The cooldown is how many turns you must go for before you get your ability back. You roll a d20 for everything, damage is predetermined so like it's just a crit/miss chance you roll for.

The 2 that have played dnd quite a bit hate this system. The 2 that play rpg games and have never touched a ttrpg think it makes perfect sense. I'm having fun. Everybody is stoked to start. Nobody really knows what to expect except for me, and I think that's beautiful.

[ragsy]

Part 2 of 2 from this list of OC questions! These ones are for meeeeeee

(part 1 here)

A) Why are you excited about this character? Mark: I've had him since 2007 and he is my specialest boy Sloane: Dream woman Kenny: What if we took a sweet kind uncle man and cracked him open like a geode Dewlap: Never had a tabletop guy who was an absolute asshole before !

B) What inspired you to create them? Mark: Uuuuuuuh well I made him for a spies/secret agents RP when I was 13 Sloane: Dream woman Kenny: He was a haunting-the-narrative bit character in his previous iteration and there were some interesting ideas there that I wanted to explore when I got the chance to play him as a full fledged player character! Dewlap: He came to me in a flash of divine inspiration after watching an episode of futurama

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story? Mark: No, he was pretty natural for me to follow the threads of the implications of what his deal is. Sloane: A bit, but mostly because my design process with her was so aesthetics-first. I just need to play her more! Kenny: At first! But since being able to explore his history and relationships, it's all fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Dewlap: Yes and no. I made him specifically for the campaign he's in, so there was already some groundwork set with the setting, but also I didn't have a solid backstory for him until like the week of the first session lmao sorry sid

D) Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? Mark: well he had blue hair when I made him originally. And then I made him blonde. And then I gave him glasses. And then I made him a dog Sloane: She's always pretty much looked the same, maybe I've made her jaw a little squarer and shoulders broader each time I've drawn her Kenny: He's looked like a completely different guy every time I've drawn him RIP Dewlap: Still figuring out what he looks like, so jury's still out

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you? Mark: Yeah, I think we could chill in an alone-together kind of situation. Sloane: She might actually annoy me a lot, but it's fine, I can only hope she thinks I'm funny Kenny: The running bits we would do together at the dinner table would drive anyone mad 💕👍 Dewlap: No he sucks

F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)? Mark: YIPPEE Sloane: lust Kenny: clamping him in my jaws and shaking him Dewlap: entertainment

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most? Mark: Not big on thinking through his actions Sloane: Contrarian Kenny: Willful ignorance Dewlap: [gestures at all of him]

H) What trait do you admire most? Mark: Loyalty Sloane: Big arms Kenny: Genuinely interested in the goings on of others Dewlap: Kooky cartoon character coded

I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe? Mark: No. Spiderverse his ass Sloane: She's my go-to when making characters in video games and tabletop oneshots, so she's already been everywhere Kenny: I've toyed with putting him in a fallout AU, but so much of what i find compelling about him is his relationships to other people's player characters, so he's hard to adapt to other universes. Dewlap: I'll probably AU him eventually, but I've barely scratched the surface of his canon universe.

J) Did you have to manipulate or exclude canon factors to allow them to create their character? Mark: He’s been through so many iterations that there's always something to tweak or adjust to get him where i want him. For example, I rewrote the mechanics of his curse and the nature of his bad relationship with his Ex, among other things Sloane: I guess she started out a Lot more gruff? I made her a lot more of a jokester in the end because she needed to be charismatic enough for my players’ characters at the time to want to work with her. Kenny: A Lot of him! The only things i really kept between his previous iteration and his current one was his name, age, occupation, daughter, and the fact that he got trapped in a parallel dimension at some point. Dewlap: Nah, he started off as a pretty blank slate so I've really only been building onto him rather than editing him.

[rosethornewrites]

T & G reading since 3/24

Finished

Teen:

Shards of Hope, by Dreaming_Days (18 chapters)

He had fought his entire life to make his way in the world. Made choices that turned his stomach just to survive. Built a life with blood and sweat and watched it crumble before him. And, in the end, utterly forsaken, Jin Guangyao died.

Then, 25 years earlier, Meng Yao woke up.

how Yao Yongzheng traveled back in time to save everyone, by ShippersList (🔒)

”You were a man who loved the sound of his own voice,” the shape says, voice drifting over to him like a half-forgotten scent. ”So, how about you put that voice to better use and show what good you actually are.”

OR

A story in which Fate challenges Sect Leader Yao to put his money where his mouth is and change everything better. Obviously, it should be easy and simple because Sect Leader Yao knows everything, right?

General:

A Significant Difference, by nirejseki

Lan Qiren wouldn’t have thought that there was much difference between being acting sect leader and raising one’s nephews because your brother was in permanent seclusion and being acting sect leader as regent for one’s underaged nephews because one’s brother was dead, but apparently there was.

A significant difference.

Untitled, by @only10th

Wangxian meeting at the mall, single mom wwx shopping for some clothes with his little radish.

wen!wwx au fic, by @stiltonbasket

Prompt: For the wen!wwx au, how does lwj find out that wwx is a spy for the resistance?

Happy Ending, by pinkychan (6 chapters)

After eloping with Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian is living his best life, because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true... excetp when it doesn't.

OR

Don’t Think About the White Bear [your past life]

The Missing Piece, by nununununu (🔒)

Wei Wuxian leaves and the world forgets him. Even Lan Wangji.

Except he doesn't, of course. He can't. How could he?

Forget Gold, by mondengel (🔒)

Wei WuXian admires his husband

Unfinished

Teen:

What Remains After the War, by Swan_Song

There is a child in the burial mounds.

Looking at the face of a sobbing toddler, crying for the man he once called brother, Jiang Wanyin he can’t find it in him to care that the boy has Wen blood.

He takes the boy home

A-Ying Lives Alone, by DizziDreams

Lan Qiren approaches, trying not to frown as he looks down at the young boy in his strange clothes. “Young man, are your parents at work? They should not have left you home alone without a caretaker."

"No, shushu!" The boy shakes his head vigorously, large eyes growing wide. "A-Ying lives alone!"

General:

Each Day I Go Into the Fields, by stiltonbasket (48th in a series)

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan’s uncle says, on a balmy summer morning about a week after the Duanwu festival. “Have you and Wangji been down to the produce field lately?”

Wei Wuxian looks at Lan Zhan over the Jingshi’s scarred kitchen table, puzzled by the sudden question, and passes Xiao-Yu a plate of hot baozi before turning back to his uncle-in-law.

“Of course, Uncle,” he replies, wondering if the baby disciples have been trampling over Lan Qiren’s favorite herb patch again. “Why do you ask?”

Or: a year after his wedding, Wei Wuxian is surrounded by an overgrowth of vegetables, and just the right amount of love.

life in love's exchange, by stiltonbasket

“Do you think I don’t want to marry you?”

“You’re not in love with me,” Nie Mingjue says, pointing out the obvious. “Why would you want to?”

“You have been my dearest friend since before we both laid eyes on our little brothers,” Xichen smiles, leaning over to kiss his forehead. “There is no one closer in my heart, and that will never change; so if I must marry now, whom could it be but you?”

Jin Guangshan shows his hand too soon in the aftermath of the Sunshot Campaign.

Luckily for everyone else, Nie Huaisang plays to win.