#massive-verse card game

[boardgametoday]

SDCC 2023: The Massive-Verse is coming to Solis Game Studio's Pocket Paragons game system

SDCC 2023: The Massive-Verse is coming to Solis Game Studio's Pocket Paragons game system #SDCC #SDCC2023 #SDCC23 #ComicCon #ComicCon2023 #tabletopgames

Solis Game Studio and the Image Comics’ Massive-Verse announced at San Diego Comic-Con International that the publisher’s most exciting superheroes – Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, Inferno Girl, and The Dead Lucky – will be brought to life in a card game utilizing Solis’ Pocket Paragons game system. The Massive-Verse Card Game release will feature individual character decks for each of the four lead…

[graphicpolicy]

Solis Game Studio's The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is out this October

Solis Game Studio's The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is out this October #tabletopgames

[autisticsupervillain]

FTF: Cosmological Rabbit Hole

The side show where we look at a franchise to determine how big it's cosmology is and determine how powerful all of it's characters are. We'll determine who scales to what and demonstrate all the powers and abilities the characters of this verse have to offer.

This Week's Verse....

Pressure!

The story of Pressure centers around the mysterious corporation UrbanShade, a megacorp that centers around exploiting the supernatural for massive profits. While they do protect humanity from broadly world threatening supernatural forces, their primary concern is their bottom line, with any supernatural entities that they can't exploit for profit either sold or destroyed under their watch. To this end, they built a blacksite at the bottom of the ocean in the Let-Vand Zone, where the ocean pressure is inexplicably much lighter than it should be. It's a perfect place for containing supernatural entities, as any escapees would be immediately crushed to death by ocean pressure upon exiting the Let-Vand Zone.

Like their Wikidot inspiration, the UrbanShade Corporation believes in using death row inmates as free labor, tasking them with building the blacksite. Enter Sebastian Solace, an inmate convicted for nine murders whom the UrbanShade Corporation got their hands on. The subjected him to human experimention, injecting him full of DNA from various sea life both natural and abnormal in an attempt to get humans to breath underwater. The attempt was successful at the cost of turning him into a sea hybrid abomination with three eyes, three arms, a shark tail for a bottom half, and the lure of an anglerfish.

When Sebastian discovered that UrbanShade was both aware that he'd been framed for his crimes and had the opportunity to reverse his new condition but choose not to out of convenience, he elected for some nice cold revenge. Sebastian faked being effected by sleeping darts and broke out during transport, murdering a guardsman before making to unleash every monster the Blacksite has in containment.

You, dear Player, are the latest convict that UrbanShade has grabbed to clean up their mess. Go down to the Blacksite, recover all the data you can, steal the energy crystal supplying power to the building, and get out for a free "get out of jail" card. And if any of the monsters try to stop you, just remember: you can be replaced.

The Convict

The Convict is the low end baseline for every other monster in the game, as every threat can at least hurt them, if not one shot them outright. So, I'll use them as a starting benchmark.

The Convict's scuba gear is custom built to withstand the depths of the ocean as deep as 1200000 studs below the depths of the ocean:

For those that don't speak Roblox, 1 stud is 28 cm. So that depth is 336000 meters below the surface, with 476493.09 psi. 93029455 Joules given the surface area of a human or 93030 kilojoules (Small Building Level)

Do note the draw back of "built in with a collar that shoots a bullet into you if you try to escape" however.

There's some consistency to this scaling, as the Convict can take hits from Good People, an assimilating monster that had up to that point absorbed 108 people.

The average human contains about 125,822 calories. Multiply by 108 then convert to joules to get 56855438784 joules or 13 Tons of TNT (City Block Level). That's how much energy Good People was absorbing by digesting that many people in rapid succession. That many calories being forced into your system would likely make your heart explode.

Yes, I did just power scale Roblox by calculating vore. You're welcome.

Keep in mind, Good People is one of the weaker monsters in the facility, with it being sent back to lick its wounds by UrbanShade security and doing relatively little damage to the Convict.

Speed wise, the Convict doesn't really have anything going for them beyond aim dodging bullets from the Blacksite's turrets, which have been helpfully taken over by P.AI.nter the rogue AI.

In terms of equipment, the Convict can carry various flashlights, key cards, and medkits that do as advertised, along with a few more useful tools. The code scrambler hacks into security panels the Convict isn't authorized for, the Flash Beacon blinds pursuing monsters, the Party Special and Dweller Chunks slowly regenerate health when consumed, the Notebook which grants a random item, and the Monster Tracker that tracks nearby hostiles. Also the Diving Gear does its job letting the Player breath underwater seemingly indefinitely.

Most impressive however, are the revival tokens, disposable items that bring the Convict back to life once each on the spot.

Sebastian Solace

Sebastian himself acts as your begruding shopkeeper, trading the Convict the tools above in exchange for the data they're collecting, which he plans to sell to third parties in exchange for escaping the doomed blacksite.

Sebastian is treated as one of the most dangerous monsters in the facility, as Mr. Shade, CEO of UrbanShade himself instructs his men to "shred your mags until your trigger fingers bleed" when confronting him. When he isn't scrounging for gear to pawn off on Convicts, he's hunting down UrbanShade security personel with relish, taunting them over the speakers all the while. He's stolen a SCRAMBLER device that disrupts communication devices and monster trackers in his presence, allowing him to get the drop on guards unnoticed, while his file describes him as outmaneuvering and speed blitzing guards. Despite his massive size, Sebastian is conspicuously fast, outright speed blitzing the Convict whenever they find a file to steal it for himself.

Sebastian has even been implied to be able to warp and bash down steel doors with his blows, if what we see of the aftermath of his escape is any indication.

Sebastian is so strong that even just throwing the Player around when annoyed with them takes off half their health and if they make the mistake of flashing him twice with the Flash Beacon, he's liable to shoot them dead.

Other Monsters

Most other monsters don't have much going on scaling wise beyond "being able to hurt/kill/blitz the Convict" so I won't waste too much time here.

P.AI.nter:

Initially just an AI made to make auto-generated art and NFTs, P.AI.nter's creator turned out to be too competent a coder for his own good when his bot turned out to be sentient and self aware. Murdering his creator in front of him, UrbanShade employees stole P.AI.nter and set him to work farming crypto currency to maximize profits. P.AI.nter is so miserable in this state he actively overheats his own processors in a slow attempted suicide. UrbanShade is aware of this, but doesn't care, because he can still mine NFTs even in brain death.

When Sebastian set everyone free, P.AI.nter was eternally greatful, as returns the favor by stalling the Player at every turn. Be that shooting them with the Blacksite's turrets, locking them in rooms with monsters, luring them into encountering Good People, or using music to activate the kill switch in their diving gear.

Sadly, his half melted circuits leave him a mood flipping mess. He goes from apologizing to the Convict to bloodthirsty taunting in an instant, leaving him a bit emotionally unstable. Poor guy.

Eyefestation

Sebastian wasn't the only time UrbanShade tried experimenting on "disposable" subjects. UrbanShade wanted to create a way for its agents to kill people with a glance, coming up with a very painful surgery that would allow subjects to shoot radiation from their eyes and melt a subject's brain on eye contact. To this end, they tested the process on local sharks in the area, turning a bull shark into a multi eyed monstrosity, with eyes even inside its own gullet. Naturally, the tortured beast set about killing any UrbanShade staff it could find when set free, telepathically forcing the victim to gaze into its eyes so their brain can melt. Trying to blind it only pisses it off. Keep your willpower about you, resist the pull, and look away. Eyefestation is just a regular shark otherwise.

The Angler (and variants)

The Angler and all of its variations are giant, indescribable monsters with the faces if angler fish who charge down the halls at blinding fast speeds. The signal of their charge is a cry and the flicker of lights above, caused by an EMP pulse they constantly emit.

They kill on contact via absorbing all the bio-electricity from your body and the strongest of them, Pandemonium (a seperate species that nonetheless behaves mostly identical), can bash down the facility's bullet proof doors, taking considerable effort from the Convict to hold back.

Squiddles

No relation to Homestuck. These shadows squid creatures are docile so long as you leave them in the dark and don't shine your light at them. They are among the weaker enemies, doing negligible damage.

Wall Dwellers

Humanoid creatures who, well, dwell in the walls. They use acic spewing holes on their back to burrow their back halves into walls, camouflaging their remain front to ambush prey. If killed by another monster such as an Angler, they're dropped meat grants temporary regenerative properties. They're deadly enough to rip your neck open before you can react and they hunt in groups. Keep an eye out.

Searchlights

Finally, some big game. These whale sized aquatic organisms are over 80 million year old super predators. With impenetrable armor on their tops, they hunt with the search lights beneath them, skewering whatever they see and dragging it up to swallow it whole, killing the Convict instantly if spotted.

Mask of Sadness

The Mask of Sadness is a theater mask that melts the warer into the blobby flesh monster known as Good People, causing it to go around animalistically assimilating people on contact.

I covered some of its scaling already, but there are some things to note still. In the incident in which it was captured, the blob absorbed 725 people in a packed theater, absorbing their souls, and growing so enormous that it accidentally knocked a street lamp down and burnt the building and itself to ashes.

Using the formula discussed earlier, that would be 91220950 calories or 381668455000 joules (91 Tons of TNT, City Block Level+)

Good People is highly flammable and once its body is melted to ash, it will have to start again with just one host. As such, the version the Convict scales to is much weaker than when it was first captured.

Valcula Void Mass

Inarguably the most powerful being in the facility, this extraterrestrial mass of sentient nothingness needs to be constantly evaporated to keep the Blacksite from "becoming nothing but a black smudge on the world maps".

Partially freed during Sebastian's break out, the Void Mass's spawn have spread all over the facility, instantly devouring any who would be foolish enough to enter its hiding place. If another player isn't there to rescue them, the Convict is effectively cooked. Naturally, UrbanShade uses small drops of this deadly, acid like substance as bullet tips to increase their guns killing power.

Given the meteor it arrived on has a radius of about 8.4 meters, it would weigh around 9,930,850 kgs. Moving at 75,000 m/s, it'd hit with an energy equivalent to 6.7 Megatons (City Level). The Void Mass at its smallest tanked that impact without a scratch. It it broke containment now, it could feasibly end the world.

UrbanShade

While Pressure itself is largely a fairly grounded horror game with fairly consistent Small Building to Wall Level scaling (and a City Block Level feat if you count... eating people as a feat.) the lore documents are where most of the verses best scaling comes from.

Just from the above, we've already established that UrbanShade security personel can shot acidic nothingness bullets, shoot radiation from their eyes, telepathically communicate, breathe underwater, and should upscale a disposable schmuck like the Convict in armory. That's plenty impressive enough. But, that's nothing on the tech UrbanShade has waiting in the wings.

There's just a lot about UrbanShade that we simply don't know. The lore makes it clear that we're only experiencing a small part of a much larger mythos, so there's a lot we just don't have the context for. We know UrbanShade has access to the corpse of Thor and has a weapon called the Heavenbreaker, but without context, we don't know how powerful these weapons are. But, even still, there's a lot we can intuit.

The Trenchbleeder's are several stories tall mechanical behemoths built to drain the Let-Vand Zone of all its natural resources for profit. Weighing 220,600 tons and being big enough to flatten a Searchlight with one foot.

At the end of the game, a Trenchbleeder deliberately steps on a Searchlight to save the Convict. Assuming that Searchlight's move comparable to real whales (13 m/s) and the Trenchbleeder would've generated energy equivalent to 4.3 Tons of TNT (Large Building Level+) effortlessly with that step. The Blacksite's external canons should upscale, as they're the things actually protecting the facility and the Trenchbleeders from attack.

More impressive than that, however, UrbanShade was able to contain the Analog Horror Christmas Tree, who killed Santa and replaces him with evil versions every year.

Given that UrbanShade's weapons can shoot down these evil Santas, they'd have to be able to one-shot a man who withstands kinetic energy equivalent to 39.96 Teratons of TNT (Country Level) and move at 3.9% light speed. (Relativistic)

Source:

So, yes. Awe inspiringly powerful. When taken into context with other tidbits of lore (IE. UrbanShade has been to hell and all of their employees are predestined to go there when they die.) paint a picture of UrbanShade as a devastatingly powerful and dangerous organization.

Full Cosmology

The Pressure Cosmology has a higher dimensional realm in it called the Mindscape.

This realm and everything in it is viewed as mere fiction by you, The Player.

The Player is repeatedly addressed by Sebastian and The Convict themself as an independent character on several occasions, with the Convict begging the Player to take their body back to safety when dying or Sebastian referring to various different convicts as the same person. Every time the Convict dies or makes it out alive, the Player just possesses a new Convict. Sebastian even meets up with the Player in between runs to give them information on whatever killed the Convict this time, at the behest of his "employer".

So, Pressure as a whole has the Mindscape transcending a 4D universe and a Player who transcends that, creating a 6D cosmology. Who scales to it? Well, it's difficult to say.

The Multi-Monster is an enigmatic eldritch monster cameoing from Doors who recognizes the Player from that game on sight, implying a shared cosmology. UrbanShade, who know of the Mindscape, consider him so dangerous that they refuse to have any unredacted information on him.

So he's a likely candidate for 5D.

There's also the strange Mr. Lopee. Implied to be Sebastian's "employer" who he gathers information for, Mr. Lopee takes it upon himself to kill the Convict if they ever fall out of bounds or fall behind other Players in the multiplayer. If the Convict dies to Lopee, Sebastian meekly says "he won't let me talk about that" as Lopee stands over him. So Lopee is certainly a major player in the plot, but he doesn't have enough to concretely scale him to anything yet.

Also Gaster is in it, but that's just a cameo. A shout out to an Undertale fan project a friend of the creator did. No Undertale/Pressure crossover scaling today sadly.

Conclusion:

Pressure on its surface is a pretty simple Roblox horror game that gets some comfortable Small Building Level scaling, but under its fascade is a deep lore that gets characters as high as City Block, City, and even Country Level, with some solid Low Complex Multiversal scaling for its God-Tiers.

Not bad. Definitely the most powerful Roblox verse I've ever seen. Not that I've seen very many tbf, I'm not a Roblox guy... City Block Level Sebastian is not something that I ever expected to see....

Now, it is a take in some circles of the power scaling community that the gap needed to definitively one shot a character through raw power alone is about 10x.

With that in mind, here's the final tally.

Weakened Good People, The Convict (and those who scale): 13 Tons of TNT (City Block Level)

Peak Good People: 91 Tons of TNT (City Block Level+)

Searchlights, Sebastian, Puddles of Void Mass: 130 Tons of TNT (Multi-City Block Level)

(Given that Sebastian casually throwing you around deals half your health, he casually slaughters those with better gear than the Convict, and he's generally considered one of the stronger monsters in the building going off how much trouble he gives UrbanShade in his document as opposed to how easily Good People are handled, I'm willing to put him in the one shot range even without his gun. He makes pretty clear you'd already be dead if he had any choice in the matter if you piss him off enough.)

(The Anglers specifically one shot with hax as opposed to raw power)

Trenchbleeder: 1300 Tons of TNT (Small Town Level)

Valcula Void Mass: 6.7 Megatons (City Level)

Analog Horror Christmas Tree and UrbanShade's weapons: 39.96 Teratons (Country Level)

The Mindscape: 5D (Low Complex Multiversal)

The Player: 6D (Complex Multiversal)

[perenlop]

i'd like to know more about how mega evolution works for your ocs, if you don't mind ^-^

you have activated my trap card............. prepare for Paragraphs

ALRIGHTY so to talk about my pmd ocs i gotta talk about the main verse and how it connects to the pmd universe. also this is a bit of spoilers for the starfall prequel but ehhhh its just the lore i dont think its a massive deal mentioning it lmao

SO. in starfall, the pmd and mainverse worlds are split timelines! the exact divergence happened when AZ fired the ultimate weapon. in the main series, the events were devastating still, but everyone was largely able to come back from it. in the pmd timeline, the humans could not. a good amount of humans were wiped out and over the next several centuries, pokemon became the dominant species on earth and humans dwindled out.

AZ of course fired the weapon for his Floette, swearing revenge on her murderers. He had taken several Pokemon that were separated from their owners during the war to power up the weapon, blinded by rage. One of those Pokemon was a Carbink. When he fired the weapon, the life energy drained from all of the Pokemon attached to the stones and was converted into the beam of light that devastated humanity.

But that Carbink survived, and with her survival came mutation caused by the energy scattering around her. She transformed into what people know today as Diancie. Since she was so close to the blast, she also became immortal.

The energy around them soon settled into multicolored dust. This would come to be known as emera dust. The dust could be gathered and formed into emeras, which usually broke apart soon after use and were used for simple stat boosts. Diancie soon realized she had the ability to take this dust and convert them into permanent stones, and she quickly gained a following creating stones for other Pokemon.

I'm still working out the timeline here- like why this wouldnt be relevant in the first three games because this only really concerns psmd. maybe its like a quieter thing at first with only a few teams using it? idk.

But anyways, by the time of PSMD, emeras are well known and accepted as a staple of exploration teams. Keep in mind, the origin of the emeras is not well known at all. Looplets have been developed to take advantage of them. Because of their efficiency, they pretty much replace stat boosting clothing entirely. Everything seemed all fine and dandy, success rates were at an all-time high!

But then mega evolution became common. When it first started, it had no name, but it was feared. Pokemon would be going through a dungeon, and they would create a strangely powerful emera that would boost a Pokemon's aura to extreme lengths, powering them up temporarily. For most Pokemon, it was an average stat boost, but for others... they would morph into a new form entirely, not unlike evolution. And soon after, those Pokemon would rampage, tearing the dungeon apart from within and attacking their own teammates. They became near incomprehensible in this form, but witnesses would report that they sounded like they were in pain.

This is because to make mega evolution work seamlessly without any of the harsh side effects, a human is needed to "ground" a mega evolved Pokemon. A mega evolved Pokemon gains an excessive amount of aura, which is why their body evolves to accommodate for it. But because it's not a natural form, the side effects can be physically painful, sending them into a rage, trying desperately to get their energy out.

When a human is bonded with a Pokemon well enough, they will get the ability to mega evolve that Pokemon, and the excess aura from mega evolution will be absorbed into the human through their keystone. A human's defensive aura towards Pokemon attacks make it so that taking on the energy is barely noticeable. This is why in the mainverse, only a select few individuals are able to mega evolve- there's a very tight leash kept on the practice for the safety of both trainers and Pokemon, and you have to prove yourself before taking it on.

But in the PMD universe, there are no humans. No one able to take on that excess aura, at least not painlessly. So there's no anchor and no safe way to mega evolve in this world. The Pokemon feel the full brunt of those side effects. They're feared in this world and seen as taboo.

So, sometime after the events of PSMD, the expedition society's leader Miriam (the psmd partner in my file) holds a meeting with guild societies around the globe to acknowledge the mega evolution problem. They vote to ban emeras and looplets from regular practice- any team caught with them will have their badges forfeited. This is a controversial choice, as many Pokemon believe that the looplet system worked, and it shouldn't have been thrown out without finding a way to make mega evolution work.

This is made more controversial by the fact that Miriam and Jay (PSMD hero) can actually pull off mega evolution together because of Jay's status as a former human- they have a human aura at their core, so once they honed their skills, Jay was able to act as Miriam's anchor. So they're visible proof that mega evolution CAN work in this world, perhaps. Regardless, the two give it up except for when they truly need it.

Many Pokemon went to Diancie to try and get her to make them looplets and emeras again anyways behind the expedition society's back- some even wanted mega stones to test out the rumors for themselves! Remembering the devastation from all those centuries ago, Diancie decided to hide away in an underground cave network, never to be seen again for quite some time.

TLDR, So at the time of the prequel, looplets and by extension mega evolution is outlawed. It's an extremely dangerous and taboo practice because there are no humans around to act as an anchor. Some Pokemon are unhappy with this and want to find a way to mega evolve safely.

[raan-miir-tah]

Dan Mora is my best fucking friend. He taught me how to draw the ninja turtles. He’s drawing the massive verse reading card game. He’s drawing Superbat commissions. Is there any brand of comic nerd that doesn’t owe their life to him? There is not. Godspeed you beautiful bastard

[husheduphistory]

Dealt a Hand of Death: The Terrible Table of the Delta Saloon

When gold was discovered in California on January 24th 1848 it changed the landscape of the country with approximately 300,000 people swarming to the state from all over dreaming of striking it rich and finding fortune in the ground. Undoubtedly, the California Gold Rush was familiar to Henry T. “Pancake” Comstock, a Canadian miner and acquaintance with brothers Ethan Allen and Hoesa Ballou Grosh. The Grosh brothers were veterans of the California gold fields and in the fall of 1857 they discovered a promising ore deposit in Virginia City, Nevada. But, before they could claim the land both brothers tragically died. Hearing of their deaths, Comstock took it upon himself to take over their cabin, open their belongings, find the documentation connected to their find, and essentially claim it as his own. In the spring of 1859, two miners named Peter O’Riley and Patrick McLaughlin began to work the area around Six-Mile Canyon when they made a huge discovery, a deposit of silver ore, but their elation was short lived. Comstock claimed the men were working on land he had already claimed for “grazing purposes” and he proceeded to threaten them to the point that in order to avoid issues the miners made him a partial owner in the claim, later named the Comstock Lode.

Mining on the Comstock. Image via wikipedia.com.

The men had no idea what they had discovered. The Comstock Lode was a massive deposit of silver ore, the first of its kind in the United States, and news about new riches found under the earth brought back the excitement of the California Gold Rush from less than ten years earlier. From its discovery in 1859 to 1882 the Comstock Lode yielded what would today amount to over ten billion dollars worth of ore. However, none of the men who discovered the claim never saw that level of wealth. Patrick McLaughlin sold his 1/6 interest in the claim for $3,000 but the money was quickly lost and he died after working multiple odd jobs to scrape by. Peter O'Riley held on to his interests at first but eventually sold them for approximately $40,000. He used the money to invest in other endeavors including a hotel and another venture into mining but his attempts were unsuccessful. He lost everything, was declared insane, and his life came to a close in a California asylum.

Henry Comstock sold his interests and went on to open various shops in Carson City and Silver City. He too lost everything in bad business decisions and in September 1870 he died in Montana after shooting himself in the head.

Henry T. "Pancake" Comstock. Image via legendsofamerica.com.

When the Comstock Lode was discovered it completely transformed Virginia City, Nevada. Once a small mining town it was quickly filled with hundreds of thousands of prospectors, driven by the re-ignited dreams of fortune just waiting to be dug up. The influx of people brought everyone imaginable to Virginia City, and it quickly transformed into a place where law dared not tread. Filled to the brim with bordellos, saloons, and opium dens, the city became the darkest definition of the wild west. In 1872 Mark Twain published his semi-autobiographical novel Roughing It where he wrote about his travels by stagecoach through the American West and later the islands of the Pacific. In the book he writes about his trip to Virginia City stating that “Two days before I lectured in Virginia City, two stagecoaches were robbed within two miles of the town.” Twain himself was later robbed at gunpoint once he arrived in the city, losing his money and a gold watch.

Dreams, greed, and human beings all swept through the west and Virginia City, but there was one more thing that was keeping all of their minds occupied, a card game called Faro. Played using one deck of cards and being fairly easy to learn, gamblers quickly made Faro the dominant card game of every gambling hall in the west from 1825 to approximately 1915. One man who was well versed in the game was a Virginia City gambler named “Black Jake” who decided he was going to capitalize on its popularity, buy himself a Faro game table, and make himself rich taking cash out of every pocket he could. He was known for being a greedy man, but one night in 1861 karma came back strong and the table turned on its owner with Black Jake losing multiple rounds and $70,000 in one night. With absolutely no way to pay out that amount of money, the equivalent of two million dollars today, the disgraced gambler grabbed his pistol and took his own life at the table. With Black Jake gone the table needed a new home, and a few years later it found a new owner whose name has been lost to time. This new owner operated the table for exactly one night where he too lost everything, including his life. It is unknown if he chose to take it himself, or if it was taken from him.

Playing Faro in a saloon circa 1895. Image via wikipedia.com.

Having claimed two lives, the table was stored in the back room of where it was last used, The Delta Saloon, where it would sit undisturbed for decades. It wasn’t until the late 1890s that wealthy businessman Charles Fosgard laid eyes on the table, and he was happy to buy it. Fosgard had a lot of money, but he was looking to reinvest it and in Virginia City with its thrill-seeking gamblers looking to strike it rich in the saloons when they couldn’t in the mines, it made perfect sense to Fosgard to bring the notorious table out of retirement. After converting it into a blackjack table, Fosgard went into business.

One night a drunk miner sauntered into The Delta Saloon and made his way to the blackjack table. To Fosgard’s delight the miner lost hand after hand until he only had one thing left to offer the businessman, his gold ring. He bet the ring against a five dollar coin and finally, he won a hand. Then he won another….and then he won another. The miner and Fosgard went face to face over and over again and a crowd grew to watch as the businessman was forced to hand over everything. By the end of the game the miner was the new owner of Fosgard’s stagecoach, his share in a local gold mine, and $85,000 (over 2.5 million dollars in today’s money.) Fosgard’s fortune was decimated and he did the only thing he could think of, he pulled out his gun and took his life at the same table as the previous two owners (and in the same way as not only them, but also the less-than-legit founder of the Comstock Lode that brought them all there.)

The table was soaked in enough tragedy and it was put out of commission with a new dubious nickname of The Suicide Table. Year after year, and as the population of Virginia City depleted, the story of the table only grew and it was eventually made a feature of The Delta Saloon. People came from all over to see the table, guided by a sign that cheerfully read “See the Suicide Table” in bright paint as you approach the building that had been restored as faithfully as possible to how it was in its heyday in the 1800s. The table itself was also restored, brought back to its original state as a Faro table. It stayed a Delta Saloon attraction for decades, saw in new centuries, and lived quietly with its tragic past and infamy.

Vintage postcard showing The Suicide Table on display at The Delta Saloon. Image via ebay.com.

Then, on March 11th 2019, Virginia City was shaken when a gas explosion occurred at The Delta Saloon. Amid the damage sat The Suicide Table, unscathed other than receiving a coating of dust. Movers were brought in and the table was relocated to the Delta’s sister saloon, The Bonanza Saloon, right across the street where it remains on display under protective plastic housing.

The Suicide Table is still a major attraction in Virginia City, attracting the gaze of thousands of people lured in by its horrific past. In a time and place that encompassed the lawless American West like Virginia City, there are many shocking tales to tell. But standing out in the crowd is a simple Faro table, created as a game of chance, and tied to at least four lives suddenly lost in the bloody name of greed.

*****************************************************

Sources:

Step Back in Time Virginia City Nevada by The Virginia City Tourist Commission. 2022. https://visitvirginiacitynv.com/history/

Comstock Lode – Creating Nevada History by Legends of America. 2023. https://www.legendsofamerica.com/nv-comstocklode/

The History and Nostalgia of The Delta Saloon by The Delta Saloon. 2023.

The Old West Card Table With a Deadly Past by Danielle Hyman & Adam Aronson. The Daily Beast. September 3, 2018. https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-old-west-card-table-with-a-deadly-past

Men’s luck ran out at gaming table by Dave Maxwell. Boulder City Review. June 17, 2020. https://bouldercityreview.com/community/mens-luck-ran-out-at-gaming-table-61432/

[comicbookclub]

The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game Brings The Image Comics Universe Home

The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is bringing the Image Comics superhero universe to tabletop gaming. Get a look here.

[comicbookclublive]

The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game Brings The Image Comics Universe Home

The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is bringing the Image Comics superhero universe to tabletop gaming. Get a look here.

[comiccrusaders]

GET BATTLE READY WITH THE MASSIVE-VERSE FIGHTING CARD GAME OUT IN OCTOBER! @ImageComics #comics #comicbooks https://ow.ly/T0EJ50TfKIG

[here4theheartbreak]

The photocards! SanSang!!! Adorable!!! I also really like the Hwa/Mingi one!

Omg the random albums really gave you the full Woosan experience! Sannie with the hearts stuck on his cheeks~ 🥺💕 Also, Mingi looks absolutely incredible this era?? There's something about him! Massive main character energy.

I think you made the right decision! With the amount of pcs available per album, you'd have to get a filing cabinet to store them all! 😭😂

Ohhh, that lot of albums sounds amazing! That's how I got most of my Vixx albums, all in a big bundle! It's great that you have a little network of people wanting albums though, it'd be such a shame for the duplicates to just be sitting around if someone wants/needs them.

I also bought the fan kit! We have SOOOO many tarot cards in this house. 😅 I recently got a cool Korean holographic deck! It's really beautiful~

I've also noticed that about buying straight from KR! The price is usually about the same. And things definitely arrive much faster! I honestly love the Korean postal system. When I mailed a postcard home, it literally arrived the next day. I was amazed.

You were caught ugly crying at a concert by a member of OOO? I salute you. Not many could survive it. 😂

It truly was a shame about Yongguk. Because I'm sure he'd have absolutely no problems interacting with male fans. It's just an example of him being shortsighted, I suppose. He's just gone with what he sees / what he expects. And it's very unfortunate.

That's so true. If someone is absolutely spotless and never puts a foot wrong, then it's kinda strange. If they're eternally, faultlessly good... it feels odd. Like how lawyered up are you, and how deep have you buried the bodies??? Humans make errors. People have bad days. Moods change. It's hard to be ON all the time. It's fine. It's normal. As long as it's nothing malicious or purposefully hurtful, I can understand.

I ALWAYS think this. Particularly about K-pop and gaming. It's grown adults, with regular incomes, who are buying merch and albums, and paying stupid prices for tickets. Plus, going to a concert is an EXPENSIVE experience if you live outside of the city the show is at?? Every K-pop concert I go to costs me around £450-£550 (average of £120 per ticket, £100 travel costs, £160 hotel, £50 for food and drink) + whatever I decide to spend on merch. I spent £160 on Ateez merch in February! Kids are simply NOT affording it.

Oh, Pungja? I love her, she's so funny and her humour is so direct! I really liked the interview she did with Mingi and Hongjoong during Halazia era too. That was around the same time (same week?) we got that WooSanHwa Lucky Oppa episode! (I watched it again yesterday) I really loooove how they all interacted with Hoyoung — especially Woo, he was so excited. It was truly a great week for Ateez interviews and queer interactions in general. And, you're right, there is an honest comfort in their engagement that's GREAT to see. It just doesn't seem to matter, which is obviously how it should be.

I loveeeee San's thanxx rainbow ear!!! 🌈 I really liked thanxx as a whole, I understand that it was a hard time with the whole CA situation. But the song is so good!

Omg. There were SO many quote contenders for my little ateez tattoo. But most of them were a bit sad, even though they're very meaningful to me?? So I just went with the straightforward but hopeful '너와 나의 promise'. But I was SO CLOSE to choosing Joong's whole verse from Halazia... because it's basically (read: exactly) how I feel about my whole health journey these past few years. And there was also 'I shine on my own [people will call that a star]' which is really beautiful... but also kind of lonely in a way?? And then I was like maybe 'just keep it up' because it's so encouraging and Sunrise is a GREAT concert song. But Promise always cheers me up. Although, I did also seriously consider '별처럼 빛나' and I still might get that one because '별' is one of my favourite Korean words. And '처럼' and '빛' are two of my favourite Korean words to say. But I think I'd like to get something more conceptual/visual. Who knows. You'll definitely have to let me know what you decide to get, if you decide! 😊

I really liked neon green Yeosang! But I do prefer his natural hair, especially when it's a bit longer. He looks like an actual fairytale prince. Still, I was a big fan of highlighter green Yeosang! The black stripes have me less enthusiastic BUT I respect his scene kid journey! 😂 He definitely knows that rawr means 'i love you' in dinosaur. Ahhhh. May our lord and saviour (Gerard Way) protect our sweet xXxY3oS4ng13xXx from harm.

San looks stunning with the red hair! Literally, red is SO HARD for idols to pull off. Wooyoung was another GORGEOUS red.

So many more hair things have happened. They change their colours way too fast!

Also, helllllllo, Ateez Cosmopolitan Mingi with the stomach reveal?? It seems like he really wants to show us that area lately. You do you, King. You show 'em what you've got, princess~! 💖

Mingi looks so good this era, I absolutely love the style they put him in. I didn’t love the short cropped when it was blonde, but now that it’s gotten a bit longer it looks amazing (and it looked great with the pink).

And yes, in regards to pcs - I have limited space 🤣I collect pcs for 7-ish groups (only SHINee and Ateez are ‘every album must have a pc’ type collections - the other 5 are more “if they’re cute I will get them” lol) - so far I’ve been displaying them in these little polaroid mini things so I can flip through them easily - but I’m running out of room 😭 I’m probably going to need to get a third one V_V

The album lot arrived last week, it was so much more than I had anticipated! She also sent along '22 Season’s Greetings which I did not at all expect, and the special edition of All to Action which I uh… Wasn’t aware even existed until my friend lost her shit when I showed her the spread 😂 (And I got one of San’s autographed albums 🥲 - not from the same seller but they arrived the same day so I was absolutely chuffed - I need Wooyoung still but am waiting a bit for a good deal).

In all there were 11 duplicates because of some that I already owned. I wasn’t planning on collecting every version of each album, but I mean… She already did 90% of the work for me so 😂 - I actually have a shop online where I resell kpop merch like albums and pcs so it works out; new inventory for my shop, I'll be able to recoup a good half of the money I spent on it I figure.

But, at least until another group I like as a comeback, and until I get the last 2 albums I’m missing (yellow and blue versions of Movement are all that I’m missing V_V - they’re on the way though) - this is what my kpop center looks like overall … I’m out of room.

Oh my God I LOVE that tarot deck! That is so gorgeous!! Where did you get it?? My favorite deck that I own is my Black Deck; I love darker, more eerie decks - but I also love fandom decks; I have a Nightmare Before Xmas one on the way and am eyeing a Star Trek one as well. (And am lamenting the fact that no one has made an American Horror Story deck? Like come on people.)

And yeah, I expect mistakes from people. I’m not delusional, I know my idols and favorite celebrities are human and sometimes humans just don’t want to deal with shit or say things without thinking. It’s just how we are as a species. The problem is when it is repetitive, malicious, or shows willful ignorance or hostility (i.e. sexism, racism, etc) that is not due to ignorance. And right??? I love the stereotype of fans of these things, kpop, video gamers, etc - being 12-14 year old children - like, do people realize the amount of money that it takes to be a fan in the way they are imagining? Obviously I don’t think you need to buy everything or do everything to be a fan - that’s ridiculous - but when these people who mock kpop are mocking fans, they’re mocking ones that have every version of the albums, collect the pcs, go to the concerts, travel to KR to go to fan signs, etc — do they realize what that all costs??? I freely admit that I have a good probably 2k-4k usd worth of merch and albums sitting on my shelf or up on my walls or in binders rn (whether or not I paid that, someone did) and that’s not near as much as it used to be when I collected for BTS, plus a good 500usd or so sitting in a box for resale. A child isn’t going to do that. A child isn’t going to be able to do that, and I know almost zero parents that would be willing to do that for their child - kids are expensive enough as it is 😂 - I fund my son’s hyperfixation (dinosaurs/the Jurassic series) and that’s bad enough. Tickets/concerts are so expensive, you are right! Between the cost of the ticket (which is so much more if the group is popular and if you want seats close or the extras like hi-touch an such). And then travel, hotel, food — and for me personally, even if it’s the rare one in my city (I’ve been lucky enough to see A.C.E and OnlyOneOf here in Minnesota) - most of the time tho I have to travel to Chicago or New York). I still have to pay for a sitter - which isn’t as bad as a hotel but still not cheap — and a kid isn’t going to be driving, so either their parents are footing the gas bill or they’re taking a rideshare, so… Yeah no. (Not to mention some cities here in the US have age curfews - which means parents are gonna need to spend money on an extra ticket to go just so their kid can go.)

Yes! Her. She’s a hoot. I saw she did an interview with those two, I haven’t watched it yet though. I haven’t seen Lucky Oppa either! I will have to go look it up. I’ve never heard of it! I agree as well, that it doesn’t matter - which is what I think is important. I don’t want the community being treated differently in a bad way OR a good way, you know? I just want all of us treated like humans. If you’d treat a cishet host a certain way, then treat the queer host the same way.

And yesss - I swear so many of their lyrics are so deep and meaningful. I feel like a lot of their lyrics are really impactful and speak to me — which ofc is what most fans think, that’s the sign of a good song lol - but you get it. I really like lyrics from Utopia and Aurora (actually Aurora would be really fun to play with as a sort of watercolor night sky looking tattoo but idk). I also really love Better and One Day at a Time - they’re so simple but meaningful. And an odd one that I like but not probably for why you’d think is Good Lil’ Boy - as a transmasc preson there’s parts of it that just resonate for me. I’m sure that I’m sure wasn’t the original intention but 🤷🏻‍♂️ - also parts of Say My Name and Thanxx for a similar reason.

There’s a shop that I found, they did my Doodle tattoo (which was also my first pride tattoo without planning for it; I told her that they could play with the colors of it and she realized it was the perfect # of letters to use for pride colors lol. I love this shop though; it only hires queer, disabled, female identifying, or poc artists. The owner is an enby artist who specializes in top surgery/scar coverups — I want to go to them when I finally decide on what I want for my top surgery scar tattoo. But there’s one artist there that does amazing watercolor - I really would like to have her do sth. But I’m sure I’ll figure something out; maybe I’ll get it for my birthday next year, I try to get one a year when money allows.

The way I snorted over “xXxY3oS4ng13xXx” - because I definitely had a username similar and so did my friend - the nostalgia this kid is giving me rn 😂 - that’s why I don’t like it, it’s giving me clique war flashbacks 🤣🤣🤣🤣(speaking of nostalgia tho - the 2022 Season’s Greetings that I got from that seller - talk about making me feel old jfc - the fact that these trends are retro for these GenZ kids V_V please. They were cute, but I also wanted to hide under a rock seeing some of them).

And yes oh my GOD Wooyoung’s red hair was amazing. It caught my attention right away. I can count on one hand the number of idols that have been able to pull of that neon red and honestly 1/2 of them are Ateez members 😂 - tho some of them really are just super well suited to fantasy colored hair. Like Joong looks amazing in various unnatural colors imo; my least favorite styles of his are when he’s just with his natural hair 😅

The COSMO OH MY GOD I DIED. The way I immediately went to my budget and wiggled stuff around to pre-order a couple of those, it was embarrassing. (I was gonna get all 9 but even I realized it was a bit silly to get 9 copies of the same magazine just for the covers… Despite my desperate want for them.) If I had an easy way to display all of them I would’ve, but alas, my walls are already almost entirely full so, I limited myself to WooSan and ot8. Mingi tho - absolutely killer. And Yunho??? I swear, that man goes totally off my radar for periods then BAM - there he is.

Also, I was watching some shorts and this video came up and I just… Wooyoung is so tiny he looks like a little boy V_V — and I know he’s not really all that small (tho tbf compared to my barely 5ft ass EVERYONE is tall) - but he looks so little next to him and the expression he’s making 😩 My heart.

[boardgametoday]

We unbox the Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game! Don't miss out on this!

We unbox the Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game! Don't miss out on this! #boardgames #cardgames #massiveverse #comicbooks #tabletopgames

The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is cross-over fighting game of quick spell and big reads. Featuring 8 characters, it brings the world of the Massive-Verse by Kyle Higgins and the legendary art of Dan Mora to the tabletop with the Pocket Paragons game! Taking 5-15 minutes per game, it’s for 2 players and retails for $29.95. Get your copy Solis Game Studio provided Board Game Today with a…

[graphicpolicy]

We unbox the Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game! Don't miss out on this!

We unbox the Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game! The Massive-Verse comes to the tabletop! #boardgames #cardgames #massiveverse #comicbooks #tabletopgames

The Massive-Verse Fighting Card Game is cross-over fighting game of quick spell and big reads. Featuring 8 characters, it brings the world of the Massive-Verse by Kyle Higgins and the legendary art of Dan Mora to the tabletop with the Pocket Paragons game! Taking 5-15 minutes per game, it’s for 2 players and retails for $29.95. Get your copy Solis Game Studio provided Board Game Today with a…

[kenmaiid]

Gaming Headcanons

(Or how the Brothers play games with MC) Brothers + gn!reader just a fun little idea that bounced around in my head after I made the Barbatos version. you can view everything romantically or platonically! doesn't matter

dateables + Luke

                                                       -------------

Lucifer:

Are you insane? You think that the oh-so-busy Lucifer would have time to play silly games with you? Really? Okay well, maybe sometimes. For a moment you think he might scold you for slacking off, but another part of him welcomes it. Especially since you seemed to want his attention. 

Ask him on the right day when he’s not massively overloaded with a lot of work, he’ll make time. A break now and then is good after all.

Lucifer will make it seem as casual as possible though, but he’s secretly pleased the change of pace. (even if he says otherwise)

Frankly he strikes me as the type to secretly play Candy Crush under his desk when the paperwork and files become too much. He gets addicted to those terrible time-waster sandbox games, and hates that he really enjoys them. But focusing on them brings a sort of... peaceful distraction...

But if you'd like to play a game with him he seems more like the type to excel in card games or board games. Things like poker or chess and stimulating things are the best options!

If it’s a game you're new to and completely unfamiliar with he’d absolutely take the time to teach you how to play it. Get ready for an extensive step by step on how to play for the next hour!

He’s not opposed to other types of games though. Levi’s roped him into so many cursed videogames on accident that he approaches pretty much anything with a confident manner. (Though he starts to get just a little salty if he's on the losing end. He is still quite prideful after all)

No matter... it's a reward on it's own if he can see you smiling or laughing. A bit unfortunate that it be at his expense however....

"I suppose taking a break from work was well worth it then. Hm? While it may be unlike me to admit defeat so easily, I wouldn’t say it was a waste of time. It’s refreshing to be in your presence, MC. Message me again if you find any other interesting games."

Mammon:

Mammon is STUPIDLY. RIDICULOUSLY. INSANELY lucky at games. Specifically gambling sure, but I like to think that his gambling luck follows him a little bit sometimes.

It’s only when he starts gloating and showing off about it does his luck immediately run out... poor mammon..

The very first time you bring up wanting to play a game with him though he's all nonchalant on the surface, but the fact that you came to him over everyone else makes him secretly happy

casually brings it up in conversation with others that you were his first or somethin like that and people start looking at him weird

He’s like: "Ah, whatever, sure. We can do something if you want I guess... since youre lookin’ all pathetic without my guidance or whatever." *looks at you hopefully* 👀👀👀 "So what're we playin'? I can teach ya if you need help with this one."

To be honest if you do actually need his help with some sort of gambling then he really will go all out. But casual games between the two of you are fun as well

I like to think that Levi will ask him to do his gacha pulls for him. Mammon still has no clue how in the world him pressing a button helps, but if Levi seems happy enough its whatever. So if you're also simply coming to him for something like that he’s confused, but he won’t turn you away. (will lean over your shoulder and squint at the phone though)

Not to reduce him to his whole gambling schtick but i feel like he'd be well versed in pretty much any sort of entertainment type game. But he plays the odd game here and there with the other brothers.

Test your luck against him in a card game or backgammon or anything like that if you want. At the very least it'll make him happy, and its something he can actually really focus on.

He still gets really competitive lowkey though. You gotta catch him on the right day with a pout and a pleading look in your eye if you want him to give up and just let you win.

Mammon is a softie, you could absolutely win him over.

Unless its Mario Kart or something like that, he gets bullied by the brothers and even NPCs quite viciously. He probably gets bullied in most games with his brothers honestly. Perhaps you should go easier on him if you end up being better than him.

“You know, you ain’t too bad at this, MC. Maybe we can find another game to play when you’re free, okay? Just call me and I’ll be right over. I’m winnin next time though!”

Leviathan:

Levi is THE number one gamer.

Like who are we kidding he eats, sleeps, breathes, gaming. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had those horrendous gaming related t-shirts he wears alone... or if he has a ‘live laugh pog’ carpet or something terrible like that in his room

He has the gaming chair and the light up rainbow keyboard setup i really dont know what else you want from me. what else could I say

Levi is either the type to stand to the side and say 'lol' in chat when The Skeletons start chasing you in Minecraft, or he gets clingy and always wants to see if you need help or protection.

Mans is always decked in the most high level expensive gear no matter what the game is anyways. He worked hard for it and will show it off. There’d be no point in not wearing it anyways. but God we get it... you're a pro gamer. Now hurry up and help fight the boss 🙄

Luckily for you he's always so excited to have a gaming partner to play around with and show off to that he just gets really focused on both you and the game. There is no room for self-deprecation in his mind since you’re the focus! For a little while at least </3 (no but seriously, he self-deprecates so much I personally think gaming with MC would leave less room for negativity since he has other things to worry about. Who else will slay all these mobs yknow-)

He gets a little silly because of this I think, if he’s not playing with online friends that is. He devotes so much of his time protecting you if you’re newer at a game or really seem to be struggling.

If you need armor or good gear he’ll give it to you. You need more items? He’s on it. You need to grind a boss for something special? Alright. lets go!

I can’t exactly say that he’s the best teacher, but seeing him look so excited is nice right?

Also the type to help you with getting achievements. No matter what game it is he’ll show you the steps to get it, or just do it himself if you ask. Bless his heart...

”I own both versions of [insert Pokémon Game here]. If you’re collecting them all I can help you with trading and filling the dex.”

”Is the sun bothering you, MC?” “I don’t think you can kill that in game, Levi.”

”If we can clear these dungeons by today we can get some really good prizes, MC! Don’t worry, I can definitely help you through. I made a guide for this one awhile back so if we follow this method...”

Levi and MC just have a lot of fun no matter what it is honestly. He’s quite competitive as well but more so in relation to his brothers. So perhaps there’s some favoritism thrown MCs way

Satan:

No he will not number one victory royale with you.

He is not your little pogchamp. Get a grip!!!

Though he does strike me as the type to unironically love cat headphones hmmmm

He’d only wear them alone or around MC at first, but eventually he’d wear them when he games with the other brothers

Will he get you a matching set just to test the waters and gauge his reaction accordingly based on if you like it? Yes. He’s prepared to laugh it off as a little joke gift if you’re not receptive. If you like it though he’s very pleased. Starts going on about all the extra handy uses it comes with and how he was considerate with choosing the color yada yada

But he does get a little competitive if you bring something up that catches his interest. As long as he's curious enough and it sounds kind of fun he's gonna do it.

Honestly he doesn't strike me as the type to play games all that much, IF at all. (He’d be more of a mobile player at that)

There’s a good chance he knows about a lot of games either through hearing Levi mention them in passing, or just through stumbling upon them in his own free time (he does like to research after all)

Satan would definitely text you or ask in person if he had a query about an interesting human world game he read about

(Okay so it turns out whatever he read was an extremely dated ritual but MC quickly looks past that to teach him an actual game instead. No, no, Satan please put the book away. It is not a game.)

MC spends a fair amount of time teaching him old children’s hand games to his slight amusement. Whether he just wants to touch their hands or actually learn is unknown, but he absolutely eats it up every time they play Patty Cake

As for things I could actually see him playing in his free time.. He was really obsessed with Neko Atsume and Meow Meow Star Acres for awhile.

MC would occasionally ask “How’s that black cat doing today?” and Satan will reply “Ah, Hermeowne is doing lovely today. Would you like to see her?” And he’s already opening the app to show you

Unironically though, I think it would be really funny if he somehow got into GTA. It’s “for the culture” he claims when he mentions how he finds the game. Thinks it’s a bit ridiculous and extremely vulgar as he loads it up, which is sort amusing at first. He’s stealing cars and running over the NPCS almost immediately.

Momentarily he panics because ‘This isn’t linked to any real world pedestrians right? It’s all actual code?’ Yes, Satan it’s actual code. No. Satan, they aren’t real people. Carry on.

Oh great, now you lost him for a week straight.

Asmodeus:

girlsgogames dot com end of story

Devilish Hairstyler.... Pet Makeovers.... Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures.... he’s all about that genre of gaming

He's mostly invested in those really elaborate 'you start out with nothing and need to redecorate and/or dress everyone up' type of games

Asmo wouldn’t be embarrassed about it by any means, but I think a small part of him would be a bit flustered if it was truly found out how much time he really logs into these sort of things

I think he'd also be super invested in The Sims franchise. Asmo has this really elaborate little fake world where he creates people and starts tedious drama in game for fun. Has probably recreated all of his brothers to further the chaos

Was absolutely appalled with the way he looked in the game the first time.

No he just couldn't have that. Not at all. He spent hours getting tons and tons of mods to beautify himself (with Levi’s help and guidance of course).

It almost quite literally looks as if he stepped into the game world, which had really worried MC for a moment. They’ve been in enough wacky game world related scenarios as is, they just had to be sure

Asmo usually has to be in the mood to game since it’s usually the last thing on his mind, but you're free to watch him play of course! He can give you a nice tour of all the houses he’s worked on and fill you in on all the fake drama

It’s a very long and overly complicated story though so just know what you’re getting yourself into!

Honestly though, If he did have to actually play something, he’s more of the ‘I’m bad at gaming but I’m having fun so it’s all good’ type

He came 6th in Mario Kart? Ah, he’s a little annoyed that he couldn’t show off like the others but that’s fine, he did his best! The commentary and seeing you smile or laugh was much better anyways

“So there’s this adorable little penguin that owns this restaurant and- Oh! I don’t know if we can do two players though... ahh, okay, just one moment I can find something for us to do together. Unless you know a better way to pass the time, hm? 😏 “

Probably used to lightly harass people on Neopets and Club Penguin into buying him all the top tier fancy items btw. Not because he couldn’t afford it. Just because <3

Beelzebub:

"Oh, MC, did you need help clearing a level or something? I dunno how much I can help out but let me see what I can do."

He'll probably mention once or twice that he's not the best at gaming and things like that, but he'll definitely do his best.

Is really confused on why you wouldn’t just want to go ask Levi or someone else though because of this, but he’s not the type to think about it for too long

You came to him so the two of you could hang out together, so he’s gonna do just that. It’s very simple

When he says he’s not the best he..... really isn't though. at least in the way he approaches gaming

Beel would load up a new file of Animal Crossing for the 1st time and ask MC “Okay. who do I kill?” *Tom Nook appears on screen* “Oh, do I fight him?” No Beel, please don’t fight the old Tanuki, he’s just trying to make a living via questionable means.

MC ponders what fighting Tom Nook would actually be like though. Just for a split second.

We already know Beel’s the type to just brute force it. I mean, he saved over poor Levi’s save files and used the wrong weapons in the anime, God save him <3

I think he’s the rare oddity where he can still make it through a game despite all this.

“Beel, How did you beat this boss? I’ve been trying for so long! No matter how many healing items i use I can never get past a certain point.”

Him: “Healing item?”

“Y-You. You did heal throughout it right? Beel?”

The way he games gives most people heart attacks tbh

Worried about whether or not he’d be enthralled by the Cooking Mama games because yeah sure it’s food related, but another part of me feels like Mama would remind him of Barbatos with her unwavering wide grin.

He can hear Barbatos’ scolding in the background the moment he messes up slicing these onions... the pressure might get to him oh no

Would he become enticed by the food on screen!?!?! Please dont eat MCs nintendo DS Beel

Belphegor:

Gaming? he just wants to take a nap with you, maybe rest his eyes for a bit, but ah well what is it that you expect from him.

He’s more of a watcher + cheerer rather than a player

Think of the little karaoke minigame in Yakuza games where you can clap and make noise on the sidelines. That's him, he’s cheering you on while you play instead

because otherwise, Belphie is absolutely terrible at gaming im so sorry.

He tries to offer advice at first, but unlike Beel, he pretty much never understands what the hell he’s actually looking at until MC gives a basic synopsis of what they have to do in-game

But like I said, I feel like no matter what game it is you’re playing he’d be invested enough

Ah is MC going on a treacherous quest and battling their way up the ranks? The story is very engaging to him if you’re equally invested

Is MC starting their new life as a farmer with a big abandoned plot of land? You should get all those rocks out of the way first then... Oh, no they’re getting the crops planted first? Smart thinking actually.

He backseat games a little bit ngl. “Shouldn’t you go over to The Health Center was it? Your rival is waiting for you, right?” He leans on your shoulder with a yawn. “Wait, doesn’t that mean there’ll be a big fight soon!? Mmmm, maybe you should train some more, MC... Go over there!”

Otherwise if he has the chance to actually play at the same time with you it takes some time for him to remember all the controls and the map. You’re more than likely going to have to carry him in whatever game youre playing. Even if it’s a peaceful one. Sorry.  🙏

Belphie keeps walking off the cliffs on accident.

He used his healing item at full health on accident.

He’s lost. It was only a few seconds but you lost Belphie in game.

Please help him understand the controls MC, I can’t watch this go on any longer.

Little fun fact: he always ends up liking the OSTs for the games you play. So sure, he can pretty much fall asleep on command, but so many of those OSTs are very pretty or relaxing. So he puts them in his playlist when he wants to have a particularly good nights rest (and maybe think of you)

[alisvhikasu]

Alis gets weirdly competitive about games.

Okay so, the through-line starts a few decades back when gambling became her hyper-fixation. For a bit, she was just enjoying the thrill of it, but it didn't take long for her to try and become good at gambling which. Well, you get good at gambling by looking at the stuff just outside the game: card counting, then catching patterns in roulettes, then using your massive rabbit ears to listen to the dice to know when and how they're cocked...

Anyways long story short she is banned from most non-Gold Saucer establishments by the time of the ARR, but she still keeps up her habit of over-analyzing any game she gets into, whether or not it involves chance. It's more fun when everyone's playing their best, right?

Ironically? I think that means she and Estinien in the WoL-verse get along weirdly well. I don't remember where the post was of headcannoning dragoons as being the most autistic of classes due to them looking at dragons and saying "I'm dedicating the next few years to learn a skillset specifically to counter you" but I'm taking that and applying it to board games too. When Estinien and Alis get into a game, you know the both of them are pulling out their spreadsheets and somehow have "techniques" for throwing dice to ensure they always get the roll they want.

...

I think whether or not this is annoying is entirely dependent on how much you're okay with just listening to someone spend at least half the game time puzzling over the rules in order to find fun loopholes.

Another day, another WoLQotD! I got a nice one for you all!

I'm curious to hear about your WoL's funny quirks! Things that make them, them. Actions that are so on brand, that when it happens, everyone around them goes "yup, that's our WoL for you..."

Could be cute, funny, mysterious, etc I just would love to hear about it!!

[malcontent7]

Possible but Unlikely Future Supporting Characters for Insomniac’s Spider-Man.

So I’ve been thinking lately about characters I’d like to see make appearances in future instalments of Insomniac’s Spider-Man game series. These characters could, but wouldn’t necessarily have to be, part of the main storyline, or could be relegated to B-Plot/side quest storylines, either providing aid against mutual villains, setting up goals or both.

Johnny Storm/Human Torch

A lot of fans who are more familiar with the characters from their adaptations than the source material may not be aware of this, but while Harry Osborn is generally described as Peter Parker’s best friend, The Human Torch is as often described as Spider-Man’s best friend. This has even come to the point of the pair publicly becoming good friends as civilians, with Johnny openly attending May Parker’s wedding to Jay Jameson Senior. In the Ultimate Universe, Johnny (along with Bobby Drake) even came to live with Peter and May for a short time after returning to New York after Ultimatum until Peter’s apparent death. As noted, this friendship hasn’t really been featured much in adaptation, and I for one would love to see the pair banter.

Daredevil/Matt Murdock

Spider-Man and Daredevil have collaborated in more than a few stories over the years, which makes sense given that they share a pretty major villain in the form of Wilson Fisk. This is also somewhat of a nostalgic choice for me, given that I first became aware of Daredevil via the Spider-Man cartoon in the nineties, where the pair worked together after Peter Parker is framed, and Matt Murdock represents him. This is just one of many storyline’s that the pair could feature in in the game, which could lead to the pair investigating criminal operations that Fisk is continuing to run from behind bars, or after managing to weasel his way out of prison. Daredevil himself hasn’t been mentioned in the game yet, but references to Matt Murdock have appeared in the form of his business card in one of Peter’s backpacks, and Nelson and Murdock’s office.

Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones has become very popular in recent years thanks to her series on Netflix. What many who are only familiar with that version of the character may not know, however, is that Jessica has some history with Peter Parker, being classmates in high school, during which time she (then Jessica Campbell) harboured a massive crush on Peter. The pair haven’t interacted much since, until the Dark Reign storyline, during which Peter identified himself to the Secret Avengers while she was present, leading to a very funny (and awkward) scene pictured below, the recreation of which is honestly the main reason I want to see this character appear. She also appeared in a short subplot in Miles’ comic (after his move to 616) that was also rather funny and featured husband Luke Cage.

Although Jessica herself hasn’t appeared in the game universe as of yet, Alias Investigations did appear as an easter egg in the first game. Jessica’s story could involve her seeking help from Spider-Man during a case that leads into the hero world, with Peter identifying himself after learning her history and coming to trust her, or MJ seeking a consultation on a difficult investigation, and Peter joining her. Either way I’m really hoping for some kind of semi-recreation the above scene when Jessica recognises her former classmate[s?]. Jessica could be married to Luke with Danielle by this point, or considering she’s supposed to be the same age as Peter, who’s still fairly young in the game, it could be earlier in her history, Prior to her relationship with Luke.

Madame Web/Cassandra Webb

Another nostalgic choice for me, having grown up in the nineties watching the Spider-Man cartoon, where Madame Web frequently appeared to mentor, advise, and test Peter, and was a major part of the final storyline, which went from a Secret War adaptation, to an early prototype of Spider-Verse. Although I would settle for an easter egg in the form of an ad or storefront for her services as a psychic, I’d love a storyline where she gives cryptic advice that leads to helping him deal with a string of crimes, with Peter being skeptical all the way, until the end of the quest line where he’s beginning to consider the possibility that she’s the real deal after all. Cassandra hasn’t made many appearances in recent years, having been killed off during Grim Hunt, though a clone of her did appear in Clone Conspiracy.

Loki

So way back in 2004, Spider-Man and Loki teamed up in a short (two issue) story to save Loki’s Demigod daughter (Tess) from being possessed by a weird chaos sorceress/goddess named Morwen that was planning to destroy the world or something. The pair got along surprisingly well, and showed some decent chemistry, which has led to a fair amount of fan fiction featuring the two as friends. The issue also showed that Loki had the potential to be a decent person when he wasn’t getting competitive with Thor, and might, along with the MCU, have been part of the reason for the character’s attempts at a redemption arc in recent years. I wouldn’t mind a loose recreation of the story arc, especially if it ends with Loki owing Peter a favour.

The Clones

This is arguably the entry most likely to end up being part of the main storyline, rather than a side quest, in an adaptation of the Clone Saga. Before everyone starts jumping down my throat, I know the clone saga isn’t generally looked back upon as a well loved story arc, but that was mostly due to Marvel trying to milk it for all they could, and extending it to over two years. If they had shown some restraint and kept to the originally planed story it might have been much more fondly remembered. In fact a much more concise version of the Clone Saga did occur on 1610, that was better received. The two versions also saw the introduction of characters that have since become very popular with fans, including the two Scarlet Spiders, Ben Reilly and Kaine Parker, both of whom’s costumes have appeared as alternate skins in the series so far, and the Ultinate version of Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman, which would give an excuse to introduce them all to this game’s universe.

I’m also including Spider-Gwen as a character that could be included in this plot line. Although generally depicted as being from an alternate universe rather than a clone, I feel the character could fit well here in the form of a clone, given that Miles Warren’s obsession with Gwen Stacy forms a big part of his character motivation. My imagining is that Warren could be attempting to create a clone of Gwen, but finds the clones too short lived (an issue that is true to the mainstream comic), and tries to incorporate Spider-Man’s DNA in order to make the clone stronger and more stable. This could justify the design for some of the clones, since his attempts to splice their DNA together could result in a blonde clone of Peter (Ben Reilly), and female clone of Peter (Jessica Drew), and a Gwen with spider powers, with Kaine being an early attempt at a pure clone of Peter.

Teresa Parker/Durand

A new addition, because I can’t believe I didn’t think of this earlier. Teresa Durand was first introduced in a 2014 graphic novel called Spider-Man: Family Business, where she introduces herself to Peter, claiming to be his long lost sister, born in secret just before their parents died while on assignment for the C.I.A. She was subsequently adopted by the Durand family, and grew up to be recruited into the C.I.A herself by Nick Fury. The pair end up crossing Europe investigating one of their parents missions, during which time she discovers his identity of Spider-Man. Though the novel ends with it being revealed that she’d been manipulated into believing she was connected to the Parkers by Wilson Fisk, by way of Mentallo, and her memories of the entire ordeal erased, it did leave the door open for the possibility that there may have been more truth than lies in her fabricated back story. Years later in 2017’s Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, Teresa returns seeking help from Peter, and reveals that she has been working for S.H.I.E.L.D and her memories had eventually returned. They quickly return to a sibling dynamic, despite having no evidence that they’re related, though Teresa, does have her suspicions and eventually manages to confirm that she is in fact the daughter of Richard and Mary Parker, and Peter’s younger sister, at which point she changes her name to Teresa Parker. I personally love the idea of Peter discovering new family, and I’d love to see her adapted in some form, even if they slow burn the truth of their relationship for dramatic effect.

I put together this little list mostly for fun. I don’t actually have any expectation that any of my wishes will come to pass. Feel free to offer any unlikely characters you’d like to see as allies. I might do another list for villains, later.

[shihalyfie]

Outside of the Tamers kids, which Digimon characters do you think would enjoy and/or be good at the original Digimon card game (Hyper Colosseum)? Would anyone have the potential to come close to Ruki and Ryo’s level?

Card games require a good ability to do deductive reasoning and tactical planning, but to get up there in tourney terms, you have to be able to follow the meta and have a good sense of predicting your opponent's moves as well (which will often depend on the meta). You also need to be able to think quickly on the spot, and you also need a bit of luck.

I'm just going to go by card games in general rather than Hyper Colosseum specifically for certain reasons, but if we went by group:

Adventure: Koushirou's definitely the one with highest tactical planning ability, and he'd be very well-versed in meta, but I see him as someone who has more fun being an analyst and commentator on various meta decks and why they work the way they do, and why certain tournament results happened the way they did. So while he'd be theoretically good at the game, I feel like he wouldn't be much of a threat at the tourney level just because he's not that interested in it (but he'd do a great job running one of those meta analysis websites).

02: Ken's also very tactical and analytical, and has more of the pragmatic experience and even a bit of competitiveness if that's what he really wants (which is ironic considering that in real life his Dark Towers were responsible for ruining the Hyper Colosseum meta). That said, I feel like he doesn't really enjoy shooting for the high spotlight that much anymore, so I don't see him going beyond local tourneys as a major casual (and only really for the experience and small prizes). So he's also out, due to lack of interest.

Frontier: Junpei! Here's the one the tourney kids may really have to worry about. First of all, he's wicked smart and analytical (we're talking the guy who really wanted to make entire ship blueprints if it were practically feasible) and loves messing around with and trying out different configurations of things. Second of all, he has the kind of personality who loves being in the spotlight and shooting for the top, and on top of that he'd probably be great at forming various connections and networking. Oh, and he'd probably be super popular at the local card shops and even help the younger kids (including Tomoki) get into the game. Even if he loses to players like Ruki and Ryou, I imagine he's still enjoying the experience to the utmost fullest, so who's really the one winning here?

Savers: The older folks in the main cast are either too workaholic or too focused on other things to dedicate themselves to the card game life, but maybe Ikuto and Chika would have potential in their future.

Xros Wars: While everyone who's been a General at some point has the technical moxie, I think Yuu would be the one most likely to get really into it. As much as Taiki's supposed to be generally good at anything he tries, I don't see him as dedicating himself fully to it enough to start rising up the tourney ranks because he basically is in the habit of learning as much as necessary to help a nearby person, so he's too busy running around assisting other people to focus on a single thing.

Appmon: Haru! Definitely very much of an intellectual and thoughtful type who would take a genuine interest in how play works, and would be friendly enough to hang out and make connections on the community level. He'd also have his friends supporting him all the way if that's what he wants to do, too.

Reboot: Probably Koushirou for similar reasons as his original counterpart. That said, I get the impression he'd want the massive spotlight even less, so the answer ultimately comes out to be the same.