#me: i will keep a limit on my roster so it doesn't get out of hand

[insurged]

tfw your mutuals spam you with baldur gate 3 tiktoks ( in particular, gale and astarion ones ) to try to tempt you. ＼(￣▽￣)／

[buldrokkastee]

@nenestansunsthings I would absolutely love to talk about Deepcolor some more so thank you for giving me this prime opportunity. Although I'll preface everything I'm about to say with the classic 'I am not an expert or even particularly good at the video game Arknights'. I'm not doing big brain clears and I'm usually splashing around waves 1-4 of IS3 at the highest. I get through most new and old content with the classic winning strat of big fish with big numbers.

That being said, this is what you'll need to start off on the path of being a Squid Expert. A Squexpert, if you will. Now then:

This here is going to be your perfect Deepcolor.

Obviously she isn't going to be your go-to for DPS or serious tanking or anything like that, your general use for her is going to be as an opener. With her Module it costs 11 DP to get her and her first tentacle on the field (Yes that's the same amount you could use to put Mountain down instead but that's boring) so for most stages you pop her down asap right after your flagbearer and use her summons to block the early enemies around the map until you have DP to retreat them and set down your Big Boys. Easy, cost-effective, simple.

Aside from that, her summons are decently tanky for their cost so you can also use them to bait ranged attacks or the bomb drones or kill annoying spiders in the corner of the map. She can heal them back up too with her S1 if they survive, something none of the other summoners in the game can do so far (Though most of them have a way to refresh their summons, which Deepcolor can't do without retreating and redeploying). Basically you use the tentacles as mini-Gravels. With her module you'll have seven to work with, which is more than enough to get through most maps.

In SSS she's pretty much going to be a very cheap Supporter you can drop in and retreat immediately for free transfer permits, and in Reclamation Algorithm she's good for quickly scouting out around a new map with her summons. Nothing too fancy for those game modes.

The place I bring her out the most is as a starting pick for IS3, since in the early floors you'll usually have deployment slots to spare that she can fill right up with cheap blockers until you've built up your roster a bit more. You can use her S1 in situations where you need the summons to stay in place for longer, but her S2 can also come in clutch if Gopnik the One Punch or the invisible dog show up and you need to stall. For the cost of 3 whole hope you'll have 7 funny little tentacle guys with 35% dodge (50% at M3) that can keep the bear from hell in one spot for a surprisingly long time even with terrible RNG.

She's unfortunately useless against the duck, but you can't win them all.

You'll also find a whole lot of little spots in maps where you just need something that can safely kill a spider, or bait the stun snipers, etc etc. No she won't carry you past the third floor but she'll pull her weight very well while you're starting off.

Relics Deepcolor has good and/or funny synergy with are:

Glory Pack - Congrats you now have seven stun bombs ready to go anywhere on the map.

Sui's Wrath - And now you have seven random 3K damage airstrikes waiting to drop for 3DP a pop.

Glorious Kazimierz + The Return - 35-50% dodge on all allies in her range means she can really help these bad boys proc when you need them.

Timeworn Poetry Strips - Mostly self explanatory, but also: Unlike Ling, Deepcolor's summoning is only limited by your actual deployment slots. So she can put all 7 of her tentacles down at once with this, which is mostly just very funny to see.

Hand of Flowing Water/Stalwart Aid Books- I wouldn't recommend getting her just because you got these, there are other units that use them way better. Doesn't hurt to have them though.

There aren't any specific operators I can think of off the top of my head that she has unique synergy with, since the whole point of Summoners is just to fill in gaps when they're not soloing stages. But if you put her next to Andreana in your base or on a map I'll consider it a treat for me specifically.

[miggylol]

you mentioned textbanking to reach out to potential leftist voters in the tags on one of your posts - what org was that through? it sounds like something concrete and useful to do

It absolutely was! It felt really satisfying, especially when we'd go back to the campaign Slack channel and learn that we'd hit all the outreach goals for that day and more numbers would be released tomorrow.

Who to work with

I went through my main state Democratic party (so, California Dems) for a few reasons. One: they were keeping an eye on all candidates and issues, so I felt like my efforts were probably being directed toward the area of greatest need/risk. (Why you might not do this route: you really care about certain specific candidates/issues, and don't want to show up to volunteer one day and see that voters are being contacted about other things.)

Two: voters can be contacted by multiple groups, which obviously annoys them after a while. (This was in fact the thing that I did dislike about this process.) People get taken off the contact roster with a STOP response, but as political parties and PACs are forbidden by law from coordinating with each other, being removed from one group's roster doesn't mean they'll be removed from another group's. I liked going with the main party because they've been doing this the longest and have already contacted the most people, so I thought they'd probably have a contact list that was already the most edited. (Why you might not do this route: you don't care as much about this problem as me, and you care more about connecting all people who are aligned with you on [issue] instead of contacting the general left-leaning population.)

Three: this state party approach put me in touch only with California voters, and sometimes they do want to ask a few questions about greater details, or even what you personally care the most about. I felt qualified to talk about pretty much anything/anyone on our state ballot, so that was a good match. (Why you might not do this route: you don't want to be limited to contacting people in your own area, and you instead want to contact voters anywhere about [issue].)

So, broadly put: you can work with your own state party or with some PAC that focuses on specific issues (environment, schooling, foreign policy, etc.), depending on what sounds more appealing based on what I described above. There is of course the option of working with some other state's party, as well. For example, someone might think "well, I'm in IL and that's safe blue, so can I spend my energy elsewhere?" That's what I faced in California, and I decided to help our with our own swing districts and initiatives. But someone else near me might have decided to textbank for the swing states of AZ and NV, instead. That person in Illinois might decide to volunteer for, say, Wisconsin. (Which is probably the best-run state Dem party in the country, by the way!)

You also might do this if you're in a blood red state. It might feel like you're doing more good to volunteer for Georgia or Arizona (slowly turning blue) than to volunteer for your own state of Wyoming (the reddest state in the country). That can be a good investment of your time! On the other hand, it's still valuable to contact the locals. Even if they vote for Republicans, people can vote differently on specific local issues. For example, in Wyoming, there's momentum for huge developments in wind power that some entrenched oil/gas companies are pushing back against. If someone really cares about the environment, they could decide it's better to volunteer in WY than GA.

What does textbanking do, exactly?

You might be wondering if you'll be expected to argue with people, answer complicated questions, or what. No! There are texting portals that have a lot of pre-programmed answers to basic questions, like "What is [candidate's] stance on abortion?" If you contact someone who's argumentative or tells you to fuck off, you just click the "should be removed from list" button and disengage. If you contact someone who has questions you're not prepared to answer, you hop back into the Slack channel and ask an organizer to take over the conversation.

So, what are you doing, then? You are identifying voters who are likely to vote blue but are lower-motivation.

This is an incredibly important step to do in the lead-up to election days. If someone votes left and tells you that they've already taken advantage of early voting, you thank them and click the "has already voted" button. Then, the database removes them from further contact for this cycle, because their vote is banked and no more resources need to be spent on them. On the other hand, if there's someone who (for example) cares about abortion access but hasn't had time to vote yet, or doesn't know if they're registered, etc., they can be aided with information on how to vote/register. They can be offered transportation on Election Day, if they don't have a car. Textbanking helps to target the party's resources the most effectively, and get the most low-likelihood voters over the finish line.

In other words, textbanking is all about reaching tons of people and seeing where to aim more in-depth resources. Textbanking is largely not about converting uncertain moderates into blue voters. That's phonebanking and door-to-door visits, because talking with people is more convincing. But you can identify who might benefit from that kind of follow-up via textbanking.

How to get started

If you're thinking "sure, the state party approach sounds like it'd work for me," that's very easy to get started. Just google "[state] democrats texting" and you'll see a variety of options to get started. Or, you can go to the homepage of the state party, and there will be volunteer options listed there.

Alternately, you can go to the Democratic Party events page and see all volunteer events across the country, of every type. So there's not just textbanking, but other things that may uniquely appeal to you, like helping mobility-limited voters. (You can filter by type of event & location.)

If you want to work with a specific charity or PAC on a specific issue, then you'll need to track down their volunteer options. For example, I went to the Sierra Club and found this volunteer page, which has a bunch of options, but not a bunch of direct outreach. On the other hand, they do seem to have a texting team, but it's only visible if you log in, probably? Unfortunately, charities/PACs aren't as standardized and visible as the Democrats' volunteer options. However, once you become familiar with your organization of choice, then you're over the hurdle.

I find volunteering via textbanking to be satisfying, and also a way to burn off nervous stress during political seasons. Not only is it a distraction from the world, but it's also a distraction that achieves something.

What if I care about something, but I can't find textbanking for it?

At this time, you may be thinking "okay, I'll do textbanking for a ceasefire!" I thought the same thing, and started looking for options, assuming there would be some organization that was encouraging people to contact their rep/senators. And... I didn't find one. I did find multiple charities that made it easier to send emails and letters to politicians via online forms, which is certainly good! But I didn't find any charity that was directing people to those resources via texting the broad voter population.

In cases like this, you may choose to do your own unofficial "textbanking" by making posts about those resources, and drawing upon your own networks like they're the database you're contacting. That's certainly better than nothing, and it's a way to take action. If I see an option for this, I will definitely share this. I am obviously a fan of engagement via textbanking. Obviously.

I hope all that helps!

[a11sunday]

featuring explorations in ... forged family, second chances and forgiveness, survivor's guilt, rescue from loneliness and an unloved existence, liberation from the burden of guilt, oppression, and the things that shackle us, and a captain and crew's unconditional love.

affiliations ... weatherw1tch, danversiism, buraiikan / ryusokcn / shipwrght, lovehungered, foremyth, voidcenturyseashanties.

now watching ... egghead island arc. ( anime watcher only so far ).

memes. open starters. banner credit. rules + roster under the cut.

rules + general information.

operates as sporadic activity and mutuals only.

no explicit sexual material, infidelity-based plots or threads, or holiday-centric/birthday threads will be written here.

suggestive build-up / morning after threads are okay! but, anything explicit or in-depth will require fade to black or timeskip.

force shipping ≠ asking if i ship our muses / wanting to discuss the potential for a ship. feel free to be forthright with your intentions since i prefer to have some discussion and chemistry testing before jumping into romantic shipping. as for all other types of dynamics, i'm always down and encourage it!

trigger warnings will be tagged "trigger //". please tag any sexually explicit imagery, jumpscares and any media or material involving infidelity. however, if you regularly write or put out material featuring infidelity on the dash, i will be softblocking.

plot-driven dynamics preferred and prioritized. (disclaimer: but, i don't expect every thread to be plotted, that takes the fun out of it.) i like to have direction and a general idea of progression for dynamics. it helps me get more invested and really just consists of us talking about our muses like they're our own personal barbie dolls. while i'm a plotter and worldbuilder at heart, i am happy to adjust and don't require anything too heavy! but, please, plotting is a two-way street. expecting me to put in all the work for our plots / responding vaguely is disheartening.

however, i know that a little interaction may be needed before plotting, so i do my best to send memes as ice breakers and will continue them whenever possible. but please don't feel pressured to respond right away!

i tend to keep my following count low because i get easily overwhelmed and anxious over my interactions with others. also because of that, i take a while to follow back and meticulously read your pages. so please give me some time before you decide to unfollow because i may not have read any of your pages yet and thus haven't hit that follow button yet!

duplicate anxiety happens for me at times. it doesn't mean i won't write with duplicates at all, but that i may limit how many of the same muse i follow for my comfort! of course, that doesn't mean my mutuals are prohibited from interacting with duplicates of any muses i have!

* as note in some of my ocs' lore / blurbs, i've written them with connections to canon characters. so, i will be referencing them as people they know in interactions unless you write said characters themselves. if you write any of these characters and you are uncomfortable with pre-established connections, then we can plot around it / discuss it further. i'll certainly approach you about it before i write anything that would assume otherwise.

roster. --- tentative list, subject to change. click on links for portrayal notes and muse info.

original characters ... clover d. iselda, kazumi haru, nina liu, otorobashi akai, quetzal d. luna, zephyr, zhi hua.

canons ... monkey d. luffy, nico robin, perona, portgas d. ace, red leg zeff, riku viola, sanji, silvers rayleigh, tony-tony chopper, usopp.

testing / secret menu muses ... makino, monkey d. garp.

[theaceofskulls]

Because I constantly get ads for it, have seen outlets actually speaking about it, keep getting codes from GW about it, and seen a couple YTers do sponsors for it, I figure I should mention my thoughts on Warhammer Tacticus.

Short summary, it's a hexgrid based strategy RPG game for mobile platforms where you run short missions to grind out for upgrading and unlocking characters.

So yes, it's a wallet hunter.

I'll say that it doesn't accomplish this with FOMO of the "you'll maybe never get this cool thing again" in the traditional way, more the "man, wouldn't this deal that won't last forever get you the cool thing you want right now", but honestly let's just open here and say that because it's primary purpose is to try and pull revenue from you, this game will always be about the psychological battle between you and it's monetization and that's honestly going to prevent me from every heartily recommending it no matter the quality of the actual gameplay and it's as far as you need to read if you're looking to know "Will this be my staple game?"

Now for those who want to continue and want to know how the game is and what the monetization is and why you'll bounce off it, we can continue.

The gameplay is actually fairly fun, tasking you to construct a team of various factions (sometimes limiting you to specific factions alone) to face different types of enemies.

Some missions are puzzles, some are stat checks, and some are more whacky ideas of smashing together simple mechanics to see what works.

The roster is well thought out and fun to see what they'll come up with, pulling a couple of well know named characters alongside a smattering of "best of the bunch", taking a unit from various groups and condensing them down to a single character.

You gather resources and gacha material that's used for upgrades and character unlocks (with a classic shard system where you can get tokens you can eventually cash in for characters or their upgrades), and it's mostly non-offensive. Standard gacha warnings but that's not the monetization method that actually will cause you to wage the war of wills. That's actually one of the paid solutions to said war.

Instead, it's a stamina system that basically meant after a few hours with the game, the average amount of gameplay you could get would be 15 minutes at most until you were forced to wait an hour or two before resuming, practically pushing you into a pay-to-play model.

Now, I play a bunch of F2P games as well as subscription MMOs and have no issue in theory with these as concepts and the idea of monetizing mobile games, but the practice ends up being this antagonistic relationship with the game as you can feel it needling you for micro-transactions.

Anyways, this is all a very polite way of me saying that Tacticus is a game that feels like it could've been worth playing, and I felt compelled, even in my small, mostly niche corner of the internet to speak up as I keep getting bombarded with ads to talk about it, especially because it's one of those games where you don't immediately feel like it's as predatory, with how much is available via gameplay.

Also it's just hilarious to see that the predatory monetization is like almost 15 years out of date and stolen from late 2000's facebook games even with the gacha system in the game. It's very much in line with 40k's in universe "we are using outdated stuff because we don't want to invent new things" approach.

[ipcearn]

A short and dirty review of Wuthering Waves after playing a couple of days (yes, I am a Genshin player but I will keep the comparisons to a minimum, it’s obvious they are very similar, it doesn’t need repeating 50 times, I will add a little section at the end comparing them based on my own enjoyment, but I want to judge this game on its own merit above all)

The game did start off on a bad note for me since there was no way to change the text language until after the first whole cutscene was done

I had changed the launcher to English before starting the game, and the voice over was thankfully in English but it definitely annoyed me not to have an option on the start up screen for things like that, I assume it based it off of my pc’s language but I could have that set to German for a variety of reasons least of all because I have a German keyboard and the layouts are different

(Also the German translation definitely didn’t seem like it was written by a native? There were just a few things slightly off on the grammar that threw me off just in that first conversation, nothing big but I wanted to mention it)

I googled even if I missed a setting somewhere since that is what I usually assume, but it seems like I wasn’t blind and that option is just not available until you actually gain control of your character and can open the menu

But after that point it was a quick and immediate change thankfully and yeah, the English VA’s are a bit weak in places, but I wouldn’t call that a big deal, it’s a Chinese game and probably focused on the Chinese market overall with everywhere else as a nice bonus (I actually learned a lot about this due to Genshin when CC drama arose there and Mihoyo only ever really started acting when Chinese CC’s were affected)

But ohhhh, combat is where this game really shines, it is so much fun

The intro and outro attacks, the echos, the dodges and parries

Just a very solid system that is a lot of fun for a Souls Veteran like me heavily relying on player response time

Also music as a big theme for combat? Really intriguing

And I do love the tutorials you can play for every character in your roster; yes it has the trial thing to test them directly, but once you get a character having that detailed tutorial in how you can play them is really great

I am also really loving the aesthetic of this game? It has that FF15 theme of marrying fantasy and modern technology which I really love (and not just because Yhan looks like grown up Noctis)

I have heavy critiques of a lot of the character designs, and also praises in other places, but that is honestly just par for the course with these games (neither Genshin, Honkai or FF for that matter are spared of that, I can get very harsh on the designs)

But I do enjoy the characters otherwise, and Rover's story is intriguing (I played up to Huanglong I - Act V Rewinding Raindrops) and I do want to learn more

What else would be interesting to mention?

Exploration is really, really fun, the puzzles are straight forward, not too challenging, not too easy and the sprint not consuming stamina out of combat is so nice

I'd absolutely recommend giving this game a shot, it has a lot of really enjoyable parts that can capture people for a long, long time

I will probably drop in and out of playing it after this initial start, since the story doesn't capture me the same way Genshin did, but that is honestly just a personal preference I also drop in and out of Honkai Star Rail since that story doesn't intrigue me as much as Genshin's does either

-

Now my direct comparison between Genshin and WuWa:

Genshin is build around the elemental reactions boosting damage output and WuWa lacks that, but I will admit I do enjoy WuWa's more player driven combat more (AND I ADORE THAT WUWA DOES NOT HAVE THE PHYSICAL DAMAGE WHY DOES IT EXIST I DO NOT UNDERSTAND)

I made a post about this just when I started Genshin how I missed a Dodge or Parry and WuWa gives that

But WuWa's teams are also limited to 3 characters instead of 4 which sometimes makes it feel slower? I don't know if that word fits, but that is my impression (obvi that might just be the characters I have chosen and how much more switching in Genshin is used for the reactions)

I like Genshin's Exploration more, but I do admit to liking WuWa's puzzles more

But when it comes down to it, Genshin's story, characters and lore compel me the most

It's also why HSR can only hold my attention in short bursts, because while intrigued, I am not compelled to follow through on it

[smokeybrandreviews]

My Reunion

I shill hard for Final Fantasy. That series is riddled with masterpiece titles. Final Fantasy VI, IX, XII, XIV, XV, and XVI are some of my all-time favorite games, not to mention the pure quality of their spin-offs. Say what you will about Kingdom Hearts but those games revolutionized the entire JRPG industry, for better or worse, with their battle system and Final Fantasy Tactics is just pure brilliance. For me, however, Final Fantasy VII stands alone. This game is arguably my all-time favorite and I've been on that Compilation train since it set sail some two decades ago. I've been yearning for a remake since the original dropped so, when FFVIIR finally released, i was all over that thing. Imagine my surprise when it wasn't a remake but a reimagining. This wasn't the game i remember. This wasn't the title i wanted. I was glad to have it but all i actually wanted was the original game, with the original battle system, updated to modern specs. That's all. Then Square dropped news of Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis. That game was everything i wanted Remake to be and more. I needed it in my life immediately. Well, it finally released earlier this month and I've been neck deep into ever since. Let me say, this thing turned out to be much, much, better than i expected.

Mobile origins aside, Ever Crisis is a through-and-through Final Fantasy title. It plays like a proper RPG. It has that familiar turn based system that i missed so much but with a more kinetic, more fluid, presentation. It doesn't feel as stiff as the original title but, at the same time, plays almost exactly like it. The updated graphics and detail go a long way to feeding my excitement but why wouldn't it? Squenix has had almost thirty years to figure out how to improve this specific title since it's initial release, and they've been taking notes. Models, lighting, camera work, sound; They all pop on my phone. No exaggeration, Ever Crisis is the most gorgeous thing I've ever played on my mobile device and that's saying a lot because, i mean, this thing is a goddamn phone! For these cats to produce something so polished for my goddamn telephone is a borderline miracle. More than that, this sh*t is fun to play. If you're an RPG guy like me, the grind to max out everything is definitely there. I've been on this thing for for weeks and my three primary characters, my Wrecking Crew, have all leveled to forty-five of a fifty cap. Tifa, Cloud, and Zack are monstrously overpowered but that doesn't mean i left the rest of my squad in the dust. Every character on your roster gets a percentage of your experience. Obviously, the ones who do the fighting directly get the most but those in reserve also benefit. I think the lowest level characters i have at the moment are Barrett and Aerith, both of whom are sitting at a comfortable forty. That's enough to beat most of the initial story missions with ease but you know me; I'm about domination. I want all the power. I want all the strength. So i grind like a madman, doing everything in my power, to increase my power, and that's where the uniqueness of the mobile nature pops in.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is, for sure, a mobile title. You have a daily stamina count which restricts you from doing anything in excess outside of first run Story missions, but that's okay because the drops are both plentiful and generous. I have so many stamina boosts, it's absurd. When i run out, i just re-up to some absurd number and keep grinding out. You have designated Enhancement options ranging from pure experience, Weapon material, Synthesis material, and apparently Premium Quests which, when unlocked, go a LONG way to maxing out your characters through the Growth Trees. As long as you have Stamina, you can run at this stuff all day. Obviously, that's what the f*ck I've been doing. A lot of your more powerful Limit Breaks are located on this tree but it also boosts your stats. I cannot stress enough how much i enjoy the option of just being able to GO to a place and get what i need to power up my character. More games not bound to my phone or some ridiculous monetary system, should implement this sh*t. And that brings me to the borderline frustrating aspect of Ever Crisis; It's a goddamn mobile game.

I'm a vet of the Gacha game system. Been playing Fate/Brand Order and Azur Lane for years. I've dabbled in other titles and realize that some gachas are fair while others are horrifying. FGO is definitely the latter but EC is, for sure, the former. I don't know if it's because we're still within the launch window but i find the Banners in this game to be relatively reasonable. They don't cost an exorbitant amount of in-game currency (you actually get a ton of it as you make your way through the title) and i was able to cash out some strong, six star, weaponry early on. Like, i naturally rolled Cloud's strongest weapon three days in and have already leveled that bad boy up to fifty. The flip side is that it took forever to pop a five star anything for Lucia or Barrett. I'm talking this week, forever. Fortunately, it was Barrett's ultimate weapon, twice, and Luchia's penultimate so i'm good. Kind of. It sucks because there is a noticeable difference in the absence of that one star. Seriously, i do work with these gold weapons but the purple ones? It's rough, I'll just say that. Don't even bother with the blue stuff. It's all joke. All in all, the gacha, itself, is fair. I've never felt like i "needed" to pay for crystals but the option is there if you choose to do so. I have no idea how this is going to go after the game has been out for a while and the luster dims a bit but, as of right now, I'm good with the drop rate.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is the remake of FFVII i wanted in the first place. It plays like a proper RPG and is easily my favorite mobile game to date. The gacha isn't an asshole and progress is plentiful as long as you actually play the game. I don't see myself getting frustrated by all the mobile game-isms like battle power caps and the incessant grind because, so far, it's all relatively pleasurable. Progress hasn't fallen off a cliff like it does in Genshin Impact and it's not taxing my pockets like FGO. Before anything, this is a game you actually play and it is more than enjoyable, especially if you're an older fan like myself. I never feel like it's a situation where i just set it and forget it, though, that's kind of the goal. I want to max out my guys so the grind can just be automatic in preparation for the later levels. I've always been hesitant when it comes to mobile titles because most of them feel like cash grabs or shovelware. Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis does not. This feels like a worthy entry into the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and i cannot wait to see where Square Enix takes us next.

[coderedblood]

Not a request just a cute thought I had and wanted to share. MJF worried because Jade is showing interest in the world title so he pays hook to beat her in a match but hook just uses the money to take jade, the baddies, and danhausen out for ice cream.

(Artistic License is taken here - in my universe the Baddies are Jade, Kiera, Velvet, Leila and Sonny. Further artistic license is taken bc we know TK doesn't have any meaningful storylines for the women's roster of AEW if you aren't The Outcasts or Britt Baker!)

The note only said one thing: "There's something huge for you if you come here after tonight's taping."

Ordinarily that would be alarming, but Hook strangely recognizes the handwriting somehow. He still keeps a level of caution about himself, texting his closest friends his location and to come get him if he took longer than twenty. As he walks to the allotted location, it becomes dreadfully familiar. He tightens his jaw around his gum in displeasure and knocks on the door with a tight fist.

The door opens to a suit a hideous shade of yellow and a Burberry scarf.

"Hook!" MJF grins like they've known each other for years. "How's it goin', buddy? C'mon in."

"What do you want, Friedman?" Hook asks bluntly, not wanting anything to do with any of this but wanting to see what the "something" is.

"Ah, yes, right to the point. That's how you are. You're really different from your dad, you know that?"

Hook doesn't show it in his face or his body but that comment really irks him. He knows how privileged he is but he's not just the son of the legendary Taz. He's his own man and his story will not be written with his father's pen. He simply remains silent, staring at MJF, whose microexpression bares his nervousness before he rights himself quickly.

"Right, right. I called you here to talk about Jade Cargill."

"What about her?" Hook is very fucking good at hiding his emotions and he's grateful at this ability right now. He doesn't like that AEW's biggest jackoff is bringing up one of his friends.

"I have a lot of respect for her, actually. Her underlings all adore her, she's powerful and commands respect and loves glory and money as much as I do. That said, her declaration of war is not something I'm taking lightly."

MJF is testing Hook's emotional limit. The Baddies aren't Jade's underlings, they're her treasured friends, companions and sisters. "You mean how she wants to challenge you for the AEW World Championship." Declaration of war, what a dramatic baby.

While Jade loves her TBS Championship like a beloved pet, she's decided it's "lonely" and needs a friend. What better friend, she said, than the AEW World Championship? She went straight up to TK, the other Baddies with her, pointed to her immaculate record, and made excellent points about how wrestling isn't meant to be gendered and she's a strong competitor, the top competitor in the company who doesn't have a single loss, so she deserves a shot at the top championship. Her argument couldn't be broken and TK agreed with her, booking her match against MJF for this month's pay-per-view.

MJF's eyebrow twitches. "Yes. That's exactly what I mean. And that's where you come in, my friend."

"We're not friends. What do you mean by that?"

"'Course we're pals. We're both New York born and bred, baby. We're brothers in arms. Aside from that, you have a reputation of getting things done...quickly." MJF reaches into his pocket and pulls out a wad of money. All visibly Benjamins. "I want you to make sure she can't face me at the end of the month."

Hook isn't given a chance to refuse since MJF grabs his wrist and slaps the wad into his hand before Hook can move to break his nose. He glances at the money in his hand. A thought pops into his head and a slow, devious smirk grosses his face. "Consider it done." With that he turns around and exits the room, pocketing the money and feeling MJF's smarmy smirk on his back.

He walks down the hall and shoots his friends a text to his friends, letting them know he's safe before he pushes his way out of the building into the night.

"Hook!" Danhausen's voice cries and he smiles, looking up and pocketing his phone just in time to catch the demon man into a hug. "We are glad to see you weren't consumed."

"I wasn't."

A limo pulls up to the front of the building, and a head of electric blue hair pops out of the window. "Get in!" Kiera hisses with a grin, flinging the door open, and Hook grabs Danhausen's hand and drags him to the limousine. No sooner than Danhausen's shut the door the limo pulls away.

"You're okay," Leila smiles, looking relieved.

"That's good, we were worried," Sonny says and places her hand on Hook's knee, giving it a light squeeze before pulling away.

"Who was it? What did they want?" Jade asks, crossing her legs. She looks calm and is, but there's concern and curiosity in her eyes.

Hook responds by laughing and pulling out the cash. "It was Friedman and he wants me to make sure you don't face him at the pay-per-view this month."

"You took the cash," Velvet notes, narrowing her eyes at it in Hook's hand.

"The Baddies are our friends," Danhausen says, looking confused.

"Yep, which is why I'm not doing it. We're going for ice cream."

The tension melts immediately and everyone breaks into smiles and laughter. "Great idea, Hook!" Leila claps her hands.

"I could go for something sweet right about now," Velvet licks her lips.

"I'm sorry you were put in that position," Jade apologizes, holding her hand out to Hook, which he takes. "But I'm glad you chose me."

"Always will, J. And besides, since I'm honest, why don't we move the match?"

Jade frowns. "Why would I do that?"

Danhausen snaps his fingers. "Oh! Oh! Danhausen gets this! It is so we can dedicate a whole event for Jade and her honor and win!"

"Bingo, D. Exactly it. There's no way Friedman can beat Jade."

Sonny hums in thought. "And with this match being so huge, TK would definitely go for it."

Jade grins. "He can keep the pay-per-view. I refuse to make Hook a liar, and I want my event."

"That's the spirit. Now...ice cream, anyone?"

[needzamezuzah]

I have a question if you don't mind.

Can you keep Native status and move off the reservation?

Of course you don't have to answer this if you don't want to.

In Canada we don't, so I was curious about the US.

Thanks.

tl;dr It depends on which tribe and where you live :c The rest of this is mostly detailing how it works in the state of Oklahona.

I definitely have limited knowledge but I'll do my best. Down here we have a handful of tribes that are sovereign nations and have their own governments and the bigger tribes have their own police forces even (The Lighthorse). They keep a roster of tribal members which if you're not registered at birth you can join through tedious paper work and proving your ancestry. Here in Oklahoma we have 5 large tribes, and two smaller ones, that actually own most of the eastern part of the state, though their jurisdiction only extends to their tribal members. The entirety of our second biggest city sits right in the middle of the Creek, Cherokee, and Ossge territories. They do have reservations inside the territories which are completely owned and run by the tribal governments, but otherwise the federal government allows them to have huge swaths of land that they can give out to their members. A lot of my native friends ended up applying for their allotments and now have land and a house built on it completely free thanks to their tribe. It's wonderful, and considering the lowered life expectancy and higher rate of poverty and addiction for indigenous people (especially women), it's a god send for many families. All of the tribes here issue membership cards that function as an ID and even have their own license plates.

This is one of the better recent maps I could find of the territories. The tribes in purple still do have quite a bit of land, just not enough to really show on the map with the others.

As far as outside Oklahoma I'm not entirely sure how it works but I imagine the fact that you are indigenous wouldn't matter so much off the res, or at least not as much as it does here as long as you're not still on their land. I think a few other states have a handful of tribes that have any sort of sovereignty (the Dakotas, New England, and New Mexico are coming to mind) but again they just don't own half of an entire state. If you're anywhere in Eastern or Southern Oklahoma outside of the reservations you're still on tribal land. It's just huge. We get a special exception because this is where they sent everyone that was left when they figured out genocide was probably a bad idea so we have treaties protecting the tribes and their members (not that they keep to half the shit anyway. The Cherokee tribe was supposed to have its own seat in Congress 200 years ago 🙃 It hasnt happened yet) The state does still ultimately have control over the land, unfortunately. It's kind of a half asked solution as far as everyone is concerned, but the tribal governments at least have some sort of recourse against the state government if there is something going on they don't like, although the state tries to change that every chance they get.

It still tickles me pink when someone from the one of the tribes takes the city of Tulsa to court over a speeding ticket and gets the case dismissed because the city doesn't have jurisdiction over tribe members :,)

And thanks for asking I love talking about it. I'll take any chance I have to rep my home state :) We still have a long long (long) way to go down here (in the US in general) especially for the smaller tribes. The system set up in Oklahoma is just a compromise so the government could pretend they gave the land back and feel good about doing something but still keep any meaningful rights to it. It lends a lot of power to the tribe members themselves to keep them from being victims of state violence, which is great, but could be so much better. We do have Buffalo ranches though and that's pretty damn cool.

[amewinterswriting]

Ame Reviews: Obscurer Square Enix

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting. I knew that the title had been intended to be attached to the Final Fantasy XIII universe (back before lackluster reviews of the main game - I get the feeling there was a very hasty scrub away of all plot references to leave Type-0 as a standalone game with only a few references hinting at it's origins, such as mentions of L'Cie and Cieth). I also knew it was originally a PSP game so I wasn't expecting the graphics to particularly wow me. I'm also pretty sure I knew that the cast were school-age, so I think I was expecting fantasy high-school hijinks and quests.

I definitely wasn't expecting the first hour of the game to be a gritty warzone with minor fantasy elements movie - though given the Square Enix proclivity for starting out with a long cut scene, I should have expected that, at least. There is blood and at least two named character deaths - and they don't spare the chocobo, so if violence to animals upsets you, be warned. I didn't get a warning. It's also not a quick death. And that's the opening cutscene, just so we're absolutely clear.

When the game actually allows you to play it, it's split between 'missions' - focused levels with particular objectives - and downtime - limited time between missions that you can use to trigger side plot events, restock, take lessons and train up.

The missions feel much like the missions in Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core - action-based combat on a small map with limited elements to interact with besides the enemy. Shows the PSP roots and I don't mind that - I knew going in - but if you were expecting a full PS4 game, you would be disappointed. The combat also takes a while to get used to - despite being real-time, it doesn't want you to smash buttons, more thoughtfully select your actions. Adding into that a full roster of 14 playable characters that you are encouraged to use and keep at similar levels to each other that all have different playstyles and customisation to them, there's a bit of a learning curve and if you're underleveled, you might be learning a new character at the worst possible time: when you've managed to kill all the characters you're actually good with.

The downtime is where most of the interesting things really happen - character get development, world building elements get revealed and the quirky NPCs get a chance to make an appearance. I would have liked a few quality of life things - shops accessible through the menu instead of physically walking through areas to visit them (and there's at least three merchants on campus selling different things, all in different areas), sidequests/plot events having markers on the map to stop me scouring the whole school between every mission and being able to swap characters on the fly outside of missions (since some events can only be triggered by some characters and you need to visit a save point to swap between characters).

This is maybe only really one for the die-hard Final Fantasy fans, but it's got some annoyingly good bones. There's the wide cast of playable characters all with their own quirks and personalities - it kinda feels like being able to play a highschool simulator with Organisation XIII! And there's some interesting plot in there, though in recent Square Enix fashion, it's a bit obscured behind the myriad bits of required reading to understand. Also some of the actual dialogue writing feels very flimsy - with a large cast of characters to play with, it's understandable but unfortunate that some of them feel very thin.

World of Final Fantasy

My expectation for World of Final Fantasy was a cute little fluffy game aimed at kids. Babies first JRPG. Simple plot and mechanics with a cute varnish of Final Fantasy legacy characters.

What I got was Pokémon meets Final Fantasy by way of Kingdom Hearts.

The combat is turn-based and features capturing and leveling and evolving (though it's called transfiguration) the normal staple Final Fantasy monsters (but now they are adorable as all hell) and stacking them up on one another (along with the protagonists Lann and Reynn). Stacking is simple to learn, difficult to master, as different creatures will add their stats, strengths and weaknesses to the stack, as well as affecting speed, stability and potential special skills. This was an amazingly refreshing way to approach turn based combat and it's actually annoying Square Enix haven't done anything similar since.

In terms of Final Fantasy, I was expecting the usual crowd favourites - pretty much everyone from VII, Lightning, Squall, Tidus, Yuna...but I wasn't expecting them to pull from older titles. Bartz, Warrior of Light, Sarah and Eiko make plot appearances! Also more obscure characters get a look in, like Shelke from FFVII Dirge of Cerberus...which I was half convinced even Square Enix had forgotten about! I didn't even know where Shantoto or Sherlotta were from (FFXI and Crystal Chronicles) but their inclusion was an absolute delight and made me curious about their stories.

For the Kingdom Hearts element... remember when you control Roxas in the beginning of Kingdom Hearts 2 and his Twilight Town is charming but something feels off and there's more going on than meets the eye? That's a lot of the plot in WOFF - Lann and Reynn wake up in their home town but all the people are gone. All except a mysterious woman who knows a lot more than she's telling anyone and starts the kids off on a magical adventure through Final Fantasy lands... except the plot just gets more twists from there and the kids realise they really don't know much about...anything.

As for Lann and Reynn themselves: wonderful original characters, really think they nailed the sibling dynamic and they told such a powerful story about power, loss, grief, forgiveness and redemption that rekindled my hope that there is someone employed by Square Enix who knows how to present and tell a story effectively!

I'd heartily recommend to anyone and I'm desperately hoping they make a sequel.

[smokeybrand]

My Reunion

I shill hard for Final Fantasy. That series is riddled with masterpiece titles. Final Fantasy VI, IX, XII, XIV, XV, and XVI are some of my all-time favorite games, not to mention the pure quality of their spin-offs. Say what you will about Kingdom Hearts but those games revolutionized the entire JRPG industry, for better or worse, with their battle system and Final Fantasy Tactics is just pure brilliance. For me, however, Final Fantasy VII stands alone. This game is arguably my all-time favorite and I've been on that Compilation train since it set sail some two decades ago. I've been yearning for a remake since the original dropped so, when FFVIIR finally released, i was all over that thing. Imagine my surprise when it wasn't a remake but a reimagining. This wasn't the game i remember. This wasn't the title i wanted. I was glad to have it but all i actually wanted was the original game, with the original battle system, updated to modern specs. That's all. Then Square dropped news of Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis. That game was everything i wanted Remake to be and more. I needed it in my life immediately. Well, it finally released earlier this month and I've been neck deep into ever since. Let me say, this thing turned out to be much, much, better than i expected.

Mobile origins aside, Ever Crisis is a through-and-through Final Fantasy title. It plays like a proper RPG. It has that familiar turn based system that i missed so much but with a more kinetic, more fluid, presentation. It doesn't feel as stiff as the original title but, at the same time, plays almost exactly like it. The updated graphics and detail go a long way to feeding my excitement but why wouldn't it? Squenix has had almost thirty years to figure out how to improve this specific title since it's initial release, and they've been taking notes. Models, lighting, camera work, sound; They all pop on my phone. No exaggeration, Ever Crisis is the most gorgeous thing I've ever played on my mobile device and that's saying a lot because, i mean, this thing is a goddamn phone! For these cats to produce something so polished for my goddamn telephone is a borderline miracle. More than that, this sh*t is fun to play. If you're an RPG guy like me, the grind to max out everything is definitely there. I've been on this thing for for weeks and my three primary characters, my Wrecking Crew, have all leveled to forty-five of a fifty cap. Tifa, Cloud, and Zack are monstrously overpowered but that doesn't mean i left the rest of my squad in the dust. Every character on your roster gets a percentage of your experience. Obviously, the ones who do the fighting directly get the most but those in reserve also benefit. I think the lowest level characters i have at the moment are Barrett and Aerith, both of whom are sitting at a comfortable forty. That's enough to beat most of the initial story missions with ease but you know me; I'm about domination. I want all the power. I want all the strength. So i grind like a madman, doing everything in my power, to increase my power, and that's where the uniqueness of the mobile nature pops in.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is, for sure, a mobile title. You have a daily stamina count which restricts you from doing anything in excess outside of first run Story missions, but that's okay because the drops are both plentiful and generous. I have so many stamina boosts, it's absurd. When i run out, i just re-up to some absurd number and keep grinding out. You have designated Enhancement options ranging from pure experience, Weapon material, Synthesis material, and apparently Premium Quests which, when unlocked, go a LONG way to maxing out your characters through the Growth Trees. As long as you have Stamina, you can run at this stuff all day. Obviously, that's what the f*ck I've been doing. A lot of your more powerful Limit Breaks are located on this tree but it also boosts your stats. I cannot stress enough how much i enjoy the option of just being able to GO to a place and get what i need to power up my character. More games not bound to my phone or some ridiculous monetary system, should implement this sh*t. And that brings me to the borderline frustrating aspect of Ever Crisis; It's a goddamn mobile game.

I'm a vet of the Gacha game system. Been playing Fate/Brand Order and Azur Lane for years. I've dabbled in other titles and realize that some gachas are fair while others are horrifying. FGO is definitely the latter but EC is, for sure, the former. I don't know if it's because we're still within the launch window but i find the Banners in this game to be relatively reasonable. They don't cost an exorbitant amount of in-game currency (you actually get a ton of it as you make your way through the title) and i was able to cash out some strong, six star, weaponry early on. Like, i naturally rolled Cloud's strongest weapon three days in and have already leveled that bad boy up to fifty. The flip side is that it took forever to pop a five star anything for Lucia or Barrett. I'm talking this week, forever. Fortunately, it was Barrett's ultimate weapon, twice, and Luchia's penultimate so i'm good. Kind of. It sucks because there is a noticeable difference in the absence of that one star. Seriously, i do work with these gold weapons but the purple ones? It's rough, I'll just say that. Don't even bother with the blue stuff. It's all joke. All in all, the gacha, itself, is fair. I've never felt like i "needed" to pay for crystals but the option is there if you choose to do so. I have no idea how this is going to go after the game has been out for a while and the luster dims a bit but, as of right now, I'm good with the drop rate.

Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis is the remake of FFVII i wanted in the first place. It plays like a proper RPG and is easily my favorite mobile game to date. The gacha isn't an asshole and progress is plentiful as long as you actually play the game. I don't see myself getting frustrated by all the mobile game-isms like battle power caps and the incessant grind because, so far, it's all relatively pleasurable. Progress hasn't fallen off a cliff like it does in Genshin Impact and it's not taxing my pockets like FGO. Before anything, this is a game you actually play and it is more than enjoyable, especially if you're an older fan like myself. I never feel like it's a situation where i just set it and forget it, though, that's kind of the goal. I want to max out my guys so the grind can just be automatic in preparation for the later levels. I've always been hesitant when it comes to mobile titles because most of them feel like cash grabs or shovelware. Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis does not. This feels like a worthy entry into the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII and i cannot wait to see where Square Enix takes us next.

[hasbro-necromancer]

had a dream i was trying to tell someone about nu jazz. it was like yeah, this is a polish group called Skalpel, they’ve got some really huge grooves and understated jazz instrumentation. lots of interesting breaks and samples. really cool and imo a good and simple intro. and this is Tortoise, they came up as one of the groups pioneering "post-rock" music, with post-rock used here in the most literal sense, before the genre became synonymous (and saturated) with lengthy, cinematic pieces with huge crescendos and emotional climaxes and more ambient interludes—and stagnating under its own weight rather quickly. the "post-" prefix comes from the way that they used traditional rock instruments like drums, bass (tortoise actually had two drummers, two bassists, and a percussionist, which is an insane lineup), guitars to create music that is very much not rock, and in large part a response to it, alongside, in particular, bands like Slint and Don Cab[allero]—although how "political" or "academic" or formal their intentions were in that regard is beside the point, and i'd guess not that contrived either. btw, it's always really annoying to me when people get snooty and try to dunk on genres like post-punk and such, saying stuff like "how can it be post-punk when a lot of it was coming out at the same time as regular punk music," and "post-punk is such a meaningless term because so many of the bands don't even sound anything like each other. like Joy Division and The B-52's and Devo don't sound anything alike, so why are they all post-punk? back in my day we just called it 'new wave' anyways!" "post-" doesn't just signify that it comes after chronologically; that's not it's use in relation to art: it connotes a different approach using the conventions of a genre, to provide as surface level a description as possible. for ex: postmodern literature takes the ideas of modernist art and stretches them to their absolute limit; post-punk keeps the punk energy and ethos and applies that energy in a different, more creative direction; hell, even Borp's combo video Postmodern Smash (which has sadly been privated on youtube) showcases his unique playstyle that emphasizes fundamentals and rejects Melee players' obsession with tech skill—obviously not "chronologically following" modern smash, as he was playing alongside people who honed their tech skill and ultimately greatly surpassed him—it was just his novel approach. anyways yeah, Tortoise grew steadily jazzier over the years and helped shape nu jazz in a huge way. "Glass Museum" off Millions Now Living... is a personal favorite for that, the vibraphone and spacious chords and bass vi solo a clear precursor to the moods and structure that bands would draw from heavily in the future. and especially on TNT, with the addition of Jeff Parker on guitar, they let their jazz chops shine through. Jaga Jazzist is probably my favorite band that falls under this umbrella. they're a norwegian septet or octet or nonet or something wild like that, and they make super proggy and intricate jazz that's an absolute blast to sift through. The Cinematic Orchestra is another really cool one. their album Man with a Movie Camera is meant to be a soundtrack for the 1929 soviet silent film of the same name, and it works remarkably well for that. super cool piece of work. the bass clarinet solo on "Drunken Tune" (along with the bass clarinet part from Jaga Jazzist's "Airborne" off A Living Room Hush and Beefheart's noisy noodlings on Trout Mask) really made me want to pick up the instrument. Portico Quartet are another really cool example, especially with how minimal and textural they are. Mammal Hands are closer to the pure jazz group side of things, but i'd say they still count. maybe you could throw the Esbjörn Svensson Trio in for how minimal and spacey they are, too. honestly, just check out Ninja Tune and sift through some of the bands on their roster. probably the best list of artists representative of the genre.

[crystalelemental]

Nothing special this time.  Well, categorically speaking, anyway.  I decided that, instead of focusing on some kind of "challenge" clear, I'd just emphasize damage dealers I don't usually focus on.  No limitations on what they can bring, just aim for the kill.

Vs. Acerola Ghost-weak, and after looking at my roster, I realized there are only two Ghost-types I haven't really focused on ever.  One is base Morty, who maybe I should focus on a bit.  The other is Agatha though, and like...we just had a cool story bit with her, so I had to.  She's not too bad.  Not quite Shauntal, although the finale of a match is smooth as a shark.  Denial on left, take out center just before sync with DPS alone, Hypnosis the right quickly and vaporize.  Granted, a lot of this success can be chalked up to her partners.  6k under Zone is not a ton for DPS, but it's serviceable.

Vs. Olivia After dunking on Lodge May for just around forever, I decided to give her an honest try on-type with CS.  She's...decent?  I mean, look at her partners and you get a sense for where this is going.  Surf DPS is okay.  The split is usually something I accept, when the sync pair in question can still perform a denial on the left, or is blitzing so hard it doesn't matter.  Lodge May can do neither of these things, and that's with Rain and debuff support.  I needed to use Brine on the left to perform the denial, Surf wasn't getting the job done, and this is with SEUN on the first shot.  So like.  That's pretty bad.

SS Mina is also kinda limiting.  It's never a great sign when I can go through a match and feel like man.  I sure wish SS Kris were here.  I do have to acknowledge that SS Kris means May takes two turns to set up her offenses, but also SS Kris means stacks of special moves up next out the wazoo, and more stable rain.  Mina's rain ran out before final sync, with no means of bringing it back.  It's just not a good show for her.  I admit, I was fairly excited to give SS Mina a try, but I keep coming back around to "She's fine but not as good as I'd hoped."

Vs. Kahili Still using V!Lorelei to justify poor decisions, but man I really wish she were 3/5 for this one.  I forgot about Kahili's Funtime Go Viral Toxic Salamence, which went just great thanks.  More importantly though, I finally got to make an attempt at SS Hau supporting a Cakewalk/Inertia nuker.  Which he does a pretty good job of, especially with Gordie having a Max Move to perform the second denial.  You know.  If he doesn't miss the crit.  Like he did.  Also on sync.  Because Gordie just loves failure, it turns out.

Vs. Molayne There aren't many Ground-type pairs I haven't used for offense, and in the interest of giving her a moment in the spotlight, here's Courtney.  Sonia is an absurdly good partner; if she gets the MPR, she caps every need Courtney could ever have.  Nanu was to debuff defense really fast, because the condition for this match was half time to sync.  I think realized I forgot to uncheck the Interference Immunity condition, so we almost died.  Thankfully, Courtney is very bulky and not weak to Ground, so she handled it okay.

Vs. Hau Guys.  Guys, I might EX base Iris.  I'm sorry, this was fun.  Base Iris actually hits like a truck when confused.  Granted, this is under the conditions of (1) boosted physical damage per the stadium rules, (2) EX support, and (3) H!Caitlin EX support for max attack and speed.  I fully acknowledge that Iris is not going to be that good.  But I've been breaking her out a little more regularly, and as a general fan of Iris, this has been pretty positive.  Oh, and Kukui's here for Leer.  Because Courtney worked out, I once again forgot to uncheck the Interference Immunity condition, or we would've beaten Hau even harder.  Next time, then.

Final Thoughts Among the damage dealers used, the only one that surprised me was Iris.  I've used her against Latios and Latias at times, just to help clear stuff, so I know her DPS isn't too bad.  But I also know it's not too good.  12k in one attack, even with the conditions she had, is fairly impressive.  For context, Shauntal hits about 10k with the EX condition, at least.  So Iris is not doing too bad.  It's really just the constant Confuse hazard that hurts.  Well, that and low stats and bad sync and okay there's a lot of downsides to being an early grid story pair.

Agatha did well for her role, though I admittedly like her better as the support.  It's nice to know she can take stuff down herself, but the sleep chaining is just so valuable, and nothing replaces my girl Shauntal.  I will admit, I hadn't thought of the fact that Mega Evolution would kick off Healthy Healing again.  So that was a fun little surprise for potential Gauntlet shenanigans.

Gordie wanted to do well and kept missing crit.  Better luck next time, loser.

Lodge May was solidly decent but thoroughly underwhelming.

Courtney...look, I know from Gauntlet that Courtney is actually obscenely good for a general pool unit.  I know.  I am aware.  I just don't love it.

[captainkurosolaire]

~ Mass Update ~

Mainly going into future plans and intents alongside ideas below cut.

Ton's of things I've in store this will prove difficult to vent it all out. But here we go... First off rehashing and appropriately learning to tag and organize things better on my blog. Each category will have their own corresponding content, I seek to bring or share. [Tales of Goldbrand] -- I intend this to carry a Compendium of all my writes soon that'll have everything neatly in-order including a glossary, so it'll have highlights of stories that even matter or the best stuff. I've written here for a very, long time, there's been many shifts. I want to make it more accessible. While coloring what matters for people who want to learn Captain or his Crew with less chapters. While also giving choice to find it all easily. This is essentially a step-above master-lists. I'll be doing that after the Saga I have going on, right now is done. [Captain] -- Will provide you strictly with Captain screenshots, gifs, photo-sets. This is still his blog despite the Crew thing's will sort of make this a scuffed Multi-Muse blog. I've few more things to edit and tag fix to get all his stuff though. [The Wild Crew] -- Afterwards this story is done Immortal Age Saga, It's something that I mainly wrote as a passion project within three days to get my warm-up process fixed. It's to allow me to get a feel for all his Crewmates and casts, in combat, in-general, to feel their presences. While also giving a bit of their backstories. At any point, I can go back and polish or tweak things in. They're NPC's but... not entirely. All will have their own 'Dreams' and their own 'Disapproval's' they have their own missions even. These things will factor eventually, they might set seeds, to betray or disagree with something, but that's all angst and more stories to be created, but overall, they'll probably always be Crew, eventually. -- I plan on making character-profile sheets of them and putting them in this Tab, it'll have their screenshots, their likes/dislikes. Some RP partners or people can also be shipped with them, but they'll all be monogamous and originally start off probably Pan. This allows them to figure out what they like on their own stories. I've always been someone who likes organic-flow. Although this one story contain all 16 characters or more, the rest will probably be shortened to a Squad of 4 and dispersed when on adventuring missions. Until I do a War Arc, that's my main goal to build too. [Roster] -- Will contain this Crew in just screen-sets dedicated to them, I'll probably randomly produce those. I've PC players among this Crew too. I may not be done either adding more, but this Crew is mainly built around Quality. Most pirate crew's mainly, have hundreds, thousands. Even Fleets. This Crew has personalities, monsters, people who are living life's that exist with piracy. He's an particular leader that had PC players the same way, he's had split-personality serial killers aboard, tribal chieftains, succubus, all sorts of various people once on a Crew. It's often an outcast style, pirates default are chaotic in nature, so this really isn't any different, it's a Fantasy version of it. There's humanization characters aboard too though, so this cast is really decked, everything and person is vital, they matter because they remind or covet something that others can draw upon. If ever played (Three Houses or Mass Effect / Dragon Age Origins) A lot of things like that are relatable too this structure and format. Which, Is something I want to be able to give when RPing. I want a genuine feel of this new world someone else's muse will be the main-character too. Depending on what's interacting everything they'll be scale appropriately to follow the genre they're in and environment even. [Aesthetics] -- Already explainable what you'll find here. [Asks] -- Same thing. [Prompts] -- Trivial things I was tagged too, I plan on compiling later. [Writing] -- Another alternatively to randomly go-down and it works right now. [Logs] -- Will have more individualistic master-lists and posts there, my poems from Sheik Sphere the Bard, etc.

Things of that nature, I'll probably add still. It's where a lot of my creative writing is summed. [Gems of Hydaelyn] -- My main #tag for other characters and artists, creationist. Lot of amazing people easily to find their zones or follow them optionally if you like. Ton's I intend to support and bolster, be a lot less unspoken. I'm never the type who's been strictly inclusive. But I'll do that when I've time to even explore the dash, I'm always still planning ahead with things and projects. [CKS] My original character-sheet it's outdated on something's but not too terrible. I'll give him polishing someday, I swear? [21+F-List] -- Just purely degenerate stuff of Captain. I'm a pirate blog. I will represent that with openness and furthermore. I'm never projecting you some false-image. I started off a smut-writer by stripping that, I no-longer represent the same aura and identity. But those are strictly his stuff and kinks, I'm effective in executing them but they're not all relatable to me OOC. This blog will always be 18+ containing crude or dark material sometimes, romantic things, this Captain is blunt, will literally put his cock on the table in conversations. Swearing and being censored would be too uncommon and displace most of him, but there's more about him then all this. [Other] -- I pay homage to a lot of characters, I originally am a Concept Designer. Which mean's I make characters and ideas like my addiction. Bad characters / villains or other little things I like to share in designs, I'll put there. Some villains might get little photo-sets, even if they died. Just cause I like their design, or maybe I'll give them an AU, where they won. When I've wrapped up things. [Collabs + Ships] -- Is a new project idea. This isn't going to be something limited too romantic only ships. It'll contain, platonic, romantic, friendships, rivals, frenemies, family, PC Crew, all ships. I am desperately working on improving my gif, screenshot, posing game so I can supply 'Screen Stories' this is not only a way to RP that's accessible with even people who are upon time-crunches from work, It gives visual-representation. To impactful stories shared with others and establish bonds. That are all-valid and impactful matter. Lot of people take a lot of their characters attributes into them and are them dialed up, I work with that and bit more, differently. I'm disconnected from my characters and they'll get hurt and injured and killed by me, that's my duty as their Author to give them conflicts and struggles. I'm their major antagonist, but that doesn't mean at-all, it's always SET that way. The characters I like to make have their own life, they live in this setting and are abide by it, they're often nothing, nobodies, and by the interacting with others, they slowly gradually building, more... Through emotional impacts, they alter, these are REAL people by all their beliefs. Each person they come in-contact with are legitimate and treated like that too. They've always impacted or given them insights to grow, or represent more. Otherwise it'd be criminally disrespectful if I allowed any emotional I felt OOC be the grudge to something IC. Captain in-particular is set on defying me. I cannot have that. ...But I can't stop him. He's met and encountered so many people and lived so many scenarios based on the actions of others, he's giving a chance right now to actually do things a lot further than impossible. The more people he meets and encounters, experiences, the more I lose. These stories are emotionally interactive where everything is a factor and adds to the dice, where the other people are the one who get to roll the dice for him, not me. That's something I want to color in. People range in emotions, they have their down's, ups, their own wholesome-grounding people, spending time with your favorite people, there's nothing more cherishing than that, being in your own comfort-zone or 'safe-space' these are all treasures that we live under, today. Contrary if what people assume of me, I'm not another 'blogger' that's came

before, who's wanting to force a harem, then constantly is bewildered when that falls to pieces cause of selfishness or a lack of communication, or the skeletons they have in their closets and beliefs they hid behind and swindled fooled everyone. I'm not looking to be popular or anything really, I just create stories and want to share in those, and I want to also boost others included, upward with me, especially those who make me. There's no ego in anything I do, this is purely love. I've never cared about being replicated or duplicated, I've had stalkers, I've gone through more then anyone would imagine, I've been used OOC and abused, just for my writing and cold-harshly told, i'd never amount to anything other then that or vice-versa. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Passion. That's all I got and am anymore. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Passion is the hardest thing to keep. It's something that can be stolen, quite effortlessly. Few words of discouragement, a bad negative representation, a lack of confidence, or small amount of time, there's many thing's that can put that flame out. Once you lose it. The difficulty to reattain is hundred-times harder than climbing any mountain for real. I've watched the greatest creators crumble from under the pressure, from beaten down by others. I watched many of them do it to themselves because they put a grand vision of needing validation of another and once lost, felt uncompelling to press onward. But passion also can be given BACK and drawn. It can be shown and encourage others, with a soft-triggering, that pushes them. That motivates, that constantly sticks to it. There are many that fuel me. If I ever quit, I let them down, I spit in the faces of people who're better than me in every-way. Or people who've came and given me their precious Time. That have given their character's or dedication to the abundant stories and community-driven things I've done. There's ONLY things you can do, create, give and provide. It cannot ever come to life without YOU. This is a fact. ...I swear, If you let your creativity soar, you'll be amazed by the heights you get. Constantly polish and learn and hone the best you, challenge yourself day after painstaking day, to draw better improvement on something, no matter how trivial or unfamiliar you are. You'll find a confidence only you can give yourself. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Future Plans --------------------------------------------------------------------- For me, I've got so much more stories to give and also explore, I might be taking up soon some other artists and more skilled people from community and hire them for some of my future writes, to up my game or cause something thing's can't be done in-game cause no background carries it. I also got a lot of-set up things and more angst stuff I want to practice, plus I'm adamantly on that grind to produce screen-sets with the intent's to some sort of improving daily. Additionally more people I'll be reaching out too soon for these collab's ideas and things. I look forward to shaking your hands, giving some hugs, show you my respect and admiration, then creating some enchanting stories and giving plots light. Feel free to reach out to me, I get scattered-brain but I'm working on getting better about it. Eventually will get to you though, my goals, if uninterested just say so when I poke, no bites, unless you kinky. Anyways, cheers hearties.

[iambarelysushi]

AEW Poster info dump

Okay, so, if you're reading this you've probably seen my AEW poster that I'm working on. This post is to sort of explain everything about who's in it and stuff like that.

The poster as of 3\10\21, roughly 45% complete

What is this?

It's a poster with 563 people (well, 560 people, 2 drones, and 1 dog) that have appeared on AEW in the first two years or so of it's existence.

Who is on here?

I have a Google doc of 563 people that can be found here: Spreadsheet

How did you get 563 people?

I took everyone that wrestled on an AEW pay-per-view, Dynamite, Dark, or Dark Elevation, as well as commentators, referees, notable guest appearances, and so on.

How long has this taken you?

I didn't write down which day I actually started (since I didn't realize how big the project was going to end up) but my best guess is that I started it in August of 2020 (at least, that's the earliest digital file I have saved. I know there were initially older files though.) Also, there have been breaks while I work on other things.

That must be a really big canvas you're working on.

It is, but since I'm working digitally, I've broken it down into multiple smaller files so my computer doesn't explode when I need to open it. I would make a new canvas, draw several wrestlers on it, then copy the finished inks to the full sized one. That way I can move people around, resize them if need be, and make changes relatively easily. The final piece will be 24 inches by 36 inches.

How do you keep track of all of this?

Well, I've got a spreadsheet that I linked to above. It tells me which wrestlers I need to draw, and breaks that down into inks, flat colors, and shading. It also tells me if I've placed them on the final canvas, which file the original lineart is in, and even when they first appeared for AEW.

Do you draw this or trace it?

Okay, this is difficult to explain: I use a ton of reference. In order to get the likeness right, I'll do a quick sketch over the reference to place where the eyes and nose go. Then I'll move the reference pic to the side and draw the rest. I'll draw guidelines to show where various parts of the body should be. If I'm done and it still looks wonky, I'll put the lineart over the reference and adjust lines where needed. Usually it's the eyes are crooked. Anyway, here's an example of my process:

Where's [wrestler] or [wrestler?]

When this is all done, I'll have a key to show who's who and where they are.

Why isn't [wrestler] in here?

When I started this project, I was going to draw the roster, plus the indie wrestlers they started bringing in for Dark when Covid hit. So every few weeks I'd add more people to the list. And more. And more. Until finally I decided that the limits of this drawing would be drawing anyone between AEW Double of Nothing 2019 (the first official AEW pay-per-view) and the episode of Dynamite on October 6, 2021 (the two year anniversary of Dynamite.) If they debuted after, they're not in there. Which sucks because that includes Danhausen, one of my absolute favorites.

Why is [wrestler] in here? Aren't they a horrible person?

So yeah, right when I was starting this, the Speaking Out stuff started coming out, and I was torn between leaving people out of a project who's entire point was to get "everyone," and adding known creeps to the piece. I tried to compromise by having them getting kicked in the face and\or making them quite small and obscured. It's why I know a bunch of people are going to ask why I drew one of the "four pillars of AEW" so small. It's 'cuz he's a creep.

Hey, some wrestlers change between process shots, what gives?

Since I've been working on this for two years, I'll look back at some of the older art and realized I could do it better. And sometimes gimmicks change. And sometimes the guy dead center of your original draft leaves the company and sometimes the guy you put off to the side because you didn't really care about him at the start goes on to become one of your favorites and AEW Champion. So in short, I'll redraw stuff if I think the original drawing doesn't work.

Anything else you want to say about this?

Uh . . . it's well over 1500 layers in Clip Studio as of this writing. The file is almost an entire gigabyte. That's insane.

Oh yeah, meant to ask . . . WHY are you doing this? It's insane.

Well, I like to draw large group shots. One of my favorite artists growing up was George Perez, and he drew every single Avenger on the cover of Avengers #1 in 1998 and it made an impact on me. As a kid, I would take large rolls of paper (my dad worked at a printer at the time, would bring home leftover paper rolls) and draw these ten foot tall super posters with all my favorite characters. Then as I got older, I started tabling at conventions. I didn't feel like my art stood out very much, so I drew a print with a dozen or so characters. Then one with twenty. Then fifty. Then the next thing you know, I'm drawing a "Where's Waldo?" picture where you have to find John Cena among 300 wrestlers. (The joke is, he's not actually there.) It sort of became my "thing." I may not be the best artist, but I'm certainly going to be the most artist.

The "Can U C Me?" Where's Waldo print, the biggest thing I had drawn until this AEW project.

Got any process pictures?

Of course. I can't go two years on a project and not periodically post something to try and get that sweet, sweet validation.

Drawing wrestlers in smaller chunks before copying them over to the main canvas.

Placing them together to figure out the best layout.

The first draft of the large canvas. The blue background is just so I can tell where I've got space.

I quickly started running out of room.

Around this point I realized I needed to move people around so I decided to scrap this layout and move people around. Also, Cody left so I decided to redraw the EVPs.

Redrew the EVPs and started the new layout.

The most up-to-date version as of 3\15\21. Started keeping track of percentages complete on the spreadsheet, started adding them to process shots.

[bending-sickle]

For the writing meme! As you asked me so many (and they really are such good questions): 4, 10, 18, 20, 28, 33, 37!

4. Do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them? - I do. Some are born out of necessity, because roles need to be filled and sometimes the canon's roster is sparse.

But I also have My Darlings, which are characters that have more meat on their bones. (And a lot of those bones are mine.) My Supernatural novels (yay NaNoWriMo) are OC-centric (Chip, my beloved), and have a supporting cast of OCs (Saunders and Agatha, my also beloved). My (unpublished, unfinished) other long-form (and emotionally self-indulgent) fics also have an OC front and center. (Not that the poor bastards have much choice in the matter.)

Being a "fangirl" raised in the Mary Sue era, I of course live in fear of the Mary Sue accusation, but you know what? Fuck it. You have to put some of yourself into your work, right?

10. Top three favourite fic tropes. - Okay, so, I haven't read fanfic in...so long. (The bookworm in me died. I'm waiting on a new worm. But.) Also, I...don't really know what the tropes are. I mean, I don't have the list internalized, and Fanfic Tropes on TVTropes.org isn't helping much.

I remember thoroughly enjoying Crossover fanfics, both writing and reading, because of how fun it was to try and fit the pieces together. Original Flavour was also a fave, for the challenge and the wonder of seeing it well-executed. And Crack fic is, of course, a guilty pleasure. It's so delightful!

But I guess if we're talking about, like, plot-specific, then... Look, all I'm coming up with are the usual tropes of "there was only one bed" or "fake dating" or "coffeeshop au" and frankly I...don't really care for them. (Especially the AUs. Specifically when they're "these characters, but in a coffeeshop. In highschool. If they were cops. If they were rivalling bakers. Like...just write original fic then. But AUs where it's "but they failed" or "but that one lived" or "but they found out" then yes, yes, give me the extrapolation! I love that shit.)

Okay, so fanlore.org also has a list so, here's me picking three: canon divergence au, crossover, hurt/comfort. Honourable mentions: crack, first time, and enemyslash (yiss).

18. First, second, or third person? - I once read a first person fic and liked it, but I'm still shocked about it, so. I can't really get into second person, and even less if they do "y/n" because even after all this time, my first instinct is to read that as a computer prompt for "yes/no". So I prefer to read and write in third person. I do, however, seem to like to write in third-person subjective or limited (which is like writing in first person but the grammar's different, basically).

For example, my NaNoWriMo's are in this, but - because I got tired, and needed the word count - I'll slip in passages in italics from some other character's viewpoint. I have a superlong "this is how I have been coping these past plague years" fic that I haven't published - or finished - which is strictly one third person subjective, and, wow, it's... Sometimes it's claustrophobic. But also an interesting challenge, like, the reader know what the other character means, but our viewpoint doesn't, or I get to play with what they've noticed or not, or how they interpret things... Dunno, it's fun. Challenging, but fun.

20. Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you? - Yeah, no, I'm a one-project kind of person. If it's not a one-shot, in which case I might be able to hit pause on one thing while I work on another, then I am shackled to one project and one project only. If not, well...just ask all those unfinished projects, crying in their corners. Also, I've not particularly rife with inspiration or the energy behind it, so it's not like I've got many options going on at the same time. I just...keep on trucking with whatever I've got going.

I don't know, man. I guess the answer is it doesn't work for me but I keep trying to just keep going.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing? - My favourite is the "fuck whoever said you can't use the word said" advice. Just use it. Said. It's a fine word. Neutral. Invisible.

My other favourite is "No, you will not remember. Write it down."

33. Give your writing a compliment. - *writes and deletes answers for five minutes* Dialogue good. Exposition good. Words pretty.

37. Do you research before writing or while you write? Is it fun or boring for you? - As I write, mainly because I never know what minor detail my brain will refuse to remember and instist is necessary for some throwaway line or metaphor. It can be frustrating or derailing, but most of the time it's an interesting, fun little break. And there's the plus side of finding out new things I can use. Yay knowledge!