#mod review sort of kind of

[azuhrasims]

Adventures in Playing with Unicorn Mods 🦄

I went out mod hunting today and was rewarded with a new mod find on MTS called Unicorn Adventures by LuSimLaStars. As the unicorn addict that I am, I knew this mod had to go in my game. Right now. I also knew it had to go in with Spinning Plumbob's Unicorn Mod for Horse Ranch. I had to know if they would play well together.

Unicorn Adventures adds a variety of unicorn interactions to game play. Phone options, rabbit holes to visit, a new lot trait, AND it changes the name of Sylvan Glade to Unicornville - which, holy unicorn poop, made me laugh so hard. It was the name change to Sylvan Glade that made me want to test this mod with the Unicorn Mod installed. You go to the Sylvan Glade to find unicorns you see.

Long story short, these mods play nice together. I just go to Unicornville to find unicorns now, you jive?

Sims can start their unicorn adventure by buying a Unicornology book or three from a bookshelf. Its right there among the skill books when you look to read it! This gets your sim the Unicornology skill. Each level of the skill unlocks new interactions and options for your sim to participate in. Woot!

When your sim builds the Unicornology skill, they unlock a new phone menu - Sparkles. In there are a variety of unicorn activities your sim can do. Also, travel activities to send your sims to rabbit holes! Despite this screenshot, going to the cinema to watch a Pony movie really is just a walk-off-the-lot rabbithole. Hey, comes with a custom buff though!

There is a whole chat menu that opens up as your sim learns Unicornology. You can ramble at other sims about unicorns all day long if you want! There is also supposed to be a pie menu on the computer to run a unicorn blog and write a unicorn book - as of today (May 17th, 2024) I can't get this to show up for me. I stripped every mod from the game except this and the xml injector and still no computer options. I let the creator know about that. Could be just a me thing though, who knows.

That Uni stuffed animal that toddlers can babble at? You know the one. The Unicorn Adventure mod makes that into the portal to Sylvan Glade Unicornville. Click the view option on it a few times until other options begin to show up. Its a text based adventure to get in, just like Sylvan Glade has always been.

You can still use the classic tree portal in Willow Creek as well, but having the Uni as a portal in your sim's house is pretty useful. Once you make it to Sylvan Glade Unicornville, those with the Unicorn Mod installed can search for unicorns just like they always have.

The unicorn, Gary (thank you, game, for that magical random name) showed up after a few searches and we are all set to have a real unicorn in our family and talk about unicorns ad nauseam with every dang nabbed sim we meet. 🦄🦄🦄

[sloshr]

After watching through Side Order... I have a Few Thoughts.

[Spoilers ahead]

My Review of the Side Order DLC - Its little more than Gameplay.

Initial Opinion

- - - - - - - - - -

Overall; I like the gameplay mechanics initially, but the story absolutely feels lacking to me, imo. It feels like they were really banking on Side Order being Hard but... multiple of my friends finished it on their 2nd or 3rd run through the Spire.

That in itself isnt a problem! But... everyone felt sort of unsatisfied? There were no developments in the story, as we, Agent 8, were just assigned the task to Get to The Top of the Spire -> The Player Does That -> You beat a Boss -> Credits Roll (?)

On my watchthrough I literally said Please Say Sike 😭 because, dont take this poorly, but they were advertising Side Order as;

• Difficult (stated Multiple Times in basically every Trailer)

• Story Driven (You Uncover things as You Climb)

• Character and Lore Intensive (as shown by the trailers with all the concept art as well as promo art)

I dont feel like it was wrong to expect more based on how it was advertised.

But... if you complete the DLC in 1-2 runs, which is Very Much Possible, no buildup happens at all. The story was banking on the player struggling, and putting all the content behind repeat runs, which falls through and Doesnt really work/feel satisfying if the main goal is achieved in such a short time. I Feel like anyone who regularly plays Salmon Run will likely have a similar experience. And I feel kind of cheated? Because what we got was something that was Tell Not Show rather than the Show, Not Tell formula. And in my opinion, it really doesn't work as well at all. It puts all the major lore that the game has set up behind repetetive climbs (which never change btw, despite each climb being generated differently, its the same after a while) and you get about 1 Sentence of Exposition, with a Modlog from Marina if you are Lucky.

Side Order was (to me), after watching it all;

• Not Difficult, But Repetetive Gameplay (This easily runs people down, which would be fine if the tower had more than 1 setup or phase)

• Inital Story Setup with no complexities or stages. You climb the first Tower, Save Marina, Climb the Second Tower, Beat Order, and the credits Roll. In its most complex, you could fit what Side Order's Story is in 2-3 Sentences. Rather than Lore being revealed During the story, it feels Pushed to the Side as all of it is either in Text the player may never see (different climbs) or care to read (Marina's Mod Log)

• Use of Character Drops with no explaination / mention (The Agent 4 Boss, Anyone?) (This felt very Bait-y, with No Payoff)

Rating

- - - - -

If I had to give Side Order a Rating

4/10. At Best.

I am a bit disappointed with this as I feel like I was promised more, Storywise, and honestly a bit gameplay wise. I think it fails where other DLC has succeeded Due to being Built in such a way where anything engaging is stuck behind barely changing gameplay. It is not built in a way where the experience cant fail to show you whats important to the characters and the worldbuilding. It relies too much on telling you whats happening rather than the world showing you. Its too Simple, and It Doesnt Work, personally, in a series that contains Octo Expansion.

Which is Sad to me!! It had so much wasted potential and I really hope this isn't the last we're going to see of the concept, we get to see ideas actually built into the story, and... maybe find Agent 4.

Conclusion

- - - - - - - -

Tldr; Side Order had a good concept, but failed in execution for being simple and gameplay dependent, which was ultimately disappointing due to it being advertised as something more for all involved.

It was an alright attempt. The experience will just be known to me as... well. Baby's First Rouge-like. Nothing worldbreaking.

(PS, this isnt meant to be mean spirited or overly critical, I just love the Splatoon Series so I give it Tough Love. This is just my personal view on the DLC)

Thank you for Reading! Feel free to share or add any thoughts!

[alpaca-clouds]

Why Does Everyone Struggle With Solarpunk Stories?

Fun Fact: My own introduction to Solarpunk happened in Germany on a German convention. I met a friend, who I had not seen in quite a few years in the creator alley, and they and their partner had just brought out an indie comic, which they introduced as a Solarpunk comic.

I do however wonder whether it really could be considered Solarpunk now, as it was mostly fantasy (which in itself is not a criterium), but the main overlap with Solarpunk generally was this idea of using the Art Noveau aesthetic for everything. From what I remember, it was not really very concerned with any of the Solarpunk themes - nor with anything considered Solarpunk technology - though I do remember some flying machines that were powered by sun energy.

But it makes me think about one thing: There are still barely any explicit Solarpunk novels out there. Like, there are a few, yes, but barely any. Most of what is considered Solarpunk works is stuff that folks among the Solarpunk community have looked at and gone: "Oh, yeah, this kinda feels Solarpunk, doesn't it?"

Most of the Solarpunk books out there are in fact anthologies. (And yes, I plan to continue reviewing those, I right now just struggle with reading because of health-related issues.) And even among those anthologies I will look at half the stories and think to myself: "Well, but are they really Solarpunk?"

In some cases that is because the stories in question are really build around too much of a dystopia. In other cases it is, because even the technology/ecology part is not really there.

And sure, I am talking a lot about how it is fairly easy to tell a Solarpunk story if you just let go of the idea that a Solarpunk story has to be one certain thing - rather than any kind of story that is set in a Solarpunk setting and deals with Solarpunk themes. But on the other hand it is not like I am writing a whole lot in the genre either, is it?

Admittedly the reason for me might be a bit of another one than for other writers. For me it is simply that I find it currently hard to motivate myself to write anything in terms of original fiction, because... Well, writing fanfics is just a whole lot more fun, and also will get me a lot more feedback and such.

And of course, on the side of the publishing industry I just don't know if anyone but Android Press and World Weaver Press even do much in publishing of Solarpunk stories? I am honestly not entirely certain.

But there definitely is some sort of struggle here right now. And that is without me going into the fact that half of what is published in Germany with the lable of "Solarpunk" is actually Cyberpunk but with some mild ecological themes in there.

And yeah, all in all it really makes me wonder, where the issue lies.

Is it a thing of a missing community for Solarpunk creatives, especially writers? Because I know that most online Solarpunk communities focus a ton on guerilla gardening, second hand clothes, and right to repair - but just don't have a ton of striving creative groups among them. The one Discord Server for Solarpunk writers I was on got deleted by the mod for being inactive.

So, yeah. I don't know.

Would someone be interested in another sort of community for Solarpunk creatives? And if so, what kind of community?

[amy-coolshark]

Hey people, so I was trying to find out a way of immersing myself in mecha even more and I settled on the idea of making funny little reviews about the gundam kits I've built on my blog so here it is tee hee

(Very minor spoilers for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury season 1 episode 6 ahead)

I present to you:

Demi Trainer A.K.A baby's first gundam kit

This is what kickstarted my addiction to building these little guys and honestly it was such a blast as my first experience with it! I saw the HG (1/144) model of this mobile suit in a nerd shop I was in that I was told had these kits and I figured it was a good starting point. I liked the idea of the training mech from g-witch acting as training wheels for me building these kits.

Fun Facts About the Demi Trainer

the MSJ-121 Demi Trainer is a mobile suit seen in The Witch From Mercury series, and is primarily used by students in Asticassia as a mobile suit to train with (hence the name Demi Trainer)

The Demi Trainer is just one model in a series of other Demi mobile suits! Other Demi models we see throughout the series are the MSJ-OP122 Demi Garrison (seen early on when Suletta Mercury's Gundam Aerial is being detained after her first duel), the MSJ-R122 Demi Barding, which is a more advanced model of mobile suit, equipped with more armaments, while still maintaining the Demi model philosophy. There's also Chuchu's iconic MSJ-105CC Demi Trainer, which is an older model that has been heavily modified by Chuchu in order to compete with more modern iterations of Demi mobile suits.

Our primary experience with Demi Trainer in the show is when Suletta Mercury is tasked with piloting one as part of her spotting exam, where she has a particularly difficult time passing it. It honestly made me feel really sad when I watched it for the first time :(

The Design of Demi Trainer

I really love how this mobile suit looks! It's a very simple design but I feel it's so effective at conveying it's primary purpose: to be a baseline training model for mobile suits. It's a lightweight mobile suit with minimal modifications done to it so that it can achieve high mobility and it's easy to maintain. It also looks very much like something a company would mass-produce for an institution like Asticassia.

Demi Trainers are used with a standard set of equipment, which includes a simple shield, a beam gun for ranged combat, a saber stick for melee combat, a combat knife, as well as the Daedalus multi-tool, which can be shaped and transformed into a variety of tools. This makes Demi Trainer a very versatile mobile suit, appropriate for use in many different situations. It doesn't seem to come with any sort of flight module, though that makes sense, as I imagine those are quite expensive to include on mobile suits, and this is meant as a simple trainer mech.

Of course, since it's heavily used in Asticassia, Demi Trainer also has an equipable antenna module for use in duels within the academy.

The Demi mobile suits are known for their extensive customisability, and the Demi Trainer is no different! You can even see these aspects within the design of this mobile suit. There are many little slots and places where you can modify Demi Trainer and potentially add modules or armaments, and you can see the extent of this modification in Chuchu's modified Demi Trainer, despite it being an older model. I'd really love to see what kind of modifications other student in the academy would apply to their Demi Trainers!

Building the Kit

My experience with building this gunpla kit was a blast! I was so excited to get started on this, and the kit did not disappoint! It wasn't too complex so that I was overwhelmed, but it also wasn't so simple that I was bored. Hearing all the clicks and feeling the pieces snap together as I built it was extremely satisfying, and I really like how the instruction booklet was structured.

You're not told to put individual parts of the mobile suit together until you've built a number of modules beforehand. For example, the instructions tell you to build the head, body and arms before telling you to put those parts together, and I think that makes the experience more satisfying. The same structure applies for the waist and legs of the kit, and being able to put all of the parts together at the end is such a good feeling! Of course, you can totally ignore the structure of the booklet and put parts together as you build them, which is also fine.

The kit also comes with a variety of stickers, and with the help of hindsight after having built 2 more kits after this one (which I also plan on reviewing), I can confidently say that the stickers for the Demi Trainer are probably the easiest to apply based on my limited experience! You get a small choice of stickers too, mainly a choice of what colour you want the middle torso portion to be. Of course, I picked purple because it's my favourite colour, but other choices also include red, blue, yellow and pink.

At one point while building this kit, I tried to take a part out so I could hear and feel the click of it again as I assembled it, but I accidentally applied too much force into it and the piece snapped, which make me panic but thankfully I had some glue to repair it, which was a huge relief. Not a fault of the kit itself, just my own excitement getting the better of me! Though I will recommend to be careful when assembling these kits if you're not experienced, and be gentle with them.

I was so so happy when the kit was finished and I could play around with it! Building it is half the fun, and the other half is posing it in all sorts of cool ways! You've seen some pictures of that already, but I also have some gifs of the kit spinning on a little turntable saved for the end.

The HG Demi Trainer kit comes with just the shield, saber stick and beam gun that I mentioned previously, which I personally don't mind too much but of course having more options for equipment is always a good thing. Thankfully you can buy an expansion set for Demi Trainer that includes a beam rifle, gatling gun, combat knife, 4-cell hand missile launcher and open hand parts, as well as some smaller extras. I personally don't have this expansion kit but I would love to get it at some point!

Overall, I think this is a fantastic kit to build, particularly if you are new to gunpla and are looking for a place to start. The Witch From Mercury kits are some of the best quality I think I've seen in gunpla (again, from my limited experience) and if you love the series and want to collect gunpla, you can't go wrong with getting this kit. The posable nature and movement of the kit itself is great, which I think is really cool and allows for some creative shots to be made with them!

This is a little series of posts that I hope to continue in the future! If you have any suggestions on things to add or change please let me know! I'm open to constructive criticism :)

[timeforafuckingcrusade4]

Gore Mod Review

Okay I'm not sure where to begin. Most of what I can say is just...wow. I'm going to be completely honest I installed this mod on a complete whim, I wasn't even really looking for a follower mod specifically, it was more of a I've experienced the mods I have repeatedly by this point. I'm not complaining I still love the mods I have and the followers I already have that being: Kaidan, Lucien and Inigo, but I kind of wanted something fresh and I got all that and much more.

Spoilers but extremely vague ones

Okay so when I initially met Gore I went in with the mindset of not comparing him to my other followers I already have grown to know and love because that would not only set high expectations, but its also completely demeaning to the mod creator.

When you first meet him I was just immediately drawn to him because he is just so easily likeable, but I think the moment that truly solidified that I'd never play another playthrough without him was during the climb to High Hrothgar. His presence and reassurance was just everything to me because thinking about it if I was truly the dragonborn I'd be terrified, all that responsibility in such a short amount of time is daunting (especially considering that it was only recently you were about to be executed) and he really reminded me to take a moment to prioritise myself and what I was feeling.

The small things really sold this mod to me as well as the amazing voice acting and story...he just feels so real? Not to mention that I sobbed his entire story because it was like looking into a mirror. I really resonated with him and I could really see him as my best friend.

Okay now for genuine spoilers depending on choices

His optional romance route was just utterly stunning. It flowed so so easily and didn't feel forced or rushed it just felt so natural. It all really hit close to home though his struggles with relationships and the concept that someone would actually like him for him and not be disgusted by his past. As someone who's never been in a relationship let alone been near another person in that sort of fashion it was just so comforting to both be in the same boat. The build up and everything was just so well executed from him trying to push you away by giving you reasons to end things to finally accepting that you do want to be with him even if it's foreign to him.

But whether you choose to romance him or to remain friends my favourite quality of his is that he is uniquely him; by that I mean he genuinely feels like a real person because he's humorous and he has his own thoughts, feelings and opinions and he will make them known and he stays true to himself and his beliefs all whilst growing as a person and learning to be better. Despite everything he's been though he's such a positive figure to have even if he thinks otherwise and its so nice to get to be apart of his journey and watch him learn to be content with himself as well as his past. I cannot sing his praises enough I genuinely have so much love for the character and the creator. He's become my favourite companion in such a short time and I could write for hours and hours about how much I love Gore and how much I appreciate your work but I won't...Just thankyou so much for making me and everyone who plays this mod seen and felt and much love to you! And I urge everyone to get the mod to experience this absolute treasure! 💞

[sophieinwonderland]

i was scrolling r/SC and its weird the mods are saying you arent responding to their modmail responses and claiming you are "threatening sub members". I have seen no evidence of this anywhere.

Ive seen the odd claims that somehow you are only citing older DSM sources because it "supports your narrative" but then they dont read the criteria for how vague it actually is. Nothing you have show has supported the sysmed claims and I have a degree! I've studied this for more then 6 years and I'm licensed! It's vague for a reason.

The mods there seem to think that our life should revolve around them just because I sent a message to them asking them to remove a post mentioning my name and age. I have asks in my box, and other posts I want to make. I got what I wanted from that conversation, which was proof that I reached out to them to ask them to remove comments naming me. I might respond further if I find the time and the interest. But I haven't yet decided.

As for threatening members of the subreddit... I really have no idea what they're talking about. If anyone there has received any actual threats, it wasn't from me.

I think either they're making things up, or are taking some sort of statement that I'll continue to post about their hate sub as a "threat."

I don't have any idea what they're talking about with citing older DSM entries either. I rarely discuss the DSM, and when I do, it's almost always the DSM-5.

I prefer the ICD-11 as my go-to source, as it explicitly acknowledges that you can have multiple "distinct personality states" without a disorder.

Furthermore, most of the published papers researching and acknowledging endogenic plurality that I cite have all come out within the past decade.

Varieties of Tulpa Experiences: 2016

The Plurality chapter of Transgender Mental Health: 2018

The ICD-11's Boundary With Normality for DID: 2019

Exploring the Utility and Personal Relevance of Co-Produced Multiplicity Resources with Young People: 2021

Conceptualizing multiplicity spectrum experiences: A systematic review and thematic synthesis: 2023

It's just a body: A community-based participatory exploration of the experiences and health care needs for transgender plural people: 2023

And many others.

Practically the only time I cite the DSM is when debunking people falsely claiming the DSM says you need trauma to be a system.

Otherwise, I generally don't consider it that relevant. It never claims you need trauma to be a system. It acknowledges possession states as real phenomena. And the existence of criterion C implies you can meet the other criteria without a disorder. But I feel there are better sources out there to use.

Like you say, it's vague. Despite leaning towards the existence of non-disordered and endogenic plurality, it doesn't go far enough to make it valuable for me.

I'm certainly not going to use older versions of the DSM as sources.

But yeah, there really is nothing to back up their claims. I've been asking anti-endos for years for even ONE single peer-reviewed paper stating that you can't be plural without trauma or a disorder. Just one.

Because I can name countless reputable psychologists and psychiatrists who have made it clear they believe in other forms of plurality in peer-reviewed papers from reputable publishers. I've seen others who are open to the possibility but seem neutral for no other reason than the fact their specialization is in trauma disorders, and they don't deal with people who aren't traumatized or don't have mental illnesses of some kind.

What I have never once seen is a single anti-endo provide a peer-reviewed source stating that you can't possibly be plural without trauma. And I mean this with any wording. It doesn't have to say "plural" or "system," as long as it communicates that this is the only possible way to have multiple self-conscious agents in your head.

See, for example, how the creators of the theory of structural dissociation have said in one paper that "self-conscious" "dissociated parts of the personality" may be involved in mediumship and hypnosis.

In the years I've been asking for this, not one person has been able to link to a peer reviewed source where a psychiatrist or psychologist has stated the opposite.

All they have on their side is The Big Lie. I've talked about this recently. Just repeat a claim over and over again until people believe it. Claim the experts support and agree with you, and you never need to source any of those non-existent experts. That's what r/systemscringe, and sysmeds in general, are depending on. That their members will be gullible enough to just accept whatever they say.

[teaveetamer]

It's okay if butwhatifidothis risks leading people to harass Captain Flash by going over his fic but it's not okay if Raxis does the same to reynaattheend?

Okay I feel like I want to get one thing out of the way before I go into this.

BWIIDT agreed to remove parts of the old reviews that were particularly rude or offensive if they were pointed out to her, something that was literally promised to the MODS of the Edelstan discord server (who claimed to have a direct line of communication to Cap).

So the guy literally had a chance to air his grievances with the posts and have the parts he didn’t like removed within reason, and we never got any examples of things to ask her to remove. So either she’s not as rude as people make her out to be, or they never actually cared about her critiques and haven’t bothered reading them, even when handed the literal opportunity to edit things out they didn’t like.

Additionally BWIIDT has said that she would be willing to remove all the postings completely if the guy would just hear her criticisms and learn from them, so he could better handle the racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. in his fic. Of which there is a lot.

I don’t know how you could possibly compromise more without just straight up being a door mat and pretending like this white man never had any issues with the way he wrote race and women.

Anyway as for why I view these as two completely different situations that are not really comparable IMO:

1) Cap’s fic is/was at the time literally being shoved at people. We were told to read it to “understand canon better”.

This isn’t just me saying this. I remember around the time before/slightly after BWIIDT started giving her criticisms of the fic I was seeing it getting recommended to a bunch of people. There were people on various social media sites complaining about the Edel crowd shoving the fic down their throats. I had it recommended to me on some different platforms, etc.

And that’s not just fans of the fics’ perception. Cap himself has stated that he views the fic as meta commentary on the game/discussion of canon, not just a fun little fic he did. And he’s happy people view it as essential for understanding canon.

As far as I’m aware, Reyna’s fic has never had that sort of culture around it, nor has she wanted it to have that kind of impact on fandom. I’m pretty sure she’s even explicitly stated that she KNOWS it’s not always aligned with canon and she doesn’t care, because it’s just a fun little project for her.

2) As far as I’m aware, BWIIDT never linked to Cap’s fic? I don’t even think she gave the title of it at first, it’s just that most people figured out what fic she was talking about BECAUSE of the aforementioned it getting shoved down everyone’s throats. But I wasn’t really following her in the beginning so I don’t remember, I’m sure she can reblog this posting if she wants and further clarify.

Raxy has literally been linking to Reyna’s fic on every posting and spelling out the full name of the fics and the author. Given his followers’ propensity for harassment (which he claims to not support) he really should have known better. He wasn’t “risking” sending her harassment it was basically a foregone conclusion.

He definitely should have taken all of the links down and stopped linking or naming the author or fic after it became clear people were literally going and harassing her, using his posts and material to throw at her. But as far as I’m aware he hasn’t done ANY of that.

3) I know from talking with BWIIDT since Raxy started harassing everyone here that she wasn’t going to bother with Cap’s fic originally, but then the annoying fans shoving it down people’s throats + she noticed a lot of very problematic handling of race that she wanted to talk about in greater depth = her discussing the fic at length.

I haven’t read through Raxy’s criticisms, but I feel like there’s a BIG difference between a woman of color pointing out the problems regarding race and gender in a fic (written by a white man) that’s being recommended to everyone as ESSENTIAL FOR UNDERSTANDING THE GAME vs. Some Guy Who Doesn’t Like A Random Fic

Additionally, I don’t really feel like it’s my place to tell her to shut up because, uh, it just feels kind of gross to tell her to just not be mad about the way the white guy is butchering the biracial experience when she’s a biracial woman and I’m not? Which again, very different from telling a 35 year old cishet white guy who is acting like a dick about anime chess to be less of a dick about anime chess.

4) And again, I also know for a fact that BWIIDT is just interested in critiquing/venting about the fic, and would be willing to stop making postings about it if Cap actually bothered to read the critiques and learn from the mistakes he’s made regarding the racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. in his fic.

But like, he keeps doubling down on it insisting that because he grew up next to a reservation and he has one queer woman doing his beta reading there could never be any problems with his handling of any of these sensitive topics, so he doesn’t need to listen to any of us ever, and people are still touting it as essential for understanding canon, and he’s still okay with that, sooooooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s VERY different from what Raxy is doing, which is basically just calling Reyna’s fics “cringe” and “not canon” from the snippets I’ve seen. He’s also blasting them over LITERALLY every social media platform he has for some godforsaken reason. Which like. If your goal was just to critique the fic why are you posting that shut EVERYWHERE?

5) I really don’t think Raxy is that bothered by the criticisms of Cap’s fic. He harasses people regardless of if they’ve talked about Cap or his fic, and after his aborted attempt to drum up harassment against BWIIDT on GameFaqs he came to Tumblr and started begging her to “do his fic next”

Like honestly I don’t even know what goes on in that guy’s head. Weird ass behavior. I really don’t care what he has going on, it’d just be nice if he’d act like the 35 year old he actually is and quit being so petty and childish.

Even if you think what BWIIDT did with Cap’s fic is wrong, why would it EVER be acceptable to drag an uninvolved third party into the mix and bash their fic and send them harassment as “retaliation”? Reina has nothing to do with this. She doesn’t even have fucking social media accounts outside of AO3. I know because I literally left her a comment to warn her about this clown and she told me.

What BWIIDT has done with Cap’s fic is admittedly a bit of a grey area, but ultimately I fall on the side of “whatever” with it because of the notoriety and influence on fandom fans of the fic desperately want it to have, and because of just how problematic elements of it are for various communities.

I mean you can’t go reccing a fic as essential for understanding the game and shoving it down the entire fandoms’ collective throat and then expect it to be treated like a 14 year old’s silly self insert fic when the people you told to read it critique it with the gravitas you assigned to it.

If you wanna critique BWIIDT for what she did with Cap’s fic, or critique me or anyone else for interacting with her, or you just think my logic is stupid and you want to critique that, then that’s… fine? I’m an adult, I’m a person, I know there’s places I can grow. But I’m sick of people acting like it’s okay to be a shitty person just because you got your feelings hurt once, so now it’s okay to go making it everyone else’s problem. And I don’t know if it was your intention to defend the guy with this ask anon, but it’s definitely happened too damn much with this guy and the Edelgard fandom as a whole.

That was another thing that really fucked me off in that conversation with the Edelstan server mods. I had one of them acting like I run fucking Reddit and I’m somehow responsible for some trolls calling Edelgard fans Nazis four fucking years ago. You can bet your ass I would get crucified if I tried to shit talk some random ass Edeleth fic and tried to justify it with “but it’s ok cuz some Edelgard fans were mean to me once :(“. There’s a reason why the fic being touted as essential for understanding canon is the one getting critiques and not any of the THOUSANDS of other Edeleth fics in existence. Because no one fucking cares about fanfics when they aren’t getting shoved down your throat and touted as “essential”.

I mean fuck dude, I got called a fake queer and an r-slur and intentionally triggered with genocide bullshit and had people talking about killing me. Am I going around harassing random fic authors over it? No, cuz I’m a grown ass fucking adult and I know how to act like it, and I know that 99% of the people who write/have written Edeleth fics had absolutely nothing to do with that.

So if you’re justifying going after Reyna with “but BWIIDT was mean to Cap!” Then knock it off, Reyna has literally nothing to do with this and you’re being shitty by trying to drag her into it. If you just did this to spork a fic, then you’re currently being a dick over a fanfic for no reason and clearly it’s leading to the author being harassed.

@butwhatifidothis if you wanna add onto this feel free.

[dungeonzine]

do you have an idea of how you’d like portfolios to be organized for artists applications? what kind of skills would you like demonstrated in portfolios?

Hello! Zine portfolios don’t need to use a fancy format—in fact, we prefer a simple Google Drive folder with about 3-10 pieces of your best work. No need to sort it by section or type of art. A good rule of thumb is to have as few clicks between the mods and the art as possible. Other formats work fine as well! Just make sure it’s publicly viewable and doesn’t contain extra material for us to scroll through. If we need to go searching for your art, we may simply not have the time to find it.

Generally, we recommend pieces included be somewhat “zine style,” so that we can get a good idea of the art you would contribute. This means full color, fully polished/rendered, full background, and in the style you would like to use for the project. If you don’t have pieces that fit that exact description, still submit your best work, though we strongly caution against including sketches or WIPs—it can come across as unprofessional. We’d rather you include less work than unfinished work (a portfolio is only as good as its weakest piece!). We also recommend that you sort the pieces in the order that you’d like the mods to see them, with your best first. With the amount of applications we are anticipating, we can’t promise we’ll have equal time to review every work.

For our zine specifically, we do recommend having a Dungeon Meshi piece to show how you draw the characters. It’s not required, but you’ve got some time to make one! We also recommend showing ability in drawing a multitude of body types, animals and monsters, food, and other common DM themes.

We will be evaluating overall skill and quality, especially style, composition, color, shading and rendering, backgrounds and perspective, and anatomy. There’s no specific “style” we prefer and we’re happy to feature a range of styles so long as they are well developed and polished.

This is a lot to keep in mind, but don’t stress too much about hitting every point! As long as we get to see your best work, you’ve done a great job. You can find some additional details about applying on our Carrd.

[flecks-of-stardust]

Stardust's Ranking of Rain World Custom Regions

It's late and I'm bored and I love mods, and if you can you should try some of them because this community creates some incredible stuff and you better appreciate that.

These regions are loosely ranked with an emphasis on my enjoyment, not necessarily the quality of the region, though those can be linked! I will clarify where necessary. You can use this post as a recommendation list, or you can just read my thoughts and reviews of various custom regions for fun or some shit. I dunno. For some reason I end up making lists a lot.

This post will be updated as I try more mods and as more mods come out. The post is current as of October 14th, 2023. Some regions have additional notes, which are elaborated on under the list. Also note that for the vast majority of these regions, I am talking about my experience going through them as Survivor. Additionally, assume all regions have a pup spawn chance unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Highly enjoyed, strongly recommend

Stormy Coast*^ — and another usurper with lots of room to spare. Stormy Coast is the most incredible region I've ever had the pleasure of playing. The atmosphere is just incredible, especially if you do as intended and revisit it across the timeline! The concept of Stormy Coast, its design as an abandoned shipping port, the changes as you move through time, the lore, all of it is just amazing. I just adore it. The music is also absolutely fantastic. I don't know how to describe the experience because it's. Quite literally indescribable, honestly, looking through it yourself. Go get it. It's just fantastic. I would recommend picking one slugcat from Hunter to Monk's time, and then visiting as the rest of the slugcats. (Also, fun fact: the creator of Stormy Coast is the same person who made Lush Mire and Undersea!)

Far Shore^ — I'm a little surprised to have to say this, but this supplanted Howling Rift as my favorite region very quickly. The overall design is just lovely. The threat music is amazing, and there's a lot to see because Far Shore is a very big region—one of the biggest available right now actually! It's hard to summarize what it's like going through it because different parts of it have such a different vibe; the above ground parts are somewhat like Shoreline, but with more options for traversal, while the below ground parts are sort of like Shaded Citadel (but cooler. I'm biased though, I like the horror aspect). Additionally, there's a certain part of Far Shore that really made it feel like I was playing the game for the first time again. No other region has ever tackled something like Far Shore has, and it's really an unforgettable experience. I recommend entering from the Pilgrim's Ascent gate! Additionally, and this might sound strange, but DO NOT play Far Shore as your first region. Go try some of the other ones on this list first, like Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District! It just works better that way, I promise.

Howling Rift*^ — this region is kind of like if you took Memory Crypts and made it as big as Shaded Citadel is, but with amazing music and a much more foreboding atmosphere. There is also an Underhang-like part with some of the most interesting (and difficult) platforming I've had the pleasure of playing in this game so far. It's definitely not going to be everyone's favorite, but it's my favorite. I recommend going in without neuron glow for the optimal experience. The Mark is unnecessary.

Coral Caves and Hanging Gardens^ — absolutely stunning regions, I loved the aesthetics and the level design. They use a mechanic that I haven't really seen in any other custom regions (except Lost Cranny, kind of), and it makes for some really interesting platforming. Hanging Gardens in particular also has some fascinating geometry, which I won't elaborate on because it's a delight to discover on your own! I will say though that Coral Caves in particular is definitely a little more difficult than some of the other regions on this list, but it's not unmanageable as Survivor. Coral Caves also boasts a unique world state for Saint!

Lush Mire and Undersea^ — technically not connected regions, though they share Shaded Citadel as a connection, but come on you have to play these two together. Hollow Knight fans in particular might enjoy these two regions; Lush Mire takes obvious influence from Greenpath and Queen's Gardens, while Undersea has a subregion that looks a lot like City of Tears. They both have gorgeous level design and are not super difficult. I would recommend having neuron glow for Undersea, and the Mark for Lush Mire. However, some people are experiencing issues with pipes breaking and trapping them in walls when Lush Mire is enabled. Mergefix I believe is one way to fix this issue? But so far there hasn't been a concrete fix.

Pilgrim's Ascent and Scorched District^ — intended to be played together and very seamless in the integration. Really cool designs for both regions, in particular PA personally. Did you like Pebbles' broader superstructure or the Exterior? Well I have good news for you. SD is also a fun mix of superstructure-like parts and more Metropolis-looking rooms, and it also has a unique end of cycle effect. Neuron glow isn't necessary for either region, but it would probably make certain parts easier for some people. Definitely have the mark for SD though.

Drainage System Plus^ — the coolest vanilla region expansion I've seen so far. It at least doubles the size of DS and adds a ton of complexity to it, as well as some secrets. It was like exploring it for the first time and it was amazing. Some paths got a little tricky to navigate, but largely I had a lot of fun, and there's generally bubble weed around where you'll need it. I believe it is also fully compatible with Saint's world? So it's technically DS+ and UG+. There may be mod conflicts with DS+ in some cases though.

Hallowed Grotto^ — a very creative concept for a region, featuring unique world changes for every, and I mean every, slugcat. Yes, even Inv. The region itself isn't very big, but that's because each slugcat has a unique version of it. Neuron glow could be nice, but definitely go in with the Mark, and I recommend going once as every slugcat. It is probably better to explore this region in expedition mode to prevent you from restarting your entire save.

Enjoyed, would recommend

Neuron Forest^ — a pretty small region, but a very lovely one! If you like iterator aesthetics and are looking for a calmer experience, Neuron Forest has plenty of that to offer. It is, however, Saint exclusive, but for what it is, it works pretty well. There are also some secrets to be found here, so make sure to check every room! (Also, the creator is on Tumblr! Vela if you see this, hiiiii)

Marshland Wastes — nifty, plant filled region that feels a bit like a more flora-filled Garbage Wastes with Shoreline elements, in a sense? It's hard to nail down. I don't know if I'd call it particularly unique (though it's been a while since I played it), but it's still really well designed and overall fun to play through. There are some really memorable moments though, and personally I really like the crossover room(s). That's just me though. Mark not necessary, neuron glow maybe helpful?

Five Pebbles Expanded* — another expanded vanilla region, which mostly combines pre-Rivulet Five Pebbles with rooms from The Rot. It's done really well though, and there are some aspects to it that are unique to Ex5P. It's nice seeing Cystic Conduit rooms in his superstructure before it rotted so badly. Also! You can enter the cell chamber! It doesn't kill you though, or at least it didn't when I played it, which was a bit disappointing. I was hoping to become fried slug. Do note that the Cystic Conduit rooms have not been changed to be more friendly for other slugcats, nor does any bubbleweed spawn, so uh... have dev tools ready.

Expanded Industrial — and another expanded vanilla region! I liked the new rooms quite a lot, the aesthetics blend in very well i think. It adds a surprising number of rooms with water in them, I will say? But i think it works out overall. The map was broken when I played, I don't know if it's been fixed, but I think it's still worth checking out. Unlike EXSU, EXHI kind of adds a bunch of rooms that don't connect as much to the vanilla rooms, as far as I've noticed, so it's like getting a new subregion of rooms rather than a mix of them. Still, it's pretty cool!

Expanded Outskirts — and yet another expanded vanilla region. It's not as extensive as DS+ I don't think? But it still adds a ton and the room designs are really neat. Certain rooms were a little strange to me? ExSU adds a lot of routing complexity in a way that I like, and now that the map is repaired, it's a lot easier to navigate. It is also fully compatible with DS+! Playing with both mods enabled gives you... three? Four gates? Into DS, which is kind of wild. It also appears I missed a new gate into Industrial Complex!

Timeless Conservatory/Quiet Gardens — a small new region connected to Pebbles' can. It's got a bunch of new screens since I last played it, as well as a subregion for Pebbles! It's very creative, I like it. Currently it's still fairly small, and it doesn't seem like there's any lore pearls in there, but it's a pretty region with some cool aesthetics. Good for a quick play. Mark not required, and I went in with neuron glow but the glow seems to be forcibly disabled in certain rooms?

Enjoyed, wouldn't readily recommend

Lavish Knack — this one's weird. It's a pack of several custom regions, all interconnected, but when I played it only one of them had full backgrounds and foregrounds. The rest were very... bare. It was kind of funny though. Some of the design choices are also a little peculiar, though thankfully, not typically in a way that makes platforming or traversal difficult. It did have one specific mechanic that I really liked, some strange pipe launching thing, but it was used only in one spot. Most of my enjoyment was from baffled laughter at how this region was designed admittedly. I wouldn't call it a bad region, it's just a little funny going through it at times. The Mark won't be necessary for Lavish Knack, though neuron glow might help in some parts of it.

Aerial Arrays*^ — this one will ah... not be a favorite of many people, I think. I found it interesting, and I enjoyed the platforming, generally, but. Um. It is. Pretty cursed. In several ways, and in ways that a lot of people won't like. Some of the camera transitions are a little rough, some of the design choices are a little... peculiar, and some tiles are a little bare in a way that's a little noticeable if you're really looking at the aesthetics, but considering this is the dev's first region? It's pretty damn impressive. It's pretty well made too, imo. It also boasts a surprising number of unique pearls, two of which uh. Are pretending to be white pearls. I'll... leave that for you to figure out. Do note that some parts of Aerial Arrays are bugged right now, but I've given the dev my feedback and they'll be pushing a hotfix for bugs soon. The Mark is not necessary, and you can skip grabbing a neuron since there's neurons in Aerial Arrays.

Washroom — rather small region, but it was pretty neat. There's not much to it, but I think it achieves its purpose well. It made me feel like laundry as I was going through it. A surprising amount of worm grass was in the region though. Mark and neuron glow not necessary.

Lost Cranny — possibly the smallest region available at the moment, but considering it was made in just three hours, I say it's pretty damn impressive. The map was unfortunately broken when I played and I'm not sure if it'll ever be fixed, but truthfully the region is like. 8 rooms? So. It's hard to get lost anyways. Short and sweet, imo. Could be worth looking at, and Balagaga said the region might get expanded if people are interested, which could be interesting. Also, this region is Monk exclusive.

Did not like, would not recommend

Expanded Leg — full disclosure, this is mostly a me thing, but ExLeg was eh. I already don't like the Leg, so I don't know why I went into it expecting I might enjoy it. (I do know. It's because of PA.) It's just... Leg. But the other side of it. I will say though that some of the platforming in ExLeg feels even less clear than in the vanilla Leg? But maybe that's a skill issue on my part, I dunno. If you like the Leg you might like ExLeg, but I wasn't a fan personally.

The Tower (not the Daszombes one) — this one wasn't particularly interesting to me. It was basically just pole hell, and some of the design was... eh? The camera transitions were also a bit jank imo. Very much not my thing. Some rooms were pretty though, and it's also the dev's first region, so I have to cut them some slack.

Honorable mentions

Fortunate Development — not fully a region mod, but it cleans up the rot from all of Pebbles' superstructure. It was bittersweet to play through this, and I enjoyed it, but ultimately it's just Pebbles. Still worth checking out though imo. I don't think this one is compatible with Ex5P? I'm not sure though.

The Tower (the Daszombes one) — I actually have not watched most of Das' content, and certainly not the Iterator Logs, so I was very out of my depth when playing through this. it seems interesting, I just have no context for any of it. It was heavily unfinished when I played it though; one room would be fully designed, with foreground decor and lighting and stuff, and then if you go through a pipe, you end up in a bare room with literally nothing but the geometry. It was jarring, but also clearly unfinished, so I can't judge it too hard. If you like Das' stuff, you might be interested in this.

Additional notes

* These regions have some fairly intense flashing in some parts:

The Underhang-like section of HR has electrical storms like vanilla Underhang, but they're far more intense and far more constant than what Underhang gets. It also has a pretty strong particle effect in a good bunch of rooms; it made my game lag in some of them. Honestly HR just has a lot of eyestrain-y graphics in general, which is a huge shame because it’s basically my only complaint about it.

Ex5P has Primary Cortex rooms that still feature the (harmless) green lightning, and that too can get pretty flashy.

Aerial Arrays' upper part is full of slug zappers. Yes, seriously. They flicker on and off. If you dislike RTA because of the visual flashing effect, you'll want to avoid playing Aerial Arrays, because they're unavoidable.

Stormy Coast is, well. Very stormy. There's lightning effects in most outdoor rooms, and they're unavoidable.

None of these mods have a config menu to reduce or disable the flash effects, so be careful if you're sensitive to flashing. The mod No More Flashes may help with some of these, but not all.

^ There is at least one unique lore pearl in this region.

Note that Undersea's pearls currently do not give the correct dialogue. Wrayk (the dev) has been notified of the issue, though fixing this hasn't been a priority for him as of late. Additionally, any Saint timeline pearls are currently unreadable by Moon, but the dialogue is available on the mods wiki(!).

& The review for this region is currently outdated, due to there having been an update to the mod since I wrote the review.

[pudding-parade]

Heh. I fell down a hole.

Namely, this one:

I downloaded this game a while back when it was on sale and finally decided to check it out a couple days ago when I had an hour to kill, which isn't enough time to fire up Sims and do anything in it. And....man, this thing is addictive. I've seen it called a steady drip of dopamine, and it really, truly is.

I'mma babble a non-spoilery mini-review, so I'll cut for your pleasure... There's also some gameplay pics back there, if y'all wanna see.

The game has a simple premise. You play as a person dropped on a barren, dead planet for Reasons™, and your mission is simply to turn the place into a complete environment livable for humans. Basically, you gather stuff, craft, survive, and build a base in a very Subnautica-y sort of way. As you increase certain (eventually) four different metrics, you unlock tech of all kinds, from backpacks with a bigger inventory to biodomes to rockets that you can launch into space that do various things. There are four different (but integrated) "tech trees," corresponding to the four metrics you work to increase -- atmospheric oxygen, temperature, atmospheric pressure, and later in the game biomass -- and each tree has different items to unlock. The thing is, the "oxygen tree" might unlock things that increase heat, and the "heat tree" unlocks items that increase atmospheric pressure, so it's all integrated such that you are encouraged to work on all the metrics at once. It's all very intricate and well-balanced, so the game is paced and flows really well and you always have a goal (or four) to strive for. And when you accomplish a goal? Dopamine hit!

But what's very cool about the game, IMO, is that as you go about your work, the planet slowly transforms visually, reflecting the work that you're doing, which gives you that steady drip of dopamine as you play. It is all very addictive. Entire days might pass while you're sucked in. LOL Because it's also very chill and relaxing because there's no combat/violence (and never will be, which I love). You just do your thing, accumulating dopamine. The only bit of stress you might feel is if you get lost while exploring and you're starting to run out of oxygen. And there's meteor showers which bring resources (sometimes rare ones) and that, for now, don't do any damage unless you're out in the open and get hit by one, but the roadmap from the devs says that structural damage from meteors will happen eventually.

That "eventually" is because the game is still in alpha, probably three updates away from V.1, and yet there's already tons of gameplay, all the way up to introducing insects and fish into the environment, plus automation. Because it's still alpha, the graphics are a little rough, but I don't care about that at all. Even if they don't change/improve, I'll be perfectly content. There are also large parts of the (open) world that aren't developed yet. But that's exciting because there's lots of space for the devs to add lots of new, cool stuff to do and explore! And speaking of the devs: It's an indie game. Developed by -- count 'em! -- TWO PEOPLE. Two. One married couple. It's a marvelous achievement.

And also? It's not an expensive game. 20USD. There's also a free demo you can try before buying. And it doesn't require a supercomputer to run. I'm pretty sure it'll run on a potato. Apparently, there are already mods for it but, frankly, I'm not feeling a need for any right now because I'm enjoying the game just as it is. Which says a lot about how the game is put together, IMO.

In short: I love this game. If you decide to try it out, I recommend that you go into it cold. Don't watch any YouTube gameplays or whatever. Half the fun, IMO, is not knowing what you're doing and having to explore and figure things out. The game sort of coaches you when you start, giving you a "to do" list. But it doesn't tell you how to do the things on the list. It's not a tutorial. And once you reach the first big goal -- turning the sky blue -- you're entirely on your own.

Anyway, I played this thing almost all day yesterday *cough* instead of catching up here *cough* just accumulating dopamine, so have some non-spoilery pics.

This is what you're looking at when you start. Orange sky, barren rocks, dust everywhere. You can't see very far into the distance because of the dust, which makes it harder to navigate, which makes it easier to lose your way when you venture farther out to explore, which you definitely need to do.

This time (this is my third save and my first "real" one; the other two were used to just figure out WTF I was doing), I spawned near one of the crashed ships. Which is good because before I saw that I had no idea where the hell I was. LOL There are a number of wrecked ships and underground bunkers (from previous failed terraforming efforts) to explore and gather resources from.

Meteor shower! These happen fairly regularly. Seems to be pretty random, though. Sometimes they'll happen one after another in short succession, but sometimes it'll be a while before you have one.

Is that a tinge of blue I'm seeing? I think it is...

Definitely getting bluer! And eventually:

Blue sky, clouds, and...RAIN! And with the rain, as the planet gets warmer...

Surface water! The water slowly rises on the planet as it warms and the surface ice melts...which can be problematic, depending on where you've built your settlement/base.

And now I've got nuclear power. What could possibly go wrong? LOL

Anyway, yeah, I love this game. Highly recommended. It deserves its "Overwhelmingly Positive" review status on Steam, even though it's still in alpha. It doesn't seem like it's going to be abandoned any time soon, and apparently it's already sold half a million copies. The roadmap for the game looks amazing, too, so I'll be looking forward to watching it develop.

[sanssoucisims]

The FABULOUS Siblings! ✨

Yet again, I have given a bit of makeover to one of my townies and created my own sim to go along with them. This time, it's Izzy Fabulous and my OC: his sister, Mo Fabulous!

...like 'more fabulous', get the pun?

I was inspired to create Mo from this news thing posted by EA themselves! I guess Izzy originated from The Sims Mobile (which I've actually tried a while ago - I didn't like it lmao), which is why it's mentioned in that post. Anyway, it's written from his POV, and he mentions having a sister named "Mo". I thought it would be pretty interesting to put a face to this character, since as far as I know, no one else has done it already. So here she is!!

Izzy's letter implies Mo lives (or in my headcanon, formerly lived) in the Fashion District in San Myshuno, and I imagine this is where she lived for some time before reuniting and moving in with her brother.

They both currently live in Del Sol Valley, by the way! Their place is actually a tad bit empty (at least that's how I think it looks), but I imagine with their creative personalities, they'll be able to spruce up every room and totally make this place their own. I've actually already redone a few rooms around their home, including adding a little 'work room' of sorts where they'd be able to show off things they've designed and bounce inspiration off one another!

Mo actually used her brother's computer to write her lifestyle reviews for her job (she's a Simfluencer) - her computer is supposed to be the one with the white chair and the cute cat succulent thing. Of course, Izzy had to show off his mock-disappointment.

◆◆◆

As for my headcanons for these two, I see Mo as older than Izzy. He seems to really look up to her (if his letter indicates anything) and actively take her advice. She also seems quite savvy in the world of fashion design and selling what she creates, hence how she ran her own hair salon before Izzy opened his own store.

"Mo" is short for "Morgaine", by the way. It's a French name, since of course, its capital happens to be one of the 'fashion capitals' of the world. She definitely went to college in Paris and majored in some sort of fashion design.

Speaking of Mo running a hair salon, she was obviously the one who dyed her brother's hair - it's confirmed in his letter! She might appear to be a prim and somewhat haughty person outwardly, but she's really supportive of her brother. She's probably the kind of person who absolutely wouldn't have minded when he used to get into her clothes and play dolls with her when they were kids. And of course, she never hesitated to stand up for him whenever he felt self-conscious about his prematurely graying hair (check his wiki page, it's canon!). Pink/lavender is one of her favorite colors, so it was no surprise that Izzy also wanted his hair dyed like hers. I don't know if his hair color (before it went gray) was originally brown like hers, but I thought it worked best with her pink highlights.

Izzy is definitely more eccentric than his sister; he just EXUDES the same vibe as that little brother who tags along with his big sister and wants to copy her. Mo is of course more level-headed and even sometimes wonders what in the fresh heck her brother is doing with his outfit choices and other decisions. Though she figures that as long as he isn't hurting himself or anyone else, let him be him. It makes him happy, and that's all that matters.

Mo: "You're going out in that? We're going to a showcase in a museum, not a disco!"

◆◆◆

As mentioned previously, Mo worked for some time as a hairstylist. However, there's no such career in the game unless one mods it, so I might look around for one to put in my game. For now, however, she's a Simfluencer.

I imagine Mo had to close up shop so she could properly relocate with her brother, but she still enjoys helping others feel and look their best. Thus, she does a lot of odd jobs that allows her to interact with other people. I've also started getting her to design, buy, and sell outfits on Trendi!

Yeah, one of the outfits she bought used the freaking eyeball ring unironically. She promptly relisted it for sale.

Oh yeah, and here's a prime reason the Fabulous siblings are the kind of people who prefer to create trends rather than follow them. Mo sees that the Rocker style is trending, so she creates an outfit that uses Rocker style pieces. She tries to promote it, only for it to flop. Are we implying the hype went down because Mo isn't 'conventionally attractive' or some shit? HOW DARE YOU.

On another note: as I was looking up career tracks, I noticed a Fashion Photographer freelancer career that I thought sounded interesting (imagine Mo photographing customers wearing her brother's designs!), though it comes with the Moschino Stuff Pack... which I don't have. I don't know, I guess I'm still on the fence about getting this pack just to have a new career track. Maybe I'll make a more definite decision in the long run.

◆◆◆

Izzy, on the other hand, is still doing his canon thing as a Style Influencer. I've been making him work from home a lot, and he does a lot of checking in at different venues as of late. And of course, he often asks Mo to tag along with him so they can both hone their networking skills.

No, I don't know why Dennis Kim (I think that's him in the back?) is giving us that weird look.

◆◆◆

Oh yeah, remember way back when I mentioned that Izzy runs his own fashion store? Well, unlike the - frankly - cash-grabby store his Sims Mobile counterpart owns, Izzy bought a little place he plans to call "Chez Fabulous" (look, I'm not very creative with names of places...)!

And of course, he recruited Mo to help run the place alongside him.

They just so happened to open their store in Mo's old stomping grounds, San Myshuno! I did try to find somewhere in Del Sol Valley at first, but I couldn't really find a good store off the gallery that fit in any of the lots...

Apart from Lilith Vatore doing whatever the heck she was doing with her vampire powers and opening the store a bit too late in the evening (they were open for six hours and ended up closing at like 1 AM), Chez Fabulous was generally successful and had a sale! (Thanks, townie with the 'broke' last name who ironically owns the most expensive lot in Del Sol Valley!!!)

I will definitely post more with these two, so maybe like and follow for more? ^_^

[feudalconnection]

Get Ready...!!

It’s the start of the 1st Term 2023 Inuyasha Fandom Awards!!

We hope everyone has had a fantastic holiday season! A huge shout-out to everyone who participated last quarter and made it such a huge success! We look forward to all of the amazing new fanfiction and fanart to be nominated and shared with this beautiful community!

As noted during last quarter, @elevenharbor has joined on as our wonderful banner creator! We welcome her and all her beautiful talent that has produced amazing banners for you lovely people! (If you have not received your award banner for last quarter, please reach out to one of the mods asap!)

The major change coming to these awards starting this term is that they will no longer be hosted four times per year. Up until this point, the moderators have only had short breaks in between quarters and it has put a strain on the mod-team. Not only that, but the mod-team believes spacing out the terms will allow more creations to be nominated and allow you as nominees to enjoy more works of fiction and art. So moving forward, these awards will be held in January, May, and September! We hope this change will assist in making these awards more enjoyable for all. 

There have been some changes to the categories as well that may effect you as nominators. Every category has been reviewed by the mod-team in detail, so we encourage you to re-read every category to see if there are any changes. Mostly it was to better clarify the definitions. However, some major changes included the following: 

The Fanfiction Roulette Category for this term will be Best Mental Illness/Disability Depiction. This is defined as: Stories that accurately depict, and explore, some sort of mental or physical disability or struggle. 

The Best Kiss Fanart category’s definition has now changed to include platonic kisses. It is now defined as: Fanart depiction of the best kiss between two romantic characters or an endearing kiss between platonic characters. 

Best Traditional Artwork is being pulled as a category due to low levels of nominations in the past. It is still in the running to come back as a roulette category in the future. However, with this category being pulled, we are now opening up a Roulette Category for Artwork. This term, the artwork Roulette category will be Best Fluff Artwork. This is defined as: Artwork depicting a positive and happy moment. Generally includes cheerful themes.

The Best Romance Artwork categories are also getting an overhaul to reflect closer to fanfiction categories. This was in part due to participation levels as well as the kind of artwork seen being nominated. We now have the three following categories for artwork: 

- Best InuKag Romance Artwork - Any romantic depiction of Inuyasha and Kagome.  - Best SessKag Romance Artwork - Any romantic depiction of Sesshomaru and Kagome.  - Best Romance Artwork - Any romantic depiction of two of the characters of Inuyasha (excluding InuKag and SessKag)

If it was not mentioned above, chances are it hasn’t changed. Please be aware that the moderators always take suggestions regarding how the awards are run and category changes into consideration, and each term may bring about new changes. You can read up on the most recent FAQs, Rules of Eligibility, and Categories for more information [these links are only available on desktop]

As nominators, please make sure that each term you take a peek at our list of creators who can’t be nominated to make sure you are staying current with who is eligible to be nominated. 

The 1st Term 2023 nomination period will begin January 1st and go until the end of the day January 15th. Please send your nominations in through the submit button! If you have any other questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to send in an ask or reach out to one of the mods! We are also frequently available on the FC Discord. 

Mods: @classysassy9791 @ruddcatha @umacaking @yukinon-writes​

Please reblog to spread the word of the start of the new quarter!

Mobile-friendly version of this term’s current nominations can be found here

[Below the cut we’ve posted the mobile-friendly FAQs, Rules of Eligibility, and Categories]

FAQs

                                                                    What is The Feudal Connection?

The Feudal Connection is a place where amazing fanart and fanfiction in the Inuyasha fandom is recognized, admired, and offered the chance to be nominated for an award! In addition, it also gives lesser known authors and artists an opportunity to have their work shared to a broader extent and receive the admiration and recognition they deserve!

How do you determine which fanfictions and fanarts are nominated?

The Feudal Connection is fueled by nominations submitted by the Inuyasha community. Once someone sends in a nomination, the moderators review the nomination to verify that it complies with the rules in place. None of the pieces nominated are by “suggestions”. They are specific pieces of work nominated by members of the community.

How do I nominate?

You can send us a submission in one of our nomination formats. Your submission will not be posted and therefore remain anonymous, only to be seen by the moderators. You can send multiple nominations in one submission, as long as the nomination formats are used for each nomination. Please select your fiction nominations carefully; spelling and grammar are important parts of being an author. Anything deemed unacceptable by the moderator team will be disqualified. Once nominations are complete, we’ll post the list of accepted nominations so you can read and view them before voting.

Can I nominate my own art/fiction?

You cannot nominate yourself. Doing so will result in the nomination not being accepted and a warning from the award moderators.

How long do I have to nominate?

You will have 2 weeks from the start of the nominating quarter to send in nominations. These dates will be posted at the beginning of each quarter.

Can I nominate anonymously?

No. This is due to the fact that no one is allowed to nominate their own work. Also, if a nomination is disqualified, the moderators will be reaching out to the person who nominated to allow them another opportunity to nominate.

Can I promote my own works of fiction/art to be nominated for a quarter?

No. You are not allowed to self-promote your own work during the nomination period. This includes not being allowed to request others to nominate your work in specific categories. However, you are allowed to promote the nomination period of the awards by stating something similar to “go nominate your favorites” or the like, as long as you don’t promote your own work to being nominated. Violation of this rule will result in a warning. If there is a second offense, your work will be banned from being nominated in any future quarters.

How many fanfics/fanarts can I nominate?

Only one fiction or artwork can be chosen for each category per person. Meaning, a story or artwork can only be nominated by one person per category. Therefore, any secondary nominations will be disregarded and the duplicate nominator will be allowed to submit another story or artwork in its place.

Is there a limit to how many works can be nominated per category?

Yes. Only 10 fictions or artwork can be nominated per category. Once that category has reached its nomination limit, no more nominations will be accepted into that category for the current quarter.

What fanfiction/fanart is eligible to be nominated?

Please see Rules of Eligibility.

What is the nominating format for fanfics? For fanart?

Nominating format for fanfiction:

Category: (List the name of the category you’ve chosen)

Nominated by: (List YOUR screen name)

Rating: (The fiction’s rating)

Title: (Title of the fiction)

Author: (List the name of the person who wrote the story)

Website(s): (Add the link where the story can be seen)

(For Best “In-Character” list the character’s name): (For Best “Plot Twist” list the plot twist and the chapter it happens in):

Nominating format for fanart:

Category: (List the name of the category you’ve chosen)

Nominated by: (List YOUR screen name)

Title: (Title of the artwork)

Artist: (List the name of the person that drew the piece)

Website(s): (Add the link where the art can be seen)

Can I nominate a fanfic/fanart for more than one category?

Yes. The same story or artwork may be nominated by the same person in up to two different categories.  

Are there any restrictions in regards to romantic pairings being nominated?

Due to the harmful nature of incest, these awards do not recognize InuSess as a pairing that is allowed to be nominated. Please see the Yashahime tab for information regarding the SessRin pairing.

What are the categories?

The categories for both fanart and fanfiction can be found in the Categories link.

Can I nominate a fanart/fanfic that includes Original Characters or Crossover Characters?

Yes. For Fanfics, 80% of the story needs to be focused on Inuyasha characters and the development of the story. OC’s can be in a story, but the main focus needs to be on the Inuyasha characters. Artwork can contain Non-IY characters where specified, but NO art may contain only OC’s or Non-IY characters. (i.e. Artwork of Inuyasha and Kagome’s “OC children” are unacceptable without other genuine IY characters present in the piece)

How do I nominate a piece that has multiple authors or creators?

If multiple people are listed as the author or creators, please verify who created the piece, as some may simply be listed because it was a gift to that person; and please include this verification in your nomination (ie: simply state that you verified that these contributors all had a hand in creating the piece).

If it is a true collaborations between multiple people, they all would go in as one creator. This means that each person would be listed as the creator and the nomination would count toward each creator’s nomination limit.

For example, if a creator was nominated for a collaboration and two other separate works, only the collaboration and one of the other works would be accepted for that creator, depending on which nominations came in first.

I don’t want my fanart/fanfic nominated. Can I opt out? How?

Once a nomination has been approved by the moderators, the author/artist will be made aware of the nomination. Every author/artist retains the right to have their work be removed from the nomination list and can opt out of future nominations.

If you do allow your fanart to be nominated, you are also allowing the moderators to save your work in order to use it strictly during the voting period of the quarter. Once the quarter is completed, the artwork is then removed from the moderators’ personal use.

How many quarters are there?

There will be 4 quarters total per year. Each quarter will be broken down by dates prior to the quarter starting.

How long is each quarter?

Each quarter will be approximately 8 weeks.

How long is the voting period?

The voting period will last for 2 weeks.

How do I vote?

Once the voting period begins, the moderators will post a link to the voting form that will list all of the nominations and which categories they have been nominated for. You can click on the link to be taken to the voting poll, however, you must sign in as you will be allowed only one vote per category.

When are the winners announced?

At the end of each quarter.

What happens if my fanfic/fanart wins? Do I need to do anything?

Please send one of the moderators or the FeudalConnection ask box your preferred email address so that we may send you your award(s) as soon as possible. Afterward, just kick back, relax, and enjoy the feeling of being recognized for your hard work!

I want to nominate an artist/author who has won in the past. Are they still eligible to be nominated?

There is a Winner Ban in place. Once any piece of artwork or fanfiction has won a First Place award for a category, it automatically becomes ineligible and cannot be nominated again for that category. However, it can be nominated for other categories after three consecutive quarters have passed (ie: one year since that piece won) as long as it fits within that definition. We currently do not have a rule against nominating an author/artist back into the category they won for in the past, as long as it is a different piece of work that is being nominated.

The Winner Ban does not apply to works that have won Second or Third place in any category.

Why are the nomination/voting lists not in alphabetical order?

This is inherently due to keeping FeudalConnection as highly functional as possible. Spending more time on this takes away time from other necessary things that make FC run.

People may choose the first option of each category just to say they voted. During the entire of FC’s existence, the collected data has never shown the support for the first listed nomination of a category to be favorited simply for being the first listed. The moderators have kept a very close eye on this during the three years FC has been running. The voting poll never demands an answer for every single category, giving people the freedom to simply skip that category if they don’t want to vote.

But its easy to place them in alphabetical order on an excel sheet. We use Google Sheets, and this is possible, however, it would not do this unless we highlighted each category individually. This process would take more time, and leave less time for shifting through nominations.

Why not split up the nominations per moderator? Splitting the nominations by mods seems ideal, but is not realistic. The moderators each live a life outside of FC, as well as have their own creative endeavors. The moderators are not always 100% available for every part of FC’s current quarter, and other mods may need to pick up the slack.

I have a question that’s not listed.

Please feel free to send an ask or a direct message to one of our mods and we will get back to you as soon as possible! :)

Rules of Eligibility

                                                                  Fiction and Fanart published on any public or free site can be submitted for an award provided they meet all of the requirements of the nominations. These sites include but are not limited to Tumblr, Fanfiction.net, AO3, Deviantart, ect. If the validity of a site is uncertain, reach out to a moderator.

Multi-chapter fics must have been updated within the past 3 years of the nomination quarter. Fanart must have been created within the past 3 years of the nomination quarter. One-shots and drabbles must have been posted within the past 3 years of the nomination quarter.

If the work was posted onto several different locations, the earliest date and time stamp will be taken and checked against the quarter’s period of eligibility. Stamps posted within reviews can be used to date a work and/or its chapters. Also, authors and artists can be contacted to verify timeframes.

You cannot nominate yourself. Doing so will result in the nomination not being accepted and a warning from the award moderators.

You are only allowed to nominate one fic/fanart per category.

Each piece of Art or Fanfiction is allowed to be nominated into a maximum of two different categories per quarter. The nominations will be taken on a first come first serve basis, meaning that once a piece of Art or Fanfiction is nominated into two categories, it will not be allowed to be nominated into other categories, and each subsequent nomination will be rejected.

Each author/artist is allowed to be nominated twice per quarter. Meaning, an author/artist can only have a max of two of their creations be nominated per quarter. So be sure and pick your favorites carefully!

The work must be in compliance with the definition of the category into which it was nominated.

Both adult and non-adult artwork are acceptable for nominations; however, any adult artwork showing explicit sexual nature will only be allowed to be nominated into the NSFW categories.

Pieces of artwork or fanfiction that depicts an underage character romantically involved with an older adult, as well as any incestual relationships, will not be accepted as a nomination.

Categories

                                                                     *Please keep in mind that these are subject to change pending participation and suggestions.

There are 36 categories in all - 18 for Fanfiction and 18 for Fanart. Please adhere to each categories’ definition when nominating. If a nomination does not fit within the definition, it will be disqualified.

There is a “Roulette” category for Fanfiction that will change each quarter.

Fanfiction Categories

Best Action/Adventure Fiction

Action: “actual engagement in fighting an enemy; military or naval combat” Adventure: “participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises.”

Does it make you sit on the edge of your seat? Do the characters battle adversity on a daily basis? Have the characters embarked on an epic quest?

Best Alternate Universe/Reality Fiction

Anything that walks outside Takahashi’s vision. Anything that moves the characters outside of Takahashi’s setting within the original Feudal Era Japan or Modern Day Japan is AU/AR. Anything that changes the main characters beyond the basic core attributes Takahashi granted them. Anything that includes a separate world and series of events.

Best Canon Universe Fiction

“The works of an author that have been accepted as authentic.”

If the story is set in Takahashi’s universe (Modern Japan or Feudal Japan) and keeps the character origins, events, and motivations for character development that she created, then it is canon. This also includes anything that walks outside of Takahashi’s original vision, but incorporates some key defining moments from the original canon universe. Anything that starts in the World created by Takahashi and is taken to a different outcome. This also includes anything that takes place Post-Manga/Post-Anime.

Best Angst Fiction

“Any situation or series of events having/giving a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish. An acute but nonspecific sense of anxiety or remorse.”

Stories that delve into the lives of the characters and pit them against odds that create angst. Typically plays off of dramatic characteristics that focuses heavily on making the reader anxious, worried, or feeling a sense of dread for the coming story.

Best Dark Fiction

Anything that brings the reader into a world of pain and suffering through abuse of the characters at the hands of the antagonist or internal strife. If it includes graphic rape, murder, abuse (mental or emotional), a character that is suicidal or possessed of depressing thoughts/outlook on life that colors the majority of the story in glum tones it can be considered a dark!fic. Can also be aimed to cause an overwhelming and painful feeling due to something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; fear. Aimed to frighten or ‘gross out’ the reader.

Best Drama Fiction

“Any situation or series of events having vivid, emotional, conflicting, or striking interest or results.”

Stories that delve into the lives of the characters and take the readers with them on a journey through the gambit of emotive expression. Typically defined as using characters to tell a story involving conflicts and emotions with or without resolution. Usually has a lot of different conflicts and are incredibly plot-driven. Also includes emotionally-driven stories that typically portray real-life situations.

Best Humor/Parody Fiction

Did it make you laugh? Did it deliberately spoof the anime/manga?

Best NSFW Fiction

Sexual content/smut with plot. Both oneshots and specific chapters from multi-chapter fics are accepted in this category. Must include content depicting an act of the sexual nature; i.e,. sex, masturbation, heavy petting/touching, ect.

Best Oneshot Fiction

Any fiction that spans the length of one chapter and specifically deemed a “oneshot” by the author.  

Best Character Portrayal

Did the author create an in-depth characterization that, while it may diverge from Takahashi’s vision for them, managed to attract the reader?

*Nomination must include the specific character*

Best InuKag Romance Fiction

“Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love”

Stories that have developed a believable romance between Inuyasha and Kagome. “Believable” is subjective, and it is up to those nominating/voting to draw their own line on that quantifier and vote their “Best.” This includes canon universe and AU/AR settings.

Best SessKag Romance Fiction

“Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love”

Stories that have developed a believable romance between Sesshomaru and Kagome. “Believable” is subjective, and it is up to those nominating/voting to draw their own line on that quantifier and vote their “Best.” This includes canon universe and AU/AR settings.

Best Romance Fiction

“Ardent emotional attachment or involvement between people; love”

Stories that have developed a believable romance between two or more Inuyasha characters, excluding InuKag and SessKag. “Believable” is subjective, and it is up to those nominating/voting to draw their own line on that quantifier and vote their “Best.” This includes canon universe and AU/AR settings. If there is a Best LGBTQ+ Romance category, this category will only accept heterosexual pairings.

Best Fluff Fiction

Stories that generally have a positive plot and happy ending. These stories focus on cheerful themes and “feel good” moments. Includes a happy sequence of events between characters who have a strong, sometimes romantic, bond.

Best Serial Fiction

A collection of drabbles or oneshots or a combination of both that makes up one larger story; part of the same universe or encompasses the same theme.

Best Ficlet

For drabbles and poetry - of any genre or pairing - consisting of 1,000 words or less.

Best Mental Illness/Disability Depiction

Stories that accurately depict, and explore, some sort of mental or physical disability or struggle.

Best Completed Fiction

A story with multiple chapters that will no longer be updated and should be listed as ‘complete.’

                                                                  Fanart Categories

Best Action/Adventure Artwork

Any fanart depicting adventures, engagement in fighting an enemy, or battles.

Best Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Artwork

Any fanart depicting the characters in an alternate reality or universe setting.

Best Canon Artwork

Any art featuring the characters in a canon universe setting.

Best Angst Artwork

Any art depicting a scene having/giving a feeling of dread, anxiety or anguish.

Best Dark Artwork

Any art that brings the viewer pain and suffering through the abuse of the characters either at the hands of the antagonist or internal strife. This can include murder, abuse (mental or emotional), a character possessing depressing thoughts/outlook on life that colors the piece in glum tones. Nominations in this category can also be aimed to cause painful emotions due to something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; fear. This is art that looks to frighten or ‘gross out’ the viewer.

Best Humor/Parody Artwork

Any artwork which evokes a feeling of amusement in the viewer.

Best Kiss Artwork

Fanart depiction of the best kiss between two romantic characters, or an endearing kiss between platonic characters.

Best Character Artwork

Any artwork that is a ‘still life’ of one or two characters. It may be bust only, bust and torso, or full body. The portrait should seem more ‘professional’ than a snapshot in its form and presentation, and should successfully convey a sense of the character’s canon personality to the viewer.

Best Duo/Pairing Artwork

Any art that features two characters be it a comic, doujinshi, painting, drawing, sketch, etc. If other characters are included in the picture it is only allowed as a background. The focus MUST be on the pairing. The art can reflect either a platonic relationship or a romantic relationship between the two characters.

Best Doujinshi Artwork

Fanbased and fan made manga based on Inuyasha; art and story combined in manga form.

Best Redraw Artwork

Any art that is a redraw of a scene from the Manga or Anime.

Best NSFW Artwork

Any artwork portraying the characters of Inuyasha engaged in a sex scene or a scene hinting at a sexual relationship. Can be one character, heterosexual pairings, or LGBTQ+ pairings.

Best InuKag Romance Artwork

Any romantic depiction of Inuyasha and Kagome.

Best SessKag Romance Artwork

Any romantic depiction of Sesshomaru and Kagome.

Best Romance Artwork

Any romantic depiction of two or more of the characters of Inuyasha (excluding InuKag and SessKag)

Best Group Depiction Artwork

This artwork must feature 3 or more of the Inuyasha cast to be eligible.

Best Fluff Artwork

Artwork depicting a positive and happy moment. Generally includes cheerful themes.

Best Overall Artwork

The quality, time, thought, and emotion that went into this piece is what would make it worthy of this nomination. Please take note: The general idea is not the “best of what’s nominated” or “best of show.” It is a category created specifically for art appreciation. That means that even if the characters are OOC, AU, or not drawn in anime style, etc., the ART itself is worthy of praise.

[misskattylashes]

One Man Band Track by Track Review

Right, so I have listened to the album twice. Miles wasn’t lying when he said it was banger after banger. But while the music is upbeat the lyrics are in places dark. Touching on self-doubt, insecurity and loneliness. For me OMB is the yin to CDG's yang. Both confessional (depending on your beliefs – both largely about the same person) but while CDG is an album of heartbreak, OMB is an album of hope. It seems Miles has found himself, and judging by the last track, he has someone who loves and understands him. And well, it all kinds of explains why he is so happy these days.

Troubled Son

This song could essentially be called I am approaching middle age and I am coming to terms with the person I am. Good and bad. Musically this track always reminds me of The Strokes.

Lyrically, despite beating himself up a bit, it is a song of hope. Once you face your own demons you can start to battle them.

This is the song that will get people singing at gigs. The lyrics are relatable to so many of us and it would be quite cathartic sharing the fact you’re a bit fucked up with several thousand people doing the same thing.

The Best is Yet To Come

Miles has admitted this is a song about being on the lash with his mates Big Lou and Romeo. Musically the driving rhythm and backing vocals are reminiscent at times of Queens of the Stone Age. Hard to explain, but this track is the most traditional Miles Kane and could have quite easily come from an earlier album.

One Man Band

Can I just start by saying there are not enough words to describe how much I love this song! Another song of self-reflection. I promise not to make too many comparisons to You Know Who, but as I have said before, the characterisation reminds me a lot of the character in Mr Schwartz. The performer who puts on the front to entertain people and make them happy, whilst hiding a lonely interior. But whilst Mr Schwartz is heart felt ballad. Miles being Miles. One Man Band sounds like sunshine.

Never Taking Me Alive

The most bonkers track on the album. Musically driven by surf guitar, lyrically an excuse for Miles to sing about his Italian American Heroes – De Niro, Pacino and Sinatra. This is a hype song. The sort of song you stick on on your way to a job interview, to pump you up.

Heartbreaks (The New Sensation)

Probably the weakest track, but still a banger. It evokes the image of a former girlfriend back in Miles’ mod day (retro boy trying to chase away time). With its Motown beat, this could have fitted easily into Change The Show. I mean it is a feel good banger, so to say it is the weakest shows how brilliant all the other tracks are.

The Wonder

Okay, anyone who follows me knows who I think The Wonder is about. So I won’t linger on that. In a nutshell, a song about realising a former lover and all the complications they bring is worth it, and this time you are going to put your fears aside and take a chance. The highlight for me are the rich backing vocals at the end, elevating it to almost gospel level.

Baggio

The happiest song in the world. I have analysed this before. In a nutshell, little Miles Kane is enthralled by Roberto Baggio and his flamboyance and realised its fine to be yourself. It is also a tale of hoping to reconnect with a lost love (cough cough)

Ransom

A mellow track about being afraid of falling in love because he is positive he is going to get heartbroken. However the object of his affections has hold of his cynical heart and he can’t afford the ransom, meaning he can’t escape them. A plea for them to be tender with him because he is trying to find a way. The final refrain being ‘cos I’d anything for you’. Whoever they are he loves them big time!

Doubles

I'm sorry but this is a Milex song. A happy upbeat song with Miles telling ‘the person’ that he is scared but he is missing his ‘Two player high’ but he will wait for this person. The middle eight lyrics ‘Never say never, never say never again, never say never I wanna know where it ends, I’m never in doubt when my heart starts to fall, there’s nothing in my life that I have wanted more, anymore’ ahhhh. This is also a sort of dancing in your bedroom alone song. Or maybe that’s just me.

Heal

This is the epic track of the album. With a heavy, rich musical arrangement, it is like the sequel to the Coup de Grace album. Where Miles was heartbroken, disillusioned with life in LA and at his lowest ebb. He acknowledges he needed time to heal to get to the place where he is now. Once again, gospel style backing vocals elevate the track to the next level. It is another song of hope. Facing up to the fact that we all have to endure the shit times in life to become the people we are.

Scared of love

A sweet acoustic ballad, where Miles opens his heart to his lover. Telling them he is sorry for holding back, but they sweetly tell him they understand because they know he is scared of love. Another song of hope. It would seem he has found love and whoever they are, they are there for him to help him fight his demons.

In no way does the last track inspire a fan fic in me.

Total score 5/5

[fereldanwench]

big pl spoilers (and strong opinions about shit) under the cut

so i just finished firestarter and oof, man

i really struggled trying to decide who valerie would go with, reed or songbird, and it was one of those situations where me and the OC deviated because i personally wanted to save songbird, but going with reed was the more in-character choice and ahhhhhhhHHHHHHH

i actually did initially go with songbird and reloaded because i was like nahhh, this isn't right for valerie. she doesn't trust songbird or reed, but songbird is too rogue for her. valerie is always more comfortable getting fucked over by powerful organizations than a single person, lmao

and fighting hansen was fuckin intense. so was the chimera early on, and i know there's some creepy ai spider thing or something coming up so i'll just say that this DLC really upped the ante when it comes to boss fights. smasher gonna be a punk ass after all of this, lmao

and i am still planning on doing the devil ending--i did spoil myself on the PL ending 'cause i wanted to know if goro made it in that, and i am somewhat intrigued by the premise of him being a full fugitive for two years but it's definitely not canon material for me.

in general im not really sure how or if PL events are gonna fit into valerie's timeline. i saw a lot of advice that PL is best played interspersed with the main game missions, but i personally did not find that to be true. it's tonally too at odds with everything else, IMO, and V already feels so spread out doing everyone else's errands that adding in this sort of mission just feels like too much.

i think cdpr kind of wrote themselves into a wall with v's fate in the base game because it basically demanded that the expansion had to take place before endgame events, but idk, it just doesn't really work for me. like as its own standalone story, I'm really enjoying it, but in the broader scope of v's life, it's just... too much.

i think if i do another full playthrough, i would actually save PL for the very end right, before meeting hanako at embers. it feels more like a super extreme, drastic last resort that really only works for me as one final attempt to save V's life before heading to mikoshi. it's just so jarring going from rescuing the president of NUSA from some big scary war machine thing to helping panam get her truck back

very much a ymmv situation, though, i'm sure, so don't take this as any attempt at an objective review or whatever.

also i can't believe im saying this because i felt the exact opposite when i first played the game two years ago, but i am so put off by fem V's voice-acting now. like i wanna find a silent protag mod or something because she just does not sound like valerie to me at all and it's low-key driving me nuts lmao

anyway, shower time and then making some tea and hopping back in

[prophbuilds]

MBF-P03D Gundam Astray Blue Frame D – A Review

Looking back over the kits I’ve built over the years, I think this is the longest one has been in some sort of active build without being some kind of over-the-top mod. Started in April of 2022 and finished in May of 2023. It’s not because of it being particularly hard or complicated. No… it's from something far less fun. My shoulder just isn’t what it used to be.

That said… this very pointy boy was one heck of a fun kit to make. = ) Here’s my review of the MG Astray Blue Frame D.

So… I Think it was either my birthday or the Christmas of 2019 that my friend gave this big ol' box. It was the fist time I've had in my possession a proper Master Grade kit. It was the MG Astray Blue Frame D – one of the few Blue Frame Astrays that Bandai like to release and the something that wasn’t just another Red Frame like they REALLY Like to release.

I’m a fan of the Astray line and a sucker for them Blue Frame so this was a very nice surprise for me. It took a while to finally get around to it but, a couple of days before my birthday in April of 2022, I decided to start in on it. I’ve built 1/100th sized kits before and I used to build model planes with my Dad back in the day so neither the size nor the amount of parts really threw me. No… it was my shoulder that got me.

I’d start working on the kit for a night and, by the time I had the arms or the torso built, my right shoulder (My drawing arm) would Burn like some kind of weird twist on a G Gundam special attack. Instead of it telling me to defeat folks, it would angrily tell me to stop. I’d pack things up in the box and park them on my scanner – a tool I need regularly to, you know… scan the artwork for my comic – and that's where it lived until I either needed my scanner or I felt up for working on it again.

‘Cause nothing keeps a kit on your mind like having to physically move a box of parts out of the way just about every week. = P

Smash cut to yesterday. I'd just finished up a recent Story Bit and I’m taking a break to do stuff like research things, practice drawing an old character in my Comic style and just trying to check things off my list. I also finally got my hands on the unobtaniaum that is the MGSD Freedom Gundam – a kit I swore I would start until I finished the Blue Frame. And that’s how we got here. So what can I say about this build… Well, MG’s are definitely a different beast from the HG’s and SD kits I’ve been building. It really has more in common with the older military kits I built with my Dad as a kid than the ones I’ve built as an adult. Everything is so nicely detailed that I’m almost tempted to go through this thing an paint it. Thanks to the excellent color separation on the parts that could have that done for them, I wouldn’t have to paint much.

The part that kills me a bit is there is So Much that’s hidden. There are inner frame details and on parts like on the inside of the armor that are pretty much just there for one person and one person only: The one putting the kit together. It's just a joy to make. = )

The flexibility is pretty great, too. Like my SDCS kits, it can balance on one foot without drooping or needing extra supports. In fact, the only time I could put this thing into a pose that it couldn’t handle was when I added the Striker Pack on the back. Even then, it was only a few non-standard poses. If I was hard up for it, it comes with a simple solid stand.

The Astray Blue Frame D is a Very pointy kit. Plenty of swords and stabby bits. It is one of those kits that kinda’ requires some extra touches. Aside form the traditional metallic camera and eye stickers (which don’t quite make sense 'cause the eyes and head camera are a lovely clear green), it comes with some nice and simple dry transfers and a sheet of mediocre stickers for if you want to go the MG-style warning stickers galore. Although I plan to come back and do some panel lining later, I’m probably going to avoid the stickers. The dry transfers look to be mostly for the weapons system and I have better water slide warnings than what it came with.

All in all, this was a fun build. If you dig the Astray kits and want something with more swords than the fanciest of Exias, I highly recommend it. It has the articulation you’d expect from a more modern Master Grade and a level of detail that is just fun to deal with. = )

[coddo621]

A Cyberpunk 2077 review

I went into this game not expecting much from what I've seen online. From glitches and downright game breaking bugs I was convinced that this would be just another AAA disaster. But after playing for some time I started seeing some improvement over the initial release.

The release of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners series also greatly influenced my decision to give this game a try. So here's some of my thoughts from my 200 hours in this masterpiece of a game.

Gameplay

The gameplay struck just the right chord for me when it comes to customization. By that I mean every bit of weapons, quality of life and character attributes is fully customizable. Everything from the implants, quickhacks, weapons and clothing can be changed however you choose to. I know it's a sort of requirement in most of the games today, but here it seemed like a need, a mechanic to learn rather than something that just exists to justify the overabundance of items and customizations. You can add modifications to your already customized body. These cyberware mods would make your already powerful cyberware implants even more powerful. You can also modify every single gun you find. Anything from increasing damage or completely removing weapon recoil can be applied to your guns. With all this offense you can also pair them up with your armor mods. These do anything from just increasing your defense stat to increasing the carrying capacity of your character which is also able to be changed using a range of implants. All this is expandable by using the crafting mechanic. It lets you upgrade your items, but in exchange it needs item components which can either be gathered throughout the game or by dismantling the items you don't need from your inventory. It also allows you to increase the rarities of certain items which greatly increases their stats.

The combat style and quickhack mechanics also made me appreciate the game even more. The most interesting and nuance part of the game for me would be the whole cyberware implants system. It really makes you think about the combos that you could use for the implants that were available both early and late game. From the "netrunner" to the "berserk" and "sandevistan" builds you really have a lot of options and routes you can take when making your character. For example, if you enjoy outsmarting the enemy and using their own advantages against them you should pick the "netrunner" builds for their ability to quickhack the enemy or the environment at the expense of some of your RAM. The RAM mechanic is also really interesting since it makes you think before you quickhack because you only have a limited number of it at any given time. If you're more of a hardcore shooter player, or just enjoy a good power fantasy every once in a while I'd recommend the "berserk" builds since they focus more on weapons than anything else. If you're more of a "jack of all trades" kind of person I'd recommend the "sandevistan" builds which let you stop time after a certain cooldown. All of these concepts play into a bigger role, which is the story of Cyberpunk 2077.

Story

The story of the main character is so similar to the story of David Martinez from the Edgerunners series to the point that a sidequest character downright acknowledges it. Our main character, ominously named V, returns to the infamous Night city in hopes of living a better life than where they lived before. They have one driving force, or dream if you will: becoming a living Night city legend. I won't be talking about the entire lore of the game in this review because it's something a person has to experience themselves to find it fully satisfying.

Pros:

Intriguing customization

Interesting combat and mechanics

Great story

Cons:

Expensive (around $60, $30 if on sale)

A bit buggy (sometimes very noticeable, sometimes not)

High graphics demand

Conclusion

In conclusion I'd recommend this game to everyone who can afford it and has a good enough PC to run such a demanding game. There'll be moments in this game when you're going to absolutely despise some parts of it, but inevitably at the end of your playthrough, or multiple playthroughs, you're going to be glad you gave it a try.

Here are some screenshots I took while playing the game.