#most of this is just lore building notes for myself though

[imelht]

This is a revamp for my metadede fankid, Equinox.

Equinox: Literally meaning “aequus” (equal) and “nox” (night). An equinox (the occurrence) is a date in which the day and night are of equal duration.

Birth Date: September 22 2022 at 9:03 P.M.

Under the read more is a recap of lore and some notes.

In regards to the image above I aimed to change from his earlier more “vulture-esque” look he had a year ago in order to make Equinox look a bit more like a direct mix of King Dedede and Meta Knight for lore purposes, so I took some time to do so.

Equinox shares King Dedede’s body type, but holds some of Meta Knight’s features. He is a dark blue color (like Meta Knight) with a yellow beak and feet (like Dedede). He has corrupted scars on his left hand and arm, signs of him being a dark magic wielder. He wears the same band and robe as King Dedede does (minus the insignia and white fluffy parts on the robe) and has the same purple wings as Meta Knight does but simplified (these do not turn into a cape). His sclera are light blue but his pupils are yellow and glow like Meta Knight’s. Equinox has two fangs that poke from out of his beak as indication of his partly vampiric nature.

To recap on lore, Equinox was born of Meta Knight’s cell manipulation powers (dark magic), thus resulting in Equinox being of both mortal blood and vampire blood (a special breed called a dhampir).

As far as his capabilities go, he possesses both dark magic, black magic and blood magic like Meta Knight (vampire side) and possesses the raw strength and prowess of King Dedede (mortal side) making him a formidable fighter.

Equinox is also very intelligent. He is able to absorb new information regarding the world around him like a sponge. (This plays somewhat on the belief that dhampirs were sponge-like beings (with no bones.))

Equinox, as far as personality goes is rather benevolent considering his capabilities. He prefers to indulge himself with the intake of new knowledge as a highly curious being rather than devoting his attention to combat. He likes to read, eat, and venture around Dreamland to pass time.

Despite being a curious being, Equinox has yet to discover the truth behind his nature as a dhampir. King Dedede and Meta Knight know they cannot keep it a secret forever, especially from the rest of Dreamland’s inhabitants, who are curious as to where Equinox came from. Equinox’s whole existence is shrouded behind a dark veil of desperate lies formed by the pair themselves for the sake of their relationship and Equinox’s well being.

[emilija04acer]

Jayvik fics list (pt2)

Older fics that are longer and were written before season 2. Many are a mixture of Arcane and LoL lore.

Byproduct of a Gifted Mind by argonautoida is the first part of the series Viktor Quartet. Jayvik starts in the second and third parts.

Viktor works for Silco in this AU.

I re-read this series a lot...

I will stay so the lantern in your heart won't fade by OrangeChickenPillow

“Come on,” was all Jayce said. “I’m taking you home.” Viktor shook his head, eyes widening slightly. After a moment of trying to organize his racing thoughts, he looked down and said, “I am not sure being alone would be the most responsible thing for me at the moment.” “Alright, well… No problem, then.” The other man looked up, confused. It still sounded very much like a problem. The sentiment must have been clear on his face because Jayce quickly explained. “Viktor, I am officially inviting myself to sleep over.” If Viktor had ever imagined getting Jayce into his bed, it would not have been like this.

doctrine by aevallare

"They're going to destroy us," Jayce says. "They're people, Jayce. If one thing in my life had gone differently, I'd still be down there myself." Jayce won't meet his eyes. viktor finances ekko and the firelights. this is not a conflict of interest until it is.

All of their Jayvik fics are lovely and I recommend them.

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Adopting Jinx>

AU is basicly a rewrite of the whole season 1.

Whatever It Takes by cryptiddentalstudent

Viktor, Jayce, and Mel raise an extremely volatile Jinx AU When Vi sees Silco standing over Powder she manages to break free from Marcus and get back to her sister. The two are captured by Silco– Vi becoming his right hand and de facto leader of the lanes- and Powder being sent away to Stillwater Hold as a hostage. But Powder is done being a jinx to the people she loves. Instead, she’ll use her bad luck to foil every plan Silco has for her. The first step? Get out of the prison cell. The second? To figure out how to get the two well meaning scientist who have taken her in to let her close enough to their research to build a bomb.

This is my favorite story of this AU. I love their dynamic in the first part of this series. Jayce and Viktor aren't together (yet) but Jinx thought they were.

Bombs and Secrets Both Blow Up by TheBardITP

Showing that hextech worked, and the subsequent debate with the Council, was exhausting. More than that, it wore out Viktor's lungs, meaning that he needed to get himself some medicine from the undercity. Unfortunately, witnessing a hextech blue explosion means his plans for the future irrevocably change. Two hextech partners become three hextech partners, as Powder latches onto Viktor instead of Silco. But Silco didn't make Jinx -Vi did. It's already too late for Powder, and Jinx will take her pain out on Piltover, the undercity, and anyone else she wants to. She has friends, though, and family -people who care for her. In time, it may be enough to heal her . . . at least a little. There will be a happy ending to the sad story of sisters and sister cities. Note: The main story is chapters 1-75. Everything after is fluff for the characters, who very much deserve it!

We’ll Paint The Wolf In Gold by AbiCats16

,'And as those wide eyes pierced her soul, Mel considered if she should just let it alone. She was not so brimming with love, and this child clearly needed more than she could give. She really oughtn't to bring herself trouble. This was not her forte, not her place, not within the boundaries of the comfort zone she had built around herself since her exile. She had no maternal instincts, and for a dreaded moment she reconsidered whether she should just turn the girl in and be done with it. And then the child leapt forth and latched onto her waist, knocking her to the ground. Well.' In which Mel takes in Powder at the end of Act 1.

The Scientist's Daughter by onegraycat

“You sound nervous, Viktor. Is something –” Then he caught sight of the small hand clutching the side of Viktor’s vest. Jayce’s words stuck in his throat as a face peeped out from behind the scientist, a young girl with startlingly blue hair looking up at him with fear. “Um – who’s this?” . . . years later . . . “Just this once,” Jinx whispered, “Can’t I prove that I can help my family instead of watching them die?" On the night Jinx loses her family, Viktor finds her and takes her in as his apprentice on the Hextech team. But when he falls ill, the lengths she’ll go to save him might just drive her mad…

A Scientific Guide to Parenting Your Spontaneously Adopted, Traumatized Child by Noir_Kabuki

On the fateful night that her monkey bomb finally works, Powder is swept up by a team of enforcers investigating the explosion and taken to Piltover, where she lands directly in the clutches of... two loving dads. Now Jayce and Viktor, in addition to spearheading the Hextech revolution and building their own relationship, have to figure out how to best take care of this belligerent, prodigious, and (often literally) bombastic little girl. Does chaos ensue? Yes. Would any of them change a thing? No they would not.

Collaberation of Loners by EndlessRose

A scenario where enforcers found Powder before Silco got to her. Now Jayce and Viktor are forced to appeal for their hextech dream and keep the very thief that started everything from being sent to prison.

pt 2 An Undoing by EndlessRose

A series of short stories with Powder living under the guardianship of the creators of Hextech. Will there be chaos? Of course there will be. A continuation of Collaboration of Loners

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Divorce Era (LoL + Arcane)>>>

What Shall I Do With This Body They Gave Me? by Thinwhitedutchess

After the explosion, the majority of the council are left dead. Viktor nearly joins them, but Jayce doesn't let him die. Now, a month after Viktor leaves Piltover, Jayce is summoned to the bridge. But the man he meets there is different than the one who left him. The war is just beginning.

My Dear Adversary by Ts_Stuff

Jayce scanned The Herald’s mask as if he could read into its unchanging features. “You really think we can set all of it aside?” Viktor came close to him again and offered out his right hand, “I have sacrificed my humanity for the bigger picture, Defender. This is nothing compared to that.” - With Shimmer rampant, and his The Council in corrupt waters, Jayce travels to the Undercity to get to the bottom of Shimmer production to expose his colleagues. Coincidentally, his long-time adversary, Viktor, is also looking to end the Shimmer Crisis for the sake of Zaun’s health. Normally, Jayce wouldn’t trust an enemy, but he has no funds or allies in his research. He could only hope he wasn’t making a mistake.

Broken beyond repair by Beweme

Jayce finds himself stuck underground with Viktor, and after deciding to make a truce until they get out, he realizes just how much he misses his old friend.

grieving (all that i gave up) by MaryaDmitrievnaLikesSundays

Jayce makes a list in his mind of what he knows for certain: Fact one: the building fell. Fact two: despite being inside, he hasn’t been flattened into a meaty pulp. Fact three: the Machine Herald, who could have used his inhuman speed to escape into the night, instead moved at the speed of light to stand over Jayce, back bowed, hands up against the concrete threatening to crush him, one knee digging into the floor to hold the weight of the building. Conclusion: ”You saved me,” Jayce whispers. —— Or, when the Defender of Tomorrow sets out to face off once again with the Machine Herald, he never imagines that he’ll end up stuck beneath the rubble with nothing but the Herald and their history.

Amaranthine Wins by chowderpuff

Lost in the streets of Zaun with a skinned knee, Amaranthine meets a man by the name of Viktor. He takes her in, patches her up, and gives her a bit of kind advice. He seems sort of lonely, though. If only he would agree to meet her dad (of sorts).

Divorced dads pretend not to care about each other.

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Explicit (one poly)>>>

HAMMER TO FALL by Caspercryptid (FaiaHae), theneonpineapple

Viktor and Jayce are roommates, old friends, and lab partners. They both have just one little secret from the other, which would be fine, if it weren't the same secret. Only on different sides of an incredibly deep divide between two cities.

This is a Super Hero\Super Villain AU... A love square, technically. When you don't know the identity of your arch-enemy, it kinda happens.

Guys, is it gay to have an arch-enemy?

Here is your answer >

breathe with me by Sinister_Queer

When the Machine Herald, gravely wounded, requests Jayce's help in repairing his augmented body - who is Jayce to deny his old friend? (AKA: The Inherent Homo-Eroticism of Holding Your Ex-Husbands Lungs In Your Hands)

Anywhere Away From Here by Laugh_at_the_girl_who_loves_too_easily

Viktor is forced to go to a Gala by Jayce and a night to remember ensues. Being invited to a Gala ran by the Kiramman's, or a gala ever, was not an occurrence Viktor saw happening in his lifetime. And yet here Viktor was. He was surrounded by Piltovians who didn't even know of his existence–like he expected–let alone his name, which occasionally frustrated the Zaunite, but for now he just wanted the event to end quickly. He hoped to fade into the background. Come tomorrow, Viktor would throttle Jayce for causing him to have to endure this... torture. He was certain Jayce was enjoying his pain right now, if he knew where the big oaf was.

2X8 Viktor behavior (in 22)

Someone Worth Sharing by fenfyre (Jace)

Viktor had known this day would come. Had known it since he noticed the way Mel looked at Jayce. What he had not seen coming though was how this day would end.

Mel invites Viktor to join them in Jayce's bedroom. There is powerplay, and it's long.

He who makes a beast of himself by MGCraig, SirCumference

'Maybe this is normal. Maybe most people who are dying of slow decay start feeling mysterious pains in the last months of their lives. Maybe he should just take up smoking shimmer and call it a life. Or, perhaps this has something to do with his… “experiment.” Maybe Viktor somehow did this to himself.' Viktor turns into a horrible creature. Jayce is kind of into it.

I'm sure some will be into this. Vik is the top in this one.

The Pulse of the Machine by BringtheKaos

The Machine Herald is captured by Piltover after a failed attack on the bridge, and he is mortally wounded in the process. Jayce must risk everything to save him and repair the damage done, racing against the clock as Piltover hunts him down for treason, but the history between them complicates things. Despite his claims that his actions are no longer dictated by emotion, Viktor is still harboring anger and hatred for his exile in the wake of Jinx's attack, and blames Jayce for what happened. But despite it all, they still care about each other (in their own violent, traumatized ways) and as time runs out, necessity forces them to face the past—and each other—if they want to get out of this unscathed.

wound care by weatheredlaw for Sinister_Queer

"No, you don't get to know," Jayce snaps. "You forfeited that right when you had your lawyer serve me with our fucking divorce papers in the emergency room!" or: jayce and viktor are two brilliant surgeons at piltover general. when a tough patient brings them closer together, old troubles make themselves known.

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Part 3 is on the way

[star-fandoms]

LADS REDESIGNS!! + notes

Note: These are solely for fun, nothing wrong with the original designs and I still plan on drawing their original designs!

I used the Linkon Chibi Report cover because I couldn't be bothered to actually draw them all, my bad LMAO Here's the link to the Love and Deepspace twitter where I got it: https://x.com/Love_Deepspace

THE ART IS NOT MINE, JUST THE REDESIGNS!!(Which even then were highly inspired by the new Valentines cards!)

XAVIER

(His hair is 100% inspired by his "Deluded Fiction card.)

Uh but yeah, as for WHY I decided to go with this design, it has a bit to do with his lore. Please correct me if I get anything wrong, I'm not super aware of everything lore related(Esp not with Xavi's, too focused on Zayne and Caleb :,< )

But Xavier has been traveling for a while, and I think over time he would stop really caring about his appearance, more focused on defeating wanderers and trying to protect the mc.

I also feel like he'd eventually cut his hair again and brush it! So his longer hair is more so an early game thing lol

I also just love the idea of chronic bed head Xavier. Like I imagine his to be a still sleeper, but I think it'd be funny that no matter how still he sleeps, his hair just gets messy again LOL

I just felt like eyebags fit Xavier a lot. I also gave him a mole! I thought his face felt empty without a mole and for some reason I just keep thinking he has one and then I look at him and I'm shocked he doesn't have one LOL But I also think the whole "Your moles are where your lover kissed you most in your past life" soulmate thingy. I think it'd be cute if Daye(one of my mc's. But I think it'd be cute to see moles on where other's mc's kiss Xavier the most!) was a cheek kisser in every timeline.

I think it's like...pretty impossible for Xavier NOT to have a single scar, no matter how good he is right now. I honestly feel that way about most the men(Other then Zayne since he has scars) but like Xavi's a hunter and ur telling me I can't find a single scar on his body?? So I gave him one on his jaw and one on the corner of his mouth! There's multiple more scattered around his body as well!

Speaking of his body, I think he'd have a sleeper build LOL!! Just for those who don't know, a sleeper build is when someone doesn't look strong and doesn't have obvious muscle, but they're strong and the muscle is hidden. I mainly chose this cause of the name LOL

I also gave him heterochromia, I just thought it would look nice LOL

RAFAYEL

I made the tips of his fingers blue, I did think about red and I might try that honestly, but it's because he's a Lemurian. I wanted something kinda subtle to show that(Its not that subtle with Raf though since he's an artist and uses his hands LOL)

I did also give him longer hair and I wanted to keep it fluffy! I might also mess around with a bit more wavy hair! I also made one of his little side bangs just a bit longer for some asymmetry, I wanted to add hair clips but decided against actually drawing it in the end!

I also added a teal streak to his hair. I already like Raf's design so I wasn't really sure what to change, so this just seemed a little fun. I think its like a little artistic streak.

Raf does NOT have muscles, don't even play with me. No matter what the game shows, Raf will always be a little stick that I can pick up.

I also think that Raf might have a few tattoos! Not too many, I think he'd cry getting every tattoo cause it all hurts him. But I also think he would like to see his own body as kind of a canvas(This is also something that I do to myself and others. I love painting on myself and other people) That said I think after a while Raf probably decided against getting anymore tattoos and just doodles and paints on his body, he also likes that he gets to change it up more.

ZAYNE

okay...I prommy I wasn't going to originally give Zayne longer hair. I think the short and clean look suits Zayne and his personality well. But also...I think it's really fun to kind of imagine liking having long hair(A little throwback to "Master of Fate")

Anyways, Zayne with some of his hair tied back is WOOOOO MAMA!! I do wanna play around with a little ponytail too, which is what I think he'd actually do while performing surgeries.

I did give him eyebags as well. Bro works super late sometimes and struggles with nightmares and insomnia, yeah he has eyebags.

I didn't change too much about Zayne honestly. I was thinking about adding glasses permanently but also decided against that. Though I do really like Zayne in glasses so I wanna draw him in them more, I just also hate drawing glasses.

SYLUS

okay...most notably, Sylus has the longest hair! I don't know why but for some reason I always remembered his dragon form having long hair, which it literally doesn't. Anyways, long fluffy mullet Sylus supremacy idk. LOL

^ his hair also has a bit of a red gradient. I didn't want it to be too obvious, but his hair felt a little lacking without it!

Also I gave his arms a dark red gradient, I also think he'd have claws I just didn't draw them. These are also because...half dragon. I know they aren't the hands he had as a dragon, but I wanted them to be more human.

It's so subtle, but I gave him fangs.

I didn't even think about it but I might mess around with slightly pointed ears. a more subtle touch to show he's not human.

I did also think about giving him little horns and wings, but decided against that. I also decided again red streaks on his hair and landed on the gradient instead.

CALEB

Caleb is one of them I'm STICKING with long hair for. He looks so good with a mullet I feel like I belong in a psyche ward.

I gave him little white streaks in his hair, It's supposed to be heat damage but aesthetic from the ✨explosion✨ once again, not really meant to be realistic at all.

Its also so subtle, but I traced one of his pupils with red because I think it'd be even more tragic is Caleb had lost an eye and it got replaced with a mechanic one, like his arm. I think it'd be useful for scanning people and recording their actions too. And I think it'd also be tragic if his vision was warped from this eye, like it doesn't really view properly. I'd have to draw out what I mean eventually cause I don't think I'm making any sense.

i didn't do it but god, him having a little slit in his brow would be so good too, with like a little scar there.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my silly little redesigns! Once again the art I edited belongs to Love and Deepspace!

[gatheredfates]

Hi everyone! It's been a hot minute since I did a Compendium update, but I promise I'm not dead. For those who don't know, I got a new job! That meant pretty much the entirety of October was spent wrapping up my old job, going to my new site and trying to learn the new one. I'm on break in approximately two weeks, yay! ☃️

These updates will take on a wintery/Starlight theme to celebrate the season, much like All Saints. I hope you enjoy.

Additionally, myself and the lovely folks at SEAFLOOR are having a Catch up (for) Starlight Challenge! You should join us if you're interested. ❄️

However, without further the following communities have been added to Sea's Community Compendium for XIV Creatives.

LARGE SCALE

The Help Lines—We are a community-based discord to be used to play the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV. We host almost all content including DRS and BA, Raiding, Deep Dungeons, Blue Mage and more. Our mission is to create a welcoming space for any individual in need of assistance to reach out and accomplish their FFXIV goals in a toxicity-free environment.

The Aether Entertainer—Founded in 2021 on Aether, The Aether Entertainer is player-made virtual magazine covering music, theatre, art, current events, and Eorzean popular culture.

LORE

Final Flowery XIV—Compiled by ann0yance(bsky)/@sa8oteur, this guide explores the various flowers in XIV, comparing them to their real-world equivalents and meanings.

On Elementals, Accountability and Criticism—An essay written by @morgana96 that explores the lore of elementals and their place in Gridania (and beyond)!

MISC

Vanilla Gpose Tips by Winterdeepelegy—A how-to guide on effectively utilising the vanilla gpose tools to create visually stunning screenshots, written by @winterdeepelegy.

WoL Reference Sheet—Created by @coldshrugs, a handy WoL reference sheet you can build in Canva!

NA GPOSE Studio/Themed Housing Directory—A player-made repository of North American Gpose studios and themed houses!

CHANGELOG

The Scholar's of Nym—The link has been modified at the request of the owner.

Skystone Co.—Has been removed at the request of its owner.

UI Macro Menus—The link has been modified to accurately reflect the bookmark.

Have you thought about joining our Tumblr Community? You can find it here!

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here or send me an ask with the relevant information!

Is my space suitable for the Compendium? Most of the time, yes! Below the read more is some more information/stipulations. This is all publicly available on the document. 🦌

Below are the following things I do not accept on the Compendium:

Personal/Single-Character LFC ads. (Though these get posted to the SEAFLOOR Tumblr Community when I find them!)

Content intended for or can be used for bullying, harassment and OOC gossip. E.g. ‘Secrets’ blogs, receipts, callout posts, etc. This does not include IC tabloid blogs or other ventures used to generate roleplay.

Communities that do not have an RP/writing element (large-scale exempt).

Anything I find personally distasteful or goes against the spirit of this project.

Common-sense rule applies.

I want to put my community on the Compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my Community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community/resource on the Compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it. The same goes for resources; if it's relevant to the game, it'll be useful to someone.

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, contact me asap!

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[synnthamonsugar]

Synnth’s Fic Rec Friday ….......... #3!

Inspired by the fic rec listed started by @a-driftamongopenstars and the Friday fic rec series by @flowers-of-io. I thought I would throw my hat into the ring with my own weekly(ish) whenever I feel like it series. (Tag: Synnth Recs)

Newness of Breath

By @scribonia-art

Read on AO3

Fandom: Destiny | Rating: General | Characters: Original Hive Lightbearer & Original Hive Ghost | Word count: 4,043 | Warnings: No archive warnings (see chapter notes for additional CWs)

A Hive Wizard awakes from the thoughtless sleep that had been death and she experiences the world for the first time. A Ghost is panicking because she had not been expecting an idle experiment to work.

If you've followed this series so far, you know I love Destiny fanfic that engages with the conventions of Destiny storytelling — most notably the venerable lore book, backbone of Destiny narrative, unparalleled for its ability to establish wide swaths of world-building, poignant character pieces, and memorable standalone works of fiction in short-form.

Newness of Breath leans into the style of Destiny grimoire to brilliant effect, delivering an unforgettable study of the Hive Lightbearer, Melammu, in around 4k words and 8 chapters.

There is sun on my skin. Dappled by thin scrub and short trees that grow on a rocky brown crag above me. Smears of white against the incredible blueness of the sky and the hot white orb that stings my eyes but delivers such sweet warmth that soaks down into my flesh. I close my eyes and turn my face to the sun. I feel its embrace.  If this is what Being is like, I am glad to Be. 

I'm a sucker for newly-revived Lightbearer stories. As someone who enjoys the narrative arc of the bildungsroman, but cannot stand any of that teenage angst stuff, Guardians, as a concept, are tailor-made for me. Imagine: An adult who has to figure out their identity and place in the world ... and they have an enigmatic little companion and cool powers. It's perfect.

I love the way this fic handles being newly born into a strange new life, the way it delivers the perspective character's inner monologue and the physicality of existence. Even something as simple as breathing or enjoying the sunshine is elevated from Melammu's point of view.

"I can't believe I just did that," says the thing as it frets above me, spinning in its many smooth chitin parts around its little core of silver and luminosity. It darts to and fro as if the motion would help it find its answer. I watch it from my rocky perch, blissful in the sun's warmth, claws folded together in my lap as I wait for it to speak to me. With no teeth or tongue I wonder how it speaks at all, but maybe its words are also new things like sparks struck from between unseen ineffable objects.

But the story of a new Lightbearer is never only that. The Ghost is always the second half, or should be. The terrified surprise felt by Ghost as their decision to revive a hive wizard settles in, pit against the curious naïveté of their ward makes for a fascinating dynamic.

"... what if I don't defend myself?" "They'll just kill you anyway." I look down at my claws and the Ghost cradled in them.  "Oh."

Loss of innocence as the main character comes to terms with the reality of their station is a staple of every "coming of age" story and this one is no different. I love how this fic grapples with the injustice faced by hive lightbearers, who, as with any other, are born with no inherent agendas or loyalties, and casts a spotlight on the hypocrisy of those who judge Guardians by their pre-Light lives.

Still, Melammu and Ghost care for each other, despite their strange and frightening circumstances and the acknowledgement that a mistake was made. I love the tenderness and compassion with which they treat each other, despite - or because of - their hardships.

We move at night. Fewer of my estranged cousins-in-the-Light are present in the darkness and, though the crisp moonlight shines brightly on the white of my frilled carapace, it is harder to see us.

The proceeding chapters are vivid and heartwrenching, and build to an emotional culmination that I dare not reveal here because it should only be experienced firsthand. (This is your cue to go read it now.)

Destiny is very much a story about devotion, duty and sacrifice, played out on cosmic scale but also in the interpersonal relationship between every Guardian-Ghost pair, and this story is exemplary of that most tender and bittersweet dynamic. As well as larger questions of what it means to exist, the meaning of life, and what to do with the life one is given.

Final rating: Will be thinking about this one forever/10

[falmerbrook]

Murkmire thoughts!

What a grand ol' time! A good old fashion treasure hunt! Twas fun!

The environment of Murkmire was very well done! Very atmospheric and pretty and felt like an actually marshy/swampy area. The edges of the zone felt natural as well. The ambient sounds and music were great to set the mood too.

I was pretty blown away by the interiors too! Almost every interior was just gorgeous. They had such beautiful lighting and ambience and such perfect vistas/views upon entering them. I think this is the first part of the game where I have repeatedly been blown away by the interiors and taken screenshots of caves and temples and stuff. I hadn't even considered their visual design that much before now, but I really appreciate these kinds of touches.

The characters were fun and interesting! Not the most stand out characters ever, but they all had their own little contained arcs (an underrated thing in this game...) and were genuinely likeable. I liked them a lot!

The main storyline was fun too. A fun little mystery with some predictable turns, but predictable in a way that I didn't know where it was going right away but rather as hints started being dropped, so the kind of twists that make me feel clever (lol). The story didn't overstay its welcome and the stakes weren't world ending, but were still engaging.

The Argonian/Saxhleel cultural development was very cool too. I always appreciate cultural lore, and I thought they were handled better than what I have already seen in the base game. (lots of references to argonian sex, but I'm not complaining. they should tap into that kind of "world-building" more often if you ask me). They were given a lot of unique and thoughtful worldbuilding that ESO has spared for most of the other races so far.

On that note, there were themes in this one (well, one, but still)! A theme that the main quest built up to! That was fun. And personally, i found the theme of accepting change to be one that was presented in a pretty thought-provoking way (but tes standard, let me be clear. the bar is low). It was a good was of really hammering home that part of Saxhleel culture.

Rapid fire round

One random thing I've noticed: this DLC has started a trend of new NPC dialogue animations that I've noticed in other new content (e.g. festivals) that I'm not a fan of. This is such a minor thing but there a few animations that just don't fit and look poorly motion-captured to me and I find them a little distracting. There aren't a lot in this DLC, but I'm bracing myself for more to come. I actually like the base game animation style for the dialogue.

The nagas looked cool (and their scales very pretty) and I appreciated the inclusion of different looking argonians. We should be able to make one during character creation imo. The way their teeth were sat in their mouth drove me a little nuts though

I've noticed as I make my way through the DLCs that there is a trend of less enemies in the overland by area, which I am extremely thankful for because in the base game you couldn't walk 3 feet without being attacked by something.

The dialogue for the argonians was better overall here than in the base game. I'm too tired/lazy to go into it now but the way the argonians in the base game were written felt too noble savage-y in my opinion (that might just be me though idk)

Famia was so cute I loved her

I liked the Bright Throat quest. Quests that make me go "what the fuck?" my beloved

HELLO??? WHAT IS THIS?????????

Anyway, that is all! I think the Elsweyr Chapter is up next and I have heard many good things about that one, so I'm looking forward to it!

[vinnystarman]

EDDSWORLD LORE ANALYSIS BUT I'M ABSOLUTELY DERANGED!!!!

"Wait this thing has LORE????" Yes!!! IT HAS LORE

I just rewatched eddsworld for the 2334idfk443th time in a row and realized I haven't seen (not that there isn't I just haven't seen) people talking about the fact that the series seems to have a really weird (and quite frankly fragile) canon, this goes to some minor details like differences between the stages of the series (retro, classical, legacy and beyond) and other stuff like how I think we actually kind of know what in the actuall hell was Tord even doing in those 8 years between his original departure and the end in eddsworld legacy BUT I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF before we start I want to make some points clear for the sake of clarity:

☆ I will be talking about the series and it's characters specifically in the context of the series, for example: I know why Tord the irl person left the series but I would be speaking only about Tord's (the character) departure, the same goes to any other irl event that had an impact on the series

☆ keep in mind this is only what I think (even though I think i'm absolutely right about everything) so if you disagree in any of my points that's absolutely fine!

☆ I will be speculating about future stuff so take all of those bits with a grain of salt because i'm a great observer but (unfortunatelly) not god so I can't acurrately see the future lolz

so…. how do we start?

well… we could start strong by one of the most interesting points I thought about!

as ridiculous as it sounds, i'm pretty convinced that Tom always knew about Tord's laboratory! and I have proof of it actually

one of the most solid proof I have appears in the episode "The Snogre" to be fair, that episode is gonna come up A LOT in this so you might want to re watch it first :3

in the minute 1:57 Tom apears with a "snow tank" that he uses to defeat the snogre, later, him and Edd have this exchange:

How'd you build that snow tank so fast?

Snow tank? (the snow falls off the ACTUALL TANK TOM CASUALLY IS OPERATING???)

this tank has the (i don't know how to call it so let's just say) serial number "CDT-01" which at the time was a nice little nudge to "moving targets" since it's the same tank the guys use in that episode but in this post "The end" world it should be noted that the "CDT-01" tank also appears in the minute 3:25 meaning up to that point the only way to access the tank was getting into Tord's laboratory and figure out what to press to get it (This tank might also be the one portrayed in movie makers but it's most likely that they are the same tank since they have the same serial number and in moving targets, this tank is stolen from Paul in that same episode AND THIS IS RELATED TO SOMETHING ELSE THAT I'M GONNA SAY HERE SO IT'S NOT A PLOT HOLE OK? BARE WITH ME)

the second one is that the lab was in Tom's room aka Tord's old room, this is the primary reason why Tord came back anyways, to get back to his laboratory (OR IS IT)

This is what I think happened:

Tom found a really suspicious button behind two frames (or one) maybe when he was moving his stuff into it and painting the walls (I highly doubt Tord had blue walls on his room), made a little mess trying to figure out what the actual fuck was going on, realized what it was and decided not to tell the guys because well… as we can see they LOVE pressing buttons and Tom knew it was gonna end up in catastrophe and shut his mouth because of that

that aside of ourselves, my second point:

The real reason why Tord was so hostile to Tom in the end wasn't (or at least not exclusively) because of his rivarly with him but more so because Tord wanted to capture monster Tom!

what do I mean by this? well to understand my point we need to understand how (i think) Tord and his army were operating at that time:

The red army as a whole has only been described once at this point in time and it was in the episode "Fun Dead" in the second 0:08 by the news lady as "Armed vigilantes" that were controlling the Zombie situation (that they [even though accidentally] caused) this meaning that as for now they aren't seen as a threat, on the contrary! They were helping the population! and maybe i'm giving Tord too much credit for this but I bet THAT (beeing seen as vigilantes and not some terrorist group) was intentional, you see, Tord is smart and a little manipulative, the most "evil" thing to do was letting the zombie infection run free and then take control of the post apocaliptic, in shambles world but he didn't, Why? you may ask; because he is more treacherous than Judas, that's why, maybe i'm looking a little too much into this but if this is the route he is going he would need more than one threat right? this is where monster Tom comes into play, I DON'T KNOW WHY ANY OF YOU HAVE EVER ASKED IT BUT WHY DID TOM BECAME A MONSTER RANDOMLY IN POWEREDD? I know it was hinted before that maybe he is half demon somehow??? BUT LIKE… MAYBE I'M DUMB BUT THAT'S WEIRD. And as the scientist he is (why don't I see more scientist Tord fanart?) Tord asked himself the same question, we know that because when we took a look into his laboratory we saw that he was studying monster Tom as it's shown in the end part 2 in the minute 2:42 (THIS GUY'S LAB IS SO MUCH TO UNPACK) this indicates that it isn't crazy to assume he was trying to take Tom out of his senses to get to monster Tom, because as we can see in that same episode he is wanted by the authorities for a large amount of money, probably because they got caught doing some sketchy stuff so, in an attempt to hype up his organization's reputation once more he tried to cause another problem for them to solve

this is what I think happened: Tord somehow knew about monster Tom and realized he could use him not only as another way to make his organization look like heroes to the public eye but also for studying (and maybe experimentation but not really sure since at that point Tord already had that weird chemical that gave life to stuff and converted people to zombies) he assumed the way to get to the monster was making Tom furious so that's what he tried, that's why he was specially hostile to Tom, that's why he was so surprised when Tom left the house (because i've seen people assume that was his objective but if it was then why did he looked so taken aback?)

continuing with Tord my next point is: We kind of know what Tord was up to all along and i'm not so sure he created the red army

WHAAAT???? VINCENT YOU ARE CRAZY FOR THAT ONE!!! WHAT MADE YOU THINK THAT TORD DIDN'T CREATED THE RED ARMY? THAT'S LITERALLY HIS TRADE MARK!!! HE IS THE RED LEADER, EVERYWHERE HE GOES THE RED ARMY SYMBOL APPEARS!!!

well yes, that is true but just because he later on becomes the red leader it doesn't mean he created the red army as it is.

let me explain: in the episode "moving targets" not only do we are shown Tord's fondness of militaristic activities but also in the minute 6:12 we see Paul and some unnamed enemy base guard (that i'm pretty sure had a fanon name but I completely forgot oh well) and you may ask "ok so what?" ... Sir that's Paul, this openly states that before he joined the red army, Paul was with this other random army which if you look closely has a suspiciously similar design to the red army's uniform, not only that but again, in Tord's lab we can see a picture of 4 people (minute 2:42) and these people are: Tord, the enemy base guard marked with a big X (maybe he's dead or simply left the army), Paul and Patryck, this meaning that Tord knew them from before, now, as always, here is what I think happened: After his departure in the episode 25ft under the seat, Tord at some point found the enemy army from the episode moving targets and considering how the gang messed them up they weren't in the best conditions, so at some point between the episodes movie makers and space face Tord takes control of this army and makes it HIS red army, this could've been by force or (what I see more plausible but who knows) joined the army as it is and began working his way up until he ended up leader of it CONTINUING WITH TORD BECAUSE HE IS A SNEAKY BASTARD (i love him i hate him so much) WHAT IS GOING ON WITH HIS LAB??? Tord's laboratory even though solves some questions it opens up even MORE questions like these: HOW DID HE KNEW ABOUT MONSTER TOM IF HE ONLY APPEARED IN POWEREDD AND THAT EPISODE AIRED LONG AFTER HE LEFT?? WHY DOES HE HAVE BARRELS OF THE WEIRD LIFE-GIVING CHEMICAL FROM "THE SNOGRE" AND "FUN DEAD" IF THAT ALSO HAPPENED LONG AFTER HIS DEPARTURE??? WHY DID HE INSTALLED A SECURITY SYSTEM IN THE HOUSE???

WHAT DOES THE MAP WITH THE NOTE MEAN???

well I have answers for 3 of those 4 questions, so, hear me out on this one: Tord kept using his laboratory even after he left. THIS SOUNDS CRAZY AND IT IS BUT HEAR ME OUT.

in the end part one, even though he was let in by edd Tord tried to sneak into Tom's room anyway, and he did it in a way that showed that maybe, just maybe it wasn't his first time doing it and if we look at it from a strategic perspective it's basically the perfect place to hide something like that.

it's a place that no one would search him in because well... at that point it had been years since he left, it's just a normal house where three friends live, nothing suspicious going on with that so if he had his laboratory right there it would be convenient... Really convenient, this is the reason he has stuff from stuff he couldn't have possibly had from before, that's why he had time to build his giant robot, he had all the time he was living there and also when he wasn't, that's what he knew about monster tom. that's why he had pictures of his army friends, that's why he had the chemical, because he never truly left.

this would also make my first idea even more possible because Tom wasn't even surprised to see Tord's laboratory in his room and Tord wasn't surprised either to see Tom there, this meaning that maybe somehow they had seen eachother before, maybe while Tord was sneaking in or out and Tom in an act of friendship decided to not get Edd or Matt involved for their own good

AND NOW, LET'S STOP SPEAKING ABOUT TORD FOR A MOMENT BECAUSE I NEED TO SAY SOMETHING ABOUT EDD.

IS FUTURE EDD GONNA PROTAGONIZE THE COMICS MATT SPOKE ABOUT IN HIS UPDATES VIDEO?????

I HAVE PLENTY OF REASONS TO THINK THAT WE ARE GOING TO SEE MORE ABOUT THE FUTURE BRIEFLY POSTRAYED IN WTFUTURE BECAUSE IF WE TAKE AN ACTUALL LOOK AT THE TEASERS MATT SHOWED THEY SHOW A FUTURISTIC CITY WITH DRONES AND SOMEONE WITH EDD'S DISTINCT HAIR AND FUTURE EDD'S COAT ENTERING A BUILDING THROUGH THE WINDOW SO IN MY OPINION WE ARE GOING TO GET EVEN MORE INSIGHT ON HOW'S THE WORLD DOING UNDER THE RED LEADER'S LEADERSHIP WHOHOOOOO long live cola

that aside because I got overly happy when I remembered that

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE LOBSTERS.

in the episodes "the surf and turf wars pt 1 and 2" we are presented with a new problem, for the ones that haven't seen it or don't remember, in the episodes, Matt gets turned into a lobster monster by a chemical with dubious origin, we actually have a name for this chemical! it's named "NM-8" and ok, this is maybe a far FAR stretch BUT I CAN'T POSSIBLY BE THE ONLY ONE WITH THE THEORIE THAT MAYBE, JUST MAYBE THIS CHEMICAL IS AN ADVANCED FORMULA OF THAT LIFE-GIVING CHEMICAL OF TORD'S I say this since both substances have similar effects, and according to this, in the same episode, the barrel of nm-8 ends up there anyways because while transporting the chemical THAT IS WIDELY STATED THE ORIGIN OF IT IS HIGLY CONFIDENTIAL NO QUESTIONS ASKED the ship hits a bump and when the captain asked "what happened" is sent to the brig because he broke the rule of not asking questions, this leading to the barrel falling overboard and ending up in the beach where it's found by Matt and the episode continues

who would need such level of secretism? who would need that much confidentiality? well I have certain people in mind, if we think about it from a narrative perspective it would make sense for the chemical to be property of the same guy (or guys) that made the other chemical to be responsible for it, maybe in some elaborate scheme to finally get back at the world after the giant robot fiasco and hey, maybe it was impossible before but now with the Tord Youtooz? WITH TORD APPEARING IN MATT'S VIDEO AS AN INTERRUPTION WITH THE STYLE OF A STOLEN TV SIGNAL???? IT'S PLAUSIBLE AND IT WOULD MAKE A LOT OF SENSE! but as always that is only speculation, I can't see the future, just theorize and communicate what I think and let's be honest, the next episode will probably be about the guys cleaning up the lobster mess (WHICH IS AMAZING AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE) but always remember, Tord ends up taking the world in the future anyways so stopping him right now, whatever he is up to is not really an option unless someone comes back from the future to help

AND THAT'S ALL SORRY IF IT'S MESSY, I STARTED WRITING THIS AT 3 AM AND HAD TO WRITE IT IN SEPARATED MOMENTS SO YEAH THE CONTINUITY IS NOT GREAT AND ALSO ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LENGUAJE SO YEAHHHHHH

[theadventurerslog]

Quest For Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness | Part 2

The Adventurer's Log

Town time! And looking around a bit outside town at the gate. I got an ear of corn. I tried talking to the corn, but I guess it didn't want an earful.

The scarecrow on the other hand...

Snrk.

I couldn't take it though because that would be "straw-bery!". Sigh (appreciatively, please note all wordplay-related sighs are ones of appreciation, the bigger the sigh, the groanier the groan the better).

I was met with a surprisingly pretty sight on entering. I think I'm still spooked by the beginning stuff and trust nothing.

The flowers are beautiful and out-of-season. The staff is magic. When I tried Detect Magic, I sensed magic radiating from the staff and protecting the area.

I have to try to touch everything so naturally that included that staff. There was a woman's voice:

"This I must first do -- the sacrifice of life for one of love."

I also tried talking to it:

"My destiny is not yet fulfilled. One life for a death, and one death for a life."

When I did a look at the general surrounding area I got a familiar sense of peace and harmony and the flowers' scent reminded of Erana's Peace. Yeah, I think it's safe to say the staff and voice are Erana's. More Erana lore in this game?

I headed to the buildings and got startled by a man, the Burgomeister. In my defence he yelled at me and I'm still expecting everything to go wrong.

Burgomeister apparently translates to something like sheriff or mayor. It's his job to know everyone and thing that goes here. Yeah, yeah, I'd get to him but I had to examine things first.

He laughed in this narration! And it took me a moment to get it. SIGH.

Enough of that, I talked to the Burgomeister. He wasn't happy with my greeting. I told him about myself and how I got here. He didn't believe me that I'd made it out of the cave alive or that it had been open. Interesting that those jaws normally stay closed, I suppose. We weren't off to a good start here, though. I switched to asking him things instead. His name is Dmitri Ivanov. He also told me about the swamp blocking the southern roads now keeping anyone from leaving or coming. Except me. He informed me of the inn and shop and told me to use them to get what I need then wanted me to get out, although that doesn't seem to be much of a possibility with the roads blocked by the swamp. They don't need strangers causing more troubles. I fix trouble! I mean more trouble might happen first... but I'll fix it!

Oh I'm already trusting nothing. He warned me not to get caught out at night as few can survive a Mordavian night or stay sane anyway. As for not going out at night though, well, things happen...

But basically he boiled down to get your stuff and preferably skeddadle.

I moved on to the general store in which part of the description on entering was "The first thing you notice are the cats--they seem to be everywhere!"

Cats!

Now things were looking up.

Tumblr limits me to 30 images which is a pain because this game is throwing me so much I want to share. A description of a knitting basket here: "This used to be a knitting basket, but now seems to have become a cat basket. Amazing how that tends to happen!" Truly.

There was a load of garlic. "Either garlic is one of the most popular products here or the shopkeeper ordered way too much and hasn't been able to get rid of it."

Or, y'know, vampire protection. Just sayin'.

I tried to talk to a cat. "You attempt to have a meaningful dialogue with the cat. It says "meow."" Hearing all this narrated is great.

Then I finally introduced myself to the owner who is Olga Stovich. She also reiterated that strangers aren't very welcome here, but she thought it was good to see a new face again. I'm glad someone is welcoming!

She had a load of products I could buy.

She had garlic flavoured candy (ew) as well, but sold out. She noted the potential protective and health benefits of garlic, hint hint. The pie pan and broom don't seem like things I'd need but come on, they've gotta have a use.

I also asked her about rumours.

The innkeeper's wife is Bella and the one to really run the inn while her husband, Yuri, just gives the orders. Sounds like things aren't the best between them. They lost their only child...

The castle was abandoned for years and it was only four years ago that strangers moved in. Hmmm... shorter time span than I thought after talking to the gatekeeper. No one knows what's going on there. She doesn't think anything good, wise woman. It was at this point it occurred to me that I don't know how long I was in that cave before waking up. Concerning...

Werewolves are gypsies (in her opinion). Mmph... 90s game, 90s game... Nothing can kill a werewolf except silver or magic and she warned me to be careful at night. Their camp's not far from here. I doubt it's actually them but we'll see...

The monastery is a bad place that should have been torn down. Stay away. Many strangers have asked about it and never returned from it.

I had a bunch of shopping to do but I wanted to find out what the inn costs would be first. And generally explore for anything else to buy before spending my money. No repeats of QFG 1 money woes.

When I exited the Burgomeister was gone from his window. Don't know if that means anything.

I got roped in to paying for my room and board immediately at the inn after the innkeeper's initial surprise to see me.

A week paid off though! So I won't have to worry about it for a little while. That's nice.

That left me with 16 crowns and 68 kopeks. There's 100 kopeks to a crown so I was richer than I figured. ...thanks to looting the skeletons in the cave, but they're not gonna be using it anymore...? It'll be for a good cause!

I told them how I got here. He just said they didn't trust magic or users of it. As USUAL. But I guess that's fair here.

[Slightly future me: I realized I didn't even try casting so I went back, but no luck. I was told it was too dangerous to try during the day and the townsfolk don't trust magic. That does imply I can try at night though? And this generally stings less when I've already gotten to do stuff. I can also use magic in at least empty buildings too.]

There was a lot of garlic hanging in this place too.

There was a group of three to talk to but while they were quite chatty, they weren't very informative... I did find out there's a cemetery east of town though.

I went to check out my inn room. Mooore garlic.

And a narrow ledge outside under my window. Side-eyeing that. I have a storage chest if needed.

I realized I didn't actually talk to the innkeeper and he did have some information.

Beyond the shopkeeper and burgomeister whom I've already met he spoke of the gravedigger, Nikolai, and Dr. Cranium.

Nikolai is a harmless old man who wanders around looking for his dead wife. Aw.

Dr. Cranium came several years before the swamp wrecked the pass. No one trusts him or knows much about him. It's rumoured he conducts strange experiments. Nooo, with a name like that?

The gravedigger's strange but a good carver of tombstones and a good digger.

I still had some daylight left so I headed to the north part of town.

The gravedigger and an ominous building. Score?

Of course I started examining the scary building first. There was a bas relief of a creature like a six-legged octopus. Uh oh. It gave the creepy feeling of looking right back at me. There was also an indentation in the door of a set of six curvy spokes radiating from a central point... both are describing my Dark One Sign? That can't be good. I also wasn't gonna touch that just yet.

I went to talk to Igor the Gravedigger first.

He's by a boarded up building. It was the Adventurer's Guild but there are no adventurers. So no guild.

He didn't have much to say about the town. He works at the graveyard at night, the graveyard shift, har har. The work is piling up too -- just some graveyard humour.

He totally knows no rumours.

I'm certainly getting curious about this Dr. Cranium.

And he got fierce about the monastery: bad building. Bad, bad, bad. How soon am I gonna end up there?

Still avoiding that building for the moment I moved on to another section of town and found Nikolai.

Of course his dead wife's name was Anna. Of course! What is with the number of dead Annas in media... Cursed name.

I couldn't get anything out of him but him asking after Anna. Poor fellow.

Dr. Cranium's place was also here...with a big nose sculpture over his door. And I had to follow a pattern of bells to open it.

There's a...robot?

What am I getting into?

I examined the device...

Hmm...

But it can be used to identify animals and advice to catch it? You answer a short series of different questions: is it alive, fast and vicious or silly? And it gives different results. Alive, fast and silly got me a flying aardvark. If it's alive, fast, not vicious or silly, why bother catching it?

I don't want to get my hopes up but... but could Dr. Cranium be a gnome? Gnome was my first immediate thought when I saw the giant nose over the door.

When I examined the door to his laboratory I got a note about only being able to enter by prior appointment or demonstration of superior intelligence. When I tried unlocking it I got...

No. No, no no, absolutely not. I don't even know what image it's trying to make! I hate these!

Okay, it wasn't actually a slide puzzle like I thought. You just swap two pieces at any time anywhere. But if you exit it resets the whole thing.

I figured it out.

...but I didn't have the key so I couldn't do anything.

I explored some more and let loose some baby antwerps from the right door.

So I got bounced on but was okay as they were so little. Some kept bouncing around after this. Oops.

The other door led to some kind of rat maze without the rat and I couldn't enter.

I couldn't find a key... So, hoping I wasn't missing something in there, I left for now.

I went back to the scary building which is the monastery, oops, I didn't realize. I tried to use my symbol, but Igor warned me off.

Then I tried to listen at the door anyway, and got grabbed by the statue of the octopus-y thing.

I was dead dead dead.

But I was right about actually using the Dark One Sign with the indentation of the door. That did work and I was able to enter.

Not that I have a known reason to yet, but gotta explore right?

There was an alcove above the door that might have held something very important. There were also some of those symbols from the arch near the cave above the door.

I tried a Detect Magic. I'm enjoying that it actually gives me some useful results or at least more knowledge.

The object is a sculpture that fits the description of a "Domovoi" except for being dried out and unmoving... Maybe something I'll learn of later?

I couldn't move the sculpture, even with magic. I can only assume this is something to deal with once I have more information. And items.

I was headed back to the General Store, but realized I never actually entered the Burgomeister's place, so I did that and had a talk.

I was able to ask about the Adventurer's Guild. It's been closed as the swamp has prevented any adventurers from coming anymore but he gave me the key, so I could take a look around. Surprisingly generous of him.

He also reiterated the whole swamp deal, that it was formed from heavy rains and there's essentially undead there. Yeah, I saw those hands...

He still doesn't trust me and would send me away if the pass was clear, but it's not so he's just keeping an eye on me.

Adventurer's Guild ho! Yeah, the guild wasn't looking in great shape. Sad. But traditional prop Moose Head! Oh, but it was a Mordavian Moose. With fangs. I, I don't think moose need fangs. That's too much.

But I started getting warnings about feeling hungry so I went back to the inn for some food--garlic stew with vegetables--and as I left again I was warned to knock now as they lock up at night. And another warning of the dangers of night. I just wanted to explore the guild first!

There were books to read including one about the creatures here like the necrotaurs--scary. And Rusalka--the spirit of a murdered unmarried woman who try avenge themselves by drowning men foolish enough to approach. There was also the Leshy who play practical jokes and riddle games but can be helpful to those it likes.

I could sign the adventurer's logbook, always gotta do that. The buckets are like an exercise machine I could use and I think it got me some strength points. The frame above the bookshelf was empty and might have a secret passage but I couldn't figure out a way to access it yet.

The logbook also had entries to read about Piotyr and the Dark Ones Cult. Piotyr was a paladin and led the armies against the Chernovy Cult outside the Dark One's Cave. The Cult members became grotesque monsters causing many of the soldiers to panic and run. The battle was nearly lost when Piotyr heard Erana's voice "By all my Will, I banish you..." she was cut off but the Cult fled. Piotyr went into the cave but could only find the remains of the Cult members and Erana's magical staff, but no other sign of her.

Piotyr brought the staff back to the town square where a garden of flowers instantly grew around it. He was going to seek out the Rituals of the Dark Ones and destroy them but there were no more entries after that.

Well, now I knew how Erana's staff got there... Though clearly still missing some bits of the story.

It was turning to actual night and I headed back to the inn. I would like to explore at night too, but only after I get a bit more established...

The chatty trio (who feel like they may be a reference but if so I have no idea what) I talked to earlier were back. I learned there was another stranger--a Jester. A Gnome!! Not seen him yet though... So, I guess Dr. Cranium probably isn't a gnome. Unless there are two! Probably not? But maybe? I'm pretty sure 'man' has been said in regards to Dr. Cranium though, so probably not. (But I live in hope.)

I went to my room to sleep. I missed it before but I was able to take a clove of garlic from all the garlic draping over everything in here. I never did get to shopping. I'll do that in the morning if nothing else comes up first.

One day in the town of Mordavia done.

[ishgard]

Rambly first impressions but I'll probably be turning DT around in my head for a while still. Spoilers obviously touched on but I try to be vague about it as much as possible X'D

Overall I enjoyed it! imo it was far from their strongest expac and is admittedly pretty low on my mental expac tierlist (fittingly, about equal with ARR, which isn't a bad thing per se), but it did a decent enough job at what it did, especially so in the first half. I'm in love with Tural and the people, the cast of characters, the lore - it was all delightful!

I absolutely understand peoples complaints about their presence feeling kind of pointless at times, but I also didn't mind taking a side/mentor role either (I've had potential plot/headcanons for Ahru doing as much for a long time now, so it works for me). I don't think they always balanced it well at all, though.

I also would have loved to see more interactions between, say, the Scions and Lamaty'i, but it was nice taking things at a slow steady pace and just enjoying the world building. They had a lot on their plate to show us, and they did it well.

The second half... played with some themes I enjoyed well enough, but suffered from some questionable writing that often gave me whiplash.

I love!! the aesthetics of Solution 9, it was another one of the few things that piqued my interest for DT initially. The overall lore and story was enjoyable, just kind of an echo of things we've dealt with before which isn't a criticism exactly.

I'm typically pretty good at immersing myself and smoothing over rough edges in my mind as I go, filling in blanks and grounding myself in my characters' reactions, but there were a number of times I felt kicked in the teeth and taken out by some of the choices. There were definitely more than a few scenes I immediately had to be like "well Ahru is just not here for this because that just would not have happened" lmao I'd be groaning and rolling my eyes one minute, only to be balling my eyes out the next, so just a lot of whiplash 😂

I kept feeling like the second half would have benefited from more time building some of that stuff up, but instead we got a lot of things repeated to us multiple times and obvious things drawn out for us.

Also though they got their moments in some of the very final quests, I had really hoped to see more of Erenville and Krile's stories throughout the overall MSQ. (THAT scene with Erenville got me ugly crying though omfg.)

I feel like I'm mostly complaining but this is probably one of my most 'mixed feelings' expansions in the ten+ years I've been playing. Like, that's fine though, SHB and EW were ALL up my alley and delicious, this can be a little less 'for me', and it was enjoyable enough I don't feel entirely disconnected from the game I love. The high notes it hit really well, I'm in love with Tural and the lore, and I'm super excited and interested to see where they take us next - and what we do with Azem's key. 👀

I was utterly blind-sided by a certain two-headed mamool ja so now I guess I'm a Bakool Ja Ja fucker. 🤷‍♀️ Also I have a new son and if anything happens to him I'll kill everyone and myself. (p.s. trial 2's boss was the worst villain I've ever suffered and this is coming from a lifelong villain fucker, they were a big detractor from my enjoyment at times tbh)

I am begging for another adventure with Erenville because that snippet was hands-down one of the highlights for me for purely biased reasons. Admittedly, there were a number of times I was the 'do it for him' meme with Erenville's face plastered all over it. I'll probably need to do a whole other rant about him tbh

My slightly joking prediction is chemist for 8.0 just on account of his whole two times mentioning he had potions on him to help the wounded.

[mountmortar]

as someone who only ever beat four swords adventures. can i hear the lore on why the newer games are annoying. if you dont want to get into it in public though i totally get it lol

OKAY SO LIKE. let me put this under a cut.

so me thinking the newer games are annoying is a personal thing. i'll put that out there to begin with. i completely understand why they're games that people love a lot—for people who like open-world games with lots of exploration and building shit and whatnot, and don't really care for games that have Plot and Stories and Meaning behind them, they're probably damn near perfect games.

but like. MY main problem with the games, specifically (which could be easily ignored if not for my MAIN BIG PROBLEM WITH THE FANDOM which i'll. get into after this), is that while i will concede that they may be Good Games to those who play them (i watched a playthrough of breath of the wild Once and am currently trying to get through it myself and not only am i bored to tears but i hate the art style and when i say the soundtrack fucking sucks. the soundtrack Fucking Sucks. like it is legitimately the WORST fucking game soundtrack i've ever heard in my LIFE which makes doing anything in the game absolutely unbearable to me) they are, absolutely, terrible ZELDA games.

the legend of zelda franchise for almost forty years now has built up a series dedicated not ONLY to exploration within the game, but also music and wonderful stories that each game tells. like pokémon, in its own way—but even in pokémon, when the story is bland (xy, swsh) or just plain bad (usum) you can always count on it to have a great soundtrack. breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom took both "plot" and "music" and just threw them out the window. the overworld music in breath of the wild is nothing except a few piano notes every five minutes. the battle music when you encounter an enemy is the most boring, lackluster shit i've ever heard in my life (AND THE MUSIC FOR THE BOSS BATTLES IS SOMEHOW EVEN WORSE). basically imagine pokémon legends arceus except instead of all the wonderful overworld music we got for all the different areas, you just have dead silence. that's pretty much what running around in breath of the wild is like.

and the story? get ready for the blandest characters you've ever met in your life. you will not get attached to a single one of those cardboard cutouts. anything that adds meaning to the story is locked behind paid DLC which automatically makes it not even worth my time or money. basically, breath of the wild was like "what if we took the original legend of zelda from 1986 and its sequel from 1987 and added modern mechanics to it. and throw in a new plot that isn't even worth getting attached to." i would literally prefer playing those old 2D games over that game. their plots were entirely constrained to the game manuals because they couldn't fit them into the actual games themselves because they were 80s games and they were STILL more interesting than botw/totk.

but whatever! it's not a big deal. i can ignore the games. it's not up to me to dictate what people should and should not play as part of a franchise. again, people love the games for a reason, and that reason is usually because breath of the wild and tears of the kingdom are like "what if legend of zelda but throw in some minecraft elements about it". like....okay. WHATEVER!

my problem is with the fandom. the Giant Portion Of The Fandom That Has Only Played BOTW and TOTK and NOTHING ELSE. you literally cannot escape it. you know the types of people that spam the tags of every game in their game series just to make EVERYONE look at their post about One Particular Game? yeah it's like a literal army of those people. i MAINLY stick to posting about the older games from the 80s/90s/early 2000s (i.e. four swords/four swords adventures, the original legend of zelda + its sequel, a link to the past, the minish cap, ocarina of time/majora's mask/etc etc etc you get me) and everywhere you look there's somebody doing everything in their power to bring botw/totk into it/spamming the tags with botw/totk posts/just spreading blatant misinfo regarding the older games???? because they've never played them???? and like whatever i can ignore that too but i mean!!!! at some point it just gets so ridiculously irritating!!!!!! basically it's like. do you know how the pokémon company keeps bringing kanto into literally every game somehow + will not stop with the charizard hype to the point where everyone is sick and tired of charizard. that's pretty much what's happening except it's botw/totk. and i am so tired of hearing about the metaphorical charizard HAHAHA

[missellaneousworks]

So I finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard...

(Note: this is by no means a professional or complete review of the game, just some points I’m drabbling about after I concluded my first playthrough.)

Man, has it been a wild ride.  Overall, this was a very fun experience and I’m so glad I got to play this game.  I tried going into it blind and avoided as many spoilers as possible – which was a partial success and a partial failure (damn you untagged posts and TikTok edits). But I digress… 

Let’s go over the good stuff first – [SOME SPOILERS AHEAD]

I loved the chemistry between the companions.  Some companions got along better than others, some hit it off right off the bat, and others went from rivals to friends. It was a joy to watch these interactions happen throughout the game.  Most of the dialogue felt natural and engaging, with well-timed humor sprinkled in between the sentences as the comradery grew between Rook and companions.

The world and locations you visit are beautifully crafted. I rather like that they went back to more linear level designs, similar to Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age 2. Inquisition had a lot of versatility, but I would often find myself overwhelmed at times from the sheer amount of fetch quests (my least favorite kind). Because they minimized the “playing field area,” I believe that allowed the developers to pour their resources into the architecture of the landscape, as well as the combat system.

Speaking of which, the combat was one of my favorite features of this game.  The movements flow so nicely and the controls feel like each attack has some weight to them. Overall, very fun fights. I’d even argue playing the warrior class is even more fun than the mage class – though I would almost consider it scandalous since mage class is my favorite amongst the series. 

I’ve also noticed certain combat and gameplay mechanics that can also be found in the Mass Effect series.  It seems that the more games Bioware makes, they take the good mechanics that works and implement them in the other series. If that’s the case, I’m interested in what the next Mass Effect game will have that was shared with DAV.   

Now, for the critiques.

The writing.  I do genuinely love how the game is ascribed to build bonds with all of the companions.  It was good in certain areas, but unfortunately lacking in others. Not all of the companions got the same amount of treatment and care.  I cannot comment the same on the romances, since I have yet to play them all/watch video compilations. 

The most notable instances I pulled from my first playthrough wasTaash and Bellara.

Taash’s storyline had good emotional beats, but felt like it was rushed or underdeveloped, especially in the beginning.  Bellara’s development had a lot of potential but just fell short of making an incredible impact. It also felt like we had the same conversation with Bellara multiple times? Sort of? 

There were times the dialogue was outright awkward.  While the occasional awkwardness in text can be seen in all of the games, it felt more prevalent in Veilguard. I do recognize that a good chunk of the writing and development was done during the pandemic, and that sometimes it is hard to keep track of an entire storyline spanning 30+ hours of gameplay, so I can be a little more forgiving of the fact.  However, an additional comb through of the story line and to correct any plot holes was sorely needed.

There were also certain plot holes in the lore, or certain pieces of the lore that happened in earlier games were retconned.  The Antivan Crows, while a beloved and intriguing faction in Veilguard, was a bit of a head-scratcher for me, and the faint memories I have of their lore, through conversations the Warden can hold with Zevran in Dragon Age Origins. Granted, Origins took place 20 years ago, so many things could have happened in the lore that I may have missed or did not read up on–Dragon Age also has several light comics and novels published.  I also later learned that certain pieces of lore in the game only have proper context if you read the side/light novels.  Which is… not a good move for a video game series.  I support story mediums expanding past their original form, but if you do not include characters or direly important information IN THE GAME, it will be missed by the majority of your audience, which is not a good move.  

It was also a tad disappointing that only 3 major choices from Inquisition impacted the world building in Veilguard.  Granted, Veilguard takes place in northern Thedas, not Southern Thedas like the three previous games, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that certain previous actions from the South did not greatly effect the North. However, previous actions from the games effecting the timeline has always been an expected factor in all Dragon Age games which let players, myself included, disgruntled as it left our wonders and theories of the future of Southern Thedas on the wayside. Perhaps Bioware is now implementing the “rule of three,” where only 3 games at a time will be impacted by past decisions.

Throughout the course of the game you find multiple letters by one of Solas’s old comrades and friends, Felassan, and apart from scattles letters and at least one or two flashbacks, he’d have a greater impact within the game’s lore.  Right?  NOPE!  [SPOILERS!!!]  Solas killed him in the Dragon Age novel, The Masked Empire. And the game makes absolutely NO reference to that from what I could tell. 

Despite where the narrative failed at points, the bonds between the characters were the ultimate highlight of the writing.  I hope that for the next game, they will iron out the plot more thoroughly and not leave little lore tibbits to the media outside of the games, which is unfair to their franchise as well as their fans. Whatever may come, I do look forward to how Dragon Age will grow from here on out. 

Also… apparently there’s a secret ending to the game that may be teasing the new villain of the next game.  I don’t know HOW you get this ending, only saw a clip of it on TikTok.

[pendinghope]

Okay this is just a neat lil vent post. So the rest is just me rambling about random things.

Okay I’ve warned you and you’re still reading for some reason so uh hi. My brain’s just been a little too loud for me recently. Ah I guess I can talk about my blog lore. The reason I created this was when I was going through an existential crisis and just needed an outlet. And rambling about shows helped. So now when my mind is too loud I tuck into this tiny corner and wrap myself up in happiness. It’s sorta comforting. I’ve never been good at writing in a journal but for some reason just typing like this helps. Puts my mind at ease and lets me rant about my interests. It’s calming.

Been listening to the song alive by rose on loop for the past few days cause I need the stimulation and no other noise was working. On a side note I only found the song a few days ago as well. It’s nice. Kinda reminds me of the Christian music I heard as a kid. Side note: I grew up Christian, now though I don’t really believe but still view it as part of me. Even if I can’t believe old habits and mindsets remain. it's a comfort i miss but not one i find myself regaining. not yet anyway

on another note i get sick when im stressed. or overthinking. or both. stress now makes me physically ill so ive been trying to find ways to stop that from happening. the way it makes me ill is typically me vomiting. so now im trying out meditation. it seems to help a bit but maybe i should do it more to decreass my stress sooner then letting it build up. i guess i just need to get more used to it. calming myself. not tensing as much.

ah im compiling a list of dramas i watch with detective in the name. i love my detective dramas so i find it fun. now, not all of these i have watched yet but they match so: (^w^) hehe~ anyway: zombie detective, vampire detective, ghost detective, insect detective. so many with similar titles and i love them. my roommate is a detective is also in the list but i want to do the most similar titles first and then extend it. ah i love zombie detective so much. and vampire detective has a beautiful team who protect each other to hell and back and i am here for it. man i need to finish that show.

ah im feeling better so i shall get going for now. Have a wonderful day/night!

[spotsupstuff]

What do you think about the RW ships? just curious is all.

hmmm.. well! first i do wanna preface this with the obligatory "i'm not hating on anybody with this, u do u and i do me is my genuine philosophy. i'll respect u from the distance if you do the same for me"

aight so i'm not gon list every ship in the fandom that has spawned in outta the stardust n give my specific opinion on it, cuz i'm not exactly keepin up

the only two ships i don't mind n find cute on the paper are NSH x Moon and Arti x Gour cuz both of them have that Old People Love Each Other in Easy Peace Despite The Circumstances Surrounding Them kick to them. i'm a weak bitch for that type of troupe for romantic relationships. not gon do anythin with 'em in my own stuff, though

i find myself more interested in the entirely and wholly platonic interpretation of everything in the game. platonic love is a matter of course, makin the story flow feel more smoother to me for that while also stayin nicely close to that religious narrative of the game (u can fight me on this but the Ancients' religion isn't *wrong*. the bad thing that happened with it is that it was taken to extremes and variety wasn't allowed. i could tell you why riddin oneself of the third and fifth sin isn't a bad idea at all- afterall, i kind of live by that myself!- and what they probably meant by riddin yourself of the sins without the extremist approach)

for the other ships... 🤔

well, the iterators are far too rooted in my head as sibs to vibe with ships with them, but more properly told: • Suns and Pebs are too much of "teacher and naive student" to me and i also find this dynamic more interesting to explore. uuuuu how spicy it is to think of Suns brainwashing Pebs but meaning it well uuuuuuuuuu • Suns and NSH are... let's just say that if i was in NSH's place and Suns talked to me like that i'd slap them so fuckin hard n if i WAS in a romantic relationship with them i'd dump them then and there (not in a bitchy ex kind of way, i'd be still down to talk, but i can't imagine bein in a relationship where the other half calls the most likely inevitable death of your closest friend a "setback" to their brainwashing of that friend's little brother would be Very healthy) • n i think what is the only other iterator ship left, Sliver and Moon... i find it kind of silly, honestly? like as far as *i* know the main reason why that exists is cuz Moon remembers what happened with Sliver after being given her own pearl about some notes she wrote herself on Sliver despite being baround three gazillion bagillion braincells short. i don't really see that as a strong incentive to start shippin 'em cuz like. you give Moon a very solid memory jogger and right in her second set of monologue she states that Sliver is literally a legend among the itties-titties. the best i can compare it to a real life thing is asking an american if they have any idea who Abraham Lincoln was at all. or asking a slovak if they knew who Finally managed to solidly establish our language after centuries of oppression. like of Course you're going to know That even on ur deathbed??? those are incredibly important historical figures for you n your home!!! also c'mon she remembers the feckin bug pupae, if THAT stuck in there this big boy info is def gon be kickin around

as for the slugcats... well ehh..... you can probably guess from what i mainly draw that i'm not Too focused on the slugs, only maybe Hunter so my slugshippin lore knowledge is p weak. when i first saw the slugshippin take off before i started postin bout RW again i thought it was silly to ship animals n still kinda do? 🤷‍♀️ doesn't help that canonically they have no business meeting each other except Monk n Surv (that is a strong No to shippin) and Hunter's writhing corpse n Gour (we are Not ducks we do not support necrophilia). i generally like to stick to the timeline, personally. good world-building. i respect good world-building too much to deviate too hard

BUT! i am going to use my status as pre-Downpour RW veteran and tell you to not listen to the whiny wrinkly babies in the tag that wail about how slugshippin is ruining the fandom. fuck 'em bitches, you do what u wanna (within moral common sense)

[nice-to-meet-you-im-a-crytid]

How To Be a Magical Girl (Introduction)

This is an introduction to my original story as the title states. This will not be a comprehensive lore dump just a ramble of what the story is like and the many (many inspirations behind it

Disclaimers: This is a story in EXTREMELY EARLY production, This is mostly for fun and for me as a writer to both build a fanbase around my work and get used to jotting down ideas.

Inspirations: I'm staring with my inspirations for the story since they heavily explain where I was heading for pretty much the rest of the story.

First really big one is the anime Madoka Magica, so there's a lot of cutesy-ness mixed with body horror and some darker themes too in my writing. This also effects my art style quite a bit if you've seen any of my work on my tumblr page. Of course there's the magical girl aspect and an obvious school setting. Speaking of school settings my other inspiration would have to be My Hero Academia. I'm mostly referring to the slice of life/school aspects and the earlier class focused episodes. I think the world building in My Hero is really cool and I think it shows quite a bit in my own world. Also the technical aspects of becoming a hero in the earlier episodes have given me a good idea of how I'd like my own story's made up profession to work on it's own technical scale.

Setting/Plot:

How To Be a Magical Girl is a novel in the works centered around the coming of age stories of a large cast of girls (15-16 yr olds) who go to a magical school and as the title states learn how to be a magical girl both as a job and as people. One really big theme is light academia which includes love of learning, friendship, and overall loving life. Another is also perspective as many of the mini stories are written is different POVs and hopefully if I can get a book or two into the world each one would also be in a different POV. This does lead to a large cast of characters all of which have different backgrounds, cultures, and unique dynamics with each other along with different places in each others stories. This is also one big coming of age story which is very dear to me as I, myself am coming of age as a young author, so this story is a huge reflection on my own experiences. The biggest most prevalent theme besides light academia is trauma and more importantly healing! The main monsters that these magical girls fight in fact come from trauma and each of the girls have their own troubles to work through along the course of the story. The literal setting of the book is of course the school: St. Amia's International School for girls! Pretty much think Hogwarts but made of quartz. Legit though lots inspiration came from European design and architecture (Scottish castles, French Chateaus, etc.) in alignment with the book's theme. Here is link to the Pinterest mood board Worldbuilding: Obviously there is magic in this world. It takes place a couple hundred years into the future, magic is very well integrated into the modern world, i.e it's used as an energy source, magical creatures are common place across the world, it's even a normal and often required course in schools. Magic itself is a learned skill that all people can have the ability to advance in and excel at. My best analogy for it is it's like sports, if you run everyday you gradually get better and you could even make it a profession with enough training. And also like sports there are certain skills and abilities that are better for each one, flexibility and strength are both good for all sports but would be best used and trained in particular ones. This also translates over to types of magic and skills. (These are not the best comprehensive notes of my story's world so I might make an in depth post for the whole thing, tell me in the comments if this gets enough attraction!)

If this post somehow reaches you and maybe you even like it give it a reblog so others can have the chance to find it too in mess of an algorithm. And maybe even leave a comment if you'd like to see more from me!

☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

[aria-i-adagio]

WIP Ask Meme

Bold of you to think I'm organized enough to have a WIP folder @hoochieblues.

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I'm adapting these to brief descriptions. If there are any ongoing files in my GDrive I'll include the title/first line, but those are temp then everything moves to Scrivener.

Tagging: @atypicalacademic @motherofqups @niffty24, @ankoku-jin and @hollyand-writes

Here's what we have going on right now:

(In addition to the super fun work of writing my own bloody geometry textbook because the major publishers can't be bothered to do it decently/even vaguely in line with the current academic standards.)

Thrift Shop Vikings continues. It is cringe, it is dark, it is... hopefully actually decent. It has also grown from, "eh, think I can make the Nanowrimo draft into a decent short novel" to "yeah... this is going to be three genre length novels." I want to say I'm 80% of the way to beta-reader ready draft of Act 1, but I'm scared of jinxing myself. (That said, if anyone is interested in not quite Game of Thrones level dark fantasy, with yours truly treating crack [omegaverse] seriously, HMU. This is... not for everyone, and much darker than the fic I've written.)

Once Sindre had recovered enough to not feel that he needed to sleep until the end of days and the final battle, he began waking with the sun. Misery barely described... There's an idiom: as useless as nipples on a man

Where the Elfroot Grows is not dead. It is just percolating. In fact, recently Jeanne has been very loud about being the POV character for the arrival back at Skyhold. Also, the fish out of water appeal of forcing Rhys though Halamshiral is just too damn much. Also, I feel entirely empowered to make up my own canon now.

Jeanne became one of Rhys's primary minders Scene: Getting Hawke moving Rhys wakes to a kiss pressed to the back of his neck Adrian's arm remains extended R&D Ocean

On that note, I'm not really filing the serial numbers off WTEG per se, because I think I've backed far enough up to basic fantasy tropes. Or maybe I'm filing the serial numbers off, IDK and IDC. Either way, I'm at the world-building, occasional scene writing, creating lore, boning up on history and anarchist theory stage of taking the elements I particularly like and running with them, while paying more attention to consistent characterization and general coherence in terms of theory and theology. Currently has more of a steampunk vibe, as I can't quite pull off the level of 'sweeping social change more than mage rebellion' with a thoroughly medieval world-build. I would get into my Xnity, but to the left, meanderings here, but it would turn into a thesis. Anyway, both this and Thrift Shop Vikings are engaged with the idea that anyone who believes god is on their side is as dangerous as hell, just in very different directions.

And @hollyand-writes I really do have enough of an outline for Gatsby meets Kirkwall to get somewhere with it. Just maybe not until the school year is over. Every time I drive past the road named for the local moonshiners I'm reminded/start thinking on it.

[voidscarredadjudicator]

Hey guys. Sorry for being quiet for a month. Hopping on here to let y'all know that I do still have a pulse. Things have been... fine? I guess? Here's a bit of a wordy update on my situation right now, but the tl;dr is, I'm good, HE is still on hiatus, but I'll get back into the groove soon hopefully. Also happy holidays!

The mysterious and vague 'personal life stuff' is still ongoing, and I really don't know how long it'll be something that I have to deal with. I'm continuing to not elaborate because it is very much a personal life thing, but I can assure you that nobody's dying or anything grim like that.

On an only somewhat related note, my expendable income has shrank dramatically in the past few months, so I've been having to get a lot more stingy with what I spend money on. I'm not poverty stricken; I can still afford rent and bills and groceries and whatnot, I just gotta cut corners where I can so I can actually build up my savings.

What does this mean for Humanity's Endling? Well, it's... still on hiatus, technically. But really it just means I'm picking up more shifts than I'd usually care to, which means less time to actually work on it. If work were being done on it to begin with. I'm also cutting out my NSO subscription, which unfortunately means I will not be playing Splatoon 3 much at all anymore. Granted, I was kinda taking a break from it already, so it's not like I've been getting my money's worth of the subscription anyways. So if you were curious about my absence during this most recent Big Run, or the lack of a lengthy season observation/headcanon post like last time, that is why.

All of that said, it's not like I haven't been writing at all - just been hard focusing what creative juices I'm still able to generate given my situation on the accursed TTRPG I've mentioned in prior rambles, as that's an actively running thing that I kinda need to constantly pump stuff out for.

Speaking of which, I pulled a Super Mario Galaxy and wrote a whole ass children's book for the players to find as a lore thing. It was written with the intention of just being a normal children's book in a bubble, but when viewed with the context of the entire campaign thus far, takes on a completely different meaning. Which is to say, you don't need to know a damn thing about the campaign to appreciate the story - a theory I tested by having two people who aren't players read it.

One almost cried. The other actually cried. And when the players found it in our most recent session, one of them also cried, and we had to take a breather after the fact.

Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but I feel like that's one hell of an achievement. So I am pretty proud of myself for that. If you guys are interested, I might clean it up a bit and post it either on Ao3 as an original work or just straight onto this tumblr. It's only about 2k words, so it should fit nicely in a single post.

That's all I can really think of to say at the moment. Again, even though I might seem a bit quiet, I am still here. I take a peek at tumblr at least once a day to see if anyone's sent any asks or anything like that, so don't be afraid to toss something into my inbox if you have a question.

Oh, and for the anon who sent an ask suggesting me to upload what I have of Act II done already - I don't exactly plan my stories in a linear fashion, nor do I write them as such either. It's closer to me thinking of the major moments I wanna do, plotting out how to connect them, refining, refining, refining, rearranging, refining, scrap half of what I have done, rearranging, suddenly having an epiphany, scrapping another chunk... yeah, it's a bit chaotic. I see what you're trying to say though, and I do appreciate the suggestion, but it can't really be done with the way I go about writing.

That's it from me. Happy Holidays. Play Cyberpunk 2077. It's a good game, I swear. Or Undertale Yellow if you own a toaster. It's me, I own a toaster. I played Cyberpunk on my brother's computer. Thanks, bro. Love you.