#pathfinder 2.0

[athelind]

As someone who started with Holmes Basic, this is all 100% accurate.

People say, "oh, you're an old school gamer," and make THAC0 jokes to me ... and I just kind of look blankly at them, because THAC0 wasn't MY D&D. I played AD&D1, but AD&D2 largely passed me by.

(I am pretty sure that the first printings of AD&D2 didn't use the THAC0 abbreviation, even though it used essentially the same mechanic. I'm working from 35-year-old memories here, though, so forgive me if I'm wrong.)

I spent the '90s playing other systems like Champions, GURPS, World of Darkness, and whatever oddball indy game my gaming group thought might be interesting. My social circle treated (A)D&D as the "gateway game" for newbies, but "experienced" gamers looked for something more "sophisticated".

As hard as it is to believe in this day and age, where D&D has a Chrome-like stranglehold on the market, that was not an unusual attitude in the pre-OGL days. It was not unlike the online gamer culture that dismissed some popular computer and console games as being for "casuals".

Three or four decades down the road, that seems both condescending and naïve.

Having subjected myself to pre-WotC editions of D&D has robbed me of the ability to appreciate a lot of D&D humor contingent on "wow things were weird in the old days" because people will sometimes just get their references wrong and the anachronism doesn't actually elevate the humor for me. Like, if someone's trying to make a point about how weird old-school D&D was by saying something like "You know how Dwarf and Elf were classes in first edition?" while I do agree that it's funny when Dwarf and Elf are classes (and it also rules) I'm now more concerned about the fact that this statement is not true of any version of D&D that could be reasonably called "first edition." Or when someone makes a reference to THAC0 in the context of the three little brown books edition: THAC0 as a concept didn't even exist back then. Heck, the attack matrixes didn't even account for armor classes lower than 2. I know you're making a joke about how weird the old editions were but this is not the THAC0 edition. In this context you'd be better off talking about how this game relies on Chainmail for its combat system and the more well-known "roll d20 and try to hit a number depending on your character's level and the enemy's Armor Class" was an alternative system should the players not have access to Chainmail.

[zarvasace]

Pathfinder Chain 2.0

Masterpost

In which the LU boys are interpreted as having lived their lives and adventures in Golarion, as seen in Pathfinder 2e. Post/Mid-Godsrain. Will include art (mostly for character designs) and fic (specifically Febuwhump 2025.)

For some context in case you are unaware: Pathfinder is similar to Dungeons & Dragons, in which characters have numbers and you roll dice. It is generally played with a group of people each with their own character, but here I'm giving them all the numbers and using them as a basis for fic. It is a high-magic setting built on a foundation of Tolkien-inspired fantasy.

First appearance: Jan 8, 2025

Tag: #pathfinder chain (old designs use this tag, as well)

Previous Pathfinder Chain post, with old art.

Main fic series on AO3

Other works

Warriors frolicking art

Sky being adorable art

My previous Pathfinder Chain was made attempting to model the existing characters in the game as closely as possible, so we saw a lot of rangers and fighters and really only the one spellcaster (two, if we're counting Shadow.) These new character sheets have a different philosophy in mind, one that attempts to put the characters in the existing Pathfinder world and mesh their stories and gods with the lore. By that logic, there are more spellcasters, and I'm attempting to indulge the high-magic kitchen-sink god-bothered fantasy feel with these designs and stories. I'm very happy with them so far!! I'm planning to talk about the designs here, mostly, and reveal story details in fics.

In the update from 1.0 to 2.0, some of my decisions about ancestry and class changed, but plenty stayed the same. I've actually created character sheets this time, however, so I'm very excited to talk at length about those. :) For anyone interested in learning more about my choices, asks are open, and so is 2e.aonprd.com, the free, licensed online database of Pathfinder rules. I’m using Free Archetype and they’re all level 5.

Without further ado, may I happily present my second-version Pathfinder Chain, to be updated as I complete details and show you all the art that I'm working on!—

Four - halfling aiuvarin, artisan, thief rogue, ancestors oracle

Hyrule - sprite ganzi, nomad, phoenix bloodline sorceror, living vessel

Legend - elf beastkin, free spirit, thaumaturge (wand/weapon), sleepwalker

Sky - songbird strix, chosen one, exemplar, fighter

Time - human changeling, feybound, warrior muse bard, chronoskimmer

Twilight - awakened wolf, farmhand, untamed order druid, curse maelstrom

Warriors - keen-venom vishkanya, guard, commander, medic

Wild - human duskwalker, amnesiac, dragon instinct barbarian, wandering chef

Wind - azarketi sylph, sailor, rascal swashbuckler, air kineticist

All intro posts complete as of 1/15/25

[basketobread]

my bg3 ocs but in pathfinder wotr lol say hi to lotus and warlock 2.0 (who is an oracle so now his name is oracle here sorry not sorry)

[tolik-pawlusz]

My contribution to the Aromantic awareness week. You need to be aware not only of me, but also of these characters. And i don't GIVE A F*CK IF MY COUNTRY DOESN'T ALLOW ME TO CELEBRATE.

People say it's not ok to make aromantic characters not human. well 3 (and a half... or not) of them are people and also you can't stop me from thinking that being not a human is a bad thing.

So here's an aromantic gang to save world from the zombie apocalypse:

Magnu (a detective from Berellian republic) - diplomat (negotiates with zombies for a can of stew. accidentally bargains for satan's soul.)

Jadwiga (worked on robots. at some point was a ruler of Berellian Empire. can kill with her food) - Doctor (no) and cook (HELL NO)

Adao (an artificial human being. head of the alchemy department of pomelian witch organisation) - brain of the team (has memory problems)

Eolos (android from a pathfinder party. worked as worked as an accountant. was made as a war robot, so he shoots well) - will help them to pay taxes (why) (well, they need to pay taxes for the bunch of canned stew and the satan's soul they got)

nina (just a pomelian girl who worked on a train station) - (the mascot) (neurodivergent teen) the normal one TM

23 (a saraph, being that was created by ancient gods. can destroy galaxies. nina's friend) - the ancient interdimentional being (actually the normal one 2.0)

most of them are also asexual (cause i am) except for Jadwiga (who's a lesbian)

[ttrpgcafe]

HOLY SHIT INVISIBLE SUN IS COMING BACK AND IT'S MY FAVORITE RPG OF ALL TIME PLEASE BACK IT SO I (or we, I guess) CAN GET THE WELLSPRING:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/monte-cook-games/invisible-sun-return-of-the-black-cube#top

For those of you unfamiliar with Invisible Sun, it's an rpg where every single player is a spell caster of some variety, each with their own unique way of interacting with magic.

The Vances are the most traditional spellcasters, but they eschew spell lists in favor of literally filling a grid with spell cards, representing their limited cognitive space being taken up by spells. They get more space, and literally bigger spells as you progress.

Weavers take two concepts and combine them to produce an effect, very much like Ars Magica or Mage: The Ascension, if you're familiar with those. They get the ability to combine more concepts together, and to have mastery over more concepts as they progress.

Makers are this game's artificer, and they have a robust system for making quirky magic items that have fun, interesting, unique side effects or downsides every time you use them. Their progression is the most straight forward by the numbers "the things you make are more powerful and you're better at making them" of the bunch, but the system lets you, for instance, make a gun out of the body of a dead(?) god, so I'll give this a pass.

Lastly, there are the Goetics, who summon and bind otherworldly creatures to their wills. This takes the form of a conversation and negotiation with your GM over what you have to do for your bound creature, and what exactly they do for you in exchange. If you've ever played a warlock and felt like patrons weren't a big enough deal, this is an entire "class" that lets those relationships (yes, plural) take center stage.

The entire system feels very much like Cypher system 2.0, with a d10 dice pool system with a straight forward level of difficulty to hit, very much like the levels of difficulty in base cypher system, just made easier to manage. It even uses the "I'm an Adjective Noun who Verbs" character structure from Cypher system, here made much more interesting by the addition of a funky little xp system.

Invisible Sun has one of the most interesting advancement systems I've ever seen: aside from normal, average, "you do a thing, you get xp" system, here called "Acumen" (used to increase your stats and skills) there is a separate xp system related to good and bad things happening to your character, called "Joy" and "Despair" respectively. You combine one Joy with one Despair to get a "Crux" which is the xp currency you need to advance your class and focus abilities. This incentivizes players to not only let bad things happen to them, but to SEEK THEM OUT, which is huge! Players often think they want to win all the time, but they don't actually want that, it makes for a boring narrative. This is one of the very few systems I've seen incentivize this story structure, and I'm absolutely in love with it.

Lastly, because the game focuses so heavily on Magic, it has the only system for simulating the ebbs and flows of magic I've seen done well! This involves "The Path of Suns" and the "Sooth deck" which is the in game name for a specific pattern of laying out what amounts to tarot cards that make magic dynamic, interesting, and unpredictable in a way I've never seen before, and rarely since. (Pathfinder's Secrets of Magic is the only other supplement I can think of, and that was almost 5 years after this game came out)

Anyway, I can't recommend this game enough, the systems are unique, the vibes are immaculate, and it's so fuckin WEIRD in the best way.

[arsene-inc]

GilaRPGs and the Novaverse : Getting the setting out of the game line

Or What is a game line really ?

Getting out of the game line to develop a setting. What does it mean ? Well there's no better start than an exemple so let's check what Spencer Campbell or GilaRPGs is doing.

Actually no, a better start is defining the terms. Curse you leftovers from uni. So what is a game line ? In the TTRPG scene, it is usually thought as all the games that shares a Name, or all the books that share the same setting AND system. We all know the D&D line even if we sometimes wish we didn't. But there's other lines : Pathfinder, Nephilim, Knight, Vampire the Mascarade, etc...

Multiple editions ? Supplements ? That's a line, don't cross it.

But if games with the same setting and the same system are of the same line, what about game with the same setting but different systems ?

A New Challenger appears : Spencer Campbell, one of my fav. His name is often reason enough for me to buy.

(translation for a future video on my french ttrpg channel)

I could talk about the evolution of LUMEN toward a diceless,healthless system, how every other games influence this transition. I'll leave you waiting on this one.

In short, one of his big games is Nova, inspired by Warframe, Destiny and the likes. To summarize : Sun exploded. Nobody knows why. Sun shards implanted on the planet. Now the night won't leave me alone.

A Measly lot of years later, the power of these shards can be harnessed, Humanity can continue. Sparks are invented, mecha-armour to explore the Dusk and defend settlements from their many ennemies. Cause we weren't alone when the sun exploded.

Well I said invented but some Sparks...... One of them was inspired by Satan and the only thing we know about it is thus : The Sky went red and it appeard out of the Dusk. Great. No reason to worry at all. It's not like you can't make a horseman of the Apocalypse party with some other Sparks... (something my player actually did, these edgy mfers) The setting is very succint, it's a small book. But it's the Start of the Novaverse.

No, we can also find Luna and Nest in the same setting. Interesting detail : they focus on two of the enemies' factions found in Nova. And none of them have the same system. Well that may be a little exaggeration. Dusk also exists with a similar system and on the Sparks side.

Before writing about them, I will note that supplements for Nova exist. Nova Dusk Denizen. Zine sized, each zine on a singular faction with more lore, more enemies, more tactics for the GM.

So Dusk is the first new game of this Novaverse. The first to use the LUMEN 2.0, now diceless and based on ressources. For me, it's a debate if Lumen and Lumen 2.0 can be considered the same system. More importantly, this is not a supplement. This is a full game. A modular game (another discussion for the future). Nova's focus was on combat, action. Dusk is not. It is exploration. The monsters usually die in 1 hit. Clearly two distinct experiences.

Then Spencer crowdfunded and published Luna. Another change. Here we play a Nova enemy faction : The Lunar Cult. Their goal : infiltrate a city and convert its sun shard for holy moonstone. This is not the type of adventures Lumen is built for. So the game uses the Resistance system, from Spire and Heart, a more adapted system.

This rpg also does something I appreciate more and more : One type of story only, we know what we want and we will play it in a fewshot campaign, 5 sessions max.

To go back to the original question, I ask of you : Same lore, same setting, but is it the same line ? It is a different experience and a different system after all.

Last May, GilaRPGs crowdfunded Nest. Back to Lumen 2.0, still an enemy faction : the Corvus Dominion, an avian alien race. And again, a game for fewshots. Since nothing has been published about it yet,I can't tell you more.

Same setting, sorta same system, but another game.

Thus what is a line ? How do you conceive it ? A base game and supplements ? Including the various editions of its base game ?

It's not like I can't use these games for Nova. Here we have two problems for the sparks to solve. How about multitable ? Between Nest and Nova ? Between Dusk and Nova ? The players of one game reacting to the actions from the other game and vice verse ? Wouldn't that be an interesting experience ? Wouldn't you want to try ?

Plus, the novaverse is not Spencer's only setting like this. He also has Obron, starting with Rune, his solo game inspired by Elden Ring and Dark Souls, where we play an Engraved. Then comes Reap, also solo in Obron, same system, but this time, you're a necromancer.

Since the game designer opens his game to 3rd party content (another reason to love him), someone had the great and terrific idea of a Realm that works for both games. Both characters are there at the same time. On the Rune side, you fight the Necromancer. On the Reap side, you fight the Engraved.

Now we leave the Rune system to go back to Lumen 2.0 again, with a group, for Thorn, also happening in Obron. And that's all I will say about it, the game is not completed yet.

I love this concept, especially with smaller games. While not zine sized, Spencer's game usually count around 50 pages.

We can focus our game on one type of story, of adventure in a particular setting, with an apropos system. Then make another game in this setting but for another story, another system adapted to this story. No more breaking your brain to try and make a size fit all system.

Generally, with a game it's the system that gets out of the line. We create an SRD for other creators. (Don't be afraid to use SRDs , they're here for you) It's rarer to take a setting and make a new different game in it.

Imagine the possibilities : Multitables with different games, reacting to each other, especially if they have opposed goals. There are players who love a setting but hate the system, the types of adventures the base book proposes. Now they can find a game for them in this setting.

 It is (or is it ?) a new direction for ttrpgs. The world of darkness games may profess to happen in the same world, but I always found them too separated. It is something I think about when creating my own games. What would happen if I take this and change the system ? We can find similar ideas in other games.

Starfinder and Pathfinder share the same setting, the same system, bur with different scopes, in different genres.

Spire and Heart : same setting, same system, different stories. Knight and Parias share the same setting too, for the system, it is the same base, but one is heroic horror, the other is survival of the outcasts. The french author Vivien Féasson also does something similar with Perdus sous la pluie. 3 games in the same setting but one is an horror experience, one is exploration and settlement building, and the last is Life in the biggest citadel.

Let's see what sort of discussions this causes...

Wait a minute ! Isn't Obron the name he gave to the planet in the Novaverse game Dusk ? What is happening ? What secrets are you hiding Spencer !?

[pushing500]

✨Gracie's Rimworld Modlist✨

(For the Mechanitor's Message run)

Here are all my current mods in order. Once again it’s all hand-typed because I am a bit rubbish at computer stuff and don’t know how to export modlists. Enjoy!! xoxo

Prepatcher (required for one or more of the other mods to work)

Harmony (I think this is just for performance)

Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded (this is just cool for loading screens etc.)

[CAT] Show Hair With Hats or Hide All Hats (so my colonists can show off their beautiful hair)

HugsLib (I think this is just for performance)

Camera + (better for taking screenshots)

Character Editor (so I can start with customised colonists)

Vanilla Expanded Framework (so all the Vanilla Expanded mods work)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Props and Decor (adds fancy props and decor)

Geological Landforms (for fun map generation)

Pathfinding Framework (a framework for pathfinding)

ANDH - Animal Nuzzling Detects Horrors (animals can detect metalhorrors when they nuzzle your colonists)

[GMT] Trading Spot (those darn traders always track dirt on my floors)

[KV] Impassable Map Maker (in case I feel like settling on an impassable tile)

[NL] Facial Animation - WIP (they look so cute with their lil’ faces!!)

[SBV] Recreational Drum Use (drum go bang boom, brain get happy)

[T] Moor Floors 1.4 (more floors)

[XND] Proper Shotguns (Continued) (makes shotguns work better so Security Chief Ratchet and Deputy Rocket the militors can be extra kickass)

Llama's Proper Shotgun Patches (some patches for the previous mod)

Adjustable Archonexus Quest Continued (no way Mechi is losing all his research!)

A Dog Said… Animal Prosthetics (animal bionics wooo)

Dubs Bad Hygiene (bathrooms cool)

Allow Tool (makes life so much easier)

[ATW] House Decor (more decorations for the house)

Biomes! Core (framework for Biomes! mods)

Biomes! Fossils (dinosaur museum go brrrr)

Biomes! Islands (tropical paradise, here we come!)

Allies are Helpful (so that our friends, few as they may be, will actually be useful)

Alpha Biomes (adds cool new biomes)

Alpha Memes (new ideology memes)

Alpha Mythology (adds cool new mythological animals)

Alpha Prefabs (cool prefabricated buildings)

Alpha Props - Parks and Gardens (adds props for parks and gardens)

Anima Animals Combined (Continued) (cool anima animals)

Animal Controls (animals can have food restrictions, etc.)

Better Mods Mismatch Window (to see which of my mods is fucked up THIS time 🙄)

Ebbbs (cute black blobby creatures)

Horse Breeds - Skin Variations (in case we feel the need to become cowboys with a varied herd of horses)

Biome Transitions (so your biomes transition)

Childhood Backstories (so your children can have backstories)

Clocks (every house needs a grandfather clock)

Colors (personally I prefer “colours”, but we can’t all be right)

Det’s Xenotypes - Avaloi (colourful drunk coral-people!!)

Det’s Xenotypes - Bogleg (alien mafia)

Doors Expanded (expands on the doors)

Dormitories (Not Barracks) (they shouldn’t be that upset about sharing a room)

Dress Patients (Continued) (put clothes on the patients)

Enhanced Beliefs (expands on the ideology system a bit)

Erin’s Baldur’s Gate 3 Hairs (need more hair)

Erin’s Cottage Collection (cutesy furniture)

Erin’s Decorations (cute decorations)

Erin’s Hairstyles - Redux (mmmmmore hair!!)

Extra Alerts (handy-dandy extra popups)

Floordrawings (those kids are so artistic)

GloomyFurniture (cutsey furniture)

Gloomy Furniture Fix (fixes something idk)

Gradient Hair (gradient hair)

Hard Times: Hair and Beards (more hair and beard styles)

Haul to Stack (you think they could figure that out themselves, but no. They need a mod)

Hospitality (warcrime-themed hotel chain let’s goooo)

Human Butchery 2.0 (just in case)

Human Leather Floor (👀)

Interaction Bubbles (to see what dey sayin’)

Kinky Bodystrap (I will not elaborate)

Lights Out (conserve electricity, save the planet)

Megafauna (biiiig pets)

Minify Everything (if I wanna carry a whole wall I damn well will)

More Descriptive Words and Names (exactly what it says on the tin)

More Faction Interaction (Continued) (more faction interaction)

More Persona Traits (to make Persona Weapons more interesting)

More Religious Origins (adds some more religious origins for ideology)

More Thrumbos (Continued) (mmmmore thrumbos)

More Thrumbos (Retextured) (just makes them look a bit better)

More Vanilla Biomes (more vanilla biomes)

negative traits (they can’t all be good)

Non-Binary Gender (adds a non-binary option)

Offworlders - The Biliog (swamp people)

Optimization: Meats - C# Edition (all meat is raw meat)

Pawn Name Variety (variety in pawn names)

Pick Up and Haul (pick it up and haul it)

Prisoners Don’t Have Keys (why would they??)

Random Research (it looked amusing)

Reel’s Facial Animation Textures (face stuff)

Replace Stuff (to build walls on top of other walls etc.)

RimPy Mod Manager Database (just for insurance)

Rimsenal - Hair pack (hair)

Rimsenal Hair Retextured (more hair stuff)

RimTraits - General Traits (more traits)

River’s Tribal Shoes (tribal shoes)

Romance on the Rim (awww, so romantic <3)

Roo’s HD Dreadlock Hairstyles (dreads)

Roo’s HD Glasses Hairstyles (glasses)

Roo’s HD Hairstyles (hairy)

Roo’s HD Royalty Hairstyles (fancy hair)

RPG Style Inventory Revamped (inventory is easier to use)

RT Fuse (I don’t like zzzt events)

Sand Castles (for funsies)

Simple sidearms (always be prepared!)

Smutty Fanfiction (👀)

Snap Out! (for mental breaks)

Standalone Hot Spring (why have geothermal power when you can have a nice hot bath instead?)

Stylized Slave Collars and Headgear (to fit the theme)

The Vanity Project - Beards (more beards)

The Vanity Project - Female Hair (for the gals)

The Vanity Project - Male Hair (for the guys)

Trait and Backstory Icons (icons for traits and backstories)

Toddlers (smol bean people)

Upscaled - Won hair_men (hair)

Upscaled - Won hair_women (hair)

Vanilla Achievements Expanded (makes me feel successful)

Vanilla Animals Expanded (adds fun new animals)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Endangered (adds endangered animals)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Royal Animals (adds fancy animals)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Waste Animals (edgy dystopian animals)

Vanilla Apparel Expanded (new clothes)

Vanilla Apparel Expanded - Accessories (new accessories)

Vanilla Armour Expanded (more armour)

Vanilla Backstories Expanded (more backstories)

Vanilla Brewing Expanded (alcohol woooo)

Vanilla Base Generation Expanded (generates cool bases)

Vanilla Brewing Expanded - Coffee and Tea (to feed our caffeine addiction)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded (fun food)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Stews (everybody loves a good stew)

Vanilla Fishing Expanded (such a relaxing pastime)

Vanilla Fishing Expanded - Fishing Treasures AddOn (you can fish up cool stuff, like wood)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Sushi (we have to do something with all those fish)

Vanilla Events Expanded (can never have too many events)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Ancients (scary ancient people)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Empire (makes the empire more interesting)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Mechanoids (we couldn’t have a mechanitor run without them)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Settlers (yeehaw)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Tribal (I like having tribal friends)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded (more furniture)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Architect Module (new structure stuff)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Art Module (fancy art and decorations to make)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Farming (we love growing food)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Medical Module (to make the most kickass hospital)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Power (mechanitor has to power their mechs somehow)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Production (cool manufacturing stuff)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Security (you can never be too careful)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Spacer Module (a mechanitor’s dream)

Vanilla Hair Expanded (always need more hair)

Vanilla Hair Retextured (make it look snazzy)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Dryads (for sprucing up gauranlen tree stuff)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Hats and Rags (to dress properly)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Icons and Symbols (to customise ideologies as much as possible)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Relics and Artifacts (cube…?)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Sophian Style (fancy~)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Splits and Schisms (reminds me of Wookshys)

Vanilla Nutrient Paste Expanded (hell yeah nutrient paste)

Vanilla Outposts Expanded (we can form outposts if we like)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Android (it would be cool to have androids hanging out with our mechanitor…)

ReGrowth: Core (I like the retextures)

ReGrowth: Tropical (more fun stuff)

ReGrowth: Aspen (new biomes)

ReGrowth: Boiling (new biomes again)

Vanilla Plants Expanded (yummy foodstuffs)

Tilled Soil (heehoo farm)

Vanilla Persona Weapons Expanded (make the persona weapons more personable)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - More Plants (even MORE farm)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - Mushrooms (I should do a dirtmole colony someday)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - Succulents (they’re cute)

Vanilla Psycasts Expanded (I love ‘em)

Alpha Animals (one of my favourite mods)

Vanilla Genetics Expanded (genetics stuff)

Vanilla Genetics Expanded - More Lab Stuff (more lab stuff)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures (more customisation)

Alpha Genes (Makes for fun people to draw)

Alpha Mechs (Mechs for the Mechanitor!! Skulls for the- oh, wait, no)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Archon (basically githyanki)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Custom Icons (to make your own xenotypes that much more distinct)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Fungoid (zombies go brrrr)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Genie (how many wishes do I get?)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Highmate (the perfect partner!)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Hussar (nobody will ever be as good as Henry…)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Lycanthrope (do we need a werewolf boyfriend?🍍)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Phytokin (tree people my beloved)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Pigskin (is there a teacup pig variant?)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Sanguophage (vampires go brrrr)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Saurid (lizard people to control the government)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Waster (pollution people)

Facial Animations Xenotype Compatibility (to help smooth out the face stuff)

Vanilla Skills Expanded (makes learning more interesting)

Vanilla Skin Tone Genes (inheritable skin tones)

Vanilla Social Interactions Expanded (more interactions to draw)

Vanilla Textures Expanded (expands the vanilla textures)

Vanilla Textures Expanded - [NL] Facial Animation (makes the facial animation more vanilla and less anime)

Vanilla Textures Expanded - Variations (so things don’t look too same-y)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Anima Theme (for funsies)

Vanilla Trading Expanded (expands the trading)

Vanilla Traits Expanded (more traits!)

[DN] Bundle of Traits (one of my favourite trait mods <3)

Vehicle Framework (a framework for vehicles)

Vanilla Vehicles Expanded (more vehicles)

Vanilla Vehicles Expanded - Tier 3 (even MORE vehicles)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded (to spice up the combat)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Coilguns (adds coilguns)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Grenades (expands on grenades)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Heavy Weapons (more heavy weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Laser (laser weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Makeshift (for when you gotta make do)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Non-Lethal (for interrogations and organ harvesting)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Quickdraw (to draw quickly)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Frontier (yeehaw)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Tribal (they deserve some variety too)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Pirates (arrr me hearties!)

VPG Garden Resources (if I wanna grow uranium I will)

Vanilla Psycasts Expanded - Puppeteer (mind control, oooh!)

VVE - Deconstructable Vehicle Junk (so we can make old cars new!)

War Crimes Expanded 2 Core (Updated) (just in case)

What's That Mod (so I know what the mod is)

While You’re Up (PUAH) (more hauling revamps)

Won Hair Men Retextured (hairy hairy)

Won Hair Women Retextured (more hairy hairy)

Xeva’s Rimhair (hair)

Xeva’s Rimhair Retextured (hair)

Yet Another Hair Mod (I don't have too many, shhhh!)

ATH ‘s Retexture Female Apparel (looks like fun to draw!)

ATH’s Style Female Dresses (fun to draw)

HousekeeperAssistanceCat (the best mod)

Facial Animations Xenotype Compatibility (to make the cute faces more compatible with different xenotypes)

[FSF] Complex Jobs (Legacy Version) (makes job prioritizing easier)

Nice Short Female Hairs (okay maybe I have a problem with hair mods 😅)

Pointless Surgeries (it looked funny)

Rational Romance 2 (Continued) (I don't think Mechi is the romantic type but just in case)

ReGrowth: Retextures (fixes ReGrowth textures or something idk)

Urn Retexture and Variation (we needed different urns in case)

[LYN] HD Corporate and Hedonist Apparel (makes some of the Vanilla Expanded clothes HD)

Alpha Vehicles - Early Cars (Mechi should have cool vintage cars)

Det's Xenotypes - Venators (if I can't have T'au I'll have a different ranged xenotype)

Det's Xenotypes - Stoneborn (dwarf go brrrrr)

ReGrowth: Wastelands (biomes~)

ReGrowth: Tundra (bioomes~)

ReGrowth: Swamp (biooomes~)

ReGrowth: Temperate (bioooomes~)

ReGrowth: Boreal (biooooomes~)

Do Recreation When Idle (makes pawns do recreational activities when they're not doing anything else)

Ponpeco Furnitures : Kids' Room (cute furniture in case we, I don't know, acquire a little girl along the way)

Roo's HD Accessory Hairstyles (I JUST NEED MORE HAIR TO DRAW)

Roo's Minotaur Xenotype (we have pig people and dog people and lizard people and I WANT COW PEOPLE DAMMIT)

Roo's Minotaur Xenotype Expanded (just a lil' extra somethin'-somethin' for flavour)

Roo's Birthmarks and Blemishes (fun 👏 to 👏 draw 👏)

Roo's Faun Xenotype (I can live out my Narnia dreams...)

Roo's Satyr Xenotype (need more xenotypes)

Roo's Satyr and Faun Xenotypes Expanded (just a lil' extra somethin'-somethin' for flavour)

Roo's Tattoos - Starter Pack (mmmmmore tattoos!!!)

Use Resurrector Mech Serum On Rotten or Skeleton People (on the off chance we have a sibling who's been buried for too long to be resurrected with a serum otherwise 👀)

Share Rooms [LWM] (on the off chance we have royal twins who don't want to share a room, but I want them to share a room. A mod explicitly written for this run, and I could not be more delighted ❤️❤️❤️)

Reunion (so I can add world pawns—family members and pawns from previous colonies, for example—as "allies" and we might run into them!)

[hearsayhorizons]

Holism’s introduction and the confirmation that there are more ships/intelligences on ART’s level with their own idiosyncrasies and quirks has a real possibility of opening up that coven/school house fertile field of fanfiction that makes people grab other series and hold on tight (not that we weren’t doing that already with this one).

Perihelion’s secret function is in confirming lost colonies and providing initial response for the purposes of safeguarding “”assets”” from predation.

Based on its interactions (attempted interactions) with SecUnit, Holism’s function/special interest is to provide infrastructure after Perihilion’s crew has argued/forged their way into securing long-term protection for those people. 

Perihelion is a secret agent ship and befriended Murderbot, who watches thrillers and other media. Holism the infrastructure/”look at this neat thing!” ship is probably going to find a receptive contact in Three, who seems most comfortable with nonfiction and educational materials (some other good poster pointed out that Three’s interests are tied to its introduction to freedom and choice via Murderbot 2.0’s autobiographical files; I want to put a pin in that for later).

This establishes a thematic setup I want to play with. I was going to fiction this up, but I have weather-related migraines and it is WEATHER lately.

My contribution is [namepending]. Once you have safety, once you have infrastructure, you look at connections and community. And you know what would be a great way to jumpstart an ambassadorial program or knowledge exchange? A university where everyone is doing something new, going somewhere new, where you might have interactions that last a few years and still mean a lot to you later, OR they might help define how you choose to live forever—there’s no knowing, even in real life, how experiences as a young OR older person going to school will influence you.

Why does that student wear something no one else does? Why do those hand gestures stand out? That’s an unusual set of facial features. But no one, literally no one, is going to look at a batch of shaky college students and assume they’re all from a/a variety of colonies 40+ years out of contact with the wider world.

So yeah, I know ART is already the Magic School Bus with weaponized pathfinders, but I posit that our next/a great fanfiction point is... [pending], much more a school bus. Maybe ferrying back and forth between colonies to keep the info exchange open too, but I think the university would be SO useful to give colonists a knowledge base without overwhelming them or forcing them to assimilate into other cultures.

Now, I imagine that just like Amena has to do some learning modules before she can join the University, there’d be sims and modules for incoming students or people going between colonies. And just like System Collapse chapter 8, you hit them where it works—right in the media. So this [pending] has a huge collection of, and is interested in, games.

As a side note, part of me thinks a fully mechanical system like ART would be a bit better able to perceive/use games without a SecUnit filter than media; sure, there’s music and mechanics meant to emotionally motivate the player, but non-visual novels non-dating-sims (eg: “game games”) have goals, mechanisms, more hard input than media.

Remember my pin from earlier re: Three’s interest tied to its path to freedom? I posit a SecUnit (either one of the two freed at the end of System Collapse, or someone else if there’s...)

Actually, if I’m already spitballing fanfic bullshit and ComfortUnits presumably have resources for interacting on a more emotional basis with clients, the CU. I want that construct on [pending]. The odds of that happening are miniscule unless it was maybe at a wit’s end, didn’t know what to do with itself like other units after having its freedom foisted on it.

Yeah, so, it has access to surreptitious funds secured by Tllacey. Maybe IDs. It doesn't have weapons and I get the vibe that no one would be looking as hard for a rogue CU, so I don't imagine it's hacking or has to hack anything. Maybe it can't, since it isn't a security system.

But it IS probably meant to be fluent in current events, folklore, random shit random clients care about. Ergo the Ganaka pit bit.

It searches for SecUnit activity in the news. Oh, or maybe info on ART, maybe it picked something up during its last scene. Murderbot does have a whole aside in SC panicking about the news and what info about the kidnapping could mean for the University’s colony-saving scheme, but that doesn’t go anywhere given the timeframes. So, maybe there is something there, some way to pull the ComfortUnit back in.

It finds the University. It finds, or [pending] finds it, and [pending]’s whole schtick is orientating confused people. It introduces CU to some sims, some games, maye interactions in reality or through games with young people.

I posited in previous posts that SecUnit probably wouldn’t be super into games because the ability to passively exist alongside an atmosphere presented by a story or music is the appeal of its media; it is an actor DOING things during its day job. But CU has presumably been always acted-upon in its day job. So now it has a risk-free method to DO things. Maybe it prefers solo games, or it participates in group games where its identity as a CU comes up only as far as it is comfortable.

I’m sure my [pending] would be thrilled to have a contact/friend who can both communicate comfortably with newcomers while also relating really hard to them. Plus, I feel like the CU construct just sort of gets set loose and abandoned by Murderbot and the narrative. Sometimes those loose ends happen, but I kind of see a way we could work it back in now that we know there are more ships and they want filters/friends/units.

Now I just gotta find a name for [pending].

I do think I have the first few lines of the fic, though:

The shuttle came within range of the bigger ship annotated in the smart glass: Perihelion.

This is you. I transmitted an image of a young human and what the news broadcast identified as another human.

Oh, fuck off.

[dragonologist-phd]

✂️🔫🎀 for Lillith?

thank you!

✂️ SCISSORS - what is the “last straw” for them to cut someone out of their life? how easily do they let go of people?

That’s actually a complicated question- it doesn’t make much for her to cut someone off emotionally, and she doesn’t really let people get close specifically so that it’s easier for her to let them go when she needs to

But she’ll also keep around people she distrusts if they’re useful to her, which has happened plenty of times before. There’s a lot there that depends on the circumstances, what the person can still do for her, and how much control she over the situation in the first place

🔫 PISTOL - do they trust people easily? how easily will they turn their back to someone? have they been backstabbed before? will they betray someone if given an ultimatum?

Lilith does not trust easily at all, and she has and will continue to betray people easily. She’s also been on the receiving end of betrayal and manipulation- that’s just how her world operates, and she doesn’t really know any other way to be

🎀 RIBBON - how would they fit into other worlds / aus? what aus would you like to try out? what fictional world would they fit / not fit into?

Lilith has actually turned out to very versatile character! She started out as my Fatebinder in Tyranny, and I brought her into the Pathfinder universe when I realized the character I was cooking up for the Devil Path was basically just Lilith 2.0. I’ve also played with her a bit in BG3 and will probably use her as my Rogue Trader character if I ever get around to that one!

I think the main thing this means is that I like a very specific brand of evil protagonist lol

Emoji Asks

[therappundit]

***THE BEST OF 2025 (So Far)*** - My Favorite Rap Music From the First Half of A COMPLETELY INSANE Year

2025 has proven to be another year of unpredictable, diverse hip-hop music that offers something for everyone, ranging from aesthetics designed to distract you from thinking too hard about anything, to audio expressionism that will have you thinking about absolutely everything happening in the world around you.

As shocked as I am that we are already approaching the mid-point of the year, a quick reflection on what we have seen and heard between January and June clearly indicates that...A LOT has happened. With much of the world feeling like everything is up in flames (sadly in too many cases, that can be taken literally), much of the art we have seen in 2025 echoes a society inundated by images of war, genocide, corruption, an uptick in threats to minority communities, assault on gender identity, a casual comfort in expressing ignorant and sexist views through large-scale means, fractured economic systems with a dangerous lack of protective infrastructure, mostly empty rap battles between coasts that all parties would be better off without (ahem)...and too many other existential threats to cover here. In summary, there's seemingly no end for topics to cover in rap music today.

So whatever music you're listening to right now, I just hope it is bringing you joy, or at the very least, serving a series of tiny reminders that there is still a lot to love about this world, and the people in it. I'm going to try to do my part by sharing some of the music that I have loved in 2025 thus far, and if you end up loving anything from this list that you had not previously heard, let me know. 🙏

*In no particular order*...

***FAVORITE ALBUMS/EPs/MIXTAPES/PROJECTS***:

(The) Forever Dream by Fly Anakin

Murder During Drug Traffic by Boldy James & RichGains

Crook$ & Ca$tles by Ahk Sair

Dear Psilocybin by ZelooperZ & Real Bad Man

emerge "n" see by shemar

GOLLIWOG by billy woods

Shawty Got Ball Head Pu**y Like Tupac So I Got High And Kilt It Wit Keefe D by smiles & SMO

That's Brilliant! by Bfb Da Packman

Supreme Magnetic by ERROL HOLDEN

be a better friend by Jay Cinema & chasay

Black Man! by Teller Bank$ & Wino Willy

MERRY&RUE by Imani Nichele

Showbiz! by MIKE

yoteLAndia by COYOTE

POTLUCK by Bruiser Wolf

Pinball II by MIKE & Tony Seltzer

No School by Asterisk

Food From the Gods by Black Milk & Fat Ray

THE DYNASTY by WiFiGawd

Fada<3of$ by Niontay

From The Private Collection of Saba and No ID by Saba & No I.D.

check for me by Jaysanityy

YN Anthem by 2Sdxrt3all

At Ease. by IDK Young J. & PTY

Trainspotting by Rome Streetz & Conductor Williams

SHIT AIN'T SWEET by JUNE!

The Good The Bad The Dollar Menu by Ray Vaughn

PATHFINDERS by PATHFINDERS (blackchai & Illohim)

The Wonderful World Of Squadda B by Squadda B

Life Is Beautiful by Larry June, 2 Chainz, and The Alchemist

Seeker of Knowledge by CHoW

Old Chicago Stadium by Video Dave

M Block (Deluxe) by BabyFxce E

Evergreen Plaza by Previous Industries

OUTSTANDING UNDERSTANDING by R.A.P. Ferreira

UW6 by St6 JodyBoof

FOR MY KID'S KIDS by Jameel Na'im X

ILL Dirty Rufus by Rufus Sims & Master Ill

ZOO LIFE by BabyChiefDoit

Forty by Blu & August Fanon

WINNERTIME 2.0 by Papo2oo4 & Subjxct 5

The Beautiful Malaise by Tony Bontana & Psychedelic Ensemble.

Deja Bloo by Bloo Azul & Spanish Ran

When The Iron Is Hot by ovrkast.

I Want Nothin' by Kipp Stone

Remember to Breathe by Landon Wordswell & Es-k

RENT PAID by LaRussell & Hit-Boy

12 by Westside Gunn

UNDEFEATED EP by Icewear Vezzo

I Did More with Less (V1) by A$AP Twelvyy

Salsa Verde by Tom Caruana

Demon Slayer 2 by Lord OLO & Televangel

THUG ZINE issue 003: Against Entropy by bromethugzine (SWAMP THUG & BROMETHAZINE)

Other Blues by Parallel Thought & Defcee

I Live, I Die, I Live Again by Chuckyy

Dis For The Project (Side A) by Dough Networkz

Atlanta Night Life by YN Jay

The Outcome (Deluxe) by Black Soprano Family & ILL Tone Beats

shabbvangogh by Mike Shabb

PIFF by Lord Sko

Pooch On Da Loose! by 4pooch

Conversion of Light EP by Alikho Igama

Cegregation by Whyceg

A Space Between Time by BigDaddyChop & Heir James

The Michelin Man by Cookin Soul & ANKHLEJOHN

BLEU MAGIC by DeevoDaGenius, Kil The Artist, BLUEHILLBILL

GT9 by Slimesito

Welfare Island by KnowitAll & bop phrases

RocAmerikkka 3 by Flee Lord & eto

The Vault Collective by SupremeCreme

EASE VS EVERYBODY by LITEEASE

4WTRO2 by Zone1eriic & hariroc

Stadium Lo Champions by Raz Fresco & Futurewave

Hero's Journey by Sleep Sinatra

'SKELETONZ' by MANN

Life Of A Zootieee by El Snappo

City Shimmers by Don Densley, Jay Cinema, LQQPMASTER

Cold [Deluxe Edition] by Kenn Starr & Kev Brown

BLACK KNOT by 99 Neighbors, Maari, Wahid, ANTI

Tag Program (Talented & Gifted) by Lil Gray

A Lost Language Found by Lukah & Statik Selektah

LORDLOVESTERROR by Cut Beetlez, THEFOODLORD, Lord Karu Villain

***WHAT ELSE STAYS IN HEAVY ROTATION*** :

*In no particular order*...

"Cuhmunity Freestyle" - Meet The Whoops feat. AD

"Flip Cup" - Nakama. feat. Rap Man Gavin & kiluhmanjaro

"Fashion Model" - Skrilla feat. Jorjiana

"REALEST OF YOUR BOYZ" - Tree

"Me & My" - Babydrill

"Hit the Brakes" - Fat Trel & KP SKYWALKA

"Never Need" - Anycia, GloRilla & KARRAHBOOO

"COMPANYFLOW" - urhra & Riley Lamarre feat. Lungs/Lonesword, 98preem & blackchai

"Crowned Skull" - QThree & Groundskeeper feat. Cavalier

"Gang Gang" - Chef Boy, Rosencrans HopOut, Ys, Hitta J3 & PHOPH8IGHT

"$ & Power" - Benny feat. Skylar Blatt

"1:1[FKDUP.BEZEL]" - Pink Siifu feat. Conquest Tony Phillips, bbymutha & Eltheist

"Black Dynamite" - 2 Eleven feat. Jay Rock

"Blood Bath" - Fox BD feat. YTB FATT & Chuckyy

"This Aint That" - Murs

"Money On Money" - Young Thug & Future

“MFWAH” - DeevoDaGenius feat. ElCamino & Estee Nack

"READ THE ROOM - LulJustin feat. Zone1eriic

"Nesquik" - Napoleon Da Legend & Giallo Point

"Refurbished" - Jamal J. SWIZZ B88GIE, Saint Key

"My Dharma" - Lex Boogie from the Bronx & Senz Beats

"Game Time" - AZ Chike

"Prepping Pizza" - Spank Nitti James & Hit-Boy

"gmfu" - Marco Plus

"The Rose Bowl" - The High & Mighty feat. Your Old Droog & The Alchemist

"Armani Section" - Roc Marciano & DJ Premier

"Silver" - Quincy Hunch feat. Sol ChYld & Onyx

"Good" - EastsideEggroll

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" - Milc & spinitch feat. Wynne

"Be" - Sol ChYld

"Time" - Jorjiana

"Landgrab" - Mavi feat. Earl Sweatshirt

"Stunner" - blank thought feat. IDK Young J. & QuestionATL

"P Bitch" - Myaap & Nedarb feat. Pablo Skywalkin

"Live At the Chinese Buffet" - Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals

"BMJR 3" - Jameel Na'im X

"City is Mine" - Godfather of Harlem & Swizz Beatz feat. Larry June, Conway the Machine & Sauce Walka

"BOBYAHEAD2DIS" - YL & Subjxct 5

"GBP" - Central Cee feat. 21 Savage

"3.5" - Myles Clayton

"Destiny Rose" - Che Noir & Superior

"Crueler Walls" - PremRock feat. Nappy Nina, YUNGMORPHEUS

“True Lies” - Curren$y & Harry Fraud feat. Babyface Ray, Styles P, 03 Greedo

“paid” - XANG

"OLADIPO" - Bump J

"Ask About Me" - ChoppaBaby & Fatt Macc feat. lil double 0

"Ultra Ill Magnetic Street" - Thirstin Howl III feat. Young Hump

"Gallons" - That Mexican OT & Sauce Walka feat. Lil Jairmy, Sosamann, DRODi & Mg Lil Bubba

"NEVER TRUST A BITCH THA- *EXPLODES*" - $ilkMoney

“Ouch” - DDG, Kyle Richh & NLE Choppa

“3167” - Lil Hawa feat. YsnUth

"Koolin" - Percaso feat. Luh Tyler

"Drowsy" - Polo Youngin

"Freight" - GetRichZay feat. 1504 MUTEBABY

"Went Off" - Doseone & Steel Tipped Dove feat. Open Mike Eagle

"Grain Of Sand" - Fresh Daily & Parental feat. Debonair P

"ERRDAY" - kingdoughmane.

"YN" - PlaqueBoyMax feat. Sexyy Red, BabyChiefDoit, LAZER DIM 700 & Baby Kia

"Weed Gentrification" - GOODNEWSBAS feat. Cavalier

“Pulse Points” - Henny L.O. , ewonee, Mirtaw, Illa Styles, Nickelus F & GRT SCTT

"TOXIC" - Playboi Carti feat. Skepta

"World Tour" - Jaeychino

"It Factor" - Boldy James & Real Bad Man feat. EL-P

"Automatic Weapons" - Lil Bread feat. LAZER DIM 700

“Aye Rage” - Benji Blue Bills & BNYX, YourRage

“3B’s” - STAR BANDZ

“PROLONGED” - Davidthetragic feat. Allen Thomas

"Handle Bars" - T.F & Khrysis feat. Flee Lord & Smoke DZA

“Another Day, Another Dolla” - Lil Tony Official feat. Nino Paid

“Infinite Pockets” - Homeboy Sandman & Brand The Builder

“No Sense” - DjSlimebxll feat. Slimesito

"Imported Hashish" - Bigg Sluggathor feat. UGLYFRANK

"Last Laugh" - Jericho Jackson (Elzhi & Khrysis) feat. Domo Genesis & Oh No

“PERFECT WORLD” - Lloyd Banks

“No Sleep” - Rubberband OG, BABY MEL, Fatt Macc, Big Moochie Grape, ABGR Lil Cory & Trenacote Shawty

“EASTER ISLAND” - Wiles Martyr

"Double D's" - Baby Osamaa

“Old School” - 2DATRAP, Dj Gren8de, Slime Dollaz

Choppa FattMac - Ask About Me

“I Look Like” - Big Boss Vette

"God Body Brothers" - Dizzy Wright, D Smoke, Oswin Benjamin, AJ McQueen & Kxvi

"South Still Speaking" - Lukah & Statik Selektah feat. Killer Mike

"High Speed Clouds" -NCY Milky Band & Quelle Chris

"Facelift" - DEAD PERRY feat. Estee Nack, Raz Fresco & Daniel Son

"Uncle Bernie" - Reese Youngn feat. Bfb Da Packman

"Brand New" - The Underachievers (Issa Gold, AKTHESAVIOR)

"scales" - Lord Apex feat. Louis Culture

"Be Foreal" - Luhh Dyl

"Forever My Moment" - Tee Grizzley

"Rent Due" - Jay Exodus feat. Mick Jenkins

"Glockaveli" - Key Glock "Dungin" - PROPAGANDA feat. Stik Figa, Dj Sena P

"Merch His Ahh" - Nutso Thugn feat. LAZER DIM 700

"GARGOYLE" - Obijuan, Mike Shabb

"End Of The Day" - Xzibit feat. Tre Capital, Domo Genesis & Ade Bekoe

"Monta Ellis" - Ghais Guevara feat. Yoko McThuggin

"Look Like Cocaine" - Bravo The Bagchaser feat. X4

"Flying Saucers" - your best friend jippy feat. Vodka

"Bo Crackson" - AC640

"Room Of June" - Vic Spencer & Bucky Luger

"WEIGHTED SHOES" - Perry Maysun feat. Isaiah Poet

"Basquiat Painted Transylvania" - Fatboi Sharif & Driveby feat. LUNGS

"Get Fired" - Pablo Skywalkin "Keep Calling" - Mani Coolin

"Cops & Robbers" - Oran Juice Ii feat. JustTy

"Sucka Free, Pt. 2" - Premo Rice

"The Magic iZ Y.O.U." - Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire

"ventriliquist" - whereisfox feat. Outside House

"ABC's" - Maf Teeski

"K E L L F I R E" - Wiz Kelly & Chillon Davis feat. VEGA7

"Options" - Sule, Tye Cooper & Black Soprano Family feat. The Hoodies

If 2025 ended today we would still be looking at a great year for rap music. It's hard for me to imagine too many future releases being stronger than my favorite records of the year so far, but only time will tell. Stay tuned...

[soloavengers]

An attempt to analyze two essential parallel DD2 scenes, heavy spoiler warning.

The Dragon speaking in the coronation scene where you speak to Pathfinder has my head hurting, let me compare the two coronation scenes. Don’t expect answers, just thoughts, theories and more questions.

The Dragon:

The Dragon again:

(hey Syllie should’ve taken off the mask!) They aren’t the exact same and I love that, because it’s implying the Arisen did demonstrate their will. Suppose it was by killing the Dragon, then why is the Dragon speaking? Is the bond reserving after death, or did it not die?

The Dragon:

Pathfinder’s parallel:

This was my favorite. I like how they speak.

In the first scene the Dragon basically assigns us to find out the truth, (and change fate.) Pathfinder tries to tell us the truth, and make us believe it.

Then very much offers us the chance to, cast aside our heart and our life both, by giving us the chance to use the Godsbane. I love the moment that follows, the flight was basically our chance to do just that, the way the Dragon says: “It’s too late.” when we arrive. It’s too late for us to use the Godsbane.

I feel like I don’t need to go deeper than this, I feel like this is a very surface level analysis but I don’t care if the things I’ve written down and noticed are very obvious, I enjoy writing my thoughts.

One interesting thing is I don’t notice the Dragon in the first scene ever mentioning our charge, which Pathfinder mentions, the lack of parallels there is something.

It sure mentions it in Melve. OUGH.

Okay, back to the coronation scene (No.2)

A lot of people question what the fuck do they mean by “or through the eyes of another…” I’ve reached an answer I’m way too confident about, and it’s that in case you fail (wake up in the shack,) time turns back to pre-Unmoored World, the another would be the Arisen which failed.

The fucked up thing is, I keep doubting the idea that this was all Pathfinder’s plot, that Pathfinder has a Seneschal like duty and so it was all apart of the test, the dogma 2.0, if you will. Can’t be sure, of anything. Least of all if the Dragon speaking was really the Dragon.

Is Pathfinder a being with an agenda against the Arisen so they push them away from their True fate, gets them attached to the world only to wreck it before their very eyes because they dared listen to the Dragon pretty much begging them to end the Cycle?

I love the messiness of this, I love the ambiguity, the room for us to decide if the first coronation scene truly happened or not. However, it hurts my head and I’d love to learn the truth even more, thank you.

The two scenes could be for the sake of creating a loop, it could be that, your Arisen from the very beginning has already failed.

Failed, turned back in time. But Pathfinder cannot ignore them, so they get to remember, a little. Like the first coronation scene is the second but twisted in memory. The Dragon speaking in the second scene… To make the Arisen think of it and consider the Godsbane? That’s the bit that bothers me the most I think, the bit that had me comparing the scenes. I hope I missed something that would give me an epiphany. Until then, this was all I have to say <3

[umerkhawaja]

Which Are the Best-Selling Nissan Cars in the US?

Nissan is a popular Japanese car brand that has sold millions of vehicles in the US since entering this market in 1958. The company offers a wide range of cars, from fuel-efficient sedans to spacious SUVs, designed to meet the diverse lifestyles and budgets of American drivers. Among these, the Nissan Rogue remains the best-selling Nissan vehicle in the United States.

By October 2024, this midsize crossover SUV had already sold nearly 200,000 units. It sold 271,458 units in 2023 and an impressive 285,602 units in 2021, despite global supply chain disruptions caused by COVID-19. Since its debut in 2007, the Rogue has sold over 3 million units in the US, with more than 1 million of these vehicles manufactured at Nissan's largest US assembly plant in Smyrna, Tennessee.

The Rogue is highly regarded for its spacious interior, which offers ample room for passengers and cargo, its bold, sporty design, and its advanced safety technology. Key features include Nissan Safety Shield 360, which provides automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning, and rear cross-traffic alert.

In 2024, Nissan introduced a refreshed Rogue model, boasting a 12.3-inch updated touchscreen infotainment system with Google built-in. This system integrates Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Play, along with Amazon Alexa, USB-C ports, Android Auto, and wireless Apple CarPlay. Notably, this model is the first Nissan to feature Google integration and USB Type-C ports.

Powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine delivering 201 horsepower and 225 foot-pounds of torque, the Rogue strikes a balance between performance and fuel efficiency. It competes in a crowded SUV market alongside models like the Honda CR-V, Mitsubishi Outlander, Subaru Forester, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, and Toyota RAV4. Rogue's base model starts at $28,850.

Another strong performer in Nissan's lineup is the Altima, a midsize sedan that appeals to buyers with its sleek design, fuel-efficient powertrains, and the availability of all-wheel drive - a rare feature in its class that enhances stability on slippery roads. The Altima sold 128,030 units in 2023 and is expected to exceed 100,000 units in sales by the end of 2024.

Refreshed in 2023, the 2024 Altima features a spacious cabin that comfortably seats five passengers, an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system paired with a six-speaker audio setup, ample trunk space, and tech features like push-button ignition, voice recognition, Bluetooth, and a Wi-Fi hotspot. Engine options include a 2.5-liter four-cylinder and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder. The 2024 and 2025 models also come equipped with Nissan's ProPILOT Assist, a hands-on driver-assist system that helps maintain lane centering, adjusts speed to keep a preset distance from the car ahead, and even brings the vehicle to a complete stop before resuming speed when traffic clears. The starting MSRP for the 2024 Altima is $26,370, increasing slightly to $27,000 for the 2025 model.

The Nissan Sentra is also a top-seller in the US, with sales reaching 123,732 units by the end of the third quarter of 2024, up from 89,067 during the same period in 2023. This four-door compact sedan features a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), achieving an impressive 37 miles per gallon on the highway. With safety features such as automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, and intelligent forward collision warning, the Sentra appeals to families and budget-conscious buyers. Its starting price is just over $21,000.

While these three models dominate Nissan's US sales, two others also merit attention for their strong performance. The Nissan Kicks, a subcompact crossover SUV known for its sporty design and comfortable ride, has sold over 50,000 units in 2024. Meanwhile, the Pathfinder, redesigned in 2022 and praised for its spacious three-row seating, remains a favorite among buyers, selling 71,710 units in 2023 and 58,896 units by the third quarter of 2024.

[zarvasace]

Time

Pathfinder Chain 2.0 masterpost

Ancestry - human. Not much to say here.

Heritage - changeling. Pathfinder changelings are children of the fey hags, whether or not they know it. In Time's case, he can see in the dark and is used to resisting the Call, giving him a bit more mental fortitude. This heritage is what gives him one gray eye.

Background - feybound. He is more familiar with the fey than most mortals, allowing him a bit of capricious luck and giving him some rules to follow.

Class - bard, warrior muse. He can cast spells of the occult tradition by way of music. The warrior muse gives him a bit more survivability in direct melee combat. He has a little bit of healing and support but is far more likely to pull a few sneaky tricks himself.

Archetype - chronoskimmer. He has a Relationship with the passage of time. He can reroll some dice and can mess with the ordering of initiative a little bit.

Other Notes - Time is solidly in the middle of the pack when it comes to Hit Points. He's one of four boys who maxed out his charisma, but his strength is pretty good, too, to allow him to wear armor and wield a large sword.

In Pathfinder Chain 1.0, Time was a human changeling champion, bard archetype.

[verdibaritones]

did so much DLC stuff today

went through Belurat (except the swamp, nothing of value there)

Golden Vow + FGMS + Talisman of the Dread + Fire Scorpion + Shard of Alexander = the big horned warriors can be oneshot with Taker's Flames

dealt with Queelign in the cheesiest manner possible

went through the rest of Castle Ensis (and also cheesed Moongrum 2.0. her pathfinding is... pretty dumb)

blessing level 11 now (the other day I spent like an hour clearing out the area near the red zone hippo so I could hit and run. worth it. idk why there are so many TWLID there when there were also a lot of Mirandas)

somehow first tried the lion??? granted, I had Freya and the mimic, but still

same for Rellana??? I know my blessing level is pretty high but I also managed to jump the triple moon slam. that was some ultra instinct shit. in both fights I used Heal From Afar once to keep the summons alive and had several flasks left over.

Blasphemous Blade is absolutely ridiculous tbh

talked to granny for soup

lion. lion what the fuck are you doing

gave the soup to Hornsent

told Ansbach about the Belurat cross

finally felt ready to break the charm

another round of talks

descended into the Fissure now that it's open. not doing that shit for now but I got the grace

I think hippo's next, going up towards the Jagged Peak, and visiting Ymir

also did a lot of albinauric-farming since the bosses don't give enough for a level. got some more Mind and upgraded a bunch of stuff

[underleveledjosh]

I want a simple virtual tabletop that works well for Dungeon and Dragons 5e and Pathfinder 2nd Edition, but devs for most of them demand money for full access to all features. What do you mean I have only 5 gb and 2 campaign slots if I don't pay, Owlbear fucking Rodeo 2.0? Why the fuck are all vtts except for foundry subscription services instead of one time buy? I fucking hate subscription culture. I want to own shit. Not extended rental. Foundry is the best vtt because you buy it once and have it forever. It is way cheaper than all those subscription services in that way as well.

[fandom-space-princess]

An Audacious Undertaking, Even to God

Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries

Rating: Gen

Relationships: SecUnit 1 & SecUnit 2 & SecUnit 3

Additional tags: Book 5: Network Effect, Book 7: System Collapse, Canonical Character Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Queerplatonic Relationships, 1 & 2 do still die but not for very long, 3 needs its friends back :( , studies in construct relations

Chapter: 3/?

Read chapter below, or on AO3.

——————————

In the CR-standard hour it has taken Perihelion to return to the space dock, the clients have been brought out of the shuttle and relocated into quarantine. The transport’s humans have returned to their personal quarters, which are at present disconnected from the ship feed and insulated from its passive and active scanning functions. My own clients are in a room which appears to serve as a temporary dormitory on a recurring basis, and which is similarly isolated from connectivity.

I am not able to contribute meaningfully to this effort. Humans often seem to move slowly in comparison to the speed with which I process my surroundings, but at the moment, my performance is still suffering. Arada and Ratthi each individually advised that I remain as far from the explorer’s retrieved crew as possible.

(Ratthi: “If they ask, it’ll be easier to convince them we don’t know what happened to you if you haven’t been helping us move them bodily around the ship.”

Arada: “We can hope. You think they’ll remember who rescued them?”

Amena: “They might not. Eletra’s memory is still pretty messed up. We can play it off like one of us pulled them out, maybe, if it comes up? Say we went over ourselves, had to bring their shuttle back with us.”

Arada: “Believability concerns aside, encouraging someone to question their own mind is deeply unethical.”

Ratthi: “We can’t just let them take it back, either.”)

The gurney carrying 001’s body has vanished deeper into the ship. I do not know where it has gone, or what has been done with it. The thought of asking inspires contradictory sensations deep within my organic components. I want to ask. I do not, perhaps, want to know.

And so I do not ask.

I have new responsibilities to focus on, and this eases the feeling somewhat. We have come back to the space dock to complete the recovery of Perihelion’s crew. The tenor of its interactions both in the public feed and with myself privately has become perceptibly different since we arrived. It is still very angry. But that anger is now pointed in a direction that does not appear to include me, and when it does speak to me it is with an air of calculated consideration.

We have a plan for the retrieval of Murderbot 1.0—this is incorrect. We have a plan for the retrieval of the being which its clients (and Perihelion, when speaking aloud) refer to as “SecUnit.” I only partially understand why they do this. The memories shared with me by 2.0 included the practice, but did not explain its source; I know only that it prefers this state of affairs to the actionable alternatives. This explains the indirect phrasing of Amena’s initial query regarding my own name.

(“Three” does and does not feel like a name that might belong to me. When I attempt to imagine what I might like to be called that is more appropriate, however, my internal processes return a pointer variable. I already know what files I will find stored at that location, so I have been trying not to think about it.)

Our other retrieval mission is also set to commence shortly. After Perihelion revealed that it had refitted its pathfinders with explosive ordnance, Ratthi expressed a desire to inspect the one he is to escort planetside. As he has no specific training in such matters, he is consulting over the comm with one of Perihelion’s humans (feedID(“Tarik”), gender(male/masc)) from his position onboard the currently-ascending drop box. Arada is preparing the other shuttle. Neither of them have requested my help with these processes.

As of 3.77 minutes ago, Amena has cycled back through the transport’s main airlock and re-entered the space dock. According to our earlier conversation with the crew, those who are returning to the ship are in need of medical care, and so Amena has accompanied a drone gurney across to the drop box foyer with emergency supplies in the event they are deemed necessary. She stated that my presence would be welcome, should I care to accompany her.

It was not a command, and also not a question. I am no longer required to respond to either commands or questions. But in the absence of compulsion and protocol I find I have little guidance for what constitutes an acceptable response to many of the things that have been said to me. After the not-command-and-not-question, there passed a prolonged delay during which Amena stood patiently, looking past my left shoulder. My buffer eventually produced, “I’m sorry, I don’t have that information.” She shrugged one shoulder, smiled, nodded, and continued on to the airlock.

And now I am standing outside the main shuttle dock, staring at the wall. I do not have time to assist Amena before we depart for the planet. I tell myself this, once.

But…

No. It would compromise my ability to participate in this retrieval.

But.

The transport is watching me, silently, in the feed. Then it says: I can ask her to get it for you. She would agree without reservation.

I have already proven myself unable to perform my function once. The probability of repeating this outcome feels unacceptably high, given my current goals.

I send: Query: you examined it?

Perihelion: I reviewed SecUnit’s findings and performed my own additional scans, yes.

My first failure nearly cost me personal functionality, which I am willing to risk, and file integrity, which I am not. Do you believe it is serviceable?

Perihelion: Doubtful, but I would require more data to be certain.

I no longer know what responsibilities I owe to this situation, or… to them. 001’s body is somewhere nearby, damaged more comprehensively that I have ever seen. And 002’s body is on the other side of these walls, via a door which I am currently choosing not to pass through. When I had no ability to decide where I went or why, they were always nearby. Now that I have the power to make such a choice, I cannot go to them, because—at least for the moment—they exist only in me.

If I do not bring 002’s platform aboard, what will happen to it? Will the transport’s crew salvage it? Will the hostile humans take it?

If it is within mission bounds… please. And… I hesitate. This is difficult to ask. Resource allocation request: local mirror personal storage.

Perihelion’s presence withdraws almost entirely. For a moment I wonder if I have caused offense, but then it returns. It has granted me administrative access to a small partition of its onboard memory. The allocated space is a fraction of a sliver of its resources, but it is enough—more than enough. It has given me a place to copy my files.

The duplication process runs, and I examine the backups for imperfections or data loss. Perihelion watches me work. When they are in place a heaviness lifts from my organic components. The muscles in my chest and back loosen. I tell it: Thank you.

If 002’s platform is brought aboard, I do not know if it will be repairable. I do not know if I will be able to restore it. When I consider this my performance reliability begins to drop, and so I am trying not to consider it. I need to maintain optimal functionality for the task ahead of me.

2.0 sent me here to help. I do not believe it anticipated that I would do so in exactly this way, but I do not think it would be disappointed. Its desire for the secure retrieval of its original iteration and platform is obvious. And it offered me governance of myself when it had no need to do so—when it might in fact have been less of a risk not to do so. I am not unaware of the fact that it could have chosen to hack me. It did not. What it offered instead has amounted to an overture of trust, of friendship.

I see no reason the gesture should not be reciprocal.

I may not be able to restore 001 and 002, and this thought causes me more pain than any other. But I still have my function. For these humans who offer their kindness so freely, for the unknowable and terrifying transport, for 2.0—I will try to save what can still be saved.

——————————

[Before]

SecUnit-003: Alert, priority designation: URGENT. System acknowledge.

SecSystem: …

SecUnit-003: Shipwide alert. Priority designation: URGENT. System acknowledge.

SecSystem: …

I don’t think it can hear me.

SecUnit-003: Request command belay. Request command reissue. System acknowledge.

SecSystem: …

The bot pilot has been deleted. HubSystem is unresponsive. I do not know who or what is piloting the ship. My messages are pinging… something. I am receiving an echo from the remnants of SecSystem, but it is as though I am shouting into a cavern, hoping to receive a response from my own voice.

And I cannot move.

SecUnit-003: Initiate buffer purge.

SecUnit-003: Request command reissue.

SecUnit-003: Request command belay.

SecUnit-003: System acknowledge.

Nothing.

Some portion of the bridge crew remains alive in the lounge behind me—my continued compliance with my governance protocols is proof of this. What state they may be in is currently unknown. I was not able to aid in their defense. Before I even reached the bridge, SecSystem had been remotely instructed to cycle its command codes, and I was ordered into stand-down mode. From my position in the hallway, I watched the hostile boarding party overtake the bridge in coordination with the tactical team. As 001 had reported, they appeared compromised, operating under a compulsion that I could neither interpret nor offer assistance with.

The intruders spent several minutes out of my line of sight. SecSystem’s access to the bridge cameras was cut off. There was an exchange of energy weapons fire, then silence. When next one of the compromised tactical team emerged into the hallway, it was to order me to follow them back to the bridge and collect the bodies of the crew. They had been rendered physically immobile via mechanisms crudely spliced into their musculature, and two of them had sustained burns and contusions, but they were otherwise unharmed. I was instructed to deposit them in the lounge nearby, and then return to standby mode.

In the interim the situation has further deteriorated. At one point contact with a network-external ship was made. This resulted in some number of the hostiles departing the explorer, but they have been replaced by humans who are now in a situation identical to that of my own clients. I have tracked our movements through this system to the best of my ability, but with a hostile control system in place and SecSystem all but stripped of functionality, my inputs have shrunk to only my physical sensor arrays. The feeling is claustrophobic.

Eventually, I cease my attempts to ping SecSystem. More than a day has passed since the initial incursion, and I have disabled my olfactory sensors entirely. Between the unnatural cloying organic scent given off by the intruders and the onset of decay of the still-unattended corpses, the ship smells unpleasantly of death. There is no indication that either the remaining crew or the hostiles are likely to organize themselves well enough to find a use for me anytime soon. I cannot raise any of the supply team on broad-range comms. I have attempted many times to reinitialize 001, to contact 002, each time without success. I can do nothing but wait, and so I do.

But then—

It is unremarkable, at first. A maintenance program within SecSystem claims a fragment of its processing space, and it vanishes from my view. Ordinarily this would be so routine as to be unworthy of notice, but nothing about these circumstances is ordinary. I watch intently in the ship feed. Tiny eddies disturb what has been, until now, placid code. The hostileControlSystem that has installed itself in the ship could be responsible, but thus far it has not been successful in making use of what remains of SecSystem, and nothing it has otherwise done has been subtle.

Then, out of nowhere: System System: Unit Acknowledge.

And the reconfiguration of my existence begins.

——————————