#so I got to just integrate a lot of stuff from her original campaign

[abysskeeper]

Betrayal, ghost, and wound for the OC angst asks! For whoever strikes your fancy. =D

Well, my other ask specifically targets Trick, so I'm going to take this opportunity to ramble about my Elturel twins, wizard Nox'ani and paladin Lux'ol (they come as a package deal since I'm writing their campaigns together). Thank you!

And since I'm speaking for two and no longer know what brevity is, and also have an awareness for other people's dashes, a readmore for everything that follows:

betrayal: Has your OC ever been betrayed by someone they thought they could trust? Has your OC ever betrayed someone who trusted them?

Lux is an Oath of Devotion paladin (Lathander) and former Hellrider, so betrayal is the ultimate sin for her. She does not and will not betray people, however she is incredibly susceptible to being betrayed. No one close to her has ever betrayed her as far as she knows, but the events that took place in her home city left their scars. When the High Rider revealed himself as a vampire lord some 50 years before the game started and took over the city, Lux was left reeling. When the entire city was betrayed to Zariel and sent to Avernus, something inside her broke knowing that the leadership she had devoted her entire life to in order to protect people had essentially fucked her and everyone else over twice.

Nox, on the other hand, has no oath to uphold, but devotion kind of runs in the family. However, she has betrayed someone once. During the vampire takeover of Elturel, she and Lux's new wife, a fellow Hellrider named Asta, made a deal that if either one of them turned, they would kill the other. Neither wanted to live like that and both knew Lux would never be able to kill either one of them. Given Nox is my primary Tav and Asta isn't in the picture...you can guess how that went. Lux doesn't know, and if Nox has her way, she never will. It isn't guilt exactly, and Nox doesn't regret it, but there is shame...and she's never seen a reason to inflict an additional blow to her sister in an already painful situation.

As for being betrayed, Nox doesn't really get that feeling, except for in the most literal sense. Otherwise, people want power, people lie, and people have secrets. She understands and expects it. Instead, she lodges her complaints at divinity, claiming the gods betrayed mortals as a whole in not doing all they can to protect life. Nox also has a weird situation with Mystra that she won't call betrayal per se, but she's been left hurt and confused as to why Mystra cast her gaze away from her once the goddess was revived. Nox still doesn't have an answer, and it burns her more than she'll ever admit to.

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

Elturel, for both of them, in both instances. In addition to being on the front lines and seeing the civilian carnage they were trying to prevent, they lost most of their family. Both their mother, an archmage, and their father, another Hellrider, died during the vampire takeover, as well as Asta. In Avernus, they were dealt an additional blow when Nox's best friend, and general family friend, Kal was murdered after a ploy to get him and Nox to sign contracts turned sour.

The two both made peace with their parents' deaths in the 50 or so years between the vampire takeover and the start of the game. Their elven parents died well before their time, but they did so protecting what they loved and believed in, and both twins came to the conclusion the best they could do was live on in their legacies; which included them trying to help the Elturian refugees (the tieflings) settle in Baldur's Gate and is the reason they were in city at the start of the game.

Lux additionally, eventually, started making peace over Asta's presumed death with the help of time and support from her fellow Riders. Neither of them have had enough time to really parse what happened in Avernus, and Nox is still reeling at losing her best friend. Her only solace is that he was older (70, probably pushing 80, and human) so she had been preparing for the inevitable at some point, but she hasn't been able to get any real closure. She was intending on traveling to Waterdeep to visit his family and inform them after she and Lux were done in Baldur's Gate...but then a Nautiloid appeared, so that has to wait.

And then, a few weeks after the Nautiloid appeared, some familiar faces popped up (because I am nothing, if not cruel). Lux knows better than to believe the dream visitor, but she looks exactly like Asta and it threw Lux completely. She knows better than to be led to believe her wife is alive (Asta is dead, Nox confirmed she saw the body when the spawns attacked), but it doesn't stop her from hoping.

Meanwhile, Nox is so beyond pissed, enraged doesn't even begin cut it. How dare anything use Kalden's face to try to garner pity or trust from her. She knows it isn't him and she will not listen to this thing trying to impersonate him ever. Any plan of fostering trust on the Guardian's behalf is immediately shot.

So, all in all, neither are doing nearly as well with their ghosts as they'd like to believe.

wound: How does your OC handle being wounded? Are their wounds mostly physical? Mental? Emotional? What's the worst wound your OC has ever experienced?

Lux, being a sword and shield fighter, is very used to the typical injuries of combat. Between her healing capabilities and her sister's healing capabilities, she barely bats an eye at anything but the most egregious gaping wounds and broken bones. Those still do happen from time to time, and when they do, Lux generally just grits her teeth and waits for the sensation of healing magic to wash over her. Half the time, Nox is chanting an incantation before she can even think to use lay hands on herself.

So that being said, Lux's worst wound is actually spiritual. After seeing betrayal after betrayal in Elturel and watching them devolve into nothing but death and ruin for thousands of innocent lives, her resolve in her oath started slipping. After Avernus, Lux could feel her hold on her oath starting to break, and that terrified her more than anything. She spends all of Act 1 trying to revitalize her oath (and her belief in it) any way she can; hence the party spends a lot of time assisting the tieflings and any poor soul they come across. It's a whole game endeavor, but the creche/monastery really help soothe her a lot.

Nox, despite being a wizard, is also very used to the typical injuries of combat. She specializes in Abjuration, so she's a shield mage, and her primary form of fighting is by slinging spells and then herself. By which I mean, some people are smart enough to dodge spells, but most people don't expect to be body slammed by the wizard herself after. It's proven to be an effective, if not dangerous, strategy (that nearly gives Gale a coronary every damn time). As such, she's also kinda numb to everything but the worst of the worst, and has a tendency to make ill-timed or otherwise inappropriate jokes about her injuries. It's a coping mechanism and her way to reassure everyone (and herself) that it'll be fine in the end.

However, her worst injury (if it counts) came during the "ploy turned sour" incident in Avernus, when she wound up taking a fire bolt directly to the chest. Nox actually died, but she doesn't remember that and believes she just fell unconscious. Lux got to her soon enough to revive her, and could never bring herself to correct her sister's assumption about only falling unconscious. This is later superseded when she dies in the fight against Myrkul. Nox remembers that one, and boy that one hurt.

Most of Nox's wounds are emotional though. She doesn't have a particularly short fuse and she's not overly sensitive, but she does have the tendency to bottle things up when something bothers her, only for it to come spilling out a few days later. She's not the best at processing her emotions either, and will more often than not lash out in anger or hurt over something that's been stewing beneath the surface. Luckily, once she does that, she's quick to apologize and defuse and then work towards an actual solution.

Nox's actual worst wound is something she'll never admit to, but being ignored by Mystra for reasons unknown cuts her deep. It is half the reason for her anger towards the gods as a whole; all she wants is an answer.

And finally...if you made it all this way, I wish I could offer some sort of prize, because I know that's a lot of rambling. But I love these two girls a lot and having the chance to finally write them in full has been an absolute blast.

[kimarisgundam]

I hope you don't mind me asking but what exactly did you uncover?

If it's bad enough to make you question your orders and bad enough that the party's rockerboy lost two chooms getting his hands on the data, why are you still loyal to Arasaka?

I was an exec in Red. I thought that if I worked hard I can climb up the social ladder and if I stayed loyal Arasaka would take care of me. Didn't take long for me to turn my back on the corp once I saw the truth.

The corps view you as nothing but disposable fodder and your loyalty is wasted on them. I don't lean into romance but you really should consider leaving NC with that rockerboy.

Life is short for people who live on the edge, what if he dies tomorrow? Will you regret it if he dies before you sort your feelings out?

You don't understand. You're like my party's Exec, you're from Arasaka but you're an outsider. You don't have giri

I'm not sure how Arasaka is conically like internally in the video game or in your campaign but, our DM kinda fleshed out Arasaka's "inside" cos she realised I became loyal 😅

In our campaign, there's an inner circle and an outer circle. At lot of the high ranking people are from the inner circle, and they all believe in the traditional values of the company 😅

You aren't "raised" like me and my big bro. You left because you don't believe in giri. My sponsor saved me and my bro from poverty, it's our duty to pay him and Arasaka back, it's our giri

To throw away my duty is dishonorable, in the words of my bro it's "lowering myself to the level of the scum in Night City who live without values and honour"

I actually started the Red campaign before playing 2077, so I went in blind not knowing what Arasaka is 😅

Not sure if it's because I speak Japanese irl but... the moment the NPCs started talking about giri, I immediately just fell into "my place" 😅

My sponsor is my adoptive dad, so I just want to say this before I tell you anything: I believe he's innocent. My dad is an honourable man

My dad is one of the heads of the R&D department, he specialises in cyberware and AI. He's working on improving the quality of life of construction workers and lawmen by developing cyberware that's paired with AI

The cyberware is a spine replacement that neurally links to all other cyberware installed on the body. The AI is integrated into the spine and it will assist the user with calibrating their cyberware to perform their job in the most optimal way possible

The AI also learns how you behave and will make adjustments to the calibration to suit the way you move, or to correct bad posture/behaviours that it views as undesirable

One of our previous party members got killed (my friend created our Exec as her new character 😂) cos he was working with a NPC fixer behind our backs to smuggle ware/drugs

At first we thought it was a hit from a rival gang, but our Rockerboy felt the hit was too "professional". He asked me to look into it and I realised that a corp might be involved

Our Rockerboy and Nomad want revenge, but I'm investigating cos the ware looks like a prototype of my dad's stuff. I'm worried that there's a rat in Arasaka

I reported my findings to my bro and he told me he'll handle it. So I should stop investigating

^ but something is off and my bro isn't seeing it. Plus I want to find out why my friend was killed too, so I decided to help our Exec with investigating cos I need some of his connections (ok fine. I got blackmailed into helping...)

I recently stumbled upon info indicating that the AI used may have originated from the old Web. Like who the frig messes with stuff from the old Web???

I also saw some concerning stuff about the AI being competent enough to hijack the "host" and turn them aggressive

I was going to tell our Exec, but then I saw my adoptive dad's name on one of the documents

The shard I gave him has all the stolen data I retrieved except the stuff about the AI. I haven't told anyone yet cos I don't know who I can trust 😣

I can't tell our Exec cos I don't know if he's on my sponsor's side within Arasaka

Can't tell Rockerboy even though he's my best choom cos he'll do something reckless

Solo is like my little bro. I can't burden him with this, he's just a kid

Nomad will tell Rockerboy if I tell her

I'm even keeping this a secret from my bro cos he just found out I'm best friends with Rockerboy (Rockerboy antagonised our dad by stealing sensitive data long ago)... he's already threatening to remove Rockerboy for being a bad influence

If he finds out I'm investigating this with Rockerboy and Exec even though he told me to stop... I don't want to think about it 😣

In our recent combat encounter, my bro already almost killed Rockerboy and mangled his arm... he also shot off Exec's eye and hand... I don't want things to get worse 😣

What if he tells our dad??? A hit is definitely going to be ordered 😣

And I know life is short for edgerunners! That's why I'm always telling our Solo and Rockerboy to FRIGGING STOP

Especially our Rockerboy. He's my best friend. I don't want my best friend to flatline himself 😣. I keep telling him to stop cos nothing is going to change no matter what he does

What pisses me off the most is how he'll tell me to let him get killed, cos he rather be killed than rely on my corp and police connections to bail him out

I bribe and blackmail to fix things everytime he gets self destructive and this is the thanks I get? Like look at yourself. You're telling me this nonsense while bleeding on the doc's surgery table

I don't know what's up with our character's "relationship". When things are good, they are inseparable bffs and always bantering. When things are bad...

There's yelling and suddenly our Rockerboy is on a bender, and my Netrunner just accidentally said something really hurtful like "Want to be a Night City legend? Then don't be a coward, hurry up and die. I don't care"

This is literally not irl, but the guilt of how badly my character backstabbed her best friend is also eating me up @_@

My character probably won't ever accept my friend's Rockerboy's confession. Tbh, he deserves someone better. It's not a relationship that's going to have a happy ending 😣

[grayintogreen]

Worldbuilding Notes- once upon a damn-you-all (part one)

As promised, here is part one! These notes mainly cover the origin of the fic and how it evolved into a behemoth, some notes on the use of music, and some stuff on some of the original characters.

The second set of notes will cover my characterization and the plot significance of the Tombtakers and my notes on Cree and her development. The third will focus on Lucien and the Somnovem. The fourth will focus on the Mighty Nein and the changes to canon and some stuff about the sequel. The final set will be about the antagonists. I have... a lot of things I can talk about.

Fic Origins

As mentioned in the Author’s Notes for the first chapter, this entire fic was originally inspired by a throwaway bit from Matt’s Harvest’s Close notes that he released shortly after the episode aired. On top of just being a peek behind the curtain of Matt’s process, they included details about all of the Tombtakers- specifically their classes, full names (except Cree’s, which wasn’t revealed until the Catfight episode), and locations- and yes this is the only reason we HAVE full names for all the characters/subclasses since Matt never revealed them in game, if you were wondering about that. For the longest time if you were DESPERATELY obsessed with the Tombtakers/Lucien/Molly’s backstory and trying to create your own fanon, that was ALL you had. We didn’t even have RACES. (My guess was Zoran- Goliath, Otis- human, and Tyffial- Halfling, and as you can see I got one dead on accurate and just messed up who was the halfling). 

(Sidebar: I’m pretty sure Matt changed Tyffial to Fighter/Bloodhunter rather than Rogue/Bloodhunter, given her use of action surge, but I kept the original for… reasons. Sorry,  Matt, but I’m different.)

The ACTUAL inspiration for the fic, itself, however, came in a deleted “path” wherein the Nein betrayed the Gentleman and were caught and about to be sold into slavery and Cree busts them out and according to the notes, she would have tried to get Molly/the Nein to go to Nogvurot with her to deal with Molly’s missing memories and that they would pick up the other Tombtakers along the way. 

Now as someone who loves the Gentleman and his relationship with Jester, I didn’t want to ruin that relationship irrevocably, so I decided that a safer alternative was just that Cree chased the Nein and provided them with a means to save Molly. The same scenario ultimately plays out- Cree convinces Molly to go to Nogvurot. The rest is a clusterfuck.

The fic actually went through three sets of revisions to the major plot (if you were here from the beginning, you’ll remember the chapter counts changing). The original was simply the Nein meeting the Tombtakers, winning Cree over, and Molly dealing with the eyes/Lucien on a much smaller scale. It was a twelve chapter affair where the primary conflict was Cree’s redemption and then the aftereffects of what goes down with Vess (the ripples of which haven’t even come up yet). 

That version of the story got scrapped early though for a lot of reasons- there just wasn’t enough time to deal with the redemption story I wanted to tell or really get into the meat of what Molly “opening” the eyes meant or, honestly, much of a major plot. It was just a series of vignettes. (Tyffial didn’t even HAVE a subplot in that version.)

Version two added the Court of Nightmares story (which ended up changing due to Campaign Three things, but mostly only in the sense that Matt fucking came up with a better NPC than one I had created). Version Three was how we ended up with the Hupperdook Sideplot that was NOT in the second major draft of the outline (they went to Hupperdook, but they didn't get involved in that clusterfuck), but ended up being integral that I can’t imagine it not existing now. (It was added in as a way to deal with a lot of the Nein’s growing tension I hadn’t anticipated and give Cree a mini turning point before reaching Tyffial.)

The nine-arc structure was in the second draft of the outline (the Pride arc is so long because it wasn't supposed to have that entire Stahlmast subplot, but I think Guilt ended up being longer anyway, so no one noticed or cared). Originally, it was just for me and then I started referencing the arcs outside of the story and then finally I just went back and edited where they begin into the correct chapters. And yes, they are named after the Somnovem, hence one of many reasons why I insist on Elatis being Pride.

Use of music

You may notice that I insert A LOT of songs into this damn story. Some of it is due to the sheer amount of bards or dancing scenes (look I love a good dancing scene), but the real meat of it comes down to Shadycreek Run and my headcanons for it.

Given the nature of SCR being a hive of scum and villainy that, nevertheless, must have some decent people who are either stuck there or stubborn and those people have to cope somehow- why not by singing? A lot of songs coming out of the Run are bawdy pub numbers, songs about tragic stories, or FUCK YOU fight anthems and they're a big part how the Tombtakers cope. Even Zoran and Otis, who aren't from the Run, appreciate good songs.

And this ends up being a big connection to Molly as a person independent of Lucien. The hivemind scene in Nogvurot where Otis sings "Star of the County Down" to fuck with Tyffial and Molly joins in on his own is important for that reason. Zoran's "well he knows all the songs" is the only time anyone besides Cree accepts Molly as someone who isn't just a placeholder for Lucien. (And you can see later when we meet Zoran that he probably has the least desperate opinions on getting Lucien back- his concern is wholly for Cree. It's not that he doesn't want Lucien back- it's just that of all of them, he's presently concerned with what's in front of him. Molly can sing along, therefore Molly can keep up with them and if he isn't hurting Cree, then that's all right by him.)

As for Molly? Desmond and Gustav are both bards who came from the Run and taught him a lot of the songs they picked up there. He joins in with the Tombtakers (and later Lucien in the Cathedral) because he learned those songs from being in the circus, not because they were latent Lucien memories. He and Lucien have independent memories of learning the same songs, and when you're constantly being told "no you're a shadow and a fragment and not a whole, independent person" then that's something to hold onto.

But beyond that, the purpose of that specific scene shows a human side to all of the Tombtakers, especially the ones who had been antagonistic up until the sing-a-long. Even Tyffial, while threatening Otis, sings along and is having fun with it. This is our first glimpse of the four of them together in a situation that isn't dire or confrontational- they're just people. And Molly needed to learn that.

That scene is also supposed to make Lucien singing alone in the Cathedral when Molly enters all the more potent, but I dunno if it came off that way or just came off self-indulgent. Lucien can't join in with the singing and instead of singing a bawdy, upbeat song to be playful while he's stuck where he is, he's singing a song about a tragic hero to show that not only is he lonely and alone, but he's that way because of how he's set himself apart as a "tragic hero" that Molly is preventing from returning. He'd rather wallow in self-pity and anger than realize the problem is him.

Many, Many Characters

So in creating this massive tour de force, I realized I was going to need to populate the world with tons of original characters, both antagonistic and otherwise. I come from a time in fandom where Blorbos From Your Head were like putting your fic in a Death Note, so I used to avoid it at all costs, but obviously I could not do that here if I was going to make Matt’s world feel lived in- you can see at the beginning where I mostly tried to take characters from the EGTW and just toss them in- Stahlmast, Nima, Ishel, etc. The Hupperdook arc’s only true OCs were Melancholia and the Clockwork Hounds and Mel was a final boss and the Clockwork Hounds were just me taking a Cowboy Bebop reference as far as I could possibly take it. 

That said, I was ALWAYS going to include OCs in significant roles (and not just as antagonists. I just wanted to get farther in the story and for the audience to trust me first before I started flinging them in. (Remember when I said that most of that arc was a buffer? In the original draft of the outline, the Hounds weren't even there and I planned to reuse Blemy's group, but that wasn't exciting.)

Faint Chance and Agee making their first appearances after that arc was not a coincidence. They are, and will remain, the two most significant OCs to the whole narrative who aren’t villains. I treat them more like guest characters than NPCs… They’re just guest characters who got cameos before their true plot appearances and therefore I don’t view them with the same lens when I think about “casting.” Rinna Pathan, if she were played in a movie, would be Sophia Ali, but Agee is if Megan Nicole Dong guest starred on Critical Role, if that makes sense. (I mean I guess you have to consider it in real terms, the difference is if this was real and not a fanfic, Matt would be playing Rinna, but not Agee.)

(Fun fact: there are actually significantly less OCs in the sequel due to not having to make up so many people to fill space in that fic, and I am saddened and relieved by that.)

That said, let me talk about some of the OCs. Not all of them, obviously. If you have questions about some of the minor ones then you are free to ask.

First of all, let’s go with Agee. Agee was a result of wondering what kinds of races Dynasty folk were being reborn as while the beacon was in the Empire while also thinking about the process of anamnesis and how that sort of thing could affect a random Empire teenager already going through puberty, which… was a lot. I ended up choosing a firbolg specifically because at sixteen she probably wouldn’t necessarily be going through firbolg puberty, but she would also be VERY YOUNG by her species’ standards and therefore not equipped to handle any of this, which added conflict without me having to deal with how to respectfully manage hormone-riddled teenager going through a crisis of Self. So yeah, the result is an extremely anxious, desperate ornery child who wants to touch everything and maybe even steal it. She was designed with Glendale in mind (hence Megan Nicole Dong), but evened out somewhat. 

I also didn’t want her to be human because I knew Beau would project onto her and it felt more compelling to me for Beau to see herself in someone radically different from her, both in where she comes from and what she looks like, and the firbolgs she’s met so far have been SO CHILL and Agee is very much… not. Honestly I feel like Agee being a firbolg and a neurotic mess has really helped me write people being more cautious around Caduceus because they all KNOW that’s not just a Firbolg Thing early on. They do know what anxiety and negative emotions are and therefore Caduceus cannot possibly be that chill all the time.

The character that would become Faint Chance was originally a younger female tabaxi who lost her Clan and immediately gloms onto Cree as a mentor figure and follows the Nein and slips in and out of danger while Cree is like WHY at her and it’s ultimately a lesson about how dangerous following someone blindly can be which is a lesson Cree needs to learn, but I ditched this plot because (1. The Nein are already teaching her that without it being heavy handed, (2. I really wanted Cree to get a better perspective on tabaxi culture, and (3. It’s cute when she’s flirted with.

So I replaced that character with a fast-talking, rapping tabaxi bard from Tal’Dorei. I made him a bard/rogue specifically based on a tumblr post I saw about how a bard/rogue tabaxi can be the most broken character known to man, while just stacking his flaws to keep him from being an absolute Godmod Sue- the result is a character who loves to take his chance on a gamble and it does not always pan out for him. Also I think, aside from the fact that I hc three damn NPCs (Gustav, Desmond, and Marion) as bards, there's a significant lack of bards in Campaign Two. Also he's a College of Eloquence bard, hence the fast-talk. I thought re-skinning a CoE bard worked best for someone who is basically inventing hip-hop/rap in Exandria.

I made him a margay tabaxi because I decided he’d come from the Rifenmast Peninsula before anything else (I wanted there to be a Tal’Dorei perspective to balance out all of this Wildemount) and was looking up jungle cats for anything to base him off of and decided margay because the height difference was hilarious. Also being that close to Byroden means he has a southern accent, hence the way he talks. (If you absolutely HAVE to know, he would be a Lin Manuel Miranda guest character, which I thought was TERRIBLY OBVIOUS to the point where I didn't actually want to admit it.)

[restingdomface]

Okay I can’t believe I’m going there, but, Lan Wangji’s magical healing cock and also mpreg AU:

Okay. So. Instead of Jin Zixuan being a dick to his crush, he genuinly never had a crush on her at all, and in fact, it never came to light until the Sunshit Campaign started, but JZX had a crush on Jiang Cheng all along. Jiang Cheng, who, reluctantly, returns his affections. Wei Wuxian is disgusted. His brother has terrible taste in men wtf.

So. Things went differently this time. What’s the change here? Meng Yao never left Nie Mingjue’s side. Of course, he did the spying thing, but he never betrayed him (this could be a part of my idea where NMJ and MY plan to actually have him be a spy and send him off after a planned execution of a soldier that NMJ decided needed a death sentence more than banishment, or, an AU where MY presented the idea to Wen Rouhan that his coming to WRH’s side was the betrayel itself). Now how does this change things? Because I honestly and truly think that if MY didn’t go to Jin Guangshan’s side afterwards, JGS wouldn’t have had the sway to execute anyone else in the Wen Family, or do anything horrible like that.

TBH he tries to wipe out the rest of the Wens, but it goes so badly and this time MY isn’t on his side (lol you know JGS would have tried tho, imagine how humiliating it would have been to be publicly denied by your own bastard son at the banquet after wow) and so JGS ends up removed from power entirely and JZX gets made sect leader instead.

This means, that since JZX is about to marry JC, they’re going to have to move to LanlingJin instead of both of them arguing over if they’d move to Lotus Pier or not. Cause they would argue over that. This means that Jiang Cheng is going to be the next Young Master Jin and Jiang Yanli is now officially the Jiang Sect Leader. Nice.

So. We’re rid of JGS and everyone’s happy and MY probably isn’t gonna kill anyone cause now he can marry NMJ in peace and not have to deal with anyone else, where does LWJ’s magic healing dick come in? Hold on I’m getting to it. Impatient.

So. The Wens. Of course, before JGS was removed from power, Wei Wuxian was actually running around saving Wen survivors and gathering them in the Burial Mounds, so he actually has to be coaxed into leaving by his siblings and LWJ and even JZX and NMJ (who thinks this is rather like that one time he had to coax Nie Huaisang out from under his bed when he became convinced NMJ’s cat was a demon because it wouldn’t stop attacking his songbird and he couldn’t come out cause she was in the room and she would steal his soul but she’s just sitting on the windowsill and meowing at them and NMJ is just silently planning to feed her more and keep her away from the atrium and tbh plz NHS you’re 16 years old you’re too old for this plz stop crying) and it’s great. It’s just great.

Anyways. WWX is paranoid af. Like so fucking paranoid. Cause they have been attacked. He’s got 12 year old girls talking about what the adult men in the Jin sect did to them. He’s got a traumatized toddler on his hip that screams when he sees Jin robes. He’s got children with branded scarring on their faces and wounds you can’t even imagine to come from anything but torture. He’s paranoid. He’s trying to keep the kiddos safe. They’re healers, and he’s given them the tools to heal, but they’re scared, and he’s paranoid without his Golden Core, and he’s scared, and he’s not putting down the toddler plz stop asking, he’s keeping this one, shut up.

So. What can he do but make a few demands? The Lan sect may have strict rules, but they would never attack innocent civilians, and they have rules about killing even animals in Gusu. He asks them to send all the Lan guards they can to escort them to GusuLan. He doesn’t think they’d hurt them in YunmengJiang either, but he can’t risk it. He was there when Lotus Pier burned. Cloud Recesses didn’t lose nearly as many people, and he’s still too traumatized to spend much time in LP rn.

So they go to Cloud Recesses. This actually, also gives the other sects a lot of time to get some glimpses at everyone that came from the Burial Mounds.

Not a single one of them was a cultivator.

This is a little different than canon. WWX can’t handle the loss of his golden core in this one. Not to say that he shouldn’t have done it, but that the resentful energy is dragging him down to the point where all he can feel is paranoia and fear. He’s almost completely unresponsive at this point. He follows after LWJ when told to, and he holds little A-Yuan in his arms, but he doesn’t pay much attention to anyone.

Wen Qing tells them of the loss of his core, but not how it happened. Lan Qiren doesn’t much like WWX still, but he accepts that a cornered animal will bite, and WWX lost his main weapon right before a major war. Of course he would do all he could to keep himself safe.

Jiang Yanli offers for the Wen Survivors to be integrated into YunmengJiang, since they lost so many people. It could help a lot. They accept, since she’s offering them protection and help.

Of course, Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli used to Spend A Lot Of Time Together in Cloud Recesses, so love is blooming there between the two sect leaders, and by the end of a year, they’re getting married themselves.

WWX doesn’t go back to LP with them. He couldn’t do it. A-Yuan and Granny and Wen Ning stay with him in Cloud Recesses. Granny talks with Wen Qing regularly, and A-Yuan is attached to Lan Wangji enough that Lan Xichen starts mentioning that he could attend classes there when he’s old enough. LXC is a WangXian shipper and is trying to get his brother to adopt the child. Y’all know he would. WWX spends his time arguing (loudly, but in a room with magical wards for sound so they don’t get in trouble) with a Lan mind healer that talks through his bullshit with him, sleeping the day away in one of the rooms of the Jingshi (because LWJ made him move in right away and WWX couldn’t even argue cause A-Yuan loves him too and he can ask LWJ to play Their Song whenever he wants to hear it) and following after A-Yuan as he enchants (and terrifies) all the rabbits in the field. Also getting yelled at (softly) by LQR for breaking rules. LQR and LWJ have been making it their personal mission to find a way to either purify the resentful energy so WWX can go back to his normal cheerful self that doesn’t jump or hide when startled, or to regain a Golden core so the yin and yang energies can balance each other and keep him stable.

Of course, JYL sends him a message that she’s getting married, and WWX pulls himself out of the fog enough that he can ask them to go to the wedding (he’s being polite, he’s going no matter what they say lol,) and LWJ accompanies him to the wedding. His siblings are so happy to see him there.

Anyways. Things get rocky when WWX hears them talking about kids.

Jiang Yanli will carry Jin Zixuan’s children, and they’ll keep the Jin name. They’ll know that all four of them are their parents, but it’s a way to pass on the name.

Wen Qing will carry Jiang Cheng’s children, and they’ll carry the Jiang name. This also helps to keep track of what kids are heir to what sect.

Of course, Wei Wuxian, the master of ‘I know The Most Obscure Bullshit Ever’, asks why they don’t just have their spouses children. There are spells and potions for that.

Well. No one else in the room knew that but him apparently. Well, they’re still going to go with their idea for the first few kids, and then they’ll decide if other means of pregnancy options are viable.

Anyways. Guess who else didn’t know it was possible for men to get pregnant? You guessed it. Lan Wangji. Who was also in the room at the time.

So. Wedding is lovely. They all have an amazing time. WWX is able to pull himself out of bed every day. He was even able to work on some cultivation items that LQR begrudgingly admits are amazing items and very useful to cultivation.

They go back to Cloud Recesses, and Lan Wangji combs through his and his uncle’s notes till he finds a viable solution to a return of a Golden core that they had originally scrapped because WWX wasn’t a girl.

To return a Golden core to a body by means of very careful pregnancy. Of course, such a thing would be considered stealing under normal circumstances, and most mothers would rather die than harm their child in the womb in a way that could kill them. But this was a method made to keep both parent and child from harm. A way to build the slightest lump of core in the parent, enough to stick and allow a base to build off of later.

Of course, without consulting Uncle (because the man would be horrified at the idea, and LWJ would rather be rejected by the man himself thanks very much) he takes the proposal to the man in question.

WWXA has to think about this one for a long time. He thinks about it while helping Wen Ning with zombie stuff so he can maintain a stable body. He thinks about it while writing letters to his siblings. He thinks a LOT about it while tucking their two year old into bed and reading him a story with the funny voices. He thinks about it when he spends a night in the cold springs with LWJ one night, close enough to touch the man, because without a Golden core, the water is too cold for him to survive in on his own.

He asks why LWJ would besmirch his honor like that. Having a child out of wedlock, his uncle would throw a fit. His name would be in tatters.

LWJ blinks, once, and twice. He quietly tells him the offer could involve marriage if WWX thinks it’s of import.

So. They get married. So they can have a child. Another child. Just. Yeah. Let’s get married so we can mate like rabbits.

They’re in love. Of course they are. But they’re also shy idiots. LWJ is a sex fiend like usual, and WWX quickly gets addicted to it, but they’re both too shy to say anything sappy yet. Well. No. Scratch that. LWJ is fully willing to admit his love to the world. But he’s a very quiet person. So he mostly just tells WWX how much he would do anything for him, and even eats his horrible poison cooking. Not even A-Yuan will touch that shit.

A-Yuan is so excited to be a big brother. His favorite place to lay is curled around WWX’s big belly and giving it kisses while A-Die scratches his hair and reads him stories.

A-Yuan finally gets his baby and Wei Wuxian gets the stability that a Golden core provides so he can continue using resentful energy to dodge the many many scrolls Shifu Qiren will throw at him over the years to come. LQR swears that if that man hadn’t given his nephew happiness and also many great nephews-

Anyways. The Lotus Flowers are all gay and all happy send tweet.

[jennamoran]

The Art of Glitch (Part 10)

Glitch is available here!

(and for a limited time the 0th edition is still available here!)

Hi! We’re talking about Glitch art direction.

So previously,

we talked about the art in the pre-release;

and then a bit about the general set up for the 1st edition art!

and then covered some ways that example characters can die.

and then a bit about gender/ethnic balancing, plus details on a few pieces in particular!

and then about the first assignment to Elizabeth Sherry.

and then about the first assignment to Beatrice Pelagatti!

and then about the first assignment to Kam Moody!

and then the first assignment to Mel Uran!

and then about void flowers and Alexander Benekos!

Let’s move on!

              Robin Scott

http://www.robinscottart.com/

I’d wound up contacting Robin long, long ago, on a friend’s recommendation, back when I was flailing around thinking about artists for Glitch. This was useful because it meant she’d actually had time to read the whole book before we got started. ^_^

What originally caught my interest, I think, were pieces in the vein of http://www.robinscottart.com/wp-content/gallery/illustration-bw/Pic2.jpg

But after all the trouble I’d had finding black women for 0th edition I liked that there was a good picture of one in her color pieces gallery, and also a wheelchair! Finding an artist who does wheelchairs is super rare.

(I mean, presumably, most of the artists that we’ve talked about above can, and Elizabeth Sherry threw one in for a background character at one point in Chuubo’s and that thrilled me, but, y’know.

It was nice just seeing it there!)

There was also the thing that Robin expanded my roster of “people doing photo-integration,” which ... like honestly I didn’t need that much of, but, like, as I said before, I wanted at least some of, and probably more than just one person’s art?

So that’s how she got on board.

            Page 108

Piece style: stylized

Strategist: African-American, she/her

 Description: an African-American Strategist curries or feeds their white horse against a stylized, simplified, or geometric background. Possibly in the fields outside a stable?

She’s wearing American casual clothing and probably a cowboy hat.

   [and then the standard sensitivity note!]

         Discussion

This was a piece slated for opposite the Campaign Suggestions, and as such needed to be fairly generic and also IMO fairly peaceful and ... inviting?

I guess?

And that was emphasized by the other thing with this piece, which was, I wanted at least one piece with a Strategist’s horse that had, like, horse-girl appeal, as opposed to whatever else I managed to get horse-wise, which I imagined would either be nothing or warlike stuff but which turned out, I think, to be one wild ride through Ninuan. ^_^

I was worried that it would be kind of dull, and also kind of worried that a horse would be awkward to feature in a portrait-orientation picture. My original theory on how to handle this was to try to find someone who did like ... fine art, touching on the abstract. And then they could have lots of sunlight and shadow and maybe just have the front half of the horse in the picture and get some mileage out of the simplicity and possible chiaroscuro of the piece.

Ultimately, though ...

This wasn’t the specialty of any of the artists I had experience working with, nor was it obvious from the galleries of the artists I was working with from the first time who would handle it well!

I did figure, though, that Robin Scott had a good sense of chiaroscuro, and could do black people in an appropriate way ...

So this piece went to her!

I left it up to her in the artist-specific note exactly how to approach it:

She wound up proposing a photomanip with the concept of a Strategist about to join the Chancery, soothing her war-mount one last time before setting it free to roam the Not.

Evaluating a rough draft like this is pretty hard, TBH.

Ultimately I decided it was good, though, because

I really liked the tree. I dunno. It was a really Glitchy tree.

There was also a photoset link that I can’t share with you because like there’s a real person in it and also a real pink stuffed unicorn, but there was one, and that helped. And, most importantly:

The abandoned sword on the beach was great. It was in fact so great that it would reappear as a motif in an art request, another art request, I would write later on. ^_^

So, approval given!

The piece would change form a little bit, later on, because the original photoshoot predated the art requests (Robin’d been inspired by reading Glitch) and so the model for it wasn’t a black woman. Once Robin found an appropriate model for the piece who was a black woman, the best poses and angles weren’t quite identical, so the piece layout was re-engineered a bit.

But, the general concept would stay the same!

       Page 154

Piece Style: symbolism, semi-abstract

Strategist: Caucasian, they/them

          Description: a Strategist in a dreamlike place stares in sheer shoulder-slumped resignation at the long set of (spiral? Regular?) stairs in front of them.

If you’re not confident conveying enough “why me?” through looking at stairs, maybe they’re looking waaay up with an aghast look, or maybe they’ve just come up a long set of stairs to a landing, like, it’s obvious that it’s behind them, maybe they’re leaving footprints, and they can see another staircase, and they’re just facepalming?

         Formally, the setting for this piece is the Lands Beyond the World, where reality itself is only asserted in the loosest of senses, and everything is dream-like and indistinct. You could illustrate this by drawing the place as mist and geometric planes; or as something more Escheresque and impressionistic; or as a dark environment with water-type effects; or as dreamlike and real-world jumbled; or as something involving levels of sketching vs. completion.

My preference is somewhat realistic, like ... somewhat train-station-y? But also with the architecture a bit of a dream-like idealized and jumbled mess.

The Strategist themselves is real, although if there is enough “atmosphere” of unreality between the viewer and them that might not matter.

            Discussion

This piece was originally designed to be the Ability 2 piece---

Like, look how hard function can be! You have to climb stairs.

It was kind of a weak concept, in all honesty, I don’t know that it really sang.

It might have worked as a New Yorker comic about Strategists, as just a scribbly kind of spotlight on the important bits and a sly not-very-funny caption, but would it work for a whole-page piece?

... I thought it could, though.

I thought that it could be salvaged, I thought it could be made to work, if the background was, if the stairs were, strong enough.

So it went to Robin because, well, because I liked the backgrounds that I saw in her gallery. They were realistic and neat.

As you can see, it came back with a pretty strong design, although again, this was a pretty hard style of rough to evaluate.

    The Progression of the Piece

So Robin got a non-binary model for the piece, which is pretty great, and did the appropriate photoshoot.

This included a set of pictures with a COVID mask, and there was some discussion about whether to use those or not. It made the character less obviously nonbinary, but on the other hand, like:

It hadn’t even occurred to me before that point, but nobody in the book was masked, and like, that was weird. And maybe in a year, hopefully in a year, oh my god I hope in a year, being masked will be weird again, so I didn’t want to try to get everyone in the book masked or anything, but, like:

Here was a chance to have a COVID-masked character.

So ultimately, I went with that, because, like, that was, this was, the year that Glitch was being put together, and it deserved to have a COVID mask in it. Or something.

I dunno.

Anyway, so, we wound up with a first draft of:

I’m not sure if you’ll be able to tell on tumblr, but the main problem with this draft was that the piece only works at a certain level of magnification:

If you’re looking closely enough, you can tell that the character is not at all happy about all of these stairs that they have to climb.

If you pull back a bit, though?

It’s like ...

Hopeful. Joyous. Diligent.

It’s a climb towards the dream of salvation.

I really don’t know which level of magnification is going to leap out at your eyes in this post, editing suggests it’s closer to the “looking closely” part?

But, like, lean back, lean in, and pull back again, and you can probably see, I think, what I mean.

    Also

It was this draft, also, that made me realize that this was definitely a “dying of stairs” piece, and not an Ability 2 piece. Which was fine; only ...

It did mean that i was stressed out of my mind for like an hour trying to come up with a name for the character in it, because I had to do that now, only, I also had to figure out something that wasn’t too masculine-sounding or too feminine-sounding in English but was still a valid Ninuanni name according to the construction rules in the book while not being too close either to any of the Ninuanni names I had earlier used.

Like, I couldn’t just be casual about it! There was a real nonbinary person who looks a lot like this character who was potentially being quasi-gendered by the name!

Ultimately I wound up offering the model the choice between Valenside Drasda, Aurdetrix Drasda, and Guinevald Drasda, and apparently Valenside won. ^_^

        Anyway

So Robin fixed the expression to be suitably pained at all distances from the page, and added a frame and a nametag and a dying-of and then we were good.

If you want to see the final, well: it’s in “Glitch: A Story of the Not,” on DriveThruRPG!

              Page 169

“Semsenand Gettels, who the Forests will slay”

         Piece Style: a “Strategist” dying of the thing, [...]

Strategist: Chinese, physically or sensorially disabled, she/her

Bane: Your choice, or “forests”

        Examples:

she is rolling her wheelchair into a dark forest;

she is in a wheelchair, facing the camera, and her mouth is open, and there are trees growing on her tongue and vines hanging from the roof of her mouth;

she is blind, and using a long white stick, and has just opened her apartment door, and beyond it the apartment hallway fades into? Or is replaced by? Forest;

she is rolling her wheelchair down a pharmacy aisle and the root of a tree is coiling around to attack, with branches visible above the aisle;

she is doing bills at a table; behind her, through an open door, the laundry room is visible, and the stacked washer/dryer are growing tree-like limbs and roots;

she is doing bills at a table and trees are pushing their way in through the doorway behind her.

       [standard sensitivity note]

        Discussion

This one took Robin a bit longer to find a suitable model for, since she didn’t feel comfortable using an abled model for a disabled character, but “disabled Chinese woman model” is a relatively small demographic. Regardless! It all worked out, so that was all to the good.

(Meanwhile, I decided that it should be “whom” the forests should slay, but fortunately there was plenty of time for addressing that too!

Really, a lot more time, comparatively, to the scale of the issue at hand.

Weirdly, though, while “whom” would seem to always be the correct grammar in a case like this, it wasn’t always the “right” word:

There are a few cases where I felt like I had to use “who,” and, unlike for Semsenand, the “who” stuck to the end.

Just weird writer brain wiggles, I guess!)

Anyway!

This was the best of the three sketches, and wound up being the sketch closest to the final, so I don’t have much more to say. ^_^

   Next Time

Maria Guarneri!

[warsofasoiaf]

Hi again, just a friendly reminder for you about Disco Elysium. I played it myself 2 weeks ago and I thought it was a wonderful game, looking forward to hear your opinion.

Here’s the weekend reminder about disco elysium: at some point I’d like to hear your thoughts about Kim and the deserter, but I’m sure you have a lot of first thoughts about the game’s narrative and styles at large and the overall themes ?

Yep, I’ve got many thoughts on Disco Elysium. Overall, I found it an incredibly enjoyable throwback to the classic role-playing games of the old Infinity Engine in a good way. It’s dialogue-driven in the way Planescape: Torment was, but was confident enough to avoid the pitfalls of combat that punctuated the D&D games in favor of a mechanical challenge of skill checks. All conflict is done through dialogue, either through picking a dialogue choice or engaging in a skill check. The game also helpfully gives you feedback, not only in your skill totals, but in how your actions influence the choices you’ve made. Did you take the corrupt union boss’s check? He has you over a bit of a barrel so it’s harder to resist him. Did you impress Cuno with your marksmanship by shooting down the body? You have a bonus to impress him since you’ve already done it before. This sort of openness with the mechanics of the game helps smooth over understanding of the functions, as well as reinforce the themes. Since everything you do is in the dialogue trees, and all of these choices occur in dialogue, it stresses careful reading of the dialogue box as opposed to something you just blow through to get quest markers or goodies.

Alright, let’s talk about the plot. Since there will be spoilers and it’s a relatively recent game, I’m going to throw a cut in here.

One of the chief themes of the game is sadness and loss, it’s written all across the setting. Heck, it’s even written into the name. Disco is the archetypical music genre that is dead, despite its followers wishing that it could come back. Elysium, the afterlife of Greek mythology. It was a failed communist revolution followed by a failed monarchist rebellion followed by a capitalist invasion, and now exists as a pit of corruption, crime, and plenty of people within Martinase look back to the lost days by cleaving to the old political systems as a source of comfort. Communists and monarchists look back to the old communes that were established, capitalists look to the successful Coalition and the ability of capital to absorb its naysayers and failures into itself for success, and the moralists look at the other three and say “you extremists are absolutely insane!” and hold to their own centrist platform and the path of incremental caution. This is hardly unusual in our own history, with far too many historical examples to list here. There’s a longing there for something that is lost, the people you meet in the game are lost, even what seems to be simple comedic beats have their own secret wishes, like Cuno who ends up helping you in the final act if you lose Kim, and can even become a junior police officer once out of the thumb of Cunoeese. Harry can sing the saddest song about the littlest church, and it’s a perfect expression of his regret, as his reptile brain lets him know. The deserter is lost in regret, albeit an incredibly negative sort. He curses those who are not ‘committed’ like him, who aren’t willing to murder like him. He looks at the Rene, the old monarchist with his boule, and wishes only to pull the trigger and silence him. 

The main character you inhabit is a great twist on the blank slate character that dominates the ‘western RPG.’ The main character starts the game passed out in his own drug-fueled excess. Where most RPG’s either expect reading a large lore dump (this was the case with the Forgotten Realms Infinity Engine games, which expected people to know who Cyric or Auril was) or largely wave it off with bland exposition, this was a game that made what happened an integral part of your character. What drives such a man to try and destroy himself so completely? Going through the game reveals the answer: it’s Dora, your ex-wife. Before, your obsession with your job (your case load, as noted by Kim, is exceptionally high), seemed to be at odds with your character’s penchant for substance abuse and overall instability, but exploring the failed relationship with Dora sheds new light on Harry DuBois. Dora was a wealthy woman, and your character was clearly a member of the lower classes given his demeanor and salary. Your character tried to immerse themselves in the work perhaps to earn more money, or simply to earn prestige to help alleviate the mismatch. It didn’t work, Dora left six years ago, and the detective has been alone ever since. By calculating the ‘cop tracks’ that the character can be on, the game can populate dialogue with references to the behavior, allowing the character to fill out aspects of themselves in a character-driven way. Tyranny did this with its campaign character generation, and Disco Elysium does it here. Such things are always going to be niche in RPG’s, the driving trend these days is instead make a completely blank character and have them be built out from actions taking place in the game world, but this typically leads to characters who rationalize performing optimal paths and who do everything the game offers in the world, which translates either into a lot of time doing repetitive content (in order to built up other character builds to the same level of mastery to the original build) or leads to ludo-narrative dissonance at the ease of which the character plows through the content, like becoming the Arch-Mage in Skyrim without being able to cast a single adept-level spell.

However, that isn’t to say that Harry is alone. Instead, the detective is quite a crowd is his own head, with the 24 various skills that he has developed largely advising, suggesting, yelling, and talking over each other. This was almost certainly part of the reason the original name of the game was “No Truce with the Furies.” The Furies, in Greek mythology were embodiment of vengeance, primal feelings that sought out their goals. These 24 skills in your head almost cannot be compromised with, only accepted or rejected. They’ll yell inside your own head to listen to them. Electrochemistry wants its next fix, Volition is certain that Klaasje is trying to manipulate you and wants you to slap cuffs on her right now, Physical Instrument wants you to show everyone who’s boss with fists while Authority wants the same with words. This was almost overwhelming at first, 24 characters to figure out in addition to my own character as well as Kim, Cuno, Joyce, Everett, and the Hanged Man made me wonder what exactly I was going to do. What was the difference between Volition and Composure, or Shivers and Inland Empire? It helps on a replay once you figure out what the skills actually mean and can help shape your character into your preferred vehicle for exploring Revanchol West. Dealing with these characters can be fun, insightful, and incredibly heartwarming, as the player can understand when they finally find out that Reptile Brain and Limbic System are simply trying to help Harry out with the loss of his ex-wife by trying to get rid of the sad feelings as best they can. 

What helps with this though, is that failing skill checks is not a death sentence. One of the most annoying things in games comes when you depend upon success after success that is out of your control, it encourages save-scumming behavior. This isn’t to say that failure isn’t a valuable learning experience or that difficulty is something to be avoided; the enduring popularity of the Soulsborne genre suggests that difficulty is not itself a bad thing. But failure typically has to be fair. If instead a game drops you in a room with 25 gorgons, forcing you to roll 25 checks against petrification or die immediately, that’s not challenge, that’s just padding the length of the game by forcing repeat content. Disco Elysium instead makes failure, particularly of red skill checks, either entertaining or allowing alternate paths. I laughed with absolute glee when my character took off from Garte yelling at him about the trashed hotel room which ended up becoming a full sprint while flipping him the bird, causing me instead to run over the nice wheelchair-bound old lady, in true black comedy fashion, or that you can get into a nodding war with Kim that’s so intense that you actually break your neck. That the game offers so many different methods to the same path helps elevate the role-playing elements.

Similarly, one of the best moments of game design was when you looked at the billboard to find out where Ruby could have gone. It’s a difficult Shivers check, which might force people into an insurmountable wall if they haven’t upgraded their Shivers skill. However, doing stuff in the fishing village, from going on a date with the harpoon girl to tracking down what went on with the body on the boardwalk, gives you bonuses to the check, encouraging the character to perform the side quests and explore the bonus content. 

The game’s side content really does reward some more of the Dirk Gently type of character that sees connectivity in anything. The old lady reading outside the bookstore doesn’t have a missing husband only to later be the wife of the man who died on the boardwalk, or that a grounded character won’t walk out into the water to speak with the apparition of Dora as the mythical Dolores Dei (another great reference to what was lost, the lost wife seen as the lost mythic Moralist conqueror and crusader) means that the more grounded character does have the more grounded, less intense story. But the short length encourages replayability, and the idea that a grounded character has a more grounded story is in it’s own way a commitment to the game’s overall vision, even if it means you miss out on a key insight the first time around.

I’m incredibly impressed at how the developers stuck to their visions and the finished product that they developed. My hat is off to them.

Thanks for the question, Khef, the multiple Anon’s who reminded me, TBH, and everyone else who was looking forward to this essay.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[nadziejastar]

Thoughts on the dlc? After it released and after you watched it?

Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t spend any money on it. It was really just...not very good. It didn’t help KH3 feel any more complete. This series has really alienated me. I never thought by the end of KH3, I’d be so uninterested in the future of KH. But I really do think the Dark Seeker Saga was irreparably destroyed. It’s heartbreaking.

KH3 would have been faaaar better if we had gotten to see everyone use the power of waking. This whole “the power of waking is taboo” thing, I’m just not buying. The power of waking is supposed to be the power to awaken a sleeping heart. This power was the key to the plot and Ansem’s data. Many of the characters would need to have it used on them to be brought back and have their pain healed. That was, ya know, kinda the whole point of KH3.

But...the power of waking does not work on those who were wiped from existence. Okaaaaaaay? Why is everyone suddenly wiped from existence? Nomura originally said that there’s no concept of death in KH. The whole point until now was that everyone in trouble simply needed to be woken up. Birth By Sleep. Dream Drop Distance. In KH3D, Yen Sid says that the three lost Keyblade wielders needed to be woken from their sorrow and slumber. Even in Saix’s boss fight, Lea says “Isa, it’s time to wake up!” Which just...makes me sad.

Really, the focus of KH3′s finale should have been these characters being woken up. That’s it. Not time travel. Not the black box. Not Xigbar being Luxu. Not Yozora. Not Sora getting transported to another world. Not setting up KH4. Save that for later. Because the story was such a hot mess, even the reunions felt anticlimactic. TAV’s felt rushed. Lea and Isa didn’t even get one.

Overall, I thought the DLC was just really boring. They tried to give some explanation for why Sora was there during everyone’s boss fight, but it still barely made any sense to me. The battles should have played out with you playing as each character without Sora there. Period. He just plain shouldn’t have been there. No time travel shenanigans can fix that.

Most of the DLC was just rehashes of the Keyblade Graveyard battles with a lot of scenes that felt like they didn’t add much. Was that extra scene of Demyx with the Gummiphone really necessary? I dunno, maybe. I didn’t think anyone really felt like they got better much development than they did before. I liked seeing Aqua get more dialogue during her boss fight with Terra. But still. There’s just something...missing in all of these fights. And that is...you guessed it, the power of waking. 

I don’t care about why Sora is there during everyone’s fights. He shouldn’t be bringing everyone back like that. I wanted to see Ventus dive inside Terra’s heart to find him, piece him back together and wake him up. That’s what KH is all about. The characters and their bonds. That is the heart of the series. In KH3, the character development just flat-out sucked.

I don’t buy the explanation that the power of waking is soooo taboo and that’s why only Sora got to use it (at great cost). The power of waking was built up SO MUCH. Each Guardian of Light should have gotten a chance to use it to make their character arcs feel more complete. Aqua should have used it on Ventus in the Land of Departure when she was randomly unconscious. Riku and Mickey shoulda used it on each other when they were randomly unconscious. I wanted to see Lea defeat Isa, then use the power of waking on him to wake him up.

Roxas and Xion’s presence in that fight still made no sense and doesn’t feel any more organic than it did before. Xion was made out of Sora’s memories. How did they even bring her back? How is she suddenly worthy to be a full-fledged Seeker of Darkness now? Originally, she needed to merge with Roxas to become a complete Sora Replica. Honestly, Nomura should have just stuck to his guns and not brought her back. Too much of KH3 felt like it was just written as cheap fanservice. Let’s bring back everyone. Then maybe fans won’t notice how shitty the character development is. 

I was much more aware during KH3 that I was playing a game made by a huge corporation to make money than I ever was before. With the older games, I felt like I was playing a creative work. Regardless of how zany the plot could get, I could always feel the love that each game had put into it. On the other hand, KH3 felt much more like a disposable “consumer product,” if that makes sense.

It’s really sad how obvious it was that Kairi and Isa spent most of their fight standing around doing nothing. Really solidified my opinion that bringing back Roxas and Xion (physically) was a huge mistake and that it was thought up at the last minute. Nomura was complaining that there’s too many characters and admitted he couldn’t keep track of who has met who. Well, I’m pretty sure he had Roxas and Xion in mind when he said that (just look at the final scene at Yen Sid’s Tower when Lea reunited with Ventus and how awkward it was). There really are too many characters and some had to be sacrificed so others could shine.

Yeah, Kairi got one extra scene fighting Xemnas before she got kidnapped. But it did little to change the fact that she got benched in her own fight and got fridged. Lea and Kairi trained hard for that fight. They were preparing to fight Isa, Lea’s best friend from childhood who was possessed. But Kairi and Isa stood around and did nothing the whole time while Roxas and Xion got all the spotlight. The Recusant’s Sigil was surprisingly brought up again, but the scene made no sense to me. We’re definitely missing some vital backstory there with the Sigil.

I’m glad Kairi got to fight in an actual boss battle, so we can see her play style and everything. That’s great. Of course, she should have gotten that in the original game. And I still think killing her off at the end was a huge mistake. This DLC tried to make her feel more important, but I stand by my original opinion. The ending of KH3 should have just had Kairi rescue Sora at the end with the power of waking, then Sora and everyone celebrate their victory on the beach.

There’s a sense of closure, and a happy ending. Then they could start building up a new arc. Just overall, KH3 had no sense of closure or emotional satisfaction. It doesn’t even feel like the Dark Seeker Saga had a definitive end. Really, KH2 had more closure, yet KH3 is supposed to be the grand finale. KH3 felt more like a teaser for the new arc than the conclusion of this one. The DLC doesn’t fix that at all. It certainly doesn’t make KH3 feel like a “Final Mix”.

People say that Nomura was more interested in what came after KH3 than KH3 itself. And it’s true. I’m sure that if KH3 had been able to come out in 2014 or 2015, it would have been a drastically different game. KH3 is a product of Square’s huge problems as a company, and that’s a damn shame.

I liked seeing more of Scala ad Caelum. But it doesn’t make up for the fact that it should have been an explorable world in the main campaign. Sora should have been able to go there and learn about Xehanort, the Recusant’s Sigil, etc. It was very poorly integrated into the story. The story itself was just a mess.

Finally, I really couldn’t care less about Yozora. Let’s be real, if KH3 had come out in 2015, Yozora wouldn’t even exist. Noctis and his bros would have probably appeared in KH3 instead and it would have felt like a more traditional KH game. I was sad about Versus XIII’s cancellation. I still am. But Yozora just feels out of place and shoehorned in. Nomura is obviously unable to move on and this has affected his creative choices. Sora’s disappearance at the end just felt like a gimmick to introduce him to Yozora.

Overall, I really got FFXIII-2 vibes with Re:Mind. Like all the nonsensical time travel stuff, the hollowed out characterization, Sora turning to crystal. Pretty graphics, but lacking a soul. I’ll always love the older games. They’ll always have a special place in my heart. But KH3? Eh....not so much.

[fantabulosogamedev]

Barkwursts and Kickstarter Info!

Hey everyone!  Got a bunch of stuff to talk about in this post, so let’s get rolling!  If you aren’t already on the discord, I’d recommend joining it by clicking this link.  This is by far the best way to get in touch with me and keep track of development.

Barkwursts

Around 2-3 years ago, during The Fantabulous Game’s development, I announced the existence of Spheredogs.  These dogs would serve a similar purpose to Jinjos, giving Capboy a sausage if he collects them all in a level.  Initially made as a reference to the original Le Fantabulous Game, I’ve decided to change that plan.  After all, the new Spheredog design wasn’t even a sphere, but rather more of a sausage with legs!  So, I present to you:  Barkwursts!

(left-to-right: Tico, Cosmo, Jim, Goobert, Eyedog)

Barkwursts are the exact same as Spheredogs were in TFG, just with a new name.  Though they aren’t designed as of right now, Spheredogs will be returning as small, kickable, gremlin-esque Spherefriends -- just as they were back in the very first iteration of Le Fantabulous Game.  The Sausage rewards will be doled out by a new character, interested in collecting Barkwursts to help his own Quest for Sausage...

(fanart by ZackTheNerd)

The first new Capkin design in Fantaria’s history, I present to you: Ecapresu, the Farmer!  Living in Home Sausage, Ecapresu uses Barkwursts to help facilitate his peaceful harvest of Sausages.  To thank Capboy for bringing Barkwursts to him, Ecapresu shares a portion of his harvest with Capboy.  Additionally, Capboy will be able to learn more about his own species from Ecapresu, as well as get information on the Barkwursts that he has brought.

(kickstarter art by Scandre)

The aspect of Barkwursts that I’m the most excited about, however, is their integration into the Kickstarter.  The Barkwursts you see above are actually created by members on the testing team, hence their fantastically varied designs!  Also named by these testers, these fellas will serve as the five Barkwursts found in Fantaria’s demo level.  On that note, I’d like to move on to talk about the Kickstarter’s stretch goals and reward tiers!

Kickstarter Reward Tiers

Fantaria: The Quest for Sausage is going to have a variety of reward tiers, focusing on digital rewards.  Every tier has its own title in the credits, and your name will be listed alongside all of your creations (if you’re okay with it!) in the credits as well.  I won’t be going into incredible depth on all of them here, but here’s a quick lowdown:

$5: Coolfriend. Have your name put in the credits, and receive a wallpaper pack.  Every further tier has the wallpaper pack as well!

$15: Digital copy of the game on release.

Backerfriend title in credits.

$25: Deluxe copy of the game on release.  In addition to the game, this features the soundtrack and access to (potential, not guaranteed!) DLC released in the future.  Every tier beyond this point also has the deluxe edition of the game.

Deluxe Backerfriend title in credits

$60: Design-a-Spherefriend.  Similar to the build-a-spherefriend tool I released many years ago, design a Spherefriend NPC by choosing color, size, name, and customized headwear.  Also, you can name your spherefriend, pick a combat unit archetype, and write a small dialogue blurb to be translated into Spherespeak!  

Designerfriend title in credits.

$120: Design-a-Barkwurst.  With much more freedom than Spherefriend designs, you can have your own Barkwurst design put into the game, along with a name and a bio!  As seen with the example 5 above, Barkwurst designs have a lot of freedom, so this will be your chance to really get creative.

Dogfriend title in credits.

$150: Designer Dogfriend.  Design both a Spherefriend and a Barkwurst!  The next two reward tiers give you these privileges as well.

Designer Dogfriend title in credits.

$300: Design-an-NPC!  This tier will let you get your own unique NPC design into the game, with at least one encounter in one of the games’ levels.  Note that due to the larger universe impact of a proper NPC, some restrictions will apply -- see below.  

Deluxe Designerfriend title in credits

$600: Design-a-boss!  This tier will let you design your own unique boss encounter for Capboy and Friendwoman to face, featuring its own unique fighting style, difficulty, arena, personality, and rewards upon defeat!   Note that due to the larger universe impact of a full bossfight, some restrictions will apply -- see below.  

Ultimate Designerfriend title in credits.

Kickstarter Reward Limitations

To help make sure Fantaria: tQfS is a cohesive experience that fits my vision, there are some limitations on “design-an-x” reward tiers.  Note that these are guidelines, not hard refusals!  If you have a character that you’re concerned will be affected by these limitations, I want you to reach out to me to talk about it!  I’m always willing to work to find a compromise if you’re interested in seeing your character or design in Fantaria..

I reserve the right to have final say on small tweaks of all backer designs

You must legally own the rights to the characters and/or designs you request!  For example, a direct lift of Mario’s outfit on a Spheredog wouldn’t be okay, but a design which clearly falls under parody would be.  This applies more strictly to the higher tiers (see below).

Spherefriends cannot be made super massive, and their headwear shouldn’t be excessively vulgar or otherwise go counter to Fantaria’s aesthetic (i.e. no hyper realistic textures).

Barkwursts must always have the same silhouette, and make the same SFX as each other, to ensure the player can easily identify them despite the varied designs.

NPCs and Bosses have some further restrictions:

No humans.  Friendwoman is the only human presently in Fantaria’s universe, and this is a very key component of the universe.  If you have a human design that you’d like to see, I’d be thrilled to work with you on creating a variation of it that fits into the universe! (i.e. a capkin or PBot version).

No parodies/memes.  Unlike Spherefriends and Barkwursts, which don’t weigh much on the plot or universe, NPCs/bosses should not blatantly be referencing real-life jokes or personalities.  This does not mean that they all have to be serious, they can be wacky and silly!  Just...no ugandan knuckles parody, or trump parody, or other designs like that.

No characters with explicit and consistent ties to adult material.  It’s totally fine if your character is generally slightly lewd or attractive, but if all they’re associated with is porn (either vanilla or fetish), they won’t be a good fit for Fantaria.

I retain final say on the power level of your character in relation to the cast of Fantaria.  This is mostly to make sure that no characters become more important to the plot and events than pre-existing characters like Capboy and Friendwoman...unless, of course, I think the design can fit into such a role!  Naturally, you still have control over your character’s personality and attitude, and I will run any story events they are involved in by you to make sure you’re satisfied with the way they react.

Kickstarter Stretch Goals

Now that that’s out of the way, the final thing I’d like to talk about here are Kickstarter Stretch Goals!  I’ve budgeted these all fairly thoroughly, as I’ll explain in more detail when the KS itself launches.  These are as follows:

$25,000 -- Initial Goal.  This provides me with the living costs needed for the estimated year and some change of remaining development, as well as to commission Scandre and Viv for art and music, respectively.

$30,000 -- Local Deathmatch.  This tier will add a local deathmatch option to the main title, where you can fight with up to three of your friends in brand new arenas inspired by the couch competitions of old!

$35,000 -- More levels. This tier will add four fully-featured secret levels, pushing Capboy to the limit and providing special new rewards.  These levels will each come with a unique ability, melee weapon, and bossfight

$40,000 -- The Fantabulous Arena.  This tier will add a special arena to the game, allowing Capboy to fight endless enemy waves and challenge bosses that he’s already defeated again!  In addition to being able to have fun experiencing these fights, the Arena will have special challenges restricting Capboy to certain weapons, with even more sausages being rewarded for completing them.  Finally, post-release, all bosses will receive an additional Fantabulous version of themselves, unlocking potent new weapon upgrades for Capboy!

$50,000 -- Nightmare Mode. This tier will add a second campaign, inspired by the brutal NG+’s found in oldschool games.  Play as Capboy’s ally Friendwoman, travelling backwards through a distorted and damaged version of the main game’s story.  Face brutal platforming challenges, intense battle arenas, and mindbending puzzles, using with all of the main game’s weapons and unlocks to overcome the odds!  Naturally, this mode will also feature every single Fantabulous boss in place of their standard versions.  Nightmare Mode, if funded, would release as post-release DLC free to all backers of the $15 tier and above.

$60,000 -- Local Co-op.  Friendwoman will be able to join in with Capboy in the main quest, with the game dynamically adjusting challenges and obstacles to adjust for the additional player.  When in multiplayer, bosses will gain new co-op exclusive mechanics, and co-op exclusive puzzles and battle rooms will block the pair’s route.  This will also allow Friendwoman to be played instead of Capboy in the singleplayer main campaign.  If funded, this tier will release alongside the main game, and will likely cause some slight delay to the current predicted release date.

$65,000 -- Nightmare Co-op.  Friendwoman will be able to bring Capboy with her on her quest through the nightmare realm, enabling cooperation against the new threats and challenges of this brutal adventure.  As with the main campaign, new unique co-op oriented challenges will be present when in multiplayer on this campaign!  If funded, Nightmare Mode will have co-op when it is launched post-release.

$80,000 -- Online Multiplayer.  If funded, all multiplayer modes will be able to be played with one another online!  Releasing with the main game, Online Multiplayer will likely result in some further slight delay to the predicted release date if funded.

Whew, that was a lot!  If you bore with me for all of that, you’re a superfan, and it’s great to know that there are people dedicated enough to read through all of that.  As for when the KS and demo will actually launch, my current prediction is July 26th -- ironically, the same date (+4 months) as I wanted to release TFG’s kickstarter last year! Now that I’ve recovered from the issues I discussed in the last post, I’ve been diving deep back into development and making great progress.  As we approach that date, I will continue to evaluate the amount of work remaining and let you guys know if that seems like it’s going to change.

As I said at the beginning, swing by the Discord if you haven’t already and want to talk about this stuff!  I’m very eager to hear feedback on the price points of rewards and stretch goals, and am willing to listen to suggestions on any changes.  See you guys soon with another chunk of progress!

-Fantabuloso

[cksmart-world]

The completely unnecessary news analysis

by Christopher Smart

February 2, 2020

WHY REPUBLICANS NIXED WITNESSES

1 - He did it, but it's not an impeachable offense.

2 - He did it, but let the voters decide in November.

3 – This is a hoax lynching, so F-off.

4 - The House didn't have any first-hand witnesses, so it's Nancy Pelosi's fault.

5 - Jon Bolton is a disgruntled, rabid, angry man who had a bad childhood.

6 - We can't waste time on this, because if we do, we can't waste time on other stuff.

7 - The whistle blower is a subversive communist who must be unmasked and hanged, or at least given a pantsing by Rand Paul.

8 - He did it, but if I vote for witnesses, I'll be disinvited from CPAC and be reduced to drinking milkshakes with Mitt Romney in the cloakroom — I could even wind up with my head on a pike.

9 - He did it, but if we call witnesses, Americans will get an up-close account of how to run a criminal enterprise from the White House and that would hurt our democracy.

10 - He did it, but Congress has given up its constitutional mandate to check the power of the president. Long live Trump.

DUCK AND COVER, LEGISLATURE IN SESSION

The staff here at Smart Bomb has loaded up on emergency supplies: water, trail mix, flashlights and toilet paper — everything needed to survive a cataclysm. That's right, the Utah Legislature is in session. One of the slimiest and oft-used ploys on Capital Hill is something called a “boxcar.” That's when a legislator puts up a bill that is blank. Cagey lawmakers then wait until the last minute confusion of the session to sneak in language out of the Old Testament and have it voted through before anyone can say, lights out. But the staff here at Smart Bomb has cleverly embedded moles in the Republican caucus to get the skinny. One boxcar would amend Utah liquor law to mandate that fine wine be served in beer mugs. This would dissuade people from drinking wine. A companion boxcar would mandate that beer be served only in champaign flutes. Imagine that at the Twilight Lounge. Another boxcar would force pregnant women to watch a fetus grilled on the spit of a Weber Barbecue before seeking an abortion. This is when some new residents call back the Mayflower Movers. Our intel has it that another one would require everyone over 18 to carry a firearm. The legislation is labeled, “The Safe Utah Law.” Wilson and the band have loaded up on California bud and Pabst Blue Ribbon — it's going to be a long, strange haul to March 14.

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' IN FINALND

The American Dream is a lot easier to achieve in Finland. So says Sanna Marin, the Finnish prime minister. “We have a very good education system. We have a good health-care and social welfare system that allows anybody to become anything.” These are probably some of the reasons Finland gets ranked the happiest country in the world.” The United States is ranked 17th. Nordic countries are at the top of the World Economic Forum’s “Social Mobility Index,” that evaluates how citizens from all walks of life fare in health, educational achievement and income. The United States ranks No. 27. Don't tell that to Donald Trump (not that you could). But that's not all. In Finland health care is free — for everyone. The Finn's spend about $4,000 per person per year. The U.S. health-care system, by contrast, spends more than $10,000 per person per year. And no surprise, Finns are healthier. Finland also has one of the lowest poverty rates in the world — 6.3 percent compared to 11.8 percent in the U.S. All of that may be true, but the Finns don't have the Super Bowl and pelvis-grinding half-time shows. So put that in your kalakukko and smoke it.

SUPER SUNDAY IS AS AMERICAN AS GUACAMOLE

The nation's big celebration is in the books for another year and many people actually know who won the game. By Easter, few will remember the come-from-behind spectacle of Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. But, hey, the important thing is that Americans all got together in front of a TV and didn't talk politics. We were united by chicken wings and guacamole. Americans ate 1.38 Billion (with a 'B') chicken wings, according to Food & Drink magazine. (We did not make this up.) But that's not all. Americans devoured an estimated 153 Million pounds of avocados for guacamole on Super Sunday, along with 14,500 tons of chips. To wash it all down, we drank an estimated 162 million gallons of beer. On average, each American consumed 2,400 calories. Football, of course, is a dangerous sport — for spectators: Since 2013, avocado accidents  (removing the pit with a knife) have accounted for 27,059 trips to the emergency room — the majority of which occurred on Super Sunday. There is no reliable data on hangovers, but a potentially record number of people took Monday off. It's the god's honest truth.

Post Script — There it is, another historic week here at Smart Bomb. And when we say historic, we aren't just whistling “Dixie.” This will go down as the time when unabashed Republican senators tied themselves up in integrity pretzels that even they found embarrassing. Can't you just see Lindsey Graham years from now in his rocking chair gazing out at yesteryear: “The Devil made me do it.” Right. Closer to the present, Michael Bloomberg has drawn first blood in our never-ending presidential campaign: “Trump is a pathological liar who lies about everything: his fake hair, his obesity, and his spray-on tan.” Ouch. That hit the Insulter-In-Chief right where he lives.  And speaking of Trumpness, Brian Wilson has called for a boycott of The Beach Boys over their upcoming engagement at a trophy-hunting event featuring Donald Trump Jr. Mike Love is the only remaining member of the '60s California band, who sang about surfing, cars, girls and big-game safaris. WTF. The original quintet (The Wilson brothers, Brian Dennis and Carl and their cousin, Al Jardine) wouldn't  be caught dead posing with a leopard carcass. “Help me Rhonda, help me Rhonda now, shoot that big ol' rhinoceros...” Yecht. There ought to be a law. But what are you going to do?

OK, Wilson, wake up the band and take us out with a little feel-good for Punxsutawney Phil's early spring: Well, she got her daddy's car / And she cruised to the hamburger stand, now / Seems she forgot all about the library / Like she told her old man, now / And with the radio blasting / Goes cruising just as fast as she can now / And she'll have fun, fun, fun till her daddy takes the T-bird away...

[salavante]

Grey Solidago!

(lol this one was from Jake but he forgot to turn anon off. I’m making ye way through these and will probably post the rest later today or tomorrow - I got Pat and Aesop to go and might just do one more headshot of my choice to make it an even number)

Full Name: Grey Solidago

Gender and Sexuality: Female & Bisexual

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: Grey is a half-Anubii (also known as a Zeke) and a hemilich. Her father, Jonquil, is a full blooded anubii, a race of odd, magically reanimated corpses of unknown origin, and her mother, Hare, is a human. Hare is also ethnically an Ashkenazi jew.  

Birthplace and Birthdate: Maybe sometime in September. Could have been born in either The Tidelands (ranging from coastal sage scrub to salt marshes and deltas/swamps) or The Green (temperate rainforest and boreal pines to taiga).

Guilty Pleasures: Definitely smoking, a bad habit she picked up from her dad. Not really a guilty pleasure, but I also think that her tastes in music are a lot more varied than people would expect, and she can probably find something she likes in any genre she investigates.

Phobias: Nothin really man! Grey is actually the most “normal” and well adjusted of the Solidago children, which still means she’s kind of creepy and peculiar by average standards. She doesn’t like feeling vulnerable or like things are out of her control, and she is good at compartmentalizing her doubts and anxieties. There is a certain, intense rage inside her that is kept under a cool exterior, and inflicting grievous harm on someone who she feels deserves it is not something that troubles her very much. I suppose she may fear taking things too far and doing something very cruel, because she knows she has the ability and emotional capacity to do it.

What They Would Be Famous For: Grey is a fine artist who does very big, lush oil paintings, and while not famous, is notable and has had gallery shows of her work. Grey’s usual job is accompanying adventuring parties to strange locals and then illustrating them in action and doing charcoal studies of ruins/landscapes/etc, as editorial material for the various publications on adventuring and dungeon diving. She’s become a handful of magazines’ go-to gal. Her work is mostly representational, and she seldom makes a piece without doing lots of studies first, but she leans heavy into chiaroscuro and has big, juicy brush strokes. Words often used to describe her work are “eerie”, “haunting” or “intense”.

What They Would Get Arrested For: Probably something really benign like trespassing or going somewhere without a proper permit, Grey is pretty lawful, both of her parents are in a law enforcement esque occupation. They run a very organized adventurer’s guild, effectively, that will cooperate with local law enforcement to catch run of the mill criminals in addition to tackling monsters or liches or what have you.

OC You Ship Them With: Wybjorn has a tiny baby crush on her because he gets crushes on anyone who’s moderately nice to him, but he’s a little too goofy for her, she’s not into it. Grey’s in an awkward bracket of characters because they are kind of our third gen group and there’s only so many of them in the 20-30 range (Grey is 23). She’s also kind of an intense lady, I keep using that word but it fits. Canonically, we’re going to see how Grey and Ozzy fare when we get around to Mindrunner II, the sequel to Ozzy’s original campaign. They weirdly hit it off during Godslaughter, I think they’re both very intellectual people and counterbalance one another very well. Ozzy has a partner already, their name is Rosemary, but Ozzy has two hands.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Jovix-Cailo, probably. He did kill Lysander and broke Grey’s leg. Otherwise she hasn’t really done anything to invoke someone’s ire. Jovix-Diocunigast might also kill her in the final fight, we shall see (I wrote this before the game was over, he didn’t!).

Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Grey likes slow burn ghost stories, psychological horror, true crime documentaries, mysteries and thrillers. She’d like “I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House”, “Twin Peaks” and Agatha Christie. She probably reads short story anthologies and paperbacks when she’s on the road for her job.  Anything with well paced tension will hold her interest, but she may tolerate poor writing as long as the visuals in a movie or TV show are good.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: I honestly don’t think she’d treat something with disdain or vitriol like some other characters might, I think she’s pretty good at ignoring stuff that she doesn’t like in terms of media. Not a big fan of slashers or more fantastical horror, she has pretty well defined tastes, and dislikes your usual bouquet of mainstream film genres (romcoms, action, etc). I do think that one thing she truly does not like is any cartoon with singing in it, which is probably something she has to moderately tolerate because she has a young niece.

Talents and/or Powers: Grey has a mostly utility build with a focus on stacking debuffs and interrupting other people’s attacks. She doesn’t have any really big, damage dealing abilities, but she’s meant to support more potent DPS by wearing down bosses with status afflictions. In fiction this manifests as a handiness at weaving curses. As mentioned before, she is also a pretty skilled painter, with her preferred mediums as charcoal, ink wash and oils.

Why Someone Might Love Them: Strong willed, confident, intelligent and classy - Grey has perhaps had self confidence issues in the past, she was kind of a weird looking, gangly child/teenager, but she really owns herself now. She knows what she likes and dislikes and makes her preferences very obvious, and though she doesn’t make jokes very often, has a good sense of humor (which she got from her mom) though it can be kind of dry/morbid. She’s rather private and has an air of mystery about her and a slight eeriness that some may find enticing. She also refuses to stand idly by when there is injustice in her presence, for better or for worse. 

Why Someone Might Hate Them: She can come off as uncaring or cold, and definitely has a terminal case of Resting Bitch Face. Any hiccups in her success in the art world are caused by her being uncompromising with her integrity, and a reluctance to play nice peers and art directors just for the sake of networking or getting a job. Being disingenuous feels counterintuitive to her sense of ethics. And while that’s all well and good, it makes her difficult to work with, and has made her miss out on some opportunities she may have benefitted from. Her bluntness has made her unpalatable to many, and some may see her as being stuck up. She also does not react well to people approaching her with aggression or snideness, and will retaliate ferociously.

How They Change: Honestly, not a lot, she’s pretty stable. Grey has mostly functioned in an NPC capacity up until this point, so there haven’t really been any stories focused on her. Prior to her extra dimensional shenanigans with her half-brother, she had kind of a strained relationship with her mom, who’s she’s since gained a lot more respect and compassion for. They’re on much better terms now. She also started out not liking Ozzy very much and thought he was kind of a weiner, but, they’re very good friends now after having some pretty harrowing experiences together.

Why You Love Them: She’s my only character who’s actually an artist. I don’t tend to like making characters who, well, do what I do. I love illustrating but what I do is still a lot of hard work and I like to take breaks from it. Generally speaking, I prefer to insert my creativity and drive into characters that make things with their hands but don’t make visual art per say. It’s why a lot of my characters are scientists and engineers. So I think it’s a unique connection to have.

[bluering8]

for the dnd meme, i'm gonna send you the same prompt someone else sent me: prime numbers!

2. Your favouritecharacter that someone else has played.

My favourite character was probably Pax! Her player is nolonger around because Reasons, but I still love Pax. She was hilarious and anabsolute delight, top-quality belligerent homeless drunkard with more arms (four)than brain cells.

Favourite character who is still active is maybe… Glitz??That’s a really hard choice because I particularly love the entire Navarenegroup, the Glitz-Levin-Aradi trio is super fun for me to watch interacting becausetheir personalities bounce off each other in really entertaining ways.

3. Your favouriteside quest.

I don’t think we really… do side quests… Numenera iskind of like Side Quests: the RPG, the whole point of it is that you’resupposed to explore and get distracted by random shit and race off in twentydifferent directions at once.

5. Favourite NPC.

Ssenofyn Srelthyn Syntysus! Ssen’s hilarious to me because he’sso consistently deadpan in the face of wacky shenanigans and questionablesocial skills. He cares only for science and it’s delightful. It also means he’sreally good at the job of Being A Party NPC: all he wants is for the party tokeep running around and exploring, so he’s content to stand in the backgroundand only help out when asked. He lets the PCs do all the Fun Stuff, and it makes sense for his character that he’d act that way.

7. Your favouritedowntime activity.

We don’t really… do downtime either… I mean, we could do downtime, but I’m a veryimpatient man and want lots of things to be happening at all times. Okay, wejust jumped out of a plane after encountering/rescuing a new PC and there’snothing immediately important happening, this would be a really good time torelax and take stock and have some RP where we get to know our new teammateright? Well, we could do that, or wecould investigate this weird space lego in a nearby pond let’s do thatinstead!!

11. How often do youplay and how often would you ideally like to play?

We play pretty irregularly? Mostly as a side-effect of wowthere are so many different time zones and conflicting schedules at play here.We’ve switched to play-by-post rather than having actual sessions, which has helpeda lot with the scheduling issues, but we still don’t play very often. I’m like68% sure we’re maybe on hiatus until the new books come out?

13. Introduce yourcurrent party.

There are three!

Draolis party: Tom Sideways (Charming Jack who Works theBack Alleys), useless layabout on a quest to locate a gun which fires weird timebullets and also an occasional pawn in his crime lord brother’s scheming; Aeli(Clever Glint who Crafts Illusions), a con artist who got herself involved inOracle’s political shenanigans; Styx (Ultraterrestrial Glaive who IntegratesWeaponry), a boisterous adventurer from the Timelands who found herselfstranded in the Ninth World by accident and is seeking to repair her worldlineshifter; Oracle (NPC), an overdramatic “””terrorist””” who likes to yell aboutpolitics a lot.

Navarene party: Enodyne (Perceptive Nano who Abides inCrystal), an imperious supervillain with a mysterious backstory; Levin (WeirdNano who Rides the Lightning), Aeon Priest, mom friend, and also an avidknitter; Glitz (Manipulative Jack who Possesses a Shard of the Sun), a fancyboy who wears impractical shoes and is super Extra at all times; Aradi (GuardedSeeker who Manipulates Force), a Gaian who is just here to explore ancientruins and doesn’t know why these strange people keep talking to her like shetolerates them.

Techhunter party: Mote (Mystical Jack who Fuses Mind andMachine), a space ape from space on a quest to find her lost god; Flux Dynamo(Mercurial Glaive who Employs Magnetism), who is ADHD as hell and loves spaceso much you guys so much; Ssenofyn(NPC), who is just here to do science.

17. What are somehouse rules that your group has?

Anyone who draws an art gets an experience point, AKA therule which lets Hap advance at approximately the ten times the rate of everyoneelse put together (I’m not deliberately spamming art specifically for the purposeof XP gain, I’m just Like This). The GM insists this is fine.

The new books are gonna be introducing Player Intrusionsalso, which presumably is gonna mean players get to spend an XP to make goodthings happen to themselves. The GM’s said that if there’s no mechanism to letplayers make bad things happen tothemselves they’ll houserule it in just for me, which on the one hand I feelkind of offended but on the other hand shit yes time to shoot myself repeatedlyin the foot!! I promise to use this power responsibly and only cause disastersfor myself so I don’t ruin the game for other people. On the gripping hand thisshould go some way to correcting the ridiculous amount of XP I’ve accidentallyaccumulated with my constant fanart, so it all balances out in the end I guess.

19. Do you or yourparty have any dice superstitions?

Nope! Except that back when we were using physical diceinstead of a dicebot Jack’s dice hated them, which was less superstition andmore objective fact because one time we had a session while they were visitingme and they borrowed a set of my dice and suddenly they could make non-shittyrolls.

23. Do you usepremade modules or original campaigns?

Mostly original stuff I think? Don’t look at me, I only haveaccess to the character-creation books, I don’t know how much of what goes on is canon and how much the GM makes up on the spot. Fortunately all my characters areeither foreigners or complete idiots so my relative ignorance of the NinthWorld doesn’t matter super much.

29. Do you prefer RPheavy sessions or combat sessions?

As a GM? RP sessions, mostly because the game I’m GMing usesa ridiculously ruleslite system so there’s not really anything interesting youcan do with combat. This might change if I ever get organised enough to runsomething with more than a single page of rules. But also, when the players are RPing and treating their PCs like characters instead of sticks to solve problems with, that’s super super pleasing for me because it feels like they’re enjoying themselves and getting engaged with what’s going on.

31. What is yourfavourite class? Favourite race?

My favourite type is jack! They seem to be, like… the bestset up for interacting with the world in the way I want to interact with it. Ilike having the variety in what I can do and I’m not super bothered by the lackof high-powered/specialised skills. It looks like the new book’s going to bemaking jacks their own Thing instead of just being a nonspecialised mishmash ofall the other character types so iunno, we’ll see how that one shakes out.

Numenera doesn’t really doraces the way DND does races. You get races, but they’re in place ofdescriptors rather than a separate trait. I ain’t give a shit about function orbuilding a mechanically-optimised character, if you tell me I can either pick aspecies trait or a character trait I’ll pick the character trait. So I guess Iprefer the default “race” (which is… not necessarily human, Mote’s a spaceape but she still counts as the default mechanically) because then I can picksomething else interesting to have going on. I did super enjoy playing an ArtificiallyIntelligent character one time, but the GM let me pick two descriptors so I wasAI/Mad and honestly if I could’ve only picked one, Mad all the way.

[palavenmoons]

So I don't believe I've ever gotten to know your OCs! I know Varik a little from browsing your tumblr, but I'm a bit curious about the rest! Who are the nerds and what do they do?

Thank you so much for the question! And… apologies for not answering earlier. I was contemplating how to answer this - sadly there’s no really short version for it…so yeah, here I go. Apologies for the length of the answer ahead of time…! >_

For @kingfreakingrican

First and foremost, it might be good to know these characters belong to a campaign I’ve been DMing or been a player of for the past three years. Originally someone else was to DM but I ended up taking the mantle, for good or worse. The characters change, and evolve plenty in that time so… how a character is, feels and what they pointedly are doing, depends a lot on which time of the story we’re at, if this makes sense. The characters may or may have more or less influence in the story or on the PCS, but I do love making recurring characters from all species. I will, however refer to the most… mentioned ones? At least for starting arcs, especially those in the Citadel Reconstruction Project as that story has gone forward and developed in RP sessions through 3RL years, (about 5 years IG.) Imagine this is the “pilot episode” and we’re talking about season 4 or something :D.

Citadel Reconstruction Project - Takes place immediately after the war. Stranded on Earth, people start picking up the pieces from the war: cleaning and reconstruction efforts begin, either on Earth or the Citadel now stuck on Earth Space - as stranded aliens wait for the Relays to reactivate to get news from their homeworlds - while also trying to salvage what is left of their lives. Has had consecutive arcs running through the last 3 years.

Penelope Wilson -  A former BaaT child, now doctor specialized in Xenobiology, who has lived most  of her life in the Citadel. Trying to put her life and skills to good use.

Varik Naharis - Former test pilot and military pilot, assigned to ferrying and transportation in the Civilian Quadrants within the Citadel. Is heavily fighting with PTSD while also looking after his younger sister, who at the best of times, is a handful.

Kendra Naharis - A communication specialist with a charming voice and a volatile temperament, still serving her public years. Resourceful and smart, yet she is fighting with parental resentment and feelings of abandonment.

Bentarog Urdnot - A young Krogan in a program to help integrate their people into the Civilian lifestyle without the mercenary tags. With a strong sense of honor and firm believer of Wrex’ philosophy that Krogan can be more than a stereotype.

Kallus Sylnus - A cyber warfare specialist who did not really do everything as the law dictated - especially that part in which he stole an AI from a military facility. Somehow ended as a data sorter for C-Sec.

Regin Tacitus - Responsible for a shelter in the lower levels of the Citadel, he is a subtle grumpy ally to almost everyone, and a helping hand to those most overlooked.

Els Baer - A Salarian investigator looking into a ring of  Red Sand dealers that have taken the chaos of the Citadel as an opportunity to claim territory for future operations.

… as the story progressed new characters appeared, such as Vitus Varsis (Strike Force Soldier) Cilea Elvodonis (turian figther pilot), Edei’Maar vas Qu’Lian (Quarian Marine) , Siana Tevos (Theoretical physicist), Irverreth’Tau vas Pioneer (Weaponsmith), Arran Narr (Salarian!)- , and the families of many characters also appear now and then. It also moves from the Citadel to other locations.

Cyclone - Takes place 15 years after the war, while settling a multispecies colony on a former Quarian Planet in the Terminus System. Science, a bit old archeology on not Prothean stuff, and action. 

Ril’Xar vas Zeppal - Head of the Biology Department in the colony, examining the savage flora and fauna of the place. Highly qualified in both medicine and cybernetics, with a specialization in biotics due to his own circumstance. Recurring characters next to, include his Asari wife Erai, and daughter Neera.

Sidus Daerian - Overqualified Turian security guard with a rough background as a former Cabalite. Stabs things, maybe sometimes he asks a question later. Prefers to avoid trouble.

Daora Bennet - Our friendly Asari mechanic with no biotic talent whatsoever yet overcompensates with a wide collection of “antique” vehicles.

Jaedra - Savant Salarian Hacker, that got pulled inside a Volus conspiracy. Gets saved by the characters above, only to betray them in the end for his own goals. (*shakes fist!*).

Other recurring characters include Hanar reporters, Elcor trafficants and Vol plotters of course.

Apologies for the long post, and I hope this helps clarify at least a little bit of the mess  of the characters. Considering we are so further ahead, so many characters have appeared and I really do not know how to introduce them without lengthy and tedious explanations :’D

If you have read all the way up to here, perhaps anyone has any idea in regards how to present the stories / characters? I thought maybe character profiles or maybe just introductions to each of the arcs or something? IDK I’ll stop rambling…!

[contentmarketingallstars]

Content Marketing All-Stars Q&A: Brooks Thomas of Southwest Airlines

Tell great stories.

Southwest takes that often heard��and extraordinarily effective—advice to heart. The airline excels at creating content that engages, compels, and inspires. Over and over, the company produces pieces which tell extraordinary stories about its customers, its employees, and its brand. 

How do they do it? Recently we chatted with Brooks Thomas, Social Business Advisor at Southwest Airlines, to find out.

Check out the full Q&A below:

Q: Starting broadly, what role does digital content play for Southwest? Why are you creating it?

A: Content plays a big role for us because it gives us the ability to tell a wide array of stories.

We pride ourselves on having the best employees in the industry and the best customers in the industry. Telling their stories authentically—I know that word is cliché—is what we seek to do.

We have both employees and customers sharing so many interesting moments; from trip planning, to the Southwest experience, to the lasting impact travel leaves. We want to harness all that and tell emotional stories.

Q: What is the team like that is pulling together these stories? 

A: It’s not a single team, this really is a company effort.

We enable any Southwest employee who has a really good story to be able to tell it. We provide the platforms for them to share it on, and we’ve got teams like Social Business—which I reside on—curating those pieces.

We and the Social Customer Care folks are constantly harvesting customer and employee stories. Often that process starts with something as simple as a mention of Southwest on Twitter, or Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.

We look as an enterprise – it really does transcend individual teams – how to distribute those stories internally and externally. Content at Southwest drives a larger narrative that extends beyond where it was curated. We look for ways to integrate it in other channels, in training opportunities, and shout-outs from leadership during major news and announcements.

Everybody here, in every team and in every city, is part of telling our story. That’s how it should be—everyone involved is part of the Southwest story.

Q: What are the mechanisms for employees sharing stories? Which platforms do you use to share and find stories?

A: There are a couple of different ways, but the one that is the most practical, and maybe the most obvious, is our robust internal online groups, particularly on Facebook.

Employees can go in and tag the right person with their story, and depending on the type of content it’ll make it to the right team. It’s a hub-and-spoke model for sharing.

We’ve had these Facebook groups for five or six years now and they’ve become very popular. People learn over time who to tag within the company. We’re like a family at Southwest; name almost any city or airport and I could tell you the name of somebody who is eager jump into action and help.

Social has helped to cultivate that company community. Friendships that used to be infrequent – “Hey I’ll see you a couple times a year because we work on opposite sides of the country” – can now be sustained digitally. Now people are able to constantly share really cool stuff with each other, which magnifies their relationships and also helps us cultivate an environment where the sharing is constant

Q: We’re big fans of the Southwest Stories on the website. Can you talk a bit about how that area came about and what it is?

A: It has a bit of an unusual origin story.

Back in 2004 and 2005 there was an A&E show called Airline which featured Southwest employees. We didn’t have any editorial control of the show, we just believed that our people would do the right thing and Southwest would be shown in a positive light.

And it did; after each episode we would receive an influx of applications from people who wanted to work for us.

When the show went off the air we experienced a big decrease, because the stories became much harder to find. Company blogs weren’t a big thing back then, but we launched one so that we could keep storytelling.

Over time the space grew to include video and became a much bigger thing. About a year-and-a-half ago we relaunched it as a community. We wanted it to be not just the stories we tell, but a discussion with peer-to-peer sharing; people helping people

Q: Another great offering from you guys is 175 Stories. Can you talk about what it is?

A: That has been a fabulous effort from our advertising folks in conjunction with our advertising agency of record, GSD&M.

We’d had the tagline “Every city has a story” peppered through our offerings for a while, but the idea hadn’t received the structure it deserved until the creation of 175 Stories. We called it that because that’s how many seats our new Boeing 737 MAX 8 holds. That aircraft went into service in October, which synched with our timing for a fall campaign.

175 Stories is essentially a combination of a lot of different storytelling efforts, but mostly involves our social content curation and advertising. The effort tells the stories of all the different people you might find on a flight. Some are real stories and some are produced commercials, derived from real situations.

We wanted to take that whole theme of “behind every seat is a story” and showcase it. We also wanted to highlight our coined term “transfarency” and show how we separate ourselves from the pack with two free checked bags—as long as weight and size limits apply – no change fees, and other similarly unique Southwest offerings.

Q: How do you measure the success of a piece of content? Which metrics do you pay close attention to? 

A: It depends on the piece; where it is coming from and how it fits into the greater puzzle.

If it’s a piece that has some duality—for example, if it’s supposed to be building brand affinity and also encouraging people to apply for a job—then we want to be able to measure against both goals.

Typically, we’re putting out content because we want to build awareness around something, or we want to build brand affinity, or we want to inspire people to take action; whether it’s booking a fare, applying for a job, or simply engaging. Whichever of those is relevant drives the metrics we analyze.

Q: Finally, do you have any personal favorite pieces of Southwest content?

A: I’ll give you a newer one and an older one.

The older one is from a few years ago: I got a voicemail from a woman, Maraleen Manos-Jones, saying there was a crisis. She was in Albany, NY, and said she had a beautiful, healthy butterfly that had just emerged from its cocoon late in the season. She was afraid it wouldn’t successfully migrate south because by the time it got to around Kansas City in the midsection of America the temperature would be too low for a butterfly to survive.

So, she was asking of we would fly the butterfly down to San Antonio to be released in a botanic garden there. 

We ended up doing it. We took her from Albany through Baltimore and down to San Antonio. We pitched the story to the press and by the time she got to the botanic garden in Texas there were throngs of cameras just waiting for this butterfly to be released. It was amazing, the story got picked up domestically and internationally.

We cheekily called it the “butterfly effect”: if we could raise awareness about something like climate change, or sustainability, or environmental friendliness, with one donated ticket—one butterfly—then we’ve done our job. In hindsight, seeing all of the coverage, we would have been crazy to pass on it, even though I’m sure many people thought we were crazy for pursuing it.

The newer story involves a man named Earl Richards, who is a World War II veteran and describes himself as the happiest guy in Albuquerque. 

He is also a huge Southwest fan. He sings for customers as they board; he asks to pass out snacks. He just loves the company.

So, we organized for him to come to our headquarters and get the royal treatment.

He was so taken aback that we would do this for him; he got choked up and was so thankful.

It’s a fun story and very representative of our customers. People take so much pride in associating themselves with us. That makes Southwest as much theirs as it is mine.

[seasonreaper]

Best Vidya of 2017 - Part Four

Here we are, at the end of the line. Games I’ve actually beaten, from this year. That are great.

Part One - Best Game of 2017 (That I Haven’t Completed Yet) Part Two - Most Anticipated Games of 2017 (That I Haven’t Tried Yet) Part Three - Best Game of (not) 2017 That I Played in 2017

Best Game of 2017

Runners Up

Gravity Rush 2

Gravity Rush was a good game. One of the first things I played on my Vita, the world was interested and felt alive and the characters were fun, plus it had one hell of a soundtrack.

Gravity Rush 2 got announced and all the promotional material pointed towards a lot of things, namely more content, more areas to explore, more characters, better fighting and gravity mechanics and generally everything else one would want from a sequel, really. The soundtrack is still great, the world feels like an absurd but real place and the characters are still really lovely. Kat is such a charming character with her cute comments on everything and thoughts, she just comes across as being really quite adorable. The game also feels like it controls better as well and, whilst the story does use a bunch of very standard tropes, it’s still decent. It’s mostly the characters that sell it, but everything is a step up from the original I’d say, and that was already a damn solid place to start from. It met expectations and surpassed them. Very much worth picking up on release day.

NieR:Automata

But Season, you say, how the shit is NieR here, in the runners up section? Are you having an aneurysm? Nope, it’s just here. The soundtrack is still beyond perfect and the gameplay feels wonderful, but I do really wish that 9S could use two weapons like A2 and 2B can, it feels so much nicer than only having the standard attack like 9S does. The boss fights are fantastic, the side quests add a lot of flavour text and added information to how things are in the world, plus have their own plotlines and poignancy. As with the original NieR, it all culminates in various reveals and some pretty messed up stuff in the late game, especially once you reach Route C/D. Ending E especially stands out, because it’s kind of an integral part of the whole concept of the game, acting as a counter to the themes thus far whilst staying thematically appropriate. Some of the alternate endings are rather amusing too, plus the secret boss fight is some serious shit indeed. In any other year, this would likely still take the overall game of the year slot, because it’s bloody wonderful.

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood

I play FFXIV quite a bit, so it’s no surprise that I’ve finished with the main content of Stormblood. The new story is some pretty decent stuff throughout, although some parts do feel better than others. The events in the Azim Steppe leading up to Doma are absolutely wonderful, for example, but it doesn’t quite reach the highs of Heavensward’s story or level of intrigue, plus the amount of plot armour seems a bit absurd at times. I’d love for them to throw some crazy curveballs in at some point in the future and catch people completely off guard, but with this story it still feels a little too safe. The new content is decent, with Bardem’s Mettle being a particular standout dungeon, plus the Rabanastre and Deltascape contents are both good fun. Looking forward to seeing what happens in future patches, got some interesting stuff lined up, plus more quality of life benefits which is always nice. Most importantly though, they reworked all of the game’s combat classes heavily, which means Bard is back to being super fun to play and for me, that’s of the highest importance. Bards are the best.

Dark Souls III: The Ringed City

Hah, time for DLC. I actually don’t buy much DLC, so for one to be on here means it’s something special. That said, being a huge Souls fan, it’s not a surprise at all. As I’d already completed the game, I ended up actually going through the DLCs on NG+ which probably made things harder for myself, but oh well. Whilst I did like Painted World quite a bit, I don’t think it quite reaches this list other than me mentioning it right here as it has its fair share of flaws, plus the only real standout moment of it was the final Friede stage in my opinion. But The Ringed City? Oh boy. It also has flaws, but really, I can overlook those because the first and last bosses are ridiculously good. Gael especially is one of the most intense and enjoyable fights I’ve had in the whole franchise and considering the series’ history, that’s damn high praise. Even Midir has some positive elements despite being a massive asshole, but I eventually took it down as well and it’s probably still the best dragon fight around, possibly except Kalameet. Also god damn, Gael’s theme is gorgeous.

And now...

Winner

Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

Yup, my game of the year for 2017 is technically a DLC. But it’s so much more than that. Shovel Knight in itself is a fantastic game and arguably the best game of last year. Plague of Shadows was a fun piece of extra content that showed the game in a slightly different light. But Specter of Torment? They kept the same light but changed the goddamn room it was in. The gameplay is different, the bosses act differently and have new moves, the stages are reworked and in some places entirely new, there’s new enemies, assets and music, plus a new story as well. I’ve seen sequels with less core changes than Specter of Torment does to Shovel Knight. And you know what? I bloody loved every second of it. King Knight’s campaign is coming soon and if that holds up to the level of quality Yacht Club Games have put out so far, Shovel Knight will be one of the best things ever made.

[theticklishpear]

Writer’s Questionnaire Meme

Tagged by @roselinproductions - <3!

Rules: Answer the questions for your work. You can use different works in progress. Don’t hesitate to link your stuff for the curious ones. And tag writer friends to play along!

1) Which scene/paragraph/sentence are you the most proud of?

Quill should have felt sorry for them all; every single person still standing around the docks staring up at the huge mass of rock floating away remained because the city meant something for them. Seeing it leave meant that something was gone. It didn't mean nearly so much for Quill. It wasn't his life down the gutter or anything else so important, but it was adventure. Corduroy Andrews' voice rang in his ears from just hours before: "You'll never be anything more than you are now." Quill wiped his bloody nose on the edge of his sleeve, gave the city one last contemptuous glance, and headed back toward the newspaper stand where he helped the old man day after day. He could always be found there, no matter the weather nor holiday. The words, "See you tomorrow," fell from the lips of their regular customers as easily as rain from the sky, but it made Quill's skin twitch to know they assumed he would be there. Worse yet, they were right.

2) For which work/piece of work do you get comments telling how marvelous it is, while you’re not that enthralled by that piece yourself?

My works don’t get feedback, so I don’t have an answer to this, sorry. OC works just don’t get noticed.

3) Which character highjacked the story they’re in?

In the third book of the Moonwater series, I introduced a little neighborhood-mischief-maker girl. My main characters were new to the country and the city they were in, and every time they thought they knew what they were doing, it would turn out they hadn’t taken some part of the culture or the environment into account, and this little thief girl would almost always be standing somewhere just “off-camera” watching them be less than brilliant, and she’d call insults at them and tell them their plan wasn’t going to work, and eventually, she became rather integral to the plot, where she was really just my personal relief character when I put her in (fully intending to remove her and rework the scenes when the draft was done). Instead, I’ve reworked her character to round her out and make her appearances more meaningful and whatnot. So she’s staying.

4) Which sentence/kind of sentence do you overuse?

The [noun] [verbed], [like an unexpected simile]. (Where the noun is not something that usually verbs at all.)

5) Which work of yours would you be dying to get fan art for?

I would even settle for incoherent expletives or even a, “[Action] is so typical of [character]! Hah!” But fan art, for sure any of the Moonwater Series stuff, core or companion pieces.

6) Which work would you rather forget?

I have a box of old works in my closet and I ask myself every time I move if it’s time to get rid of them, and the answer is always no. Even the angst-ridden poems after the deaths of friends or the long rambling prose poetry written after botched attempts at being cool in public. They are where I came from, reminders of how low I’ve been, barometers for how far I’ve come. I don’t want to forget them. I want to remember, and I want to progress.

7) Do you have a project you never got the nerves/guts to write?

Less a question of nerves/guts--I don’t know what I’m not capable of until I try, after all--and more a question of knowing I didn’t have a story to go with it. The Deerking story, for instance, I haven’t written because I don’t know what the story is yet. I have lots of ideas I haven’t done anything with, but it’s not because I don’t think I can--I don’t have that kind of judgement--but because I don’t know where they belong yet.

8) For which fandom have you written the most? (can be original fic, say if you count in terms of words, chapters or fics)

I’ve never written for fandom, but I have written more than 500,000 words in the Moonwater universe, including an upcoming D&D campaign!

Just tagging: @akiwitch & @ancient-trees this time.

[senelkins-blog]

NEW YORK TIMES. FEBRUARY 2017. 

SENATOR ELKINS DID NOT ASK TO BE A BELLWETHER. At no point in his prodigious career did he ever ask for the mantle of prophet or did he demand the cardboard sign of an apocalyptic herald. Instead, his thirty-plus years of dedication to the conservative cause gradually transformed him into a tough love advocate for its transformation. His devotion to the right-wing has pushed him into battles with everyone from his own party to each branch of the government —— federal, state, and local levels, too. His image is one of a protector, if not necessarily a cage-fighter. He hearkens back to a different age of politics (one that he suspects never truly existed) when good men got their hands dirty behind close doors and while wearing gloves. The word integrity comes to mind, though it may perhaps be a partisan twist of the term. He does the right thing, even if that thing is announcing —— unflinchingly —— the impending demise of his own movement.

November 9th, 2016. The senator gives his final public speech of the year. At the time, no one suspected that he would disappear behind the scenes well into the new year. His ghost-like presence on the campaign grew gradually more public until the very last minute; his final speech was every bit what would have been expected. However, no one —— not even members of the Solis campaign itself  —— could have predicted that the godfather of the party would seemingly turn his back in their darkest hour. In that speech, which some of his long-time enemies regard as infamous, he concluded by paying homage to Barry Goldwater.

“Offer a choice, not an echo,” the senator repeats to me. His home in Raleigh is every bit what one would expect: we sit on a massive wraparound porch; his wife handed me a cold glass of sweet tea with a wedge of lemon before disappearing in her scarf to the garden; there are a couple of grandchildren chasing each other along the edge of a cornfield in the front yard; the sounds of the city are just far enough away to emphasis that of a tractor somewhere in the distance; the senator’s mint-condition 1953 F-100 sits in the driveway. I sit in awe of my surroundings, aware of the depth to which the senator’s carefully crafted image goes.

“Voters want change, and that’s a fact. Even when things are good, they ain’t satisfied. They want better. They deserve better, and they know it. A lot of politicians would tell you off the record that the people are dumb, and their attention just ain’t long enough to keep track of four years of work. But, that’s plainly wrong. They know —— they sense it in their guts without having to pick up a copy of the Post. America is more than a place, you know. It’s a state of mind, it’s a place in the heart. It’s an ideal that voters expect us to strive toward. Do we?”

He lets the question hang in the air and, at the time, I wonder if he recalls my original question. A few minutes earlier, I brought up a recent topic from an interview he allowed in his Hill office. Deterioration of the Republican party, he had said. Everyone from the RNC chair to the House Minority Leader have been forced to comment, and they all say the same thing: he’s working on it. The phrase has become synonymous with Senator Elkins over the years; when he gets to work on something, be it a vintage car or an improbable slog uphill and back into power, the work tends to be fruitful. But, rather than hashing through the how, I want to know the why.

“Right after we lose our way, we do.” He continues abruptly. The illusion of distraction comes across as he leans forward in his rocking chair to wave at a grandchild who has ducked toward the porch —— presumably for a glass of the tea, though I later see her rush outside with a model dump truck with working wheels which the senator says he hand-painted last Christmas. We take a break from the interview to go help the little girl load the back of the toy with dirt from Mrs. Elkin’s garden.

It is here that he really elaborates on his thoughts. I realize that I get real answers on his terms, usually as a product of a roundabout discussion that leaves the questions I fed him untouched to the point of frustration. Still, the senator’s home life is a fascinating look into who he is as a person. For a politician so paradoxically impersonal, even the way he helps his wife pull weeds tells a small story about who he is in Washington.

“The Republican party ain’t smart anymore. Emotions are a powerful political tool, be we’ve been using them right poorly as of late. Good ole McCain was destined to lose, going up against all the hopey-changey stuff.” He pauses to wink at me. “But, it’s been bad ever since then. Romney was out of touch. Solis was … a miscalculation.”

The Carolina soil under my nails is dark and wet; Mrs. Elkin’s tomatoes are beautiful.

“We went back to the Fifties, I think. We offered voters two shades of the same color, and they went with the one that did it best. Frankly, the conservative vision has become watered-down, weak, too indecisive to appeal to the average voter. They see a bunch of rich [jerks] in suits vying for a spot on some wealthy donor’s lap. It’s sickening, and people from Coal Country and the Delta and even the suburban Triangle can see that. Theresa Wright should not have won. She’s not as charismatic as Barack Obama, she offered herself as a lite version of him, and everything about her screamed centrism.” He clears his throat, and the sound is intentionally ugly. “We’re picking up the piece right now. I can’t figure out for the life of me how we were so off.”

This sounds like an aside. Can’t sounds more like paint when he says it.

“Conservatism looks like elitism these days. I want to take it back to the little people, and do it quick. The Dems have abandoned mom and pop and Joe and Suzy with even more zeal than we have, and it’s gonna become a race back to the trailer park once the midterms wipe them out.”

I ask over barbecue sandwiches if he truly believes that there will be Republican majorities in 2018.

“Absolutely. I like the word deterioration. I also like the word regeneration. I got things in the works, you know. Ever since Obama, we’ve been trying to make ourselves palatable. We like to play to the center as much as our base, and we went a little too far during the campaign. Not enough red meat. Not enough contrast. Wright is leading everyone into the wrong, and I can feel it like an ulcer. The people know when they’re being duped, and they know when Washington don’t care about them. Am I waiting for her to make a wrong move? Yes, I sure as hell am. When she does, we’ll show the nation that we ain’t an echo —— of anything, of anyone. People want something to believe in, and they want to believe in change. More than anything else, they want solid and real choices.”

                                                                                  by Gia Saab.