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demigodpolls · 3 months ago

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calling all PJO fanfic readers!

In the interest of acknowledging great works by fandom writers, DemigodPolls is going to share a big year-end collection of 2024 Percy Jackson fanfic recommendations! In the comment section below or on this AO3 post, leave recommendations for the best PJO fanfics you've read - but there is one major rule: they MUST have been published or last updated in 2024! No exceptions! Reblogs are turned on, but please do NOT leave your recommendations in the reblogs/tags! They will not be considered! Before commenting, make sure that you read the additional specifications below the cut first. If you have nothing to recommend, please do reblog to help support fandom writers and spread the word! Thank you!!!

What we want:

strong grammar

strong writing skills

accurate/interesting depictions of PJO characters

angst/romance/drama/adventure/friendship/character studies/etc

accurately tagged stories (i.e. stories that don't surprise you with untagged triggering content)

stories written with love for the percy jackson universe and its characters

What we DON'T want:

stories that were published/last updated before 2024

stories about ships that would be age-inappropriate in canon, unless the characters are CLEARLY aged up in the story (e.g. no olympians x teenage characters, unless the younger character is explicitly an ADULT when they first meet in the fanfic)

stories that contain non-c*n, inc*st, p*dophilia

stories under 1000 words

stories that fall under "character x everyone"

stories about original characters (stories that contain some OCs in non-protagonist roles are fine, character x reader/self-inserts are fine)

stories that bash other ships/characters (i.e., don't recommend percabeth fics that bash rachel/perachel)

stories that contain non-PJO crossovers (except for RRverse crossovers, i.e. pjo + tkc is fine, toa alone is fine, tkc alone is not, pjo + harry potter is not)

stories that contain gore/extreme violence/extreme bodily harm

stories that contain cheating/infidelity (I just don't want to read those, sorry)

dialogue-only fanfics/texting-only fanfics

stories that contain W*TTG sp0ilers

can I recommend multiple things?

yes! just make sure to categorize them correctly under the relevant prompts.

can I recommend my own story?

yes, but you are highly, highly encouraged to simultaneously recommend at least one other fanfic that you yourself did not write - let's spread the love! (not required)

is smut okay?

yes! but you must specify clearly that the story contains smut in your comment, and please don't use explicit/overly sexual language in your recommendation. I also reserve the right to refuse to consider stories that contain k*nks I don't want to engage with. (ab0, hardcore bd$m, parental name k*nk to name a few)

are non-english fanfics okay?

you are absolutely welcome to recommend non-english fanfics to others in the comments! but I will not be able to put them on the final recommendation list, because I only speak english and I cannot personally vet their contents, cannot observe their grammar, and could be terribly misled by a translator. I'm very sorry! however, if you would like to put together a similar recommendation collection of non-english stories, I'd be happy to promote it on this blog.

is percico okay?

someone asked about this specifically, so here's my stance: percico is a controversial pairing due to the debated inappropriateness of the canon age gap (approx. 3 years). I personally consider 3 years between minors to be juuust beyond my comfort zone (2 years), so please respect my decision to abide by my own comfortability and refuse to consider stories that feature age gaps of this size or larger involving minors. however, you can recommend percico fics where the age gap is explicitly made smaller, or fics where nico and percy are both explicitly adults! this same rule applies to any other ship in a similar circumstance - check the wiki for canon ages if you're unsure! (and to be clear, this is solely about ages, not about the individual merit of the pairing itself. respectfully - this is me drawing a boundary about what I am comfortable with, so do not argue with me on this topic).

is caleo okay?

this pair is even more controversial nowadays, so here's my stance when it comes to weird magical circumstances: within the logic of the pjo universe, some things that seem strange from a mortal perspective are standard within the books. i.e., it's not weird to date fellow demigods, even if the person you're dating is technically your aunt/uncle/cousin/etc. likewise, it's not "weird" for a teenager to date an immortalized or de-immortalized teenager, because... I genuinely don't know, that's just how the book logic works. for that reason, caleo works are accepted. we're going to apply this same logic to pairs like theyna, which could also potentially have murky circumstances (although I do consider thaluke to be especially iffy, because it heavily depends on the situation that people write them in - so if you're unsure, go ahead and submit it, and I'll use my best judgement from there). however, I cannot begin to express my extreme disinterest in discourse about immortal dating ethics - like, I would rather do anything else. not trying to be sassy here, but I'm going to ask you guys to not pick a fight about these topics, for the simple reason that I have zero interest in debating over situations that could never occur in real-life.

are incomplete/discontinued stories okay?

yes! I'd prefer stories that have at least three chapters, but this is not required. completed one-shots are also fine!

If someone already recommended a story that I like, should I vouch for it?

if you would like to, then absolutely!! you can respond to the appropriate prompt from this account in the comments, or you can reply to the person making the recommendation. just make sure to explicitly state which story you're advocating for.

Comments that do not follow these guidelines may be deleted!

How to make recommendations:

There are two places in which you can make your recs! You can click here to leave them on an AO3 mirror of this post, or do so in the comment section below. If the latter, continue reading. Please leave the story name, author username, story rating, main ship, and main characters in your comments - and if you'd like, definitely add some words about why you like it! AO3 direct links are not necessary, but super appreciated. But if it's not on AO3, please ensure that you make clear where exactly I can locate the story. In the comments below, you'll see comments that you can reply to, sorted by ships/lack thereof. Please sort your recommendations by replying to them accordingly (i.e. if you want to recommend 2 solangelo fics and 1 valgrace fic, leave the 2 solangelo recs under the solangelo prompt, then do the same in the valgrace prompt). You MUST explicitly state somewhere if the fanfic contains smut. If you're not sure where to put your recommendations, make your best guess - but absolutely do NOT intentionally mis-categorize your recommendations (i.e, if the pair is not canon, do not put it in the canon pairing section. Seriously. This makes things much more difficult for me while organizing fics, and I'll probably delete your comment anyway.) Lastly, please be mature about shipping. Nothing irritates me more than fighting about percy jackson ships in 2024. If you see fanfics recommended about pairings (or characters!) that you hate, do the mature thing and just scroll past it/do not engage. Character hate and ship hate is not tolerated on this blog. I am very serious about this - if you are starting a fuss about ships/characters, your comments will be deleted and your account will be permanently blocked. Respect your fellow fandom-mates! I will do my best to moderate this comment section, but before looking through them, please understand that I am not responsible for your individual well-being, and there may be fanfic recommendations that are not appropriate for minors/might contain triggering content/etc.

Here's a little form for those of you who find this easier to use, but you don't have to use it!! However, PLEASE do include the following information in your comment regardless:

story name: author: rating: ship: main characters: additional comments (what's it about? why do you like it? etc):

Don't forget, fanfics published/last updated in 2024 only!

Thank you so, so much for participating! The collection won't be published on this blog until late December, so until then, take your time, check those bookmarks, and read new PJO fanfics! Much love to all of you ♡

- demigodpolls

(art by @viria)

(dividers by @cafekitsune)

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cyborg-franky · 10 months ago

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Could you do a HC about the ideal partner for Law, Zoro and Kid? What kind of person they would fall for and which traits it needs for a long lasting relationship ❤️

Oooh yes, I can do this!

Written for a GN reader!

Law

Law needs someone who can challenge him, and push him out of his comfort zone.

Someone who isn’t scared to argue with him when they think he is in the wrong.

Law also needs someone independent, he can’t handle high-maintenance or clingy people. He needs to know you can make your own mind up and have your own views regardless of what he thinks.

You need to be okay with his family, the heart pirates are alot to handle but he won’t compromise on this.

Animal lover.

Someone who is okay with limited PDA and knows he has his own way of showing love and affection.

Someone with a wikied sense of humor like his.

Kind, he may not seem it but he needs someone who is soft and kind and tries to bring out his caring side more.

Smart, likes to read, someone who can match him in conversation.

Nerd. If you are also a big nerd into comics he will find common ground with you and feel he can be his true nerdy self around you.

Honest. Law doesn’t like people who lie or try and manipulate him.

If you're loyal to him he’ll be loyal to you.

Alright, so he likes people to be dependent but he also deep down likes being his partners ‘scary dog privilege’

Must hate bread. Or eat the bread from his meals for him.

Understanding. Law has some damage and needs someone who gets that.

Zoro

Zoro doesn’t have a very big checklist of the ‘type of person’ he goes for.

Just don't be loud or bossy and he’ll vibe pretty well with you.

If you are a huge sword nerd he will be all over that and if you also like to work out he will be delighted to have a workout buddy.

Napping is a must. Either snuggle up with him in the sun and take a nap at his side or simply just be okay with him napping as much as he does. He needs someone laid back, and can’t handle a loud or intense personality to date.

He is happy to spend all his time with his partner he just needs someone who is also happy to enjoy a comfortable silence with him.

You don’t need to be into drinking, again, as long as you don’t tell him what he can and can’t do he’s happy. He would like to have a casual drink with you sometimes though, when he’s a little tipsy he is happy to go on long rants and talk about his thoughts and feelings.

Be his partner and his drinking buddy.

Be his emotional support compass. Be able to stir him in the right direction, and I do mean physically and not emotionally there.

Grab him his arm and just pull him.

You need to be firm with him. Loyal and honest and also have a good sense of humor. He likes to have a chuckle and he does have a silly side.

Kid

You need to keep up with this boy. He can’t handle someone who is easily upset or sensitive. He needs someone to match that same wild spark that runs through him.

Have a passion for adventure and don’t be scared to get your hands dirty.

He wants someone who doesn’t shy away from his loud and boisterous nature. Embrace him for him.

Also needs to be liked by Killer. If you don’t pass Killer’s vibe check there is a huge chance you won't pass Kid’s.

He enjoys picking fights and starting arguments, he lives for some passion and some shouting with the person he’s courting so scream, shout, and give him just as good as he does. Challenge him, don’t be scared of offending him.

Be okay with how rough he is, Kid needs someone who understands that and doesn’t try and change who he is, and doesn’t want to sand down his edges.

Be there for him regardless of his flaws and he will open up to you and you can make each other a better person with time and understanding.

Love the thrill of the fight. Nothing makes his heart sing like fighting a hard battle side by side with the person he loves.

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anistarrose · 10 months ago

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[ID:

a wiki screenshot showing the Adventure Zone episode "Moonlighting: Chapter Two" was released February 26th, 2015.

a tumblr textpost reading: "ppl who celebrate fictional character birthdays are annoying pass it on" with a reblog edited to read: "fuck this post and happy birthday lucretia adventurezones".

End ID.]

#taz #taz balance #lucretia taz

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blackblooms · 10 months ago

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Since irredeamable wont release for some time. Ill be presenting some of my notable projects. I`ll start with the one i would most recommend. It's pretty old and janky but i think there is plenty to find for those willing to get past its flaws.

Black heart: Play it here and now!

One of my most Ambitious project ever, black heart is a sidescrolling action-adventure game, highly inspired by the zelda series. In it, you play as 3 sisters, going on a perilous journey to rescue their people from the tyrannical grasp of an evil empress.

Pros: -Each of the 3 sisters comes with a unique feel. From their attack pattern to their health, physics, and items. Much of the game is built around those distinctions. -The story is simple but effective, with a clear goal to achieve and many characters to meet. -The world is very expensive and diverse, containing several interconnected zones to discover and explore. -The lore is complex, nuanced, and intricate, each of the races is well-developed with their own history, culture, heroes, and villains. -The dungeons are large and numerous. Each features its own type of puzzle and distinct aesthetic. -The bosses are all unique and ambitious, often featuring several phases, mechanics, and attack patterns. -There are a whole lot of secrets to find, certain fun and silly, others strange or creepy.

Cons: -The main characters are pretty bland and display little personality outside of the few traits they are given. -Combat can be pretty bare-bone and uninteresting outside of boss fights -Some of the writing and lore have not aged well and could be considered a bit tasteless or insensitive. -Since puzzles are often built around specific characters which have their own hp, losing them can force players to backtrack.

Recommended to: -Fans of Zelda games who crave another game in the genre. -People who want to get lost in a big and complex world. -People who want to experience a fantasy world unlike any other. -People who long for a game that they can discover for themselves without risking being spoiled by walkthroughs or wikis.

Estimated Duration: 6-8 hours.

#solodev #game development #indiegamedev #indiedev #game design #fantasy #fantasy world #indie games #free game #zelda #metroidvania #platformer

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ethersierra · 1 year ago

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The Sallow - TAZ Wiki page

For today's prompt in @taznovembercelebration I drew sick. And I knew that this month I wanted to try and fit some wiki work into the challenge! So I decided to write about the illness that hits Founders' Wake in Ethersea. I was surprised it didn't have a page yet, but I was happy to centralize everything about it in one place, because it exists in bits and pieces otherwise. You can check it out here:

#taz ethersea #taz wiki #taz november celebration #sierra speaks #the adventure zone #the adventure zone wiki #the adventure zone ethersea

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adventurezonewiki · 1 year ago

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We've been hard at work on the wiki, from renaming episode pages and recategorizing to writing episode summaries and character pages. We'll be posting more about some of our recent edits, like the new & improved episode guide. Keep an eye out for posts showcasing what our editors have been up to!

#the adventure zone wiki #the adventure zone #taz wiki

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aedearly · 23 days ago

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hey balu, do you know how to recolor skin / how a coloring psd works for that? like for a character that's pale and not the shade they should be ( cough cough natlan ) asking bc I want to that but idk how

Hiya, anon! I can explain how I personally do it, but here's a huuuuuuge disclaimer: I'm colourblind, so I heavily rely on colour wheel pointers. Throughout this tutorial, you'll see me constantly comparing where the pointer is and trying to use my somewhat limited knowledge of colour theory. I'm sure other creators have other ways to do this that are much simpler and/or more effective; you should look for and check out other tutorials here on Tumblr, YouTube, or Twitter!

Due to the limited previews of images on Tumblr, you can also open the images on new tabs to see more details.

For religious and political reasons, I will not use a Natlan character as an example. Instead, I'll use Candace (also from Genshin Impact) as our muse. Specifically, I will use her character card art image, which can be found on the Genshin Impact fandom wiki. The image quality is not so great, so that's why we'll see some bleeding pixels here and there. Dealing with those is another tutorial altogether. Also, if you meant an absolutely pale character (with littler to no melanin), that would be another tutorial, too. So, I'll be sticking with these examples and explanations here! This can give you a starting point.

In this tutorial, we will go from this before (left) to this after (right):

Also, I'd like to point out that these steps are for this specific picture/character. Though the same logic can be applied to other characters and images, it's imperative to remember, especially when you're starting your editing adventures, that there is no fool-proof and 100% universal PSD. I'm just explaining the logic behind how a colouring PSD works and some of my mental processes behind it.

Please consider reblogging, liking this post, and/or supporting me on ko-fi if this helped you! That way, I can keep bringing you tutorials like this faster and more effectively. ~

Now, let's begin!

First, we must notice that skin colours (even paler ones) are shade variations of yellows and reds. If we check the hex code colour/colour pointer on the colour wheel, we will see that Candace's skin colour is at the intersection between red and yellow, and is on the lighter/less saturated part.

Here, I am deepening/saturating the blues of her clothes by creating a Hue/Saturation layer, changing from Master > Blues and adjusting the Hue and Saturation values. Colour theory basics: opposing colours on the colour wheels will give a more significant idea of contrast; the bluer colours will appear colder, and the warmer colours will appear hotter and, therefore, more saturated.

In this second step, I am creating a Selective Colour layer, focusing on the Reds. I want this to be highly reddish for now, so I'm lowering the Cyans to the minimum values I can. Notice how the colour wheel pointers went down, meaning we are in a redder, more saturated and more precise zone. The darker the skin, the redder its colours will be in pictures.

Thirdly, I am now creating a Colour Balance layer. Since I want to adjust the warmer colours (e.g., Reds), I am adding more reds, magentas, and yellows.

The exact process I did for Candace's clothes, I'll do for her accessories. Her accessories blended too much with her skin tone (hex code-wise and I imagine that for the normal eye, too). So, to make the yellows on her accessories pop and be more different from her skin, I created yet another Hue/Saturation layer and changed from Master > Yellows, altering the Hues, Saturation and Lightness values.

Now that we have the image's primary colours (blues, reds, yellows) separated, it is time to deepen/saturate the reds. So here, I made another Selective Colour layer, also focusing on the Reds. Notice that now I'm also increasing the Cyan values. Why? Because Cyans make the reds look darker, and I want exactly that. So everything will increase in value.

To further deepen these colours, I created a Curves Layer and tweaked each RGB curve. I made the blues lighter; meanwhile, the greens and reds went darker. Again, colour theory! Notice on the colour wheel that her skin is extremely red and saturated. This is precisely what I want. Why? Well...

... Because now, by using a Selective Colour layer again, I can make her skin magentaish. Pure magentas are rare in pictures, even fantasy/2D characters. Generally, you will find variations of purples, pinks or reds, but magentas are more difficult to find. Therefore, they're easier to work with/edit. Even if the character had magenta colours, we could've isolated them beforehand, too. This step guarantees that my PSD will solely focus on her skin tone, basically.

Our final step is to create another Hue/Saturation layer and change the setting from Master > Magentas. We will decrease the Saturation and Lightness values and slide the Hue bar to the right. And now, check the colour wheel: it's a beautiful dark brown! It's popping a lot against the yellows and blues. ~

This is where we started vs where we finished!

So there you have it! A speedy but hopefully informative tutorial on how colouring PSD works and how you can quickly love your characters a bit more when doing edits and graphics for them!

Again, please consider reblogging, liking this post, and/or supporting me on ko-fi if this helped you! That way, I can keep bringing you tutorials like this faster and more effectively. ~

If you have any questions, please let me know!

#♡: tutorials! *#gfx tutorial #graphics tutorial #graphic tutorial #gfxs tutorial #resources #rolep #ps tutorial #ps tutorials #photoshop #photoshop tutorial #photoshop resources

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popculturebuffet · 3 months ago

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Sam and Max The Devil's Playhouse Retrospective: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (Patreon Review for WeirdKev27)

Hello all you happy lagomorphs and welcome back to my look at Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse! Last time our heroes saved the world again, found psychic powers, got ominus foreshadowing max was gonna die, and I got to bask in the fact the Soda Poppers are fucking dead

But found out Bluster Blaster is now missing from most of this game

Still The Penal Zone left a great impression a truly sterling first chapter in this final bow for now for sam and max.

And i'm happy to say the Tomb of Sammun-Mak continues this hot streak. It's another excellent, deeply hilarious chapter, once again proving to be the best of the previous two chapters; big set pieces that look fantastic mixed with comedy that's still dark but less overtly cruel than Beyond Time and Space. I mean there's still some messed up stuff but it feels less nasty.

The Tomb of Sammun-Mak is a format bender, following our heroes as they use one of the toys to astral project/watch film reels of their ancestors, Sameth and Maximus, the spooky scary skeletons we found last time. TTOSM cleverly uses this to shake up the formula: instead of a three act structure, with the third being some sort of big flashy finale with limited options, you go back and forth between each reel as you find out new info that helps you past another one. It's a fun structure: While more linear than usual, as generally there's only so much you can do before you have to swap reels, the structure makes it easier to play. It's a bit disorenting at first as what's in your inventory at the time depends on the reel, but eventually your brain adjusts and it's fun to, like last time work backwords to get an item you had earlier. I needed a guide once or twice and if you liked the challenge of an adventure game this chapter may be for you, but as someone just here for the story and one liners, I was fine with it and Tomb is now one of my faviorite chapters. So step under the cut to see more reasons why.

Tomb picks up exactly where we left off, something that looking ahead at the wiki for the endings of the next few chapters (Just the endings, I still like a little suprise for what spoilers I don't have), is a trend. It seems Devil's Playhouse takes place over only a few hours, maybe 12 at most. Beyond Time and Space flirted wtih this a bit with the ending of chapter three and the last two taking place over a few hours but otherwise there tended to be an in universe gap of about a month.

This change also fits in with Devil Playhouse's other big change, one i'd heard about but really sinks in here: the story is heavily seralized: while each chapter has it's own distinct rythum and antagonist from the looks of it, it's one big story that happens in rapid succession. It reminds me of say Legend of Vox Machina: it's episodic, instead of just being one big story put into chunks, but ther'es an ongoing arc the whole time and each episode largely leads into the next. The previous two games did have it all tie together, but it was looser; someone was clearly behind the hypnotisim plot in Save the World but our heroes being who they are don't really look into it till the last minute, while in Beyond Time and Space there's hints hell is involved in the first chapter, but you don't really get a sense how this ties together till the big reveal and even then it feels a bit reachier. Here from what I know without over spoiling myself, each chapter builds on the previous ones in some way, both in the overaching plot of the toys and in who the villians are. This chapter in paticular hints at chapter 3's antagonist and introduces chapters 4. I won't say which is which or who in facse you haven't played them.

Our heroes are also caught up in it a lot faster, as each chapter is someone after their toys and sam for his ability to use them. There's a bigger sense of urgency as while our heroes are still themselves, their more directly in the line of fire rather than waiting out some big nebulous plot they have to solve at the end. While the previous two games aren't bad, I like this structure a lot better, as it gets the plot going, allows it to breathe more, whlie still delivering a satsifying episodic experince. I play these monthly (Or if I get behind as in this case two this month) so I get the best of both worlds: the cozy comforts of the remaster with the feel someone would have playing it on it's own and waiting about a month for the next one.

So onto our adventure. Max is aghast at the skeletons as he thinks Sam killed him. Which... given everything max does if Sam did Kill max he was either about to fire all the nukes at once or took the last piece of Meesta Pizza.

Either way Sam quickly points out this is a clue (complete with note) and not them. It's their relatives Sameth and Maximus, from 1901, with the note leading them to a nearbye projector with some reels. The duo fight over this because with the office down they can't fight over the phone as easily. Gotta keep those reflexes up.

This accidently reveals that the Projector is the Astral Projector, one of the toys of power. It allows them to live through their ancestors pasts. Though it comes with a caveat that explains why all the reel swapping: They only have information they've learned as they don't fully gain their ancestors memories. It's inconsitant as they do remmeber what's on the reel but i'll let it slide for being a solid way to do this out of order.

That said we'll be covering these in full chronological order rather than jumping around jumping around get up get up and get down. The reasons are simple: It's easier on me and my brain which is about what you'd expect

And it's easier on yours as it's a bit more coherent to just cover the story as it happens.

So with that in mind

REEL 1: THE CHALLENGE OF THE SPUNX!

First of Spunx. Given the series we're in they probably knew that was a sex thing these days as i'm pretty sure using spunk as a jizz metaphor was a thing back then. Or i'm just a dirty weirdo. Both things can be true.

Our adventure begins with Sam and Max attending a theater exibition from Monsuier Paperwhite. Paperwhite apparently comes back somehow, and is notable for being the only character in these flashbacks to have a completely new model. Every other character is either a mole, who I suspect were made the ancient guardians of the devil's toybox to make more characters easier as they can just copy harry's model and put new clothes on it, or from Beyond Time and Space. Paperwhite is offering two free tickets to sunny egypt to anyone intrested. A pitty he's about 27 years too early for any joestars to stash those away for later use. To get them they have to pass the CHALLENGE OF THE SPHUNX, which looks like a hippo and is a repica of the real thing.

I love the pulp feel of this one, those sort of adventure stories like Scrooge Mc Duck, Indiana Jones and Tintin. The globetrotting adventure, mysterious characters and period trappings are just so fun and it's a perfect fit for sam and max. Especially since the embodiment of Noir used to live next door to them.

Anyways, the other guests are a Mole in a Babuska and Santa himself as Nicholas J Kringle. While santa was a bit of an ass in the finale to ice station santa, here he's a robber baron monster who barely pays his elf workers and has them living in little arctic circle, the local elf ghetto. A sentence that's actually said and is the kind of thing that makes covering these games so damn fun.

Kringle heard there were toys involved, as Paperwhite has one of the toys of power, the Can o Nuts. I'll let a known expert explain this classic prank

But here Maximus can fit himself and whoever inside. Naturally to even the odds since Maximus like Max has THE POWER and can at the very least move the Spunx tounge by standing on it, Santa has one of his elves Yoink the can and run off. While we're here we can pick up some of Santa's Cookies, a sunday funnies page written in hyreoglyps and by distracting santa, an adress.

So it's off to Little Arctic Circle just south fo the theater and in present day the street our heroes live on. We see the Mole Woman has some Beef with the elves as she goes back to her house as our heroes ask and answer an age old question

So we go to talk to the Elves but their petty little assholes. They also don't want to unionize but in fairness i'm pretty sure Santa's unionbusting would be horrifying as it was holly jolly. I mean this was back when horsewhipping an employee for unionzing was probably legal.

They won't give us the can unless we give them a great toy idea since Kringle wanted the can but didn't you know... leave the ehater to fetch it from them. Before we give it to em we talk to the mole woman. SHe's cursing their leader slushy as it turns out mole people have magical curse powers. WHo knew? This is handy knoweldge for later. She came to this country ahead of her family who are stuck back in the old country.. being egypt despite the russian accent. Anyways she translates the glyps for us, which is literally just saying what the glyph looks like, and some comics which wax about how wacky it is to cut cucumber lengthwise. Being sam and max this will be importnat later.

For now we give the Elves our idea... this is about an hour later in game but we give them the idea for a toy biplane, it'll make sense later and with that they refuse to pry it off their friends head and make the mistake of pissing Sameth and Maximus off.. which like their decsendants is only a recipie for broken bones and scapulas. At least Slushie can regenerate.

With that we can complete the riddle! and have a toy of power! hot choclate! Completing it is standing on the creatures tounge, giving it an offering (the cookies), saying the glyph then enterting the gate using the can o beans. With that our heroes win two tickets to sunny egypt!

Reel 2: The Train to Egypt/In the Tomb

The title changes depending on your progress. The first scene is mostly just there to introduce a major supporting character and provide an obstacle to easily clearing this chapter so you get the swap gimmick down.

Our heroes are on the train to Egypt when they end up with a stoaway: Baby Amelia Earhart! She's a little rapscalion who wants to journey with us. Sameth and Maximus aren't like their succesors and have no use for kid sidekicks/surrogate daughters and tell her to go screw but when their tickets blow away they have bigger issues. You sing her a shut up laden version of cry of the valkryies to make her sleep, something picked up from the next reel, and use the can to avoid being ticketed.

Many Wild Adventures Later our heroes have ditched Baby Amelia Eardhart and head into the tomb. They find the chest.. but also find Grandpa Mole, who sets up a security hex. We can't touch the chest so we explore a bit. We find an old familiar face in a diffrent phase of his life: Jurgen! Pre vamparisim. Kinda. He was cursed to be one but you have to be bitten by one for it to stick. He was trapped in the wall and wants our help getting out. Obviously this is a trap but it's something our heroes really can't get out of.

So manuvering around the corridors we find a bust and remove it freeling jurgen.. and trapping us. Jurgen leaves having acomplished nothing and not even getting the box, for now. Which is on brand for him. Thankfully whlle the two guardian figures in the wall we're now trapped in are less than sympathetic they are willing to let us leave for a good joke. Specifically cucumber being cut lengthwise. Which.. honestlyw hile not ha ha funny is something kinda nuts to do.

So our heroes are free and soon head to the west hall where we find the dad, who sounds like harry moleman. He apparently isn't but gotta flip them assets. He has a chamber of death which I genuinely thought might slice you good.. but turns out nope the guiltine won't hit you at all. For now. You find his daughter Nefertiti, who he's scaring all the boys away from with his powerful sexo rejexo curse that repels the opposite sex. Apparently Molemen don't know queer people exist, which tracks.

We need to get past her as her giant Asp

Which also ate the next toy of power (?), Charlie Hotep. He's a ventriloquist dummy that allows you to throw your voice! Fool your freinds! Fun at parties! Thankfully we get in the asp by using the can o nuts, a solution I had to look up. What is with this game and "assuming the player will figure out the animal does things". At least this time it eating the puppet is a clue and not "the pidgeon will do the thing you just have to belivieeeeee"

So now with Charlie we can fool Nefertiti's dad into thinking she has a crush on sam and max.

Though in fariness tormenting a tweenage girl and getting her father to curse us by basically making him think we might be pedophiles is still a long ways away from "sending an innocent child to hell for fun and profit". It's more funny than awful as it more pisses off a moody tweenager for two seconds and gets us cursed to complete a puzzle more than it actually. .HURTS anyone. We'll save actually hurting her feelings for next time.

For our hubris though in addition to the needed sexo rejexo, Max gets turned into.. A COW! which sameth takes with patience and dignity

It's a great gag. You also get a great reaction or two if you use stuff on him before Maximus changes back. So onward to the rest of the puzzle. On the right sid eis grandpa mole and baby amelia earhart, who escaped and is pissed at our heroes for running the fuck away from their unwanted sidekick and plans to loot the tomb .Grandpa Mole wants a grandkid to talk to since his actual grandchild no longer likes him. So we simply need to use sexo rejexo and a nearbye sarcophogas to blast the small child into the weird old man

Thankfully he's not a pedophile, and is a good sport and lets us roam around. Sadly this new friendship has to be ruined as we need his curse to complete the puzzle after looting some rune blocks. So we riffle through his brouchers, possible vacations as everyone says grandpa needs a break, and ask about Stuutgart. Being a xenophobic weirdo , he curses us for that with a bad luck curse. This means the guillotine will actually work now and thanks to a tip from kev I knew to toss the idol from earlier in. It's now a twofer and both halves go into indentionts near the guardian mural, causing them to bend. We go back into the painting, use the new bridge, and fuck up grandpa's curse runes. Also his curse seems to be the only one tha tneeds an elaborate set of runes. Maybe they evolved.

With that we can grab the devil's toybox and end this reel.

REEL 3: THE JOURNEY HOME

After escaping a gun toting santa

We arrive back on the train only to find the trunk we put the Devil's Toybox in is empty! So it's a mystery on a train. Man this serial has everything: a fun act one in a theater with an old timey showcase, an anceint tomb to raid, and a train mystery. I do love a good story set on a train so this reel had me.

It's also a lot of fun. The overworld is a bit of a pain in the ass to get around as you can't run for some reason despite how small it is and train is a straight line so to get anywhere you usually have to backtrack. Which would be fine but without being able to run it makes this segment slower

Thankfully the rest is a lot of fun as everyone so far is in attendence, forwhadowing what's to come. The Mole Dad and Neferiti are on their way back, with Mole Dad a little sore at first you stole his priceless treasure, but admits it was for the best and loosing it means he can join his wife in the new world. His dad is taking that well deserved vacation.. to see the Sphynx. But hey his duty was guarding one small room of it and now he can look over all of it. I mean it's still not very big but hey.

Next door is Jurgen, who won't let you inspect his room filled with vampire stuff and with throw you out. And who also wants to call evens on the whole "betraying you and trying to trap you forever thing" kay. I am really happy to see Jurgen again and while he's not as funny as his previous two apperances, he dosen't have his hilarious 2000's rave kid astetc since it's a century too early for that, it's nice just to see him again.

Also on board are Kringle, whose hiding in his cabin and won't come out, and his elves. Slushie is looking a bit... vampish but insists he's fine. He dosen't even crav eblood that much. He does need a subject to test that toy you pitched. Thankfully Baby Amelia Earhard has both forgven the boys mostly and sold a ton of her plundered loot to get herself her own cabin.

So to get further we need to get that toy test. Thankfully the sexo rejxo curse works wonders. We simply use charlie again, which both lets us check out the moleman's luggage. As it turns out he has the vampire reverse curse inside, the way to cure Jurgen before he turns.

The curse violently throws people around, and thus pushes baby amelia erdhardt into slushie. I.. I really wish there weren't so many puzzles that involve shoving a child into an old man but that's where were at. Thankfully the elves just show her their toy biplane, which of course is a hit with the future ace aviator.

So the next bit's a bit complex, mostly beause of all the back and forth. We grab a glass from Santa for.. reasons that will horrify you in a moment. Then we see Neferitti give a love note to jurgen, having a massive crush on him while he's intrested in is getting the reverse curse off her dad. So we have to piss her off again and her dad, telling him about the crush as responsible adults

So he casts a sexo rejexo curse on Jurgen, and a mad Nefertiti turns Maximus back into a cow. Sameth's chiller this time and er.. mliks his little buddy

I didn't need this, you didn't need this, even shippers didn't need this. It's fun to Ship Sam and Max together. Not so much their relatives both due to the horrifying incesty implicatoins and just the fact that even if this were sam and max, maybe don't.. mlik each other. At least as a cow. Other way's fine. This just feels.. wrong. Why is it saved the world is the only game that didn't give me cow based nightmares.

So we then feed the milk to santa with cookies, and put the can o nuts on the tray to sneak in, and suprise him. We raid his trunk to find .. it empty. He DID try to steal it but someone stole it from him.

So after getting thrown out we deal with Jurgen. Nefertiti is tounge tied, tounge tied, whenever he's around. Whenever he's in town boy. So we make up the words for her making him think the curse is in a sarcophogas we found under some luggage earlier. Then it's as simple as telling Slushie to go see santa , a meeting he dosen't make as he has to stop for a quick bite on the way. With that we've ruined Jurgen's life, but get to loot his room to find nothing.

Turns out it wasn't any of our rogues gallery but BABY AMELIA ERDHARDT!

To the team's credit this twist.. actually works. The prevoius two reels , which are usually finished before this one, set up how much our heroes tossed the kid around and neglected her, so her betraying them to try and take the toybox for herself works perfectly, while still being just out of left field enough, ther'es no foreshadowing besides our heroes being dicks, to be funny. The way our heroes beat her is also funny.. they just.. use the curse a third time and knock a baby off a train, which somehow isn't the worst thing our heroes have done today. Or even in the top 10. It is hilarious though.

So that leads us to our finale

REEL 4: THE BIG REWARD!

So sam's gotta go wag the dog so to speak, and tells Max not to keep watching while he's away. Max... watches it anyway which Sam shoudl've seen coming but ey.

So our heroes recap their adventures for a lovely audience Paperwhite's gathered.. then we get to the inevitble betryal you probably saw coming from this setup. Paperwhite plans to use the box to summon Yog Sogoth! though weirdly while the other toys levittate impressively , stealing our can o nuts... charlie just.. falls to the floor. Hrmmm.

Paperwhite puts sam over a vat of man eating ants that's been there the whole time. That's not a joke it was there in act one, well setup chekov's gun. I just didn't need to mention it till sam's dangled over them. You can just do what paperwhite wants, and summon Yog Soggoth, his lord and master. And... it eats you because it eats the summoner. it's why he bothered getting someone with the poewr and having them die for him. Thankfully this reel is multiple choice so Max distracts our big bad while Sam uses the newspaper to flame a rope to knock charlie near max, who uses him to lure Paperwhite to the circle.. then mime him saying the words. it's a clever finale and one that does away with our villian who will come back which dosen't suprise me: besides the new model there's also the simple fact last time, I assume a man wasn't dead from an axe to the head and turned out to be entirely right. Death does not happen easy in this universe and even then you can just come back as a ghost as Mama Bosco showed us.

We then get a cutscene showing us what happened to Samteth and Maximus, they took the box to the mole family, who agree to guard it... only for their protection spell to go haywire. Since Maximus is afraid of being a cow again he accidedntly bolts into the way, Sameth tries to save him. .and they die. The moles leave their bones behind and the toybox, to be found by the mole cult later. It's honestly way sadder than I expected. Still funny with how quickly the moles move on from it, but it's a tragic sacricie. It's also a bit of a more coherent story than normal setting up WHY the box is wher eit was found and why max has powers: they were passed on.

So Sam comes back to berate Max.. only to find.. his brain missing. And it's creepier than I expected to, the detail on his debrained body is neat and really creepy and it's unsettling how the top of his head just... flops open.

So with that cliffhanger we end this chapter. It was a delight as you can tell, is one of the best and if you haven't played the game yet please, please please go do so. Thanks for reading

NEXT TIME: Sam goes noir! Max is left a brain in a jar! Reality bends in half! Fun for all ages!

#sam and max #sam and max the devil's playhouse #anton papierwaite #Santa Claus #Slushy #mole men #egypt #amelia earhart

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secretlystephaniebrown · 9 months ago

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Hi! I know you've talked a bit about maps of Gotham and I was wondering if there was any canonical or pseudo-canonical place where Stephanie was originally from. I'm working on a fanfic about her and I've been searching through wikis but I can't find anything

Steph is from Manchester, a suburb of Gotham! It's not on any of the official maps, annoyingly enough.

Detective Comics (1937-2011) #648, (Steph's second appearance! Agnes Belligner is apparently Crystal. Retcons!)

We also from that same issue learn Steph's approximate street address!

That being "115~ South Holden Street, Manchester New Jersey." The picture that we generally get is a suburb, but a less-nice suburb (unlike Bristol, the suburb where Tim is usually located in this era).

Steph's house is described as being about "forty minutes drive" from at least parts of Gotham.

Batman (1940-2011) #643 War Crimes Part 2: Minor Discrepancies

This house in Manchester generally appears to be Steph's house throughout her tenure as Spoiler and Robin. We see it on a variety of occasions throughout Tim's time as Robin. Adventures in Steph (and Tim's!) neck of the woods are generally explained as being "Gotham County" instead of Gotham City, with features like Steph's father being chased by a county sheriff rather than the GCPD.

Robin (1993-2009) #57 "Date Night" (Yes the sheriff's name is "Sheriff Shotgun. Okay then.)

During No Man's Land, Steph and Crystal don't evacuate, with Manchester being outside of the evacuation zone, although earlier issues showed some potential damage to the Brown House.

Robin (1993-2009) #58 "The Stranger"

(I say potential, because the same cracked-wall effects were used in basically every building in that issue... including Tim's new house in Keystone.)

Later into No Man's Land, when most of Gotham is, well... a no man's land, Steph and Crystal are shown still living a relatively normal life in the suburbs, outside the evacuation zone, clearly showing that while they were affected by the earthquake, they're not on Gotham Island properly, which makes sense.

Robin (1993-2009) #68 "War Beneath the Streets! Part One: Rats!"

This generally appears to be their home through the end of Steph's time, including through her run as Robin, as seen in the issue where she takes on the mantle.

Robin (1993-2009) #126 (A Life More Ordinary)

After her death and return, Steph apparently transfers to Tim's school despite having previously dropped out and been studying for her GED.

Once she becomes Batgirl, Steph and Crystal seem to have moved to Gotham City properly, since Crystal is working at "West Mercy Hopsital" in Gotham City.

Batgirl (2009-2011) #1: Batgirl Rising: Point of New Origin Part One.

Hope this helps!

#Steph Replies #lemonyos #Steph Reads Comics #Stephanie Brown #DC

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cellphishthekaiju · 10 months ago

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Crackpot Headcanon: The Emperor's 'Grand Design'

Goes without saying, that spoilers abound for Baldur's Gate 3 and course, lotta this is gonna be extrapolated ravings of a deluded fan reading too much into events, subtext, and the Forgotten Realms wiki.

This will be a lengthy doozy. I hope it's, at the least, enjoyable or useful.

The Emperor, a.k.a Balduran... our 'savior', ally, and back-stabbing squid friend who does nothing but pretend to have noble intentions from the moment he speaks with you under the guise of 'The Dreamer'. To Larian's credit, The Emperor is a very well-written character, as he can appear as either an ally or enemy based upon how players interact with not just him but the game overall. There are layers upon layers of secrets, deceit and half-truths when it comes.

But ultimately, The Emperor is the true antagonist of The Absolute crisis, only overshadowed by the Elder Brain itself, if the Player goes against him and puts the final nail in the coffin of his Grand Design.

So, first order of business; dissecting the squid's character as much as I can.

The Emperor has a very unique design when compared to illithids encountered in Baldur's Gate... which, granted, is not many as we only encounter one other named illithid and the 'common' enemy types seen, sparsely, across the game. The common sense case of this is because, obviously, this is an important character so of course they'd stand out extravagantly.

But it's this fanciful drip that leads me to believe The Emperor is much more than just some other illithid, that his deception about his opposition to The Absolute is far more sinister than the game makes it appear (and with the way the endings with The Emperor work, this feels further validated)

The Emperor may be a 'unique' breed of illithid known as a Ulitharid, a powerful and sinister 'evolution' of illithid that others view as godly, only second in power to Elder Brains... and this is what Elder Brains evolve from, usually at the Ulitharid's leisure but before it ages too far for its brain to be decrepit.

However, The Emperor's 'drip', attitude... just 'him' just screams he is an Ulitharid that broke away from The Absolute, yet has his own ambitions and no intention of furthering the Grand Design. He simply does not wish to rule a mere colony...

He IS the Grand Design (in his twisted squid brain, at least)

THIS DUDE TRIES TO SEDUCE YOU FOR GOD'S SAKE!

Anyway, The Emperor is quite powerful in his own right, both physically and mentally but when it comes to evolving, becoming an Elder Brain has its downsides; namely that he would become a massive brain forever floating in a jar or Morphic Pool. All that physical power he is proud of would be gone, forever. His mental strength would be unmatched but without a body... The Emperor doesn't seem to like that idea at all, especially if his host had been the 'great hero' Balduran, as he claims (confirmed by Ansur if one does Wyll's personal quest through Act 3)

At first, The Emperor passes himself off as The Dreamer, an entity within the Astral Prism that, repeatedly, tries to assure you that you both are in the same predicament, that The Absolute is a threat to you both and he protects you out of some noble benevolence... as well as that you need to embrace your illithid infection, consume other Netherese tadpoles to strengthen yourself, all for the 'sake' of your survival without actually explaining what is going on or who he is fighting within the Astral Prism (which turns out to be the Githyanki Honor Guard)

Once you hit Act 3, you learn of The Emperor's true nature (surprise, he's a squid!) and the reason he is able to guard you against The Absolute's attempts to transform you is due to dominating the mind of the trapped Githynki Prince to manipulate his unique psionic null-zone powers.

As you continue exploring Baldur's Gate itself, The Emperor continues to try and lure you to his 'side' of things but speaking of how he had once been an adventurer the illithids had captured and turned, how he escaped The Absolute and came back to his beloved city to protect it from the shadows (and how he took the moniker 'The Emperor) but through the course of this deceit, he seems to unintentionally reveal things about his true nature; how he was manipulating magistrates and politicians, such as his dear friend Stelmane.

This is further "supported" in-game by The Emperor attempting to seduce you.

Like guys... WHY?! What about this dude does it for some people? I'm a monster-fucker myself but like The Emperor inspires nothing aside from punching him in his squid face... with a sledgehammer.

When you reject him, The Emperor will still speak to you in a very passive tone (though a bit disappointed) but if you reject him more severely... basically call him a freak, the mask falls off and he will aggressively tell you that you are nothing more than a tool, a servant, to him

Nothing about The Emperor is noble or sincere, hell if you side with him and go full illithid, you are enslaved to him along with The Absolute, free to continue his own Grand Design to dominate the Sword Coast.

Alright, now that THAT part is over, let's move on ya.

So how the hell does The Absolute, the Crown of Karsus and the Astral Prism factor into all this?

*clears throat*

The theft of the Crown of Karsus and the Astral Prism are integral to the Emperor's plan; The Crown of Karsus would enable him to dominate and control the Elder Brain via the use of the Netherstones and the Astral Prism, due to Prince Orpheus's unique psionic abilities, would enable him to preserve and guard his mind (I assume to prevent his evolution into an Elder Brain and/or protect against other illithids, including Elder Brains)

However, he needed to orchestrate the theft of the Crown of Karsus, which lay in Mephistopheles's vault in Cania, the Eighth Layer of Baator (The Nine Hells) and the Astral Prism from some unknown location, likely guarded similarly to her phylactery (perhaps Larian referencing the old lvl 16-20 adventure module 'The Lich-Queen's Beloved')

The Dead Three were easy to manipulate, Chosen of godlings with grander ambitions but at odds with each other otherwise. Through them, The Emperor fostered his plan by managing to fool them into stealing the Crown of Karsus. Convincing and fooling the Dead Three into thinking an army of illithids, rehensible creatures without souls, was how Bhaal, Bane and Myrkul would ascend to Jergal's

This plan, in part, can be learned through finding texts in Kethric's personal quarters in Moonrise Towers along with looting Gortash's Vault in Baldur's Gate.

The theft of the Astral Prism, however, likely proved much trickier for The Emperor, since it was under the possession of, what is essentially the Apex Predator of illithids; The Githyanki Queen Vlaakith CVII. This is how Viconia and Shadowheart become involved. He needed a backup plan in the event the Dead Three failed to retrieve the object.

Manipulating disciples of Shar, especially Viconia DeVir, was likely the best answer, especially if he needed agents that had a chance to retrieve the Astral Prism, given how obsessively Vlaakith likely guarded the device and being a powerful lich, her safeguards would be powerful and many. The Emperor, and by extension the Dead Three and The Absolute would lose nothing.

Heh, irony amirite?

I suspect The Emperor found some means to convince DeVir, under the pretense of Shar's command, to put together a means to steal the Astral Prism. Unfortunately, all the game ever gives us is a list of who was on the strike force, including Shadowheart, who does have the Astral Prism when introduced.

However, there was always something that bugged me about this part and that is in the notes about the theft. The Dead Three were planning to make the theft themselves, using tadpoled agents and a nautiloid (though giving no indication WHERE they were going) with the assumption that The Emperor was leading the team (believing they controlled him and not the other way around).

This, kinda, explains the 'story' of how Tav and the rest of the characters are tadpoled on the nautiloid together. (The Dark Urge was tadpoled before but that's a whole other thing)

My thoughts?

Ready for more crazy?

The Emperor manipulates DeVir and the House of Grief into going after the Astral Prism. The Dead Three 'assign' The Emperor to go after the Astral Prism but he simply intends to 'retrieve' (ala kidnap and tadpole) what's left of the Sharran team and collect the Astral Prism for himself. We see the first signs of his duplicity in the opening cinematic, even. Several of the illithid crew are dead before the githyanki kith'rak attack the ship... but there's no indication as to how and why they were killed

(There's some thoughts to be had there)

Interestingly enough, The Emperor planeshifts the nautiloid to Yartar and starts attacking the city, which seems to draw the Githyanki raiders to attacking the ship... then he jumps it to what is (presumably) Cania, the 8th layer of Baator (where the Crown of Karsus had been stolen), then ultimately Avernus before taking shelter in the Astral Prism... which I think man explain why we find Shadowheart's pod seperated from the cauldera room Lae'zel and Tav (Any Origin) start in.

To make a long, lunatic story endless, the Emperor manipulated everything from the day he left The Absolute (his story about leaving The Absolute twice is absolute horseshite), envisioning himself ruling all of the Sword Coast with Baldur's Gate as his 'throne'.

Welp, this went on WAY longer than I expected but I hope it was, at least enjoyable. If folks enjoy my crackpot theories, ah... well, you're welcome to ask me stuff or a pitch. Asks are always open (I think)

#baldur's gate 3 #fan theory #theorycrafting #ramblings of a lunatic #crazy fangirl #dungeons and dragons

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