#there's a separate post right below this one with some more info as well

[whyissupernaturaltrending]

Hi! Sorry, could you tell me why is supernatural trending? And in fist place at that??

it's the fifteenth anniversary of the episode 4x01 lazarus rising so it's only fitting for spn to rise from the dead. essentially 15 years since castiel first appeared on the show. why it's trending in first place - i have no idea unfortunately, i would love to know the exact mechanics though

[syninplays]

So uhm... I did a thing...

✨Character Info Template✨

UPDATE 11.24.24: this template now has a page theme version! if you're not a fan of templates, you can get the code to use it as an interactive multimuse page >here<

Been meaning to do this a long time ago (and actually started it but never finished it, lol) as a way to share some more information about my ocs without needing to use a custom page theme, but mostly because I haven't found any page theme that looks exactly as I want and allows this much customization.

There are two versions and both are almost exactly the same; but the example shown in the left has an 'appearance' section which is small and has few quick facts regarding the oc's appearance; while the example on the right has a 'moodboard' section instead which allows you to add more info about your oc.

You can change every section/title to fit your needs like I did in the examples below; I personally removed some categories as well and got rid of some connections as this oc doesn't have that many close friends/partners to fill the original template. However, I also included an extra separated 'connections' section in the download in case you want to add more people and more information.

I recommend you stick to square-shaped pictures so it's easier to fit them to each section. Also if and when you edit the information or section titles, please select only one line at a time to replace it so you don't lose the text format. (Titles shouldn't change because that's a single format/font within the same text box, but should it change you can always hit ctrl+z hehe) When you're done, I strongly recommend you save this as a .png instead of .jpg so it's the best possible quality!

Last but not least, this is a .psd file. So you'll need either Photoshop (I did this with Photoshop Portable, but it supports newer versions of PS and it *should* support older versions too) or Photopea to open and edit this file.

Credits: Adobe Photoshop, Inter font, Golften Vintage font

>DOWNLOAD< (patreon but free :p)

(note: I'm posting this with my gaming blog because I think my fellow gamers might be interested in this, but please consider giving credits to me if you use this template by tagging @synindoodles instead of this blog)

More info on how to use and edit this template below the cut!

Layers:

>Each layer is properly named and categorized. The general layers such as the background, the icon shape and background shapes are under the groups.

>If you don't want to see/don't need one of the connections' pictures and information, I recommend you find which one it is (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6) and click on the eye symbol next to the layer to hide it so that way if you ever need it, it won't be truly gone.

>To edit a text section, simply find the layer (such as General Information>Left Column) and double click on the 'T' symbol next to the layer. That way it will open edit mode and allow you to edit the text, just don't hit delete or enter while everything is selected or you'll erase it :p

>Main text sections aren't separated, they're blocks of text. I recommend you don't remove the amount (for example, if you downloaded the version with the 'appearance' section, which has 5 sections of information, don't remove the fifth line.) Either leave it empty or replace it with another data, otherwise it will look weird. The 'general information' section might look good even if you remove a few lines, just don't get rid of the whole block of text.

Pictures:

>To add a new picture, simply paste it over this document and move it using the Move Tool.

>To frame it (so it becomes a circle or fits over the shape you want), make sure the picture layer is over the layer you want, then while holding alt click between the two layers. [For example, if you want to add a new main oc picture: 1) paste the pic you want, 2) move it with the Move Tool so it's covering the big circle, 3) once you've fully covered the shape (if it isn't you can resize it by right clicking on it then on 'free transform', sometimes you might need to hold shift to proportionally resize it) make sure the newly pasted pic layer is over the layer named "picture goes here", 4) hold the alt key and hover your mouse cursor over the line between your pic layer and the circle layer until you see an arrow going down symbol, once you see it click it and tah dah! your picture should now have the same shape as the circle! - you can further move it if it doesn't fit the way you want with the Move Tool (;

Others:

>You can change every color, font and section to your liking, just don't change the general layout of the template.

>To hide/show the guides (those bright blue lines all over the document), click ctrl+,

>'Inter' is a free font and you can get it in the link above (linked with the credits), Golften Vintage is not, but you can get the demo version >here< (just scroll down and click the blue download button under license). I will not tell you how to install fonts as it might be different for everyone (for me it's C:/Windows/Fonts and I just drop the zipped files (except the .txt one) there), but google is your friend.

>I can't think of anything else that needs to be said here, but if you have any other question feel free to send me an ask or dm and I'll help you out!

>Last but not least, a like is appreciated if you plan to use this plus consider tagging @synindoodles if you use it <3

[catt-nuevenor]

The Future

Time to establish what's going to happen from this point forwards.

The vast majority of you have been exceptionally patient this last year, and for that you have my deepest thanks. You've given me the time to not only write a book, but edit it, and send it off to literary agents, something I would have long given up on doing without the continued support of those who enjoy my writing.

Now that the book is off doing the rounds independently, it's time I got back to Myrk Mire.

Originally Myrk Mire was built in ChoiceScript, a scripting language created by the Choice of Games company. Choice of Games control what is done with their script, understandably, they own it. This does pose some restrictions. I can't, for example, release any paid material built using ChoiceScript unless it is directly through their publishing label. If I do publish under their label, I maintain IP or Intellectual Property Rights, however I also grant them the exclusive rights under perpetual license to publish the multiple choice game 'electronically'.

Source: Choice of Games.com

As you can see from the outline above, they do make exceptions for stories published in non-competing formats, and for sequels, prequels, and spin-offs. However, traditional publishing houses might require stricter control over IP, distribution, and exclusivity. It will only become more and more complicated as things progress, and being locked into a perpetual license agreement of any nature is not a decision to make lightly.

As some of you may be sensing from the tone of all this so far, I'm going to be moving Myrk Mire away from Choice of Games and ChoiceScript, and into a new medium/format.

After tinkering, and trialling with a few alternatives, I've decided to go with Renpy. Renpy, while largely used for visual novel style games and stories, provides a very workable framework for interactive fiction, and is an Open Source script, it isn't beholden to publishing contracts, licence cost, or exclusivity.

I'm not going to be diving into transferring Myrk Mire right away, it's a huge piece of writing, in an entirely different scripting language, and as previously stated, there are a lot of changes I want to implement with the cast. Instead, I'm creating a trial story: One Háḟest Day. My Patrons have been aware of all this for about a month or so, and have already seen some previews.

One Háḟest Day takes place in Aldmirham before the events of Myrk Mire, around the time the Main Character and the Wanderers first arrived in town. The reader will have the choice to follow one of the romanceable characters through a single day, with opportunities to explore their lives and relationships before the Main Character and Child come along. I hope it will provide a proving ground for the changes that previously caused debate, and an opportunity for people to try out the new format and interface.

My plan is to distribute One Háḟest Day through Itch.io, working with their early access framework and voluntary payments for such as soon as one of the character routes is ready to play from beginning to end, updating regularly with the other characters as they too are completed, and with additional features as required. Once the full game is complete, I will release a separate full build with a set minimum price that can be discussed with the community as we move forwards.

At the second, I'm aiming for a web hosted format and a desktop/laptop downloadable format, with phone compatibility to come later down the line once things are stable.

I will post production updates and info when I can to tumblr, though a lot of what I'm doing now is very python coding heavy, so perhaps not that interesting?

I've included some screenshots below of very early development, featuring a Character Log and Word Log that I hope will allow readers to more easily navigate the story. I'm toying with the idea of having a Mysteries Log as well that will keep track of snippets of information gleaned from each character's route, but that can be a tinkering feature for now.

Let me know your thoughts, concerns, or excitement, though do keep all messages objective and polite.

[ask-squidbeaks-agents]

And the redesigns of the agents are done!! As you can see there is one new addition, a second New Agent 3 The extra info from the separate posts are all below the cut-

Captain 3

Adam joined the NSS purely because he wanted to help and be seen as useful. Not be cast aside like he was with his parents for his twin sister. Agent 4 is actually Adam's younger sister (not his twin) the pair have a funny relationship, on the surface they don't seem to get along but the pair do genuinely care for the other. As much as she annoys him, Adam adores his little sister. He has been through... a lot... His time in the Metro is probably the most traumatising both mentally and physically, due to his scaring Adam suffers from chronic pain. Generally he is able to deal with the pain- it's there but on good days he can ignore it, bad days it's hard for him to do anything. The scaring has also caused him to become visually and audibly impaired on his right side. Adam's fight style is that of punching (mainly due to his anger issues), despite his slim build he is quite strong. He works as a freelance DJ though sometimes he'll join his twin sisters rank team for the extra money. Adam is dating Agent 8, after Agent 8 confessed his feelings to him some time after Octo Expansion. Generally Adam gets along with both Neo Agent 3 and New Agent 3, they remind him a lot of himself and sisters as kids.

Agent 4

Camri is the younger sister of Captain 3, it was complete coincidence that Marie recruited her as Agent 4. Her swim form is genuinely tiny, it's unknown why but she is kinda insecure about it and doesn't like to show it off. Camri was not always arrogant and stand-offish, when she first joined she was quiet and nervous. Being around Marie allowed her to open up, becoming the Agent 4 we (annoyingly) know today. Camri's fight style isn't well known by others due to the fact she will avoid fighting if and when she can (which is ironic considering how often she tries to start fights) The reasons for this is partially because she's lazy but also because she wants to hide her actual skill and strength- she likes to remain unpredictable. Her and Agent 8 are roommates and best friends. She used to work for Grizzco (key words used to until the whole bear in space thing) but now she works along side Agent 8 for Ammo Knights. Camri and Captain 3 don't usually see eye to eye (like the fact she refuses to call him "Captain") but the pair do genuinely care for each other. Camri looks up to her older brother more than she'd like to admit. The New/Neo Agent 3's have very different opinions about her, Neo Agent 3 dislikes her- finding her arrogant and lazy but New Agent 3 admires her- wishing to be as strong and carefree. Also random fun fact- Camri is immune to hypnosis.

Agent 8

Eight comes from a large family back in Octo Canyon, he's the youngest of eight however he doesn't really remember any of his siblings- at least not faces or names. He ran away which is how he came across Captain 3 (Agent 3 at the time) and ended up in the Metro together. The Metro was traumatising for Eight but at least he had (Captain) Agent 3 (and others) with him while down there. Eight does in fact remember his name; "Octavius" however he doesn't like being called such and prefers to go by "Eight" (Captain 3 is the only one aware of his name) Eight's fight style is stealth based, he prefers to sneak and get the upper hand. Eight is roommates with Agent 4 and works for Ammo Knights. He's best friends with Agent 4 and gets along with both New Agent 3 and Neo Agent 3. Eight is dating Captain 3, he confessed his feelings about a year after Octo Expansion.

New Agent 3/Neo Agent 3

This pair were raised by Salmonids nearly their whole lives, they don't remember much from before. Runt is a smallfry who was raised along side these two (he gets his nickname from being the runt of the pack) At some point just before ROTM these three got lost during a big run, resulting in them some how ending up in the desert near the crater. They went in hoping to find temporary shelter, met Cuttlefish and well rest is history. Veronika is slightly fuzzy, having decided to completely ignore warnings and poke the fuzzy ooze. It did cause her to act a bit like a feral cat but she was able to regain control over herself. Hina and Veronika cover each others weakness in a fight, Hina is a kicker and Veronika a puncher. Hina greatly looks up to Captain 3 and Agent 8. Veronika admires Agent 4. Hina and Agent 4 do not get along for various reasons like Hina finds Agent 4 to be arrogant or the fact Agent 4 is slightly jealous over Hina having Captain 3 as a mentor (Agent 4 is scared of Captain 3 replacing her as his little sister with Hina which is nonsense btw)

[anim-ttrpgs]

The New Character Sheet for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!

You can tell a lot about a TTRPG by looking at its character sheet, so here is the mock-up for the latest version of the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy character sheet. This version of the sheet will be coming to patreon backers alongside the biggest single content update to Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy since we started posting about it.

Some stuff has been rearranged, some stuff has been tweaked, and some stuff is entirely new.

At the top there you can see the Composure bar. It starts out filled in, and ticks down from right to left as the player-character becomes more stressed and fatigued, and the lower the Composure, the lower the maximum base skill modifier that can be applied to dice rolls. You can find a post going into more detail about the Composure mechanic here.

What’s new is the numbers below the check boxes, denoting exactly what is the maximum base modifier at that level of Composure. One of the goals for the newest version of the character sheet was making the character sheet not just a tool required to play the game, but one that actually makes it easier as well, providing quality-of-life features that remind players of certain mechanics at a glance. This is one instance of such additions.

Next to that is where you’d write the PC’s Truth. “Truth” is a belief, personal motivation, or element of the PC’s personality that is not exactly a "flaw" but that is likely to spur them to action, for better or for worse. When the character acts based on this Truth, they get a bonus to their skill checks. This is unchanged from the previous character sheet, but you can find more info on the Truth mechanic here.

Below that we have the HP stuff. Eureka has 2 types of HP, one for serious deadly wounds and one for more minor wounds, but both of them are important. When reduced to 1 HP of either type, the character is Injured, and must make an Athletics Skill Roll. This may leave them fine with no penalties (but still Injured), Partially Incapacitated which imposes a -1 to all their skill checks, or Fully Incapacitated which means they can’t make any skill checks unless they spend a Eureka! Point.

Below that, well, the Eureka! Point stuff. When PCs investigate things, they accumulate Investigation Points. Enough Investigation Points, and they gain a Eureka! Point. Different types of PCs, as well as other factors, may increase the number of Investigation Points needed to gain a Eureka! Point.

Eureka! Points are valuable resources that can be spent for the character to have a “eureka moment” and retroactively succeed on a failed investigation check, add an extra die to a non-investigation roll to increase the chances of success, or to take an action while Fully Incapacitated. Some traits, particularly the monster ones, give even more options for how Eureka! Points can be spent, and that’s why monster PCs need the most Investigation Points before they get a Eureka! Point. A fuller explanation of this mechanic can be found here.

Next, the skills. For the new sheet, we split the skills into the skill point modifiers and the trait modifiers, to make it easier to read the sheet. Skill point modifiers across all skills have to add up to 0 for a starting character, but Traits can also increase or decrease modifiers, so keeping these as separate numbers is very helpful for keeping track of that. If you’re wondering why one skill is blacked out, here is the explanation.

Also, some of those are blanks because there are a number of optional skills in the rulebook, plus players are also encouraged to write their own.

A new addition to the core skill list is the Wealth skill. This is not a monetary resource that goes up and down, but a skill that represents the character’s resources based on their economic class. Rolling the Wealth skill helps determine if a player-character can, say, afford to bribe the security guard. It can also be rolled to determine if the PC knows certain things about high-class culture that may be relevant to the case. Notably, the Wealth skill is also “reversible”. The modifier can be reversed, from negative to positive, or positive to negative, to determine if the PC knows more lower-class knowledge, like who frequents the local soup kitchens.

Below that is a place to write the names of traits, just as a little reminder for the player. The full text of traits is written on the next page.

At the top of the second page is inventory. Eureka does inventory a little differently, and that’s why there’s four boxes for it. On-person is obviously what they’re carrying, but “Vehicle Secured” and “Home Secured” are items that are inside their vehicle and home respectively. With the addition of the new Wealth skill, Wealth checks can actually be made to add items to the Vehicle and Home inventory. These things aren’t magically appearing obviously, in the narrative of the game they’re things that the PC has already bought before the adventure started, and a higher Wealth skill means that a PC is more likely to own more stuff, or at least more likely to be able to by useful stuff short-notice.

This also connects to a new character creation mechanic I might make a post about later that is coming in the big update: The Wealth Point system. I’ll explain it in brief here. Basically, during character creation, you roll 3D6+3+[Wealth] to determine the number of Wealth Points, then those points are spent on items the character starts with, including a house and vehicle. Houses and vehicles actually have some of their own stats and trade-offs, but generally the bigger and/or more expensive they are, the more of a bonus they give to the Wealth rolls that are used to add items to Vehicle and Home inventory mid-adventure. Houses are more likely to have a bigger bonus, but it’ll usually mean that the PC has to return to their home to actually retrieve the item, costing valuable investigation time. This is also more relevant now with Eureka’s new Ticking Clock mechanics that I'll also explain some time later but basically we added optional rules for tracking in-game time to add tension to the adventure. (The Ticking Clock mechanics were inspired by a mechanic in one of @gormengeist's projects, which in turn was actually inspired by Eureka!)

Also, “Unsecured” inventory is a place to write down useful items that are not exactly in the PC’s possession, like if they left a ladder leaning against the window of the abandoned building outside.

Next is another addition to the sheet, a place to write an equipped weapon. That’s pretty bog-standard for TTRPGs, but one unique thing about Eureka is how it expects you to keep track of every ammunition magazine individually, rather than just having a pool of bullets like a video game. And this is made easy by the magazine ammo counters here, allowing you to write the contents of up to 6 magazines and a check box noting which one is actually inside the gun. While not directly related, here is a post about Eureka’s exciting and deadly firearms combat mechanics.

Next is traits. This is where the actual bulk of the traits’ rules are written. The only change we made here is making them vertical boxes, because that seems more space efficient. Here is a post explaining more about traits in Eureka.

Lastly on this page is the PC’s Tiers of Fear. That was explained in the post about Composure, but basically it’s what they’re scared of and how scared they are of it, which acts as a modifier when they make a Composure Roll related to that particular concept. Right below that are little notes and boxes for tracking how well the PC is taking care of themselves. Eating and sleeping restores Composure over time, at least for most people. Also a “tick” is an abstract unit of time used by the new Ticking Clock mechanics. Each Night consists of 10 Ticks, so the PC must spend at least half the night sleeping in order to restore Composure.

This page is unchanged, except now it’s the third page instead of being the last page. It’s a place for you to write down those failed investigation rolls to remember them and use Eureka! Points to have your PC suddenly understand them later. This was moved up in the sheet by request of playtesters so that their eyes would be on it more often and they’d remember to use it, and it would keep those failed rolls fresher in their mind.

This page is for, well, keeping track of Grievous Wounds. Grievous Wounds in Eureka are permanent or semi-permanent wounds that debuff stats related to them. At the moment a character is about to get Fully Incapacitated, the player can instead opt for them to take a Grievous Wound, keeping them able to act, but at a great cost. For instance, instead of getting cut down into Full Incapacitation and then finished off by a maniac with a machete, a Grievous Wound may mean their hand gets cut off instead. They can continue to run or fight, but that hand is permanently gone, as are the benefits of having both hands.

Players wanting to play physically disabled characters may opt to start their characters with Grievous Wounds marked from the beginning. This provides no special stat benefit, but Eureka is not exactly about playing characters with optimal stats anyway.

Certain monsters, such as vampires, actually have their own list of Grievous Wounds they can take when taking a Grievous Wound, things that no mortal could survive, such as decapitation or bisection. These are, generally, much worse than losing a hand, but also really badass. Speaking of that, one of the aforementioned special uses of Eureka! Points that some monsters have access to is the ability to instantly regenerate lost limbs and restore all HP. That’s one of the reasons that they have to gather more Investigation Points before getting a Eureka! Point.

This last page is for special monster info. Each monster has a True Nature and a Weakness section, both of which tend to be quite detailed. They explain what the monster must do to their human prey to regain Composure, and how. Many monsters do not restore as much Composure from sleeping and eating normal food, they have to consume their prey to regain Composure.

The Weakness section obviously deals with their supernatural weaknesses, such as outlining exactly how a vampire reacts to silver, holy symbols, running water, etc. This section also contains info on various “tells” they have to be aware of, such as how people might noice that a vampire has huge freaking fangs when they open their mouths.

And that’s the latest version of the character sheet!

We hope you enjoyed reading this and we hope you will consider supporting us on patron to get the full version of this TTRPG for as little as $5. If not, consider downloading the free demo which comes with a free adventure module from the download link on our website!

For another chance to play the full thing, consider joining our TTRPG Book Club! TTRPG nominations are voted on, read, played, and discussed. Eureka is frequently up for nomination, and when a game wins, we will provide anyone who can’t afford to buy the game themselves with a copy for use in the book club so they don’t have to miss out. You can join the book club discord server from the invite link found on our website!

Oh and by the way, as of right now, we are planning to launch our Kickstarter for Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy in April or May 2024. Stay tuned.

[curio-queries]

SMERALDO GARDEN MARCHING BAND

My thoughts prior to the release of MUSE. I've avoided pretty much all reactions and analysis posts until I finished this so I have no clue if anyone else has come up with better words to describe some of these concepts but here's my take on it. I wanted to get this out prior to MUSE so that I can see how my view evolves with further context but here's where I am now.

Initial Reaction:

I'd actually had a few issues that night so I wasn't in the best headspace to take in a new song but I did listen to it on Spotify first and then watched the mv twice, once without subs and once with. (And yes, I know it's technically not called an mv...deal with it lol)

Anyways, I definitely wasn't immediately sold on it - which is expected from me, it's EXCEEDINGLY rare that I like any song on first listen but SGMB only took a couple of runthroughs before I was on board. One thing that helped me reframe it in my mind and with my previous expectations is to remember the first part of Jimin's self-proclaimed attributes: Cutie, sexy, lovely. SGMB leans very solidly into the cutie aspect, a little near the lovely side but far deeper into Cutie than anything we've seen in his solo releases. (RememberCute was an answer in the seossword puzzle). That got me thinking about where the rest of his songs would be in comparison and here's the placement I've landed on. Some of these have changed over the past few days but I'm curious where y'all disagree with my placements.

Good old Serendipity, a perfect balance of the three in my opinion. All of FACE is firmly in the Sexy section with Like Crazy leaning more evenly into Lovely. Lie is also right there with LC but more closely on the border. My beloved Promise and Letter holding down the Lovely section with CTT straying closer to Cutie. If you forgot about the cutie circle though, SGMB would have seems like it was complete out of the expected range. I am curious if we'll ever get something that's a mix of cutie and sexy, I can't comprehend what that would be like but I wouldn't put it past our JM to find a way!

Theories?

So, how do I think I did with all of my theories? Let's go through them one by one:

Open Locker Meaning: nothing to prove/disprove this yet. There were an awful lot of references to Serendipity in the mv though, so maybe that's the tie-in? I don't know, this one was a streeeeeetch in any case.

Sound Effects Interlude: we know we're getting an interlude but we'll have to wait for MUSE and any behind info to learn if it's sound effects that Jimin recorded himself like Dive.

Rooms Going from Dark to Light: Yes! I mean we knew it was going to be a lighter album than FACE but I think the word BRIGHT is all over SGMB. And I think this technique in both of those videos was trying to highlight that for us.

SGMB as an Actual Band: Yes! Definitely right here too! I'm going to talk about this more below because I think this is actually a very important part of this song.

The Emoji Poll from the Insta Chat: Yes! I think some people are still trying to make the argument that each option is supposed to represent different songs on muse. And while the others may lean more into any of these specifically, SGMB definitely has elements of all of them as well

An Actual Band?

So, like I mentioned in the theory above, I had the thought that SGMB could be portrayed as a fictional band itself, very similar to what MCR did with the Black Parade. And since Jimin decided to use this as the song's title; as well as make it the pre-release track, I think this is an important topic to delve into.

First, this allows Jimin a perspective shift to share with us his career outside the lens of BTS. Not because he NEEDS or WANTS to separate himself from them but he has had his own journey as an artist that may differ from his experiences from the perspective of a BTS member. Obviously BTS is completely woven through this journey and he gives us an acknowledgement of that with the line about 12 June and the handsign.

(Sidenote, whenever I see any of them do that now, I instantly think of that moment in Jimin's pixid ep where he said they don't anymore...I think we may have been misled...) 😝

Second, the frame of SGMB from a band's perspective also puts the song firmly in the categorization of 'work' rather than 'personal'. With FACE being such a deeply personal projectregarding his very deep human experiences, i love that he'svery upfront with us about MUSE being a work project. I've said this before, and it's one of my absolute favorite things about Jimin's music: he crafts it so that we can easily adapt it to our own interpretations. There's a lot of loving and beautiful imagery in the lines of this song that can have special meaning in all levels of relationships; platonic or not. But his delivery if this message to us, is professional. This is reinforced by the suits Jimin has worn in all of the material released so far. He's following a work dress code. (If you happen to see this post within a week of release, we have a poll regarding Jimin's suits on @bts-polls )

ME + US = MUSE

I just want to touch on this briefly here as I expect there'll be more once the album releases but there are some hints already. Like I discussed in my FACE post, Jimin has again come up with some key words to weave through the project. In FACE, it was several sentences but MUSE seems to be focusing on the following:

ME: Jimin himself

US: Jimin's view on his audience

MUSE: His awareness of us and how that effects his creations and manner of artistry.

SGMB and CTT are both bursting with these references and viewpoints. But I honestly don't think of SGMB as a traditional 'fan song'. I have another post where I talk about the different kinds of fan songs. Like I said above, SGMB details Jimin's experience as an artist and how his audience plays into that process. Not like CTT that's literally a diary of our journey with him. Maybe an extremely nuanced take but SGMB just doesn't feel like it belongs in the same 'fan song' categorization that CTT does.

The End for Now

Does anyone know anything about that little hand-wave Jimin does during the bow at the end? He repeats it. Is just an additional flourish that he's added in himself? I've never seen anyone do that during bows after a performance so I'm wondering if it's a cultural/industry thing.

What do y'all think? I'd love to hear your thoughts! If any of you have made posts about SGMB, I'll try to read them now but rumblr is not very forgiving if you miss something in the timeline. I'm very happy for you to share links to your posts in the comments!

[eldritchshipping]

gulp hi guys... first s/i art on here.... me and venomous... first post in main tags too.....

anyways. below the cut is an infodump about Lone Wolf (aka Wolfy)! (literally typing out the info down here i decided on his villain name, i wanted it to be really obvious and kinda corny cuz a lot of canon ok ko villain and hero names are ive noticed tbh....) some lore info and fun facts plus another sketch :)

wolfy was an experiment made by a group of scientist heroes! he used to be a normal human

the plan was to make him a werewolf, but with this he developed severe anger issues and some primal instincts (like fighting over territory and hunting)

he also developed tougher skin (part of why he doesnt wear much when fighting, that plus he usually transforms in battle and too much clothes would just tear and get in the way), stronger muscles, sharp teeth and maybe more idk

eventually he got too power hungry with his new strengths and went against the heroes, despite them being the ones who gave him this power, he felt like he needed to and COULD be better than them. He ran away with plans of becoming a villain (which is where he came up with his name) (still kinda workshopping the details here)

he now LOVED fighting and would attack random heroes and civilians (which would ofc result in heroes showing up), but also attacked some villains

the scar down his midsection is from experimentation, the rest are from battle

hes blind in his left eye (haha this is a reference to my left eye being worse than my right) because of it being scratched and badly damaged in battle

to explain his battle gear (cuz he wears normal clothes too when he eventually gets his hands on them) the shoulder armor is connected to the harness (which is just to look cool tbh, but he uses the spikes as defense often, like if an attacker is coming towards him sometimes he'll just turn quickly and scratch them with them instead), the wolf face on the belt is to represent his own wolf form (like a logo of sorts), his boots are TOUGH and a little heavy, he uses them to kick and scratch opponents as well, and the spiked collar is just to look cool :3

he kinda just existed on his own and traveled a lot, the board of villains could NEVER find him as much as they wanted to, neither could any heroes

(everything from this point on is still being workshopped so theres not as much details plus it may change)

venomous literally just found him somewhere randomly and wolfy was going to attack him but venomous went on about how much he heard about him but wolfy just started to get too absorbed in his eyes and voice too pay attention and forgot all about fighting him ehehe

after getting too flustered wolfy just ran back into the woods 💀

he then stopped attacking random people to try to find him again and eventually found his lab and at this point bro had NO idea what to do so he just started staying in the woods around his house hoping venomous would come looking for him (and he did cuz he ALSO was interested in him)

at this point the two started meeting up more and eventually this lead to ven letting wolfy live with them and they slowly got closer and got together :3

i might just make a separate post talking about their relationship cuz this post is very wolfy centered.... sorry for the yap fest

annnd heres the sketch of my concept for his wolf form (this isnt to be finished this is just me showing my ideas ill probably draw him normally at some point) (i luterally made it within like 5 minutes help)

[great-cats]

The Compress Analysis (2/?)

(From: This Post) Ⅰ - Ⅱ - ...

Part Ⅱ: The Mask

Yep, I see the mask as a key part of his character to the point where it simply must get a section of its own in this increasingly more insane ramble. One may immediately assume that the thing is used for identity concealment. While this is partially true, I reckon that its primary purpose is the concealment of his emotions, as implied in the ultra analysis entry for him (attached below). He may have a near perfect handle on his body language, but I will personally headcanon that he has a terrible poker face until the day I die. As a villain, his identity is going to come out at some point, you know? Even after the Kamino raid (where he got doxxed the hell out of), he continued to wear the mask up until his ta-da moment in 294. So with that info, we can reasonably assume that identity was on the back burner, and emotion/dramatics took centre stage. The latter option is thrown in because he obviously was saving that reveal to an extent. One can even go so far as to assume he hadn’t even taken his mask off around the league, which would be pretty interesting. We don’t ever see him without it while he’s with them, after all.

Beyond keeping his facial expressions behind closed doors, the mask may very well bolster Atsuhiro’s confidence. We don’t particularly see much of this in action given he wore the thing for so long and has only a select few moments of casual interaction, but I still like to think of it as a very real possibility. For all intents and purposes, Atsuhiro Sako is just a normal man with an interesting background and some past poverty. Despite this, the villain that is Mr.Compress– or what quite nicely amounts to a stage persona –is flamboyant, clever, and has a penchant for monologuing. I quite like to create a separation between “Mr.Compress” and “Atsuhiro Sako” because of this disparity. The latter is the flawed man behind the mask whilst the former is a faux, ideal identity put on for the audience. Only in those rude remarks and reckless actions do we see the facade begin to slip. So, what of the moment in the climax of chapter 294 in which he throws that covering off? Well, for starters, he couldn’t not. Jeanist’s quirk could nab anything fibrous, and the fellow couldn’t take any chances. But, beyond that, Atsuhiro thought that moment would wind up his final stand. What’s the use of concealment if you’re going to die soon? He might as well make things flashy.

A big thing in my opinion regarding the mask is how it often reflects Atsuhiro’s status. While I do like to make the distinction between him and Mister as mentioned prior, again, there’s that smidge of him shining through. When he lost his arm, the mask was solemn and in the times he was at his best, it portrayed a smug/snide grin. That grin in particular is by far his most iconic design! It gets the cogs turning in my head when his real emotions don’t seem to match it, though, Regardless of how Atsuhiro is really feeling, that mask keeps up the smile until it’s either broken or otherwise removed. It circles us back to that emotion concealment point, if that wasn’t already obvious. In pursuit of the perfect villain and the next in line for the illustrious goals and teachings of the late Peerless Thief. Atsuhiro has no room for error with that heavy load on his shoulders and must keep up appearances, even if he has to hide behind a smiling mask to do so. But why hold this legacy in such high regard? Atsuhiro claimed that it was the very reason he was there with the league, so what could’ve possibly gotten the man to be so dead set on the wishes of a long gone relative he likely never met? Perhaps, answers to questions like that could be found in what minimal information we know about…

Ah dear! That's part three exclusive content!! Tune in for "The Upbringing" later in which we'll pick right back up from where we left off!

[fraeuleintaka]

Official Investigations Complete Guide

This is the 64th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 17 days left until release!

Today's topic: the official Investigations Complete Guide!

Back when Investigations 1 first came out a Complete Guide was released in Japan about the game. I had never seen more than a few page scans from it as being Japan-exclusive (and later out of print) made it extremely inaccessible in the West. You can basically only hope to get it used and even then only if you're willing to part with an extortionate amount of money. Recently, I was extremely lucky to be able to get it for a moderate price and in very good condition so I wanted to talk about it!

First off, it's gorgeous! And I mean gorgeous! The paper is thick and high quality and the art is wonderfully crisp and vibrant, popping off the pages. It's a lot of fun to just thumb through it and look at all the illustrations.

The different sections are separated by these main character artworks, they're just the official ones for the game but they still look so pretty! (Poor Gumshoe gets shafted though. And I apparently have to correct myself on being confused why Shi-Long got a light green background in the online lottery merch as it looks like he's been associated with that background colour since the beginning. I still don't really think it fits him but oh well.)

I love the entire presentation of the guide! Even if it's just explaining the general gameplay concept to you (like in the picture below), it's incredibly fancy in how it's presented. For example, the page markings with the characters' faces from the key art, that looks epic! I also love the way the characters are constantly included, interjecting and explaining stuff to you. And with so pretty pictures, too, just look at Shi-Long here!

The guide also includes an entire introduction page for every character (or half a page for the victims), including the large full body illustrations, a short description, their age and height (!), a few pictures of their animations and one of their small sprite. I especially love the large shaded illustrations in the background. So beautiful!

Starting on the individual cases, every case has a character relationship chart at the beginning with all the relevant characters in each case and their relations shown. It's quite interesting how simple they start in the 1st case and how complicated they get by the 5th but also no surprise.

The coverage on the cases goes through every argument, rebuttal and investigation phase throughout the game pointing out the relevant stuff to look at, who to talk to and what to argue about. There are no explicit solutions given but the direction in which to take the argument or what you should think about to get to the answer, Miles often gives an additional hint in a short comment.

Throughout the entire guide Shi-Long provides additional tips and infos about various stuff in these yellow boxes. (Leave it to the top Interpol agent with the highest successful arrest rate to know all the tricks, I guess 😄) Sometimes that's about gameplay mechanics (like how you know when you've investigated everything relevant in an area) but other times it's also explanations for certain concepts that are relevant for the case at hand (like what extraterritorial rights are and the role of an embassy). Shi-Long knows all the stuff!

Towards the end there's a section of all the answers and solutions to the rebuttals and investigation phases as a handy flowchart. You can easily recognize it by the large yellow spoiler "WARNING" banners on the page top and bottom. A pretty nice idea to not directly give you all the answers when just going through the guide but should you really be stuck, you can look up what to do here.

There's also a bunch of concept art, sketches and even some interviews after the cases of the game are done with. They even show some frames of the small sprite animations of various characters. It's in the pixel artstyle, of course, so they're somewhat outdated now with the new HD chibi sprites but I still think they're nice to look at. And all the concept art with the commentaries is amazing! I will definitely go into more detail on those sometime in the future but this post is already more than long enough.

There's even an entire list of all the evidence and all the profiles in the game, separated by case. And one page I found particularly nice (also provided by best agent Shi-Long, of course) is a list of all of the background cameos of previous characters! They don't say the name of the characters outright but they give you more than enough hints that you should be able to tell who they are (if you couldn't before) and I love how they have other characters comment on it.

And one last little treat: The bottom corner of every right page has a little Miles sprite on it in different frames of his various animations so that when you flick through the book they "move" like a little flipbook! That's so adorable!

[rocketbirdie]

A New School Hunter's Guide to Old School Monster Hunter: What to Expect

World and Rise have come and gone. These are the games that introduced you to Monster Hunter. But now that you've completed every goal you set out to achieve, there's a big 2025 sized hole in your hunting heart where Wilds may one day be. "In the meantime, why not catch up on the old MH games?" you think to yourself, blissfully unaware of the hell that you are about to subject yourself to.

Below the cut is a SUPER LONG and very dramatic post, intended for new-ish Monster Hunter players who are bored of being good at the game, and want to remember what AGONY feels like— but would rather not jump in 100% blind like I did, doomed to hilarious suffering.

Note: This post mainly refers to MHGU, but much of it applies to older MH games as well. I came from Rise, and have not played World. If I made any incorrect assumptions about games I haven't played, apologies in advance. Let me know if I made any glaring mistakes.

Also, feel free to reblog and add any more info that I missed! I am but one mortal hunter, after all.

Table of Contents, because I wasn't kidding when I said this is a super long post:

Preparing for a Quest

GATHERING TAKES FOREVER

Paintballs, and other things that aren't in the newer games for a very good reason

When the monster attacks you

When you attack the monster

Armor Skills (AAAAAAA!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!! AAAAAAAHHAGHHAAHGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!)

The Desire Sensor (You Will Grind.)

No but really, you'd better have ~30 minutes set aside if you're planning on reading this whole thing in one sitting. Enjoy!

1. Preparing for a Quest

Many of the conveniences of the modern quest hub layout are nowhere to be found in old school MH games. Sure, you've got an overpriced shop, a smithy, and a quest handler all in one spot. And if you're lucky, maybe even a place to eat before the hunt. But if you want to change your equipment, save the game, or entrust your cat with an overseas trade deal, you'll likely have to do it somewhere else. And that means loading screens.

I'm telling you now, get used to the loading screens. Make sure you know what you want to do and where you need to do it, before you sit there and wait. Our spoiled Gen 5 asses are so accustomed to seamless transitions; the load times are not unreasonable, but the sheer number of interruptions will make you feel like a rabid animal gnawing at the bars of a wire cage. You'll get used to it. <- That's a phrase you're going to see a LOT in this post.

Go to your house to pick out your weapon and armor, and feast your eyes upon the horror: all of the equipment is haphazardly thrown into one box. There are no separate storage spaces for individual weapon types, meaning your sweet precious baby angel, the hammer, has to share menu real estate with the fucking light bowgun (UGH).

You cannot sort armor by head, chest, arms, etc. Want to see how your armor skills are looking? Close the box. Open the start menu. Navigate to "status," then flip through a page or two of normal, healthy stats. Find the armor skills page. Black out for a split second. Feel your heart rate spike, then immediately close out the armor skills, and decide that it's not important right now, and that you'll figure it out later.

Get your items in order. Set an item loadout if you can. Money is tight, and that won't be changing any time soon, so keep an eye on your zenny while you're shopping and smithing. Excess bones and ore are a decent source of cash if you're desperate.

I know I probably don't have to say it, but EAT! Eat something before the hunt! It increases your health and stamina bar and may grant you temporary skills. Some skills are exclusive to food, and can't be acquired via armor or decorations, so try out as many foods as you can. You'll be able to make more dishes using ingredients that you obtain as side quest rewards.

Before you set out on your quest, make absolutely certain that you have everything you might need. This is EXTREMELY important. The main camp is pretty much just there for show. (And for delivering eggs, but that's beside the point.) You cannot change your equipment or refill your items AT ALL once you're out there. If you forgot to eat, too bad, sucks to be you. And whatever weapon you bring is the only one you'll be using for that entire quest.

Alright, time to hunt! Talk to the quest handler, no, not that npc, no, that's not her either- ahem. Talk to the quest handler, aaaand yippee. 1 Star is all gathering quests. Well, at least they'll go by quickly!

2. GATHERING TAKES FOREVER

The first thing you'll notice on your first gathering quest in old school MH is that you slowly. Gather. One. Item. At a time. Maybe two if you're really striking it rich. Please for the love of all that is good, hold down the gathering button. Save yourself some time. Don't be an idiot like I was for more hours than I'm willing to admit.

YOU NEED TO GATHER. You need to gather so much, all the time, constantly. If you're not actively in combat, you should be gathering. If you're not gathering, then you should be moving to another gathering spot in order to gather more stuff. Bring a gathering palico. Hell, bring two. They are The Best type of palico, it doesn't even come close. There is no moment when you should not gather.

I can't stress this enough. Old school MH games will not just shower you with free items. Quest rewards are often pitiful, and it's safe to assume that the trader won't have what you need. Yes, gathering is slow and boring. But that's exactly why you need to weave it into every beat of downtime that the game gives you. GATHER, always. You'll thank yourself later.

You will need pickaxes to mine, and bug nets to catch bugs. These take up precious inventory space, but are well worth bringing to regular locales. If you want to fish and actually obtain something worthwhile (PLESIOTH), then you'll need to craft bait or bring some with you. And if the crafting recipes aren't listed anywhere in game, then gog help you.

There is a chance that crafting will just... not work. It'll consume the materials but spit out garbage instead of what you wanted to make. The odds of this happening can be mitigated by bringing a crafting book with you on your quest, which you can buy from a shop. But that book will take up space in your already miserably small inventory, assuming you brought sensible things along too, like potions. And a map.

Unless you have the locale memorized, you won't know where you are without the map item. In Low Rank, a map is courteously provided in the main camp's rations box, along with some field meds and food. (Don't get used to this kind of generosity. It'll be gone in High Rank and beyond.) Now that you have a map, you'll be able to see where all of the gathering spots are.......... right? RIGHT?????

WRONG. If you want to know where the spots are, you'll have to find them and then dedicate some real-life human brain memory space for that info. In some games, the gathering spots are obvious, with a big question mark that pops up when you can interact with them. In older games... uh... ha. Haha...... yeah. Good luck.

On the bright side, at least the map is good for keeping yourself safe. Y'know, because of the titular monsters. You can see the monsters on the map......... right?

Okay I'm gonna cut straight to the chase.

3. Paintballs, and other things that aren't in the newer games for a very good reason

Craft a pretty pink paintball with a paintberry and a sap plant. Equip it in your item scroll bar, and press that sexy item use button to throw it at a monster. Voila! A pink dot appears on your map. This (and psychoserum) allows you to see the monster's location.

Get into the habit of bringing multiple paintballs with you on every quest. You will miss a few throws. Also, the effect wears off after a few minutes, meaning you'll have to find the monster and hit it with another paintball again in order to keep it on the map. Be mindful of flying wyverns, who are aggravatingly hard to follow without a paintball. That includes some unexpected honorable mentions, for example Mizutsune, Zinogre, and Rajang, who can just... fly to the opposite side of the map. Yeah, I know. Don't ask.

So Zinogre has just taken to the skies. Now's a great opportunity to sharpen your weapon! If you remembered whetstones, that is. They're not an infinite resource, and they're not just automatically in your inventory. You'll have to go out of your way to obtain them and bring them with you on your hunts.

Likewise, I mentioned earlier that you need pickaxes and bug nets for gathering their respective items. What I didn't tell you is that they too are a finite resource. Pickaxes and bug nets can and will break, and you'll have to buy or craft new ones. If you're planning on doing a lot of gathering, eat for skills that reduce the likelihood of your tools breaking. It makes a huge difference.

Pay attention to what locale the quest takes place in. Some locales are hot, like Dunes and... *shudders* Volcanic Hollow. Bring cool drinks with you to hot locales, or else you'll take passive heat damage. Trust me, you do not want to be on fire the whole time you're running away from (and whiffing your attacks on) Uragaan. Ask me how I know that.

Similarly, cold locales will ruin your stamina bar over time. Hot drinks protect you from this stamina drain. Some locales, like Desert, have both hot and cold areas. Which is annoying because the drinks cancel each other out. Keep this in mind.

Don't be lured into a false sense of comfort just because you didn't forget your cool drinks. Because once you get into High Rank, there's a pretty good chance that you won't spawn at the main camp when you start a quest. One day, you will spawn right into a pool of lava, directly in a monster's line of sight, with zero time to prepare. It's okay to be a total chicken and run away screaming. After all, it is a monster, and it will attack you.

4. When the monster attacks you

I almost guarantee that your first old school hunt will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Not bitter enough to make you instantly hate the game, but just enough to make you want to put the controller down and go outside and maybe even interact with other human beings, which is just as tragic.

Want to get some practice in with your weapon before the hunt? Well, too bad bucko, there's no training area. There may be a so-called "training quest," in which an npc barfs tutorial text onto your boots and then pits you against a real monster in an inescapable arena fight to the death, which is hilarious if you think about the in-game universe implications. Anyway. If you want to learn the in and outs of your weapon, then you'll have to do it the old fashioned way: get out there and get your ass kicked.

Great news! Getting your ass kicked is cheap, easy, and quick. Monsters' attacks will hit you like a cement truck packed with explosives speeding towards a steel wall. Even dumb little attacks like tail slaps and nibbles will take a CHUNK out of your health bar. Good thing you brought potions!

Terrible news! You are extremely vulnerable for several seconds while consuming healing items. Whether you like it or not, you will stand there in place, unable to move at all, glug, then flex your strong beautiful arms for the whole world to admire. And if the monster turns its attention towards you while you're doing this, there is nothing you can do but watch in despair as all of the health you just regained AND then some, gets torn away from you in an instant.

Don't wait until the fights get tough in order to prioritize learning monster's attack patterns. Even early on, only heal when you know for certain that it's safe to do so. Remember, it's okay to run away like a little wuss to put distance between yourself and the monster so you can use your items in peace. Hell, leave the area altogether if you have to. That being said, don't let the fight get too close to the edges of the area. Loading zones always get the last laugh.

Sooo.... hitboxes. They suck. They're bigger than they look, and they're present for longer than they should be. And some attacks have little to no tell or wind-up animation. Some monsters are just a vile conglomeration of both of these problems. (here's looking at you, Yian "You Mother Fucking Son of a Bitch" Garuga). Sigh... you'll get used to it.

If you came from Rise, getting knocked down by an attack will feel EXCRUCIATING. There is no fast way to fling yourself back onto your feet after taking a big hit. You will lie there, recoiling in pain, seething for way longer than you want— and you may even like it after a few hundred hours. Hang in there.

If a strong attack sends you flying into a wall, you'll very likely get stunned. Getting stunned is the single most dangerous thing that can happen, far worse than poison or waterblight or what have you. You can escape stun significantly faster by mashing buttons and wiggling the control stick. And I guess you could also bring the Stun Res skill, but... we'll, um, come back to that later.

WATCH OUT for pin attacks! You may very suddenly get snapped up and chewed apart like a dog toy, and it will be very bad for your health. That's why you should keep your pockets lined with literal shit. Chuck a dung bomb to escape a pin attack before the monster finishes ripping you to shreds. Dung bombs may also convince an unwanted monster to leave the area, which is great for when you'd rather not fight Gravios and Shogun Ceanataur at the same time. Which is all the time.

5. When you attack the monster

Your favorite weapon is not what you remember it being. Moves are missing, or mapped to completely different buttons. "How tf do I vault? Why won't my kinsect go where I want?? Stop shooting pheromone pellets!!!" whines the insect glaive main. "What do you mean there's no shoulder tackle?? How do I get to TCS faster????" cries the greatsword player. "Oh, ok, nothing's really changed," says the SnS main. It's a travesty, I tell you.

All of your movement is clunky. Attack timing is off. New school muscle memory is going to get you carted a lot. But hands down, the absolute most traumatizing thing is that there is no backwards dodge roll. You can dodge left, right, and forward, but never back. As a hunting horn main myself, I can assure you, this is a fate worse than hell. They say you never know love until you've loved and lost. You loved the backwards dodge roll, and soon, you'll know it.

And it gets even funnier if you play lance or gunlance— you can kiss your forward hop goodbye. Need to close the gap? Turn around, aim your squishy butt cheeks at the monster, and hop backwards towards it, expending absurd amounts of stamina in the process. Otherwise, walk slowly and threateningly towards it like the apex predator you are. Oh, and don't bother blocking attacks. It takes too much stamina, inflicts an abysmal knockback, and half of the time, you'll just get hit anyway. Guard and Guard Up are 100% necessary if you plan on using that shield. Good luck obtaining those skills, sucker.

The charge blade is somehow simultaneously more complicated and way easier to play than its modern iterations. The opposite is true of the switch axe, imo. Blunt weapons are stronger, but there's something a bit off about the way they feel. The longsword is the longsword. And as for the bowguns, I wouldn't be able to tell you, because I know better than that.

It doesn't matter what weapon you pick, because either way, you are going to develop a highly concerning dash juice dependency.

Take advantage of every tool the game provides. The usual stuff like barrel bombs, traps, and ballistae are indispensably helpful. But there are other familiar mechanics that are way more useful in old school MH than they are in newer games. That includes invading monsters (DEVILJHO!!), who will indiscriminately attack you AND the monster you're hunting, inadvertently aiding your hunt without you needing to wyvern ride or seek out a turf war. Jump off of ledges to rack up mounting damage in gen 4 games, which may reward you with a free knockdown (if you can mash fast enough)!

Monster's movements are janky, and this is in your favor. Get good at "head sniping" the monster as they turn around in 90 degree increments. Don't get greedy during small opportunities. Remember, monsters can go from t-posing, straight to crushing you to death, with zero wind-up animation.

There are no damage numbers when you land a hit. This may spoil the instant gratification factor of the game for a while. If you're a greatsword main, you will suffer from withdrawals due to Big Number Addiction. But over time you'll realize that it's actually fantastic, because now you're less obsessed with landing the super big awesome attack on the ultra weak spot for maximum damage. Instead, you'll find yourself savoring every little hit you manage to land. It'll be better for your cardiovascular health in the long run.

That's a good analogy for the entire new school to old school pipeline: it sucks A LOT for a long time, then gets really, really good later on once you get over the "Gen 5 stages of grief." Listen, you will have an abusive relationship with this game. It took me 80 HOURS before I could actually say with confidence that I liked MHGU more than I disliked it. Not that I loved it, but merely that I didn't hate it. 80 real life hours. That's... probably not good, but whatever.

There is one thing that I don't think I'll ever learn to love, though. And that's...

6. Armor Skills (AAAAAAA!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!! AAAAAAAHHAGHHAAHGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!)

Face it. You will never, ever, ever be as powerful as you are in World or Rise. You will not have your maxxed out attack and affinity boosting skills plus the comfy stuff like Flinch Free and Stun Res all at the same time. Not in Low Rank, not in High Rank, and not quite in G Rank either. Here's why.

Skills have tiers as usual. But now, they also have thresholds. For example, you want the skill Speed Eating +1, then you'll need 10 points in the Eating skill. If you're even one point short, then the skill will not activate. But Speed Eating +1 doesn't increase your potion glugging speed... if you want that to happen, then you'll need to add 5 more points, for a total of 15, to activate Speed Eating +2. This is true for every skill, and is way easier said than done.

Some skills will feel nerfed big time, like Handicraft. You'll almost never see purple sharpness without Handicraft +2. On the other hand, Crit Draw is a one tier skill that gives you a flat 100% affinity boost on every draw attack. Which is absolutely busted.

Wearing a single piece of armor will provide a few points towards a given skill. If the armor has slots, then you can slot in decorations to increase the points as well. Slot "sizes" are weird and inconsistent, and the decos themselves typically only add 1 or 2 points per skill. Considering the fact that the average skill takes 10 points to activate, and the average full armor set has maaaybe around 7 slots to work with, decos are not going to be your primary source of skill activation.

Now for another problem. Let's say you want an armor set that has just three skills: Status Attack +1, Constitution +1, and Stun Res +1. Pretty modest, right? Should be easy enough. Well would you look at that, High Rank Nerscylla's armor set gets you the first two, and because Stun Res decos are worth 2 points each, you can just slot the last skill in! Nerscylla's set has 5 slots, which is the exact number you need to get those 10 points in Stun Res.

Great! So you do just that. Except when you check your skill points, you discover that Stun Res has a whopping zero points.

Yeah, so... negative skills are a thing. Nerscylla's armor comes with -10 points in Stun Res, activating the "skill" Double Stun. Which as the name suggests, doubles the amount of time that you stay stunned, and I don't think I have to explain why that's bad. -10 plus 10 is zero. So much for that Halve Stun you wanted so bad.

Not all skills have equivalent negative skills, but many armor pieces and most decos will have negative points. The challenge of set building comes from having to carefully balance and calculate your skill points, to make sure you're not accidentally charging into battle against Agnaktor while at -20 Fire Res. It can be frustrating if you're like me, and you've got swiss cheese for brains and can't handle the math. Fear not, I've got something amazing for you.

Allow me to introduce you to your new favorite website, Kiranico. This website hosts Monster Hunter databases containing literally everything that the games don't tell you, or do really half-ass job of telling you. That includes weapon upgrades, material drop rates, monster hitzones and health pools, and most importantly, armor sets and their respective skills. Being able to view all of this info all in one place makes it SO much easier to theorycraft new equipment sets.

Kiranico will save you from so much grief. Bookmark it and cherish it like your firstborn child.

Alas, no amount of Kiranico homework will make it easier to obtain the materials you want. The Desire Sensor is real, and it demands sacrifice.

7. The Desire Sensor (You Will Grind.)

It's commonly said that the game can sense exactly what you're grinding for, and will go to un-fucking-believable odds to avoid giving you that which you need most. This is the alleged "Desire Sensor."

Now, don't get me wrong, the newer games have moments like this, too. Don't even get me started about the 46 tries that it took me to get ONE Golden Almudron Orb, out of the TWO that I needed in Rise.

But until you get better gear, a single old school monster could take you 15+ minutes. Especially if you're on your own. Monster's health pools are not well scaled for solo players, so chances are, hunts are going to take way longer than usual if you don't resign yourself to getting tripped by a cheater with a longsword. Couple this with some god awful drop rates plus the disheartening quest rewards, and you're in for a loooooooong grind.

I would say you'll get used to it, but honestly, you won't. You'll get sick of it. You'll be shaking Kiranico by the metaphorical shoulders, desperate for any little thing that might speed up the grind. You might even be tempted to pick up a bowgun. Such a lapse in sanity is frightening, but it will pass. Stay strong.

Take breaks from the grind every now and then, or at least have two different grinds that you can switch back and forth between when you get exhausted of one. Since there is no escaping the Desire Sensor, this is unfortunately the only advice I can offer.

Disclaimer: the Desire Sensor is, as far as I'm aware, not a real mechanic programmed into the games. But godDAMN if it doesn't feel real. As anecdotal evidence, here's a small sample of my own suffering. Materials I wanted, the amount of them I wanted, their drop rates, and the sheer number of attempts it took to complete my goal (yes, I kept count.):

Lightning Sac x8 (G Rank Khezu): 15% chance to carve. 18% chance as quest reward. 27% chance as part break reward. HUNTS: 22

Paddock Cream x1 (G Rank Tetsucabra/Zamtrios): 40% chance to obtain two as subquest reward. 25% shiny drop. 25% chance as capture reward. 14% chance as quest reward. HUNTS: 8. I mean, what the fuck.

Monster Broth x5 (High Rank Insectoid Small Monster): 20% chance to carve. 20% shiny drop. SLAIN: >70

Viscous Radiant Mucus x17 (G Rank Nakarkos) 40% chance to gather; multiple gathering opportunities. 18% chance to obtain at least one as quest reward. 18% chance to obtain at least one as subquest reward. 15% chance per tentacle broken to obtain two. HUNTS: 15 (IT'S A 30+ MINUTE FIGHT SOLO. FML)

Was it worth it? Hell yeah! Do I think we should go back to the way things were in the old games? Fuck no! 46 Almudrons haunt me in my wildest nightmares— but at least I didn't feel my hair getting longer playing Rise.

On the bright side, at least the Desire Sensor has a sense of humor, if that last Khezu was anything to go by. Shout out to carving three lightning sacs in a row.

Phew! That about wraps things up.

Don't let this post deter you from trying out a "hard" Monster Hunter game. I don't regret my old school experiences. They've made me a much more patient and observant player, which weirdly enough, has carried over into other series I play, too. I can't say the same about any other game I've played in my life, and that's just one of many reasons why Monster Hunter holds such a special place in my heart.

I hope that by sharing my wisdom, I've saved at least one overwhelmed player a whole lot of headache. The rest is up to you, fellow hunter. Take it slow, and have fun!

Oh, and one more thing: press the dodge button while climbing in order to climb faster. Learned that one by accident 200 hours in.

[bexktaegeun]

Hello Hello

hello, introducing my bby! kwon taegeun! it was split between him and another muse! hopefully i can bring her later! now onto my baby! below i'll have his about linked and under the link! i'll have some basic info about him AND some lose plot ideas! if you see something you like or you think he'll fit or if you just wanna plot! let me know! 

also quick edit! open for water bomb event plotting!

ABOUT 

was born on august 18th 2005 in daegu

his fathers second child from his girlfriend who dumped tae with him

he finally settled down in his 3rd major relationship and second (rich) wife

he was cared for growing up and spent a lot of time with his grandparents on his dads side 

grew up with his step-mom as his mom and her family were nice-ish but it was clear that tae was seen as separate 

but still, he grew up with money so like...that's good right? 

a lot of missed in events in his life but it was made up with toys and money, he was well fed, sure his parents didn't care when he wanted to go off and become a trainee but they never forgot a birthday

he tried to bring it up once and was guilted in silence so he never brought it up again

as soon as he found out about taeha, he started to look for her

it was what pushed him to come to seoul, along with wanting to become a trainee

he's sad boy, he feels lonely at and fills the void with friends or parties or just being around people 

he downplays his parents treatment

actually, would downplay anyone's treatment of him because he's convinced himself he's lucky

is lying to taeha about how much contact he has with their dad and that he's funded by his dad, she thinks its all coming from the grandparents 

does love attention when he gets it

wants to be beloved by everyone and anyone, just to fill the void a little 

maybe, if he becomes super beloved his parents would notice him more

maybe his birth mom would seek him out? 

loves his older sister and loves having an older siblings

kinda buys his friends, he does want them but he doesn't want them to leave so he spends money 

easily taken advantage of and will excuse mistakes

in his last year at school

is taking dance/vocal/rap lessons, likes to run the streets to hang out, is on a dance crew and has gotten into working on music

pours all of himself into that because he wants it back 

when he's not dancing....he...has a random interest in wood-working? well, when your a kid who has money..skys the limit

also as much more normal interest: mysteries, food (baking but doesn't mind cooking), coffee black, enjoys sour candy and foods, he wouldn't call himself a gamer but he does play harvest moon and cooking momma

loves over the top dramas 

biromantic king! 

PLOTS / CONNECTIONS 

 i haven't said which high school...so some high school friends or friend?

you have a super expensive meal out and he totes cover the bill when you can find your wallet

rivals? street cats? both of you are dancers and often compete and try to out best each other like fighting cats 

use him! i mean it! if your muse is hard on money, he's an easy target because he'll give within reason and gift even more 

he has one or two npc friends that def just use him for things and he makes excuses and your a new friend OR old friend and your like wtf? they don't care about you but he just wants to be wanted

a past summer romance...like last summer with a female muse but she broke it off when school started, it wasn't anything serious but tae has been crushed. sure, he's getting over feelings for another and SURE you both agreed it was just some summer time fun to appear at parties together or just have something for the gram but it's kinda weird when ya'll share a friend group but tae pretends like you aren't there. (to mention, nothing really would've happened it was like one month romance of cute dates, maybe some kisses and a lot of posting each other or hanging out together. maybe it was time for you muse to buckle down on school) 

dance/vocal/rap/producer muses if you have plots or crews he could join

he's taking spanish and english lessons (fucking random but he meets people) 

also has picked up the guitar and drums if you wanna do something around that!

uh, he has a small website in which he sells some of his crafts, so maybe for that! it's wood works, paintings, carvings and etc! 

any muses who have part-times jobs and have places that would be hiring! his grandparents are legit concerned about how he views money and has told him to get a job, so he will

With that! I thank everyone for the welcomes! If you see something you like, message me or if you think he could fill your plot! Just like this and I'll come to you!

[pleiades-cabin-talk]

Hello...?

Right ah, hello there!

I've been a little restless as of late and remembered that a good old friend of mine used to use this site? So I figured I'd give this a try.

Okay, I guess introductions are in order?

My name is Rose, I use They/He pronouns. I've gone by all sorts of names by now, but Rose is the one that just kind of...stuck.

Anyway. I'm 24 and I work on and off on the ships of the cruiseline Pleiades. Have for years now. I rotate between them, but my main post tends to be up on the Andromeda, the largest amongst her sisterships.

They all have different routes, though most of them stay out on the sea for multible days at a time between stops and honestly it's the most peace you can find. Out in the open, with nothing but sky and sea in sight. Endless expanses of nothingness with no idea of what lurks below or above at all times. Something about that has always been reassuring to me.

I liked the ocean first, I think. Felt like it was calling to me. When I was younger I'd go on vacation often with my parents, we'd end up near some beach or another most times. I never wanted to leave. Stayed in the arms of the sea as long as I could. The stars and with it space, came later in my teens. Both stuck till now, and here we are. Couldn't have asked for a better place to work than this, to be honest.

Gosh, I am rambling again...ah.

Well, I suppose this blog is meant to serve as a sort of...not diary, but log of some of the happenings on the ships, I suppose?

There's always plenty to do here, plenty happening, incessant as the call, that tug in my chest may be.

Join me out here for a chat?

______

OCC: Hola! This is an rp blog!! Rose is an Avatar of the Vast and heavily marked by the Lonely. Slight Eye touch, but mainly because of them remembering a Timeline that doesn't exist anymore. They are calm most of the time, though can get rather excitable and even flirty at times.

He is afab, curvy and a bit chubby with dirty blonde, wavy hair down to about the middle of their back and has moss green eyes, if that info is needed? 5'8.

Rose's own Timeline kind of...hit the fan a few years back. the new one seems to be the same, but they've yet to find someone who remembers like him. They feel erased, all friends they'd tried to reach for not knowing him. Not to mention that, this time? It seems the Fears are more than fiction...

_

I've never done an rp on tumblr, so please bare with me!!

Contentwarnings for: possible mentions of falling, drowning, helplessness, isolation, legal and non drugs and abuse (verbal and in the past, it's parental)

I'm mainly aiming for sfw, but willing to do nsfw if discussed beforehand.

Flirting is perfectly fine, and if there is anything you're unsure of, just ask!

Okay I think this is it for now? May update if need be.

Update: when my text is blue, it is for rp purposes, my 'canon typical' posts and the like will be in the normal white! This is to keep things more easily separated.

Purple and cursive is for little snippits of Rose's past present and future, meant to just aid in extra info one may want to use, or just to enjoy getting to know a little bit more.

Asks are more than welcome!! I love them, always open for them! Dms are also open for rp purposes ald discussing ideas or just questions!

[mistakes-have-been-made]

OK AFTER ENOUGH THOUGHT I WANT TO PROPERLY ASSIGN ENTITIES TO THE OTHER GAMES

I originally reblogged my first post since it also had elevator hitch involved but I decided it was better to make separate post.

(read below bc this is a long post)

Dead Plate

This one was the easiest I'm going to be honest it's very Flesh coded but also the Desolation. Now I want to go specifically on the part with the Desolation since it's not solely because of the 3rd ending, in fact that was one of the 2nd reasons as why I assigned this fear to the game. The Desolation is the fear of cruelty, pain, and destruction (thank you MAG wiki) which happens a lot to Rody in game (the destruction of his relationship with Manon, the pain Vince inflicted onto both Manon and Rody, plus the cruelty Vince has towards others.)

Cold Front

I actually didn't have much to say on this one on the account of it being pretty difficult to assign any entity other than the Lonely to this game. Obviously the Lonely stands for how the relationship between Augustine and Winnie, because of them being so distant to each other. But the more I thought about it honestly, the Spiral, Web, and Corruption have lil' sprinkles in there. I would go into it more depth but at that point I should make a YouTube video analysis. Also I'm not 100% on the web but it feels like it should be in there because Auggie is like Jon (in season 2) when speculating about people and it's so funny to me. That includes the Corruption but I'm sure on the Spiral because, idk, fits. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Eloquent countenance

Ok now THIS one I'm completely torn upon. I really wanted to say the eye but thats just bc of vibes alone. Actually I think the Web. I could say the Desolation as well but that would match because y'know cult stuff. But the Web just feels, right. Think about it. Angelica is practically fighting over control for her body against a fallen angel. The way Forcas seems to be leading us, despite having good intentions, feels, off. When I first played the game I thought it was going to be a twist that he was luring her into a false sense of security. But he wasn't. He was actually trying to help. And that plus the cultist alone feels like the Web. A never ending fight for control of the strings of a puppet.

I really do like talking about this so if you have any other opinions or ideas, PLEASE reblog or send me an ask :3

I absolutely love SIG games and tma so much and when more games are released or there's more info on some characters I DEFINITELY will be doing the same thing.

[prsk-krow]

Heya! it's 🌻 anon here^^

So uhh- you've probably received that 'Yan!Kanade x reader' request from me, so I just wanted to ask that is it okay if you could change the 'general headcanons' to 'jealousy headcanons'?

That's all I really wanted to say, and I'm very sorry for the sudden change of mind, I hope you aren't too bothered by it waahhh... ToT

And also, I hope you're doing alright Krow! have a good day:DD

{Jealous YANDERE!Kanade headcanons!}

So, as I said when I wrote the Yan!Kanade headcanons, I was gonna make a separate post for this new update, instead of deleting the progress I had made in the last one, so here's an extra one for u, dear 🌻anon!

꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷♡꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦

)─── ･ ｡ﾟ*.☽ .* •ﾟ. ───(

WARNING: YANDERE CONTENT BELOW!!

It should be no surprise to anyone that a jealous yandere is trouble for any that may have their attention, and for as reserved as Kanade may be, this is the case for her as well!

Unlike most yanderes however, the composer's instability is driven by fear, so at the cost of being generally harmless towards her love interest, her state can quickly devolve into self-destructive fast...

So when she gets jealous, it's a feeling that makes her question herself. It's not about you, or them, it's about what she's feeling, and why she feels this way!

'T-they're with me, aren't they? That's right... They are... A-always have been... So, w-why does my heart sink so heavily? Why, when I know t-that they wouldn't abandon me...? Am... Am I doing something w-wrong?"

As such, the target of her fears becomes herself, as she frantically tries to regain the love that she believes may be in danger! Abundant treats, suffocating attention and quality time, affectionate gestures that may delve into desperate territory...

It's incredibly clear that she's trying her best to keep your eyes on her, which is easy enough, but that doesn't alleviate her fears! What if you're still thinking about someone else?? What if this isn't enough??

Thanks to this, if one takes things calmly and thoughtfully, and says the right words in a heartfelt manner, it's manageable to alleviate her fears without many consequences! Simply giving her some confidence can go a long way in your own safety!

However, once she's truly jealous, it becomes dangerous to inspire too much confidence in her. Because if she's still just as jealous after gaining the courage to stand up for herself... Well... It starts to get risky.

That's when a sinister realization might hit her. What if it's not her that's making the mistake, but the others around you? What if you aren't trying to get away from her, but being dragged away by others? And that's when it all changes.

She suddenly starts to go on the attack online, searching and collecting info about your friends, co-workers, anyone that was spending way too much with you! And then she begins sending messages.

"I see that my love has been hanging out quite a substantial amount, huh? Have they told you about me? I'm sure you can guess why I'm messaging you, and I don't plan on dragging this out: Either you let them have more time with their girlfriend, or... Well, I'll let these screenshots speak for themselves."

With just the right pieces of information, and the correct intimidation through messages, she can convince anyone to stop getting so close with you, and maybe even cut ties completely!

And suddenly, your friends and everyone around you begins to leave you behind! She isn't taking any chances, so she makes sure to take care of anyone she deems a threat, even before they are one!

But what if they refuse, or even try to snitch her out? Well suddenly, you find out that they're a terrible person, and that they should never be trusted! No matter how real their tears may look...

After all, it was never their battle to win. Kanade's just so soft, so fragile, needing affection and being hopelessly lost without you giving her strength... How could she ever blackmail your closest pals?

So don't let her jealousy take over her. You have time to help it die down with proper schedule management, so don't get careless with your freedom! Or soon the people around you will have theirs stolen...

[restinsodaroni]

I'll try posting the FAQ this way lol, hopefully this works better! So read below to see the asks I will and won't accept or answers to common questions I get! I'll be linking this in my pinned post!

Alright! Please read this before sending in an ask!

REMEMBER AN ACTUAL PERSON (Me) RUNS THIS ACCOUNT NOT SUN OR MOON! KEEP THAT IN MIND BEFORE SENDING ANYTHING!! THANK YOU!!

🚫Evidently I am going to have to be stricter now since I have been creeped out numerous times on here. So yeah I will be blocking folks who keep disregarding my boundaries, constantly ignoring my FAQ, or just being impolite! Sorry! 🚫

Here's a post where I talk about said boundaries.

Hey so please don't:

• Send me any questions that ask about what would Sun and Moon do if you were harming yourself no matter the severity or the circumstances. It makes me uncomfortable and I shouldn't have to explain why.

• Spam the same ask especially everyday! That is not gonna get me to answer you. Spamming = Block I am not going to be lenient about this anymore!

• Send me an ask to change Y/N's body type.

• Expect me to answer your ask right away. If I could answer them quickly I would but that's unrealistic for me

• Nitpick my art, it's very demotivating especially if it isn't a helpful critique. Like yeah you can point out bad anatomy or perspective, but if you get on me for making Sun's eyes glow in the dark, then that's just a nitpick.

• Tell me you don't like my art style, but you like my comics. It's not the compliment you think it is!

• Be rude to me in your ask, that's just gonna get you blocked. I ain't putting up with it anymore.

• Send me roleplaying asks, this counts if you send me an ask roleplaying as an OC or character. I always get confused because I get sent info that I have no idea what they are saying because I know nothing about the Oc or character. I just don't know how to respond to it.

Alright here's some answers to frequently asked questions, or some do's and don't's to send me:

How do you pronounce your Username?

It's rest in sodaroni ! It's a play on the phrase rest in pepperoni. I made a joke about it a while ago with my sibling and decided to make it my username lol. Yes I know separating the words would have been ideal, but I'm not changing it now!

Can I draw you fanart centered around your AU?

Sure you can! As long as it’s sfw then its fine!

Are you ok with nsfw being sent to you?

I am not! I’d like to keep this blog sfw please! 

How come you haven’t answered my ask?

Well that’s because I get sent A LOT of asks. And a majority of them need comic responses which takes time to do. Not to mention my schedule is pretty hectic, even when I have free time I don't know if I'll have time to myself lol.

And I have other projects, art, and my Daycare Attendant fics I want to work on too sometimes. So just know if you send in an ask it may take me a while to answer it!

Also I may not have a good idea how to answer your ask at the time. Or I'm just overwhelmed at the moment lol 😅 And please don't spam the same ask in my inbox. Spamming = Block

Where can I read your fanfics?

You can read them right here!

‼️ Disclaimer! Please read the tags and summary for either fics! I don't want you to be blindsided when you find out the fic isn't 100% fluff or wholesome! Just gonna give you a heads up lol ‼️

When will the next chapter of your fic(s) be out?

I promise you I'm working on it! It just takes me longer because of the drawings since I am putting more effort into them now! Thank you for your patience!

Can I use one of your drawings as an icon, wallpaper, etc?

Yeah that’s fine!

Why did you draw Sun, Moon, or Eclipse like *Insert questions here*?

Why does anyone draw the way they do? Because I wanted to lol, and I like how it looks. That's basically it haha. Everyone is drawing the Daycare Attendant how they want, I don't think there has to be some deep reason for it.

Will you ever turn on anon asks again?

No I don't think so, Sorry!

Do you roleplay?

Nope!

Can you draw me/myoc/my sun and moon/a meme?

Sure! But please send a picture of what you want me to draw! I got a handful of asks that requested this but sent me no reference photos so I don’t know what to draw lol.

Also don't send me drawing prompts of your characters/You getting too intimate with Sun and Moon or even Y/n. (Yes, I have to add Y/n on here now...)

If you want a hug cool, anything more than that I will probably not draw since some people can't behave lol.

If you send a question about wanting to be mean or even hurt Sun or Moon just don't get upset by the response you are given lol. It's just a comic, it's not real and Sun and Moon are not really mad.

Where do you get your gifs/screenshots of the Daycare Attendant?

I watch a lot of Fnaf security breach sfm videos on YouTube so sometimes I come across a funny video clip and screenshot or make a gif of it. If you'd like to know which video I got the image from I can try to see if I can find it!

Who is your favorite? Sun, Moon, or Eclipse?

I’ll be honest, I can’t pick between the three lol. I like them all!

One of your drawings came out weird or bad.

Please elaborate. You aren't being very helpful if you just tell me my drawing is bad, then leave without an explanation or a way I can improve. People on here do this to me a lot and I am quite tired of it.

I don't like your art style/ I don't like how you draw Sun, Moon, or Eclipse/ You don't draw as good as the other artists.

It's fine if you don't like my art style, but please just keep it to yourself, your blog, your friends, your grandmother, or whatever. Like idk why people on here felt the need to tell this to me, but yeah don't do that. And no, telling me you don't like my art style but like my comics isn't the compliment you think it is. I wouldn't have cared so much until I got a few people telling me this pretty much every time I posted. I ignored it as long as I could lol 🤷🏻‍♀️

I don't like how you interpret/write Sun, Moon, Eclipse.

Okay 👍🏻

This pertains to a few asks so I'll address it here:

I know when someone is fetish farming, I'm not naive lol. Like it seems really suspicious when I have the same person/anon desperately trying to get me to draw a specific ask 👀 soooo cut that shit out lol. It's very creepy and goes against my consent. Also chill with the dark humor.

*Ok so I’m going to be talking about a heavy topic here so read no further if you experience thoughts of self-harm or depressive thoughts!*

I don’t believe I would get an ask like this again but this is just in case! ( Edit: nevermind I did get more asks pertaining to self-harm smh ) I don’t mind drawing you something if you had a bad day, but I will not draw something for someone who requesting me to comfort them with a drawing of Sun or Moon because they self-harmed. I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but I just can’t. I go over my reasoning in this post. Please don't send me any self-harm related questions!

*End of the serious topic!*

And that should be it! I may update this down the line! Thank you for taking the time to read this! (I know it's a lot of do's and don't's 😅 sorry about that!)

[randomfoggytiger]

X-Files Typing: Dissecting 'One Son' (Part I)

In answer to one of my Typing Topics (that I put out to see if readers were interested), One Son's "You're making this personal" was one of the first requested. So, I doubled down and rewatched the episode (frame by frame) to get premium quality for this analysis and definitive answers for the angst floating around this touchy conversation. It was an enlightening experience; and has since become a favorite episode of mine (if I ignore the canon bugs.)

I will list the explanations, as close to frame-by-frame as I could fit in this post, and then a summary of Mulder's Hows and Whys by Type at the bottom.

Now, onto the episode analysis--

ONE SON

One Son begins with Mulder and Scully being separated from Cassandra and spirited away to Fort Marlene as part of an interception mission.

Fort Marlene

In the showers, Mulder takes a prolonged "is this allowed?" look while Scully errs on the side of deniability with a "blink and you'll miss it" peek.

After they've gowned up, Scully deduces their location based on travel time and quarantine capabilities (and impresses Mulder); but all her suspicions are dialed up to 10 when Diana Fowley walks through the door.

Although Diana "begs for forgiveness and understanding", Scully grills her for reasons why they were quarantined and huffs at Fowley's explanations. When Diana claims Cassandra's condition was immediately infectious and severe, she rebuts: “What?”; but politely nods along as the woman continues.

Mulder is immediately satisfied when Diana's basic answers (stating that Jeffrey Spender had called the information in);

but Scully gears up for a full-frontal assault.

She refutes Diana’s claims, stating Cassandra was already hospitalized for days and that they’d met with her, they hadn't been infected, and that Fowley had scooped her up on a whim. “It’s unjustified and highly suspicious as to motive.” 

Mulder starts getting tense and tries to deescalate with a "Scully."

Diana plays into the tension by asking Scully what she is implying, treating her like an idiot for positing basic medical inquiry. Scully insists no one else in infected, basing her assumptions on the fact that Diana “walking in here dressed to the nines to offer apologies masquerading as explanations.” 

While Mulder appears to be tuned out-- whispering to the med team,

and wincing at their bloodwork tests--

he immediately “Scully--”s at her blatant insinuation of Diana's motives, making a mild “we’re on the same team here” face.

(This is a prime example of Mulder's Se Trickster showing-- he can't accurately read the motives of others and assumes that Diana would never do something like that. See Missteps below for more info.)

Scully gently reiterates: “Mulder, I want to see Cassandra.”

When Fowley refuses to permit Scully, and Scully keep pushing with "I'm a medical doctor", Diana sharply spits out: “Who is suspended indefinitely from her position at the FBI.” 

Scully gets angry, rips off the arm cuff, and storms out.

Mulder doesn’t comment,

but also looks away from Diana’s “I tried, it’s your turn” eyebrow. His face is resolved to some course of action.  

In the lockers, Mulder tries to diffuse Scully’s tension with a “gray is the new black” joke, 

and even agrees with her “Mulder, this stinks” opener.  

But his candor drops when she calls Diana “that woman”, crossing his arms and tightening up his face. 

Scully sees him tense and drops her rant. “Well, I think you know what I think that woman is.” 

Mulder tries to recover the mood again with a second joke-- “No, you hide your feelings really well”--

but it falls flat because there are too many brewing emotions between the two of them.

Nonetheless, they are still talking amicably to each other, even when Scully tries to poke holes in Diana’s story and Mulder backs it up with confirmation from Skinner (who had called about Jeffrey Spender.)

Her gut is telling her she’s right, but she has no proof; and when she tries to insist that Cassandra was miraculously healthy, Mulder asks: “Well then why did she come to my apartment demanding to be killed?”

He is taken aback by Scully’s impassioned speech:

“Because of everything that had been done to her. Because of the tests, because of the men the medical experiments, and the implant in her neck….”

It dawns on him that this may be how Scully has been suffering; it disturbs him that she might have considered the steps that Cassandra did.

From this point on, Mulder is convinced that Scully is taking this case too personally, projecting her own trauma of the men who abducted her onto Cassandra and vilifying Diana by extension. He understands being twisted by the men in shadows because of the endless stories they've fed him about Samantha; but Scully has gone through so many variations of her own story that it's not clean cut for him anymore.

His tone moderates, but his heels dig in further. He believes his assessment is further bolstered by Scully stating “The same thing that was done to me. She just wants it to stop.” 

Mulder realizes Cassandra is “the one” for the Project, and that is why she wanted to be killed. Scully willingly accepts this explanation; but it only digs up further questions.  

After Mulder is released and gains information from Marita, he answers Scully's call to meet up at TLG's for something important.  

TLG Headquarters 

When Mulder arrives, Scully quickly says: “I’ll ask you to hear me out before you launch any objection.” He nods, perfectly fine with that stipulation. But when he realizes it's about Scully's suspicions of Diana, he gives a huffy "of course" sigh.

Interesting to note: my memories of this conversation were tainted by my hatred of Diana and my disbelief at Mulder's refusal to believe; but rewatching it was... enlightening, to say the least.

While Mulder at first tries to dismiss the conversations (“I don’t have time for this"), he then switches to a plea with Scully (“I… know her, Scully." *softer* "You don’t") before resigning himself to what the boys have dug up for him.

At first, he deflects Diana's records by fake gasping-- snippily remarking on their lack of concrete evidence, then convulsively nodding so that they hurry up and get to the point--

but he becomes alert and intrigued when Scully brings up Diana's weekly trips to Tunisia (since it was a constant Consortium hot spot.)

He asks intently for more evidence (“For the purpose of what?”) and expects a GOOD reason.

(Ti Hero needing SOLID, irrefutable, and TONS of evidence to change its mind, or not at all.)

When TLG present him with European MUFON visits, all his suspicions vanish again, and his slightly condescending attitude returns, placing all of their conjectures into the realm of conspiracy theories.

This whole conversation, Mulder has been harshly dismissive of any point that TLG bring up, since they're the boys who are poking into his personal decisions; but now Scully takes over, and his demeanor shifts down a few notches. While annoyed, ("Scully, you’re reaching")

Mulder respectfully and empathetically listens to her speech recapping her experiences with her MUFON groupies. His worry for her still peaks through his defensiveness (scrunched in brows, screwed up mouth, etc.) But what's interesting is: his anger is not directed AT Scully, but FOR Scully-- that she had to live through these horrors, that the men who ruined his childhood have mangled her happiness; and further, that they're weaponizing her pain to turn them both against Diana. He senses manipulation; but misdiagnoses its source.

Mulder remains convinced Scully has become too blinded by her personal experiences; and he overcorrects in an attempt counteract her outright dislike and distrust of Diana.

Scully becomes insulted when Mulder sums her claims up by saying she's "suggesting" that Diana is monitoring abductees-- flicking her tongue out (which is her verbal tick for "biting her tongue.")

Scully tries to compose herself before launching into the firsthand experiences of being an abductee; and repeats Mulder's words back to show that she'd respected his opinions enough to recall them. Mulder returns that respect by easing up even more on the pressure, seeing her emotions are uncontrollably near the surface. His concern over her personalization only increases as she places herself in Cassandra's shoes, proving to himself that her rationality cannot be relied on in this scenario.

Mulder may be giving her full lead, but he is not giving up ground. As she continues to argue her points, he follows her logic, half-hoping she will change his mind just like she and TLG hope she can though the thought of Diana's betrayal cuts him to the quick (more furrowed brows, tightening of the jaw, etc.)

Scully desperately needs his belief; but loses him when she inadvertently touches on his greatest fear:  

“Mulder, ask yourself why there is no information whatsoever on Special Agent Diana Fowley; why she would suddenly happen into your life when you are closer than ever to the Truth.”

His open-minded willingness to listen is quickly shut down, and he swivels away from the conversation with a final toss of his head.

Mulder's raw fear-- that he won't be accepted (Fe Inferior) is blinding him to Diana's actions (Se Trickster), afraid to look deeper into her motives; and satisfied that he hasn't been given enough data to change his Ti Hero's mind.

At Scully's “I mean, you ask me to trust no one and yet you trust her on simple faith" he becomes offended and angry.

“Because you’ve given me no reason here to do otherwise.”

Scully is devastated-- “Well then I can’t help you anymore"-- and immediately starts to leave.  (her immediate "cut and run" Ni Demon Function rearing its head.)

Mulder swings around, tracking her with his whole body, and shows the first real sign of his insecurity and teeming emotions. And this, while vulnerable and starting to get scared, is when he says the line:

“Scully, you’re making this personal.”

His brown is furrowed in worry, his mouth is loose, his jaw is unclenched, and his posture is tight as he pivots in Scully's direction. If he had been dismissive, or rude, or belittling, Scully would not only have never called him (which she does later in this episode) again, but she would have walked out forever.

He moves in closer as Scully responds: “Because this is personal, Mulder. Because without the FBI, personal interest is all that I have. And if you take that away, then there is no reason for me to continue.”

Unlike the Fight the Future confrontation, she is unshaken, knowing her worth and value. She is letting Mulder make his permanent choice, and is prepared to respect whatever he decides, even if he believes Diana is a better fit.

Scully's Si Hero has led her all these years on Mulder's quest: placing her in the Starbuck role naturally to a cause greater than herself, feeding him Te Parent information to give his mind constant hoards of verifiable data. She has set all else aside, believing this quest to be more important that her own Fi Child comfort, and trying to save the future and bravely face the unknown with her Ne Inferior. But as much as this life with Mulder has fulfilled her completely, Scully needs someone to LISTEN to her: if she is not listened to, then she is not valued. And if she is not valued, she will use her Ni Demon to cut ties and permanently walk away. As much as she sacrifices willingly and without reciprocation needed, she expects to depend just as much on that other person; otherwise, there can be no trust.

The scene ends on Mulder's resolved face, setting up his next step (to prove if his own biases are true or false by interrogating Diana.)

He chooses to see if Scully’s right or wrong (his Te Nemesis using its worries for good, see Missteps below.) 

Now, onto the Type information--

Mulder's Missteps

For a full breakdown of Mulder's Type to better explain this post, see my Mulder, The Spooky INTP post (linked here.)

Mulder's dominant Function, Ti Hero, is all about the Truth: what can be proven, not what others SAY is true. It's pure, unadulterated logic; its flaw, however, is becoming immovably fixed in its convictions (having weighed the pros and cons meticulously to reach whatever conclusion they believe in.) It requires mountains of evidence, and continents more of firsthand accounts as well as repeatable research to budge them into a new direction. Much patience and verification is needed. (We can all see where this is trending.)

In this case: Mulder REFUSES to budge from considering Diana a trustworthy friend or person at all. Although he is at least willing to listen to Scully's concerns (because his Ti Hero knows that his Te Nemesis-- fear of faulty information-- is always demanding he check his biases), there is not enough evidence to point to as irrefutable evidence. And, although Ti Hero is willing to weigh all information in the balance, it will not implement it as Truth unless it is given enough time to prove itself beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Mulder's vanity and insecurity Function, Fe Inferior, is always seeking acceptance from others. It makes him one of the easiest to guilt and exploit of all the Types, because Fe believes that it can earn trust and love from others by bending over backwards. They will do ANYTHING for those they trust, including letting themselves be continually used as a rug mat for others' treacherous feet. (It is not until INTPs mature that they realize they must find self-acceptance instead of over dependence on others; and because of their high Si in their stack, this is fairly easy for them to achieve through self-reflection on what they've achieved and overcome.)

In this case: Mulder's low self-esteem coupled with his emotional abandonment as a child and his isolation at the FBI makes him lean heavily on the few people he trusts. This is easily used against him by bad faith actors wanting to bring about their own end goals. Diana twisted it by calling upon their long time friendship(?), leaving enough doubt in his mind of her innocence. The horror that she would have never accepted him or his mission, even as a loyal friend, was such a blow that it would take that mountain of evidence for Ti Hero to accept it as fact.

Mulder's worry, Te Nemesis, keeps him continually fact checking all information that he believes in, reinforcing his Ti Hero with constantly updated data. He is afraid that others are feeding him wrong or biased sources, and thus continually peer reviews the thoughts of those around them to see if they pass muster.

In this case: It saves Mulder's bacon. When Scully lays all her cards on the table-- about Diana, and MUFON, and her personal interest-- Mulder decides to heed his Te Nemesis's warning, and checks on Diana, his source, to see if she is still reputable. Which leads him right to the CSM (who further muddles his mind and sends him into apathetic Fi Demon.)

Mulder's blind spot, Se Trickster, not only blinds him to his own weird quirks and inadequate reactions or behaviors; but it also prevents him from accurately reading the actions of those around him (being led around by Pheobe Green, having his work stolen by Jerry Lamana, misinformed by CSM and informants, etc.)

In this case: every action Diana made was never suspicious to Mulder, because he interpreted all of them in good faith. His trust in her is already established, and it blinded him to her end goal and obvious double motives.

Mulder's most powerful and corruption Function, Fi Demon, leads him straight into apathetic debauchery. If they are exploited and beaten down and unappreciated, INTPs can only take so much before they toss the whole world aside and collapse into self-indulgent destruction. The only way to snap them out of this mode is to awaken their Fe Inferior by slightly manipulating them ("you're hurting my feelings", "you're not meeting my needs", etc.)

In this case: Mulder finds out that not only has Diana Fowley been using him-- or misdirecting him-- for her own purposes; but that he'd been used and placated for years by the very people he was trying to expose and depose. As CSM weaves his tragic, hopeless tale of self-pity, Mulder sinks further and further into apathy, finally punishing himself by resigning himself to being with Diana, fellow nihilist to the cause in an attempt to right the wrongs he'd "done" to Scully. Thankfully, Scully snaps him out of his apathy and gets him to drive with her to Potomac Yard.

End of Part 1-- Part 2 coming soon-ish.

Enjoy!

Disclaimers: This is a self-assessed analysis. This information is not based on the abominable MBTI system (which has been butchered from its original Jungian typology since ~WWII); instead, it’s a combination between the works of Jung’s type psychology, Dr. Linda Berens’ Communication styles, Dr. Dario Nardi’s EEG brain scan compiled research, and others’ data and practices as compiled and simplified by CSJoseph. This system is based only on the Nature side of Nature/Nurture; and each “type” is not a “box” to fit everyone into– simply a tool to help understand the basics of the human mind that science has only begun to fathom in its limited scope.