#this is from 2018! it was a simpler time

[schaafdraws]

spoopy! 👻

[fadedgilt]

Calling off work cuz I’m sick with nostalgia

[zahri-melitor]

Why did Red Robin fail as an alias that Tim was transitioned into? Did it ‘fail’?

I don't have any special insight on this one, but I can give you a bunch of reasons that made it unpopular.

The main one however? It's heavily associated with n52 Tim, and people don't like n52 Tim.

(Heads up going in - I will be using cover dates for all of this, because working with cover dates over publication dates is simpler for me)

Tim used 'Red Robin' as a name between August 2009 and July 2018. This splits up as follows with the major titles he was appearing in:-

2 years, 3 months (August 2009 - October 2011) in Batman Reborn pre-Flashpoint as Red Robin (Red Robin vol 1):

5 years, 1 month (November 2011 - November 2016) in n52 as Red Robin (Teen Titans vol 4 & 5, Batman Eternal, Batman & Robin Eternal):

2 years (August 2016 - July 2018) in Rebirth as Red Robin (Detective Comics):

I wanted to put the photos up to help clarify the differences between each of these versions.

Yes, there's overlap between the last two, because Teen Titans vol 5 finished several months after the start of Tynion's Detective Comics run. The two characters are essentially separate - switching over to Rebirth was a messy process that took several months depending on the title

The majority of appearances of 'Red Robin' as a character are of n52 'Tim Drake', who doesn't have the same backstory, parents or history as Robin as the characters either side of him. He's the one that most long term fans of the character would rather not talk about or think about.

Tynion's Detective Comics run between 2016 to 2018 was about taking the characters therein back to their pre-Flashpoint characterisation, as much as possible. And you can tell from the costume, Tim was 'Red Robin' in name only. He was wearing a Robin costume that simply happened to have an extra R on the crest. He looked like a Robin, acted like a Robin, was doing Robinlike work for Batman, and when Young Justice 2019 started he got a costume update that dropped the extra R from the top and he's been using Robin again ever since (less the attempt at using 'Drake' as a code name in 2020).

So why did it fail? Here's a bunch of reasons:

People don't like the cowl design on Tim: even Marcus To, the artist best associated with Tim as Red Robin before Flashpoint, perpetually draws Tim with the cowl down and often with part of the costume off for commissions and artwork.

People don't like the new 52 version of Tim.

Red Robin was a costume that Tim put on back in 2009 as a punishment to himself while was was doing 'unRobinlike' things looking for Bruce, and once that circumstance was over, there wasn't that much time during Reborn to really cement it as Tim's adult persona due to the universe getting cut off and rebooted.

New 52 Tim was largely not associated with the rest of the Bats for various editorial reasons, making him an outsider that's unusual compared to the rest of his characterisation since 1989.

To show the difference for Tynion's 'Tec run and convince all the fans that new 52 Tim was gone, they decided to make a very clear visual distinction between the characters. That visual distinction essentially was making Tim into a Robin again.

If you're looking at character storyline for Tim Drake, son of Jack and Janet, the story arc effectively goes: Batman Reborn, Convergence, Detective Comics, Young Justice 2019. Which is a story of Tim transferring himself back OUT of the Red Robin costume as he healed and no longer needed it as a temporary measure, and regaining his memories and history.

I mean, why would DC want to use Red Robin for Tim? It's got the difficulty that Jason has taken over effective ownership of the colour red for identification in the family purposes. It's associated with times of grief in Tim's life (because Tim explicitly wears red for loss: for Kon and for Bruce) and with storylines they've excised from his history. It's explicitly a form of self-flagellation.

It could have been Tim's Nightwing, but it's effectively ended up Tim's Grayson period. Something that happened and is referenced, but there are good reasons not to return to.

[ebonytails]

maybe im just dumb but what is the difference between kris p and kris t?

TL;DR - They are Kris Dreemurr fictives and we needed a way to differentiate them

Oh you're not dumb, don't worry! It really is a little confusing because we haven't talked about who they or we are in a very long time. I'm going to talk a lot here so you have all the context you might need! If it''s too long,, the TL;DR above is the gist of it.

For context, we are a system! You can read about it a little in our FAQ

Kris T and Kris P are TWO Kris introjects/fictives of Kris Dreemurr from Deltarune in our system.

Originally we just had Kris T who split in Dec 2018, and then when Chapter 2 came out, Kris P came into our system after that. Of course at first, Kris T. was just "Kris", but since we had a double now, we had to figure out how to differentiate between the two. We knew another Kris fictive from a different system at this time who was nicknamed P. Kris by Susie in our system, and susie wanted to emphasize who she was talking about.

SO. As a small nod to that, everyone decided to nickname Kris P as Kris P, as an inverse of P. Kris.

A little convoluted, I know!

Besides being Kris introjects/fictives though, they also look different! I made some new drawings to try and showcase their differences if that helps :3?

Their dark world forms also look different. Kris T's is simpler, with a shiny soft cape, while Kris P's is more complicated with a hooded cape, which is also described as "very comfortable"

Here's a whole Toyhouse of images of how Kris T. looks like right now! There's also his reference ! vvv

Sorry if you weren't interested in our "life story"! They're not just random characterizations (they are alters), so I wasn't sure how to answer w/o giving you some sort of explanation.

They have their own sideblogs, so if you have specific questions directed towards them, you can always ask here because we'll see it better, or you can send them an ask in their own blogs. Kris T's is @kristalpepsi, and Kris P's is @itswhattheycallyou

[eregyrn-falls]

Organizing a Stan Twins-centric Multi-Artist Lyric Comic!

There's a song I've always wanted to see as an AMV or a lyric comic for the Stan Twins, and years pass, and I've never been able to tackle a project that big. So, I wanted to try to organize it as a multi-artist lyric comic!

The song is "Trouble", by Avicii. (See below.)

What is a multi-artist lyric comic? One where people sign up, and each artist is assigned a line from the song. Artists will then do 1 page for their line, and at the end, it's all put together. Here is an example from GF fandom in 2018. (Here is a video version that someone put together with the music.)

This song has 28 lines of lyrics, but it also has some instrumental breaks, and I've thought of a way to fill those that would allow more people to participate (particularly if someone was unsure if they could take on a full page).

Here's the song:

There's a lot of details to go into, so to keep this post from taking up too much dash real estate, I'm going to put more detail below a read-more.

Here is a link to a Google form you can fill out to indicate interest. (But we do urge you to read over the details below!)

The goal would be to complete this in time to make it public on August 31st or Sept. 1st, 2023 -- in line with the actual last days in-story of the show. Therefore, the due date for final art will likely be around August 15th or 20th.

I hope folks will find this intriguing! I think it could be a lot of fun!

@mercury-falls and I are the point-people for this, at the moment!

All right -- the way I've always seen it, the first verse of the song is very Stan-related, and the second verse is very Ford related.

Here is a Google Doc with the lyrics.

My idea for the instrumental breaks was to have people contribute smaller pieces of art that look a bit like Polaroid snapshots. If we can get the lyric comic combined with the music, think of the collection of Polaroids accumulating the way they do at the end of the show's opening credits.

There are two main ways artists can contribute to the project:

For lyrics, full landscape illustrations (which include color, lettering, and a background)

For instrumental breaks, polaroid-style illustrations (smaller, simpler pieces in square format). We will use these in a video edit of the comic and have them accumulate like the show’s intro during the breaks. (We will also figure out a good way to display them in the lyric-comic post itself.)

Your art should be canon-compliant, and can depict any time period of the Stans’ lives (past, present, and near-future)! Do with your art as you best see fit with your lyrics, but keep the focus on the Stans and their relationships with each other and other GF characters. Both original content and screenshot adaptations are welcome!

We also welcome collaborations between artists on full pages! We encourage every artist in the project to help and support each other if they are comfortable. On the interest form, you can tell us if you are interested in volunteering to help others with inking, coloring, or creating backgrounds! Or, you can tell us if you think you will need help.

On the form, you can indicate your preference towards the Stan or Ford verses. But once we have the team of artists doing lyrics chosen, we will randomize the list and then contact people in order, to ask about preferences for lyrics. If you aren't chosen for one of the full pages, we would still like to have you involved for the Polaroids! (And you can indicate willingness to be called on to do a page if others drop out.)

We will have check-in dates through the summer, with goals for people to report on the subject of their piece; to have a sketch or layout ready to show; and to show progress closer to the end.

We will be setting up a Discord server to help share information, and to allow people to post WIPs or just generally discuss things, and keep motivation going. If you really don't use Discord, though, and don't want to sign up for it, that's okay. We will put whatever instructions and details we have in a Google Doc, and will share that link for reference. And we can always communicate via email.

I (Eregyrn speaking!) have been involved in a LOT of fan projects over the years. One of the key things to ask of people who sign up for a project is: communication. That is, if you're having difficulties, just let us know! If you need to drop out, just let us know! Don't feel guilty that you signed up and then had to drop out. The thing that is hardest on organizers of projects like this is when people sign up, but disappear and don't answer DMs or emails. Believe me, I've been in that position where you feel guilty and don't want to admit that you have to drop out -- but it's always much easier on the organizers if you just let them know, instead of keeping them guessing! This is just something to keep in mind when you're signing up -- life happens! It's okay! But please try to let us know if something comes up and you have to bow out.

Here is the link to the Google Form, that you can fill out to indicate interest.

[buckleylove]

9-1-1 Character Birthdays

Okay, so I’ve been going through all of 9-1-1 to create a timeline of when episodes were set etc - I have no intentions to post that tbh, it’s purely for myself like my brain fully latched onto this idea and wouldn’t let me rest until I figured it out.

However, this does mean I’ve found a fair bit of information on birthdates/years of main/side characters so I thought I’d post that here as a kinda comprehensive list with all the evidence I’ve found that supports (or even directly contradicts) these dates for anyone that's interested. This doesn’t include all of the main/side characters, because with some of them there is literally nothing to go from and I wanted to try to stick to the facts we’ve been given instead of just guessing random years from nowhere.

Before I get into it, I just want to emphasise that whilst there are a few moments where the date of certain episodes is clear, a lot of what I’ve had to go off of is when characters reference past events by how many weeks/months/years it’s been. And when a character says “x months since..”, they may be rounding up, rounding down, or they may just have an awful concept of time. So, just take it all with a pinch of salt because even though I’ve narrowed it down as best as I can, I may still be a few months out. 

So, here’s what I found in a table format, and then below is all of my explanations/workings for each of them!

Athena - March 22nd 1967/68

Okay, so Athena’s birthdate is one of the simpler ones, because Athena says she was born on March 22nd in 6x08.

“Can you read his handwriting? Because my birthday is 3/22-“ [6x08 at 20:45]

Now, Athena didn’t say the year she was born in, but in 1x09 she says that she is 50. 

“I’m figuring out how to be single at 50.” [1x09 at 37:15]

1x09 is set in March 2018. The way I worked this out involves a lot of working backwards, but I’m going to list it below for anyone who’s interested.

Firstly, we know 1x09 isn’t set an earlier than March 2018 because 1x06 is the Valentines episode (so February 14th 2018), and 1x07 shows dispatch call logs from February 28th 2018. Now that we know it’s set in at least March 2018, we need to check if there’s been any time jumps that would result in 1x09 being set later in 2018.

So, here’s how I confirmed that there has been minimal time jumps between 1x07 and 1x10:

In 6x15 at 09:45, we see Shannon’s grave and find out that she died on May 6th 2018. 

Shannon died in 2x17, so this episode must’ve been set on May 6th 2018.

In 2x18, after Shannon’s funeral (so not long after 2x17), Eddie says his probationary year is nearly over and at the end of the episode, his probationary period ends. So, 2x18 is still set in May, with the episode likely ending around June 2019. 

Therefore, 2x01 (when Eddie starts his probationary period) would likely be set in June 2018.

In 2x01, Bobby and Athena have been together for “almost 4 months”. [2x01 at 26:31]

This means that 1x10 is set 3/nearly 4 months before 2x01, which would mean 1x10 is set in late February/early March.

We know that it can’t be set in late February because of 1x07 being set on the last day of February, so 1x08-1x10 must all set in March 2018.

Personally, I think it is more likely that 1x09 is set in early march. This would mean that because Athena’s birthday is on March 22nd, she’d be turning 51 that year, which would make her birthdate March 22nd 1967.

However, there’s no official confirmation of this, and it’s still possible that 1x09 is set later on in March, which would mean she turned 50 in 2018, so her birthdate would be March 22nd 1968.

So, Athena’s birthdate is March 22nd 1967/68 (with a higher likelihood of it being 1967 in my opinion).

Bobby Nash - between late March 1965 and early March 1966

Okay, so Bobby is one of the characters in 9-1-1 that has had his age mentioned/shown more than once but both times contradict each other.

In 1x01, Bobby outright says he’s 50.

“I’m 50 years old, I’m taking the elevator”. [1x01 at 11:21]

1x01 is set in January 2018, so if Bobby is already 50 at this point, he either:

Already had his birthday that year, so turned 50 in January 2018 (born January 1968), or;

He’s turning 51 that year, so was born February-December 1967.

However, this is all made redundant because his dating profile in 1x10 says he’s 52 [1x10 at 08:19]. This might’ve been an honest mistake when they made his dating profile because it’s on screen for like two seconds and they may not have thought too deeply about it, but I’m more inclined to believe this as canon than his comment in 1x01. This is mainly because 1x01 is obviously a pilot episode, and a lot of things in shows get changed after a pilot. Normally, I would believe what a character says over something like a dating profile that’s shown for 2 seconds so may not have been fully thought through/fact checked, but in this case I’m gonna believe the dating profile. 

We already know 1x10 is set around March 2018 (from what I wrote about Athena’s birthdate, I’m not going to torture everyone by writing it all out again). Therefore, Bobby either:

Turned 52 in January-early March 2018, meaning his birthdate would be January-early March 1966, or;

Is turning 53 in late March-December 2018, making his birthdate late March-December 1965.

Therefore, Bobby’s birthdate is between late March 1965 - early March 1966.

Chimney - October 20th 1977 but also April??

Chimney is another character that has two mentions of his birthday that contradict each other.

Firstly, we see his ID in 2x10 [at 42:47], which says his birthdate is October 20th 1977.

However, we actually see Chimney celebrate his birthday in 3x11. There’s no mention of how old he turned in this episode, but we can deduce that this episode is set around April 2020. We know 3x11 is set around April 2020 because 3x10 was the Christmas 2019 episode and in this episode, Karen makes an appointment on January 3rd for her and Hen to start the fostering process. In 3x11, they foster Nia “after 3 months of paperwork”. So, this brings us to April 2020 for 3x11.

Therefore, Chimney’s birthday would be in April. 

(Not gonna lie, this is hilarious to me because they’ve given us two months that are 6 months apart which is literally the furthest apart you can be in a year lmao)

If I was to guess, I’d probably say he was born in April 1977, which is a mix of the two dates they gave us. It’s hard to deny that he was born in April when we literally witnessed him having his birthday in an episode (something we haven’t seen with any other main character). Also, the ID is similar to Bobby’s dating profile in that it could just be something that wasn’t 100% thought through or fact checked. 

Hen Wilson - September 1979 to September 1980

Compared to other main characters, there’s very little to go off of with Hen’s birthdate. The only thing I could find was from 4x03, which is set towards the end of 2020.

In 4x03 [at 34:50], Hen says “I’m a Black lesbian that joined the fire department at 30, that started med school at 40”. If Hen is 40 at this point, she either:

Turned 40 pre-September 2020, so was born pre-September 1980, or;

Is turning 41 post-September 2020, so was born post-September 1979.

So, Hen was born between September 1979 to September 1980.

Buck - March 1991 to October 1991

With Buck, I came across three times where they’ve mentioned his age, so I’ve narrowed it down from there.

Firstly, in 1x09 [at 23:56] Buck says he is 26. Therefore, he either:

Turned 26 in January to March 2018, meaning his birthdate would be January to March 1992, or;

He is turning 27 in March to December 2018, meaning his birthdate would be March to December 1991.

In 3x01, Maddie says “Buck is 28 and I still have my hands full.” [3x01 at 35:10].

3x01 is set around October 2019 because in this episode, Buck says he has been fighting for five months to get his job back [3x01 at 22:35], and his leg was pinned by the ladder truck in 2x18 in May 2019. 

So, if Buck is 28 in October 2019, he either:

Turned 28 in January to October 2019, which means he was born January to October 1991, or;

He is turning 29 in October to December 2019, so was born October to December 1990.

Therefore, looking at these two separate statements, the only months that overlap are March to October 1991. If he was born in any other month/year, only one of the statements could be true - this is the only way both statements can be true.

Another time that his age is mentioned is in 4x05 [at 10:42] when Buck says it’s been 29 years. 4x05 is set late 2020, so if Buck is 29 at this point, this supports the theory that he was born March to October 1991.

Considering that Oliver was born on June 27th 1991, they seem to be sticking pretty close to that for Buck.

Maddie - 1982 or 1983

A lot of the information we have on Maddie’s age is given to us around Buck Begins - so 4x04 and 4x05.

In 4x04, Maddie says she promised her parents she’d keep Daniel a secret, and Chimney said that she made this promise when she was 9.

“I promised my parents-” “-when you were 9!” [4x04 at 04:06]

So, the year Daniel died, Maddie was 9.

From 4x05, we know that Daniel died in 1992, because he died when Buck was 1, and Buck was born in 1991.

“He was seven when you were born. He was gone a year later.” [4x05 at 01:54]

Therefore, Maddie was 9 in 1992. This means she was born in either 1982 or 1983. This would make Maddie 37/38 in season 4 (2020) when she is pregnant, which is supported by Phillip saying she’s a high risk pregnancy (over 35).

Eddie Diaz - September 1st 1992 to August 31st 1993

Eddie’s birthdate is an estimate purely based off of Shannon’s. We see from Shannon’s grave in 6x15 [at 09:45] that she was born on October 16th 1992. 

In 6x17, it’s revealed that Eddie and Shannon were in the same grade at school.

“Weren’t you guys in the 12th grade when you met?” “8th, then we lost touch and reconnected in 12th.” [6x17 at 14:22]

So, to be in the same grade as Shannon, Eddie would be born between September 1st 1992 and August 31st 1993.

This means that in canon he is definitely younger than Buck which is insane to me and I might just choose to ignore it lmao.

Christopher Diaz - January 2011 to April 2011

Eddie Begins [3x15] outright tells us that Christopher was born in 2011 from a flashback of Shannon giving birth in 2011. 

There’s a few other mentions of Christopher’s age that helps to narrow down the months.

In 2x02, Christopher is 7. [2x02 at 16:31]

2x02 follows on from 2x01, which is set in June 2018. So, if Christopher is 7 in June 2018, we know he was born in 2011 so that means he has already has his birthday this year. (If he hadn’t had his birthday, he’d be 8 in 2018 which would mean he was born in 2010, which we know isn’t true.)

So, Christopher would’ve been born between January and June 2011.

In 3x03, Buck says Christopher is 8 when he’s searching for him.

“I’m looking for an eight-year-old boy” [3x03 at 12:36].

3x03 is set in October 2019, so using similar logic to before, Christopher has already had his birthday that year. So, this supports the idea that he was born between January and June 2011. 

So, ‘Eddie Begins’ does actually make things slightly confusing when Eddie’s helicopter goes down. We’re shown that this happens in 2015, and then the next flashback says ‘El Paso, Texas, three months later’. So this flashback is either still in 2015 or in early 2016 at the latest. Now, this is all fine until in the flashback, Eddie says “And you immediately want me to get into a car and drive 800 miles with a six year old” [3x15 at 29:31]. This flashback can’t be set any later than early 2016, which means Christopher can’t be 6. At most, he’d be 5. I guess he could’ve turned 5 in January 2016 and Eddie is rounding up, but who would round up their kid’s age by nearly a whole year when it would’ve only been a couple of months maximum since his 5th birthday?? I’m inclined to believe that this is just a result of them messing up the year that Eddie’s helicopter went down, because the next flashback is in 2017 and Helena implies that Christopher is 6, so we’re back to the correct timeline.

In 3x16, Christopher is hosting his first sleepover, and Eddie doesn’t outright say Christopher is 9, but it is heavily implied.

“Celebrate with a bunch of nine-year-olds” [3x16 at 07:39].

3x17 is set May 4th 2020, so 3x16 is likely in April 2020. Therefore, if Christopher is 9 at this point, he would have been born between January and April 2011. Christopher still could’ve been born in May or June 2011 and Eddie could have meant that Christopher is nearly 9, which would have made sense for Eddie to round up because it would’ve been only a few months until he would have been 9. However, I’m trying not to make too many assumptions, so I’ll stick with the January to April 2011 estimate until they do something else in canon.

May Grant - December 29th 2001

In 6x08 [at 20:37], we find out that May’s birthday is December 29th from Bobby’s lucky numbers.

In 3x02, May is 17. 3x02 is set in October 2019, so that means she will be 18 that year. Therefore, she was born in 2001.

This is directly contradicted in 4x10 [at 36:56] when May listens to the 9-1-1 call that Athena made in 1x02 where May overdoses. In this call, Athena says May is 14. But 1x02 is set in January 2018, which means she would’ve been 16 (turning 17 on December 29th 2018).

Harry Grant - February 7th 2010

Ah, a nice and simple one with no contradictions (so far).

In 6x08 [at 20:34], we find out that Harry’s birthday is February 7th from Bobby’s lucky numbers.

In 3x13, Michael says Harry is 10. 3x13 is set in April 2020, so Harry has already had his birthday that year. This means he was born in 2010.

Albert - mid/late April 1999 to early/mid April 2000 

Chimney makes it easier by saying that Albert is 20 when he makes his first appearance in 3x11. 3x11 is set in April 2020, so Albert was born between mid/late April 1999 and early/mid April 2000. 

He’s either turning 21 April-December 2020, so was born in 1999, or;

He already turned 20 in January-April 2020, so was born in 2000

Jee-Yun - January 2021 to March 2021

Before I get into Jee’s birthday, it’s important to remember that she was born in season 4, and season 4’s timeline is weird. Most of early season 4 I have written down as ‘late 2020’, which makes it harder to narrow down Jee’s birth month. A lot of the confusion comes because they messed up the timeline by making covid/lockdown canon for season 4, but they seemingly forgot that they’d already reached May 2020 by the end of season 3. For example, 4x01 has a title card saying it’s September 2020, but they also say it’s been 6 months since Athena was attacked, which was on May 4th 2020?? And 6 months would make it November 2020?? And they say lockdown happened in March 2020, but this would’ve been mid season 3 in 9-1-1?? So, straight away season 4’s timeline is weird. 

Luckily for us, Jee-Yun was born in 4x09, and in the episode before this, it’s revealed that Nia has been with Hen and Karen for nearly a year. Hen and Karen started fostering Nia in 3x11, which was set in April 2020. So, this means that 4x08 and subsequently 4x09 are set close to April 2021. 

Therefore, I’d say that Jee is likely born between January and March 2021.

Denny - October 2009/2010

In the crossover episode, which is set between 4x03 and 4x04, Hen says Denny is 10. 4x03 and 4x04 are set towards the end of 2020, so Denny was born in 2009 or 2010.

In 6x09, it’s Denny’s birthday.

“It’s your birthday. We can do whatever you want today” [6x09 at 08:51]

6x09 is set in October 2022. I found this out because this is the same episode that Wendall dies, and we see in 6x12 that he purchased a camera on the same week he died, and the transaction was on October 19th 2022.

“A $300 purchase to an electronics website. Same week he died.” [6x12 at 08:52]

So, Wendall died towards the end of October 2022.

Therefore, Denny’s birthday is in October, but he could still be born in either 2009 or 2010.

Mara - mid 2014 to early 2015

In 7x07 [at 14:03], we find out that Mara is 9. 7x07 is set some time after April 2024. 

Therefore, Mara either:

Already had her birthday in early 2024, meaning she turned 9 in 2024, making her birthdate early 2015, or;

She is turning 10 in 2024 and hasn’t had her birthday yet, so was born in mid to late 2014.

Therefore, Mara was born between mid 2014 and early 2015.

That's all!

And that's all of the information I found! I may have missed some important bits of info, but I did go through transcripts of each episode and skim through each episode too (looking for stuff like calendars on fridges and call logs lmao). So, I'm hoping I didn't miss too much!

[the-river-delta]

The tragedy of the OGL and Starfinder 1e

The controversy regarding the Open Game License that Wizards of the Coast sparked in 2023 had many consequences big and small, from 5e's SRD being put into Creative Commons to the creation of the ORC license (and Pathfinder 2e's shift to it in the Remaster), but one of the more unfortunate and less-discussed casualties has been that of Starfinder 1st Edition, which as a huge fan of said game I wanna talk about in this probably overlong post.

The Starfinder Roleplaying Game - the strange science-fantasy spinoff of Pathfinder (itself a spinoff of 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons), supposedly developed and put out by its publisher Paizo to make up for the inevitable drop in sales that Pathfinder would experience upon the announcement of its new edition.

As something developed around 2016 and launched in 2017, at a time when the much simpler DnD 5e was on a meteoric rise, the largely Pathfinder- and in turn-3.5-shaped rules chassis of SFRPG could've come off as a little clunky or even downright archaic to a lot of people (not helped by problems such as the infamously awkward starship combat rules that needed emergency errata to mathematically function, continuing to be controversial throughout the game's lifespan).

I myself have gotten into TTRPGs at around that time, but remained somewhat unaware of Starfinder for a couple years - the announcement and eventual launch of Pathfinder Second Edition is what indirectly made me pay attention to Paizo and their games beyond a failed attempt at getting into Pathfinder purely as a crunchier 5e alternative, at the time divorced from the context of anything other than the humongous, nigh-incomprehensible mountain of rules and options that was impossible to navigate without the help of a more experienced friend.

Since that fateful 2018-19 however, Starfinder gripped me more and more in concept, presentation, and even the rules - though my actual play experience to this day is embarrassingly low as either a player or GM, I've legitimately come to love the tweaks it made to the already venerable PF1 ruleset to really make itself feel like a high-octane science-fantasy adventure game, and I fell greatly in love with the game's setting; Yes, it was and is the kind of sci-fi kitchen sink that tries to accommodate everything from cyberpunk and to military SF to space opera and soft sci-fi and Pathfinder-in-space-type science fantasy, but good art direction and writing made it all feel surprisingly coherent for such a big-tent premise.

Parallel to all this, I've played and run a great deal of games far beyond the d20 sphere, and slowly discovered what kind of roleplaying games I really enjoy playing and running - but all this time, Starfinder remained in the back of my mind, and I found great joy in perusing each new supplement - for the artwork, for the lore, for the rules and player options.

As Pathfinder 2e grew in popularity, there were a lot of people who wanted its science-fantasy sibling to also adopt the PF2 ruleset, with its sleek three-action economy and all other rules tech that its proponents loved so much, and at the time at least, Paizo denied having any such plans, choosing to keep Starfinder going as-is. I myself began as one of those "Starfinder 2e would be so good" people, but my enthusiasm for PF2 eventually waned somewhat, at the same time as my appreciation for SF1's ruleset grew, so I began to push back on the idea somewhat, or at least suggest caution.

And then, the Open Game License crisis rippled across the d20 portion of the TTRPG industry (that is, most of the visible and profitable part of it) - fearing legal reprisal from Wizards of the Coast, Paizo rapidly worked to distance Pathfinder from the OGL rules and concepts it was built on, Remastering the game and moving their work onto the newly-developed Open RPG Creative license.

At first, it was not clear what the plan was for Starfinder, even more entangled in the OGL than PF2 was, given its stronger PF1 and 3.5 roots.

Then, at GenCon 2023, Paizo announced Starfinder Second Edition, with a playtest launching a year later.

Sounds great, right? This is what the people have been asking for all this time!

Then, more details were revealed - Starfinder 2e would be wholly adopting PF2's ruleset, down to being able to freely mix ancestries, classes, equipments, spells, etc. from one to the other (something that 1st edition gestured at with some early guidance at converting PF1 stuff to SF1 bits, but was largely dropped and forgotten in the long run).

Between this and some other things, that's where my worries really began.

Part of what made Starfinder so appealing to me were the things that made it stand apart at the system level - the unique skill list (featuring things like Culture, Engineering, Physical Science and Life Science, Computers, Piloting, and Mysticism as a catch-all magic skill), the Health/Stamina/Resolve Points system (which vastly alleviated the need for a dedicated healer or long periods of downtime between encounters to heal up), the different weapon and armor proficiencies (like Longarms, Advanced Melee, and Powered Armor instead of simply the same old Martial Weapons or Medium Armor), magic simply being magic instead of an arcane/divine distinction (and only going up to 6 levels instead of 9 - though apparently that was a page space concern for the original core book more than anything), and a myriad other things.

And even though SF2 would benefit from things like the PF2 proficiency tiers, three action economy, and degrees of success, it would also be saddled with the things that first edition consciously did away with - so magic now is split up into one of the four traditions (arcane, divine, occult, primal), overriding some fun 1st edition lore about how modern society no longer differentiated between those. Even the skill list has been turned to be the same as that of PF2, with the merciful additions of Computers and Piloting - but things like Religion, Performance and Crafting are a thing now.

At least we're still paying in credits instead of silver and gold pieces.

There are other changes that frustrate or perplex me (like how technomancer and mechanic, two classes that were in 1st edition since the start but are being left out of the SF2 core and saved for later - though at least aren't being cut altogether, same with starship rules... or the fact that SF2 is doubling down on being silly and having a god of memes in the core pantheon and a skill feat for Trolling People With Your Online Posts), and many of these may seem like small-potato issues (the distinction between Kinetic Armor Class and Energy Armor Class was pretty minor in practice after all), but in aggregate all of these things made SF1 properly standalone and unique in a way I fear is being sacrificed for SF2 at the altar of compatibility with its biggest fantasy sibling Pathfinder.

Paizo's messaging on the subject has also been mixed - they say the game will be properly standalone after launch, yet they're also careful about designing each SF2 class as to not step on the toes of an extant PF2 class (because you can just bring in said PF2 class into your SF2 game instead, right?), resulting in something like the Soldier (which in many ways was a fighter in space in 1st edition, even though I'd argue it was a pretty baller implementation of the idea) being vastly reconceptualized to a rather mixed reception from SF1 fans; And in general, a lot of the current marketing about SF2 feels like it's been aimed at Pathfinder 2e fans first ("you can now play using your favorites ruleset IN SPACE, or bring in cool laser guns and solarians and freaky aliens into your Pathfinder game!") and at SF1 fans second (and even then, with a kind of implicit aim towards the "man I wish Starfinder just used the 2e ruleset" crowd of Starfinder players - look I was one of them at one point, I get it).

Even the big Starfinder 2e playtest actual play at GenCon couldn't have been a fully SF2 game, as it featured the iconic PF2 investigator in the adventuring party. Sure, it was just a marketing thing to do for fun at a convention, but it's not helping SF2 escape the "it's the sci-fi expansion to PF2" perception.

Some Paizo staff have said that Starfinder 2e was already being tinkered with even before the OGL crisis hit, but that the event kicked the development on it into high gear - causing two entire rulebooks and an adventure path for SF1 to be canned (even though one of them, the Faction Guide, already had freelancer assignments submitted in and even had the cover art ready to go; another was the Extraplanar Archive, which would've delved into what the wider multiverse of SF1 was up to, a book I personally wanted for the entire run of first edition, so while it wasn't worked on a lot at the time, knowing it fell through hurts me in particular as a fan of extraplanar science-fantasy stuff!) - I get it, Paizo is a business and that was a business decision, but it didn't feel good to hear either way.

Speaking of which, the week before GenCon, Paizo dropped a really frustrating bombshell onto the community: they had updated and revised their community licenses and policies, two of which have caused some serious uproar.

For one, to continue distancing themselves from the Open Game License, the Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite programs (which allow community members to publish paid supplements for Paizo games that utilize their intellectual property, settng and proper nouns and all) would no longer be accepting OGL-based products for either PF1 or SF1 starting in September. PFI and SFI have problems of their own with the large cut and exclusivity involved (much in the way that D&D's and WotC's Dungeon Masters' Guild program does), but it still stings.

The other, arguably even worse news, was regarding the Paizo Community Use Policy (link to an archival version in case Paizo deletes the live version altogether) which allowed community members to use Paizo IP and imagery in noncommercial products and projects - it has been suddenly replaced by the Fan Content Policy (which in addition to being a worse, more corporate sounding name, is also exactly what WotC calls their own equivalent document).

The FCP is much more restrictive about what one can use it for compared to the old CUP - crucially, it's not applicable to "game products" such as, and I quote, an adventure module, sourcebook, character builder, rules database, video game, board game, etc.

While projects with bespoke Paizo licensing agreements like Archives of Nethys and the Foundry VTT module are unaffected, projects that relied on the CUP like Hephaistos (a beloved Starfinder 1e community tool, covering everything from creating characters to managing campaigns and encounters) have been forced to either cease development altogether (which would allow them to be grandfathered into the FCP, provided they would no longer receive any changes) or go back and be scrubbed of Paizo IP (which would be both time consuming and incredibly messy for a game where the OGL-published rules and Paizo-owned lore are so intertwined).

While a number of Paizo staff have said that they'd look into revising the policy to not completely screw the community over like that, it's already done a lot to damage people's trust in the company, further compounding the already strong sense of alienation many 1e fans have been feeling over the past year since SF2 has been announced.

I've played a good deal of PF2, and am currently in the process of preparing to run some SF2 playtest games, and I'm near-certain that Starfinder 2e will on the whole end up being a whole lot more popular than 1st edition ever was, both on its own merits and certainly as PF2's sci-fi spice cabinet - but there is a non-trivial subset of the existing SF1 community that is just bummed out about this whole thing. If nothing else, I now understand how many PF1 fans felt when the game went in a different direction from what they originally came to it for (even though I'd still argue it's good some of the more bigoted stuff was left by the wayside) - except now Starfinder 1e doesn't even have the benefit of easily continuing under a community banner, with the new Starfinder Inifnite and Fan Content policies.

I don't have a great way to wrap this up - there is only so much that feedback I submit regarding the SF2 playtest will accomplish (something I still intend to do, to at least help out testing the parts that are on the table for change and improvement), and getting anyone, at Paizo or otherwise, on board with the OGL again is likewise infeasible, so I doubt anyone is willing to create yet another OGL-based spinoff and repeat the 3.5-Pathfinder cycle.

SF1 will probably remain playable, but if the fan policy continues to impede the development of digital tools that the game so strongly benefitted from, its prospects of upkeep (let alone growth) seem far more grim now than they did three weeks ago.

So while new SF2 fans are feverishly arguing if the promised SF2 ranged meta can work with PF2's cover rules or whether it was a good idea for the 2e witchwarper to be merged with the 1e precog... I'm just more than a little bummed out about this uncomfortable limbo state that SF1 has been put in, a far less graceful death than PF1 received.

[thatonecrookedsmile]

"Tombstone Picnic,the infamous 'Lost Ending' Bendy cartoon from the early days of the studio. The ending has not been seen since the cartoon's first run in 1929 and no copies are known to exist."

-Nostalgia-

----- Bendy comes face to face with [REDACTED]!

Another year, another Ink Demonth event. Let's see if I can get past the first 10 days again (I kind of doubt it, but let's not get ahead of ourselves).

Starting with a very interesting topic! As far as in-universe things go, I think the simplest interpretation would be: a look back at simpler times. Before the ink craze, the damn machine and all that. The times when (I presume) the only concern was getting the shorts finished on time. Nostalgia for a bygone era. It was more the metaphorical side that I was aiming for when I was making this drawing.

I don't really like to use this term when I reminisce about things that, in my opinion, are very "recent", but since it's been 7 years (more than half a decade, jeez), I think using "nostalgia" in this case is allowed in my view.

It's not surprising to say that I'm nostalgic for the times of 2017-2018. (In terms of Bendy, of course, not in terms of life in general, lmao) It's been so long... On one hand, similar to the in-universe reason, it was simpler times, I admit. Things weren't so…crazy, so to speak. And on the other hand, it's because of the good memories of that time (again, in terms of this franchise). The wait between chapters, the teasers, the theories, and the in-betweens. And what I wanted to show here, one of my top favorite moments that I remember the most, was the release of the reveal trailer for BATIM Chapter 3.

I was excited that day! I had just gotten home when the trailer dropped and I immediately went to watch it. An actual in-universe Bendy cartoon! Bendy and Boris animated! Mysterious Shadow!?!? and then BOOM, game stuff. Henry running in a hallway, silhouettes of new characters, Bendy statue, Miracle Station? and BOO, the Ink Demon jumping in the station! Alice humming, and OOOHHHHH RELEASING IN SEPTEMBER, LETS GOOO.

It was really cool. I would not only say this is one of my favorite moments, but also that that trailer is my favorite trailer we've had. Yeah, in the end the "gameplay" in the second half of the video was just a cutscene running, and the "scene" that happened in the trailer doesn't actually happen in the game. Hell, the "hallway trailer" wasn't even in the release! But, the cutscene is still pretty cool anyway, plus, even though the scene doesn't literally happen in the game, it still teased elements that were in the game without giving away spoilers, so the trailer wasn't a total lie at the end of the day.

But yeah, nostalgia. A hell of a drug, but at the same time, a nice time machine,I say.

On an unrelated note, hey, prompt for day 1, and I'm not that late! Sure, I'm posting this after midnight, so it's not day 1 anymore, but still, compared to other years, I'm very up to date with the event. After all, 1-2 hours late isn't that late compared to 1 week. But of course, prompt 2 is going to be another story entirely, but in the meantime? I'll enjoy this achievement.

Have a great event this year folks!

[luescris]

Posting this before I decide not to

A drawing for a vent fic I've worked on since 2018 that's on my A03 called He Who is Hard as Stone (which I now dub to Heart of Stone because it's simpler/easier) and also sort of mostly inspired by @fihuli 's bad ending art (I hope it's not a problem that I've tagged you but if it is please lemme know augh) from once upon a time ago and. Lmao yeah haha

Handle on ao3 is luescris same as here if y'all are interested okay bye

[deoidesign]

Hello I stumbled across your profile and I just say I love your art style! I've gotta ask, how'd your develop it? And do you have any advice for someone who can't decide what they want their art to look like?

Thank you so much!

To be entirely honest, I don't feel like I truly "developed" my style. I feel a lot more like I finally let myself draw it! But I am incredibly deliberate with my work, and I do have clear tendencies and preferences... So I'll do my best to explain how I got to where I am now as an artist.

It's important to remember that "style" is something of a nebulous concept. It changes with you as you grow as a person, and most artists can work in and emulate many art styles! Art really is a form of communication with yourself, and your "style" is a reflection of the tendencies and preferences you have. My art does not look how it looked 5 years ago, and my art will look different 5 years from now too. I've changed, and my art reflects that!

(2012, 2018, 2023; two pieces I remember being incredibly proud of and considered my best work up til that point, and then my most recent piece)

What you need to do, as everyone will tell you, is study the fundamentals (anatomy, perspective, form and structure, lighting and shadow, color, and composition) so you have the proper tools to make the most informed decisions possible about your art, and so you can deliberately break or follow rules as you please for your desired effect. I know it sounds silly to learn rules if you're not gonna be following them anyways, but they help you be much more consistent and intentional! More knowledge is NEVER a bad thing to have!

However, I know it's a bit demoralizing to just be told to study fundamentals. Everyone knows you're supposed to do that, but it takes YEARS to learn, and people want their art to feel how they want it to now (which is very very very normal to want!)

So on that front, I have 2 follow up suggestions that I personally find helpful (of course, everyone is different, so it's not like this is the only way to learn! But, if it resonates with you, it might mean it will work for you too.)

1: Separate study from application

I believe this is beneficial for a few reasons:

If the goal of every piece is learning, it can become frustrating, overwhelming, and boring

It's harder to self critique when there are multiple variables to investigate. I like to study one fundamental at a time

Study (usually) works best with a large quantity of output, whereas application of knowledge (finished pieces) is often more satisfying and effective when you get to take your time

Deliberate practical application of what you've learned in a finished piece helps cement the learning in your mind, and also lets you get satisfying finished pieces with noticeable improvement after a good study session!

I've found that keeping these things separate helps me improve faster and more deliberately, and it takes a lot of the pressure off of both aspects! I'm not worried about my studies looking beautiful, they're just to learn! And I don't feel pressured to critique my finished pieces, cause they're just for fun and to make something pretty. I personally find this helps me have a much healthier relationship with my art.

When studying, copy! Copy things as best as you can, all the time. It gives you something to compare to for self critique (and of course, if you're copying someone else's work and you share the study, ALWAYS give credit, share the original, and say it was for study.) In application, don't copy: reference. Make it yours!

2: Let yourself do the things that feel "easy" or like "cheating"

This one is simpler: nothing in art is easy.

If something feels easy to you, most of the time it's not because it's actually any easier... It's because it's part of your natural tendencies and preferences! This took me forever to realize, but as long as you're actually doing some study, then you're learning. You don't need to learn All The Time. When you're doing the "application" portion, you should let yourself do whatever is actually the most fun and feels easiest! This is where your style will start to come through, and where you get to learn about yourself. Take the pressure off, and have fun!!!

The only cheating in art is theft. If you're not stealing, then it's allowed!

My whole life (and yes, still!) I'd get regular criticism about both my style and my subject matter. You will too. You'll see a thousand different styles, and a hundred different things to admire in each. Your heart will ache that you don't draw like others do.

But art is a form of communication with yourself. It's like your voice, or your accent; just something that's a part of you! It can be fun to mimic others', but when you sit to have a conversation you speak naturally. (I know some people want to and do change their voice, but this is a metaphor and metaphors aren't perfect)

Don't stress so much about what you want your art to look like, especially if you're not sure. There's a lot of value to be had in constant experimentation, I think it'd be rather boring to only draw one style the rest of my life. What I draw is what I want to see, right now, for who I am now! It's a part of me and comes naturally, if I let it!

I hope this helps!

[m0r1bund]

hello! I was catching up on reading NAKAQUOI! and the essay from the most recent entry was such an inspiring method of storytelling. enough so to make me reach out and ask about your website in general (if you're comfortable answering!). what is it like running a lore/gallery site for your work? how and why did you get started? and lastly, what about it keeps you going?

thank you, cheers! -Winn

😭 Thank you so much for the kind words, this means a lot to me. I really enjoyed writing that little essay.

This is going to be a weird and vulnerable sidebar, but I promise I’m going somewhere with it. Honestly, it blows my mind that anyone reads them. I think it’s because I’m still operating on the assumption that this form of storytelling is for n=1 (yours truly) and other people are merely tolerating it, LOL. I used to be way more sensitive about sharing my characters / stories / worlds, because the forms of storytelling that came naturally to me were often received as incomprehensible, dense, and unintuitive by other people. At a certain point I decided that I just had to accept this and become my own hype man. People could enjoy the pretty pictures out of context, and they could be a vehicle for me to journal about the pretend people who live in my head. Good compromise 👍

for someone who talks big about making weird art and finding the 6 people in the audience who truly get it, I don’t think I realized that this could include my deranged essays about things that aren’t real. And yet. AND YET!!!! I think this desire to present my work in a way that’s “more” than just pretty pictures with text attached to them has been simmering for a long time, even though I dismissed it and was kind of embarrassed about it. Which is wild. Because I grew up on bestiaries and warrior cats lore compendiums and video game wikis and morrowind. There was clearly a precedent. And Yet.

Anyway, this desire started rubbing shoulders with the technical limitations of blogs and gallery websites, and also a general disillusionment with social media during the enshittification of the internet. Like, yeah it sucked that my whole body of work could vanish overnight. But mostly I had worldbuilding neuroses that made me want to scratch at the walls, and I knew just enough html + css to be dangerous. In 2018, I had also finished some longer works that made me more confident in my ability to deliver a cohesive Moribund, and these works weren’t intuitive to share on social media… So… I guess that gave me the impetus to stop flirting with the idea of getting my own website and start actually working on it.

M0R1BUND.com used to be a pure html + css + js website hosted on Neocities. It was ideal and I miss it in a lot of ways, because yeah, that IS the most unadulterated control you can have over your webspace. Had a blast with it, experimented a lot, learned a lot, hosted galleries and twines and webfiction and digital collages and ARPG stuff and interactive maps and a webcomic. And it was mine as much as it was the work of kind people sharing sample code on stackexchange, LOL.

Eventually, I felt the growing pains of managing this by hand. Updating ate hours out of my day. There are definitely more intuitive ways to build and maintain a pure html + css + js website, but I was working with what I knew. I started learning wordpress for basedt.net with the hopes of automating certain operations, like posting art to a gallery or pages to a webcomic. It felt intuitive enough that I later rebuilt M0R1BUND.com in wordpress.

It took a long time and a lot of work, like almost a year? And I still haven’t mirrored everything. Wordpress has made things easier to maintain, but I learned the hard way that it doesn't avoid the pitfalls of simpler website-builders… which is to say… whatever it does to make life easier will also make life incredibly difficult if you decide you want to do something manually. And it’s never the stuff you expect.

These days there’s also the baggage of Automattic’s nonsense. Wordpress is open source, so I don’t think it will go anywhere, but it’s still the corporate clownery that I wanted to escape by making my own website. Blech.

Really though, I love running M0R1BUND and it’s the closest thing I have to an ideal “home” for my work. Going to a dedicated website is unintuitive and out of the way for a lot of people, but (indicates generally) what have we just learned about me. This one’s for n=1 and the, like, 6 people who pop in and say hello. You are my people...

Looking forward, things cook at the rate of 2937728839 irons in the fire, and they are all getting done, but they are all getting done sooooo slowly… I’m having fun. Besides having a general compulsion to make art and tell stories and be Understood, I think that’s what carries me thru this. I want to have fun. and I want to trick people into caring about my characters and also the Sonoran Desert. And as Bjork says, I have to get the wiggles out or else the dark times will come.

It’s getting late and I don’t have a denouement for this. Thank you for your kind words! Thank you for asking! hope this answers? hope this helps (???) take the best and leave the rest.

[mamadoc]

I just posted a Chenford fanfic I wrote for Mother’s Day. I did it especially for those that struggle with Mother’s Day for any variety of reasons. I hope everyone can enjoy it though, regardless of your motherhood experience.

Just like all of my stories, it has a happy ending. It felt good to write Tim and Lucy in a healthy relationship again. Hopefully I can do more of that, and we can see more of that in canon going forward.

Here’s how it begins —

It started off as little things that Lucy saw on her social media – birthstone jewelry, mother/daughter matching outfits, Etsy shop specials on personalized mom shirts, mugs, and picture frames. All of them crept into the ads on her phone in April to allow plenty of shopping time. At first it didn’t bother her; she just kept scrolling. But as May drew closer, the ads and the chatter about Mother’s Day started to accumulate.

She never used to mind Mother's Day. She would get her mother some flowers and call or visit her, ready for the sound of disappointment in her voice or the click of her tongue as she shook her head in shame. It had been that way ever since she had started at the police academy seven years ago. Lucy usually volunteered to work that day so that her colleagues that were mothers could celebrate with their families. It was easier to stay focused on work that day than to have to deal with her mother. This way she didn’t have to trudge through guilt trips from her mother or be surrounded by families out celebrating their wonderful mothers. It was just simpler not to have to think about it. In fact, she was proud to work that day and looked forward to seeing her colleagues’ posts and shared pictures of what their children did for them. She hoped that one day the tables would turn, and she would be the one staying home with her little children

Read more here

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jeff Singer at Daily Kos Elections:

Vice President Kamala Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate on Tuesday, a decision that could usher in a new era of leadership in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Democratic Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan would become Minnesota's new chief executive should the Harris-Walz ticket prevail in November, an ascension that would make her the first woman to lead the state. Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, would also be the first Native American woman to serve as governor of any state. No matter what, though, this office will next be on the ballot in 2026 for a full four-year term. Walz, writes KARE 11's Jeremiah Jacobsen, would be the state's first governor to resign since 1976, when Sen. Walter Mondale's election as Jimmy Carter's vice president set off a volatile chain of events back home that proved disastrous for Democrats. Following Mondale's departure for Washington, Democratic Gov. Wendell Anderson stepped down from his post and arranged for his lieutenant governor, Rudy Perpich, to appoint him to Mondale's Senate seat. These insider dealings, however, backfired with voters, leading to the "Minnesota massacre" of 1978: Republican Rudy Boschwitz trounced Anderson in the race for Senate while Republican Al Quie unseated Perpich as governor.

Walz's succession would be a far simpler affair, but there's also the matter of who would replace Flanagan in her current role. State constitutional law expert Quinn Yeargain explains in Guaranteed Republics that the next person in line to become lieutenant governor is the president of the state Senate, a post that's held by Democrat Bobby Joe Champion. Should Champion succeed Flanagan, he, too, would make history, as the first Black person to serve as Minnesota's lieutenant governor. There's a potential hitch, though. The 67-member Senate is currently tied because Democratic state Sen. Kelly Morrison, who is the favorite to replace retiring Rep. Dean Phillips in Congress, resigned in July so that a special election could be held simultaneously with the November general election. The rest of the Senate, however, isn't up for election again until 2026, so this one race will determine who controls the upper chamber next year.

[...]

But even if Republicans were to pull off an upset in this special election at the same time Harris and Walz prevail in the Electoral College, Yeargain writes that it's possible that Walz could time his resignation to ensure that Champion still becomes lieutenant governor. That would be a far better outcome for Democrats than the last time the number two slot became vacant. When then-Gov. Mark Dayton selected Lt. Gov Tina Smith to fill Al Franken's Senate seat after he resigned in early 2018, the GOP had control of the state Senate. As a result, Republican Michelle Fischbach was elevated to the lieutenant governorship and served for a year before waging a successful bid for Congress in 2020. Looking ahead, because Minnesota does not have term limits, whoever is governor—whether that's Walz or Flanagan—will be able to run in 2026. Voters, however, have never awarded an incumbent three consecutive terms. The last to try was Perpich, who staged a successful comeback in 1982 and won two full terms. But when he sought a third straight in 1990, he lost a close and chaotic battle to Republican Arne Carlson.

More herstory could be made in Minnesota: If Tim Walz wins the Presidential election (along with Kamala Harris), then Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan (D) would be elevated to Governor.

If that happens, then she would be the first Native woman to be Governor in US history to serve the remainder of Walz’s current term and would be up in 2026.

[fighting-naturalist]

VENTRESS TIME!

Please say hi to my newest version Asajj Ventress! She debuted at FanExpo Canada and I am delighted with how she turned out!

A little backstory:

This is my second version of Ventress. The last I made in 2018 and updated in 2019. At that point, I was a much less experience sewist and was still learning the best way to apply a bald cap (which is challenging even for professional makeup artists!). As much as I am incredibly proud of Asajj 1.0, including the fact that my sewing was SOLID, I am simply far more knowledgable now.

This is my first original design of her. My first version was a recreation of a Clone Wars look. More and more I prefer doing my own designs. In addition to teaching me nearly every sewing technique I know, doing historical work fired my true passion to not only create but to design.

This costume and makeup took 7 hours to get into. A large part of that was that one of my airbrushes got an APOCALYPTIC clog that set me back by about an hour, but still. I painted my thighs and knees, my upper arms, and part of my face, and then I applied and painted a bald cap, after which I could do the "beauty" makeup and then get into the costume. Oh, and then because it was alcohol body paint, it took an hour to get OFF. This is a huge reduction from the three I spent removing Aayla.

I LOVE being Ventress. There is no confidence boost like becoming this bald baddie. It's so easy to fall into character, even in the way I walk. Getting through a packed convention crowd is much simpler when I do my Ventress Walk - shoulders forward, neck arched, heavy steps, and a serious case of RBF.

This is one of my first costumes to look pretty much exactly how I wanted it to. To me, Asajj should always look like a wild animal in a trap: half-starved, angry, scared, and an inch away from biting people. I certainly felt that way in this costume.

As is my Signature (lol) this costume involved a corset. For me, this is both that once I started seeing my corseted silhouette I couldn't stop, as well as a way of quieting my anxiety. Being tightly cinched into a corset always soothes my anxiety - not to mention it does wonders for my back. The day these photos were taken I could not bend over uncorseted due to my back seizing and shrieking at me but the moment that corset went on I didn't feel a single twinge. And when I took it off after the con, my back had actually mostly recovered.

[joculine]

DIE Issue #2 Reread (Gillen & Hans)

I was pretty hooked on DIE from the concept alone, but this issue is what showed me the story itself would be something special. Sir Lane, the knight of kisses wraps up everything special about this comic to me into one, horrible little story. I love it. Let's dig in.

Art

Eyes are a big deal through the series, but they're an especially big deal in this issue. Hans is really killer at showing emotion through them here, the guilt Ash feels, the anger Sol & Matt feel, and of course the hate from Sir Lane.

I especially love her fight scenes. They move in broad strokes, not focused on any specific sequence of action, but the specific moments of victory and defeat that occur through the fight.

That's important when you're dealing with a cast as large and unique as the party. Everyone has these super powerful attacks with over the top video-game flairs, so she has to make sure to draw your eye with color and shapes.

I especially like how red is used in this scene, a strong color associated with violent magic from just about everyone. Historically, I've associated the red licks of fire with Ash and her dictator powers, but I think that applies to all members of the party here. Perhaps we are meant to see red as the color of violent magic? Or perhaps just the party's magic?

Isabelle's talks with her gods are another standout for me. These panels are always so interesting, I love to see how each one speaks, how they treat Izzy, and how little she seems to care about them. She keeps her back to them, refuses to meet their eye, but is still shadowed in most interactions. It also looks like a persona summoning scene, which is fun to me.

A special shout out to the cartoonish look of Ash's memory of Sir Lane. So idealized & flat, the perfect way to do this childhood flashback. Everything was so much simpler then... NOT. We'll get into it further on.

Actually, why wait?

This is up there for my favorite moments in the comic. Like I said, this is where I realized what DIE was doing—this is a story about careless people ruining their lives and the lives of others for the sake of "fantasy." And it's a story about the logical conclusions of those fantasies crawling back to you and covering you with awful worms.

What's incredible is the conciseness here. In just 8 panels over 2 pages, we see the entire tragedy. Sir Lane, the Angrian knight of kisses, was a fling for young Ash back in the 90s. Maybe even her first fling as herself:

It's an exciting thing for her, to be kissed as a woman. To be wanted as a woman. But Ash barely remembers this guy. She does recall their last meeting—he joked he wouldn't rest until he saw her again, asked her to use her power to make it true. She did. He died. He never rested. His eyes rotted. A lover's joke became a never-ending curse.

We see here how careless Ash has been with a very serious power. As the Dictator class, she can speak things & feelings into being. If she isn't careful, this power will rewrite reality to make her words true. Sir Lane is only the first casualty of this we see. What other horrors are waiting for them in this world, still reeling from the fickle whims of teenage demigods?

House Rules & The Fallen

Isabelle tells us the party takes this world seriously. They can't know how "real" Die is, so they have to treat it like it is real.

I don't think anyone in this party is actually playing this way though. The proceeding bit with Sir Lane is strong evidence against it, but even just moments before this interaction, we have the party going all out on the Fallen and this nice little explanation from Ash:

You know, some people would call me a trap with legs, but I hope there'd still be moral question to killing me. Anyway.

I was really mad the first time I read this, back in 2018. Orc discourse wouldn't hit its stride for a few more years, but even then I found it frustrating. If we're supposed to believe that these characters are treating Die as real, why are the Fallen different? Are "orcs" not people? Are they not conscious? Perhaps are used as unquestionable fodder in early D&D and LOTR, major influences on DIE, but I feel like we're past that now. The easy answer for the moment is that they are more like zombies than orcs, but that's still not satisfying for me. This whole scene appears to be a weirdly out of place statement for the comic.

Let's hold onto that feeling of dissonance—it feels bad for a reason. Without spoiling too much, Ash & the party's knowledge of the Fallen is pretty sparse at this point. They know them as hungry, diseased automatons. There's a lot more to them. A lot more. As we'll find later, this statement is just wrong.

This is a really important theme for the comic: The party is often wrong in what they think and what they do. Their attitude as 90s gamers will keep butting heads against more modern TTRPG ideas. This past thoughts/present thoughts conflict will continue not just with the Fallen, but in pretty much every aspect of the story.

So What's Up With Sol?

You've gotta love this guy—the dramatics, the get up, the ambush, it's all classic GM shit. Look, he's even having to stop himself from spoiling things here, he's just so excited to see his friends again!

Okay, maybe there's something a little worse than that going on here. Sol is (obviously) a really bad friend here. He's stating that he wants to bring the party back for another game—the war is over, now we're here for fun.

Ash reads this differently. She sees him as furious, furious beyond the point of sanity.

The other players have their own ideas. Isabelle, it seems, might be taking Sol at his word, but she's trying to talk him down. Matt is, pretty rightfully, furious. He's been brought out of his normal life into the worst place in the world. Angela bargains. Maybe she thinks Sol is crazy enough to fall for it.

So what's really going on here? Why did Sol bring them back, why now? We don't get an exact answer here, but I don't think it's anything put forth in this scene. Or maybe a bit of all of it. We'll learn more the next time we see Sol.

Other Thoughts

Well, here we go. We've got our quest, we've got a combat in, even some roleplay. A pretty good first session! I do like how these early bits are all structured like standard D&D sessions.

I already gushed a bit about the art in this issue's action scene, but I also want to call out the way Ash's narration works there too. Everyone's role in the party and their powers are very clear. It's a good set piece to show what everyone can do and why they're cool.

If you're considering reading DIE, I'd try to get through at least these two issues. If you like the tone and the characters, keep going! It just gets better from here.

In fact... next issue introduces one of my favorite bits of world-building in the series... but we'll save that for later.

[bingoboingobongo]

task force 141 + favorite christmas movies

Characters: Simon “Ghost” Riley, John “Soap” MacTavish, Kyle “Gaz” Garrick, John Price, Alejandro Vargas, Rodolfo “Rudy” Parra

Warnings: none

A/N: sorta did this already with ghost but now it’s time for the entire team

john "soap" mactavish:

what can i say soap is a home alone kinda guy

he fell in love with them as a kid and he just never fell out of love

it's that sorta violent but still comedic and overly dramatized kind of humor that soap likes

plus he's a sucker for montages and you know home alone has a bunch of them

he's a fan of the whole series too

but the first one is definitely his favorite, just because it's classic

definitely gets freaked out by the bird lady in the second one (i think it's the second one)

and yes he's always wanted a home alone situation whenever he was a kid

he would literally pray for a duo of goofy robbers to try and break in whenever his parents weren't home

of course it never worked

but you know

a man can dream

he also knows all the home alone lore

and he freaked out when he found out macaulay culkin was married to brenda song

kyle "gaz" garrick:

so this goes hand in hand with my christmas songs headcanon

but gaz's favorite christmas movie is the grinch (2018)

bc 1. it has a fire soundtrack

2. it's got great animation

and 3. beneficiary cumberbun as the grinch was unprecedentedly good

he also doesn't like the live action grinch

he watched it when he was younger and it really scared him

like im talking it really scared him

he saw it in a hotel while his family was visiting new york for christmas

and then he refused to sleep on the wall side of the bed because he was scared the grinch was gonna come from under the bed in that sorta shadowy area between the bed and the wall and steal him

and yes he still sleeps on the lamp side whenever he stays at hotels now

even though he's a grown man

so yeah the grinch (2018) was a very welcome change to that

i mean the animation is so bright and cheery

what's not to love

plus he really likes how fluffy the grinch looks

and yes he watched it in theatres with his family so there's a lot of good memories associated with that as well

simon "ghost" riley:

so kinda similar to gaz

but ghost's favorite christmas movie is actually how the grinch stole christmas (1966)

for those of y'all who aren't up to date on the grinch movie release timeline that's the cartoon one

gaz doesn't like that one because that smile the grinch does in the beginning (you know what i mean, it's the one where his cheeks literally like migrate to his ears) freaked him out

but ghost actually enjoys that scene

he says it scratches an itch

he also likes the 1966 grinch because it brings him back to simpler times

he first watched it in school right before winter break

and then he went home and made his mom watch it with him over and over and over again

and so now whenever he has the chance he'll watch during the holiday season

it does make him a little sad though

you know since his mom's dead

anyways

john price:

price's favorite movie is charlie brown's christmas

he's actually a pretty big fan of the peanuts

is that what they're called? idk

so it's only a no brainer that the charlie brown christmas special brings him a special kind of joy

before he used to watch it on cable on christmas day

and then he got apple tv+ so now he watches it to get in the mood

guys this isn't an ad for apple i swear

he likes to cozy up with a blanket, some nice socks (he's a sock guy what can i say), a cup of tea or hot cocoa, and some biscuits

sometimes he falls asleep before the end tho

but it's not like he's never seen it before so it's fine

yet despite his love for the peanuts he does not have a charlie brown christmas tree

no his tree is always freshly cut down and usually pretty hefty

rodolfo "rudy" parra:

alright so this one also goes with my christmas music headcanons

but rudy's favorite christmas movie is the frozen franchise

and yes it's a holiday movie

he will fight you on that

in his mind snow + fire soundtrack = christmas movie

so yes goncharov would technically be a christmas movie by rudy's criteria

and yes he will fight you if you bring that up

he also really hates claymation

like really really hates it

it's too uncanny valley for him

like for it to be enjoyable it better be super duper obvious that the characters are clay

but even then it still catches him off guard

he also really likes christmas specials for like a bunch of shows

so after he's done with his frozen marathon he'll turn on his favorite shows and just watch the christmas episodes

and yes he does that for every holiday that has specials

alejandro vargas:

okay so potentially controversial opinion

but alejandro really enjoys hallmark movies

like it doesn't matter which one it is as long as it's a christmas hallmark movie he's down to watch it

he doesn't even know why like he's aware of how cheesy they are

but they've really mastered that feel good formula

even if each movie is riddled with plot holes

but even then that's also part of the fun too

like he enjoys inviting rudy or even the others over so they can poke fun at all the logistical impossibilities of the movie

and really that's what he likes when he watches the movies

the good memories he makes

ig it's true guys

the real lesson was the friends we made on the way

or whatever the saying is idk

he also likes the cheesy romance of it all

and also he doesn't tell anyone that he secretly enjoys the hallmark movies

with everyone else he pretends that it sucks

but he eats it up every time

and yes he always checks to see if the kiss happens at the same time

and so far it has almost every single time