#writing combat is just a hell of my own creation

[northern-passage]

Super excited for TNP rewrite! I hope you’re enjoying the process and have time to rest as well. I remember playing all four romance routes when I first found the game here on Tumblr and loved each one, they were all so unique and interesting and I couldn’t pick a favorite. I wish I could convey my affection for your world and characters and my respect for you as a writer better! Thanks for sharing TNP.

thank you so much! 🥺🫶

[dice-wizard]

Hello everyone looking for a new fantasy tabletop game!

You can buy Exalted Essence now.

What's Exalted you ask?

Exalted is an epic fantasy TTRPG where players play the titular Exalted - humans elevated to superhuman/demigod status - in a wild and unique setting that draws inspiration from the ancient world rather than medieval Europe. Creation (the setting) draws key inspirations from the entire world. If you're used to having to make yourself visible on your own in other fantasy, there's probably some representation in Exalted.

It has explicit queer and trans themes about finding your people, creating your own identity, and having the power to punch back at the people who hate you. This isn't incidental. The writing staff is queer as hell. You can hear me break this down more here.

Curious to learn all you can? Well you can get a detailed overview of the entire game on the podcast Systematic Understanding of Everything hosted by myself, @presidentofbirds and @phillycuriosity

If I'm used to D&D 5e why should I pick this up?

Well, I presume if you're reading this post you're already interested in trying something new, so:

The entire game in one book. Exalted: Essence is self contained, character types, equipment, enemies and all!

An exciting style of fantasy that's different than classic D&D but like, textually gay, and very easy to have scenes like ballroom fights, epic galas, and touching homoerotic healing scenes - no house rules required.

But also, tactical depth and combat you can really sink your teeth into if fighting monsters and villains is your bag.

An excuse to use all your d10s at once

Character building and advancement mechanics designed to be familiar to a 5e audience. Characters "level up" based on story beats, and have Advantages, which are functionally similar to class and race features.

A world welcoming to most heroic archetypes, so it's easy to convert your favorite OC.

Extremely kissable dragons, demons, gods, elementals, ghosts, faeries, and unnamed ancient horrors

I'm a fan of a previous edition, what's Essence got for me?

Design focused on alleviating some of the previous versions' missteps

Virtues are back, baby

2e fans will find it an improvement from second edition's mechanical strengths - it's pretty easy to convert all your favorite 2e Charms to XS.

Streamlined versions of familiar rules to make it painless to introduce new friends to the game we love.

The Cliff's notes on Ex3's new Exalt types.

Did I mention it's all of Exalted in one book?

How does it play?

d10 dice pool looking for 7,8,9 as successes. 10s count as two successes, which can lead to explosive, heroic outcomes

Combat system designed to keep all players engaged the entire time - even characters who aren't focused on fighting at all.

Combat also narrows the gap between experienced and new players and players who want to win at RPGs and players who just wanna vibe so GMs aren't tearing their hair out trying to balance encounters.

Social system designed to resolve in a single roll so you can be immersed in role play and not interrupt it with constant rolling - without sacrificing a variety of social approaches

"Ventures" system for characters working on long term projects from traveling across the world to crafting magical wonders to building communities without forcing this to be "downtime" activity

Characters have access to Charms - exception-based special powers that make them extremely good at whatever they focus on.

It's easily my favorite game (and the project I developed that I'm the proudest of), so I'm excited for everyone to try it out.

[loafeebuns]

Wanted to share my decode design inspo from some moots!, Have not updated him in a while, the last picture is the first draft ever(?) he’s just a bit more chonky now hehe,,

Basic info AGHH i know i have yet to fully lore dump for a lot of guys:

Decode 🔌⚡️

He/Him/It | Rank 1 Demon | Cyber Realm - Machine Type

- Decode is an older demon from the cyber realm, (a realm in this world is essentially a different plane linked to the regular GD world, you’re able to access/ travel to corresponding to the themes: Hell, Astral, Heaven, Cyber, and Void. more on that later!) The cyber realm is home to demons relating back to tech and electronics, it’s also where the golden age of innovation was as the world shifted into 1.9 (it still needs a better name LMAOO) with new vehicles and advancements yadda yadda,,

- He is a demon created in the 1.9 era for the purposes of combat but eventually found himself into the more technical aspects of creation, sinking a lot of time into developing a lot of the realm’s technology. While the tech back from 1.9 is considered outdated now, he essentially paved the way for the realm’s future demons to thrive off of, as well as being just as resourceful to the mortals (this part is still mega wip so SORRY if it’s weird ehehe )

- Decode Electronics is still a wip too, but it’s a large company known for providing vehicles, so things like UFO’s, robots, ships, etc! He’s very well respected on both the human and demon ends despite being a bit dated/ being of a lower power demon rank. While he doesn’t fully own it anymore, he’s still content with where he is now, and that is being stationed at the main(?) city branch. That’s how he met NC actually lmao

- Unlike most greedy capitalists he’s not like that! Big responsible man,, very patient especially when helping out employees/customers.. still able to lose temper but he’s mellowed out a lot.. I’m not mad just disappointed. Very much loves what he does as well as know a lot of demons.. he’s very logical, knowledgeable on computer science and engineering and all that but I only know so much because I am a dumbass and CANNOT write for smart chars 💔

KEEPING IT BRIEF EHEHEH ILL GIVE MORE INFO TO HIM AGHAHAH THANKS FOR READING

[blueberrytwoberry]

star wars au idea

Okay so one of the ideas I played around with based on AUgust was a Star Wars AU for 9-1-1, but I don’t know exactly where I’m going with it as far as plot so i don't think I'll end up writing it and just want to free it from my brain

I’m just fascinated by the idea of them still working as, basically, emergency responders during the rebellion era, because SOMEONE has to be there to jump in and try to save people after/during a space battle, and that’s what THEY’RE doing. Sometimes they get involved in the fighting, of course, but their primary goal is keeping as many other rebels alive as possible 

Chim is the longest standing member of the 118 rescue squad. He joined up after some Imperials came into a bar where he’d been working and started shit, eventually starting a fire because they suspected some of the clientele were rebels.

Chim managed to get out the fire and keep everyone alive after the Imperials left and realized he’d found his calling, but it’s been a hard, brutal road and he’s already lost so many people he cared about through the rebellion. 

Hen left behind a soulless (but profitable) job in the Empire after she watched her mentor get dragged away for suspected sympathies with the Rebellion (turns how Hen had some of those sympathies, too). Along the way, she met Karen, who’s one of the Rebellion’s preeminent ship designers, responsible for the creations or engine modifications that help keep their rag tag groups ahead of complete destruction by the Empire. 

They don’t see each other as often as either of them likes, because Karen’s work requires her to stay in one place, as much as possible, and Hen’s pulls her from one battlefield to another. 

The group is led by Captain Nash, of course, who was an officer in the rescue corps back in the old Republic army and is carrying around just a ton of trauma from the Clone Wars (and from the loss of his family due to an accident he caused) 

Athena is The Law on an outer rim planet that often serves as their home base, when they have a chance to take some downtime. She’s basically in charge and gets to do her full old-west gunfire strut as much as she damn well pleases. 

Absolutely no one realizes she and Bobby are Together for an embarrassingly long amount of time. 

Buck is a guy who joined the rebellion, initially, for a girl. He has no real… connection to the cause, not at first. He lived a life mostly untouched by conflict, on an Imperial world, and only got a look at the hell that so much of the rest of the galaxy was going through after he left home. 

And then he got involved with the rebellion, things with the girl fell apart, and he stuck around because he’d found a family and something to do with his life that felt worthwhile and bigger than he was, by that point.

But he’s still got this creeping sense of… not really belonging enough, sometimes, because he joined “late” and not because he wanted to stand up for what was right, even if he’s now fully bought into the cause. So, yeah, imposter syndrome rebel Buck. 

(And, because this is Star Wars, he probably at some point discovers that he’s a clone of his dead older brother, that his parents failed to deal with their grief and thought they could just replace their son, but then never quite managed to love Buck in the same way, anyway, because, yeah, grief doesn’t work that way. So he’s got even MORE imposter syndrome after Maddie tells him about that, he’s not even his own person! He’s just the clone of a dead kid!)

Anyway, so Buck is with his Rebellion Group, grappling with his complex feelings about whether he belongs with them REALLY or not, when Eddie gets recruited into their group, and Eddie, ooof

Well. Eddie. Was in fact an Imperial soldier. Recruited at eighteen. Served for years, until he sustained injuries in combat. And then he came back to his family, and discovered a few things, like that his wife was working with the Rebellion and that their son’s injuries had come from an Imperial doctor, who’d suspected Christopher of being Force sensitive, and, while he was processing all of that, Shannon went to Alderaan, using a visit to her sick mother as an excuse to deliver some important documents to the Organas. 

And then the planet blew up.

In the aftermath of that, Eddie fully defected over to the Rebellion and is now focused on keeping his kid safe (surprise, turns out Chris still has SOME access to the Force) and clearing out the red from his ledger. 

I know I’d want the plot to involve Buck basically figuring out Eddie’s Whole Ass Messy Deal, and drama when everyone realizes that Eddie used to be a storm trooper, with that probably coming out when they get in an actual fight, and think they’re all going to die because they aren’t trained as soldiers–

Except Eddie is, and ends up saving them, demonstrating a great familiarity with imperial weaponry and tactics, and most of the crew just puts two and two together and leaves him alone (Bobby knows about his history, the rest…not so much), but not Buck, who tracks him down while Eddie is tending to his own wounds, to ask a lot of questions like “Where’d you learn to shoot like that?” and “Wow, you just killed kind of a lot of people, what’s up with that?” while, of course, taking over the job of tenderly patching Eddie up.

Leading to Eddie having a breakdown and spilling his guts about what he’s done and his guilt and how HE should have been the one who died, not Shannon, and Buck going, “Well, I’m GLAD you didn’t die!” and Eddie going, “Well, I don’t see why” 

And that leading to a kiss and make-outs where Buck is trying to be careful of Eddie’s injuries, with things progressing from there.

And, basically, the plot would roll all the way through until RotJ, where their crew is there for the Battle of Endor, because everyone is expecting heavy casualties, and they get to see the destruction of the second Death Star and the fall of the Empire and enjoy the brightness of the future. 

[v1model]

!! [ LONG RANT I GUESS ] !!

Long ass rant incoming regarding V1 and V2 as characters and their personalities. I might add art to this later on if I'm bored enough!

i like the vmodels a lot [can you fucking tell???????????????????????????????] and i think that characterization is important when it comes to these two characters who have had absolutely no words to say but speak in their movements. i like the idea of a bratty asshole v2 and i like the idea of a quiet efficient v1. but i also cannot ignore or neglect other aspects of them!!!!!!!!

my most favorite of all characterization of v2 happens to be inkfaire's, which is like. to quote them, "i just enjoy the idea of them being someone's precious creation; only to fall to its own sense of hubris... we love a machine made to guard times of peace being ended by its desire for violence!"

and i like that, i like that it's coded to be human at first and slowly descends into its own form of madness trying to compete. that would make sense, it fits nicely with the story too.

but v1 i feel is also the same, but in the opposite sense......?

war is also a very human concept, and i think that because of it things like comrades also exist. i feel like v2 could have been a friend, a partner, a comrade. for stuff like gabriel and other enemies with healthbars on-screen, they're almost immediate. v2 always has moments of hesitance? like v1's waiting to see if v2 will actually strike or not, assessing if it truly is a foe. i like that idea. i like the idea of them wanting to be friends. then again, that wouldn't really make sense for 'You're not getting away this time', or even when we Know v2 will fight us again in 4-4 the healthbar doesn't show up (or gabriel's speech in 6-2 either for that matter) rendering it kind of a dumb theory but whooooo knows.

anyways my point is, i really think while it's not exactly programmed to, i feel like v1 carries weight of its death around with it. it grieves. they were born together (though its unclear if they were together at the time of making), and i think they're extremely bonded. the game isn't designed for that, there isn't any special text for it, but i think most people stayed around or at least REACTED when v2 fell and died. i think v1 would do the same. there's even an animation in which v1 flinches upon impact. even if hakita didnt give v2 the closure i think it needed for such an important enemy to v1's life, i think v1 definitely takes v2's death around with them.

and i think violence as a layer is going to fuck with us the absolute most because of how its designed. it's a war themed layer, i think there's going to be callbacks to v2 and humanity somehow. v1's special spot in hell.

in a less serious version of humanity, i like to think v1 is kind of like wall-e...? fascinated by peace itself, to inverse v2's fascination with violence. being stylish during combat, finding secrets, literally just looking around. some people like to write the secrets into their work, i've read a fic where they mentioned that v1 liked to stall around layers and explore basically everything. i think they have an extremely expressive body language, whereas v2's expression comes moreso in their voice. asl can be optional (i like to project and say that they sign, because i sign and i rlly love v1). some people like to think it collects little trinkets and such. holding florp and other things very gently in their hands. doing challenges (which i take as completely canon) just for the fun of it. yeah they're a war machine and yeah they're wiping out all of hell but in their scourge it develops their own humanity and its own identity and they have fun. WE have fun, playing as v1, so they must be having a fucking blast.

anyways uhh v4v sweep uhhh gay people BBRBFBRBBFBBR or something idfk im sorry if this doesn't make sense or is stupidly off canon i just think they should hold hands

[kjtoons]

AU CONCEPT TIME- (Ninjago Crystallised and LMK Season 3 Spoilers Below the Cut)

Okay so I had this idea for a sort of fix-it AU for Crystallized that also involves a Lego Monkie Kid Crossover as well as a Morro redemption arch, bear with me here- So basically when Lloyd goes golden Oni in the battle for the first time, instead of getting scared and shaking it off, he gets scared and the overlord takes advantage of this and decides to possess him. Meanwhile, the four ninja aren’t able to free their creation elements in time and end up getting corrupted in their dragon forms. Basically everything that can go wrong goes wrong, and Ninjago falls and is basically decimated by these five- Anyways you can tell this is me really wanting complicated character development through a villain arch, continuing- Now I’m not sure how this happens yet (I have a vague idea that MK’s world is the departed realm but I’m not sure how to explain that yet) but I’m thinking when Morro dies in the water that second time he’s reincarnated in the world of LMK as Mei’s older brother. They’re practically glued to the hip until Mei meets MK and the gang and they start growing apart. Morro doesn’t really show signs of having dragon powers and is struggling with feeling useless since his sister’s out here being a badass while he’s stuck with just doing nothing but skateboarding and gaming. He does end up going with the gang to help find the Samadhi fire, but is in Tang’s position where he can’t contribute much but helps where he can. At the end of this during that scene where they’re all eating on top of that cliff (Mountain? can’t remember exactly) he corners Monkey King and asks what he’s supposed to be. The Monkey King simply says his destiny lies elsewhere and doesn’t elaborate- Anyways because Morro was constantly feeling useless after Mei started growing distant with him he start practicing martial arts to fight the feeling, and he’s gotten pretty good at it. He’s out on his family’s mansion’s big porch one day, practicing, when he accidentally discovers that he can control the wind. He’s shocked, thinking this is some kind of dragon power, and tells his parents. His parents are confused since this isn’t a power you can get from being descended from dragons. Now Morro’s confused as well, wondering where the heck this came from. Then all hell breaks loose with the arrival of a new golden demon and his four winged servants. Outside of the idea of MK’s realm being the departed realm, I don’t really have much a reason for why they end up here, but my current reasoning is that the overlord is basically fostering Lloyd’s anger to keep his form up by sending them to the departed realm to basically torture his enemies. Mei, MK, Red Son, and the rest of the crew are struggling to get a leg up on fighting him, since he’s proving to have an otherworldly power to spread darkness that they can’t combat. Then golden guy spots Morro randomly during the battle and goes ballistic, hellbent on killing him. MK, Red Son, Mei and the rest of the gang come to his rescue and get the hell out of there since they’re not winning this one. That’s all I really have figured out right now for this AU, but I do plan on them finding a way for MK and co to get to Ninjago at one point and meet those that are still alive that weren’t decimated by golden dude, as well as Morro gradually gaining his memories from his past life back throughout the story. Also saving the four core ninja from their corruption somehow. I still have the idea to separate these into seperate AUs since I seriously think Lloyd and the other four ninja could’ve been absolutely freaking amazing villains for Ninjago: United and provided such interesting character archs because they’re corrupted and such. I also would just want to write my own version of a Morro redemption somehow because I love this angsty ghost boy so much and thrown it in there with this whole thing. Also, just a seperate AU where oni lloyd attacks MK’s realm somehow. Idk if they’ll stay together, idk it they’ll be seperate, we’ll see- Anyways thanks for reading my word vomit hopefully it wasn’t too indecipherable. I just wanted to get it down somewhere.

[blazterrr]

List of my Nanbaka OCs ~ ☆

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Nanba Prison

Building 1: Yakujuichi - No. 11

Building 2: Naijyu - No. 20

Building 3: Katsumi - No. 59, Shinkai - No. 89

Building 4: Mirowa - No. 34

Building 5: Ekier - No. 64, Hayate - No. 888

Building 6: Nin Keshiuru - No. 8998, Muyaki Kuraoi - No. 77

Building 7: Riho Hokoshi - A gaurd

Building 8: Kujuru - No. 96

Building 9: Artynes - No. 79, Geno - No. 78

Building 10: Radeeyo - No. 137

Building 11: Ogawa Amano - No. 19

Building 12: Raahi - No.84

Building 13: X - No. 27

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Visitors

Quatre - Trois' younger sister, also known as one of the smartest kids in her class. Her grades are always high and at the top, but besides that, she's also good with machines and mechanical related things, kind of like her brother you could say.

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Shiki

Yomidou Rei - Youngest sibling in the Yomidou family, main weapons are daggers and guns. His job is the same as his older brothers'.

Miho - a humanoid, poisonous starfish that was found by Kojiro after getting kicked out of the starfish village. He's into anything related to fashion and making clothing.

Mujiino - A humanoid, poisonous Purple Emperor butterfly. Was found by Yakumo and Six, they didn't take the butterfly with them but Mujiino did follow them all the way to Shiki and now he's there with them. Seems to be attached to Yakumo or just close with him in general.

Aleeyah - One of Isou's student, a story writer that wrote 10 books so far: 3 for adults, 4 for teens and teenagers and 3 are for children. Aleeyah's stories are mainly fairytales themed, coming up with her own ideas. Loves children.

Veno - One of Isou's student, a story writer that so far wrote 6 books: 4 of them are 16+ and two of them are 18+. He has more writing experience than Aleeyah. Veno's stories are mainly themed with serious topics, heavy topics and mature content.

Mutsuki Hasumi - Mutsuki Mashiro's son, loves his father a lot. He doesn't seem to know that much about his father besides that the man is busy with work and knows a few people that his father talks to.

Jiyuu - One of Ikkaku's friends, knows Musashi too since the three of them used to meet in the past, back then where Ikkaku was with Musashi.

Sepra - A humanoid snake, for some reason he seems to be avoiding the others as best as he can.

Yawashi - A humanoid spider, is partners with Yakumo (romantically).

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Zodiac Police

Deriel Sandra - Youngest sibling out of all Sandra siblings, meaning the Sandra sisters and Sandra brothers are all older than him. His zodiac sign is Libra, he indeed believes in justice. He doesn't exactly agree with his siblings' ways, but he follows them because he's been taught it's the right thing to do, no matter how wrong it feels for him.

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SOD (fanmade)

Nozomi Ushina - X's adoptive father, dead.

Goiyo - A scientist whose special skill is creating viruses, dead.

Ralan - A scientist whose speciality is being good with mainly machines and devices creations, dead.

Noraa - A scientist whose special skills are handling any weapon, being extremly good with combat and fighting skills and breaking people mentally & physically. Dead.

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Other

Levar - Miho's friend from the past, dead.

Duke Beau - Deul's twin brother.

Deul Beau - Duke's twin brother, used to take care of Mujiino.

Maver - Humanoid Tulip-Tree Silkmoth, an assassin.

Laira Orr - The first lead to changer the butterflies history, giving them the freedom and rights to fight back in the war and to change the normal of letting their species die. Is dead as well, it's been a long time ever since that after all.

Tsuwai - Is friends with Taura and is also Hell's partner (romantically). Used to be a part of the Zodiac Mafia (fanmade organization), he left because of personal reasons.

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If anyone got any questions, feel free to ask ♡

[leeyanyanyaaan]

Levanter - Dystopian Celestial AU (ft. Time and Memory Cast)

Dystopian Celestial AU [Copypasted from a conversation]

i wanna make a sub au where its supernatural/holy entites mixed w dystopia (+ redesign my fallen angel oc designs)

inspired by ff7, horizon and probably a bunch of other games i forgot

mainly ff7, even tho i havent even played the game LMAO

but ive seen a few clips and i like the environment/graphics/vibes

so for now just think of a dystopian setting where the angels demons and allsorts exist

nothing too supernatural

probably conflict within society

the setting i think it has a junkyard type vibes

for fits they'd have more streetwear/cyberpunk (as in the game, not so much the modern full of belts) fits

knowing tetsuya nomura, designs might be on the more obscure side (if youve seen some of the kh designs you might(?) get a bit of the feel??)

i'd think abt a lot of leather, heavy duty jackets, worn out clothing, cargo pants, combat boots

and dark color schemes

as for lore

the world is kinda in a state of poverty (typical dystopian setting), humans hate the holy supernatural thinking they're the cause of their misery

its like the gods abandoned the humans

and humans think the supernaturals are so full of themselves

the supernaturals think humans are idiots for blaming their problems on them 

and basically theres tension/conflict between the two sides (not to mention between heaven and hell but even then, they're more on neutral terms than with humans ironically)

i think even supernaturals feel abandoned by gods in this world

theyre not necessarily holy

theyre questioning their own existence

demons dont care as much but angels are probably lost and just doing what they can”

NEW ADDITION: 4 DISTRICTS - Protection(Earth), Power(Fire), Creation(Water), Liberty(Air) - used to be united until conflicts raised and differences in opinion. [NAMES TBD]

now for what could be an upcoming project/story i might write...

Levanter

(Title inspired by this song)

Summary: Lee, being fed up with having to be an angel and her overly devoted angel family and their ways, ran away and ripped her wings off in the process. The escape process was a dangerously risky one, having been hunted down by the angels who refused to let her leave, resulting in her suffering heavy injuries as she collapsed after venturing as far away as possible. a nearby settlement [Liberty], alerted by the disturbance, finds the girl upon their investigation and brings her in. When Lee wakes up, she is only able to remember her name, but is nonetheless accepted refuge in their settlement. Basically, what happens throughout the story is that Lee learns to be human, slowly gets back her memories, and starts turning into a fallen angel.

Cast 

Lee - Cornelia Lee Santo ('04) - Fallen Angel

Elijah - Elijah James de la Cruz ('03) - Half-Angel (front line) 

Elena - Elena Mae de la Cruz ('03) - Half-Angel (front line) 

Joshua - Jeongseok Lee ('03) - Human (logistics) 

Jessica - Jisoo Lee ('03) - Human (logistics) 

Mariel - Angelina Mariel Bautista ('01) - Angel (medic) 

Samsul - Samsul Hakim ('00) - Human (strategist) 

Yuki - Yukiteru Sakimoto ('04) - Human (watcher) 

Zack - Gabriel Zackary Santiago ('04) - Nephilim (versatile/future high ranker) 

Beatrice - Beatrice Abigail Mendoza ('04) - Angel 

“Shun” - Shuchang Chen ('05) - Cyborg/Android (experiment, from the land of Creation)

Vincent - Vincent Nathan Khan ('05) - Nephalem

Daniel Chanyeol Yoon ('02) - Half-Demon [these three are from the land of Power]

Seonghoon Kim ('03) - Human

Caleb Jayden Ramos ('04) - Angel [+3 more undeveloped OCs (all ‘05/’06 line)]

[infernal-dominion]

📔 🥺💕💕💕

Lute. I’m not sure how to describe my full thoughts on how I feel about her. Once an angelic soldier of the Exorcists, sent to kill my daughter in cold blood, arrogantly challenging me to combat under the belief that she alone would be the one to kill me once and for all, now someone that I care deeply for, with all of my soul. I hesitate to use the word friend, as I feel that would be too callous, but yet the idea of lover or even partner doesn’t fit either. I know what love feels like, thanks to my darling Lilith, and what Lute and I share is…not that. I wouldn’t even call it platonic either, or a case of familial notions, because there definitely is some form of sexual desire mixed into everything else in there too. Or rather, perhaps the right word would be sexual comfort? The notion feels comfortable, feels right, not awkward or out of place. Either way, it only adds to the confusion of what exactly I’d call her. I’m not sure there’s a word for it.

Either way, there’s no denying that my feelings for Lute, whatever they may be, are strong. I looked at that broken, wounded angelic creature, left behind by her own kin while she seized in the dirt, and I felt a pity, once remembering how I too once squirmed in the muck of Hell’s desolation when I initially fell too, reaching up toward the Heavens for an absolution that would never come. And the more I found out about Lute, the more I’ve come to realize just how much of a beautiful person she is under the obedience and piety and obsession with death and pain and the holy word that’s been beaten into her over countless years. A beautiful mind and a curious soul, eager to learn and eager to see the beauty for the cosmos and all creations in them, strangled and suffocated under the cruel fist of Heaven’s will, turned into a beast of war and bloodshed, not meant to feel, not meant to wonder, not meant to do anything but kill for the will of her Masters. And I thought I had seen Heaven at it’s cruelest up until her.

It makes me sick to think of how she’s doing up there now, back in the hands of the man I was desperate for her to stay away from the most. The man who had made her into the monster that dared to attempt to slay my daughter without a second thought, attacked me with the urge to see my blood spill, reveled in the gore and bloodshed of my citizens like it was divine justice. The man who now makes her his wife, all for the sake of taunting me, spiting me, angering me. Making a mockery of the word of love out of spite, turning the bonds of betrothal into chains to keep her as a trophy, a toy, a pretty little trinket to manipulate into worshipping him as if HE dared to sit upon the Throne and declare himself Almighty. Even now as I write this, my hands quiver with rage at what he’s done to her. What he continues to do.

But even in my rage, even in my anger, I could never blame her for willingly stepping back into his arms like she had done. After all, to her, she sees not a vile man who treats women like toys to be used and violated and snapped in half before being tossed away to rot. All she sees is the love of her life. I saw the look in her eyes just before she left to Heaven, a look I myself once saw in Lilith when she looked into my eyes. I will never forget that look, and the way it shone in Lute’s eyes when she looked at him…

I cannot do anything for her now that she’s in Heaven, away from my domain. I can only hope that she remains safe. That one day, she’ll make a choice for herself, as a person, not a weapon of war.

[tallbluelady]

between you me and those two lalafall t posing that azure dragoon in submission in the corner there what is your favorite part about screenshoting writing or otherwise producing content for your character?

Buckle up cuz I've been rotating this concept in general for a while!

Okay, back in college (I still feel weird saying that) I lent a friend my notebook cuz he missed a lecture one time. He noted that I doodled all over them, and asked why I did so. My answer was something along the lines that I was going to burst if I didn't.

And it's still true for me to this day. I have to write or draw or do gpose/screenshots cuz otherwise I'm going to explode. An idea comes to me and stares me and compels me to execute it. Hell, when I get a good shitpost idea, it feels like my third eye snaps wide open and I cannot get any rest until I make some sort of token effort to try and make it real in some fashion.

As for a favorite part? I don't know! The Defunctland tweet about film making being the worst thing other than not making films is pretty accurate on occasion. I mean, I do enjoy the fruits of my labor. I was scrolling through my own blog smiling at the stuff I've made before I started writing this answer. But depending on the creation, creating the thing is more important to me than having the created thing.

Like this essay of an answer! Not only do I feel obligated to answer you, but I have to admit that writing this is going to be more satisfying to me than coming back to it later and reading it. And that's been true for most of my life. I remember goofing off with spriting at a young age and just enjoying editing the visual of Pokemon trainers without worrying about posting them for a while. It's just been this last year and like, high school that I would get consistent feedback on my creative endeavors. College and working at my last job didn't leave me with enough energy to do creative stuff and present it in a viewable fashion. So that leaves me wrapping my head around the idea that I am having positive human interactions because of my blorbos and blorbo related content.

As for Rowan being the central character of this content? She's more or less the character I've always made creative content for. Whether it be in a Night Elf form or original Elf form or Elezen form, she's just been the vessel for any creative endeavors that need a person-shaped avatar to fill. Now I can confidently say that Rowan is probably distinct from her predecessors by virtue of being worked on so much more lately, but she's just drawn from the same primordial muse ooze that I've always been drawing from.

I think I hit all the points I've wanted to here. Well, the peer-reviewed, undiagnosed ADHD is probably a big contributing factor as to why I feel like I'll burst as a way to combat boredom (and for how this reads lmao).

But, uh, yeah. Thanks for the ask, anon. I hope it wasn't far more than you bargained for XD

[mayspicer]

Hell yeah you're answering some of those (if you want to), it's fun! 2, 11, 28, 44, 51 for the pink bean

Aww yiss. If anyone is interested, this is about Cayden, who can be found in my posts tagged as his name or more generally pathfinder.

This is gonna be long because I'm unable to write short answers. Also I have no idea how to add a read more on mobile, so uhhh, have fun xD

2. What was your original concept for this character? How did playing them change that concept?

The whole creation story is full of randomness tbh. I wanted to try playing a face and had a rogue half prepared for that, but the GM told me to maybe not play a rogue again, so I changed my mind to a sorcerer. A friend was creating his first character ever then, and he wanted to be a typical wizard, so I looked for less combat focused options for my sorcerer and we lacked a healer, so I found that there is a unicorn sorcerer bloodline that knows healing spells and has some nice healing powers. This was my first sorcerer, so I looked for guides and turns out that gnomes are super recommended. I decided on looks and even gender when having fun in heroforge. Thought it will be super funny if a gnome that's gonna be unicorn themed will also be pink and a man. It's a little freaky how he became a serious character that took over my entire brain for more than a year now, considering how he came to existence. Gnomes, man, it must be something to them, this shouldn't've worked. I'm so glad it did tho. Even his name was super randomly chosen, as back then the party was supposed to be 3 people with others joining later, and we thought it would be hilarious if we make some kind of acronym from character names. The word "CYC" (tit would be the same in English ig) appeared, so I looked for male names beginning with C. Found Caden, thought it sounded nice, so I told the GM it's gonna be it. And he went ooooh if you spell that differently, he could be named after a god of beer in Pathfinder. I liked the spelling better, I liked the connotations, boom xD

As for his character, I remember that he was supposed to be more crazy (whatever that means, my first sketches are more mischievous looking), but after writing his backstory and actually starting playing, I think he just stayed pretty much the same. Also the rest of the party put the bar pretty high for the craziness/unchainedness level, so I automatically assumed a more mature approach to compensate lol

I wish I was better at roleplay tho, because it's really hard to try to come across as someone who is by design comfortable in most situations, talks smoothly and is confident and flirty when I'm not and I don't even know how people like this are supposed to act, so I can't even try to pretend hhhh

I just hope that the rest of my group knows how I want him to be, cos we don't really talk much about character stuff outside the game (I wish we did, but it appears that I'm the only one who's been raised in the whole OC culture and I don't even feel very comfortable around some of the people outside of the game hhhh)

11. if they have a pet or animal companion, how do they spend time with them? if they don’t have one, what sort of animal would they be interested in raising, if any?

In one of the first sessions we saved a young black cat, so Cayden had a pet for a few weeks. Named the cat Rybiarz xd (Fisher?) because he said he liked fish (speak with animals hehe). Cayden left the cat in the inn we were staying in, because the inn keeper became our friend and the cat liked it here, so Cayden decided he's not gonna drag the poor cat along with him on the two month journey and who knows what next. If he could have a pet, I see two ways. Either some magical beast, lika a faerie dragon (not really a pet tho, cos they're sentient, but I mean the vibe), something that would be comfortable being on the move, possibly something matching his own energy, or even helping him seem even more attractive to others. The other option is some kind of animal that can swim (and climb?), because the boy Can't Swim. The last session ended in the middle of combat, where Cayden spent 3/4 of it under water, as the fight was with a water elemental which raised the water level and submerged everyone. And this was not the first time something like this happened xD And with him being so smol, he starts having problems when there is like 0.5m of water and if the water covers him, it boils down to waiting for someone to fish him out. A trained animal could solve this problem xD

As for spending time with the pet, it would probably be just playing with it and chilling together. Maybe if it was some special creature, he would be taking it with him to some social situations and play harmless tricks on others, or try to impress others with it, depending on the situation and mood.

28. do they collect anything?

He currently finally got his hands on a Mnemonic Vestment he's been saving gold for, so now he's focused on collecting as many magic scrolls (and possibly spellbooks, generally written magic) as possible, because the Vestment lets him cast one spell per day from such a source using his own spell slot AND not using up the scroll itself. This is super good, because Cayden as a sorcerer has a lot of spell slots, but a very short list of spells known. A new era just begun for him hahah

44. what lies do they tell others?

This is a hard one. I'm not great at creating characters that have many aspects to them. Cayden is pretty honest anyway, and talkative, so every one of his friends probably knows almost everything about his past and about him generally. He had to tell a pretty serious lie in the past and he only confessed to maybe two people (all just in backstory). It was about how the father of his first girlfriend died. He was killed by a unicorn, when he tried to kill it for its horn. The father was hunting magical creatures in secret, so his family didn't know anything, but he wanted Cayden to help him with the "business", as the relationship with his daughter was becoming serious. Why he thought it was a good idea is a mystery, as Cayden's family's past involving a friendship with a unicorn was pretty well known. Cayden helped the unicorn escape, but not before the other gnome shot at it with a crossbow. The unicorn charged and impaled the man with its horn before teleporting away. After spending the night crying his eyes out and trying to make sense of this whole situation, Cayden brought back the father's body back to the family and lied that the man was killed by someone with a spear who tried to mug them, before he managed to scare the attackers away using magic tricks.

I think, more generally, hypothetically, Cayden would lie about his own well being, for example if it meant others wouldn't waste time on him and would be able to save themselves in a critical situation. He would lie to make others feel better if he knew there was no way to help them and if he knew that showing confidence and being optimistic would raise morale of everyone else.

As for non serious lies (I'm not even sure it counts for the question), sometimes his gnome nature comes through, and he's tempted to just mess with someone by telling obvious nonsense information when an opportunity arises, or creating illusions. He doesn't have a heart to leave someone confused for too long though, so most of the time he clears thing up pretty fast.

And of course he tells lies in typical adventurer stuff situations. False names, motivations, all that. "I'm so sorry for shooting color spray in your face I panicked, I just didn't want you to cuff me, I'm on your side I swear, I want to help deal with those people demolishing your holy stairs, I won't be able to do that while magically handcuffed!" *Insane bluff check* *promptly escapes the moment he sees an opportunity*

Currently we're trying to infiltrate some kind of a drug cartel criminal underground, so there is a lot of bluffing involved xD

51. what element of their backstory are you proudest of?

The elements my GM basically wrote for me xD

I'm not the strongest writer, not even moderately acceptable writer, so I needed a little help. We all generated backstory events when creating characters and wrote based on what we got. I couldn't think of a conflict that involved telling a lie motivated by love. This is the one above, about the unicorn. The other backstory element is to rationalize how Cayden got out of his country that was surrounded by enemy nations currently at war I think and travelled through almost half the continent to the Pathfinder lodge in Absalom. I decided he's going to go by water, sailing near appropriately named Isle of Terror. Sure the name is not nice and there are some terrible stories surrounding the place, but near the shore there are real people actively looking for vessels trying to cross the lake. Turns out Isle of Terror is no joke and during a terrible negative energy storm everyone from the crew died, if not by the storm, then finished off by a shadowy creature, and Cayden barely survived this only thanks to hiding in a barrel, and plot armor I guess (it's a backstory after all, and a random event due to my decisions to go this route).

Other than that, I kinda like the part about Cayden even having the bloodline powers he has. One of his ancestors/parents had to have some kind of closer contact with a unicorn and I decided it's gonna be his mother. Before he was born, his country was at war with basically every neighbour and Cayden's mother was helping refugees by hiding them in a dense forest near the border. She impressed a unicorn living there with her determination and pure heart and they formed a strong bond with the unicorn protecting it's forest against unwanted invaders, but allowing shelter for the needing. During those efforts Cayden's mother met his father and after the war, Cayden was born. Later, when he grew up, it turned out that some of that unicorns magic/blessing passed onto his mother and became apparent in him.

I know it's cheesy, but that's about the peak of my writing/storytelling skills xD

For someone that is 52 years old, my boy has a surprisingly uneventful backstory, with 40 years of living peacefully in his village with both parents, having a traumatic experience, and then going out to see the world, hearing about Pathfinder Society on his first big stop and making it his dream to join them. I described his journey basically by coming up with partners he had romantic relationships with along the way and elaborating a little what happened during these stops/stages of the journey. Now I face the joy of meeting this characters as NPC's one day, oof, I didnt think this through. We even met that first girlfriend already. (it was ok, but super stressful, but also super sweet at the end)

[commodorebuzzkill]

Halo 4 still sucks

Maybe I'm just in a pissy mood, but I don't care. I'm gonna be an asshole today. Depression rant time. Time to revel in my assholishness. I got the Master Chief Collection several months ago, downloaded the main series, you know the ones that count (CE, 2, 3, 3 ODST, Reach), and out of morbid curiosity, downloaded 4 and decided to play it. I never was a fan of Halo 4 right from the day it was announced. To those of you who would say "come on, you never played it! Just because its different doesn't mean its bad! Give it a chance!" I would say: Halo 4 was made by a large, greedy, faceless corporation that only wanted your money, like all mass media we consume, and so long as that's the case, I think we owe the products they churn out nothing. Why do these cynically made plastic creations deserve our careful consideration of their dubious merits? Why identify ourselves with crappy product? Because religion now functions just like capitalism too, and we need another salve for our pathetic lives as they're sweated from age 18 until we're discarded as too old to be useful. Halo 4 never needed to exist and never should have existed. The fundamental drama of the main Halo series had been resolved. But Microsoft couldn't let go of such a beautiful cash cow, especially while CoD and Battlefield kept cranking out sequels on a yearly basis. So, Bungie left it behind, but that didn't matter when Microsoft could build its own sock puppet studio, 343 industries, unfortunately without blackjack and hookers. They put out the idea that the studio was staffed by old Bungie employees who were just too passionate to leave their favorite franchise behind, (there were, like, 3 or 4 of them in total) AND that they'd make the franchise better than ever. So, how is game? I'll preface this by saying that I haven't finished it, and I skipped every cut scene and ignored practically all dialogue, because fuck the plot. Don't care, plot can go die. So, onto gameplay.

Halo 4 plays like a slightly worse Halo Reach. The weapons that carry over feel about the same, save one major difference: Ammo capacity for every damn weapon I've encountered so far is always less than it was before. The assault rifle in Halo 3 had a spare ammo capacity of 352 rounds, in Halo Reach it had 288, in Halo 4, it was hacked down to 224. So, 2 covenant squads or so, or one Promethian KNNNIGIT (more on those fuckers in a minute), and it's running painfully low. The DMR has had the the clip capacity reduced from 15 to 14, and spare ammo hacked down from 60 to 42. It's still a solid weapon, handling in all other respects exactly the same as it did in Halo Reach. The new weapons, like the Storm Rifle for instance, are generally crappy. The Storm Rifle is another gun that the developers put a ton of focus on making it run out of ammo as quickly as possible, shoot 6 dudes, or one Promethian KNNNIGIT, and the fucker's empty. Promethian weapons generally feel shitty. The suppressor has a decent ammo capacity, but it generally sprays ammo, pardon me, I mean """"""hard light""""" (what is it? Light with a higher alcohol content? (@stabbedinthenameofscience came up with that joke for me) Seriously, who writes this crap?) all over the place while having a low damage output, meaning it runs out of ammo early on in most firefights. The lightrifle feels like a Covenant Carbine that deals damage only the developers imagination. The scattershot is a shotgun with crappy ammo. Seriously, its just a fucking shotgun with a sci-fi coat of paint. So, half the weapons suck and the ammo capacity always sucks.

Combat somehow feels, tedious. I found my self just running past enemies whenever I could get away with it most of the time, since that way I used barely any ammunition. Gameplay is frequently broken up by early 2010s scripted set piece action sequences, and pointless button pushing. (TAP E rapidly to open door, Use W, A, S, and D to climb) Hell, every time Master Chief pushes a fucking button, gameplay stops so we can see him reach out and press the button. It was really important to have realistic button pushing, guys!

Also notable is the fact that marines are completely useless in combat, firing at everything but the enemy, and generally being totally useless at driving vehicles.

Vehicles wise, warthog's pretty much the same. as is the ghost and the banshee, although I'd describe the Scorpion as slightly worse. The main gun reloads more slowly, and the 90mm high explosive projectiles seem to have a far more glacial muzzle velocity. And I HATE the redesign of the Pelican. It's ugly, make it go away.

Level design wise, the levels feel narrow and confined, acting as a series of corridors to lead to open areas where a series of buttons need to be pushed or glowing thingamajigs need to be shot, along with a ton of enemies that you have to fight it out with, while discovering that your ammo has run out after killing the first 4 or so. Visually, I'd say the concept artists liked caves a little too much.

Enemy design wise, the Elites are the same as they've always been, the grunts fight pretty much the same as they did before, although their walk cycle just looks shittier for some reason. Then there's the Prometheans. The little climbing dog ones that splatter all over the place after being shot once, the flying ones that throw your grenades back at you, and the KNNNNIGITS, annoying bullet sponges that teleport away to make you waste more ammo you don't have. I heartily despise bullet sponge enemies, and find a more punishing difficulty in my games far more engaging with high damage low health enemies against high damage low health me. So, Promethean KNNNIGITS can just fuck off, like the pointless assholes they are.

So, positives, if such positives really deserve my focus, I mean its not like the gaming industry cares about my opinion anyway, or yours, or anybody's. It did still feel mostly, like a Halo game. Although there was a lot more... redundancy.. in the weapon types. The Bungie games pretty much always did a great job at making every weapon feel very distinct in role. The SMG, the Brute Spiker, and the Plasma Rifle all fill the same niche in theory, but they all have significant distinctions in damage output, ammo requirements, melee power, and just plain cosmetic differences. Meanwhile, the Assault Rifle, the Storm Rifle and the Suppressor all feel like generic automatic sci fi weapons. The DMR and the Battle RIfle fill pretty much the same role as medium range marksman's weapons, but there they are, side by side anyway. Oh fuck, I forgot to focus on the positives. Oh well, that's not what I was here for anyway.

Soundtrack wise... it blows. Loud, obnoxious, dubsteppy trash. It can go die in a fire.

So, yeah... Can't recommend. It felt like anything but a passion project. If you enjoy it, whatever floats your boat, but I don't get what the modern Halo fan sees in it, nor how the fanbase managed to survive and somehow stay interested in what Microsoft shits out for them every once and a while, simultaneously sneaking in aggressive micro-transactions, season passes and and all the usual garbage to turn gaming into a hobby only the rich can enjoy. They don't deserve your loyalty, guys. There are fantastic mid budget or indie games out there you can play with your friends. Go play Nuclear Option. It's only 18 bucks on Steam, and you can have an absolute blast with your friends. Try shotgun farmers. Don't buy this kind of shit, you'll only encourage them.

Again, had a shitty mental health day, felt like having a great big rant at something that irritated me. If you enjoy Halo 4, by all means keep on enjoying it. I'm still gonna reserve the right to be a salty bitch.

[zanademondraws]

The gates of «8 leaders: the server» now presents to you and invites you to:

₮ⱧɆ ⱤłØ₮ (Ɽ₱)

12-13 of Dic

‼️MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING THOUGHT: The content of this rp prompt will be about violence, misogyny, transphobia and gore that the antagonists commits‼️

Viewer discretion is advised.

It all begins from the creation of men kind, since the beginning man and woman were seen differently from each other's perspectives, it didn't help the fact that God made the male sex have more estrogen and testosterone making it more difficult for the female sex to overcome it in tasks such as hunting or fighting in the human realm.

So there fore, in the world as it is, those with the sex male and gender deceive from anyone who derives from it's gender norms or anyone who isn't what they considered a man.

Making some of this man even go as far as killing those who they believe they have "seen" weaker than themselves.

And when they enter to the gates of hell, they though they would see overlords and rulers that would be just like them with submissive wives while running their lands with an iron fist.

But they were, not fully wrong but not fully right, as some woman would be in this positions of power for one thing most hellborns would know that other type of demons, except for the fallen, does not know: testosterone doesn't care about gender in Hell, especially not in the Wrath empire, everyone is born or reborn the same there and is up to them to either stay like miserable demons or obtain more powers through consuming souls, stealing land, marking territories and climbing through the pits of hell to get to the top

So, when this misogynists groups saw that this high class demonesses weren't married to a wealthy demon and weren't submissive, they tried to kill this women, however instead of squashing them, this men got a taste of their own medicine so quickly, they decided to retreat, and finally give up as they saw there where too many of them.

The group dissipate and they didn't cause any more trouble.

Until the wedding of the Wrath Emperor came along (with the oc of @apaintines )

See, the empire weren't happy that the Emperor himself would marry a "nobody" (or in other words: no nobility) in their eyes, and when their past lives were read out loud for everyone to see what routes of nobility they had, they revealed that the Wrath emperor was no other than the ex-angel Temperance, an angel who's gender was non-binary and was one of the many companions of whom they call the creator of demon kind: Lilith.

This infuriated the group that was once silenced, now making a complot behind the emperor's back, to overthrown him and put his son Ares as one in charge, so they send Ares on a fake war in the other side of their country (The Islas Firosas) of the empire, so this group could kill Wrath for not being "a real man that rules the empire with an iron fist"

Now in case you have read all, here is the hint of what you can do: you either roleplay with your character as the misogynist group or you roleplay by the side of the Wrath warriors (soldiers and dukes, etc. of the emperor Wrath)

In a battle where you have to write the most grotesque gore scenes between the two groups while they fight, something similar like mortal combat if you must say, everyone of all ages can join! As long as you guys remember and follow the rules and guidelines of the server

then again, happy holidays and have fun!

I'll invite everyone and anyone who wants to participate through a link on dms! As the server is currently private, thanks for coming to my tedtalk, see you all in hell✨

[perpetualxfire]

[ scarlet ]  what is one thing you wish you could do?

[ ruby ]  give one random fun fact about yourself.

[Colorful Interview for the Mun]

(You got a couple of picks from my favorite spectrum of light here~! I'm gonna go ahead and chuck this under a read more since I'm apparently feeling SUPER chatty today.)

[ Scarlet ]  

What is one thing you wish you could do?

(I assume you mean from an RP perspective, yeah? Usually when this question is asked to an RP blog it's to gauge interest in plots. Even then that's kind of a tough question to answer! I'm trying to figure it out myself. In the past, I've liked to RP when my character is just going through it, because that helped me through my shit. I actually only recently put together... Well. I kind of knew, but not the depth of it- part of the reason I have such this tight bond with this particular fictional character is because she and I have a very similar kind of trauma from perfectionism and a desire to prove oneself and receive a kind of validation that's missing in our lives, and watching those avenues to do so get shut down. It's why I hate when people reduce her character to being 'competitive' - like.. you're right, but that's also incredibly reductive-)

(I digress, though; that's not the question. My point was that I used to use her as an avenue for my own feelings of frustration and desire for validation, but that didn't really... Stick for long. I used her as a less positive coping mechanism for a long time, writing pain for the sake of pain, because I felt a deep self loathing and wanted to write the pain to externalize it; I was all for injury plots, and admittedly still LOVE hurt/comfort plots (but it has to have both elements anymore - at the time I wasn't so worried about the comfort part). These tools don't really do much for me anymore, though, so as an RPer...)

(I wish I could get closure. I wish that I could single-handedly rebuild the community - it seemed hell bent on self-imploding for a loooong time. I wish I could write more combat! Writing combat is what got me into writing Carolina in the first place, but it's... I would argue it's ten times harder to find somebody you as a mun have chemistry with to write combat than it is for most other situations. It can't just be characters; even wildly imbalanced fights can become interesting if the muns have that chemistry and communication for it. That's part of what bugs me about the Carolina vs Meta deathbattle, actually - it had a lot of potential to be interesting and, like I feel with most deathbattle episodes, ended up being severely reductive to both characters for the sake of making a point, rather than getting into the nitty gritty of the situation. Why are they fighting? What's at stake? There's always something at stake, even in a friendly spar - be it a sense of validation from a teacher, a desire to get through a tough conversation, tackling an emotional block... While that might not be as true in real life sparring, I've found in writing there's always something in a compelling scene-)

(I kind of want to convince Sam to reboot our little venture into his covenant plotline he had; since one of the critical members of that RP isn't really around to continue it, I wouldn't mind restarting, inviting more people, organizing in a discord group...)

(I've always loved being a part of a group (see my forum rp background) and while tumblr doesn't make that easy per say, I'd love to give a three or even four way thread another shot. For the plot! The DRAMA! The action!)

[ Ruby ]  

Give one random fun fact about yourself.

(fdasfsadfs Just one? Ha. Let's see... I'm a little over a year away from earning a hard fought degree in Mathematics. Not sure what I want to do with it yet, but at least it should open a few doors, and I desperately want some open doors in my life, aha. I feel like Math isn't a commonly heard favorite subject or sought out degree in peoples who unite over a shared love of creation like the RP community, but I'm here, feeling my little bit of impostor syndrome amongst all the lovely people I've met who are majoring in literature or history or the arts... I can be creative too I promise!!!)

[cyborg-squid]

The Albuquerque Holy Grail War

okay my sister and I’s had this extended Breaking Bad and Fate crossover idea that’s so stupid and silly i can’t help but share it. broad strokes of it is that it’s basically the plot of Breaking Bad but the cast have Servants, the fights and struggles over the meth and crime empires fits perfectly with the Servants covert fight for the holy grail.

Here’s what servants they’d have (probably)

Walter White: Caster Mephistopheles. Walt fancies himself a smart man so you would know he would go for a Caster class Servant, thinking it’s the right fit for someone like him, and his chemical expertise would pair well with a Caster’s Item Construction, along with Territory Creation (Meth Lab). Also bombs. Walt is also the guy who blames all of his problems on other people, rather than himself, and Mephistopheles, a literal devil, would be the perfect scapegoat at the end of that, and there’s nothing Mephistopheles would love more than watching a human throw himself into hell and then blame it all on the devil.

“Skylar, listen to me! It wasn’t me, I would never do this willingly, it was all Caster! You don’t get it, he’s a devil, he’s been manipulating me the whole time, he must have been using some sort of mind control or something! Please, Skylar, you have to believe me!”

Jesse Pinkman: Berserker. Now, I actually don’t have a specific Berserker Servant to pair with Jesse yet, but I was thinking something along the lines of the standard yell-y type (Zerkerlot, Darius III, Caligula, etc). Throughout the series, Jesse is used as a pawn by Walt, Gus, and others, and if he was paired with a volatile yet powerful Berserker class Servant, his usefulness as a pawn increases, especially with Walt often trying to keep Jesse from turning against him, because an off-the-chain Berserker could really fuck up everything Walt’s been working for. Jesse also has the potential to see himself within the Berserker, a himself being a ‘servant’ manipulated by a ‘master’. Pairs well with Jesse’s fraught emotional state throughout the series.

Mike Ehrmantraut: Assassin Yan Qing. The core theme behind this pairing is the loyalty one has to their boss/lord, and the search for a worthy one. Skill wise, these two would complement each other very well, with Mike’s own stealth and combat capabilities and Yan Qing’s face changing and martial arts. Imagine the shootout scene in Bolsa’s mansion, but Yan Qing’s also fucking cartel guys up with his punching. Yan Qing would also see similarities between himself and Mike, two men very loyal to their bosses, sometimes to their own detriment.

Gustavo Fring: Lancer Diarmuid. I actually changed my mind mid writing this one, originally I was going to have Gus with a more typical Assassin Servant, probably a Hassan, and while a Servant like that could still work for him, my sister suggested that Assassin Yan Qing is a better pairing for Mike, and that the Diarmuid I’d originally planned for Mike could work for Gus, even if someone like Gus would prefer an Assassin class Servant. In Diarmuid, you have a Servant who has been devoted to his lord to the point of his own detriment, in an attempt to make up for his past betrayal (Gawain could also work as Gus’ Servant). Lancer’s ideals of chivalry and honor would clash with Gus’ way of doing things, but Gus would not hesitate to use Command Seals or other forms of coercion to get Lancer to do what he wants. You can imagine the scene where Gus slits Victor, but he’s using a Command Seal to get Diarmuid to do it.

Saul Goodman: Archer Moriarty. Now this one was originally just a funny idea but then i actually realized it had a lot of merit. Despite Saul’s face being on billboards around Albuquerque, he’s a very behind the scenes guy when it comes to the drug trade, as well as his own past crimes. He also, importantly, as the guy helping everyone launder money, has his hands (potentially) on a lot of it, and Moriarty would be eager to take advantage of this. Not for Moriarty’s own benefit, he’d have no use for the money, but to see what Saul might do with it. Saul is already someone who has, at the start of BBad, put his old name and life behind him and continued to walk down the wicked path, something that Moriarty would be very keen to see the end result of. The conversations between the two would also be very fun.

The Salamancas: Rider Blackbeard (done seriously). The focus of the Salamanca Servant is less on the relationship between Servant and Master, and more on how the Master-ship is split between the Salamancas. Hector was the one who summoned the Servant and has the Command Seals, but gives control/usage of Blacbeard to Tuco, and later, the twins. When Tuco is killed, the other Masters think that the Rider Servant will have disappeared, only to be surprised later on when Teach is still around. This role of Hector’s in BBad, as someone who is often overlooked or looked down upon just because he’s old, wheelchair-bound, and can’t speak, can tie in well with the sort of front that Blackbeard puts up, both of them being overlooked by their foes, their actual capabilities ignored until it is too late.

I do know I’m missing a Saber-class Servant, and I’m not entirely sure who it’d be paired with. Could be Hank, the Servant gets killed either during the twins attack on Hank, or maybe the Saber dies saving Hank’s life during the stakeout. Either way, Walt and Jesse think Hank’s out of the War, with his Servant gone, but Hank still continues his investigation.

Or maybe the 7th Servant belongs to Kim! She’s not present (physically) in BBad but she still feels like a worthy Master candidate, and the non-appearance of a Saber during the main events of the Albuquerque Holy Grail War would have the rest of the Masters on edge and wary of a surprise attack, one that never comes.

[flailingorc]

Newbie mod maker tries to make a mod

I’m starting this blog to chronicle the uh... adventure I’m going through with learning how to make Skyrim mods.  For some background - I’ve been playing Skyrim since it launched in 2011.  I have the collector’s edition map and Alduin statue sitting on my shelf.  I also played a tooon of Oblivion in the couple years before Skyrim was released.  In the last 10 or so years, I have modded Skyrim to hell and back, LE and SSE. 

It has only been within the last few weeks (as of this writing of August 21, 2021) that I finally decided to make my own mod.

Given the amount of trouble I’ve had with trying to find resources on making the specific mod I’m going for (custom-voiced follower on a custom framework with some specific functions), I’ve decided to chronicle things so that my struggles are also available as informative notes on how to go about doing things - beginning coding, working with the Creation Kit, etc. When I figure out how to do things and make a particular function work properly, I’ll write up an explanation/tutorial on how I at least made it work.  And, hopefully, it’ll give some insight into the mod-making process.  And for those who want to make their own custom-voiced followers, hopefully this can also act as a resource.

Some background on me and this specific mod idea below the cut.

The reason why I chose a custom-voiced follower is because, quite frankly, this is a character I’d like in my own game (isn’t that best motivation?).  I really wanted a fairly positive female character who was basically your bff; after a lot of brainstorming, character-writing, figuring things out, and going through iterations, I’ve settled on a heavy-armor wearing, tank of a female orc.  She’s a “city-orc” meaning that she isn’t from a stronghold; she’s a mercenary who has decided to make a drastic career change and try to become a bard.  Lurbuk, you will no longer be the lone orc bard!

I’m a professional musician (instrumentalist, though I do have some vocal training), so I have the audio interfaces and all the sound design stuff covered.  I’m planning to do my own voice work.  What I don’t have is background in coding and scripting.  I took like a semester of intro Comp-Sci in college and tinkered a ton with RPG Maker in high school; that’s the extent of my experience with anything like this.  But I’m learning a little more every day. 

As of today, I have a follower on a custom framework who can do all the basic vanilla functions (just on a custom framework), and I just got the relaxing/sandboxing command figured out and working.  I’ve also finished most of the dialogue for the main story as well as a bunch of miscellaneous lines as idles in cities, traveling, different weather, and conditions.  I have said follower’s entire backstory set up; I’m looking into ways to implement her personal quest (Changes in variable, or time gated?  That is the question!), and set up other functions such as a sparring mechanic that acts as a gentle trainer for the player, horse riding, combat styles, and song requests.  Cosmetics and making this character look nice are, quite frankly, the least of my concerns right now; I want this follower to be functional and also act as a good friend. 

Who knows how far this project idea will go; I’m having a lot of fun and learning a lot though!  This project has given me a lot of life in a time when my mental health has been pretty terrible (yay pandemic and how it’s affected the live entertainment industry~), and having had so much fun with Skyrim followers such as Inigo, Lucien, Kaidan, and Auri, I just really want to make something similar.  Yes, this follower is another singer.  I’m also not a voice actor.  But if this project can bring me joy and also serves as a way to teach both me and others, then all for it!